Sex Pistols

West Village Model Karen Rempel puts a spell on you

Badass Reputation

“Girls don’t play rock’n’roll,” 13-year-old Joan Jett’s guitar teacher told her. Two years later, she founded The Runaways, together with drummer Sandy West. Don’t tell a girl no! My Uncle Dwayne gave my sister and me The Runaways’ second album, Queens of Noise, for Christmas 1977, along with nine other best-selling albums from that year, […]

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West Village Model Karen Rempel in front of CBGBs Bowery location

Punk-Up at CBGBs

I first heard about CBGBs at a party in high school in Burnaby, BC. My friends were playing Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime” and somehow I parsed the word CBGB’s, though it took decades to learn about the Mudd Club. I’m sure all native New Yorkers know that CBGB’s is the birthplace of punk, though […]

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