Max’s Revisited 30 Years Later

Nancy with Peter Crowley - Photo Shari Saffioti

By Nancy Cataldi

Many people now claim to have been part of the Max’s scene and to be honest, some people I never recall being there. But that, too was part of the scene. On any given night and which way the wind blew, there were a few hot spots to chose from.

Was someone cool at Gildersleeves...what was happening at the 82, or was Max’s the place to be tonight? So in one night time there was a lot of scurrying back and forth to all the scenes to find the one that was the best for that given scene. Later, Ashley’s Bar also came on board. For the late late night crowd was Harold’s, run by Harold of Teenage Lust, located at 210 Fifth Avenue. It was a loft up in a fabulous vintage building.

It was raided many times since it was not legit. It was a great place to “wind down” after running around to all the “in” clubs at the time.

In the early 70’s when Max’s began it’s first rock and roll wave of popularity, it boasted the likes of literary giants such as Allen Ginsberg and Timothy Leary as well as the Warhol crowd. Any given night you had Candy Darling and Holly Woodlawn mingling with Richard Avedon. Soon the rock and roll people started hanging out, the first wave being the Glitter crowd which included early New York Dolls. The big thing was to have a table in the notorious back room. Table hopping was the best. To ensure you got a table in the back, ordering dinner was a shoe in. Of course if you were David Bowie, Alice Cooper or Lou Reed, these rules did not apply. Every table was adorned with a bowl of dried chick peas, which were used to toss to get someone’s attention at another table. Yet they were quite tasty and made you thirsty. Perfect for Max’s to sell more drinks, although the drugs were also making the rounds.

Upstairs was the music scene. On any given night, you could see Iggy Pop smearing himself with his own blood, The Police, the Dolls and why...Rick Springfield?( I remember he had on these big furry mukluk boots.) SOme of the biggest names in history played at Max’s at that time.

Max’s closed for a while in 1974 with financial woes. Mickey Ruskin’s reign was over. Tommy Dean took over in 1975.

Peter Crowley became the DJ at upstairs Max’s at that time and the punk scene was born. The likes of bands coming thru there were; the Heartbreakers, the Ramones, Tuff Darts, Wayne County, Television, Cheap Perfume, The Fast, The Brats, Velveteens and every New York City band you can imagine. Many bands formed and reformed with switch overs happening on any given night.

To the present: Susie of Cheap Perfume organized a well thought out tribute to Peter Crowley on July 19, 2008 at Kenny’s Castaway’s on Bleecker Street. For you old timers, Kenny’s in the heydays was located uptown. There was such a fabulous line-up. We certainly lost many of our Max’s friends over the years, but the survivors came out in full force and it was a great night for a great reunion. helping Susie get this together was Bunny from the same band and Lou Bova formerly of the Fast.

Opening up were Paul Ryder’s Bloodrunners for a marathon of musical mania. Paul Ryder, although not a Max’s veteran, recalled that his mom was a waitress at Max’s.

Freddy Frogs followed in a swinging set of some of his best songs. Joining him on stage for a few songs was Theresa Rizzo.

Ruby and the Rednecks continued the musical onslaught with many fabulous songs. Ruby at center stage looking just as incredible and full of energy as ever. I loved when she said, “I hope my tit does not fall out of my dress.” Some things never change!

Peter Crowley meanwhile was choosing great music in between as he always did. I asked him what he thought of this tribute, to have so many friends come out and honor him, and he was quite humble in saying,,,,”This is wonderful.” He also joking noted that thank god not too many people were in walkers! Hey, Peter , look around! Everyone was full of vitality and energy and looking FAB!!! He also regretted that many of our peers were gone over the years and hoped they were there in spirit. He mused that maybe the bar would have done better if half the crowd were not in recovery.

The Hudson Dusters continued the musical forces for the night with a great set and some fabulous covers. Bill Tello, their drummer did honors not only with the Dusters, but with Ruby and Freddy Frogs.

Tuff Darts fronted by Tommy Frenzy went on next. It was just a short time ago that Jeff Salen was taken from us and the Tuff Darts. It was rousing set, full of energy. Up for a guest appearance was Lou Bova from the Fast playing bass. Watching from the packed audience, was a blast from the past, original bassist from the Fast Tommy Mooney. Also mingling in the crowd were Jon Montgomery, from Street Punk and Perfect Stranger, Dina Regine, photographer Leee Black Childers, Thomas Riley Smith, Bobby Sharp, Sturgis Nikides, Michael Zuko, Bleu Ocean, and many other old friends.

Cheap Perfume was on next, I think it was almost 1 AM at this point. Bunny, Susie and Brenda went through their songs and was joined at the end by saxophonist Danny Ray from Mad Juana. I don’t know how many people knew Bunny was playing a guitar with three broken fingers! Then came on stage Ty and Niikki Fuse to play a few songs with Bunny from their new band Sunday Masquerade.

Next on the program was a special appearance jam by an incredible group of performers. Luigi Babe on lead guitar (from Luigi and the Wise Guys and Cosa Nostra), Joey Kelly from Buddy Love on vocals, Joff Wilson from The Bowery Boys on bass, and Rocco rock and Roll from Buzz and the Flyers on drums. Joining them on stage then was a visitor from New Orleans, Johnny Angel aka Steve Fraser from Rags and the Brats. They did various renditions of songs and Jon Montgomery joined then for backup vocals. All the ladies seemed to have moved up close to the stage at this point. Johnny Angel in his rockabilly style, toasted all the people who were not with us, and to Peter Crowley and all of us being together again, After all, that was what this night was all about.

Final set was Sturgis from John Cale’s group and Bobby Sharp from Sharp with Gass from Love Pirates on drums doing a real rock and roll rendition of some great covers and originals.

Maybe we cannot go back, but it was a great evening for old friends to get together, catch up and play some great music.

Soundcheck wanna thank Nancy for taking time out to recall the night for our readers!!! Thanks Nancy!