Thirty years ago New York City was falling apart. Social services had been cut, people couldn't find jobs, a citywide blackout resulted in widespread looting and a serial killer was confounding the police. But in the midst of this decaying metropolis, the musical and artistic toiling of a group of very resourceful individuals planted the seed for creative movements that would go on to have a far-reaching effect on popular culture. The time period is fascinatingly captured in NY77: The Coolest Year in Hell, airing as part of VH1's Rock Docs series this Saturday (at 9 pm/ET). TVGuide.com spoke with Academy Award-nominated executive producer Nanette Burstein about the documentary.
TVGuide.com: Right off the bat I have to say that the amount of detail that went into NY77 makes
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Blondie is lending songs — including "Heart of Glass" and "One Way or Another" — to a West End musical based on the 1985 Madonna film Desperately Seeking Susan, says the AP. Emma Williams (Bat Boy) will channel the Material Girl.... Claire Danes makes her Broadway debut as Eliza Doolittle to Jefferson Mays' Henry Higgins in Pygmalion, opening Oct. 18.... Xanadu, whose Broadway bow was visited by one Olivia Newton-John, is drawing primarily positive reviews. The New York Daily News, for one, deemed the production "90 minutes of souped-up silliness" that translates into "a cure for the summertime blues." The Post, alas, offers one of the few grand slams, calling it "an absolutely ghastly show." I report, you decide.
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Speaking of rock and roll, Black Sabbath, the Sex Pistols, Blondie and Lynyrd Skynyrd will join Miles Davis as this year's inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 13. In related news, Pete Rose, who was left off the National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot yesterday in what was his last chance to get voted in, has taken up electric guitar.
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