"There's No Scene Anywhere So Why Say What Ever Happened To The New York Scene?" In Which We Ask Ourselves What Ever Happened To Public Access TV?

Dana's Nick Zedd blip has us on an a tear through the New York of the 1980's on this chilly Saturday evening, and so we stumbled across this here interview with Lydia Lunch on Videowave from 1983. Says Videowave's producer, Alan Abramowitz, who we suspect has yet to get his due: "Videowave has been on the air continously since Feb 20, 1982. Started as a final project at a tech school (INCA) it was a mockup of what I thought MTV would look like; with graphics to represent music videos. MTV reached NY 6 months later. The program focused on punk/new wave; with such bands as The Comateens, Diehausfrauen, The Raybeats, Pulsallama, Richard Hell, Sonic Youth,etc. It was indicative of nascent scenes in NY, London, Boston, and Athens, Ga.... Videowave was shot at YoungFilmmakers 1982-4, remote studio setups (apts, restaurants: F-Stop Cafe 1985, Blue Willow 1987, The Chase 1990, and Bob Spector's studio in Chinatown.)1985-90. SVHS, VHS, and Hi8 Camcorder style 1990-present. 99% of guests here were one guests on my TV program. Madonna? Well, maybe not Madonna. I called her in her apartment on Avenue A in 1983 and she confirmed she'll be there. Young Filmakers TV Studio was a short walk away. But she never showed up..."