Hilly Kristal, owner and founder of CBGB, writes a brief history of the club that for the past twenty seven years has become synonymous with underground music.

The question most often asked “What does CBGB stand for?”
“It stands for the kind of music I intended to have, but not the kind that we became famous for: COUNTRY BLUEGRASS BLUES.” The next question is always, “but what does OMFUG stand for?” and I say “That’s more of what we do, It means OTHER MUSIC FOR UPLIFTING GORMANDIZERS.” And what is a gormandizer? It’s a voracious eater of, in this case, MUSIC.