CBGB IF THESE WALLS COULD SHOUT Book Proposal by J.K. Putnam and Christopher D Salyers about cbgb: if these walls could shout PROPOSED SPECS: Hardcover 10 x 8 inches (25.4 x 20.32 cm) over 200 color photographs 160 pages During the summer before CBGB s much publicized closing, Ghost & Company co-founders Christopher D Salyers and Buzz Poole paid a visit to CBGB, hoping to receive permission from Hilly Kristal to photograph the club s notoriously filthy bathrooms. Kristal had no problem with the idea and as Salyers and Poole looked around the club (neither of them had ever been there during daylight hours), Salyers had the idea to document all the graffiti and stickers adorning the walls. And, with Kristal s blessing, CBGB: Decades of Graffiti was conceived. Working with photographer J.K. Putnam, this slim volume became the only book to capture the decades of history scrawled across the club s walls. The photography featured in the book only samples the extensive range of imagery captured by Putnam. With ever growing interest in CBGB and all things punk CBGB: If These Walls Could Shout is a book that is impossible to replicate. The bar, stage, and even urinals from the club have been preserved as historical artifacts, but there is no documentation of the club s walls that can rival this book s content. Because Kristal never applied a fresh coast of paint after first opening the club in 1973, the walls hold CBGB s visual history and this book contains that history in all of its grungy, authentic glory, showing a story that no one else can tell, or find elsewhere. Although CBGB s doors closed in 2006, the importance of the famed New York City punk club has only grown during the intervening years. Not only does the iconic design of the club s name end up on t-shirts and stickers worldwide, but the story of the musical breeding ground created by CBGB founder Hilly Kristal has reached the status of myth. There has never been any doubt about the importance of bands like Television, The Ramones, Talking Heads, and Blondie, not to mention dozens of other seminal acts that over the years earned their reputations on the venue s cramped stage. But today, the hole left by the shuttering of CBGB is now being filled with international media interest and opportunities. In July 2012, the current owners of the CBGB brand inaugurated the CBGB Festival, a New York City-based series of concerts, and the event s second incarnation is already planned for May 2013. Also on tap for 2013 is the release of a feature-length film that tells the story of the club s history, where the punk sound and style originated before becoming a worldwide phenomenon.
author bios J.K. Putnam is the co-author of DECAY and has been featured in over a dozen other photography and design books. His work has been published by Mark Batty Publisher, The Brooklyn Paper, The New York Daily News, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Overflow Magazine, and nationalgeographic.com. His photography has taken him from Asia to Africa to Alaska to Australia, specializing in documentary, cultural, and wilderness photography. Putnam lives and works in New York City. Christopher D Salyers is a Brooklyn-based, AIGA award-winning book designer and author of numerous popular culture titles. Vending Machines: Coined Consumerism is his visual analysis of this growing consumer model, and Face Food Recipes: A How-To Guide, part of a series that looks at the Japanese phenomenon of character bento boxes, was described by Grafik as dripping with enthusiasm and awe. His work has been feature in Wired, The New York Times, Fast Company, Grafik, Fader, Monocle, TV Asahi, and Fox News. market assessment CBGB s current owners are actively expanding the brand on an international scale: With music festivals, offshoot venues, films, and other ventures, the current owners of CBGB are creating ample opportunities to expand the brand and bring it to new and larger audiences; CBGB: If These Walls Could Talk is a perfect title to sell into those special markets, especially since the book will never be dated, or bettered. Punk forever!: Rebellion will always be in vogue and its soundtrack will always have its roots in the bands that came out of the CBGB scene; the club s physical interior from the bathrooms to the bar, sound booth, stage, and backstage is a touchstone for anyone interested in the history of American popular music. Content not available anywhere else: It is no exaggeration to say that these photographs are only available through Ghost & Company; with hundreds of never-before-seen images of the club s interior, the book could be a comprehensive tome or the content could be folded in with other related materials. similar titles Punk: An Aesthetic by Jon Savage and Johan Kugelberg (Rizzoli, 2012) CBGB: Decades of Graffiti by Christopher D Salyers and Richard Hell (Mark Batty Publisher, 2006) CBGB & OMFUG: Thirty Years from the Home of Underground Rock by Hilly Kristal (Harry N. Abrams, 2005)
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