By Day, Writers and Editors; By Night, Punk Rockers

Maybe we were not exactly punk rockers, but rockers, nonetheless.

We traveled in an interesting crowd back then. It was the early ’80s, and lots of ’70s and late ’70s influences were still upon us, thank goodness.

During the day it was work, work, work. Lots of the work was stressful. Remember, when you’re in publishing and a writer or editor, you live your life on deadline, at least your daytime life. Some of that flows over into other parts of life too. Everything has to be done at a certain time. That can be good and bad. However, that topic is for another time.

After working full, long, difficult days on a magazine, it’s great to be able to have an outlet after work, especially on the weekends. And New York, especially in the late ’70s and early ’80s, was the place with THE night life. And night life that didn’t end until 4 a.m. and then some.

At the time I first moved to New York City punk rock was still hanging on and was in fashion. Greenwich Village was the “in” spot for it all, not the tourist mecca it has become of late.

So, by day, we dressed in our little blue suits or more corporate wear for work. In those days you really had to dress for success. There were no “dress down” days. And, by night, we would get loose and get into our punk rocker mode, or rock ‘n’ roll mode.

New York City at the time had some of the best clubs for punk and rock. There also were dance clubs, but my crowd wasn’t really into that.

Many of the top-notch bands would play at a variety of clubs. There also were a lot of underground bands playing at underground clubs situated in the “bad” sections of the city. But these typically were the best places to go. Seedy clubs hidden in dark alleys. The dangerous atmosphere added to the mystique of New York at the time. Not to mention many of the strange characters we met.

When New York Was ‘Cool’

At the time I arrived in New York, things were different. The city still had an “edgy” feel to it. It had not yet been turned upside down and over and into a type of “Disneyland.” Parts of the city that now are hip and chic still were no-go zones, meaning you really had to be careful, stupid, or with a crowd of people to go there. But oftentimes those zones were the best parts of the city.

Many of these areas were downtown. Where once places like the Village, that’s Greenwich Village, were still “cool,” now they are a mecca for tourists and don’t seem to have the character they had. That edginess is long gone.

When I arrived in New York before much of the gentrification, the Village was full of musicians… real, starving musicians. Many of them still on the tail end of the “punk” era, or the real rock ‘n rollers. The leather jackets they wore were not the ones everyone buys from tourist shops or Nordstrom to “look cool.” Those jackets were the real deal and they were worn and torn and had a history.

You would be walking around with friends and actually be a bit scared to be out in certain areas. But it gave it a kind of thrill; it was exciting. It was a wonderful place to be for a writer. Way too many characters to even imagine.

By day, up-and-coming writers and editors in New York who moved there from places like Arizona, Nevada, Ohio and other parts of the Midwest, would work our butts off during the day and well into overtime and late nights to make a name for ourselves or get noticed within our companies.

At night was a different story, especially on the weekends. Even during the week. New York truly was, and still is, the city that never sleeps. There was too much to miss. Always a concert, a band playing, a party, an art show, or the opening of a new club. Something always was happening. So even after a long day at work, it wasn’t unusual to either go out directly from work or run home to change and then go out again. There were way too many times we would be out into the wee hours. New York is the place of the 4 a.m. last call and the after hours clubs. And somehow we’d get home, sleep an hour or two and get up and do it all over again.