Sleep Tight in New York City

An in-depth profile of the New York Irish band Black 47 as it wraps up 25 years together, examining the iconoclastic band's highs and lows, and its legacy.

Black 47 first played in the Bronx in 1989. The band's sound, a mix of Irish traditional, hip-hop and punk, was raw by all accounts. Twenty five years later, almost to the day, Black 47 played its final performance at B.B. King's on Times Square. Across those 25 years, an iconoclastic New York band found its voice.

Michael J. Malone's books include the novels When I Was Punk and No Never No More and the non-fiction Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room. His journalism has appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, The San Francisco Chronicle and Playboy, and his short fiction in The Westchester Review.