(Photo: the private collections of Jason Knox and Harold C. Black)
Built as a movie palace in 1927, the Academy of Music on East 14th Street, at Third Avenue, was a place where Lower East Siders would watch first-run features in grand style. Promoter Sid Bernstein, who brought the Beatles to America, understood the 3,000-seat hall’s potential: in the mid-1960s, he regularly booked British Invasion bands like the Rolling Stones, the Kinks and Herman’s Hermits there. Manfred Mann, on the charts with “Do Wah Diddy Diddy,” would share a bill with the Exciters, the American group that first recorded the tune to little notice.
Renamed the Palladium in 1976, the hall became a full-time rock venue where the career of classic rocker Gary U.S. Bonds was jump-started after Bruce Springsteen invited him to sit in during a show. By 1985, it was converted into a nightclub; it closed in 1997 and was demolished. Today the Palladium name remains on a New York University residence hall.
But 40 years ago, on New Year’s Eve 1973, the building rocked with a lineup that featured Blue Öyster Cult and Iggy and the Stooges. Glam rockers Teenage Lust were scheduled to open the show but instead had to follow a last-minute addition: Kiss. The band that would become famous for its face paint and pyrotechnics made its big-venue debut as fire-breathing bass guitarist Gene Simmons set his hair aflame.
Here are some remembrances of that show and others.
Teenage Lust (Photo: the private collections of Jason Knox and Harold C. Black)
Harold C. Black, Teenage Lust
New Year’s Eve. Great show. We were there to open it, it was a big night. Didn’t expect anybody else to be on the bill. And then Kiss happened.
A giant sign hanging from the ceiling, light bulbs, flash pots, flames, all the gadgets, gizmos and everything that had nothing to do with music.
We had a small Teenage Lust light-up-with-Christmas-lights-kind of sign cut out of Styrofoam. They had the major, we’re talking Las Vegas-style light-bulb sign.
And then Kiss went on with the flames and the giant sign. It was like, if you pardon the expression, “Oh, fuck.” Not exactly what you wanted to go on after.
And then [Simmons’s] hair went on fire and I’m like, “Is that part of the act? How is it that they did that?
People in the front row said, “What the hell is this?” They’d never seen anything like it before. It was totally unique.
Harold C. Black founded Teenage Lust, rockers from the Lower East Side who would later back John Lennon at the One on One benefit concert.
Gary U.S. Bonds
We met at the Hangar [a bar in New Jersey] and he came in and sat in with me and we just had a great time there. I didn’t know who he was. Obviously, everybody in the club knew when I mentioned his name. “Here’s a guy who wants to come up and sing some songs with me – Bruce Springsteen.” And everybody went, “Wow!” I went, “Who the hell is this guy?”
And we sat down having a couple of beers afterwards and he says, “I gotta do a show at the Palladium. Would you want to come down and guest with me?” And I said, “OK.” And that’s what I did.
It was a magnetic crowd. Just a lot of people having a really, really good time with the music. They knew his music and I didn’t but I was learning it.
Gary U.S. Bonds recently released his autobiography, “By U.S. Bonds – That’s My Story,” which is available on his website.
Tom McGuinness, Manfred Mann
The Academy of Music was our very first gig in the USA.
The promoter thought it needed another act on. So he booked the Exciters for it, which seemed a strange choice to us, because we were both going to do “Do Wah Diddy Diddy.”
We felt like, even though we had waited for theirs to come out, not be a hit and then some months later we recorded it, we did have that slight residual white British middle-class guilt that we were ripping off the black artists. And we didn’t exactly say that to them but we sort of shuffled vaguely embarrassed when we were talking to them. And they were just knocked out to find out we’d even heard their record.
One of them shouted to the other, “Hey our record was out in England!”
Tom McGuinness was bassist for British Invasion group Manfred Mann. Today McGuinness performs with other former band members in the Manfreds.
George Frayne, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
The Academy of Music was a lot looser than any kind of sit-down joint that you would imagine. I remember the people dancing in the aisles.
