A new CD box set celebrating the first decade or so of the legendary New York City punk club CBGB will be released on January 30, 2026. CBGB – A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986 is a four-CD collection featuring 101 tracks.
The expansive compilation features songs by the early punk bands and acts that helped earn the gritty downtown Manhattan venue its reputation as ground zero for the punk-rock explosion in the U.S. Among the groups and artists featured in the box set are the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, Talking Heads, and Television.
Videos by American Songwriter
[RELATED: New Ramones Box Set Features Atmos Mixes of the Punk Legends’ First Four Albums]
Beyond those famous acts, the box set also includes tracks by other influential groups who performed at CBGB during its early heyday, among them The Dictators, The Cramps, Suicide, The Dead Boys, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, and ex-New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders’ band The Heartbreakers.
CBGB – A New York City Soundtrack also features tracks by noteworthy artists from various other genres and punk offshoots—including New Wave, No Wave, post-punk, hardcore, power pop, avant-jazz, and funk—who played at the club in the late 1970s and 1980s. These include Mink Deville, James Chance & The Contortions, The dB’s, The Bongos, The Lounge Lizards, Minor Threat, Bush Tetras, Beastie Boys, Bad Brains, Sonic Youth, and Nona Hendryx.
In addition, the box set offers up tracks by a variety of lesser-known groups who are worth revisiting.
A dozen songs on the compilation have never been available on CD before. Two tracks, “Come On Up” by The Planets and “Next Question” by Urban Verbs, are previously unreleased.
You can=pre-order the box set now at CherryRed.co.uk.
More About CBGB
Owner Hilly Kristal opened CBGB in December 1973 at the site of his previous bar, Hilly’s, at 315 Bowery. The venue full named was CBGB & OMFUG, which stood for “Country, Bluegrass, Blues, and Other Music for Uplifting Gourmandizers.” Kristal initially intended to hire roots artists to play at the bar, but soon shifted its focus to rock groups when bands like Television and the Ramones started playing gigs there during its early days.
CBGB soon developed a reputation for being the place one of the most popular places for young, edgy, and offbeat artists to perform in New York City.
CBGB continued to be a relatively popular music venue until it closed in October 2006. Patti Smith was the final artist to perform at the club. Kristal died from complications of lung cancer in August 2007 at age 75.
Since April 2008, the site of CBGB has been occupied by a John Varvatos high-end fashion store. The store occasionally hosts concerts and other rock-related events that celebrate CBGB’s legacy.
CBGB – A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986 Track List:
Disc One
- “(I Live for) Cars and Girls” – The Dictators
- “S&M (I Can’t Live Without You)” – The Harlots of 42nd Street
- “S&M – Leather Queen” – The Magic Tramps
- “Free Money” – Patti Smith
- “Be a Man” – The Brats
- “Travelin’ Man” – City Lights
- “Call Me” – The Hounds*
- “It Was So Funny (That Song That They Sung)” – Erasers
- “Beat on the Brat” – Ramones
- “Everybody’s Depraved” (Live at CBGB) – Stuart’s Hammer
- “Come On Up” – The Planets (Previously unreleased)
- “Not Enough Girls (in the World)” – Milk ‘n’ Cookies
