Glenn OBrien: In 1978 I started a public-access television show in New York along with a few friends. It was called TV Party, and by the time it ended in 1982 our list of guests included David Bowie, David Byrne, Robert Fripp, the B-52s, Chris Burden, George Clinton, Iggy Pop, Steven Meisel, Mick Jones, James Chance, John Lurie, Klaus Nomi, Kraftwerk, the Screamers, Robert Mapplethorpe, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Nile Rodgers, Kid Creole, the Offs, Alex Chilton, the Brides of Funkenstein, Arthur Russell, David McDermott, and Charles Rocket, just to name a few. I first became interested in public access when I was invited to appear on the show If I Cant Dance You Can Keep Your Revolution, hosted by a woman named Coca Crystal. It went well enough, but I didnt think much of it. Then, the next day on the subway, several strangers said that they had seen me on the show the night before. This happened more and more. I thought, Wow, people are actually watching this. In those days, the lack of decent cable options meant random dial-spinners had a very good chance of landing on your channel. My friend Chris Stein, the guitarist of Blondie, lived in a Midtown penthouse around this time and had cable. I often watched it with him while smoking Rasta-sized joints. One night it just hit me and I called him up and said, Chris, we have to start a public-access show. People are actually watching this shit instead of Bonanza.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 18:33:30 +0000
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