It’s happened before. I’ve invoked someone’s name, and they’ve weighed in. I’ve had that happen with Lenny Kaye, Julia Cafritz of Pussy Galore, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Bob Bert of Sonic Youth/Pussy Galore, Handsome Dick Manitoba of the Dictators, punk photographer Roberta Bayley, John Lurie of the Lounge Lizards, Peter Missing from Missing Foundation, Jarboe of SWANS, the late photographer Ricky Powell, Johnny Ha Ha of Alien Sex Fiend and, most recently, Jim Fornidais of the Rats of Unusual Size (whom I somewhat blithely dismissed in an allusion to a triple-bill at the Pyramid, centuries ago --- sorry about that!). I mean, I suppose it’s not that big deal. Who hasn’t, at one point or another, googled their own name and perused the results? It should be so surprising, but it always kinda catches me off guard.
In any case, what I’m referring to is a comparatively ancient post from 2013, wherein I drilled down on the assertion, first invoked in the excellent memoir “Black Postcards” by Galaxie 500/Luna singer/songwriter Dean Wareham, that late Cramps guitarist Bryan Gregory (right) had allegedly worked at an Upper East Side King Karol outlet on Third Avenue between East 86th and East 85th Streets. Having grown up, as Wareham had, in that same neighborhood, and similarly gleaned that Cramps frontman Lux Interior had worked at nearby Musical Maze just down the avenue a little bit (as recently expounded on here), I was entirely fascinated by the concept of these two striking figures from New York City’s Punk underground toiling in the comparatively staid environs of Manahttan on the westerly edges of Yorkville.
Eleven years later, Dean Wareham has officially entered the discussion, leaving a note over the weekend saying….
okay I stand corrected; it was MUSICAL MAZE. Too bad I can't fix in the book. I too used to walk by the store on the way home from school and I bought the first Clash album there for sure.
Incidentally, that picture of Wareham up top was not captured in either King Karol or Musical Maze, but rather brazenly purloined from this page. Topically, however, the image fit the bill, so to speak.
Here in 2024, neither King Karol nor Musical Maze still exist. Neither do Bryan Gregory or Lux Interior of the Cramps, tragically. Today, actually, would have been Bryan Gregory's 71st birthday, had he not died of heart failure at age 49 in 2001. Dean Wareham, meanwhile, is still quite active and currently touring with Luna, so go check him out if you get the chance.
Here’s my favorite-ever Luna song, “23 Minutes Over Brussels” which features the inimitable guitar of the late Tom Verlaine. Crank it.
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