HE SLEPT WITH
JOEY RAMONE
An original punk
recalls the early days
When it comes to covering rock ’n’ roll,
few insiders have been around longer
than Legs McNeil, who’s widely considered to be the first person to use the
term “punk” to describe a form of music.
After starting Punk magazine in the mid-
’70s, McNeil went on to work at Spin
before coauthoring 1997’s Please Kill Me:
The Uncensored Oral History of Punk and
last year’s I Slept With Joey Ramone.
A born raconteur, McNeil recounts
the day he fell in love with music.
“One day my friend John Holmstrom
put in The Dictators’ ‘Go Girl Crazy!’,”
he recalls. “At that time, everyone
was singing about saving the world,
but these guys sang ‘Cars, girls, surf-
ing, beer/Nothing else matters here.’ I
couldn’t stop playing that album over
and over again.”
After he and Holmstrom started
their magazine in the hope that people
would “think we were cool and hang
out with us,” McNeil became immersed
in the New York City rock scene centered on the notorious CBGB.
“John took me to see this band he said sounded like The Dicta-
tors, called The Ramones,” he says. “There were 30 people there,
and one of them was Lou Reed. The Ramones came out and
played the wrong song, then stomped offstage, only to come back
on and launch into ‘Blitzkrieg Bop.’ It was amazing. They became
big fans of the magazine, and eventually I became good friends
with Joey.”
Asked about his feelings regarding the tempestuous changes in
the music industry over the past decade, McNeil jokingly laments
the loss of lavish press parties. But he insists that the music itself is
still as strong as ever.
“There are bands like the Ike Reilly Assassination and Sloppy
Seconds who have been around forever and keep putting out
good records,” he says. “What’s happened is that there is no
more ‘music industry.’ There are just people putting out CDs, and
some of ’em are pretty great. If you want to do it right, you do it
yourself. And in that way, I think music has come full circle.”
— By Bret Love
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Classical and contemporary
music in timeless settings
SHOW TIME
Sometimes it’s the history of the space, the
acoustics or the performers. Regardless of
that je ne sais quoi, music halls are local treasures that attract audiences for a wonderful
triumvirate of music appreciation, history
and architecture. We took a look at some of
the best venues around the Northeast, from
New Hampshire to New York to Maryland, and
found that each state has some local treasures
where people can come together and enjoy one
of the best things in life—music.
AN AMERICAN TREASURE
In the revitalized waterfront city of Portsmouth, N.H., the simply named Music Hall
is one such gem. Built in 1878, it is the oldest
theater in the state and enjoys an “American
Treasure” designation by the U.S. Senate. The
soaring, domed ceilings and gold leaf murals
were recently rediscovered during extensive
renovations, which also included recovering
the velvet banquettes and adding a fantastic
beaux-arts lobby. All manner of local and
national programs take stage here, from classic movies and Metropolitan Opera simulcasts to dance and theater.
Music Hall, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth,
N.H.; 603-436-2400; themusichall.org
BOSTON’S GREAT HALLS
Celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma has affectionately
referred to Boston’s Jordan Hall as “one of the
most beautiful halls in the world … It’s acoustically perfect for me as a performer and yet
it’s friendly to the person who’s listening, sitting in the audience.” There are no bad seats in
this acoustically superb and stunningly beautiful venue, which is part of the New England
Conservatory. Check out the spring schedule,
which could include performances by the
Boston Philharmonic, the Handel and Haydn
Society, the Cantata Singers or the Boston Gay
Men’s Chorus.
Around the corner sits Boston Symphony
Hall, the grande dame of the city. Built in
1900 for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, it
became a U.S. National Historic Landmark
in 1999. At the time, it was noted that “Sym-
phony Hall remains, acoustically, among the
top three concert halls in the world and is
considered the finest in the United States.”
Musical director James Levine has created a
kAT Y WINN/GET T Y IMAGES
