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Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Contemporary popular music > Rock & pop > Indie
Wolfgang Flur was a member of Kraftwerk from 1973 to 1987,
contributing to albums such as Autobahn (1974), Radioaktivitat
(1975), Trans-Europa Express (1977), Die Mensch-Maschine (1978),
Computerwelt (1981) and Electric Cafe (1986). He continues to
record music with his solo album Eloquence being released in 2015.
I Ain't Mad At Ya offers a rare insight into growing up in
Birmingham's black community in the 70s and 80s and shines a light
on the incredible amount of black music culture produced in the
vibrant suburb of Handsworth and the role its musicians and
entrepreneurs have played in shaping and influencing popular music
in the UK.
The colorful "Punk Professor", new-wave musician, and
critic/filmmaker spins a dazzling survey of women in punk, from the
genre's inception in 1970s London to the current voices making
waves around the globe. As an industry insider and pioneering
post-punk musician, Vivien Goldman's perspective on music
journalism is unusually well-rounded. In Revenge of the She-Punks,
she probes four themes-identity, money, love, and protest-to
explore what makes punk such a liberating art form for women. With
her visceral style, Goldman blends interviews, history, and her
personal experience as one of Britain's first female music writers
in a book that reads like a vivid documentary of a genre defined by
dismantling boundaries. A discussion of the Patti Smith song "Free
Money," for example, opens with Goldman on a shopping spree with
Smith. Tamar-Kali, whose name pays homage to a Hindu goddess,
describes the influence of her Gullah ancestors on her music, while
the late Poly Styrene's daughter reflects on why her
Somali-Scots-Irish mother wrote the 1978 punk anthem "Identity,"
with the refrain "Identity is the crisis you can't see." Other
strands feature artists from farther afield (including in Colombia
and Indonesia) and genre-busting revolutionaries such as Grace
Jones, who wasn't exclusively punk but clearly influenced the
movement while absorbing its liberating audacity. From punk's Euro
origins to its international reach, this is an exhilarating world
tour.
Winner of the 2010 Non-Fiction National Book Award Patti Smith's
definitive memoir: an evocative, honest and moving coming-of-age
story of her extraordinary relationship with the artist Robert
Mapplethorpe 'Sharp, elegiac and finely crafted' Sunday Times
'Terrifically evocative ... The most spellbinding and diverting
portrait of funky-but-chic New York in the late '60s and '70s that
any alumnus has committed to print' New York Times 'Render,
harrowing, often hilarious' Vogue In 1967, a chance meeting between
two young people led to a romance and a lifelong friendship that
would carry each to international success never dreamed of. The
backdrop is Brooklyn, Chelsea Hotel, Max's Kansas City, Scribner's
Bookstore, Coney Island, Warhol's Factory and the whole city
resplendent. Among their friends, literary lights, musicians and
artists such as Harry Smith, Bobby Neuwirth, Allen Ginsberg, Sandy
Daley, Sam Shepherd, William Burroughs, etc. It was a heightened
time politically and culturally; the art and music worlds exploding
and colliding. In the midst of all this two kids made a pact to
always care for one another. Scrappy, romantic, committed to making
art, they prodded and provided each other with faith and confidence
during the hungry years--the days of cous-cous and lettuce soup.
Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. Beautifully
written, this is a profound portrait of two young artists, often
hungry, sated only by art and experience. And an unforgettable
portrait of New York, her rich and poor, hustlers and hellions,
those who made it and those whose memory lingers near.
Along with Factory, Mute, and Creation, Some Bizzare was the
vanguard of outsider music in the 1980s. The label s debut release
reads like a who s who of electronic music, featuring early tracks
from Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Blancmange, and The The, while over
the next decade its roster would include artists such as Marc
Almond, Cabaret Voltaire, Einsturzende Neubauten, Foetus, Swans,
Coil, and Psychic TV. For a time, Some Bizzare was the most
exciting independent record label in the world, but the music is
only half of the story. Self-styled label boss Stevo Pearce s
unconventional dealings with the industry are legendary. Sometimes
they were playful (sending teddy bears to meetings in his place),
other times less so (he and Marc Almond destroyed offices at
Phonogram and terrorised staff). Despite this, he was a force to be
reckoned with. His preternatural ability to spot talent meant his
label was responsible for releasing some of the decade s most
forward-thinking, transgressive, and influential music. The Some
Bizzare story spans the globe: from ecstasy parties in early 80s
New York to video shoots in the Peruvian jungle, from events in
disused tube stations to seedy sex shows in Soho. There were
million-selling singles, run-ins with the Vice Squad, destruction
at the ICA, death threats, meltdowns, and, of course, sex dwarves.
