Last Friday I was posting the latest From the Archives pick when I read about Glenn O’Brien’s passing in The Guardian. Here’s the word…

Glenn O’Brien, the New York cultural figure who was an author, musician, magazine editor, style guru, TV host and key figure at Andy Warhol’s Factory, has died aged 70.

Described by Rolling Stone, one of the publications he edited along with Warhol’s Interview, as a “renaissance man”, O’Brien was perhaps best known as the host of TV Party – the public access show on which he interviewed guests, such as Debbie Harry and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

O’Brien’s show is indispensable for any student of New York’s punk/new wave/no wave underground scene as the candid chaos of TV Party’s improvised anarchy illuminates these people, this music and art in a way that no documentary ever will. Looking back on these episodes is a bit like watching a nature film where you have the opportunity to view wild things in their natural environment.

Here’s a massive playlist I made for y’all: This kicks off with a feature documentary about Glenn and TV Party before deep-diving into a handful of classic episodes and a few spotlit interviews. Keep your eyes peeled for Blondie, Chris Stein, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Arto Lindsay, and David Byrne…

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel where I archive all of the videos I curate at Insomnia. Click here to check out more Counter Culture posts.

40 years ago Chris met Debbie — the pair fell in love and made musical history. If you need more clues than that to know that I’m telling the origin story of the band Blondie than this post is especially for you. Here’s the Wiki‘s take on Blondie:

The band was a pioneer in the early American new wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s. Its first two albums contained strong elements of these genres, and although successful in the United Kingdom and Australia, Blondie was regarded as an underground band in the United States until the release of Parallel Lines in 1978. Over the next three years, the band achieved several hit singles[2] including “Call Me”, “Atomic” and “Heart of Glass” and became noted for its eclectic mix of musical styles incorporating elements of disco,[3][4] pop,[3][4][5] rap,[4][6] and reggae,[4] while retaining a basic style as a new wave band.[7]

When Rolling Stone magazine reviewed the band’s eponymous debut they wrote that Harry was the “possessor of a bombshell zombie’s voice that can sound dreamily seductive and woodenly Mansonite within the same song” This is a perfect description of the magical center of this band.

Here is a BBC documentary about the band and their music: One Way or Another

Stay Awake!

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel where I archive all of the videos I curate at Insomnia. Click here to check out more Music posts