Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog

New Years Eve with The Louds

In the early 70s, PBS broadcast the first reality series, An American Family. It told the story of the William C. Loud family from Santa Barbara, California. Their eldest son Lance, who lived at the Chelsea Hotel and hung out with Warhol "superstar" Holly Woodlawn, and was an openly and unapologetically gay young man. This is one of several clips from the series now available on youtube.com.  The Loud family and their friends party on New Years Eve.

Winston Giles Orchestra: Welcome To The Hotel

The Winston Giles Orchestra is here to help you ring in the New Year Chelsea Hotel style.

Bow Making 101

Better late than never.  You've finally finished all of that shopping. Relax and let BlairWear show you how to make a bow because decorating the package is the most important part of the gift giving ritual.

Watch BlairWear's  Bow Making 101. 

Glaring Omission in "Edie:Girl on Fire"

Even though the Chelsea Hotel was good enough for Edie Sedgwick it wasn't good enough to host the book launch party for "Edie: Girl on Fire".  Instead, the party was held at the Gramercy Park Hotel, an "elegant and refined setting served as a modern day Max's Kansas City..." Where is the modern day Edie to set fire to that fancy hotel? 
     From our blogging perch in the stairwell we have learned that the book has a glaring omission.  While it has ample quotes from Rene Richard it doesn't have any pictures of Edie's former co-star.  Come on, Rene was book hot in 1965 and starred along side Edie in "Kitchen" and "The Andy Warhol Story."  So reprint that book!
    The article about the book party goes on to report that Edie... "pretty much directed all of the Warhol films that she was in..."  That's a surprise to us we didn't think anybody directed any of Warhols' films.  We thougth he just turned the camera on and let it run.

Today's Parties

Fans of Patti Smith are hosting a birthday party for the singer tonight at the Bowery Poetry Club.  Confirmed performers include: Christine Goodman, Poez, and The Bass Player from Hand Job.
The Bowery Poetry Club is located at 308 Bowery, New York, NY. 10:00 p.m.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is showing A Child's Christmas in Wales (26 min.)  The film features Dylan Thomas reading his holiday story. Times are: 12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m., 2:00 p.m.–2:45 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.–4:45 p.m. The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium.  Free with Museum admission.   The Metropolitan Museum of Art is located at 1000 Fifth Ave., NY NY

As usual, Patti Smith will be playing at the Bowery Ballroom on New Years Eve and the show is sold out. However, you can listen live on SIRIUS Satellite radio.

Alec Montroy

Delaware/Cree/French artist and elder Alec Montroy, passed away on Dec. 4, 2006. He was 88 years old. Alec was a figurative painter who worked in the European style of Pointillism painters. He loved art and life and especially New York City. Montroy lived for many years at the Chelsea Hotel.  In an interview published in TALKING STICKS Native Arts Quarterly Alec talked briefly about his time at the Chelsea. (Thanks to Rachel Cohen for the link.)

You lived for many years in a hotel known for its creative artists in residence, the Chelsea Hotel. How did you come to be one of the artists living there?

My first wife died and my two kids were off to school. I was left rattling around in a house. So the Chelsea Hotel had a name for artists and quite a history. It had very good little kitchenettes. So I got in there. You see here I have a painting of the lobby of the Chelsea Hotel, well, that was my home. It was during the days when they had ashtrays in the lobby. I lived there about 20 years before Anna and I moved here to Queens. There were many good people there and many a story.

When I pass away this art is left...If you can leave a painting it will help somebody.- Alec Montroy, August, 2005.

McBurney Y Penthouse Going Cheap

I read on curbed.com that the penthouse/architectural abomination atop the old McBurney Y is finally up for sale.  Flippers and speculators need not apply, as we don’t take kindly to your type in these here parts.  But if you have a sincere desire to live in Chelsea, this 12,900 sq. ft. space can be yours for the bargain basement price of $7.4 million.  This seems like a lot less than what similar places were going for in the building in recent years, but this is probably due more to a softening of the market, rather than to a growing realization that the building is not quite what it’s cracked up to be.

