Charlie Garcia has a corner in New York: “I can’t wait to say to the taxi driver: ‘Leave me here, on Walker Street, and I’ll do it.’”

Argentine photographer Uberto Sagramoso told the magazine Rolling Stone And that when he lived in New York, in the 1980s, he walked every day through some of the alleys near his home and studio in Chinatown; He saw that they “were a hiring “Perfect” for photographing some punk groups. When Charlie Garcia, who was already the most important musician in Argentine rock, told Sagramoso that he wanted to make the cover of his new album by spraying paint on the wall, the photographer thought of those alleys for the session. The corner of Walker Street and the alley were immortalized Courtland on the cover of the magazine Recent clicksa major work in the country’s rock history, was released in 1983. 40 years later, New York City named the artist after the artist and declared November 6 Charlie Garcia Day.

“I feel honored (…) that he chose me to have a corner named after me. I don’t know many world-famous artists for whom this has happened, as I know them in a city like New York, which is a very important city for me and where there is only a voice.” Recent clicks“Garcia expressed this in a letter dated October 30 and signed in his handwriting. The 72-year-old artist stays away from the stage and public life and did not travel to the American city to participate in the tribute, but said he was “happy” and “excited”: “I can’t wait.” I even say to the taxi driver: ‘Leave me here, on Walker Street and… me.’ Many thanks to those who made this happen.”

Dozens of people who attended the ceremony in Manhattan on Monday laughed at the conclusion of the letter, which was read by the Argentine consul in New York, Santiago Villalba. In addition to the Argentine and New York authorities, some musicians close to Garcia participated in the concert, such as Hilda Lizarazo, Fernando Samalia, Fabian Quintero, Alfie Martins, Kyoji Hayashida, and Toño Silva, who performed some of Garcia’s songs. Recent clicks. Also in attendance was Joe Blaney, the album’s sound engineer., Who worked with The Clash; Sister of musician José García Moreno and actor Mariano Cabrera, promoter of the initiative to create a Charlie García Corner.

Garcia traveled to New York in 1983 when he was 31 years old. In Argentina, the last military dictatorship was coming to an end after seven years. The musician managed to avoid censorship of his lyrics and did not have to go into exile like other artists of his generation, but when the return to democracy approached, he left. He went to the United States to buy instruments and eventually stayed to record an album.

“I am motivated by the desire to participate and integrate into the artistic movements in New York (…) I came to start over. Moreover, I wanted to isolate myself from what was suffocating me in Buenos Aires.” the week. Garcia released his first solo album the previous year, Moving from the bed to the living roomWho was a bestseller, and wanted to be in a place where no one knew him: “I want to make music that comes from my heart. (…) There they sucked more energy out of me than I received. And this has nothing to do with my audience. Those who follow me know that I I’ll be back with something really good.

And the result was Recent clicksIt is his second solo album, which collected nine classic songs such as: Dinosaurs, Video tape eyes also They keep hitting us. The album was going to be called New rags For the cover, Garcia imagined an image in which the album’s title appears written in aerosol spray on a wall. The musician told Sagramoso about the idea and thought of the alleys he passed through during his walks in the city. The artist and photographer conducted the session there, but when they returned to the studio they discovered the corner of Walker Street and Cortlandt Alley. At the intersection, there was a black silhouette, like a shadow; a shadow Man Painted by artist Richard Hambleton.

García said in various interviews that the silhouette reminded him of the white figures in which those who disappeared during the last dictatorship in Argentina were represented. “The image grabbed us like a magnet,” Sagramoso said. To the magazine Rolling Stone. Then the musician sat at the bottom of the shade and the photographer photographed several times. The final image, in black and white, shows the musician with a cigar in hand, a short suit, metal-rimmed glasses, short hair, and looking into the camera. Above Garcia’s head is another writing: the inscription modern clix, Made by Fran Powersthe band’s singer under The place that had that name. Modern Clix Translated as Recent clicks Garcia’s album entered the history of Argentine rock music with the new title. “It was so perfect that it stayed there,” the musician said in an interview.

Writer Martin Zarriello recently talked about this in the exam And that Garcia’s move to New York in 1983, when democracy was on its way back to the country, was “counterintuitive.” “García’s ability to synchronize his work with history without resorting to demagoguery and cliché is appreciated. Recent clicks “It is the culmination of this artistic commitment,” Zarrillo wrote. From the artist’s most famous time in the city, this album and its distinctive cover, and now also a brass plaque on the wall, survive. The city is something else. Where Sagramoso took the photo 40 years ago, today there is a hotel; The wall panel on which the black silhouette was painted has been painted in a light color and there are no longer any traces of spatter.

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