For a while, in New York City there was only one place you wanted to be if you were a rock star. Four letters but one hell of scene the iconic punk club CBGB was in the middle of the blood, sweat and tears mauling that was rock and roll in the most decadent decade of all the 1970’s.

These snapshots of the most gruesome embodiment of the US punk scene show a place where there was no pretense, no grace period, no manners and holds barred – this was CBGB’s and they weren’t here to fuck around.

Everyone who had even the slightest grit between their razored teeth in the New York punk scene cut their pearly whites on the grime-ridden stage. The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, The Planets, Living Colour, The Voidoids, Devo, Misfits, Television, Patti Smith Group, New York Dolls, The Dead Boys, The Dictators, The Cramps, and Joan Jett all found time to either perform or hang out at the snot-swap spot.

Opened by Hilly Kristal on Bowery St in 1973 the club would play host to some iconic moments in punk and rock and roll history. With the club reduce down to an acronym as its colloquial name, Hilly has endlessly been answering the question of what all the letters stand for so we’ll do it for him. Deep breath… CBGB OMFUG: Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music for Uplifting Gourmandizers.

But while the club was frequented by every rock and roll star worth their salt it also held the great and the good of New York’s punk scene on an almost nightly basis. One such pair of customers and documenters of the burning movement was the duo of Bettie Ringma and Marc Miller.

Through Ringma and Miller’s work with their Polaroid camera project, they captured some of rock’s dirty and deranged through one of the most debilitating mediums – the portrait.

Offering the ‘cool kids’ of the Bowery venue a chance to drop their acts and lift a smile presents us with some candid imagery of the memorable punk palace CBGB. Armed with their concept, a smiles and a willing photographer in Marc Miller the duo found themselves locking arms with rock stars and the rest is a piece of history.

Ringma with Richard Hell (r)

Ringma with Patti Smith

“Our first photograph of Bettie with the movers and shakers at CBGB was taken during our very first visit to the club in late 1976. Standing alone by the bar was one of Bettie’s favorite performers, the poet-rocker Patti Smith. At home at CBGB and a wee bit tipsy, Patti was more than happy to oblige our request for a picture with Bettie. Soon we were CBGB regulars, checking out the different bands and slowly adding to our collection of pictures. Although the buzz about CBGB was growing, the place was still a neighborhood bar where future rock legends were just as likely to be hanging out and drinking by the pinball machine as performing on stage. In addition to the musicians, there were music writers, fashion designers, commercial photographers, as well as a small group of artists like us who were part of the Soho and Tribeca art scene. As our “Paparazzi Self-Portraits” morphed into “Bettie Visits CBGB,” we saw our photographs as a reflection of the new aesthetic emerging at CBGB, a contradictory mix of high and low culture energized by fun and humor, the lure of fame and fortune, and a cynical appreciation of the power of a good hype.” – Marc Miller

Ringma & Nancy Spungen

Ringma with Talking Heads

Ringma with David Byrne

Ringma with Joey Ramone

Ringma with Debbie Harry

Ringma with The Dead Boys