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Biography
coord|40.729007|-73.995162|format=dms|display=titledablink|For articles with similar names, see Bottom line (disambiguation) Infobox venue| name = Bottom Line| image =| image_caption =| nickname =| address = 15 West Fourth Street, Manhattan , New York City | location = Greenwich Village | coordinates =| type =| genre =| built =| opened = February 12, 1974| renovated =| expanded =| closed = 2004| demolished =| owner =| construction_cost =| former_names =| seating_type =| seating_capacity = 400| website =The Bottom Line was a music venue at 15 West Fourth Street between Mercer Street (Manhattan)|Mercer Street and Greene Street (Manhattan)|Greene Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan , New York City . During 1970s and 1980s the club was a major space for small-scale popular music performances.
History
Owned by Allan Pepper and Stanley Snadowsky, the Bottom Line opened on February 12, 1974 and enjoyed a successful three-decade run, presenting major musical acts and premiering new talent. Bruce Springsteen played showcase gigs at the club and Lou Reed recorded the album Live: Take No Prisoners there. Harry Chapin held his 2000th concert at the Bottom Line in January 1981 .
The Bottom Line hosted an extremely wide variety of music and musicians. Among the thousands who performed on its stage were Asim Can Gündüz , Linda Ronstadt , Van Morrison , Neil Young , Loudon Wainwright III , The New York Dolls , Lyle Lovett , The Electric Flag , Pat Martino , Todd Rundgren , Graham Parker , Horslips , Dire Straits , Chris Hillman , Dolly Parton , Tracy Nelson (singer)|Tracy Nelson , Emmylou Harris , The Pointer Sisters , Betty Carter , Ravi Shankar , Prince (musician)|Prince , Ramones , Miles Davis , Bill Evans , Charles Mingus , Mose Allison , Muddy Waters , Mike Bloomfield , Paul Butterfield , Ray Barretto , Peter Gabriel , Al Kooper , Tom Waits , Melvin van Peebles , Barry Manilow , Neil Sedaka , Billy Joel , Patti Smith , Flo and Eddie , Hall & Oates , Toots and the Maytals , Cheech and Chong , Tower of Power , Tim Hardin , Roger McGuinn , JJ Cale , The Meters , Greg Kihn Band , Ry Cooder , Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes , Sam and Dave and The Ronettes . http://www.bottomlinecabaret.com/
The Bottom Line seated 400 people and had a no smoking policy, long before that restriction became New York City law.
In later years the club hosted ''In Their Own Words: A Bunch Of Songwriters Sittin' Around Singing , a series of performances with commentary organized and initially hosted by radio personality Vin Scelsa . Another staple was the annual Downtown Messiah'', a reworking of Handel directed by Richard Barone . At Christmastime, musicians like Vernon Reid and David Johansen made “The Messiah” their own. Another recurring event was The Beat Goes On, a show in which performers covered pop songs around a theme, such as Christmas songs, or songs from a given time period. That show presented performers including Fountains of Wayne , Richard Lloyd (guitarist)|Richard Lloyd and " Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)|Hedwig and the Angry Inch 's John Cameron Mitchell . The Bottom Line was also the site, in April 1995, of four concerts by Joan Baez in which she collaborated with a number of female performers, including Dar Williams , Janis Ian , Mary Chapin Carpenter , Indigo Girls|The Indigo Girls and Mary Black , the results of which were recorded and released as the album Ring Them Bells .
The Bottom Line's cachet faded with time, and by 2003 the club was deeply in debt ($190,000 in back rent, plus several hundred thousand dollars in other expenses) and no longer bringing in large crowds. Its landlord, New York University (NYU), increased the rent to market level, which was beyond the club's ability to pay, and in a contentious negotiation the university threatened eviction. Fans Karen and Carmine DeMarco started a petition on their http://www.savethebottom.com website in support of the club. Bruce Springsteen offered to pay the club’s back rent if NYU and the owners could settle on a lease. Sirius Satellite Radio offered the same, but rather than risk a takeover, Pepper and Snadowsky closed the club before they could be kicked out. The last Bottom Line show was on January 22, 2004, just shy of the club’s thirtieth anniversary. The building now houses NYU classrooms.
Pepper and Snadowsky are seeking another venue to carry the Bottom Line name. They maintain the http://www.bottomlinecabaret.com Bottom Line Corporate Website, and use it to provide the club's official history and to sell merchandise, including T-shirts. Since 2005, the site has been updated annually on February 12 (anniversary of the club's opening), with a letter detailing their current progress. In February 2007 they announced plans to release a box set of archival recordings on Koch Records . That set is currently in preproduction.
References
;Sources
http://www.bottomlinecabaret.com/ Bottom Line Corporate Website
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-10-23-bottom-line_x.htm USA Today, "N.Y.'s famous Bottom Line gets reprieve", Oct 23, 2003.
http://www.thevillager.com/vilager_26/thebottomline.html The Villager, "The Bottom Line tries to avoid end of the line", Oct 29, 2003.
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html? res=F00B1EF73D5C0C758EDDA80894DC404482, “CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; The Bottom Line, a Place Where the Music Always Came First”, Jan 26, 2004
;Notes Reflist Category:1974 establishments Category:2004 disestablishments Category:Former music venues Category:Former music venues in New York City Category:Nightclubs in New York City ja:??????
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