Another aspect of Tony that has always fascinated me is his relationship with music. He never made a secret of it. The quote I used as the subtitle of this article comes from a promo for the show No Reservations, filmed outside CBGB \u2014 the ultimate rock club, once located in Manhattan\u2019s Lower East Side at 315 Bowery Street, New York.<\/p>\n
Joel Beckerman, who composed the theme for No Reservations, once said:\n\u201cTony saw music and food as inseparable, a kind of synaesthesia of expression. I\u2019ve never worked with anyone more knowledgeable or with better musical taste.\u201d\nSpeaking about the creation of the show\u2019s theme, he explained:\n\u201cThe music had to capture Bourdain\u2019s energy and personality as a host \u2014 his distinctly punk rock approach to the world, and his love for the people, cultures, and food he encountered. Our goal was to bring back to life the Bourdain we all came to know and love through music. The final theme represents a damn leap into the unknown.\u201d\nFor anyone who has never listened to it, you can find the link here.<\/p>\n
Tony was a huge fan of 1970s punk \u2014 a passion born in the kitchen during his early days working in New York restaurants, which thirty years later led him to write an article for SPIN magazine (fortunately still available on Google Books), as well as a very interesting piece for Rolling Stone in 2014, where he listed some of his favourite songs.<\/p>\n
As mentioned earlier in the article about his TV shows, his premature death led CNN to produce the documentary Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (its title taken from \u201cRoadrunner\u201d, a song by Modern Lovers that also appears in the film). Through interviews with friends and old footage, the documentary dives deep into Tony\u2019s life \u2014 and, of course, into his love of music.\nIt was also thanks to this film that I was able to create a Spotify playlist \u2014 yes, I\u2019m there too \u2014 called Bourdain\u2019s Fav. I recommend listening to it with a good Negroni (Bourdain\u2019s favourite cocktail), a couple of oysters, and a fine cigarette.<\/p>\n