For a time, Stevo had the music industry in the palm of his hands,
only for it all to slip through his fingers. But he and Some
Bizzare left a legacy of incredible music that still has an
influence and impact today.
Since forming the seminal art rock band Throwing Muses while still
in her teens, Kristin Hersh has been at the forefront of
alternative music, acclaimed for her raw, visceral and poetic
songwriting. Here, collected for the first time, are the lyrics to
one hundred songs, curated by the woman who wrote them. From
Throwing Muses classics like 'Bright Yellow Gun' to solo material
such as 'Your Ghost' and her songs with 50 Foot Wave, Nerve Endings
encapsulates one of the most fascinating and honest careers in
modern rock music.
'Ian Stone has one of the sharpest comic minds in the country. I
would read anything he's written about anything. This book made me
start listening to The Jam' Romesh Ranganathan'Full of wit, cheek
and energy - not just for fans of The Jam, this is for fans of
London, of youth, of life itself' Rory Bremner 'This is a funny,
fascinating, absorbing, surprising and readable book with the added
bonus of Phill Jupitus's delicious cartoons . . . A book for anyone
who is now middle-aged and looking back joyfully at their youth' Jo
Brand'I really liked this book. I'd forgotten how shit it was in
the seventies' Paul Weller Ian Stone grew up in a Jewish,
working-class house in north London in the mid-1970s. Everywhere
around him, adults were behaving badly. His parents' relationship
was in freefall so he tried not to spend too much time at home. But
outside, there was industrial unrest, football violence, racism and
police brutality. As for the music, it was all 'Save All Your
Grandma's Kisses for My Love Sweet Jesus'. It made him feel
physically sick. Then The Jam appeared. This is Ian's story of that
time. Of weekend jobs so that he could go to gigs. Of bunking into
the Hammersmith Odeon and ending up on the roof. Of going to see
The Jam in Paris and somehow finding himself being interviewed for
Melody Maker. Of attempting to keep out of the way of skinheads and
trying (and failing) to work out how to talk to girls. And of
devastation when in 1982 Paul Weller announced that the band were
splitting up. There will never be another band like The Jam. For
those who went on that journey with them, the love ran deep. And
still does. They helped Ian and thousands like him to grow up - to
be someone.
Told in personal interviews, this is the collective story of a punk
community in an unlikely town and region, a hub of radical
counterculture that drew artists and musicians from throughout the
conservative South and earned national renown. The house at 309 6th
Avenue has long been a crossroads for punk rock, activism,
veganism, and queer culture in Pensacola, a quiet Gulf Coast city
at the border of Florida and Alabama. In this book, residents of
309 narrate the colorful and often comical details of communal life
in the crowded and dilapidated house over its 30-year existence.
Terry Johnson, Ryan "Rymodee" Modee, Gloria Diaz, Skott Cowgill,
and others tell of playing in bands including This Bike Is a Pipe
Bomb, operating local businesses such as End of the Line Cafe,
forming feminist support groups, and creating zines and art. Each
voice adds to the picture of a lively community that worked
together to provide for their own needs while making a positive,
lasting impact on their surrounding area. Together, these
participants show that punk is more than music and teenage
rebellion. It is about alternatives to standard narratives of
living, acceptance for the marginalized in a rapidly changing
world, and building a sense of family from the ground up. Including
photos by Cynthia Connolly and Mike Brodie, A Punkhouse in the Deep
South illuminates many individual lives and creative endeavors that
found a home and thrived in one of the oldest continuously
inhabited punkhouses in the United States.
