NY 77: The Coolest Year In Hell
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Posted by Calum Sager on 16 October 2012


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New York City, 1977 - It was a time when the city had fallen into decay, with too few jobs, money, police, schools, and social services. There was a city wide blackout with major looting, a serial killer on the loose, and the Bronx was burning. And yet out of the chaos emerged one of the most creative times any city has ever encountered.

The documentary is told chronologically and weaves together the stories of the emergence of hip hop, punk and disco, graffiti art, and sexual liberation. In the background are the major political events and social issues of the day. Out of chaos came creation. From the South Bronx came hip hop. From the Lower East Side, the thrashing guitars of punk. And all over the city, a disco revolution was underway. Elaborate, finely crafted graffiti art decorated the subway cars and break-dancers shimmied in the streets. The sexual revolution was in full swing. In January 1977, most of this activity existed in its own underground bubble. Yet by the end of the year this artistic expression was on its way to mainstream America, and would be with us for generations to come.

'NY 77: The Coolest Year In Hell' was taken from the VH1 Rock Doc franchise, which produced numerous brilliant high end documentaries charting untold stories, combining never-before-seen footage with a unique and unconventional narrative approach and received an Emmy nomination. We will post some more documentaries from this prolific series in the weeks to come. But this one might just be our favourite.
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An online oracle of all things cultural, from music, art, design, literature, entertainment and beyond, Spilt Milk is a carefully selected celebration of all that we find beautiful or fascinating, providing our readers with their daily fix of inspiration and reference.
An online oracle of all things cultural, from music, art, design, literature, entertainment and beyond, Spilt Milk is a carefully selected celebration of all that we find beautiful or fascinating, providing readers with their daily fix of inspiration and reference.

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