Launched in 1976, Punk magazine announced an exploding youth movement, a new direction in American counterculture. Punk was to magazines what the stage at CBGB was to music: the gritty, live-wired, throbbing center of the punk universe. Despite its low-rent origins, the mag was an overnight success in the underground music scene, selling out every print run across the US and UK. Every musician who appeared on the cover of Punk became an icon of the era. But Punk not only championed music, it became a launching pad for writers, artists, cartoonists, and graphic designers. And the wacky, sardonic, slapstick vibe of the magazine resonated with an international army of music fanatics who were ready to burn their bell bottoms and stage-dive into the punk universe. The Best of Punk Magazine collects the best of these pages into the ultimate, must-have anthology: Interviews with the Ramones, Sex Pistols, John Cale and Brian Eno Photos by Roberta Bayley David Godlis, and Bob Gruen Cartoons by R. Crumb, Bobby London, and John Holmstrom The articles that formed the groundwork for Please Kill Me, the legendary oral history of punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain Two "graphic novels"—The Legend of Nick Detroit and Mutant Monster Beach Party—told through photographs featuring Debbie Harry, Joey Ramone, Richard Hell, Andy Warhol, Peter Wolf, and David Johansen The Best of Punk Magazine is a must-have for people who love punk rock music, comics, fanzines, Blondie, the Ramones, Lou Reed, the Velvet Underground, the Sex Pistols, and the legendary CBGB scene.
The legendary punk and new wave alternative weekly magazine Slashwas founded in Los Angeles in 1977 by Steve Samiof, and published a total of 29 print issues before its demise in 1980 (though it had a second life as the punk label Slash Records, which was eventually bought by Warner Bros. Records in 1999). In its brief run, Slashdefined the punk subculture in Los Angeles and beyond with the comic strip Jimboby Gary Panter and photographs by Melanie Nissen, the cofounding publisher and longtime photo editor. Writing by Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Chris D., Pleasant Gehman and Claude “Kickboy Face” Bessy explored reggae, blues and rockabilly in addition to punk and new wave. Slashdiagnosed the nascent punk scene’s challenge to the music industry and established its own oppositional voice in the editorial of its very first issue, staking a position against disco, Elvis and concept albums, and declaring: “Enough is enough, partner! About time we squeezed the pus out and sent the filthy rich old farts of rock ’n’ roll to retirement homes in Florida where they belong.” Slash: A Punk Magazine From Los Angeles, 1977–80pays homage to the magazine’s legacy with facsimile reproductions of every cover from the publication’s run and reprints of some of the magazine’s best articles and interviews. These are interspersed with new essays, reportage and oral histories from Exene Cervenka, KK Barrett, Gary Panter, Vivien Goldman, Richard Meltzer, Cali Thornhill DeWitt, Chris D., Bryan Ray Turcotte, Chris Morris, Ann Summa and Allan MacDowell, among others, telling the story of this critical chapter in the history of American media.
Punk--the thriving movement in the '70s that rebelled against boring, sterile culture--was captured by one revolutionary 'zine. This book examines the finest moments from the pages of "Punk". Photos & illustrations.
Now in paperback, this first oral history of the most nihilistic of all pop movements brings the sound of the punk generation chillingly to life with 50 new pages of depraved testimony. "Please Kill Me" reads like a fast-paced novel, but the tragedies it contains are all too human and all too real. photos.
" [An] endlessly fascinating and frankly addictive masterpiece of safety-pin journalism." -- Austin Chronicle An oral history of the modern punk-revival's West Coast Birthplace Outside of New York and London, California?s Bay Area claims the oldest continuous punk-rock scene in the world. Gimme Something Better brings this outrageous and influential punk scene to life, from the notorious final performance of the Sex Pistols, to Jello Biafra?s bid for mayor, the rise of Maximum RocknRoll magazine, and the East Bay pop-punk sound that sold millions around the globe. Throngs of punks, including members of the Dead Kennedys, Avengers, Flipper, MDC, Green Day, Rancid, NOFX, and AFI, tell their own stories in this definitive account, from the innovative art-damage of San Francisco?s Fab Mab in North Beach, to the still vibrant all-ages DIY ethos of Berkeley?s Gilman Street. Compiled by longtime Bay Area journalists Jack Boulware and Silke Tudor, Gimme Something Better chronicles more than two decades of punk music, progressive politics, social consciousness, and divine decadence, told by the people who made it happen.
