| Max's | |
|---|---|
| Type | Music venue, restaurant |
| Genre(s) | Glam Punk New Wave |
| Opened | 1965 |
| Location | Manhattan, New York |
| Owner | Mickey Ruskin |
| Renovated | 1975 |
| Closed | 1981; West 52d St. site 1998 |
| Website | http://www.maxskansascity.com/ |
Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South, in New York City, which was a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s.
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Opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933-1983) in December 1965, it was a hangout for artists and sculptors of the New York School, like John Chamberlain, Robert Rauschenberg and Larry Rivers, whose presence attracted hip celebrities and the jet set. It was also a favorite hangout of Andy Warhol and his entourage. The Velvet Underground played their last shows at Max's in the summer of 1970. It was a home base for the short-lived Glam Rock scene, which included David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed and the New York Dolls. Many bands made early appearances there. Bruce Springsteen played a solo acoustic set in the summer of 1972. It was the site of Aerosmith's first New York City gigs. Bob Marley & The Wailers opened for Springsteen at Max's at the beginning of Marley's career on the international circuit. Fashion designer Carlos Falchi was a busboy there in 1970.[1]
By 1974, Max's had lost popularity among the art crowd and the glam era was in decline. The legendary establishment closed in December of that year. Ed Koch later had a campaign office in the building.[2]
The club reopened in 1975 under new ownership of Tommy Dean Mills, who initially thought he would make it a disco. Peter Crowley, who had been booking the same, early punk bands that played at CBGB, at Mothers, a gay bar on 23rd Street (Manhattan), was hired to start booking bands at Max's, as an alternative to CBGB.[3]
Max's Kansas City became one of the birthplaces of punk rock, featuring bands like Cherry Vanilla, The New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, Blondie, The Ramones, The Cramps, Mink DeVille, Steel Tips, The Misfits, The Dictators (who were falsely rumored to have been banned from playing there), Wayne County, The N. Dodo Band, Cheap Perfume, The Blessed, The Fast, The Fleshtones, Klaus Nomi, Elliott Murphy, and Patti Smith, as well as out-of-town bands in the same vein such as The Runaways and The Damned. After the breakup of the Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious played many of his solo gigs there. Devo played several shows at Max's in 1977, including a show where they were introduced by David Bowie as "the band of the future." A 'live' superstar single, "Twist And Shout"/Boys" was recorded at Max's in 1980, at a gig by Jimi LaLumia and the Psychotic Frogs; joining in on both songs were Johnny Thunders (vocals on "Twist and Shout", lead guitar on "Boys"), Jayne County, Cherry Vanilla with Louie Lepore, and Donna Destri, the 'social register' as owner Tommy Dean called it that night.
Max's closed its doors in November 1981. The building survives and now houses a deli.
Mills reopened the club again on January 27, 1998, at a new location—240 West 52d Street—site of the former Lone Star Roadhouse.[4][5] However it closed shortly after opening.
The opening had been delayed by litigation by Yvonne Sewall-Ruskin who said she owned the trademark to Max's Kansas City and got a temporary restraining order to prevent use of the name.[6]
In 2000, Acidwork Productions, Inc., a production company founded by Neil Holstein (second cousin of Mickey Ruskin) began working in conjunction with Victoria Ruskin (Mickey Ruskin's daughter) on a feature length documentary about Mickey and his many establishments, including Max's Kansas City. [7]
In 2001, Yvonne Sewall-Ruskin established the Max's Kansas City Project in memory of the late Mickey Ruskin who fathered two of her children. To honor the spirit inherent in Ruskin's philosophy of helping artists in need, the project, a 501(c)(3) non-profit provides emergency funding and resources for individuals in the arts in crisis and empowers teens through the arts. [8]
The name does not come from any club owner direct connections to Kansas City (either of Kansas or of Missouri). Ruskin grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey and was educated at Cornell University.
There are two stories as to how the name came to be, both involving suggestions by the poet Joel Oppenheimer. The first story is that the name commemorated a poetic place described by fellow poet Max Finstein.[9] Oppenheimer and Finstein were among the poets who had gathered at Ruskin’s earlier establishment the 9th Circle in Greenwich Village. The second story is that when Oppenheimer was a kid, "all the steakhouses had Kansas City on the menu because the best steak was Kansas City-cut, so I thought it should be 'something Kansas City.'" "Max" was chosen because it sounded "restauranty."[10]
Oppenheimer also suggested the menu items on the marquee of “Steak, Lobster, Chick Peas.”
Ruskin opened another similar restaurant “Max's Terre Haute” on the Upper East Side but it did not do as well.[2]
Coordinates: 40°44′12″N 73°59′19″W / 40.73667°N 73.98861°W
   | Maxskansascity.com - Max's Kansas City | Where Fashion, Art and Music Came Together |
| | www.maxskansascity.org - New Page 1 |
| | Ross Feld Biography at accessmylibrary.com - Ross Feld. (22-JUN-05) The Review of Contemporary Fiction |
| | Suicide: No Compromise - Suicide: No Compromise - Google Books |
| | Factory Kids in an Uproar Over the Whitney's Warhol Show - Factory Kids in an Uproar Over the Whitney's Warhol Show | The New York Observer |
| | Neighborhood Report: Union Square; Archetypal Host - NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: UNION SQUARE; Archetypal Host - The New York Times |
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