            If you choose to take advantage of this deal, welcome to the neighborhood!  Rest assured that you will be resented by both the common rabble of the streets, and by your rich neighbors as well.  By us commoners, because you will have appropriated our beloved community institution.  By your rich neighbors because they believed when they moved in that they would have the use of the roof.  I’m sure to some of you jet-setting high-rollers this will make the property even more appealing, which is a good thing for the developer, as otherwise you could surely find something better on Park Avenue or in Tribeca.
     Of course, in the ad for the place, they pledge to spend $120,000 to renovate the basement corridor—er, excuse me, the “lobby”—and to put in a doorman (wouldn’t you think they would have one already?!)  Am I paranoid in suspecting that something is wrong with this picture when that’s the first thing they mention in the ad?  My advice: get it in writing.
            And by the way, how are you going to like spending all that money and then having to throw your dinner parties in a building with a huge, gaudy “Jag” ad on the side.  Classy, eh! (Ed Hamilton)

Greetings From Tennessee

Once again, a reader from Tennessee comes through with a holiday card for us.  She writes,  "Aha I found your card today.  Is it iconography of the birth of a god?  Or is it entertainment?  It's yard work for sure."

Happy Birthday Storme DeLarverie

If you see Storme wish her Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday. She turns 87 today.
Here's a small part of Storme's story: “I chopped off my hair, put on men’s clothes, and joined the Jewel Box Review!”  The Jewel Box Review was a multi-racial drag revue that toured the country in the fifties, sixties and seventies.  The only female member of the troupe, Stormé served as stage manager, musical arranger, emcee and “mother” of the troupe for fourteen years.

            “But you’re an important activist, too,” Debbie reminded her.  “Could you tell us about your role in the Stonewall rebellion?”

            “They ask me, why do you want to be a target like that?” Stormé said, referring to her leadership role in the gay rights struggle.  “They’ll stab you in the back, they’ll hit you, they’ll shoot you.”  She paused to reflect and then said, “But honey, they’re all dead, and I’m still here!”

Hotel Chelsea Nights

Strung out like some Christmas lights out there in the Chelsea night....

LAST MINUTE HOLIDAY WISH LIST

Want to make somebody who lives in the hotel (or aspires to that honor) happy this year?  Below is a wish list:

1. What would you like for the Holidays?
Robert Shaw: a Passage to New York.

Mia Hanson: a Kirlian Camera and an orgone aura.

Hawk Alfredson: 23 daze in space.

Rita Barros: a plane ticket to Portugal.

Name Withheld: a lawyer at my beck and call around the clock.

Dahlia: an all expense paid vacation to Paris.

Ed: a foosball table.  Oh wait, I already have one!

2. What do you recommend for the Hotel Chelsea fans on your list?
Robert Shaw: a passage to New York.
Mia Hanson: a genuine H.C. genie and an oscillating Kirlian camera.
Rita Barros: a lobster dinner at El Quijote next door.
Dalhia: a Chelsea t-shirt, umbrella, or a copy of Arthur Weinstein’s original artwork of Sid Vicious against the profile of the railing and the Chelsea Hotel sign.
Debbie: Dee Dee Ramone’s unpublished autographical manuscript so they can pass it off as their own--and say they wrote it at the Chelsea for that extra special marketing touch.

And hey, talk about dreams coming true: Robert Shaw, our correspondent from Australia, better known (to some) as Carrie Bedsore and/or Cherrie Ramone, has already had his wish granted and he’ll be heading on up to the top of the world in February for a stay at the Chelsea.  How’s that for the power of this legendary edifice to fulfill your deepest, most secret desires?  I kid you not, fellow Chelseaites and kindred untamed spirits, so whatever you do, keep on dreaming.  Maybe you too will get a holiday visit from the H.C. genie.
(Photo: Chelsea Hotel, 2002)

Living With Legends Featured in NYT; Readers Respond

As you may or may not know, our blog was recently profiled on The New York Times Editorial Page. The NYT has a hell of a circulation, and so we received e-mails from all over the world, from new friends/readers and old. A few of our favorites:

I’m told--have you heard this?—that if you’ve been mentioned twice in the Times they have to print your obituary when you die.  Something to look forward to?
(Gee, can’t wait.)

This has gotta be a first—a blog cited in a NYT editorial!!!!!!!!!!  Cheers!!!
(We don’t know about that.  Anybody have any ideas?)