"The pictures, which include some posed portraits but are mostly concert shots, are the chief attraction. They freeze moments of adolescent release, vein-bulging intensity and sweaty communion that fuses performer and audience...Vivid and evocative." --Washington Post "Scott Crawford, the man behind the acclaimed documentary Salad Days, has given us another taste of the best-kept secret of 80s in his new book Spoke: Washington DC’s hardcore punk scene." --Dazed "With music by Minor Threat, Void, Rites of Spring, Government Issue, and many others propelling the story of hardscrabble, Reagan-era D.C. as the hotbed for a new artistic outlet in Salad Days, Crawford saw the book as a way to scoop up important narrative from the cutting-room floor and find a new home for it." --Fast Company "Pockmarked with burned-out buildings and boarded-over storefronts, Northwest DC was once home to a vibrant and sometimes violent punk movement beginning in the early 1980s. For geeky 12-year-old Scott Crawford, that changed everything: He chucked comic books for punk rock and self-published a music zine from his mother’s kitchen table in Silver Spring. This month, Crawford releases a book about those days, Spoke--a companion to his 2014 documentary, Salad Days--featuring stories from local players such as Dave Grohl, Henry Rollins, and Ian MacKaye." --Washingtonian Magazine "Spoke...adroitly uses both photographs and oral histories to capture the importance of what can best be described as a cultural revolution within the nation’s capital." --Shepherd Express "This coffee table version of the documentary [Salad Days] follows the D.C. scene’s often politically-charged brand of punk rock, from Bad Brains to Jawbox, and of course the legendary Fugazi. And there’s even the near-forgotten SOA, whose frontman Henry Rollins took his D.C. energy to L.A. where he stepped in as the singer for Black Flag." --Yellow Scene Magazine "A must-have for any rock historian or pop-culture buff...The perfect punk coffee table book." --Shockwave Magazine "Highly recommended...A must read for punk fans." --Chorus.fm/HiFiNoise "A worthy addition to the growing amount of literature on the American hardcore/punk scene, Spoke will look great on any aging punks’ coffee table as a document to a vital, electric time." --Ink19.com "A forthright testament to a kaleidoscopic community. This is a rounded collection, with surprises on every page...It’s collection that rocks." --Shelf Awareness for Readers The Washington, DC punk music scene of the 1980s gave birth to influential bands like Bad Brains, Minor Threat, and Fugazi. Here that era is portrayed in its purest form: an oral history by the creators themselves, including nearly two hundred photographs capturing the power and spirit of this politically progressive corner of American underground music. This stunning and intimate collection features rare images from Jim Saah, Cynthia Connolly, Bert Queiroz, and many others who documented this vibrant community. Compiled by Scott Crawford—whose critically acclaimed film Salad Days provided an unprecedented exploration into the 1980s DC punk scene—Spoke delves deeper into one of the most dynamic movements in US music history. Featuring: BAD BRAINS, THE TEEN IDLES, BLACK MARKET BABY, SOA, MINOR THREAT, GOVERNMENT ISSUE, VOID, IRON CROSS, THE FAITH, SCREAM, MARGINAL MAN, GRAY MATTER, BEEFEATER, KING FACE, RITES OF SPRING, DAG NASTY, EMBRACE, SOULSIDE, FIRE PARTY, SHUDDER TO THINK, IGNITION, FUGAZI, SWIZ, THE NATION OF ULYSSES, and JAWBOX.
ONE OF BILLBOARD'S "100 GREATEST MUSIC BOOKS OF ALL TIME": The provocative transgender advocate and lead singer of the punk rock band Against Me! provides a searing account of her search for identity and her true self. It began in a bedroom in Naples, Florida, when a misbehaving punk teenager named Tom Gabel, armed with nothing but an acoustic guitar and a headful of anarchist politics, landed on a riff. Gabel formed Against Me! and rocketed the band from its scrappy beginnings-banging on a drum kit made of pickle buckets-to a major-label powerhouse that critics have called this generation's The Clash. Since its inception in 1997, Against Me! has been one of punk's most influential modern bands, but also one of its most divisive. With every notch the four-piece climbed in their career, they gained new fans while infuriating their old ones. They suffered legal woes, a revolving door of drummers, and a horde of angry, militant punks who called them "sellouts" and tried to sabotage their shows at every turn. But underneath the public turmoil, something much greater occupied Gabel-a secret kept for 30 years, only acknowledged in the scrawled-out pages of personal journals and hidden in lyrics. Through a troubled childhood, delinquency, and struggles with drugs, Gabel was on a punishing search for identity. Not until May of 2012 did a Rolling Stone profile finally reveal it: Gabel is a transsexual, and would from then on be living as a woman under the name Laura Jane Grace. Tranny is the intimate story of Against Me!'s enigmatic founder, weaving the narrative of the band's history, as well as Grace's, with dozens of never-before-seen entries from the piles of journals Grace kept. More than a typical music memoir about sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll-although it certainly has plenty of that-Tranny is an inside look at one of the most remarkable stories in the history of rock.
From the comedic minds behind TheHardTimes.net comes the most accurate reporting on punk and hardcore culture in music history Since 2014, The Hard Times has been at the forefront of music journalism, delivering hard-hitting reports and in-depth investigations into the punk and hardcore scene. From their scathing takedown of Kim Jong-un after he appointed himself the new singer of Black Flag to their incisive coverage of a healthy Lars Ulrich being replaced by a hologram, the site has become a trusted source for all things counterculture. Now, in this zine-style "historical retrospective," the writers behind the site reveal their humble roots, documenting The Hard Times' ascension alongside the rise of punk. With original articles from their 'archives' commenting on '70s, '80s, and '90s punk, as well as fan favorites from the aughts onward, this comprehensive examination of the scene will make readers dust off their Doc Martens and creepy crawl their way to the nearest pit.
At a pizza place in uptown Minneapolis, scenesters and a psychic try very hard to find the next cool party and a pure state of punk living in the summating year of 1989. Their overripe imaginations (and beer) bring out bizarre fatal accidents, memories of once being devil possessed, and a vengeful ghost of a hippie who had overdosed.
Every one of these 500 songs, from “Anarchy in the UK” to “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” helped reshape popular music and culture. Illuminating essays pay tribute to their undeniable power. “Spaces pithy commentaries with sleeve and label art. With its in-your-face attitude and strong opinions, this is a good one.”—Booklist