In its former glory it was a movie theater but it was definitely decaying a little bit. But it was perfect for a funky New York crowd to come in and rock.
It had everything perfect, there was plenty of backstage space, there was plenty of ability to get around. The people who worked there weren’t too uptight, the security was good but not nasty.
And plus it wasn’t too clean and it wasn’t dirty. You know what I mean? It wasn’t sleazy filthy and it wasn’t Carnegie Hall. It was just a nice thing where you could go in there and feel comfortable and it was loud. And it could be loud and people loved it loud. And you could go in there and rock out.
The one that is the most memorable of all is the Allman Brothers gig. They cleared the house; we did two complete shows. The first one, we came out, we were on fire. We were rockin’, that was 8 p.m. We did our 45 minutes, they came out at 9 p.m., they were out of there in 45 minutes, boom-boom, they were very sluggish, very slow, looked like they were all having a bad night. Second set, we weren’t quite as hot. They came on, and I remember it was like 5 a.m., people were ripping the seats out. It was one of the best things I’ve ever seen in my life. Oh my God, were they smokin’.
George “Commander Cody” Frayne is the founder of country rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, who scored a Top 10 hit in 1972 with “Hot Rod Lincoln.”
(Photo: the private collections of Jason Knox and Harold C. Black)
Buck Dharma, Blue Öyster Cult
Obviously when you got to the point where you could play the Academy, that was cool. You had a certain draw power there. It was great.
It was a good sounding room from what I could glean. The music felt good coming off the stage. Most proscenium theaters sound decent but surprisingly some don’t. Some are just nightmares on stage. It sounded a little rackety and clattery but of course this was way before in-ear monitors and that kind of thing. Even before really good PA systems. But I recall music sounding very good in that place.
We did a multi-night stand there and the first night our equipment didn’t get there for some reason, I don’t know what the reason was, but our equipment truck didn’t make it. And we borrowed Thin Lizzy’s backline. They were very gracious and helpful to us.
I guess you can’t go back but it certainly was a great time to be doing what we were doing. I don’t think I would trade that time period for now.
Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser is the lead singer of Blue Öyster Cult; their hits “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper” and “Burnin’ for You” have become staples of classic rock radio.
Tom Petersson, Cheap Trick
I specifically remember in ’78 in September because Epic at that point had done a big poster for us for that show: “Are you ready for Cheap Trick?” It was a big, green, really a cool looking poster and it was all over the city.
The Cars, they opened for us at that show. They had just started.
They came backstage and they said, “Oh, we’re from Boston,” and they’re fans of the band and all that, and “we’ve got a band called the Cars and we’ve got a record that’s going to come out.”
We said, “Oh, that’s nice.” We thought you’d never hear from these guys again. And the next thing you know we’re opening for them.
To play a venue that size in the city was just so great for us. We didn’t care what it was, we were used to playing places that were dilapidated. That was our strong suit, I’ll tell you that. No place that we played was nice up to that point.
But the Palladium, now that was a great venue. And then we played there again in ’79 and that’s the last I ever heard of it.
The acoustics were horrible. It was like a giant gymnasium. But it didn’t matter, you’re in New York City. So what? You knew that when you got done, nothing was closed.
Tom Petersson is bass guitarist of , the influential group that produced the rock anthem “I Want You to Want Me.”
The site today. (Photo: Frank Mastropolo)
Eddie Money
When you played the Palladium, you felt like a rock star.
It was like playing Madison Square Garden for me back then. The Palladium was a big venue, man, everybody played the Palladium.
The stage, the layout, the class of people that were going there back then, they had really good bands coming through the Palladium back in the ’70s.
I do remember that show but remember, in those days it was bitches and blow, for Christ’s sake. I wasn’t exactly the Tom Petty of rock ‘n’ roll, I was a wild man.
I remember getting the encores, doing “Two Tickets,” “Baby Hold On”; we had “You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me” in the set back then; we did “Gamblin’ Man,” we did “Jealousys,” we did all the stuff off the first album — people were still asking for those songs.
Oh yeah, it was a great show, man. That Eddie Money band was just on fire, man. We were rockin’ and rollin’.
