Anthony Bourdain’s favourite New York songs
In a city as relentless as New York, standing out is no small feat. The juxtaposition of beauty and brutality, chaos and fleeting calm, often leaves its mark on those who rise above the noise. For Anthony Bourdain, the straight-talking, sharp-witted chef who became a rockstar of the culinary world, this dynamic city was the perfect backdrop for his larger-than-life persona. Known for his commanding presence and acerbic honesty, Bourdain’s influence extended far beyond the kitchen.
Bourdain’s legendary reputation wasn’t just built on his culinary skill or outspoken demeanour—his taste in music was equally remarkable. An avid fan of the city’s vibrant music scene, he cultivated relationships with some of New York’s biggest musical icons, cementing his status as a cultural force. With an ear for rhythm and a love for the raw energy of rock and punk, Bourdain embodied the restless, boundary-pushing spirit of his city.
To this end, Bourdain viewed the often grimy underworld of Manhattan’s kitchens as not too far a cry from the backstage area of a show. His mantra was one very much of sex and drugs and rock and roll – he explained in his memoir Kitchen Confidential that he sniffed out “every young, pot-smoking, head-banging hooligan we’d ever worked with, filling their heads with dreams of glory. ‘We’re forming … like … a rock and roll band, man, an all-star group of culinary superstars … kinda like Blind Faith’.”
The ethos of his restaurants became “a faithful re-creation of the kitchens we’d grown up in: insular, chaotic, drenched in drugs and alcohol, and accompanied constantly by loud rock and roll music,” but this soundtrack was never without the influences of the cronies he’d come up in the world with, from Iggy Pop to the Beach Boys to Roxy Music.
Indeed, a major part of the reason Bourdain became one of New York’s greatest sons was his sheer devotion to the place, whether through food or a sprawling catalogue of favourite songs that were birthed within its blocks. Take classic sounds from the early 1970s like ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ by Lou Reed or ‘Man in Me’ by Bob Dylan – these native New Yorkers were a source of sonic worship to a fledgling Bourdain as well as many of the artists he would later come to class as friends.
Then, with the explosion of punk rock on to the underground scene came a whole new tidal wave of talent. Bourdain lapped up tunes such as ‘Jet Boy’ by the New York Dolls, and at this point also came along the punk mecca that was CBGB. But these were far from halcyon days, as the chef himself put it in a 2007 essay for Spin. “The music and the musicians who started playing and hanging out with each other at CBGB were an appropriate reaction to the general feelings of hopelessness, absurdity, futility, and disgust of living in New York at the time,” he wrote. “The irradiated spawn of tormented loners who had grown up listening to the Stooges and the Velvets, wannabe poets, failed romantics–anyone with enough enthusiasm or anger to pick up a guitar, it seemed, converged on the only place that would have them. And briefly (and only for a lucky few), music was good again.”
From this era, he refers to various songs, including ‘Marquee Moon’ by Television, ‘Sonic Reducer’ by Dead Boys, and ‘High on Rebellion’ by the Patti Smith Group, as forming the soundtrack of a personal and cultural revolution. A few among them, like Blondie, broke out of the club room and went to the mainstream with hits such as ‘Atomic’. However, much like the rest of his worldview, Bourdain was under no illusions when it came to the realities of the big city. He said he “remembered pain – 1977 smelled of burning candles in an abandoned building, fermenting garbage, uncollected in the street. The bitter, delicious taste of heroin in the back of my throat. The bathroom of CBGB, a washin turds, glassine bags, condoms, and used works.”
Under this guise, tracks like Talking Heads’ ‘Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)’ were an uncannily fitting rumination on the present and future, with the smash and fire of the gig room and the kitchen two images deeply intertwined into the fabric of Anthony Bourdain’s life.
Anthony Bourdain’s favourite New York songs:
- ‘Walk On the Wild Side’ – Lou Reed
- ‘Jet Boy’ – New York Dolls
- ‘The Man in Me’ – Bob Dylan
- ‘Atomic’ – Blondie
- ‘Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)’ – Talking Heads
- ‘Marquee Moon’ – Television
- ‘Sonic Reducer’ – Dead Boys
- ‘High on Rebellion’ – Patti Smith Group