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Punk's Dead
(Hardcover)
Simon Barker, Michael Bracewell, Greil Marcus
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R889
Discovery Miles 8 890
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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From 1976 to 1978, the young photographer Simon Barker was a member
of the "Bromley Contingent"--a group of avid Sex Pistols fans who
comprised the group's inner circle at the height of the punk
movement. Many of them, such as Jordan and Siouxsie Sioux, were
notorious for their daredevil dress sense, and several--such as
Sioux, Steven Severin, Adam Ant, Poly Styrene, Billy Idol, Viv
Albertine and Ari Up--went on to form some of the most important
bands of the era. This compilation of previously unseen photographs
by Barker shows these founders of punk in their earliest
incarnations--in bedrooms and kitchens, at public gigs and private
parties--before media and commerce sunk their claws into punk's
iconoclastic look and class politics. Taken with the simplest and
cheapest pocket cameras, the photographs in this collection
constitute Barker's "family album for the years 1976 to 1978." In
the spirit of the Pistols' "God Save the Queen," the volume closes
with a photographic sequence taken by Barker during the 1976
Jubilee celebrations, which shows Romanian tyrant Nicolae Ceausescu
hobnobbing with the Queen of England in the royal procession.
An oral history in the vein of Please Kill Me Leftoever Crack is a
band of drug abusing, dumpster diving, cop-hating, queer positive,
pro-choice, crust punks that successfully blend ska-punk, pop,
hip-hop and death metal genres. They've been banned from clubs,
states and counties and kicked off multiple record labels. They've
received teen-idol adoration and death threats from their fans.
They've played benefits for a multitude of causes while leaving a
trail of destruction in their wake. But, if you dig below the
crusty, black metal-patch encased surface, you'll find a
contemplative, nuanced band that, quite literally, permanently
changed the punk rock community. By combining catchy ska-punk with
lyrics that referenced political theorist Michael Parenti, drug
usage, and suicide, the band formed a unique melange that was both
provocative and challenging. In fact, the band's hooks were so
sharp that after releasing their debut LP, Mediocre Generica, an
entire culture of "Crack City Rockers" grew around the band,
pushing the youth towards both the positive and negative aspects of
extreme punk rock. Of course, being the combustible band that they
are, the band has gotten involved in its far share of fiascoes:
full-scale riots in Phoenix and NYC, getting punched out by their
own fans, showing up to tour Florida with machetes after receiving
death threats from the local gang. Architects of Self-Destruction:
An Oral History of Leftoever Crack traces the band's entire history
by speaking to the band members themselves, fellow musicians, their
fans, and of course, those that still hold a grudge against the
LoC... FYI, that's a lot of people.
I have no time for lies and fantasy, and neither should you. Enjoy
or die.--John Lydon
Punk has been romanticized and embalmed in various media. It has
been portrayed as an English class revolt and a reckless diversion
that became a marketing dream. But there is no disputing its
starting point. Every story of punk starts with its idols, the Sex
Pistols, and its sneering hero was Johnny Rotten.
In Rotten, Lydon looks back at himself, the Sex Pistols, and the no
future disaffection of the time. Much more than just a music book,
Rotten is an oral history of punk: angry, witty, honest, poignant,
and crackling with energy.
'If you stay alive long enough, people eventually catch up' Born in
rural Georgia in 1947, Jayne moved to New York and became part of
the 60s art scene surrounding Andy Warhol's Factory. Jayne's story
follows the arc of LGBT liberation in the US - she came of age
living hand-to-mouth, faced off against police at Stonewall and
came out as a trans woman while she was touring Europe with her
band. She went everywhere and met everyone and lived to tell the
tale. Man Enough to Be a Woman is the funny, fierce memoir of
Jayne's extraordinary journey, now including a new epilogue where
she reflects on how the world has (almost) caught up with her.
From the National Book Award-winning author of Just Kids and M Train, a profound, beautifully realized memoir in which dreams and reality are vividly woven into a tapestry of one transformative year.
Following a run of New Year's concerts at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore, Patti Smith finds herself tramping the coast of Santa Cruz, about to embark on a year of solitary wandering. Unfettered by logic or time, she draws us into her private wonderland, with no design yet heeding signs, including a talking sign that looms above her, prodding and sparring like the Cheshire Cat. In February, a surreal lunar year begins, bringing with it unexpected turns, heightened mischief, and inescapable sorrow. In a stranger's words, “Anything is possible: after all, it's the year of the monkey.” For Patti Smith - inveterately curious, always exploring, tracking thoughts, writing the year evolves as one of reckoning with the changes in life's gyre: with loss, aging, and a dramatic shift in the political landscape of America.
