Back in 2002 when I was working on Stencil Pirates I went to visit John Fekner, one of the originators of street stenciling and street art in the US (he started in the mid-70s, way before all the egomaniacs in Europe who claim to be the “first” street stencilers). After our interview he gave me a copy of one of the albums he put out under the moniker John Fekner City Squad. That’s when the 80s really started to make sense to me. John, like a lot of his peers, was never just a stenciler, or a fine artist, or a muralist, or a NYC historian, he was also a musician, a writer, an activist, you name it. Being active 25 years ago in the NYC scene didn’t just mean you tried your hand at one thing and got good at it, it meant you tried everything! Now John has mp3s of his City Squad songs up online for sale, and if you want to take a peek into the 80s scene, into early breakdancing, graffiti, street art, video games, computer chips, bombed out neighborhoods and all that, definitely check it out! It’s here: City Squad Lpepmp3