A smart, funny, and refreshing memoir from Mark Hoppus, the vocalist, bassist, and founding member of pop-punk band blink-182.
This is a story of what happens when an angst-ridden kid who grew up in the desert experiences his parents' bitter divorce, moves around the country, switches identities from dork to goth to skate punk, and eventually meets his best friend who just so happens to be his musical soulmate.
Bassist, songwriter, and vocalist for renowned pop-punk trailblazers blink-182, Mark Hoppus, tells his story in Fahrenheit-182. A memoir that paints a vivid picture of what it was like to grow up in the 1980s as a latchkey kid hooked on punk rock, skateboards, and MTV; Mark Hoppus shares how he came of age and forms one of the biggest bands of his generation. Threaded through with the very human story of a constant battle with anxiety and Mark's public battle and triumph over cancer, Fahrenheit-182 is a delight for fans and also a funny, smart, and relatable memoir for anyone who has wanted to quit but kept going.
From bass player to lead guitarist, singer and last remaining founding member, Steve Diggle has been the driving force keeping Buzzcocks alive since he first met Pete Shelley in 1976. Together they would ignite the Manchester music scene, kickstart indie and become one of the best loved and most influential punk groups of all time.
Following Shelley's untimely death in 2018, Autonomy is Diggle's definitive inside account of their shared musical legacy and complex friendship through the band's rise, fall, and rise again - from their punk origins supporting Sex Pistols with original singer Howard Devoto to Top of the Pops, the excess of success, break-up, reformation and life beyond bereavement.
Funny, honest and touchingly philosophical, it is also Diggle's very personal story of working class escape, dreams, redemption and loss - an ultimately heroic survivor's tale from an irrepressible rock 'n' roll spirit.
Originally published in 1988 and out of print for decades, This Ain't No Disco tells the real story of CBGB, the birthplace and incubator of American punk and new wave music. The Ramones, Blondie, Television, Talking Heads and many other rock greats all got their starts there.
Written by a club regular well before the legend overtook the reality (while CBGB was still open and most of its principals alive), this is an honest, opinionated, outrageous, hilarious document of 15 years of late, loud nights at CBGB, with memories, stories and gossip from dozens of people who played, worked or just hung out in the long, dark club on the Bowery in New York City.
This new edition adds a new foreword by Chris Frantz of Talking Heads, a new selection of photographs by the acclaimed Ebet Roberts and archival reporting by Ira Robbins about the club's closing in 2006.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH:
Hilly Kristal (CBGB founder), Joey Ramone and Dee Dee Ramone (Ramones), Clem Burke and Chris Stein (Blondie), David Byrne (Talking Heads), Jim Carroll, Willy DeVille (Mink DeVille), Annie Golden (Shirts), Richard Hell and Richard Lloyd (Television), Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Group), Handsome Dick Manitoba (Dictators), Wendy O. Williams (Plasmatics) and many others.
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution: An Oral History is the very first comprehensive overview of the movement that defied both the music underground and the LGBT mainstream community--queercore.
Through exclusive interviews with protagonists like Bruce LaBruce, G.B. Jones, Jayne County, Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, film director and author John Waters, Lynn Breedlove of Tribe 8, Jon Ginoli of Pansy Division, and many more, alongside a treasure trove of never-before-seen photographs and reprinted zines from the time, Queercore traces the history of a scene originally fabricated in the bedrooms and coffee shops of Toronto and San Francisco by a few young, queer punks to its emergence as a relevant and real revolution. Queercore gets a down-to-details firsthand account of the movement explored through the people that lived it--from punk's early queer elements, to the moments Toronto kids decided they needed to create a scene that didn't exist, to the infiltration of the mainstream by Pansy Division, and the emergence of riot grrrl as a sister movement--as well as the clothes, zines, art, film, and music that made this movement an exciting in-your-face middle finger to complacent gay and straight society. Queercore will stand as both a testament to radically gay politics and culture and an important reference for those who wish to better understand this explosive movement.
American Hardcore sets the record straight about the last great American subculture--Paper magazine
Steven Blush's definitive treatment of Hardcore Punk (Los Angeles Times) changed the way we look at Punk Rock. The Sony Picture Classics-distributed documentary American Hardcore premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. This revised and expanded second edition contains hundreds of new bands, thirty new interviews, flyers, a new chapter (Destroy Babylon), and a new art gallery with over 125 rare photos and images.
From the legendary singer-songwriter of Bad Religion comes a historical memoir and cultural criticism of punk rock's evolution.
