Legendary NYC Recording Studio Avatar On The Block?

As reported in the September 25th article in Billboard Magazine, according to their sources, the legendary New York City recording facility Avatar, formerly The Power Station, is up for sale. Avatar is one of the last big studios left from New York’s heyday as a mecca for producing hit records. Among the many famous recordings made at the facility are: Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A., Rolling Stones’ Some Girls, Peter Gabriel’s So and Duran Duran’s Seven and the Ragged Tiger. Bob Clearmountain, Scott Litt, Jimmy Iovine and Jellybean Benitez all spent years working in the 33,00 square foot recording complex that was built by producer Tony Bongiovi in 1977. Some of their other famous clients include: Elton John, Aerosmith, David Bowie, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Madonna, Blondie, Iggy Pop, Chic, John Mayer, Adam Levine, Walter Becker, The Kinks, Arctic Monkeys, Baltimora, Counting Crows, The Clash, Kings of Leon, Marc Anthony, The B-52’s, Tony Bennett, Michael Brecker, Devo, Dire Straits, Dream Theater, John Lennon, Grayson Hugh, Throwing Muses, Serge Gainsbourg, The Strokes, Bryan Adams, Bernadette Peters, Pat Metheny, Keith Jarrett Trio, Neil Young, Jaco Pastorius,[3][4] Harry Connick, Jr., Journey, Muse, George Michael, Betty Carter, Sum 41, Moby, Vanessa Williams, Blondie, Porcupine Tree, Michael Stanley, Joan Jett, The Last Shadow Puppets, The Rumble Strips, Trey Anastasio, Helix, Kathem Al Saher, Gang Starr, Honor Society, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Weather Report, Roxy Music, and the band Power Station, which was named after the studio itself.

Will someone save this grand facility or is it to end up another victim of foreign investor condominiums?

Avatar2Avatar

The Kids Are Alright, The Ones That Survived

The original ‘kids’, who starred in the groundbreaking NYC movie Kids by Larry Clark, are doing a Kickstarter campaign to fund a documentary that looks back from the perspective of 20 years later, on how the movie and the times effected their lives, and how they see that period of their lives now. The original movie documents a time of great change in NY and the underground music that was a part of it. Some of the unreleased footage is sure to contain rarely documented glimpses of yet another bygone era of New York City’s underground culture. Here is a link to the Kickstarter.

Post-shooting, 1994. Photo by Gunars Elmuts

Post-shooting, 1994. Photo by Gunars Elmuts

From the Kickstarter campaign:

“We grew up in the 1980s and ‘90s when New York City subcultures thrived: skateboarding, pre-gentrified downtown, Hip Hop, punk, and the rave and club scenes. Kids barely glossed the surface of the poverty, racism, and segregation we experienced in real life, behind the scenes.

With Larry Clark himself fully supporting the project, our documentary will weave together never-before-seen archival material from the ‘80s and ‘90s with intimate, present-day interviews featuring the core cast of characters from Kids.

This film is about our real lives and the real stories that inspired Kids, as well as the lives lost in the journey: Harold Hunter, Justin Pierce, Keenan Milton, Mike Cardona, and Sajan Bhagat. This film is for them.

Our project is about honoring the community that built a global movement and inspired a game-changing film. It is only right that it be an international communal effort to make this project take flight. We want to unite together. All of us. Not just us, THE KIDS, but anyone who’s ever felt unheard.”

Alice Barker, 102 Harlem Renaissance Dancer Relives Her Youth

102 year old Alice Barker, who danced at clubs such as The Apollo, Cotton Club, and Zanzibar Club, with legends including Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, recently got a chance to see footage of herself from the 30s and 40s. It is amazing to think how many great stories she must have!

MOMENT NYC’s goal is to honor, appreciate and gather as much of these personal histories of NYC music entertainment as possible. We cannot allow these precious pieces of our history be lost to time. Please consider joining our cause.

Check out the amazing video:

You can read the full story here As reported in the Herald Recorder.

Musicians Union Fights Majors for Lack of Pension Contributions

logo_afm

From The American Federation of Musicians News via Local 802local802afm

Companies Sued For Failing To Fund Pensions

August 10, 2015

The American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund (AFM Pension Fund) is suing Atlantic Recording Corporation (Atlantic), Hollywood Records (Hollywood), Sony Music Entertainment (Sony), Universal Music Group Recordings, Inc. (UMG), and Warner Brothers Records, Inc. (Warner) for failing to make pension fund contributions.

The suit states that the five recording companies failed to make pension fund payments from foreign audio stream revenue and foreign and domestic ringback revenue.
For over 75 years, the major recording companies have had contracts with the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) requiring the companies to share a portion of sales revenue with musicians. Most of the revenue was originally from record sales and later CD sales. In 1994 AFM and the recording companies entered into an agreement, subsequently renewed, requiring the companies to pay 0.5% of all receipts from digital transmissions including audio streaming, non-permanent downloads and ringbacks.

“The record companies should stop playing games about their streaming revenue and pay musicians and their pension fund every dime that is owed,” said Ray Hair, AFM International President. “Fairness and transparency are severely lacking in this business. We are changing that.”

Last year independent auditors discovered that the recording companies had not made the required revenue payments from foreign audio streams, ringbacks, and foreign non-permanent downloads. Attempts to reconcile the issues outside of court have been ongoing for several months to no avail. Suit was filed today in New York.

This is the fifth lawsuit filed against major media corporations for contract violations in the past few months. Under Hair’s leadership, AFM has begun aggressively enforcing existing contracts and standing up to large corporations that fail to pay musicians when their work is reused or offshored.

The suit seeks payment for all missing revenue owed the AFM Pension Fund, late payment penalties, interest, damages and legal costs. Read the complaint here.

“Danny Says” Finally Comes to NYC!

DannyLouAndyThe documentary film “Danny Says” about Danny Field’s – the visionary, publicist, booking agent, and musical connector who first booked Max’s Kansas City, managed the Ramones and made the Doors famous – is finally having it’s New York City premiere. The film, by Brendon Toller, features some great interviews and clips, like a fantastic audio clip of Lou Reed’s reaction to hearing the Ramones for the first time! Field’s life story is nothing short of amazing if only for the number of musicians and celebrities that are in someway connected or touched by his life, but beyond that, his key role in the NYC underground rock scene of the 70’s cannot be understated. Unfortunately, the premiere which will be at the Walter Reade Theater on July 29th is already sold out.
You can learn more about Danny Fields and the film here.

James Murphy and the Future Sounds of NYC’s Subway

James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem has been working toward his longtime vision of making the NYC subway system a more musical experience. Here he is talking about it in a recent interview on WQXR.

 

and here is a short film that sums up the project, which has recently received sponsorship from Heineken.