Adele Bertei got a Greyhound to New York in 1977 intent on joining a band. James Chance thought she “looked like a pimp” and hired her as the organist in the Contortions, an instrument she couldn’t play. Her memoir No New York captures the most intoxicating times imaginable, the rise of Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, Madonna and her fellow raft of No Wave cheerleaders in pursuit of dismantling music. Highlights include …

… the local priest recommending the Velvet Underground when she was 11

… “imbibe and dream”: her weekend with Lester Bangs

… the rubble-filled New York wasteland of 1977, landlords setting fire to property just to claim the insurance

… the No Wave circuit: crowd violence and singers who either talked or screamed  

.. her rivalry with Madonna: “our labels didn’t want people to know we were white”

… the local Cleveland “Rust Belt” - Pere Ubu, Chrissie Hynde, Devo

… why Warhol, Ginsberg and Burroughs seemed laughably outmoded

… Brian Eno’s shopping list

… the power of Tina Weymouth, Patti Smith and Debbie Harry (“sexy but with a snarl”) and why New York’s venues are internationally mythical.

Order Adele Bertei’s ‘No New York’ here: https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571386154-no-new-york/?srsltid=AfmBOor2IKVLRyzzZDisLz_8cTGDYIjDXphZVU9Lw5drAd4CdKR1KVhs

Adele with Thomas Dolby on Whistle Test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ3bGioFCXU

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