Greg Graffin is the lead vocalist and songwriter of Bad Religion, recently described as America's most significant punk band. Since its inception in Los Angeles in 1980, Bad Religion has produced 18 studio albums, become a long-running global touring powerhouse, and has established a durable legacy as one of the most influential punk rock bands of all time. Punk Paradox is Graffin's life narrative before and during L.A. punk's early years, detailing his observations on the genre's explosive growth and his band's steady rise in importance. The book begins by exploring Graffin's Midwestern roots and his life-changing move to Southern California in the mid-'70s. Swept up into the burgeoning punk scene in the exhilarating and often-violent streets of Los Angeles, Graffin and his friends formed Bad Religion, built a fanbase, and became a touring institution. All these activities took place in parallel with Graffin's never ceasing quest for intellectual enlightenment. Despite the demands of global tours, recording sessions, and dedication to songwriting, the author also balanced a budding academic career. In so doing, he managed to reconcile an improbable double-life as an iconic punk rock front man and University Lecturer in evolution. Graffin's unique experiences mirror the paradoxical elements that define the punk genre--the pop influence, the quest for society's betterment, music's unifying power--all of which are prime ingredients in its surprising endurance. Fittingly, this book argues against the traditional narrative of the popular perception of punk. As Bad Religion changed from year to year, the spirit of punk--and its sonic significance--lived on while Graffin was ever willing to challenge convention, debunk mythology, and liberate listeners from the chains of indoctrination. As insightful as it is exciting, this thought-provoking memoir provides both a fly on the wall history of the punk scene and astute commentary on its endurance and evolution.They were unlike any other band in the punk scene they called home.
P>NoMeansNo started in the basement of the family home of brothers Rob and John Wright in 1979. For the next three decades, they would add and then replace a guitar player, sign a record deal with Alternative Tentacles and tour the world. All along the way, they kept their integrity, saying NO to many mainstream opportunities. It was for this reason the band (intentionally) never became a household name, but earned the respect and love of thousands of fans around the world, including some who became big rock stars themselves. They were expertly skilled musicians playing a new kind of punk: intelligent, soulful, hilarious, and complex. They were also really nice Canadian dudes.NoMeansNo: From Obscurity to Oblivion is the fully authorized oral and visual history of this highly influential and enigmatic band which has never been told before now. Author Jason Lamb obtained exclusive access to all four former members and interviewed hundreds of people in their orbit, from managers and roadies to fellow musicians, friends, and family members. The result is their complete story, from the band's inception in 1979 to their retirement in 2016, along with hundreds of photos, posters, and memorabilia, much of which has never been seen publicly before.
For established fans, this book serves as a love letter to their favorite group and provides many details previously unknown. For those curious about the story and influence of NoMeansNo, it reveals an eye-opening tale of how a punk band could be world class musicians while truly doing it themselves. Their impact and importance cannot be overstated, and NoMeansNo: From Obscurity to Oblivion is the essential archive.
In 1980, with their highest charting album to date, Kaleidoscope and two successful singles, 'Happy House' and 'Christine', and a packed tour schedule, Siouxsie and The Banshees are at the top of their game. Swimming in their own stream, the Banshees defy musical categorisation and are head and shoulders above their peers, with one objective: to be the best band in the world. The band's 1981 90-gig tour included 25 dates in the US, showcasing the exhilarating 'Spellbound', grotesque 'Night Shift' and the clandestine frisson of 'Into The Light', forming the sonic backbone of what is considered to be the Banshees' magnum opus, Juju, their fourth studio album, released in June 1981. Ushering in a new chapter in Siouxsie and The Banshees' evolution the opulent fifth studio album A Kiss In The Dreamhouse, marks another change in direction, and sees producer Mike Hedges superseding Kaleidoscope and Juju producer Nigel Gray. Released 5th November 1982, several days after guitarist John McGeoch is ousted from the band after two near calamitous performances at the Rock-Ola Club in Madrid, it was the album that marked a potential dip in the band's fortunes. However the Banshees regroup, calling again on the services of The Cure's Robert Smith, whose fractured relationship with his own band made the offer of becoming a touring Banshee too attractive to refuse. As for what happens next, this in-depth and authoritative account of one of the most original, creative, imaginative and mercurial bands in the history of rock music surveys the twists, turns and episodes of brilliance that define Siouxsie and The Banshees' evolution from 1980 to 1987, including ancillary ventures 'The Creatures' and 'The Glove', and the making of the albums Juju and A Kiss In The Dreamhouse, as well as Nocturne, Hyaena, Tinderbox and Through The Looking Glass.
An immersive study of the influential and predominantly Chicanx punk rock scene in El Paso, Texas.
Punk rock is known for its daring subversion, and so is the West Texas city of El Paso. In Chuco Punk, Tara López dives into the rebellious sonic history of the city, drawing on more than seventy interviews with punks, as well as unarchived flyers, photos, and other punk memorabilia. Connecting the scene to El Paso's own history as a borderland, a site of segregation, and a city with a long lineage of cultural and musical resistance, López throws readers into the heat of backyard punx shows, the chaos of riots in derelict mechanic shops, and the thrill of skateboarding on the roofs of local middle schools. She reveals how, in this predominantly Chicanx punk rock scene, women forged their own space, sound, and community. Covering the first roots of Chuco punk in the late 1970s through the early 2000s, López moves beyond the breakout bands to shed light on how the scene influenced not only the contours of sound and El Paso but the entire topography of punk rock.