Eddie Money’s hits include “Two Tickets to Paradise,” “Think I’m in Love” and “Take Me Home Tonight.” Visit Money’s website for more on his music and tour schedule.
Rob Halford, Judas Priest
For most UK bands, playing New York City was just a massive thrill. A very important venue to play in rock and roll. I’ve got memories hanging out with Linda Blair in the dressing room. That was crazy. The Ramones always showed up, which was just really, really cool.
We used to do a song called “Genocide” and at the end of the show, for whatever reason, it was probably one of my wacky ideas, I said wouldn’t it be great if at the end of the breakdown, we kind of set off some explosions or whatever. And that idea manifested itself into me walking out on stage with a fully automatic Thompson submachine gun full of blanks.
I’m standing there looking all Rambo, holding this machine gun. And you can actually see the blanks, the blank cartridges flying all over the place.
I think one of the final shows that we played there was also memorable because our management at the time had arranged for limos to pick us up to take us to a sold-out Palladium show. And we waited and waited and waited in the lobby of the hotel by the UN building. It didn’t show up and we couldn’t get a cab because it was Friday night, it was insane so we actually took the bus. We got on this city bus together and the band is stuck in there, furious, rock stars taking the bus to a sold-out show at the Palladium.
Vocalist Rob Halford fronts heavy metal act Judas Priest, who have released a new DVD, “Epitaph.”
East Village resident Frank Mastropolo is a freelance journalist and former television network news producer. You can find his rock concert photography here.
The Academy of Music was truly a great venue and a piece of Rock History of New York, especially in the 70’s. I did a show there with the band “Tranquility” and had to threaten the stage manager Keith Kevan with a hammer to get his reluctant cooperation…..
Some facts though; The Academy was New York’s first Opera House and was replaced by the Metropolitan Opera House because the Academy refused to sell season tickets and box seats to the Nouveau Riche (New Money) and of course the wealthy Jews of NY. In reaction they built the Met and soon the Academy was relegated to a Movie House. Also, sadly, although the Academy had Landmark Status it was unceremoniously knocked down illegally by NYU in the dead of night.
On a happier note it was the site where prick rock promoter Howard Stein said to Frank Barcelona “I Hate Rock and Roll”. Frank owned Premier Talent and handled most of the major acts from England and America at the time and pulled all of his acts from Howard and soon Howard Stein Presents was no more.
One of my best memories of the place was seeing the first big show of the Eagles from a private box connected to dressing room. They were great…….
Hey Gladstone. I worked at the Academy from 1972-1997.
Lets get some things correct.
There were no “PRIVATE” box connected to any dressing room in the building at the time.
The original Academy of Music was across the street where the Con Ed building with the clock tower is.
The reason Howard Stein got out was the same reason Bill Graham decided to close the Fillmore East and West. It was getting to costly to book the bands. They were asking to be paid what they might get at one show at the Garden.
When I started there the bands used to pull up to the loading door in vans and U-Hauls then they moved up to tractor trailers. First one then 2 then 3.
We used to have an 11 AM load in but when that started to happen it became 9 AM.
We had to deal with bands carrying their own lighting and sound systems.
On a night where there was only one show that ended before midnight we were out the door before 2 AM then we were lucky if we got out by 3 AM
Howard made a killing with Xenon as a disco. He made more in one night there than he would have at the Academy. Hiring 3 DJ’s a night cost way less then a band.
Howard was never a prick to me.
Also yes Keith Kevan may have been a prick but threatening him would have you tossed out of the venue. I have seen it happen to the point where the bands management had to intervene. You didn’t mess with KMK .
The Academy of Music that was an opera house was a completely different building, built across the street on the north side of 14th Street. It was demolished in 1926 to build the Consolidated Edison Company building; today there’s a plaque commemorating the opera house on the facade, now a Raymour & Flanigan furniture store.
The building that became the Academy of Music and Palladium of the story, on the south side of 14th Street, was built in 1927 as a movie palace by film mogul William Fox. It simply took the name of the well-known opera house.
