City Gardens: Difference between revisions

The popular 90 Cent Dance Night,<ref>''No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes: An Oral History of New Jersey's Legendary City Gardens'' by Amy Yates Wuelfing, Steven DiLodovico</ref> on Thursdays, began with DJ Randy Now (Randy Ellis) in 1979 featured music not only from the late 70's UK & USA Punk scene but Randy Now incorporating the newest emerging "new wave" music scene along with ska and reggae music; interspersed with an occasional 60's garage rock classic. 90 Cent Dance Nights went to 95 cents in 1983 and was taken over by DJ Carlos (Carlos Santos) in early 1983. DJ Carlos was the main Thursday night and house DJ until late 1994, playing a combination of [[New wave music|new wave]], [[Alternative rock|alternative]], [[industrial rock]] and cutting-edge [[Electronic dance music|dance music]] for the time period. At the height of its popularity, which started in 1979 and until the mid to late 1990s, the "90 Cent Dance Night" party regularly drew 700-1000 people weekly and often broke over 1,000 customers on the door count during the holiday seasons. By 1992, the admission price was raised 4% and renamed "99 Cent Dance Night". Randy Now tells the story where he remembers [[Greg Hetson]] (Bad Religion / The Circle Jerks) visiting him in NJ and Randy bringing Greg to a Thursday Night Dance Party. Randy was the DJ that evening. Greg at first didn't believe 1000 people would come out to hear and dance to a DJ. At the end of the evening, Hetson is quoted as saying "Brilliant idea of having a 90 cent dance night cover charge; someone in Los Angeles like [[Gary Tovar]] should get on board."

[[A Flock of Seagulls]], and [[Thompson Twins]] and [[Sinéad O'Connor]] all made their American debuts at City Gardens. [[Danzig (band)|Danzig]] performed their first show ever at the venue. The venue also hosted a performance by comedian [[Henny Youngman]] and speaking engagements by counter-culture personalities [[Timothy Leary]]. [[Jon Stewart]], famed for his work with [[MTV]] and [[Comedy Central]]'s ''[[The Daily Show]]'', was a bartender at City Gardens from 1984-1987, before his stand-up comedy career and later television career took off. Stewart never performed at City Gardens, and there is only one known photo that exists of him inside the club.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.vulture.com/2014/02/jon-stewart-on-bartending-at-a-famous-punk-club.html |title=‘There'There Was Nothing Else Like It’It': Jon Stewart on His Days As a Bartender at New Jersey’sJersey's Greatest Punk Club |date=February 19, 2014 |first=Chris |last=Wilson |access-date=October 20, 2019 |newspaper=New York Vulture }}</ref> [[James Murphy (electronic musician)|James Murphy]], leader of [[LCD Soundsystem]], was an underage bouncer for City Gardens during the hardcore Sunday matinee shows in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/legacy-brutality-remembering-city-gardens/ |title=Legacy of Brutality: Remembering City Gardens |last=Keyes |first=J. Edward |access-date=May 5, 2016 |newspaper=Wondering Sound, e-music |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610213341/http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/legacy-brutality-remembering-city-gardens/ |archive-date=June 10, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Over 4,000 bands performed at City Gardens, with Randy "Now" Ellis booking probablyapproximately 98% of the artists who performed at thethose clubacts. [[Dagger zine|Tim Hinely]] notes in a 2004 issue of ''Go Metric!'' "every punk band who ''is'' a punk band played there," naming his favorite performances as [[The Descendents]], [[Circle Jerks]], [[Agnostic Front]], [[Murphys Law]], [[Butthole Surfers]], [[Sonic Youth]], [[Mod Fun]], [[Gwar]] and [[Ween]], among others.<ref>*{{citation|last=Hinely|first=Tim|authorlink=Dagger zine|date=Spring 2004|title=Jersey Gardens: A Punk Haven for the Ages|issue=18|page=51|work=Go Metric!|url=https://archive.org/details/go_metric_18|accessdate=27 February 2019}}</ref>

In 2014, authors Amy Yates Wuelfing and Steven DiLodovico published a book on the City Gardens scene, ''No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes: An Oral History of New Jersey's Legendary City Gardens''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.brooklynvegan.com/city-gardens-bo/ |title=City Gardens book ‘No'No Slam Dancing’Dancing' out now; signings / readings happening in March & April |date=March 20, 2014 |author=Staff |access-date=October 20, 2019 |newspaper=Brooklyn Vegan }}</ref> First and second editions, as well as hard cover book copies of the 464 page book, have sold at upwards of $150 on Ebay.