I used to work across the street from the Hotel Chelsea.  On November 22, 1963 I was in the Hotel Chelsea lunchroom having lunch when John F. Kennedy was shot. It was the first time I ever went there.  There were three of us and we all had grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato on them.  As we were crossing the street to go back to work, this is when we first heard the news about JFK.  We thought it was a joke.  It was unbelievable news!
(We had never heard that the Chelsea had a lunchroom before.  A dining room, of course, but we thought that was gone long before the sixties.)

Hi from Rome, Italy. I just discovered (thanks to the nyt online) your blog and I already love it.  I read everything about Andy and Edie and am very pleased you blog about them.  Unfortunately the system does not accept my comment to a post but I wanted to let you know anyway.
(Sorry about the system.  You can comment, we just have to approve it before it goes up.  We had to do this because people were putting up scandalous comments about residents and the management.  Not that we’re above that ourselves, mind you!)

What about the El Quixote restaurant where we had many delicious Sunday dinners at $5 per in the 70s.  We ate there a couple years ago. Still good food, higher price. (Check out the chicken livers.  They’re still pretty cheap.)

You are wonderful.  At last something about the center of the universe that is not the Village Voice....  You make me feel insane to miss out on the Le Chelsea experience....  I’m from New Zealand (where football is rugby union, not girly gridiron.  (Is all that padding for real?  We think a mouth guard is too much.))  Do you send out e-zines?
(Yes, you are correct in surmising that, under all that padding, those are girls.  But we do like our teeth here in the states.  They come in handy, you know.  And if you feel insane now, just wait until you’ve sat in our lobby for a few hours.  Let us know when you’re coming.)

Enjoyed the brief Chelsea Hotel article in the NYTimes today. As a child I paid 25 cents (or less) to use their pool. This was after a friend and I would visit the Hudson Guild. We were summer campers at the Hudson Guild Farm.  What memories! Thank you!  (Name redacted, Colorado)
(Well, we didn’t know the Chelsea had a pool either.)

From the late 1950's until the early 1970's I had clothing alterations done by Mrs Krauss, whose first name I don't remember.  She and her husband operated their business on the upper West side but lived at the Chelsea.  More than a seamstress, she was a couturier who had previously worked for Helena Rubinstein.  The most beautiful clothing hanging in her workroom was owned by Betty Furness, the actress who was a long-time customer of Mrs. Krauss.

When they got older and business got tough, Mr. and Mrs. Krauss relocated their workroom to their apartment at the Chelsea, where Mr. Krauss treated me to his delicious homemade Hungarian-style stuffed cabbage.  It was then that I learned that Mrs. Krauss' brother was the owner of the Chelsea Hotel. These are bittersweet memories of truly wonderful people, no longer with us, whom I dearly loved.  I hope you will include them in remembering and honoring oldtime residents. With nostalgia,
(I hope the Krauss’ got a break on their rent.)

hello from louisville Hi Mr. Hamilton, What a great idea. To create a blog about the Chelsea Hotel. Congratulations to you! I am also from Louisville and have enjoyed viewing your work at various exhibitions. Most recently at the Speed. I lived in NYC in the early 1980's and was the founding director of a small art gallery there. I've always enjoyed my stays at the Chelsea when visiting. Such a cultural history. But it's been several years since I've been there. Can one still rent a room for a night or has it gone more apartment then Hotel these days? Well, I just wanted to say hi, thank you for creating the blog and keep up the good work!
(Ooops, wrong Ed Hamilton. I hope the sculptor is not too upset.)

Hello - I'm not sure where to find Debbie Martin on this blog, but want you both to know that "Blogging the Hotel Chelsea" was a sweet holiday treat. It reminded me of a visit I made to the hotel in 1955 or '56 to meet an editor (I've forgotten her name, but not that she had a parrot!). I thought I'd died and gone to heaven 50 years ago - a little midwestern girl who lived in novels and found that the bohemian life was alive and well in the Hotel Chelsea as well. Now, I can't wait to spend time vicariously at the Hotel Chelsea. Oh, please tell Ms. Martin that I don't understand why you don't get many reader comments. Your site is a delight! Sincerely, (name redacted, Massachusetts)
(Someone who shares my concerns)

It appears that we've discovered even more people to interview about their visits to the Chelsea.