The first concert I ever went to was at the Academy Of Music later renamed The Palladium. I was 17 yrs. old in 1972 and took the train from NJ with 3 friends into NY to see Edgar Winter. Also on the venue was the band Free, and Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show. To say it was a fantastic show would be and understatement! Dr. Hook performed first and had the audience singing along with ” Sylvia’s Mother” Free, was up next and had the audience up on their feet with their hit ” All Right Now” then Edgar Winter took the stage and nobody was sitting for the rest of the night! Saw many good rock concerts after that but this was one heck of a start!
Michael Gladstone half of your post is off the wall. 1 This building was built around 1926 to replace the original Academy Opera house that burned down 2. There was no such private box connected to dressing room. 3. I worked there from 1972-1977. In my 5+ years I was there I had the chance to check out every nook and cranny of the building. All the way from the fallout shelter in the basement to the roof access to the hatch leading to the projection booth. 4. Get your facts together before posting. Frank B had nothing to do with Howard getting out of the business. Howard got a sweetheart deal from United Artists Theatre corporation after Bill Graham closed the Fillmore East. When Howard din’t have a show booked UA ran basically B movies and cult classics. Howard thought he would have it easy since he ran the Capitol in Portchester as well Gaelic Park in the Bronx over the summer months as well as Flushing Meadow Park aka Worlds fair grounds.
The Academy had 3500 seats compared to the Fillmore of 2650 a diff of 850 seats. As time went by Howard was learning first hand what happened to Graham. The bands he used to book early on were stating to ask for more and more. The same thing was happening to Howard. Years ago like late 60’s – early 70’s a show would cost under $5 and see2-3 acts in a smaller and more intamate environmennt. Now you need to mortgage you home just to buy 1 ticket to see 1 act in a 15,000 seat arena For $100 and up
Hi Rocker….if u do see this message, can u be so kind as to tell us the names of the Emcees of the NYAcademy of Music during the doo wop shows? (l970-1973) We remembered Gus Gossert however not the rest of them. You seem extremely knowledgeable and thus I am asking if you remember. Thanks in advance. R
This is the venue where I attended my very first Rock Concert
circa 1970..
My Dad worked nearby in a famous NYC restaurant, “Luchow’s”,
and one night, he brought my sisterand I to see
The Jefferson Airplane…
I remember it was very loud and, watching Grace Slick gyrating,
thinking “My Mom would not like this”….
My Dad would come home and tell me stories about the place…
like watching The Grateful Dead load in, set up and sound check
It was around this time he would suggest that being a working musician
was the best life…
I pretty much took that advice seriously…
I’m playing gigs all this weekend in Cork in Ireland…
We won’t be playing any Airplane…(OK…MAYBE a Jorma song)
But it’s very likely we’ll play some Dead….
Judas Priest opened for Angel… Superb Line Up!
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[…] were there to open it, it was a big night,” Teenage Lust founder Harold C. Black later recalled. “Didn’t expect anybody else to be on the bill. And then Kiss happened. A giant sign […]
I was at both the Cheap Trick and Blue Oyster Cult shows mentioned above. BOC was doing a three night stand. I had tickets for the first night and BOC’s equipment truck had broken down coming from Albany and BOC had to play with borrowed gear from the opening acts The Dictators & Thin Lizzy. Musically the show was good, but no lights and no laser show which was their trademark then. I went back on Sunday night, scalped tickets and they were fantastic.
The Cheap Trick / Cars bill was the second time I had seen Cheap Trick at the Palladium. First time was on a Rush / Cheap Trick / UFO bill, and frankly Cheap Trick stole the show. The Cheap Trick /Cars show that Tom Petersson is referencing above was the LOUDEST concert I have ever been to in my life! When the Cars came on they were already extremely loud, but clear and played an excellent set. Now you know the headliners always are louder than the opening act, and Cheap Trick’s set was TOTAL WHITE NOISE and you could barely make out what song they were playing until they hit the chorus. People filed out of the theater throughout their set because it was just to loud to endure and the room was less then half full by the end of Cheap Tricks set which may account for Tom’s recollection “The acoustics were horrible. It was like a giant gymnasium….”
