From the Publisher

For many years I have had a love affair with New York. It all started when I took a trip to New York with my parents when I was 13. My father had a connection with the Port Authority and arranged a private helicopter ride from the 34th Street Heliport on the East River. We flew around the face of the Statue of Liberty (can’t do that anymore!) and landed on top of the 59-story PanAm Building (now the MetLife Building) towering over Grand Central Station. After that adventure, we walked from the Heliport to have lunch at P.J. Clarke’s on East 55th Street and 3rd Avenue, that I thought it was very fancy, and where I had eggs benedict for the first time. In retrospect, it wasn’t that fancy, but it was memorable. It is an old Irish saloon established in 1884 that they had to build the neighboring skyscraper around as the owners would not sell out. However, the food and atmosphere were fantastic and very “old New York.” P.J.’s would continue to be a big part of my New York experience in years to come.

As you may recall from one of my earlier publisher’s letters, rock ‘n roll has always been a big part of my life. When I was 14, I started reading an underground rock magazine called Creem. Creem covered a lot of up-and-coming underground acts, many of which hailed from New York, would never come to Nashville, and seldom got played on the radio. But many of these acts found a home in my record collection. These included The New York Dolls, Kiss, Lou Reed, and the late 70’s New Wave/Punk scene that centered around CBGB’s. Creem was the accelerant that further fueled my fascination with the Big Apple.

During February of my sophomore year at Duke University, two friends, George and Keith, and I blew off two days of classes to drive 10 hours from Durham to take a long weekend in New York. I remember going past the refineries on the Jersey Turnpike and finding them so strange and foreboding. When I drove through the Lincoln Tunnel and arrived at the bustling streets of Manhattan, I panicked at the wheel, pulled the car over to the curb, and asked Keith to take over. We stayed in a tiny prewar apartment on the Upper East Side that belonged to some friends of George that were out of town. We attended a Beatles fest where we scored some bootleg records of the lads from Liverpool. My most vivid memory of the trip was our pilgrimage to CBGB’s. The famous (and now defunct) club was on the Bowery, a very seedy part of town back then. When we got out of the cab, we were hesitant to go in, but fortunately we did and saw a punk band called the Rudies. I still have the 45 that I bought that night.

My first job out of college was working for Jack Daniel’s in sales. Because of its proximity to New York City, I opted for the Northeastern regional sales office in Northern New Jersey. During my three years in New Jersey, my Duke friends who lived in Philly and the Tristate area and I would trek into New York on the weekends to catch a cheap bite (typically in the Village) and go see the up-and-coming (and sometimes famous) bands at The Ritz, CBGB’s, Peppermint Lounge, Lone Star Roadhouse, Mudd Club, Kenny’s Castaways, and The Bottom Line. During that time, we saw the Psychedelic Furs, Lords of the New Church, Cheap Trick (Steven Tyler joined for an encore of John Lennon’s “Cold Turkey”), The Bongos, and Johnny Thunders—all Creem magazine heroes. The bands would usually wrap up by 4 AM, after which we would end up at P.J. Clarke’s for a late-night nosh or Chinatown for dim sum. Occasionally, we’d go to The Palisades (the cliffs overlooking the Hudson River) by the George Washington Bridge and watch the sunrise.

When I received my MBA from Vanderbilt, I landed a job in New York on Wall Street and moved into an apartment in a 30-story 1970’s high rise on the Southeast corner of East 90th Street and 3rd Avenue, four blocks from Central Park, where I would live for 16 years in two different condos. At this point in my life, I appreciated and could afford more of what New York had to offer than just music. I loved the art museums and galleries, jogging and picnicking in Central Park, and the diverse and delicious culinary scene. My favorites were the original Palm, La Grenouille, Quatorze Bis, and Sparks. It was also a great training ground for my 30-year career in finance. During my years in New York, I met my wife, Melissa, got married, and had my two sons, Jack and Charlie, who were born at Lenox Hill Hospital on Park and East 77th Street. My music also came full circle when I formed an all-original band, The Aggressive Pedestrians, that played some of the same clubs I visited, including China Club, Kenny’s Castaways, and The Bitter End.

I have always said that New York City has an energy that you either tap into or not. I tapped into it for a long time, but by the time I was 43 with two small children and a wife who was no longer working full-time, we were ready for a change and moved to Nashville 20 years ago—one of the best decisions I ever made. I still love to visit New York, but I could never live there full-time again. Nashville is our home now forever.

Dave Mahanes, Publisher dave@slmag.net