Black Door Christmas

Over the weekend we went around photographing all the festive holiday decorations spread throughout the Hotel Chelsea.   In keeping with this year's theme of the Sawed-Off Holidays, many people went for the minimalist look, taking care not to overshadow the small Christmas tree in the lobby.   And in fact the vast majority of our residents played it safe in this regard by simply not decorating at all.
            Another thing we noticed, with some alarm, was the extent to which black paint has been applied to many of the building's previously colorful, idiosyncratic doors.   Why black, of all colors?  Wasn't the chocolate brown (the color of most of the doors) depressing enough?  It makes the place look a lot less interesting, that's for sure.  It's too bad we hadn't thought to photograph the doors earlier.

            Our door wasn't too special, though it did have some really big numbers on it.   (We intended this less for decorative purposes than to keep drunks from mistaking the room for their own and stumbling in upon us in the middle of the night.)   The workers removed the numbers while we were out of town, and then, when we asked where they were, they didn't know what we were talking about.

            Anyway, congratulations to those who were able to resist this push toward conformity.   Though most of the colorful doors probably weren't the work of the present tenants, we sincerely hope that people repaint.  (You will need several coats to cover the black!)   And if the blackguards haven't made it to your floor yet, be vigilant.

            And, oh, though I seem to have gone off on a tangent here, I meant to ask you to write in and vote for your favorite holiday door or suggest a different door.   The winner gets a lifetime subscription to Living With Legends, delivered to their computer daily, free of charge!  Ed Hamilton
Doors # 1, 2, 3 & 4

   

 

Abbie Hoffman Makes Gefilte Fish: Christmas Eve, Chelsea Hotel 1973

On Christmas Eve in the Chelsea Hotel, social and political activist Abbie Hoffman prepares homemade gefilte fish.  He recounts the story of an awkward dinner hosted by Dr. Benjamin Spock to which Hoffman brought gefilte fish. The filmmaker initiated the idea to tape Hoffman for posterity in anticipation that he might disappear for evading drug charges.  The video was exhibited as a component of The Fun House (1974), an installation at the New York Avant-Garde Festival produced by Charlotte Moorman at Shea Stadium.  By this time Hoffman had gone underground.

Abbie Making Gefilte Fish (4 min., excerpt, 1973) is a video produced by early video artists Laura Kronenberg (Cavestani), David Schweitzer, and Frank Cavestani.  This video is included in "Food for Thought: A Video Art Sampler," now showing at The Jewish Museum, 1109 5th Ave., at 92nd Street, New York, NY

In Case You're Really Into Hotel Art

Here’s something for your Christmas list: a book of sketches made on hotel stationery.  It's going to be tough to find since it's available only in limited editions. Bill Wilson, whose mother May was an artist and lived at the Chelsea back in the seventies, was kind enough to send this along.  The book is by artist Martin Kippenberger who redesigned the Hotel Chelsea in Cologne. Kippenberger's hotel sketches have also been exhibited at various galleries. No word on whether there’s a drawing on Hotel Chelsea New York stationery, though if there had been I’m sure Bill would have mentioned it.
            This sounds perfect for a Hotel Chelsea book project for somebody because there aren't enough Hotel Chelsea book projects floating around.  Let's get the ball rolling, if anybody has a sketch on Hotel Chelsea stationery, take a picture of it and e-mail it to [email protected].  Or else lend it to us and we’ll take a picture ourselves.  Who cares if you can draw or not. We'll publish the photos on the blog.
            In case you can’t get hold of any stationery, click here.  The subject could be a junkie battling a prostitute to get into a bathroom.  Or whatever.  Use your imagination.  We’re all supposed to be creative around here, right?



(Photos are from Martin Kippenberger's Hotel Hotel Hotel)

All Tomorrow's Parties: December 18 - 25, 2006

  Tuesday, Dec. 19, 10:30 p.m.
Susanne Bartsch & Kenny Kenny invite you to Amanda LePore's Birthday Bash at Room Service Tuesdays. Hosting service: Amanda Lepore, Astro, Kim Aviance, Ladyfag.  Moondust, Theodora, Richie Rich and Furey. Music Service: Sammy Jo. Sounds in the Strip Tease Lounge: DJ Ryan Show: Julie Atlas Muz and Kim Aviance.
35 East 21st St., Between Park & Broadway

Wednesday, Dec. 20, 8:00 p.m.

