Along with Robin Byrd and Al Goldstein, Efrom Allen was one of the pioneers of NYC cable TV talk shows. With its mix of porn stars, punk rockers and nightlife impresarios, Allen’s Nightlife was always reliably weird. As punk rock was throbbing in the clubs downtown, Manhattan cable TV was experiencing its own kind of anarchy. D.I.Y programs like Nightlife were offering demented and surreal entertainment to get us energized before hitting the clubs or to soften the crash as we wound down from a night on the Bowery. The coaxial pipeline was sending signals into our decrepit little apartments that were raw, spontaneous and often exhilarating, punk rock’s cathode equivalent. It was underground, avant garde, sloppy black and white television with a grimy technicolor soul. And Efrom Allen was the ringmaster at the rock and roll circus that made Manhattan in the 70s one of the most wonderfully strange places on the planet.

Leslie Barany has informed Dangerous Minds of the sad news that Efrom Allen has died. He had been suffering from lung cancer.

I was addicted to many things in the 70s and one of the healthier habits I accrued was watching Manhattan public access TV. Uncensored and subversive as hell, public access was truly what it claimed to be. You could reserve time for free on certain cable channels and do pretty much whatever you wanted. What made Efrom Allen stand out was his absolute coolness. He wasn’t cool in the hipster sense, he was cool in the sense of always maintaining an even keel while shit was happening all around him. From nasty crank calls to surreal interviews that included Nancy Spungen, William Shatner, a nude Marilyn Chambers and The Ramones, Allen dealt with everyone with a Zen equanimity, never breaking a sweat and never condescending to his guests no matter how fucked-up or difficult they might be. On the surface, he seemed a bit square but he was actually a pretty gutsy guy who went out on the limb every time he did a show. Nightlife was cutting edge stuff and it makes the current crop of late night talk shows look hopelessly square.

In a phone call earlier today, Leslie Barany said that those close to Efrom will be working on a project to insure that his video archives will be “transferred to a museum or institution that appreciates its historical value, and will digitize it, preserve it and make it available to the public.”

Below, Efrom Allen with Sid Vicious, Stiv Bators, Cynthia Ross and Nancy Spungen:
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
The Ramones on Manhattan public access TV 1978
TV anarchy: Stiv Bators and Brooke Shields together on Manhattan cable in the mid-70s

 
As punk rock was throbbing in the clubs downtown, Manhattan cable TV was experiencing its own kind of anarchy. D.I.Y programs from cats like Efrom Allen were offering some demented and surreal stuff to get us energized before hitting the clubs or to soften the crash as we wound down from a night on the Bowery. The coaxial pipeline was sending signals into our decrepit little apartments that were raw, spontaneous and often exhilarating, punk rock’s cathode equivalent.

In this episode of The Efrom Allen Show (1978?), a 12-year-old Brooke Shields does a fashion shoot with Stiv Bators while discussing her career with the wisdom of an ancient soul. Stiv seems to enjoy just going along for the ride.

Efrom, a Realtor these days, should try to clean this video up and release it, along with his footage of The Ramones and Marilyn Chambers, on DVD. This is pop culture history and there’s so little of Manhattan cable programming available for viewing. Someone should do a book on this wild era when the TV eye was bloodshot and beautiful.
 

 
Part two after the jump….

 
Joey and Dee Dee Ramone appear with their artistic director Arturo Vega and longtime buddy Michael Mckenzie on Efrom Allen’s Underground TV program in 1978.

This is classic Manhattan public access; chaotic, anarchic and fun. I used to call this cocaine TV because I was generally zooted to the gills when I was watching it. This show is particularly good. Instead of the usual assholes that would call in to insult the artists that were being interviewed, the callers on this night seem genuinely curious about The Ramones and the scene revolving around CBGB. This was a time when something very fresh and unpredictable was happening in the downtown clubs and the bands and their audiences were all discovering it together. Even the cynics were starting to pay attention.

Along with Robin Byrd and Al Goldstein, Efrom Allen was one of the pioneers of NYC cable TV talk shows. With its mix of porn stars, punk rockers and nightlife impresarios, Underground TV was always reliably weird entertainment on those nights when you just wanted to stay home and get fucked up.

Enjoy the roots of Youtube.