Go Folk Yourselves

There’s invariably a bigger post to be done on this subject, but inspired by the allusion to NYC's  fleeting "Anti-Folk" scene in my post of the other day, I did a bit more digging and found some great stuff on YouTube.

Let me, once again, preface this by asserting that I was never a great fan of this stuff — Anti-Folk or actual Folk — whichever your preference, despite quite digging Roger Manning and King Missile (if the latter can even still be counted as such). I certainly never gave one good crap about the Moldy Peaches, but whatever. If you’re into that stuff, though, might I direct you to this two part documentary.

Somewhat prior to all that stuff, however, there was this band called The Washington Squares. I never actually went — or, honestly, harbored any desire — to see them, but I remember their flyers being up all over the place in the 80’s. Essentially, they were a group of veterans from various punk bands who basically did "a reverse Dylan" and went acoustic.

Their big haunt, somewhat unsurprisingly, was a joint down the strip from Bleecker Bob’s on West Third street called Folk City. Don’t bother looking for it now, obviously. It’s long gone — replaced by a bar of no great distinction or character.

I was still living up on the Upper East Side at the time, but as detailed, once again, in this post, I’d had a grade school friend I’ve been calling Spike (obviously, not his real name) who moved downtown to his dad’s place on Cornelia Street sometime around `82 or `83. From that address in the veritable heart of the Village, Spike and I fully immersed ourselves in the local attractions. And one of those attractions was Folk City.

We went a couple of times, but never to see any credible folk acts. I believe we went to a few open-mic stand-up comedy shows there, and — strangely — I believe we saw a performance by Steve Forbert. You might remember him from 1979’s radio staple, “Romeo’s Tune” and his fleeting cameo in the video for Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” ... which, incidentally, was filmed a couple of blocks away on Gay Street, but you probably knew that.

Folk City actually played host to a few bands I’d have liked to have seen at the time — notably an early, endearingly rough-round-the-edges incarnation of the Violent Femmes — but I didn’t get to those shows, for whatever reason.

Anyway, in terms of the Washington Squares, they always struck me as kinda schticky. I don’t doubt their reverence for genuine folk music, but their image just seemed like a send-up … or a piss-take. Later on in their career, they ditched their nyuck nyuck berets and stripy beatnik shirts in favor or a more straightforward approach (check out their cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” for a bit of that … filmed in the heart of Times Square in the late `80s). Now, is there -- as that documentary suggests -- a genuine link between the Washington Squares and later acts like Paleface, Lach and Roger Manning, etc.? I'll defer to the acolytes of that scene answer that.

I believe the Washington Square broke up by the dawn of the `90's, but I have no idea. Folk City closed its doors on West Third Street in 1986, after a 25-year run. Even though they didn’t regularly host my type of shit, I was sad to see it go. It was a fun room.

Check out the clip below that profiles both the Washington Squares and gives you a tantalizing glimpse of the interiors of Folk City.

Comments

[G]

I don't have any answers to your folk question about connective tissues btwn anti folk & the Wash. Sq's, but...

at some point in the late 80s or early 90s I got a Christmas-time job at the B. Altman's dept. store, doing various stuff--filling gift bags, moving clothing racks, etc. One of the things they wanted me to do was put on a costume and run around out front among the people who were ogling the holiday window displays. They gave me a gorilla costume. Connection between Christmas & gorillas? No answers there either.

They had me put on the suit again for a kids party at the store. Other people recruited for party temp jobs working this party? A singer named Baby Malone as a teddy bear, and Tom Goodkind from the Washington Squares as... SANTA!

I believe he also used to book the Peppermint Lounge, didn't he?

[URLBrenner]

Back in the early 90s when I lived on W. 4th St. I used to go pretty regularly to The Kettle of Fish bar which at the time was located in the former Folk City on W. 3rd St. I had heard that back in the 60s Dylan and others had played there which was sort of exciting to know. I later found that that location was in fact NOT the original Folk City and not the place of Dylan and Greenwich Village legend (as the reporter in the video incorrectly states). The original Folk City (also known as Gerde's Folk City) was located at 11 W. 4th at the corner of Mercer. In 1970 they moved to the W. 3rd St. location. The building of the original location is gone and is now the home of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, a rather non-descript piece of architecture probably built in the late 70s or early 80s.

A picture of the original Folk City can be found here http://www.thirdav.com/hd_discog/clubs/img_nyc_gerdesfolkcity.html

[Lach]

You mean, Baby Monroe. Tom Goodkind produced my first album. How's that for a connection ;-)
Cheers
Lach

lach.bandcamp.com if ya wanna catch up. also, www.antifolk.net and www.antifolk.com

[G]

YEAH--Baby MONROE! That's the guy!