It's the WYSIWYG Blogger Talent Show Holiday Special -- “I’m Not as Think as You Drunk I Am: Tall Tales of Extreme Inebriation”  Ed, whom most of you know writes 85% of the content on this blog, will read.  Other readers/bloggers/drunks include: Dan Renzi, Emily Epstein, Derek Hartley, and Helen Damnation. (Tickets $7)
Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery & Bleecker, NY NY



Thursday, Dec. 21, 9:00
Norman Gosney's Guilty Pleasures Speak Easy.  To make a reservation call 646- 457-1467.
Bijou Theatre, West 29th St., NY NY

Friday, Dec. 22, 10:00 - 6:00
Our readers in London can visit the newly opened Dexter Dalwood exhibit which features a painting of Room 100 at the Chelsea Hotel.  Or at least what Dalwood imagines the room to be like.
Gagosian Gallery, 6-24 Britannia Street, London England


Saturday, Dec. 23, 10:00 - 6:00
Daniel Reich Gallery is presenting new works by Milwaukee artist Scott Reeder. Reeder's cartoonish paintings spoof many of the modernist art conventions.
Daniel Reich Gallery, 537 A West 23rd St. NY NY

If you have an event that you want listed on All Tomorrow's Parties please e-mail [email protected] 

The Most Covered Song Ever: Chelsea Hotel #2

Well, according to our unscientific study conducted by searching youtube.com it's Chelsea Hotel #2..  Almost every day a new version of this song pops up on youtube.com  For those of you who don't know the history Leonard Cohen wrote this song to commemorate a one night stand with Janis Joplin, which occurred here a the famed Hotel Chelsea.  You have to admit the song contains one of the most memorable lines ever written in a popular song, "giving me head on the unmade bed." By the way, which version do you prefer?  The first video is the latest version to be posted to youtube.com.  The second video is Martha Wainwright's rendition.

For more than a hundred versions click here....

Dee Dee Ramone's Manuscript Still Available

Here's a gift suggestion for the Ramone fan on your gift list. Today is the final day that you can bid on Dee Dee Ramone's unpublished autobiography manuscript.  The last time I checked the high bid was $659.57.   

I guess the bids are not going to reach the same level  ($155,401) as that 1966 acetate album by Nico and the Velvet Underground, which as it turns out was fake.  The bid, not the album.

Toy Drive

David Barton Gym & Smart are hosting a Toy Drive for Kids and Young Adults Living with HIV/AIDS.
A new unwrapped gift or tax deductible donation is required for admission.

Friday, December 15, from 9 p.m - 12 a.m.
Hosted by: David Barton, Susanne Bartsch, Patricia Field, Debbie Harry, Michael Musto, Zandra Rhodes, Richie Rich, Narciso Rodriguez and Sally Singer.
Music by: Johnny Dynell

David Barton Gym, 215 West 23rd St., NY NY

Help "Factory Girl" See The Light of Day Or Not

Who killed Edie Sedgwick?  Enough of this already, help solve the mystery so that "Factory Girl" can either be released or be canned forever.  Vote now and vote often!

Who Killed Edie Sedgwick?

Just as we suspected, it's Bob Dylan holding up the release of the overhyped "Factory Girl."  His lawyers claim that this movie protrays him as the cause of Edie Sedgwick's death.   We thought the character in the trailer looked a lot like Bob Dylan. According to Page Six, Dylan's lawyers are demanding that the flick not even be screened until they can determine if Dylan has been defamed. We've always suspected that it was Andy Warhol who killed her.  Now we all know the truth! 

Does Ethan Read The Blog?

Every once in a while we take a look at the stats to see if we can gean any information about why anyone would read this blog.  Usually, all we find is a bunch of google searches for "slammin hot babes" or "Is the Chelsea Hotel haunted?"  However, last week we noticed a visit from ehawke.livejournal.com.
 

