STOP THREE: THE CHANNEL

1980-1991

25 NECCO STREET, BOSTON, MA

NEXT STOP: BOSTON TEA PARTY (55 Berkeley St, Boston, MA)

Years: 1980-1991
Opening: Gang Green
Feature: The Cars

So now we are moving into the headliner series of venues. The Channel was not your hole-in-the-wall dive bar. It was well known for the great sound provided by native Bostonian Dinky Dawson, who was a roadie for such bands as The Kinks, Fleetwood Mac, and The Byrds. (1) Dinky owned the sound system, and legend has it that it was the same system that Manfred Mann’s Doo Wa Diddy was recorded on in London in 1964. (2)

The Channel had enough of an effect on Boston music fans that there is now an award-winning podcast called Boston Venue: The Channel Podcast. From Reggae to Heavy Metal to local DJs and the early days of Hip Hop, The Channel was an important venue for all music lovers and bands alike. Alas, here is where it gets dark - the mob took over the club, leading to its closure and the murder of The Channel owner, whose body was found years later buried in Providence, RI.

The Story

Any conversation about the Boston music scene in the 1980s has to include the (in)famous concert venue The Channel.

Opened in 1980 at 25 Necco Street, at the edge of Fort Point Channel (hence the name) on the site of the old Mad Hatter disco, and shuttered eleven years later, The Channel was nonetheless one of the city’s key homes for live music. With an official capacity of 1,700, it was also one of the largest, and sharing a bill with the national acts that came to The Channel or headlining one of the club’s frequent local music nights was the highlight of many local bands’ careers. Hit hard by rising booking costs, liquor license issues and competition from other venues, The Channel owner Harry Booras filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in 1990, and after a few fits and starts, the venue closed on December 31, 1991.

In its heyday, though, numerous artists graced The Channel stage, including Human Sexual Response, ‘Til Tuesday, Jon Butcher Axis, The Cars, The Pixies, Lizzie Borden and The Axes, Gang Green, The Neighborhoods, La Peste, Farrenheit and The Fools. If that list looks a little “rockist,” The Channel booker Warren Scott also regularly stocked the venue’s bills with reggae, blues and country/western acts. (As Scott told The Boston Globe in 1985, “Anything from heavy metal to Latino and gospel. If it has an audience, we’ll do it.”) In addition to Scott, other Channel luminaries included renowned soundman Dinky Dawson, DJs Carter Alan, Bradley Jay, Metal Mike, Carmelita and bartender Robin Moran, who, in June 2013, helped organize the Channel Reunion Concert, to celebrate the bands and venue that made the Boston music scene in the 1980s so memorable.

Source: Haag, Stephen. "The Channel." Music Museum of New England. June 22, 2013. https://doi.org/https://www.mmone.org/the-channel.

Continue on to the next stop on the tour: Boston Tea Party. This is about a 33 minute walk. (1.5 miles)

"Alice in Chains - The Channel, Boston, MA, Nov 27. 1992." Alice In Chains Fans. November 27, 1992. Video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPAvJmocZgM.

1. Haag, Stephen. "The Channel." The Channel - Boston's Best Live Rock. https://doi.org/https://bostonsbestliverock.com/?page_id=335.

2. ibid

Performers (partial list)