CBGB: Decades of graffiti

CBGB, the music club that helped define New York City punk scene by introducing the world to such bands as the Talking Heads and Ramones, is little more than a bar, a stage and two bathrooms. Since opening in 1973, very little has changed about the physical space, with one exception: the graffiti. The club has never stopped its patrons from adding to the mosaics of ink and pencil that literally cover every square inch of the walls. As grimy and layered as they are, the walls contain the history of the club, irom the musicians to the fans. The verve of the lettering and the passionate, drunken silliness of the words and messager echo the power and innovation of the countless hours of music that have Screamed off the stage. While CBGB's reputation is rooted in the music, the music spawned a scene that people now associate with the club as a physical space. Without this book, there would be no record of these graphic treatments of the punk aesthetic.