Could it be that Ethan Hawke has a livejournal account? Could it be that he reads our blog?  That's what we thought at first, and then we read this:

The "celebrity" whose journal you read IS NOT THE ACTUAL CELEBRITY. The author/maintainer of that journal is a participant in a role playing game (RPG) where people portray adults in the entertainment industry (music, movies, TV, theater), adults in professional sports, child stars, children of famous parents, other relatives, friends, etc. of famous people, agents, managers, and other entertainment industry professionals, royalties, politicians, and socialites.

So it's some idiot pretending to be Ethan Hawke!  Well, that bursts our bubble. But at least I'll bet that "My Name Is Earl," guy reads our blog.  Now there's a real celebrity!

LIBBY JOHNSON: ANOTHER LIFE AT THE CHELSEA

Musician Libby Johnson is small and pixyish, fair-skinned and red haired like an Irish girl, with a cute, youthful face.  We interviewed her in her apartment at the Chelsea, as her husband Dan worked at his computer in the living room and her two kids romped about until Dan asked them go into the bedroom and read a book.  At one point Libby interrupted the interview to check on some potatoes she had in the oven.  (They smelled really delicious.) At the end of the interview she gave us a couple of CDs, so who says blogging doesn’t have its rewards?  Libby’s voice is smooth and sexy, and her sound is eerie and nostalgic, evoking misty mornings on lonesome country roads long ago.  In “Another Life” she sings: “Your face in the L train window finds you looking back to another night, to another life... And the way back, the way back is blind...”

Tell us a little about your music.
I’m a singer/songwriter.  My songs are focused on the lyrics.  So the writing side of the profession is of the greatest interest to me.  I have a background in Folk music and the Blues.  My mother was a folk singer and she taught me to play the guitar when I was about twelve. I also started writing songs at about that time.  It never occurred to me to do anything else—though I have had a lot of really strange jobs.

What was your strangest job? When I first moved to New York I answered an ad for a singer in a Japanese piano bar. It was a bar for Japanese businessmen.  I thought they would want me to play the piano and sing Jazz standards.  Well, I did play the piano some, but a large part of my job turned out to be sitting at the businessmen’s tables, entertaining them.  I was basically a Geisha girl—though it was all above board and nobody ever acted bad.  In those days I made a living playing in piano bars.  Also, at around that time I formed a band with my sister and we recorded an album in the Chelsea Hotel. We were called The Mood Elevators.

Where did you move to New York from? Boston.  But I’ve lived all over.  I was born in Germany.  My dad was in the army.  We lived in Connecticut and then we moved to Africa for six years.

Did living in Africa influence your musical development? Actually, I didn’t hear a lot of African music while I lived there, just British and American music on the radio. But living there was a unique cultural experience. It made me aware of the difference between here and there. I would say the influence was more personal than musical.

Has your songwriting been influenced by any Chelsea Hotel artists?
Patti Smith. I’ve read all her books, and I’ve also sought out the books of anyone she was interested in.  So for instance I’ve read Rimbaud.  I’ve always been a big fan of Bob Dylan and I’ve never wavered in my adoration of him.  I’m also interested in Brendan Behan.  I’ve been studying my family’s genealogy and reading Irish Literature and I know he was a big IRA supporter.

How did you end up at the Chelsea this time? It happened suddenly.  We had a handshake deal for another place, but that fell through.  So we put our stuff in storage and moved in here.  My husband and I are both musicians and when I walked into the hotel I felt I was home.  Nobody was looking at me funny.  Most of our friends are musicians and there is something different about that.  When we first came to look at a place the kids were throwing a hat around in the lobby and they hit a man sitting in a chair with it.  He just laughed and threw it back.  That doesn’t happen just anywhere.

People have ended up staying here forever when they thought they were just passing through.  It’s been a cool place in many ways.  Most of my places have been larger and this is totally livable—though the kids are bouncing off the walls.  But I wouldn’t mind staying here at all.  I wouldn’t miss my stuff.

Do you think the Chelsea has a creative spirit? On some metaphysical level objects absorb the energy of the people who use them. The Chelsea Hotel is sexy and creative, and there’s so much love for this place that that spirit has been preserved. But the thing that concerns us is whether it can remain accessible to artists. A young artist moving to New York today can’t really set up shop here. It’s a privilege to live here. This is a special place.

