by Bonnie Bucqueroux

CBGB's, the most famous rock club in the United States, closed its doors for good last Monday night. Patti Smith. Blondie. Lou Reed. All found at home there.

These videos of Bad Oskar were taken in 1992, when I shepherded the band to NYC. Front man and songwriter Drew Howard, now my husband, soon found the pressures of the music biz too intense. When the sharks begin to circle, it's hard to remember that it's about the music and the fun.

Yet there is joy in these performances. For one night, it was possible to forget the lawyers, the music executives and the hustler hangers-on.

Musicians loved CB's not just because of its atmosphere and its history, but because it had magic acoustics. Rockers who played there always agreed that they sounded better at CB's than anywhere else in the world.

Maybe the genius was in Hilly's ability to twiddle the knobs. If so, maybe rebuilding the club in Las Vegas will rekindle the magic. Or maybe there was some special fungus in the wooden walls. Some experts say that's what makes a Stradivarius sound unique. And CB's definitely had fungus, especially in what laughingly passed for dressing rooms.

It's not that I can pretend to any great connection to the club. We were literally and figuratively a band of Midwesterners in the big city, trying to find our way. But even though the showcase didn't result in any gold records on the wall, there is still something special about saying that Bad Oskar had one magical night there. And isn't it great to be able to watch it again on You Tube?