Do you have any nostalgia for the music of the 70s? If you watch ‘Once upon a time in New-York’, a documentary from the BBC4 directed by Ben Whalley, that was recently uploaded on YouTube in 4 parts, you will be back there, in the middle of the action, in New York City to witness the birth of punk in downtown Manhattan, disco in midtown, and hip hop in uptown.
New-York felt like an abandoned city in the 70s, in the middle of an economic crisis, an urban decay that would nevertheless see its rebirth through art and music. With Andy Warhol’s factory, the Velvet Underground, Studio 54, and The New York Dolls, the music became part of the gay and sexual liberation, with Television, Patti Smith, Debbi Harry, David Byrne, the Talking Heads, and the Ramones, punk became a word applied to bands playing at CBGB, with Bronx DJs, block parties became a way for gang members to release energy.
So if you have an hour, and an appetite for music history, watch the first part here, then catch the 3 other parts: