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Books > Music > Contemporary popular music > Rock & pop > Indie
The proximity of the East L.A. barrio to Hollywood is as close
as a short drive on the 101 freeway, but the cultural divide is
enormous. Born to Mexican-born and American-naturalized parents,
Alicia Armendariz migrated a few miles west to participate in the
free-range birth of the 1970s punk movement. Alicia adopted the
punk name Alice Bag, and became lead singer for The Bags, early
punk visionaries who starred in Penelope Spheeris' documentary "The
Decline of Western Civilization."
Here is a life of many crossed boundaries, from East L.A.'s
"musica ranchera" to Hollywood's punk rock; from a violent
male-dominated family to female-dominated transgressive rock bands.
Alice's feminist sympathies can be understood by the name of her
satiric all-girl early Goth band Castration Squad.
"Violence Girl" takes us from a violent upbringing to an
aggressive punk sensibility; this time a difficult coming-of-age
memoir culminates with a satisfying conclusion, complete with a
happy marriage and children. Nearly a hundred excellent photographs
energize the text in remarkable ways.
Alice Bag's work and influence can be seen this year in the
traveling Smithsonian exhibition "American Sabor: Latinos in U.S.
Popular Music."
Raised in Queens, where he worked as a plumber while honing his
guitar skills, Johnny Ramone eventually became a founding member of
The Ramones, one of the most influential rock bands of all time.
Often called the first punk rock outfit, their status is now
legendary. But despite becoming an international star when he was
alive, Johnny never really strayed from his blue-collar roots and
attitude. His bouts of delinquency as a kid might have given way to
true discipline when it came to keeping the band in line, but he
was truly imbued with the angr y-young-man spirit that would
characterise his persona on and off stage. Johnny was the driving
force behind the Ramones, sometimes referred to as a drill
sergeant, bringing order and regiment to the band. This was evident
in the speed, accuracy and intensity of their music. Johnny kept
the band focused and moving forward, ultimately securing their
place in rock history. The Ram ones were inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 and two years later, Johnny dies of
cancer, outliving the other two founding members and getting the
last and complete word. Brutally honest, revealing and touching,
this is Johnny Ramones's story and the story of the Ramones from
start to finish, told in his own words and on his own terms. In
addition to his story, the book will contain Johnny's annotated and
graded assessment of the Ramones' albums, a number of eccentric Top
Ten Lists; favourite Elvis films, favourite Republicans [Johnny was
actually pretty conservative], favourite horror films, pages from
his legendary "black books" with notes on concerts, inspirations,
anecdotes and scores of black and white and colour photos, many of
which have not been published before.
*THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER* The brand new memoir from the Sunday
Times bestselling author of The Road Beneath My Feet. Taking 36
songs from his back catalogue, folk-punk icon Frank Turner explores
his songwriting process. Find out the stories behind the songs
forged in the hedonistic years of the mid-2000s North London scene,
the ones perfected in Nashville studios, and everything in between.
Some of these songs arrive fully-formed, as if they've always been
there, some take graft and endless reworking to find 'the one'. In
exploring them all, Turner reflects with eloquence, insight and
self-deprecating wit on exactly what it is to be a songwriter. From
love songs and break-up songs to political calls-to-arms; songs
composed alone in a hotel room or in soundcheck with the Sleeping
Souls, this brilliantly written memoir - featuring exclusive photos
of handwritten lyrics and more - is a must-have book for FT fans
and anyone curious about how to write music.
The most wide-ranging and provocative look at punk rock as a social
change movement told through firsthand accounts. Punk rock has been
on the frontlines of activism since exploding on the scene in the
1970's. Punk Revolution! is the most wide-ranging and provocative
look at punk rock as a social change movement over the past
forty-five years, told through firsthand accounts of roughly 250
musicians and activists. John Malkin brings together a wide cast of
characters that include major punk & post-punk musicians
(members of The Ramones, Bad Religion, Crass, Dead Kennedys, Patti
Smith's band, Gang of Four, Sex Pistols, Iggy & the Stooges,
Bikini Kill, Talking Heads, The Slits, and more), important figures
influenced by the punk movement (Noam Chomsky, Kalle Lasn, Keith
McHenry, Marjane Satrapi, Laurie Anderson, Kenneth Jarecke), and
underground punk voices. These insightful, radical, and often funny
conversations travel through rebellions against Margaret Thatcher,
Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, and Vladimir Putin and to punk
activism that has taken on nuclear war, neoliberalism, modern
warfare, patriarchy, white supremacy, the police, settler
colonialism, and more. The result is a fresh and unique history of
punk throughout the ages.
LONGLISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE LONGLISTED FOR THE
HWA NON-FICTION CROWN 'A moving, powerful and highly innovative
sidelight on the fall of Communism in East Germany through punk
style and music. This is a complete original' HWA Non-Fiction Crown
Judges 'A thrilling and essential social history that details the
rebellious youth movement that helped change the world' Rolling
Stone 'A riveting and inspiring history of punk's hard-fought
struggle in East Germany' New York Times 'Wildly entertaining'
Vogue THE SECRET HISTORY OF PUNKS IN EAST GERMANY It began with a
handful of East Berlin teens who heard the Sex Pistols on a British
military radio broadcast to troops in West Berlin, and it ended
with the collapse of the East German dictatorship. Punk rock was a
life-changing discovery: in an authoritarian state where the future
was preordained, punk, with its rejection of society and DIY
approach to building a new one, planted the seeds for revolution.
As these kids began to form bands, they also became more visible,
and security forces - including the dreaded secret police, the
Stasi - targeted them. They were spied on by friends and family;
they were expelled from schools and fired from jobs; they were
beaten by police and imprisoned. But instead of conforming, the
punks fought back, playing an indispensable role in the underground
movement that helped bring down the Berlin Wall. Rollicking,
cinematic and thrillingly topical, this secret history brings to
life the young men and women who successfully fought
authoritarianism three chords at a time. Burning Down the Haus is a
fiery testament to the irrepressible spirit of revolution.
'Original and inspiring . . . an important work of Cold War
cultural history' Wall Street Journal
This expanded edition is updated with six more interviews and a new
introduction, bringing the definitive book of conversations with
the underground's greatest minds up to 2007.
When Punk Rock took on the establishment in the late 1970s it was
about more than just the music. Fashion, culture, attitude, all
went hand in hand with what the likes of The Sex Pistols, The
Damned and The Clash gave the youth of the day. This visual
biography charts all of that with fabulous photography of the
bands, the fans and the day-to-day happenings. Re-live your youth
or if you weren't around at the time, immerse yourself in the youth
culture of the late seventies and early eighties.
Factory Records' fame and fortune were based on two bands - Joy
Division and New Order - and one personality - that of its
director, Tony Wilson. At the height of the label's success in the
late 1980s, it ran its own club, the legendary Hacienda, had a
string of international hit records, and was admired and emulated
around the world. But by the 1990s the story had changed. The back
catalogue was sold off, top bands New Order and Happy Mondays were
in disarray, and the Hacienda was shut down by the police.
Critically acclaimed on its original publication in 1996, this book
tells the complete story of Factory Records' spectacular history,
from the label's birth in 1970s Manchester, through its '80s heyday
and '90s demise. Now updated to include new material on the
re-emergence of Joy Division, the death of Tony Wilson and the
legacy of Factory Records, it draws on exclusive interviews with
the major players to give a fascinating insight into the unique
personalities and chaotic reality behind one of the UK's most
influential and successful independent record labels.
Punk Identities, Punk Utopias: Global Punk and Media seeks to
unpack and illuminate punk as a trajectory of 'timelesness...as a
set of diverse but confluent values and appropriations' that have
both reflected and informed an increasingly complex, indefinable
social, political and economic setting. Whereas the first two
volumes in the series were broadly focused on local punk 'scenes'
in a disparate range of countries and regions around the world,
Punk Identities, Punk Utopias extends that critical enquiry to
reflect broader social, political and technological concerns
impacting punk scenes around the world, from digital technology and
new media to gender, ethnicity, identity and representation. This
new volume therefore draws upon the interdisciplinary areas of
cultural studies, musicology and social sciences to present an
edited text on the notion of identities, ideologies and cultural
discourse surrounding contemporary global punk scenes. It is hoped
that the books in the Global Punk series will add to the academic
discussion of contemporary popular culture, particularly in
relation to punk and the critical understanding of transnational
and cross-cultural dialogue. Punk is a global phenomenon and the
Global Punk series aims to reflect contemporary scenes around the
world since the millennium. Punk and its subsequent variants, from
hardcore to post-punk, have always crossed borders and become
assimilated within countercultural practices with local, national
and regional variations. Produced in collaboration between the Punk
Scholars Network and Intellect Books, the Global Punk book series
focuses on the development of contemporary global punk (c. 2000
onwards), reflecting upon its origins, aesthetics, identity,
legacy, membership and circulation. Critical approaches draw upon
the interdisciplinary areas of (among others) cultural studies, art
and design, sociology, musicology and social sciences in order to
develop a broad and inclusive picture of punk and punk-inspired
subcultural developments around the globe. The series adopts an
essentially analytical perspective, raising questions about the
dissemination of punk scenes and subcultures and their form,
structure and contemporary cultural significance in the daily lives
of an increasing number of people around the world. This book has a
genuine crossover appealed. It will be a key resource for
established academics, postdoctoral researchers and Ph.D. students,
as well as being suitable for adoption as an undergraduate student
textbook. Suitable courses will include those in the fields of
popular music, youth culture, sociology, urban/cultural geography,
political history, heritage studies, media and cultural studies.
