Thanks to New York radio (WNEW-FM in the City and WLIR-FM out on the Island) I fell in love with two radio-friendly songs by Connecticut band, Dirty Angels: “Radio” and “Tell Me.” (That’s a different MusicMike in the video.) If you have never heard these power pop gems from their overlooked 1977 LP, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, I promise you won’t be disappointed. The band even tried another time re-releasing “Tell Me” on their second and last self-titled LP in 1978.

Around this time, I had an older gal friend who I went to shows with, and together we became fans of the Angels, seeing them play a few times. Although the band had a great live set, it puzzled me why they opened with their two best songs (mentioned above) allowing their set to inevitably go downhill from there. Nonetheless, we still loved our “two-hit wonders” and on this night made a trek to Manhattan’s trendy Hurrah nightclub where we could both see the band and dance.

Hurrah was a great space to see a show—and I mean space as it was nothing more than an open floor in an office building. Once situated just off of Broadway at 36 West 62nd Street, I believe it was the only venue where I took an elevator to get to the show. Hurrah blossomed in the late 70s and early 80s and was an upscale place where the Uptown crowd gathered to dance to the latest Punk and New Wave sounds in between live sets.

I recall a long bar in front of you as you stepped off the elevator. Off to the left was a large open dance floor with the stage at the far end and only a few scattered couches where weary dancers could rest. Dancing between sets to a DJ playing the latest sounds was quite fun and the floor was always busy.

Sadly I left the City and missed much of Hurrah’s heyday. But, in addition to the Angles, I saw shows there by The Records (billed only as “That Starry-Eyed Band from England” with an opening set by The dB’s), The Knack (actually supporting Lisa Burns and the Young Doctors) and old chum Gary Valentine with his band The Know. I sure wish that I got to spend some more time in this fab use of some Manhattan office space.

Thanks to It’s All the Streets You Crossed Not So Long Ago for the image.