Fans and non-fans alike will be shocked by the stories of murder, suicide, addiction, counterfeiting, riots, bondage, terminal illness, the Yakuza, and drinking pee. Told from the perspective of each of the band's members, this book looks back at more than thirty years of comedy, tragedy, and completely inexplicable success.

    Authors John Doe and Tom DeSavia have woven together an enthralling story of the legendary west coast scene from 1977-1982 by enlisting the voices of people who were there. The book shares chapter-length tales from the authors along with personal essays from famous (and infamous) players in the scene. Additional authors include: Exene Cervenka (X), Henry Rollins (Black Flag), Mike Watt (The Minutemen), Jane Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey (The Go-Go’s), Dave Alvin (The Blasters), Jack Grisham (TSOL), Teresa Covarrubias (The Brat), Robert Lopez (The Zeros, El Vez), as well as scencesters and journalists Pleasant Gehman, Kristine McKenna, and Chris Morris. Through interstitial commentary, John Doe “narrates” this journey through the land of film noir sunshine, Hollywood back alleys, and suburban sprawl—the place where he met his artistic counterparts Exene, DJ Bonebrake, and Billy Zoom—and formed X, the band that became synonymous with, and in many ways defined, L.A. punk.Under the Big Black Sun shares stories of friendship and love, ambition and feuds, grandiose dreams and cultural rage, all combined with the tattered, glossy sheen of pop culture weirdness that epitomized the operations of Hollywood’s underbelly. Readers will travel to the clubs that defined the scene, as well as to the street corners, empty lots, apartment complexes, and squats that served as de facto salons for the musicians, artists, and fringe players that hashed out what would become punk rock in Los Angeles.

    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.

    And without Steve Jones there would be no Sex Pistols. It was Steve who formed Kutie Jones and his Sex Pistols, the band that eventually went on to become the Sex Pistols, with his schoolmate Paul Cook and who was its original leader. As the world celebrates the 40th anniversary of Punk – the influence and cultural significance of which is still felt in music, fashion and the visual arts to this day – Steve tells his story for the very first time. Steve’s modern Dickensian tale begins in the streets of Hammersmith and Shepherd’s Bush, West London, where as a lonely, neglected boy living off his wits and his petty thievery, he is given purpose by the glam art rock of David Bowie and Roxy Music and becomes one of the first generation of ragamuffin punks taken under the wings of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood. For the very first time Steve describes the sadness of never knowing his dad, the neglect and abuse he suffered at the hands of his step father, and how his interest in music and fashion saved him from a potential life of crime spent in remand centres and prison. From the Kings Road of the early seventies, through the years of the Sex Pistols, Punk Rock and the recording of Never Mind the Bollocks (ranked number 41 in Rolling Stone magazine’s Best Albums of All Time), to his self-imposed exile in New York and Los Angeles where he battled with alcohol, heroin and sex addiction – caught in a cycle of rehab and relapse – Lonely Boy, written with music journalist and author Ben Thompson, is the story of an unlikely guitar hero who, with the Sex Pistols, changed history.Publication coincides with the 40th anniversary of the release of the Sex Pistols first record, ‘Anarchy in the UK’, and of Steve’s infamous confrontation on Bill Grundy’s Today programme – that interview ushered in the ‘Filth and the Fury’ headlines that catapulted Punk into the national consciousness.

    It presents 500 artefacts - 'zines,' gig posters, flyers, and badges - from well-known and obscure musical acts, designers, venues, and related political groups. While punk was first and foremost a music phenomenon, it reflected a DIY spirit and instantly recognizable aesthetic that was as raw and strident and irrepressible as the music. As disposable as the items in this book once were, together they tell a story about music, history, class, and art, and document a seismic shift in society and visual culture.

    From this collection of photographs, interviews, and essays culled from a community of music fans, bartenders, booking agents, bouncers, and underground musicians emerges a kaleidoscopic history of this influential hole-in-the-wall rock venue, named one of "The Best Rock Clubs in America" by Rolling Stone.Featuring a foreword by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats and first hand interviews with members of The Flaming Lips, Interpol, Low, OK Go, Vandermark Five, Girl Talk, The Rapture, Red Red Meat, The Sea and Cake, and more, as well as rarely-seen, full-color photographs and reproductions of original silkscreen gig posters, this collection is the tell-all confessional from a bar with countless stories to share. Each anecdote is an opportunity to relive experiences that seem conceivable only at the Bottle: watching The Flaming Lips play for a capacity crowd; shooting pool with Krist Novoselic of Nirvana; standing ten feet away from Arcade Fire as they perform a show that could be best described as a “spiritual tent revival for secular indie rock fans.”Those who choose to read the book cover to cover will find that many of the stories intersect and mutate, remarking on the complexities of memory, giving in to the growing older, and what it means to look back on a particular time in your life and realize you were part of something bigger than yourself. As musician and contributor Bobby Conn remarked, "It's not really the place. It's everyone making it happen there."

    They had two guitars and no singer. Four years later the Undertones recorded 'Teenage Kicks', John Peel's favourite record, and became one of the most fondly remembered UK bands of the post punk era. Sticking to their punk rock principles, they signed terrible deals, made great records and had a wonderful time. They broke up in 1983 when they realised there was no pot of gold at the end of the rock and roll rainbow. His story is a bitter-sweet, heart-warming and occasionally droll tale of unlikely success, petty feuding and playful mischief during five years of growing up in the music industry. Wiser but not much richer, Michael became a bicycle courier in Soho after the Undertones split. "Sixty miles a day, fresh air, no responsibilities," he writes. "Sometimes I think it was the best job I ever had. It wasn't, of course."

    it also describes what it was like to search for Krishna while being a Hardcore Straightedge Punk, and what it was like to struggle with the simultaneously wonderful and horrible International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the Hare Krishnas.

