CBGB

Right now- Right now-

Right now it's time to kick out the jams, motherfuckers!

- Come on, man. Take this horrible shit off.

What the hell? I'm listening to that.

- When Mom comes home, she'll make me shut it off.

Well, I'm doing her a favor then.

Dude, you know what? This is really making me crazy.

What? I just got here.

What are you doing, by the way?

I'm starting a magazine.

Like-- Like 19 instead of 16?

Or 21. Or-- Oh, no, no, wait.

We should totally go younger-- 13.

- Get in on the newbie chicks. - No.

It's a magazine for fuck-up kids.

Like kids who have parties when their parents are away and destroy the house.

Cool. I can be, like, the editor or something.

No. I'm the editor and the illustrator.

- Well, what does that leave me? - You're just a punk.

I am just a punk.

"Punk."

- That's a great title. - Yeah. And that was my idea.

- Dude, I thought of that idea. - What? No, you didn't.

- I just said, "That's a great title." - Who gave you the idea for "Punk"?

Who said it was a great title?

- Hillel, where are you? - Hillel!

Kidnapped? Bertha, no one kidnaps from the poor.

- What? - Hilly's missing.

Get your truck.

How did he get here?

He must have walked.

Three miles?

- It's two and a half. - That is not normal.

Hillel Kristal, you currently reside at 21 East 2nd Street?

And what is your marital status, Mr. Kristal?

My wife and I are split.

- Separated or divorced? - Divorced, yeah.

- Children? - Two.

And this is your second failed attempt to run a bar.

A club.

Divorced and two bankruptcies.

Perhaps you should try something else.

Do you play?

Used to.

Me too.

Mother required it.

Hilly Kristal.

They call me Idaho.

- Why's that? - I like potatoes.

Buy you a drink?

All right. All right. Big shot.

The Palace Bar.

I like the irony.

- What'll you have? - Whiskey.

Brandy and Fresca.

No Fresca.

Soda.

Anyone play music in here?

No.

Nobody would complain about the noise this far downtown.

They'd complain, but no one would listen.

Think what a coat of paint could do.

Or a bulldozer.

I wanna buy this bar.

Got any money?

Look around, Hillel. You know that I'm not made of money.

Mmm.

This rugelach looks amazing, Mrs. Kristal.

Ah, you're such a good boy, Merv. Take some more.

Mmm.

Merv, are you gonna be working with Hillel...

on the new club?

Only if he pays me.

He'll pay you.

Am I correct, Hillel?

Can't play with broken strings, Idaho.

Thanks, Hilly.

Hilly's on the Bowery.

Very nice. Another promising investment opportunity for your mother.

This way to the kitchen.

And lose that phony accent, Merv.

Two more blasts of ketchup.

- How many is that so far? - Uh, 15.

It's a train wreck.

- What a surprise. - Nice to see you too.

- I'm droppin' out of school, Dad. - Well, you shouldn't.

- Well, I can't afford it. - So that's my fault?

Yeah.

I need a place to crash, just for a couple of nights until I get things back on track.

- You leave that boyfriend yet? - You consider getting a real job yet?

Well, it's a start.

We have a stage. Now we need an income.

I was thinking 50-cent beers and topless waitresses like that joint down on--

Look, the music will do it all for us.

You start playing that disco shit, I'm gone.

Country and blues.

In New York City?

This club's gonna be different.

- Country and blues? - Country, bluegrass, blues.

- I should've never left my other job. - That place was a shithole.

This place is a shithole.

Idaho, come on.

I'm lookin' up.

It's the only bar in the city with Fresca on tap.

Yeah, but that shit will kill you.

Uh, hello.

We hear you have a stage.

We have a band.

The perfect band to perform on your stage.

What kind of music do you play?

Uh, new music.

Uh, what does CBGB stand for?

Country, Bluegrass, Blues.

They play a little of that.

A little rock, a little country, a little bluegrass, a little blues.

Hey, didn't you use to manage the Village Vanguard?

Hundred years ago.

One moment.

Terry Ork. I manage the band Television.

Oh.

Uh, you just met the guitar players, Richard and Tom, outside.

It's a win-win.

CBGB gets new customers buying drinks, and we get to play for an audience.

They any good?

They are raw...

and they-they're primitive.

- They are going to be huge. - I bet they stink.

But maybe if they perform...

they'll get better.

All right. You've got some vision, man.

- Only original music. - You got it.

Ah! That way, you get to avoid paying ASCAP fees.

It's a philosophy.

You might want to consider an exterminator, just to--

You got a good sound engineer?

You're talking to a man who sang at Radio City.