We feel like the Chelsea can’t just be an aging community.
Yeah, it would be good if there was some way to keep it affordable.  When I moved to New York I lived in the East Village in basements with water on the floor and cockroaches. But that’s not the way New York is anymore. Certain things that happened here were just firsts. There can’t be another Janis Joplin or Patti Smith.

Have you written any songs here? I rehearsed with my band here last night. One of my band mates is a huge fan of Arthur C. Clarke.  One time he wrote a song based on one of Clarke’s stories and he wanted Clarke to read it but he couldn’t get in touch with him.  Nobody would give him Clarke’s number and he wanted to be sure the song got to him, so he bundled up a bunch of books that he thought Clark would like and hid the song in one of them and sent the package to the Chelsea Hotel. Clarke called him and said he liked the song.  My band mate helped arrange for the plaque to be placed on the front of the hotel when Clarke moved to Sri Lanka. Everybody feels that the Chelsea is special.

Libby Johnson has two new CDs out: Annabella, and the soundtrack of Trust the Man (starring Julianne Moore and David Ducovny), both on Wrong Records.  Annabella has been getting a lot of airplay on XM radio, and can be heard on a show called XM Café.  Libby is on tour over the holiday season, check out her myspace page for a list of upcoming shows.]

Consorting With Whores at The Chelsea

A recent story in the Canadian paper The Globe and Mail begins:

"I'm sitting in the Chelsea hotel reading a book called Whore. I'll admit this sounds cooler than “I'm sitting in a rather expensive Manhattan hotel reading one of the latest poetry collections from the University of Tampa Press.” But after a day of coffee drinking and book shopping in bustling New York, I feel I've earned the right to leave out a few details."

This dude paid $286.00 for a room at the Chelsea so he could sit around reading a book called "Whore." Next time, stay somewhere cheaper and save your money for some real Slammin Hot New York Babes.
Coliseum Books, by the way, is still around -- though they're set to close soon -- at their new location on 42nd.

All Tomorrow's Parties: December 11- 17, 2006

Monday, Dec. 11, 7:00 p.m.
Girl With Glasses is author Marissa Walsh’s memoir told from the eyes of… ones constantly behind a pair of glasses.
Walsh’s tour through her bespectacled past is hilarious and informative, from Walsh’s search for the perfect frames to the cultural, political, and sartorial implications of glasses-wearing.
The Half King Bar and Resturant, 505 West 23rd St.  NY NY

Tuesday, Dec. 12, 10:30 p.m.
Susanne Bartsch & Kenny Kenny invite you to Room Service Tuesdays. For Even More Spanking Good Fun. HOUSE OF FIELDS ANNUAL OUTLAW SKATING AFTER PARTY. Hosting service: Amanda Lepore, Astro, Kim Aviance, Ladyfag.  Moondust, Theodora, Richie Rich and Furey. Music Service: Princess Superstar. Sounds in the Strip Tease Lounge: Michael Cavadias (aka Lily)Show: Ryan Styles, Performance Artist
35 East 21st St., Between Park & Broadway



Wednesday, Dec. 13, 8:00 p.m.
A reader recommends, "Peter Schumann's masks were recently cited by Kiki Smith, in an NPR interview as her show opened recently at the Whitney, as an important influence.  Meanwhile, almost completely unadvertised, Schumann's current Bread and Puppet show is in its final week at Theater for the New City (Wed Dec. 13 through Sun. Dec. 17).   One of the darkest of Bread & Puppet shows, it is enlivened by new masks, great graphics, innovative music (including the echo-like bits of "When Johnnie comes marching home" in a recruiting scene), Shumann's performance (as both Gods) and comedic interludes from a well-orchestrated cast.   With sold-out nights despite the absence of publicity, reservations are suggested (212 254 1109)." Tickets are $12.00.
Theatre for The New City, 155 First Ave., NY NY 

Thursday, Dec. 14, Norman Gosney's Guilty Pleasures Speak Easy.  To make a reservation call 646- 457-1467.
West 29th St., Bijou Theatre

Friday, Dec. 15, 10:00 - 6:00
"A Pythagorean Traveler, An Exhibition by Patti Smith." A reviewer writes, "These recent images from her extensive travels possess an old fashioned and eloquent purity."
Robert Miller Gallery, 524 West 26th Street, NY NY

Saturday, Dec. 16 -- Last Chance to Bid
Dee Dee Ramone's 1992 unpublished Autobiography Manuscript with handwritten notes, and a group of autographed Ramones concert posters are being auctioned off online. The last time we checked no one had bid on the manuscript and the starting bid was $100.00.  According to the website "...the typed manuscript was given to a limousine driver by Ramone in 1993 or 1994 after the musician, frustrated by the feedback he had received on his writing efforts, exclaimed, "Here, take it! I ain't working on it no more!" The thirty-six double-sided pages in protective sheets are housed in a notebook."  Earlier this week a rare Velvet Underground record was sold on e-bay for more than $150,000.

