Boston Venue: The Channel Story

In the long-awaited conclusion of Boston Venue: The Channel Story, the club is going to be auctioned off in bankruptcy--again. Just like everything else in this sordid tale, nothing adds up, the mob is always lurking, and the end of the club--and a life--is imminent. This is the second part of the tenth and final episode of Boston Venue: The Channel Story, Season 1, the true story of Boston’s legendary live music club, The Channel. Music featured in this episode: Wargasm, New Models, Bim Skala B

In Part One of Episode 10, new money and new partners have forced Harry Booras OUT of The Channel. But the new regime quickly found themselves underwater as the local mob started skimming 80% of the revenue while stiffing vendors, artists and staff. Harry and his brother Peter try to save the club, but guns and cocaine--not to mention a psychotic mafia member--complicate matters. This is the first part of the tenth and final episode in the true story of Boston’s legendary live music club, The Ch

Heavy Metal was a mainstay at The Channel. In 2015 VH1 named it one of the Top 10 venues for heavy metal ever. National acts including Metallica, Slayer, Motorhead and Alice in Chains played the club. Locals including Wargasm, Meliah Rage and Extreme rocked to packed houses. Yet expenses kept going up, and The Channel needed an infusion of new cash to survive. An old acquaintance reemerged to help bail out the club. He ended up having some dangerous ties... This is the ninth episode in the true

Crafting each episode of Boston Venue: The Channel Story is a painstaking process involving hours of research, combing through a ton of archival material. Occasionally, some incredible hidden gems pop up...like this long-lost interview with reggae icon Peter Tosh. Harry Booras and author Kevin Aylmer drove to New York City one day in the late 80’s to meet with Tosh, albeit each with their own agenda. You heard a small portion of this previously unheard tape in Episode 7, “Mama Africa.” Now, as a

By the mid-80s, The Channel was a successful venue. Big-name acts played The Channel in lieu of theatre and even arena shows. The legendary Roy Orbison played his final shows at the club. Bo Diddley and Ron Wood brought their “Gunslinger’s Tour.” Management increasingly relied on alcohol sales to subsidize the ever-growing costs. Rent was climbing. Slam-dancing was a regular occurrence, as were rising insurance costs. Ownership was distracted with other endeavors, leaving the club exposed. And s

From the beginning, black music was a primary feature of The Channel’s eclectic lineup of headliners. Episode 7 explores The Channel’s embrace of early hip-hop, reggae, funk and R&B acts--and the impact it had on a still racially segregated Boston, where outsiders feared going to South Boston and black audiences in particular feared visiting Southie for any reason. The Channel’s embrace of this music, along with inside accounts from some of the people who were there, highlights this special epis