Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Downtown Calling


It's a new film on the New York art and music scene of the '70s, narrated by Debbie Harry. Here's the synopsis:

In the late 1970s, the “greatest city in the world” was teetering on the edge of total chaos. A failed economy, crime and en mass housing corruption gave way to a city in crisis. Yet out of the economic and social strife that held the “Big Apple” hostage, a family of homegrown cultures that would forever change the world began to emerge. Downtown Calling not only documents, in detail, the evolution of New York City’s fertile music and art subculture during this period, but how its collective output continues to play a prominent, driving role in the international fashion, art and music industries today.

There's a preview here which isn't an embeddable clip. Mark the film makers down for that error in the Age of Web 2.0.

I'm not sniffing much underground music content here except for James Chance. It's probably very hip hop focused. I wonder why someone doesn't go the whole hog and document the No Wave movement. Surely there's enough in the way of amateur footage and survivors?

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