I attended both the Blue Oyster Cult and Cheap Trick shows noted above.
The BOC show was the first of a three night stand. BOC’s equipment truck had broken down coming from Albany and BOC went on late using opener’s The Dictators & Thin Lizzy’s equipment. No lights or their signature laser show and they were clearly distracted and off their game. I came back and scalped tickets for the Sunday night show and they were full on and fantastic.
The Cheap Trick / Cars show was the second time Cheap Tick had played the Palladium and this time they were headlining. I had seen Cheap Trick at the Palladium previously on a Rush/ Cheap Trick / UFO bill and they were great and clearly stole the show. The Cheap Trick / Cars show was easily the LOUDEST show I have ever been to in my life. Openers the Cars were already extremely loud, but clear and did a great set. Now you know the headliners always are louder then the openers and Cheap Trick’s set was a blaring cacophony of white noise and you could barley make out what song they were playing until they hit the chorus. People were holding their ears and from the third song on were steadily leaving until the venue was less than 1/2 full by the end of the show. This may account for Tom Petterson’s recollection ” The acoustics were horrible. It was like a giant gymnasium….”. I was sitting in the balcony which was shaking the entire show and I could barely stand the volume with kleenex stuffed in my ears. My ears rang for a week after the show and I can only imagine others on the floor closer to the P.A. suffered permanent hearing damage.
I remember many weekends hangin’ out in the Academy’s green room back in ‘72-‘73 when Howard and Helen “held court” there. Great memories
Wasn’t this venue known as Avery Fisher Hall for a few years?
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I’m a 66 year old rock and roll fan and I remember some killer shows at the academy in 1971 , humble pie comes to mind . am I correct in my memory that there was an island that went out into the lower section of seats ? I can see Steve Marriot out there when I close my eyes . please correct me if I’m wrong . Lee Michaels and Frosty around the same time .
There was a walkway down in front of the stage with lights on it. The walkway was gone when palladium started in ‘76. My first show there was hot tuna, fall ‘73. I was 14. Wild. Saw many others- lou reed, allmans, jeff beck, nektar, john mayall with mick taylor, waylon jennings, johnny and edgar winter, and more i cant remember. I loved that place ! The bathroom was like an opium den. Outside was cool too. Its a crime they tore it down
Hot F*cking Tuna!
Great shows enhanced by the vendors in the bathroom! Was there quite often back in the day.
Saw Grateful Dead there.Always epic shows,intimate,good sound. The bathrooms,top notch:).
Umm…how do you talk about The Palladium and not mention the Clash? After all, the cover of London Calling was shot there in 1979
Well, I was at the BOC show as I was and remain a big fan having seen them perhaps 20 times over the years. Of course, this was also the same New Year’s eve show where Kiss played. Honestly, I was not that impressed with the make up thing which seemed a bit silly at the time. Notwithstanding, I feel more appreciative of them when i look back at their career in total and at some of their music. They obviously have had a stellar run, no question. NYC in those days was really something special and, I myself, played some of the clubs, most notably CBGBs. I also remember with some fondness the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park where I saw Led Zeppelin and Ten Years After and the Fillmore East where I saw Johnny Winter, Spirit, Bloodrock, Steve Miller and many others. Finally to top everything , the Doors at the Felt Forum at the Garden. Those were truly the days and I wish I could go back in a time machine for one last gig. Instead, time marches on. Keep rockin’.
For about 3 years in the early 1970s, I was the regular piano tuner at Howard Stein’s Academy of Music and the artists I worked with there were a veritable who’s who of premiere musical legends. Traffic, Little Feat, Eagles, Renaissance, Climax Blues Band, Dr. John, The Band, Commander Cody and on and on.
Usually the piano was an old, well worn Steinway grand rented from a company called “Jersey Joe’s”. It was often frustrating trying to breathe new life into that old war horse but working with Keith Kevan and his crew was always a distinct pleasure. You talk about the “Pros from Dover”, those guys were the absolute best. Those were some of the best times in my more than 35 year career as a concert piano tech.