CBGB was the scrappy heart of New York’s Bowery—a dingy, rough-around-the-edges club that might’ve looked like a hole in the wall at first glance, but once you stepped inside, it felt like the epicenter of a new musical universe. The floors were sticky, the bathrooms were infamous, and the walls were plastered with posters and graffiti that told a million stories. Yet somehow, in that grit and chaos, legends were born. The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads—they all cut their teeth on CBGB’s tiny stage, pumping out raw, unfiltered tunes that ignited the punk and new wave explosion. It was a place where authenticity mattered more than polished perfection, and where that rebellious, do-it-yourself ethos set the tone for generations of rock to come.