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1980s: At the height of the “new wave” craze, a relatively unknown band from Athens, GA called The B52s came up to play at CB’s. In a clever bid to stand out amongst the hundreds of others bands playing NYC, the B52s first ran all over town putting up posters for their upcoming gig. The posters featured a large photo of the band--including space-age beehive hairdos and retro-sixties go-go outfits.

Something about that crazy band photo captured the zeitgeist of NYC’s music and fashion hip-ness at the perfect moment. I can still recall the band’s image on that poster and the curious buzz it caused. My friends and I all agreed, “we gotta check this band out”!

On the night of the B52s show, the line of fans at CBGB’s ran all the way around the block. It was a smash sold-out show, unusual for an out-of-town band and a career-boosting triumph for the B52s. In addition to seeing what for many was their first world-class pop act with queer band members, the many gays in the audience were treated to the quirky spoken word pronouncements of Fred Schneider, perhaps the first gay rapping in pop music history.

1990s: In the more sober, post-AIDS era, a new brand of “out” performer appeared--independent, politically conscious GLBT musical artists who labeled themselves as such, who included “out” lyrics in their songs, and who openly revealed their sexual orientation in their resumes and live shows. Many of these “out” acts were more traditional in musical style and appearance, less outrageous than the now out-of-style “punk drag queen shock value” approach of gay rock’s pre-AIDS heyday, and they sought to appeal to a more general, conservative pop audience.

As with other social issues like marriage and the military, gays finally wanted inclusion in America’s mainstream popular arts and media too.

CBGB’s second performance space, the “Gallery”, became a popular venue for the new breed of more folky/acoustic/alternative styled “out” artists. In the mid 90’s I remember attending for my first time a concert promoted as an “out” gay singer-songwriter night at CB’s Gallery. I recall the slightly nervous, almost over-polite edginess and hushed atmosphere of the evening, as if we were all in a library.

I also recall the somewhat nervous, gay singer/songwriter Jesse Hultberg singing the lyric about being “gay and out and proud” in his song, causing a slight frisson of acknowledgment to waft throughout the conservatively dressed, college-educated looking audience of mostly gay males.

One could tell it was some kind of “first” for many in attendance that they had come specifically to hear.

2000s: Now with GLBT music more out and about than ever, in this decade I performed more than ever at CB’s. I also played guitar and bass for a variety of GLBT rock bands there. In 2002, at one particularly memorable show, I played bass for lesbian comic Julie Goldman’s rock/comedy rock group Indigo Etheridge, when we opened for 80’s pop star and gay favorite Laura Brannigan ("Gloria," "Self Control") as partt of CBGB’s Homocore series.

The sold-out show was attended by a crowd of all persuasions, and included a most-welcomed contingent of healthy, handsome males. (I need not tell you how much fun it is being a gay rocker and having a crowd of supportive, young, hot shirtless boy-fans crowded up around the stage while performing).