Hugh’s Deep Dive 3
So what did happen to all the music places from Robert’s time in New York? Here's a rundown of what, where and when from some of the key places.
443 West 51st
Starting off at the building in Hells Kitchen that was home to Robert during the making of Exposure. Today it’s still residential. Expect to pay upwards of $3800 per month for a two bed apartment.
The Hit Factory
353 W.48th. There were studios on the 2nd and 6th floors. Robert worked here extensively in 1977 and 1978, contributing a guitar solo to Hall & Oates Along The Red Ledge album; as producer/guitarist on Daryl Hall’s Sacred Songs; Peter Gabriel’s second solo album; The Roches eponymous first album, as well as his own solo album Exposure. The studio moved to another location 6 blocks north and the old site is now a residential apartment building.
Robert collaborated with Daryl Hall, Peter Gabriel, Hall & Oates, Blondie, Talking Heads and The Roches
The Record Plant
321 W. 44th. One of the top New York recording studios where numerous iconic albums were made, by Hendrix, Springsteen, New York Dolls, Cyndi Lauper amongst many others. There was also a mobile truck for remote recordings which had been put to good use on the final King Crimson tour of the 70s. Robert played guitar solos here for Blondie on Fade Away and Radiate in 1978 and Talking Heads on I Zimbra in 1979. The studio moved its main operation to Los Angeles and the New York location closed in 1987. It’s now The Plant, a state-of-the-art office building.
Washington Square Church
Located in Greenwich Village at 135 West 4th St. Built in 1860. Sold by its dwindling congregation in 2004 no longer able to afford its upkeep. Converted to apartments, retaining the church facade. Known as ‘The Peace Church’ and was venue for a number of fundraising musical performances. Robert played Frippertronics during a week-long residency in August 1981; with the League of Crafty Guitarists on April 11-12,1988; and Soundscapes in 1995.
Inroads art center
150 Mercer Street, one of a number of alternative arts spaces that operated, often from behind anonymous looking doors, in lofts and store fronts around lower Manhattan, catering to the fringe scene that didn't fit in the larger clubs or theatres. Four nights of Frippertronics in August, 1981. Now a residential building with fashion retail on the ground floor.
The Kitchen
Pre-eminent among the alternative spaces and still operating today. It occupied several locations, beginning in 1971 in the kitchen at the Mercer Arts Centre, until that building fell down forcing a move, firstly to SoHo and 59 Wooster St, which is where Robert debuted Frippertronics in February 1978 going on to play a whole week there the following year. The Kitchen moved again in 1986 and the Wooster/Broome location became, you’ve guessed it, apartments and fashion retail.
The League of Gentlemen in New York, 1980
The Mudd Club
77 White St, The hipper alternative to Studio 54, the chances are you weren’t going to get in, but for a few brief years, before it became too popular, it was home to New York’s in-crowd. Described by Soho Weekly as “part basement rumpus room, part loft party, part high school dance”. Named after Dr Samuel Mudd, the opinion dividing physician convicted as a co-conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and later pardoned. The League of Gentlemen played here July 20, 1980. Closed in 1983. Now apartments.
315 Bowery
Hilly Krystal’s home for Country, Bluegrass and Blues which became the epicentre of the NY punk scene, most famously the Ramones, Television, Talking Heads and Blondie. It was the latter band that invited Robert to sit in when they played at the Blitz Benefit on May 7, 1978, a fundraiser by the CBGB community for the Dead Boys drummer Johnny Blitz, who had been injured in a knife fight and needed help to pay the hospital bills. Mired in disputes over back rent, Hilly had to let the club go in 2006. It is now occupied by John Varvatos’ boutique, with a hint of its past history kept alive in some of the decor and the occasional live band.
If that tale of closures and general unaffordability has left you feeling a little deflated, fear not, there are plenty of recordings to transport you back to a time where in Robert’s words “the sacred circle where music, musician and audience meet” found a place to do so in New York.
Download or stream:
Robert Fripp at the Kitchen, Feb 5, 1978
The League of Gentlemen at the Mudd Club, July 20, 1980
Frippertronics at Washington Square Church July 27, 1981
Frippertronics at Inroads, August 4, 1981
Soundscapes at Washington Square Church, September 8, 1995
CD/LP/Boxed Sets:
Robert Fripp Washington Square Church on CD/DVD or LP
Robert Fripp Exposures boxed set
Exposure 4th edition CD/DVD or LP
Live tickets:
The Exposure band playing the music of Robert Fripp and The Roches
Photo of Robert on 48th Street and 9th Avenue by Roberta Bayley
Photo of League of Gentlemen in New York by Marjori
