When the Academy of Music opened in 1854 on 14th Street near Third Avenue, it was New York’s premier opera house, an anchor of the city’s buzzing new “uptown” theater district.
It was also a favorite of the city’s Old Money elite in the 1860s and 1870s, who socialized in its “shabby red and gold boxes,” as Edith Wharton put it in her 1920 novel The Age of Innocence, while shutting out the New Money families they despised.
Considering what a haughty place it was in its heyday (right), it’s fitting that after the Academy was demolished in 1926, a movie-theater-turned-rock-venue opened up across the street and adopted the Academy of Music name, reported Bedford + Bowery.
More name borrowing: The rock version of the Academy of Music became the Palladium in the 1970s (with Julian Billiard Academy on the second floor). Today, the site is occupied by NYU’s Palladium dormitory.
[Photo: Harold C. Black of Teenage Lust via rockcellarmagazine.com]
Tags: 14th Street 1960s, 14th Street rock clubs, 1960s Rock Clubs New York City, Academy of Music, Academy of Music Theater 14th Street, Iggy Pop in New York City, Julian's pool hall 14th Street, Theater District 14th Street
Ephemeral New York 
January 16, 2017 at 1:31 pm |
I guess it’s worth mentioning that there was an earlier Palladium Theater up on 53rd Street. It was most famous for being the center of the mambo craze of the early 50’s.
January 16, 2017 at 6:43 pm |
I didn’t know that, but here’s a link to a photo: Tito Puente on the marquee! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palladium_Ballroom
January 16, 2017 at 10:00 pm |
On the current building con Edison, near the ray Moore and Flanagans there is a plaque stating that the academy of music once stood there
January 16, 2017 at 11:42 pm |
I saw Johnny Rotten with Public Image Ltd at the Palladium in about 1980. The show was god-awful. I walked out when I realized they were playing the theme from “Swan Lake.”.
January 17, 2017 at 2:58 am |
The Above Picture Is Mine! Please Credit HAROLD C. BLACK of
TEENAGE LUST! Thank you HCB
January 17, 2017 at 3:05 am |
You got it—-thank you!
January 17, 2017 at 3:08 am |
Honored my friend! Stop by and say Hello! HCB (FB)
January 17, 2017 at 11:43 am |
[…] via A 1960s downtown rock club with an 1860s name — Ephemeral New York […]
January 17, 2017 at 3:49 pm |
The picture above is of a noticeably different building than the one Bedford & Bowery posted in the linked story
Were there extensive renovations, or is one of the pictures wrong?
January 17, 2017 at 3:55 pm |
Renovations. In 1911 the Academy was transformed into a movie theater.
See this image from the MCNY digital portal:
http://collections.mcny.org/Collection/14th%20Street%20and%20Irving%20Place.%20Academy%20of%20Music.-2F3XC5NHAMN.html
January 17, 2017 at 4:00 pm |
Interesting, thanks! I prefer the looks of the earlier iteration.
January 18, 2017 at 6:47 pm |
I grew up in that neighborhood. I remember seeing movies (Planet of the Apes) and several bands. I caught this new act – a pianist named Billy Joel who was freaking out because he had never played such a large venue in his life. That was sometime back in the 70s.
January 20, 2017 at 6:45 pm |
The Good ole days…I remember seeing YES, Emerson Lake and Palmer and others. The neighborhood was rough but I sorta miss what it was..
February 5, 2017 at 11:02 pm |
My first concert at the Academy in the early ’70s was John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. An unknown and pre-beard ZZ Top was the opening act. My last concert I attended there was Elvis Costello and the Attractions in the early ’80s. I miss it and Julian’s.
November 13, 2019 at 1:34 pm |
Saw both Iggy Pop and The Clash there late ’70s, Iggy was touring eith The Idiot or Lust for Life, while The Clash brought out the then unkown (in America at least) Ian Dury as a guest performer. Great shows both.