Sunday, Dec. 17, Various Times
The Chilean-born director Alejandro Jodorowky's film "El Topo" is being screened.  According to The New York Times, "El Topo" remains an arresting relic of a time seriously, freakily out of joint. After its New York release it will travel the country with Mr. Jodorowsky's 1973 film "The Holy Mountain".  What a great excuse to post Nicky's photo from "The Holy Mountain".  Nicky also worked on the set of "El Topo".
Who wil host the holiday party in the lobby now that Nicky has move to L.A.?
IFC Center, 323 Avenue of the Americas, at Third Street, NY NY

Hastings-Hotel A Video

Anders Bramsen was a little late in dropping off the flyer, but his video, Hastings-Hotel is being screened at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon at the Hastings Library, 7 Maple Avenue, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY NY.
Some of the footage was shot around the Chelsea Hotel.

Win A Guitar Signed by Bob Dylan

Slate magazine is offering a guitar signed by Bob Dylan to the person who can identify the year in which each piece of Bob Dylan footage shown below was filmed.  Twenty images of Dylan, 20 years—simple as that. For more information visit the Slate website.  We're not going to give you anything, but we'd like to know which image is your favorite and why.

Diesel's Trashy-Glam Chelsea Hotel Line

Oh look, somebody's trying to capitalize on the Chelsea!  How original. Since its a big corporation, they'll probably make some actual money.  You don't see too many people who look like the girl in the illustration around here -- except for the one's here for fashion shoots -- but I'm sure the Diesel people will tell us the Chelsea is more a state of mind anyway.  (And they will be right!) "Trashy-glam with a science-fiction atmosphere"? Sure, that could be the Chelsea. (Photo: flickr)
 

Sawed-Off Christmas

Here's a holidy pop quiz for you: which tree is in the lobby of the run-down, recently defunct, down-and-out flophouse the Allerton, and which is in the run-down, world-famous, celebrity-studded Chelsea Hotel.  THe answer may surprise you.  But probably not.  Happy half-assed holidays.

 

Tourist's Review Filled With Holes

Lonely Planet recently published a list of hotels in which famous people have died and surprise, surprise, the Chelsea Hotel is at the top of the list.  Now, Here’s a tourist who claims that “Stan” showed him the room where Sid “shot” Nancy.  Almost everybody knows that nobody “shot” Nancy at the Chelsea.   This is the first we’ve heard of Stanley Bard facilitating murder-tourism.  The tourist goes on to refer to the Hotel’s residents as an “eccentric bunch.”  Usually they just call us all flat-out crazy.  Perhaps, given this and the other discrepancies in his tale, we have to question if he ever stayed at the Chelsea at all.
Sid & Nancy aren't the only Chelsea Hotel links to The Lonely Planet list of fatally famous lodgings.   
Shelton Hotel, Eugene O'Neill, who wrote The Iceman Cometh and A Long Day's Journey into Night, was 65 when he died, broke and unhappy, in Suite 401 of the Shelton Hotel in Boston on November 27, 1953. His last words were: ''I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room -- and goddamn it -- died in a hotel room.'' He had been born in a Broadway hotel room in New York, the son of an Irish-American actor.

Landmark Hotel, Janis Joplin was 27 and recording her classic rock album Pearl when she died of a heroin overdose on October 4, 1970. She died in Room 105 of Hollywood's Landmark Hotel, now renamed the Highland Gardens Hotel. The singer had finished her last recordings three days earlier; among them were the song Mercedes-Benz and a birthday greeting for John Lennon. Jimi Hendrix had died just two weeks earlier. He was also 27. (The Courier Mail (Australia), 11/25/06)