Gray was a band formed in
New York City in 1979. Founding members included
Jean-Michel Basquiat,
Nick Marion Taylor and
Vincent Gallo. The name was a reference to the book,
Gray's Anatomy
A part of the thriving downtown music scene that included artists like
DNA,
Blondie, and
Talking Heads, Gray reportedly never recorded but performed live a few times, most notably at the
punk hangout the
Mudd Club.
As
Basquiat rose to
fame as a painter and eventually became addicted to
heroin, the band naturally got pushed off to the side. This year, recordings of the band finally
surfaced and made it into the film
Downtown 81. The closest thing to Gray recordings before this was when founding member Nick Marion Taylor contributed a song "
Suicide Hotline" to the soundtrack for the film
Basquiat that looped sounds from a prank call Basquiat made to a
Suicide Hotline in
NYC.