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HILLY TRIBUTE....
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"If we citizens do not
support our artists then we sacrifice our imagination on the altars of crude
reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams."....
-Quote from the Life of PI, One of Hilly’s Favorite Books
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Matt Pinfield – DJ and TV Host....
I met
Hilly when I was 18. He could sense my love and enthusiasm about rock and
roll. He said to me "Don't ever
lose that passion kid! People will try and steal it from ya. Its ok to be
you!” I didn't understand it at the time,
but I do now! Never give up on the
dream. Follow the road wherever it takes you! He was a bit hard on me when I
was a kid! But he always showed me warmth and believed in the pure love I had
for music! He always treated me well.
Years later he told me how proud he was of me! ....
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Genya Ravan – Producer Dead Boys, Singer for
Goldie & Ginberbreads....
I
miss "The Deep Voice,” “The Vision
of Music," "The Heart-felt Roar of the Bowery King's Maddness and
Laughter." It’s the biggest Ozone
Hole we have on this planet!!!! That’s......'Hilly
Kristal'. Gone but not ever forgotten.....
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....Vernon.... Reid –
Living Colour....
"Hilly was an amazing man, an institution unto
himself. Without his unshakable belief in us, I don't see how my band Living
Colour would have made it. I adored him."....
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Cheetah Chrome – Dead
Boys....
I
don't know what I can say about Hilly except that I miss him a lot. Him being
gone is something that will still take time to heal; I can't count how many
times I've wished I could call him to ask his advice, or just talk. NYC isn't
the same place without him. I have a picture of him in my studio, and it's
comforting to look up and see him at his desk, playing his guitar....it's the
way I like to remember him."....
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Bob O'Gureck - Fossil....
CBGB
Where dreams come true…....
The first
time I met Hilly I was auditioning with my band Fossil on Valentines Day in
1992. I gave him a shirt. He gave me a characteristic Hilly gleaming
eye grin and mumbled a “Thank you.” We
both then watched as his dog Dominique took a piss on the club’s dilapidated
hard wood floor. Attending the show that
night was my future wife Sara. Our
daughter Anna was born 15 years later on Valentine’s Day. ....
Hilly
ultimately made my dreams come true when he got us a deal with Seymour Stein
and Sire Records. ....Seymour.... had signed many of my heros including
Talking Heads and The Smiths. I was in
pretty heady company and it blew my mind.
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The point
of this rant would be that I emerged from the experience a changed man. Like many of the outcasts who passed through
the club’s doors I found validation. I
am eternally grateful to Hilly Cristal and CBGB. Thank You Hilly for making me feel like I
belong somewhere and that I am actually worth something. I think of you, as I’m sure many do, as a
foster father and I hope that I still make you proud in some way. I hope the bathrooms are cleaner in
heaven. Love, Bob....
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Mike Thorn - Producer
Hilly came up to our place in CT maybe 15 years back. By the sunny pool, niece Katherine mentioned it was her fifth birthday. Such time scales are seriously important when you measure them in single digits. Hilly picked up his guitar and sang his song 'Birds And The Bees' as her present. 'I love you Hilly.' 'And I love you too, Katherine.
Bebe Buell - Model and Singer
Hilly will always be remembered as the man who brought us CBGBs- thats a
given. But I too treasure his compassionate honesty, his friendship and his hugs." Hilly gave great hugs. They made you feel safe.
Louise Staley - CBGB....
I
first met Hilly in 1986 when I was interviewing for an internship there. I walked in and he was at his desk. I
introduced myself. He seemed somewhat
confused by my presence and I reminded him why I was there. He looked up and
asked me if I could drive a stick shift.
I nodded and he told me to move his car. When I returned from parking
it, he told me I was hired.....
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After
working with him for 21 years, I thought of Hilly as a big brother, although
sometimes a little more intimidating than my real ones.....
When
we were on the Bowery, it never seemed like "work"...more of a
clubhouse; it was controlled chaos every day.
Fun days were great, and even the bad days were okay because of everyone
there, and of course Hilly.....
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The
morning when I found out he died. I called my Mom to tell her. She said, “Don’t you remember, your father
died on this day almost 30 years ago, isn’t this strange?"....
And
it is, in an odd and profound way.....