blackout '77

manhattan, lights out lootin' in bed stuy, free for all? photo:tyrone dukes/ny times

son of sam nabbed. psycho killer ~ qu'est-ce que c'est

talking heads. ocean club, tribeca. photo:allen tannenbaum

bowery bum at cbgb (r.i.p.) photo:h.wang

1977: The first Apple computer goes on sale. Star Wars opens. Punk Rock is the new. Elvis dies at 42. Carter becomes president.

But it was the Summer of 1977 in New York City that people will always remember - a time and place of extreme highs and lows: Lighting strikes a Con Ed substation along the Hudson River setting off a chain of events resulting in the massive New York blackout, leading to mobs, fires, and looting. The Son of Sam murders terrorizes a city already swallowed by crime, violence, drugs, financial crisis, and decay. But it's also when the New York Yankees win the world series and uplifts the city, even for just a moment. And ultimately music saves the broken city - everyone from the Ramones to the Talking Heads to the Dead Boys to Patti Smith takes the stage at places that would later become legendary, like CBGB.

Great respect to Allan Tannenbaum for capturing the scenes of the most high-strung, prolific, eclectic city in the world.

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