#AlternateFridayMusic
March 31 2023
The word is Grey
The band Gray

What’s a vowel among friends? Surely not worth missing out on #JeanMichelBasquiat, the evanescent artist from the downtown NYC scene that bristled with all manner of visual and #PerformanceArt.

In 1979 #Basquiat, with artist #MichaelHolman, founded Gray, named for Gray’s Anatomy, the classic reference tome that provided inspiration for many of his paintings. In keeping with the ethos of the time, they were unskilled as musicians; this didn’t stop them from playing live around the #NewYork #NoWave scene.

While they never released any recordings during Basquiat’s life, their music was included in the soundtrack to the film "Downtown 81" filmed in 1980-81 but only released in 2001. Surviving members of Gray reunited in 2010 releasing the album “Shades Of…” with music tracks, some from the band’s original incarnation, interspersed with excerpts from Basquiat's enacted calls to a suicide hotline.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NelkZptg6c