This Must Be the Place

Music, Community and Vanished Spaces in New York City

By: Jesse Rifkin

Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins

A fascinating history that examines how real estate, gentrification, community and the highs and lows of New York City itself shaped the city’s music scenes from folk to house music.

Take a walk through almost any neighborhood in Manhattan and you’ll likely pass some of the most significant clubs in American music history. But you won’t know it—almost all of these venues have been demolished or repurposed, leaving no record of what they were, how they shaped music scenes or their impact on the neighborhoods around them.

Traditional music history tells us that famous scenes are created by brilliant, singular artists. But dig deeper and you’ll find that they’re actually created by cheap rent, empty space and other unglamorous factors that allow artistic communities to flourish. The 1960s folk scene would have never existed without access to Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park. If the city hadn’t gone bankrupt in 1975, there would have been no punk rock. Brooklyn indie rock of the 2000s was only able to come together because of the borough’s many empty warehouse spaces. But these scenes are more than just moments of artistic genius—they’re also part of the urban gentrification cycle, one that often displaces other communities and, eventually, the musicians themselves.

Drawing from over a hundred exclusive interviews with a wide range of musicians, deejays and scenesters (including members of Peter, Paul and Mary; White Zombie; Moldy Peaches; Sonic Youth; Treacherous Three; Cro-Mags; Sun Ra Arkestra; and Suicide), writer, historian and tour guide Jesse Rifkin painstakingly reconstructs the physical history of numerous classic New York music scenes. This Must Be the Place examines how these scenes came together and fell apart—and shows how these communal artistic experiences are not just for rarefied geniuses but available to us all.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Endlessly Entertaining

This was so good! I knew about some of New York’s music history, but this book gives a rich history of so many music scenes and detailed descriptions of all of the neighborhoods covered in the book. Very well researched and the narrator was engaging. I didn’t want it to end!

Great Story! Well Told

Loved the historical stories. If you’re a NYC musical fan - this is your book. Lots of known and unknown stories. Something for everyone who loved it, loved it, wished they were immersed in it!

Great historical overview

I liked how the book gave specifics about the histories of the clubs including their addresses. It’s useful for NYC visitors who’d like to go see where the clubs existed.

Snap, snap, snap, snap (instead of clapping)

This book is brilliant! Great performance and very well researched, you can tell it is a subject the author is passionate about. I really could not get enough and thoroughly enjoyed my time in each era. If you think that you have heard all there is to hear on these subjects, give it a shot and you will be surprised!

Loved this history of music culture in NYC

This book was a delightful history of music culture in NYC, the scope is impressive - it contains some of the earliest and most recent accounts of happenings in the city. The stories are inspiring!