Examining the multigenerational impact of punk rock music, this
international survey of the political-punk straight edge
movement--which has persisted as a drug-free, hardcore subculture
for more than 25 years--traces its history from 1980s Washington,
DC, to today. Asserting that drugs are not necessarily rebellious
and that not all rebels do them, the record also defies common
conceptions of straight edge's political legacy as being associated
with self-righteous, macho posturing and conservative Puritanism.
On the contrary, the movement has been linked to radical thought
and action by the countless individuals, bands, and entire scenes
profiled throughout the discussion. Lively and exhaustive, this
dynamic overview includes contributions from famed straight edge
punk rockers Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi, Dennis Lyxzen
of Refused and the International Noise Conspiracy, and Andy Hurley
of Fall Out Boy; legendary bands ManLiftingBanner and Point of No
Return; radical collectives such as CrimethInc. and Alpine
Anarchist Productions; and numerous other artists and activists
dedicated as much to sober living as to the fight for a better
world.
By January 1978, the Sex Pistols were the most talked about band on
the planet. They also enjoyed the sobriquet of being the "scourge"
of the British Establishment. The Pistols' anarchic antics had
largely gone unnoticed in America, and it wasn't until Warner Bros
secured the U.S. rights to distribute the band's debut album Never
Mind The Bollocks in November 1977 that the American media sat up
and took notice. Plans were soon underway to bring the Pistols over
to America, but Warners hadn't counted on the band's manager, the
irascible Malcolm McLaren. In purposely eschewing New York and Los
Angeles in favor of off-the-rock'n'roll radar outposts such as
Memphis, San Antonio and Baton Rouge, McLaren sowed the seeds for a
countercultural clash that continues to resonate across America. No
Feelings, No Future, No Fun: the Sex Pistols' '78 U.S. Tour covers
the tour from varying perspectives-with many people sharing their
experiences for the first time. The book also endeavours to
separate fact from the many fallacies that still surround those
twelve days of mayhem when the Sex Pistols wended their way across
an unsuspecting USA.
Featuring never-before-seen photographs of U2 on their first US
Tour, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Danzig, The Descendants, Fugazi, The
Damned, The U.K. Subs, and many, many more Since 1981, Chris
Barrows has taken pictures of bands at their concerts, backstage,
and behind the scenes. From U2 during their first tour in 1982 to
Captain Sensible of The Damned on his knees in an alley licking a
dominatrix's thigh high vinyl boots, or Lee Ving standing on
railroad tracks at night, Barrows' intimate and stirring portraits
of bands stripped down and unguarded will be a wonderful addition
to any music fan's collection.
Picking up where Under the Big Black Sun left off, More Fun in the
New World explores the years 1982 to 1986, covering the dizzying
pinnacle of L.A.'s punk rock movement as its stars took to the
national and often the international stage. Detailing the eventual
splintering of punk into various sub-genres, the second volume of
Doe and DeSavia's punk history will portray how the Reagan years
affected the movement, how the scene ultimately influenced popular
culture from fashion to television and film, and how mainstream
stars adapted punk sounds and style. As with Under the Big Black
Sun, the book will feature stories of triumph, failure, stardom,
addiction, recovery, and loss as told by the people who were
influential in the scene with a cohesive narrative from authors
John Doe and Tom DeSavia. Along with many returning voices, More
Fun in the New World will weave in the perspectives of Belinda
Carlisle, Susanna Hoffs, Joan Jett, and Shepard Fairey among
others. In addition to stories of success, the book also offers a
cautionary tale of an art movement that directly inspired
commercial acts such as Green Day, Rancid, and Offspring. Readers
will find themselves rooting for the purists of punk juxtaposed
with the MTV-dominating rock superstars of the time who flaunted a
"born to do this, it couldn't be easier" attitude that continued to
fuel the flames of new music. More Fun in the New World follows
this progression of L.A. punk and, some say, its conclusion.
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