Buzzed Bands Podcast, Ep. 2 w/ Cold Blood Club

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

80 Blocks From Tiffany's Trailer (Video)

A documentary about gang culture in the late-70's and 80's in the South Bronx is being rereleased. The original was so rare that a VHS for it sells on Amazon for $80! I'm personally pretty fascinated by the gang culture of that period so I'm pretty excited about this. Check out the trailer and read the blurb for more info. The funny thing is in the suggested videos in YouTube you can actually see the full video, in 8 parts, if you can't wait for the fancy new version to come out.


Director Gary Weis was still working as a short film creator for Saturday Night Live when he came up with the idea for80 Blocks after reading a Jon Bradshaw article, "Savage Skulls." Published in a 1977 issue of Esquire Magazine, the piece centered on two gangs based in the South Bronx at the time -- the Savage Nomads and theSavage Skulls. Weis became infatuated with the story and, soon after striking up a dialogue with Bradshaw, he convinced SNL producer Lorne Michaels to help him produce the film. Just two years later, in 1979, Weis and Bradshaw brought a camera crew to speak with members of both gangs, along with police officers, community activists, and civilians.

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