Lightbox Film Center presents, once more (by popular demand!)
I BELONGED TO THE BLANK GENERATION at Bok Building
Last April, the Lightbox Film Center screened a unique program of video called I BELONGED TO THE BLANK GENERATION: PHILLY'S EARLY PUNK/NEW WAVE SCENE ON SCREEN. Timed to compliment a much talked about photography exhibition documenting the same subject, the event was tremendously successful, with an audience of over 350.
However, it seems there were still a lot of people that either were not able to attend or did not hear about it in time, because there have since been MANY requests for the program to be repeated. That will happen -- for one time only -- on Wednesday, December 17.
In addition to rare video, the Lightbox event will also include a slide show presented by Jay Schwartz (of Secret Cinema), featuring rare images and first-hand stories about how he came to shoot intimate, close-up still photography of a sweaty and loud underground music scene. (These photos were showcased earlier this year in a gallery exhibition; see below*.)
There will be one complete screening at 7:00 pm. Admission is $14.00, $12.00 for students and seniors, and $8.00 for members.
The centerpiece of the screening is a previously unseen 25-minute documentary shot at Philly's Artemis nightclub, featuring very early footage of L.A. band X, storied WXPN d.j. Lee Paris, and club owner David Carroll. Also shown will be Super 8 footage of the Cramps at the Hot Club, rock videos and TV appearances from early local bands, and more. The material shown will span the years 1977 through 1980 -- the period when Philadelphia's legendary venue the Hot Club dominated punk and new wave music locally.
I BELONGED TO THE BLANK GENERATION: PHILLY'S EARLY PUNK/NEW WAVE SCENE ON SCREEN will include:
PHILADELPHIA SEEN (November 1978) - Jay Schwartz's short documentary look at Philly's underground music scene is surely the earliest local project of its kind. It includes live performances captured at the intimate Artemis nightclub, by pioneering local punk band the Jags, and, on their first national tour, soon-to-be L.A. stars X. Also includes interviews with WXPN disk jockey Lee Paris, and legendary club owner David Carroll. The black & white footage was shot using the Sony Portapak video system.
THE BONEHEADS FILM (1979) - Filmmaker Richard "Jiggs" Briggs and the Boneheads were students together at the Philadelphia College of Art (later called University of the Arts), and collaborated on this film after graduation. It shows a much grittier Center City landscape, in and around the band's rented rehearsal space at 8th and South Streets. They perform "Adam and Eve" and "Out of Limits," showing their blend of punk rock and '60s surf music. A few years later, most of the members evolved into popular art rock band Bunnydrums, releasing records here and abroad, and touring Japan and Europe.
Super 8mm films (1977-79) - Todd Shuster, while in punk band the Jags (see PHILADELPHIA SEEN, above), used a home movie camera to shoot silent film footage of a few concerts he attended. Captured in Kodachrome are Patti Smith and David Johansen on stage at the Tower Theatre, the Cramps on stage at the Hot Club (including some candid clowning around backstage by guitarist Bryan Gregory), and Kenn Kweder and the Secret Kidds.
Newsfilm clips (1977) - A couple of short newsfilm clips -- one showing record buyers at the Plastic Fantastic record store (in their original Bryn Mawr location), telling a news reporter why they like punk rock. Then there is a short clip of CBGB stars the Sic Fucks, on stage at Philly's Hot Club (why would a TV station choose to film a band whose name they could not pronounce on the air?).
Plus fun TV appearances with local groups The Shades, The Stick Men, and Crash Course in Science, and onetime Hot Club bartender Joey Wilson in a rock video aired on the pre-MTV syndicated show "Rock World"!
Exene Cervenka of X in PHILADELPHIA SEEN, © 2025 Jay Schwartz
*Last spring, the SPACE Art Gallery hosted a photography exhibition covering this same world (and with the same title). I BELONGED TO THE BLANK GENERATION featured black & white silver gelatin photos made by Jay Schwartz in the same years that the video program covers, of such legendary bands and performers as the Dead Boys, the Jam, Devo, Patti Smith, XTC, Richard Hell, the Ramones and many more. Schwartz's pictures have appeared in New York Rocker, Trouser Press, and several local and regional publications, but the pictures shown had been mostly unseen previously. Starting in mid-November, the gallery will display highlights from all four of their major exhibitions from 2025 -- including I BELONGED… SPACE Art Gallery is at 749 S. 8th Street.
LIGHTBOX WEBSITE:
https://lightboxfilmcenter.org
Also check out other Entertainment events in Philadelphia, Music events in Philadelphia, Arts events in Philadelphia.
