The Time and The Place (Part 1)
by Stiffy Biceptz

The time was October of 1991. Probably a Wednesday night, around 11:30 p.m. I was on the dance floor of the Melody, where I could always be found every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday since around 1986. The dance floor hadn't filled yet; just a handful of the regulars were there, making the most of a lot of room, myself included. A song ended, and in Melody style, a pregnant pause filled the room with an intense silence while the next tune cued up. I always loved that silence; it gave you a chance to reflect on what you had just heard, cleanse your senses, and wonder with excitement what was coming next. Most of the time it was something familiar, but once or twice a night Matt would introduce a new track from a new band, to keep things forever moving forward.
 
In an instant after the track began, we knew it was something new. Ok, lets check it out, give it a fair shake and see what happens. Calmly we waited for the light guitar intro to finish, leading into the meat of the song. And then it happened. And in another instant, all of us regulars just looked at each other with a look that simply said holy shit, this is something special, and things ain't gonna be the same after this. It only took an instant, but its impact was like a 9.0 earthquake. As the track's intensity exploded, the regulars and myself found our bodies knew exactly what to do on the dance floor and we raged with a fury, with a purpose, catalyzed by only a few tracks a year.
 
This was more like a track of the decade.
 
When the song ended, I raced over to edge of the dance floor and yelled, "WHAT WAS THAT? YOU HAVE TO PLAY THAT AGAIN!" Now in the previous 5 years I had asked Matt many times about particular tracks and bands, who they were, what CD, etc. and remarked, "hey that's cool, play that some more". But again, this was really different. The look on his face said Whoa, what have we unleashed? We both knew. Matt, The Melody and WHTG were among the first to play the track by a barely-known band called Nirvana.
 
The track was Smells Like Teen Spirit.
 
[To be continued...]
 

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Monday, August 19, 2019
 
Squeeze and Marshall Crenshaw at bergenPAC, Englewood
 
Ronnie Baker Brooks at Knitting Factory Brooklyn
 
Happy Mondays w, We're Ghosts Now, Powerlines and Shimmy (acoustic) at Wonder Bar
 
Stringbean & Boardwalk Social Club at Langosta Lounge
 
The Distillers and Death Valley Girls at Stone Pony (CANCELLED)
 
The Young'uns at Rockwood Music Hall 3
 
 
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