- “They Live by Night” – Just Water
- “See No Evil” – Television
- “Crocodile Tears” – Mumps
- “Born to Lose” – The Heartbreakers
- “You Don’t Break My Heart” – Testors
- “Ain’t Nothing to Do” – The Dead Boys
- “You Really Piss Me Off” – The Senders
- “F*** Off” – The Electric Chairs
- “Forgive and Forget” – Marbles
- “Hard as a Rock” – Cherry Vanilla
- “Fun City” – Tuff Darts
- “A Clean Break (Let’s Work)” (Live) – Talking Heads
Disc Two
- “Ghost Rider” – Suicide
- “I Feel Bad” – Pure Hell
- “Room to Rage” – Helen Wheels
- “Picture This” – Blondie
- “Helen Forsdale” – Mars
- “Don’t Walk on the Kitchen Floor” – Come On
- “‘A’ Train Lady” – Mink Deville
- “Instant Love” – The Heat*
- “Aye Co’lorado” – Genya Ravan
- “Lovin’ in the Red” – Theoretical Girls
- “The Kid with the Replaceable Head” – Richard Hell & The Voidoids
- “Pink Stillettos” – The Stillettos
- “Baby, Let’s Stick Together” – The Paley Brothers
- “Rock ‘n’ Roll Is Alive” – Neon Leon*
- “The Way (You Touch My Hand)” – Revelons
- “Just Like Dresden ’45” – New York Ni**ers
- “Fun House” – L.O.K.*
- “O.A.O.” – Material
- “I Need a Million” – The Laughing Dogs
- “Combat Love” – Shrapnel
- “Heart Disease” – Peroxide
- “Christmas Weather” – Student Teachers
- “Breakin’ in My Heart” – Tom Verlaine
- “Number Nine” – Richard Lloyd
- “Jailhouse Rock” (Live at CBGB 1978) – James Chance & The Contortions
Disc Three
- “Garbage Man” – The Cramps
- “I Don’t Wanna Dance (with You)” – The Dots*
- “We Deliver” – The Miamis
- “Shift the Blame” – Model Citizens
- “Black and White” – The dB’s
- “On the Beach” – The Rattlers
- “The Revolution Is Personal” – Love of Life Orchestra
- “Next Question” – Urban Verbs (Previously unreleased)
- “Teenage News” – Sylvain Sylvain
- “Loud Fast Rules” – Stimulators
- “Reduced” – Tot Rocket and the Twins
- “Telephoto Lens” – The Bongos
- “I’m Searchin’ for You” – Outsets
- “Teenage Heartbreak” – Sorrows
- “Do the Wrong Thing” – The Lounge Lizards
- “There She Goes” – Nervus Rex
- “Wild Moose Party” – The Cosmopolitans
- “Your Dragging Feet” – Polyrock
- “Child Bride” – Lenny Kaye with The Lone Wolves*
- “Arp’s Carpet” – R.L. Crutchfield’s Dark Day
- “Jealousy” – The Colors
- “(Don’t Blame It on the) Weekend” – TV Toy
- “Blonde Red Head” – DNA
- “Sherri Goodbye” – The Rudies
- “Tight Turn” – The Raybeats
- “Asexual” – Phosphenes*
- “Straight Edge” – Minor Threat
Disc Four
- “Things That Go BOOM in the Night” – Bush Tetras
- “(Say No to) Saturday’s Girl” – Human Switchboard
- “Information” – Disturbed Furniture*
- “Back to You” – The Necessaries*
- “Oriental Television” – Chemicals Made from Dirt*
- “If It’s New” – China Shop
- “Open House” – James Blood Ulmer
- “You’re to Blame” – Nihilistics
- “Egg Raid on Mojo” – Beastie Boys
- “My Three Sons (Revolve Around the Earth)” – The Individuals
- “Drastic Classicism” (Edit) – Rhys Chatham
- “Boys-Girls (Radio)” – Unknown Gender*
- “Hinterland” – Khmer Rouge
- “Banned in D.C.” – Bad Brains
- “English C*nts” – Heart Attack
- “Fight” – Outpatients
- “Housewives on Valium” – Vatican Commandos
- “The World Looks Red” – Sonic Youth
- “Operating Instruction” – Jeff & Jane Hudson
- “Deception” – Glorious Strangers*
- “Transformation” – Nona Hendryx
- “No Class” – Reagan Youth
- “Assassin” – Rat at Rat R
- “Social Climber” – Ritual Tension
- “Grace” – The Ordinaires
* = Previously unreleased on CD.
(Photo by Roberta Bayley/Redferns)