A wake/memorial to Ron Ardito who recently passed away from cancer was held last night at the Rainbow Cafe/bar at 39th and 5th . Ron was born and bred in Sunset Park and was the lead singer/guitarist of The Shirts a local punk rock band that originated in the nabe and eventually found itself as a staple at the roster of the illustrious CBGB's in Manhattan. They have been lauded as a precursor to the Talking Heads, among others. The shirts were a quintessential Brooklyn band and Ron was a quintessential Brooklyn rocker. Their start as a band was doing gigs at the Rainbow Cafe. Although I was a contemporary in the nabe and live only a couple of blocks from the Rainbow I missed much of the local scene since I went to college in Manhattan and hung out there most of the time.
The Rainbow Cafe was packed with people who were either in the band or were followers of the punk rock scene. In any event, Sunset Park has lost another illustrious product of the nabe in those bygone days when the nabe was a quite different place than it is today. Time passes and things change, but we always have our memories, and when we are gone those are gone too.
There are numerous pages devoted to Ron and The Shirts and CBGB's which they loved, please visit them;
http://www.ronardito.com/
http://www.myspace.com/ronarditosbrain
http://profile.myspace.com/RonArdito
http://www.theshirts.net
http://www.myspace.com/theshirtsnyc
http://www.myspace.com/theshirtsbrooklyn
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