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nycpunkscene · 7 years ago

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MAX’S KANSAS CITY

LOCATION: NEW YORK

“Located at 213 Park Avenue South, Max’s Kansas City was the unlikely spot where many influential punk predecessors and early punk bands played before the New York scene finally coalesced around CBGB. Max’s Kansas City was opened in 1965 by entrepreneur and art connoisseur Mickey Ruskin. He gave the place its name on the advice of writer Joel Oppenheimer, who reasoned that it brought to mind cuts of steak from Kansas City.

Max’s was as exclusive as it was visionary; there was a strict door policy with a velvet rope (years before Studio 54 thought of the same trick), and artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, John Chamberlain, and, most especially, Andy Warhol called the club home. Warhol was an ardent customer during the late-1960s (his “HQ,” the Factory, was located practically around the corner), holding court in the (in)famous back room with his entourage of drag queens, junkies, and superstars (such as Sugar Plum Fairy, Jackie Curtis, and Candy Darling, all later immortalized in Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side”). Members of the Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, and Alice Cooper were also early patrons who relied heavily on the notoriously uncollectible tabs given out by the ever-generous Ruskin to artists and performers he judged worthy of his indulgence. Other notable habitués included Leee Black Childers, the famous punk rock photographer and manager; Patti Smith, the punk poet; singer Cherry Vanilla; members of the New York Dolls; and noted punk transsexual Wayne/Jayne County, who was a DJ upstairs at Max’s for several years.

Max’s became known as a mecca for live music, often booking bands that no one else would take a chance on. The Velvet Underground had a lengthy residence here that led to a famous live album and ended with the band imploding onstage and the final departure of Lou Reed. During the early-1970s, the nascent glitter scene was represented by Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper (who performed in a dress with cones to stimulate breasts), and others (all of whom despised the glitter label). The New York Dolls played Max’s several times a week in their early incarnation.

Ruskin closed Max’s in 1974, though in 1975 it was reopened by Tommy Dean, who made it a prime breeding ground for punk bands during the mid-to-late-1970s. In 1976, the album Max’s Kansas City 1976 was released, featuring Cherry Vanilla and her Staten Island Band, Suicide, Pere Ubu, the Fast, and Wayne County and the Back Street Boys. There was an informal rivalry between upscale and “uptown” Max’s Kansas City and CBGB, although many bands such as the Heartbreakers (who released a live album recorded at Max’s Kansas City), Television, the Ramones, and the Sic Fucks played both clubs. The Sex Pistols referenced the place in their song “New York”: “Think it’s swell playing Max’s Kansas / You’re looking bored and you’re acting flash.” Sid Vicious was also a regular during the late-1970s and played at Max’s with various pickup bands to varying degrees of success. Later on, members of the no wave scene, including Lydia Lunch and James Chance, played the club in its last incarnation. Max’s closed in 1981, though it was briefly revived in the 1990s; a deli currently occupies the space.”

- Brian Cogan, The Encyclopedia of Punk, (2006)

http://maxskansascity.com/

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