    The sole witness? Reporter Ryker Morris, whose stubborn resistance to a different kind of chip—the globally mandated IDChip—cost him his job, apartment, and credibility. Ryker flees the gruesome scene, a young, homeless technophobe disappearing into a fast-paced city of augmented working stiffs and sexy chipped socialites. But Ryker’s reprieve doesn’t last long. Under orders from a local hacker and tipped off by an invisible tracking device, the vandals kidnap Ryker’s best friend, leaving only a blood-soaked wallet behind. Even worse, they inject Ryker’s brain with a refurbished NeuroChip. Without money or resources, he must find his friend and deactivate the corrupt NeuroChip, before the twisted hacker who programmed it gains full control over Ryker’s own thoughts.

    As one time drummer of the Instigators and Sore Throat, and singer of Civilised Society? he has appeared on seven albums and one EP. This early experience served him well in launching the label, which was to become a worldwide success. It spawned the careers of some of the biggest bands in metal, punk and hardcore. Electro Hippies, Doom, Deviated Instinct, Axegrinder, Autopsy, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema, Darkthrone, Opeth and Katatonia to name but a few. Based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, the label was an anomaly in the history of heavy music. It was shrouded in secrecy and a thick cloud of smoke. For the first time ever, in conjunction with the labels 30th anniversary, Hammy recounts the full history of the inception of the label. Taking the reader through its heyday to the point where he departed. It's a gripping tale which keeps you hooked from beginning to end. Laying bare all the twists and turns along the way. It also features candid interviews with all of the major players behind the scenes and the successes.

    Whether playing at the Hardback or wild house parties, earnest acts like Against Me!, Spoke and Roach Motel all emerged and thrived in the small northern Florida city. Radon burst onto the scene with chaotic energy while Mutley Chix helped inspire local torchbearers No Idea Records. Through this succinct history, author Matt Walker traces each successive generation's contributions and amplifies the fidelity of the Gainesville scene.

    Punk Rocker”: top author Brenda Perlin’s best-selling punk anthology.Here you will find a collection of short stories from those who were there in the early days. Hard core musical anarchists who saw it all, heard it all, did it all - and survived to tell their stories.Along with Brenda and the West Coast punks, Punk Rocker features rebels, writers, commentators and street kids from all over America – talking about the music, the fashion, the attitude, the passion, the lifestyle and, of course, the bands who made it all happen.Meet people who discovered punk’s new dawn – and those who were there for its sunset, in the ramshackle mausoleum of The Hotel Chelsea.Backstage, in the clubs, in the gigs, in hotel rooms with the band, on the streets –Brenda was there. She saw it all. And so did her friends.Punk Rocker. If you missed it…what are you waiting for?

    Basements, warehouses and dive bars were alive with the raw energy of the underground scene. But in the summer of 1982, legendary Indianapolis hardcore band, The F*ckers, became the victim of a mysterious tragedy.They returned home without their vocalist and the band disappeared. A single record sought by collectors, a band nearly forgotten, and an urban legend passed from punk to punk. What happened to The F*ckers on that tour? Why was their singer never seen again? No one has been able to say. Until now...For the first time, the truth behind Indiana's lost hardcore legend THE F*CKERS, is revealed. And the most shocking secret is that it could happen again.From the author of Amazing Punk Stories and Boot of the Wolf Reich, David Agranoff, Punk Rock Ghost Story is a one of a kind supernatural horror set against two very different eras of punk rock history.

    Cairo lies in the southernmost tip of Illinois, where the Mississippi River meets up with the Ohio River, in a region known as Little Egypt. They moved to Cairo with big dreams. They wanted to create a little community of like minded people that could live outside of mainstream capitalist society.They wanted to build a home for themselves and their friends.This is the story of their seventeen months in Cairo.

    Records in 1999). In its brief run, "Slash" defined the punk subculture in Los Angeles and beyond with the comic strip Jimbo by Gary Panter and photographs by Melanie Nissen, the founding 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. "Slash" diagnosed 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 History of the Legendary LA Punk Magazine 1977-1980" pays 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 John Doe, Exene Cervenka, KK Barrett, Pat Smear, Thom Andersen, Gary Panter, Vivien Goldman, Richard Meltzer, Cali DeWitt, Nancy Sekizawa, Bryan Ray Turcotte, Claude Bessy, Ann Summa and Allan MacDowell, among others, telling the story of this critical chapter in the history of American media.

    These aren’t the manufactured acts of some pop svengali, these groups write their own songs, play their own instruments and make music together on their own terms. All-girl bands have made radical contributions to feminism, culture and politics as well as producing some unique, influential and innovative music. It’s time to celebrate the outspoken voices, creative talents and gutsy performances of the all-girl bands who demand we take notice. Including commentary from members of the original 60s girl groups and classic punk-inspired outfits like The Raincoats and The Slits, as well as contemporary Ladyfest heroines like Beth Ditto, this timely exploration shows the world that sidelining all-girl bands is a major oversight.