Smith melds the Western landscape with her own dreamscape. Taking us from Southern California to the Arizona desert; to a Kentucky farm as the amanuensis of a friend in crisis; to the hospital room of a valued mentor; and by turns to remembered and imagined places - this haunting memoir blends fact and fiction with poetic mastery. The unexpected happens; grief and disillusionment. But as Patti Smith heads toward a new decade in her own life, she offers this balm to the reader: her wisdom, wit, gimlet eye, and above all, a rugged hope of a better world.
Riveting, elegant, often humorous, illustrated by Smith's signature Polaroids, Year of the Monkey is a moving and original work, a touchstone for our turbulent times.
This is the definitive autobiography of John Lydon, one of the most
recognizable icons in the annals of music history. As Johnny
Rotten, he was the lead singer of the Sex Pistols - the world's
most notorious band, who shot to fame in the mid-1970s with singles
such as 'Anarchy in the UK' and 'God Save the Queen'. Via his music
and invective he spearheaded a generation of young people across
the world who were clamouring for change - and found it in the
style and attitude of this most unlikely figurehead. With his next
band, Public Image Ltd (PiL) Lydon expressed an equally urgent
impulse in his make-up - the constant need to reinvent himself.
From their beginnings in 1978 he set the template for a band that
continues to challenge and thrive in the 2010s. He also found time
for making innovative new dance records with the likes of Afrika
Baambaata and Leftfield. Following the release of a solo record in
1997, John took a sabbatical from his music career into other
media, most memorably his own Rotten TV show for VH1 and as the
most outrageous contestant ever on I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out
of Here!He then fronted the Megabugsseries and one-off nature
documentaries and even turned his hand to a series of much loved TV
advertisements for Country Life butter. Lydon has remained a
compelling and dynamic figure - both as a musician, and, thanks to
his outspoken, controversial, yet always heartfelt and honest
statements, as a cultural commentator.The book is a fresh and
mature look back on a life full of incident from his beginnings as
a sickly child of immigrant Irish parents who grew up in post-war
London, to his present status as a vibrant, alternative national
hero.
Keith Morris is a true punk icon. No one else embodies the sound of
Southern Californian hardcore the way he does. With his
waist-length dreadlocks and snarling vocals, Morris is known the
world over for his take-no-prisoners approach on the stage and his
integrity off of it. Over the course of his forty-year career with
Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, and OFF!, he's battled diabetes, drug
and alcohol addiction, and the record industry...and he's still
going strong. My Damage is more than a book about the highs and
lows of a punk rock legend. It's a story from the perspective of
someone who has shared the stage with just about every major figure
in the music industry and has appeared in cult films like The
Decline of Western Civilization and Repo Man. A true Hollywood tale
from an L.A. native, My Damage reveals the story of Morris's
streets, his scene, and his music--as only he can tell it.
Full of information about living without a permanent residence,
this complete collection of the "Dwelling Portably" zines from 1980
through 2012 contains helpful and informative tips for living far
outside of cities and bereft of technology. All of the tips and
advice have been edited down to what remains relevant in a
technologically changing world, and it is crammed full of
informative tips for biking, tents, showering, cooking, and living.
Whether camping on the edges, living simply, or getting by on the
road and loving it, this book is for modern nomads choosing
alternative lifestyles to working 9-5 in the same place.
`I must find my own complicated junkie to have violent sex with. In
1994, nothing seemed like a better idea, save being able to write
about it later.' Michelle Tea is our exuberant, witty guide to the
hard times and wild creativity of queer life in America. Along the
way she reclaims SCUM Manifesto author Valerie Solanas as an
absurdist, remembers the lives and deaths of the lesbian motorbike
gang HAGS, and listens to activists at a trans protest camp. This
kaleidoscope of love and adventure also makes room for a defence of
pigeons and a tale of teenage goths hustling for tips at an ice
creamery in a `grimy, busted city called Chelsea'. Unsparing but
unwaveringly kind, Michelle Tea reveals herself and others in
unexpected and heartbreaking ways. Against Memoir is the winner of
the 2019 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay.
Best known as writer of fiction and memoir, this is the first time
Tea's journalism has been collected. Delivered with her signature
candour and dark humour, Against Memoir solidifies her place as one
of the leading queer writers of our time.
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