Louder: The Teen Punks Who (Briefly) Ruled New York

August 5, 2022

By Caryn Ganz

Pop Music Editor

“Imagine an upbeat ‘Lord of the Flies,’ styled by Manic Panic and Trash & Vaudeville.” This is how Tim Sommer describes a scene that blended pop and punk impulses in New York City that ran briefly (just a few years in the late 1970s and early 1980s), tiny (just a handful of major bands) and young (it was powered by a cast of high school students). Some of the music was memorable (you may recall the Speedies’ “Let Me Take Your Foto” from a Hewlett-Packard ad campaign), much of it was lost to time. But what endured for those who played in the scene and clung to its fringes was a “near-arrogant certainty that the empowerment promised by punk rock was now theirs to inherit,” as Tim writes. That taste of freedom informed the lives, some of them quite notable, these fascinating characters have led as adults. If you missed this Great Read earlier this week, catch up now!

Speaking of greatness: Wesley Morris on Beyoncé. (Bow down, etc.) And Jon Caramanica hosted a must-hear “Renaissance” Popcast featuring Wesley along with Joe Coscarelli, Jon Pareles and Salamishah Tillet.

Our popular “Five Minutes That Will Make You Love” series, previously devoted to classical music, is pivoting to jazz. Up first: Ellington. Plus: Grayson Haver Currin put a spotlight on the evolution of pedal steel music (with a playlist at the end!), and Ed Morales pried open the brain of one of Colombia’s most intriguing musicians, Eblis Álvarez, whose project Meridian Brothers releases albums that are collaborations with fictional bands.

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In the Late ’70s, Teen Punks Ruled New York. These Are Their Stories.

High school students spent their nights forging a colorful late-night scene marked by big choruses and few rules. The bands didn’t last, but the taste of art and freedom shaped their lives.

By Tim Sommer

THE NYT REVIEW

Mason Poole

Critic’s Pick

America Has a Problem and Beyoncé Ain’t It

On “Renaissance,” the pop star’s seventh solo album, she finds escape, rebirth, community, pleasure and control in decades of dance music steeped in Black queer bravado.

By Wesley Morris

POPCAST & PLAYLIST

The Robust Return of Beyoncé

A deep dive on “Renaissance,” her relationship to queer music communities and her framing of authorship.

The Playlist

Carly Rae Jepsen’s Brand-New Boy Problems, and 7 More New Songs

Hear tracks by DJ Khaled featuring Drake and Lil Baby, Panda Bear & Sonic Boom, the 1975 and others.

By Jon Caramanica and Lindsay Zoladz

MOVIES

Critic’s Pick

‘Mija’ Review: Hitting the Notes

In this documentary, a new generation of Mexican American musicians reflect the nuances of their realities on both sides of the border.

By Beandrea July

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The Pedal Steel Gets Its Resurrection

As the sound of country music has shifted, the emotive whir of its classic instrument has often been sidelined. The complicated antique has found new life in surprising forms.

By Grayson Haver Currin

Juan Jose Ortiz Arenas for The New York Times

The Meridian Brothers’ Eccentric Mastermind Is Electrifying Roots Salsa

Eblis Álvarez’s albums are “collaborations” with fictional bands. His latest, with the imaginary El Grupo Renacimiento, is a psychedelic fever dream and a critique of technology’s encroachment.

By Ed Morales

Dante Zaballa

Five Minutes That Will Make You Love Duke Ellington

We asked jazz musicians, writers and others to tell us what moves them. Listen to their choices.

By Giovanni Russonello and Marcus J. Moore

NEWS

The Charts

Bad Bunny Reigns Again Before Beyoncé’s Chart Arrival

The Puerto Rican pop star logs a seventh week at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart; numbers for “Renaissance,” Beyoncé’s latest, arrive next week.

By Joe Coscarelli

Beyoncé Will Change Lyrics After Criticism Over ‘Ableist Language’

The pop star’s decision to replace two words in her song “Heated” follows Lizzo’s removal of the same term, which has been used as a slur against disabled people, from her track “Grrrls.”

By Julia Jacobs

OBITUARIES

Mo Ostin, Music Powerhouse Who Put Artists First, Dies at 95

At the helm of Warner Bros. Records from the 1960s into the ’90s, he worked closely with some of the most successful and influential performers of his era.

By Jim Farber

Larry Josephson, Champion of Free-Form Radio, Dies at 83

His dyspeptic morning show helped make WBAI-FM in New York a vibrant, eccentric, alternative radio haven. “I was the first angry man in morning radio,” he said.

By Richard Sandomir

Mick Moloney, Musician and Champion of Irish Culture, Dies at 77

An Irish immigrant to the U.S., he was a recording artist, scholar and concert presenter who also encouraged women to join a male-dominated folk tradition.

By Vivien Schweitzer

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A.I. Is Not Sentient. Why Do People Say It Is?

Robots can’t think or feel, despite what the researchers who build them want to believe.

By Cade Metz

STYLES & REAL ESTATE

His Audio Speakers Are Coveted by Supreme, Mark Ronson and Prada

Devon Turnbull is the founder of Ojas, a high-end audio company. Previously, he was the streetwear pioneer behind Nom de Guerre.

By Alex Hawgood

Dan Smith Might Teach You Guitar

Teaching is a calling for New York’s king of the marketing flier, whose students include the former governor David Paterson. But he won’t take just anyone.

By Collier Meyerson

Encounters

Kylie Minogue Mixes Her Signature Cocktail

The pop star returned to the Carlyle Hotel after celebrating her wine collection there.

By Alexis Soloski

Exclusive

A Gothic Rock Cottage Fit for a Bat Out of Hell

Jim Steinman spent years transforming his Connecticut house into a kind of rock ‘n’ roll museum. Now his friends are trying to sell it — with his belongings intact.

By Joyce Cohen