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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Slightly repetitive with a lack of unique stories or experiences. “We got drunk a lot, some people did heroin which wasn’t cool, and we were misfits.”
An interesting read that I wish was slightly shorter or more reflective? Unsure what I expect more from this topic though. Punk is cool until it’s not
An interesting read that I wish was slightly shorter or more reflective? Unsure what I expect more from this topic though. Punk is cool until it’s not
Thank you John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Robert Lopez, Teresa Covarrubias, Charlotte Caffey, Mike Watt, Dave Alvin, and others for personal contributions to this book in the form of memories, stories, humor, and witness to a scene that flickered with so much divergent drive, inspiration, and creativity.
I really enjoyed these memories of the early L.A. punk scene. While John Doe is listed as the author--and he does contribute several pieces to it--one of its strengths is the number and variety of voices in the collection. A high point for me personally were the contributions by Jane Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey along with other references to the Go-Gos.
It only makes sense to read if you know and like some of this music to start with. It pairs well with The Decline of Western Civilization Part 1. I discovered some other music that I quite like through it, and it was an interesting window into the scene by those who lived it.
Under the Big Black Sun presents a highly personal look at the early days of the LA punk music scene. The essays from a variety of people who were part of the scene give the reader a sense of the energy and creativity which resulted in an exciting art scene. Some of the writers are more skilled than others. Some of the pieces are more readable than others. But the overall collection gives the reader a great sense of the DIY and extraordinary variety of the scene.
Maybe it's my age, but attending Riot Fest this year, I was taken with the level of personal taste, the diversity of musical expression ,and the span of ages of people who enjoyed the artists. Sure, there a lot of typical punk garmets, but you get the idea that the giant umbrella we call punk has less to do with feeling marginalized, it has more to do with feeling empowered. "Under the Big Black Sun" chronciles the years from 1979-1982 when a scene developed and quite atomizied into harcore nihilism. Here we venture into the deep basement of the Masque, run into the animalistic theatrics of Darby Crash, read the poetry of the Go-Gos, and feel the raw primal rage of Fear.
The most successful punk rocker of the 1990s, Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day, opens the book paying tribute to "some of the greatest bands ever", citing "X" and "The Germs", and the general LA scene that got not only him slam dancing, but an entire movement of young people. And I think it's significant that Green Day's music, so popular and defining in the mid 90s, came from music from people who never had a chance at a Top 40.
The L.A. punk scene, described here by authors and artists who lived here, are given the reader's ear to share punk's ascension to the West Coast. The intimacy here of the regional scene is something to really behold here. The shared events that affected all the artists: Darby Crash's suicide, Exene's sister's death, the police riots with Black Flag, the rise of the hardcore scene, and of course the amazing documentary from Penelope Spheeris "The Decline of Western Civilization". Here you get Rollins as you would expect him. Or Mike Watt as you'd expect him. And yeah there are the crazy wild stories of Jane Wieldin doing angel dust, or Henry Rollins desribing the skid row conditions of L.A. These are wild nights from the most open of eyes.
Ultimately there's so much to love here. There is a shared banner and unity with so many of these people. We see what it means to grow up sharing your dreams in song, or expressing yourself on stage in a way that 99% of the world thinks is totally messed up. There's youthful romance here, and all the destruction that accompanies it. To anyone who's ever heard a little punk dity and wanted to rip their shirt off, or anyone who wanted to dance with wild abandon, or put glue/pierecings on your body, there is a place for you - and punk rock is your train ticket.
The stories of "Under the Big Black Sun" are not really here to amp up the bands. Unlike another classic punk rock book (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14595.Please_Kill_Me), the kids here seem less focused on the artsiness or landing record deals. It was really about having a community, realizing pretty much anyone could start a band, and getting lost in the exuberance of it all. So there you have it, stories of kids who rely on each other, find their way across some instruments, and the magic begins. From the small stages of the the Whiskey Go-Go and the Masque, a new sound would propulse L.A. and in the course redefine their city, and the entire rock genre.
The most successful punk rocker of the 1990s, Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day, opens the book paying tribute to "some of the greatest bands ever", citing "X" and "The Germs", and the general LA scene that got not only him slam dancing, but an entire movement of young people. And I think it's significant that Green Day's music, so popular and defining in the mid 90s, came from music from people who never had a chance at a Top 40.
The L.A. punk scene, described here by authors and artists who lived here, are given the reader's ear to share punk's ascension to the West Coast. The intimacy here of the regional scene is something to really behold here. The shared events that affected all the artists: Darby Crash's suicide, Exene's sister's death, the police riots with Black Flag, the rise of the hardcore scene, and of course the amazing documentary from Penelope Spheeris "The Decline of Western Civilization". Here you get Rollins as you would expect him. Or Mike Watt as you'd expect him. And yeah there are the crazy wild stories of Jane Wieldin doing angel dust, or Henry Rollins desribing the skid row conditions of L.A. These are wild nights from the most open of eyes.
Ultimately there's so much to love here. There is a shared banner and unity with so many of these people. We see what it means to grow up sharing your dreams in song, or expressing yourself on stage in a way that 99% of the world thinks is totally messed up. There's youthful romance here, and all the destruction that accompanies it. To anyone who's ever heard a little punk dity and wanted to rip their shirt off, or anyone who wanted to dance with wild abandon, or put glue/pierecings on your body, there is a place for you - and punk rock is your train ticket.
The stories of "Under the Big Black Sun" are not really here to amp up the bands. Unlike another classic punk rock book (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14595.Please_Kill_Me), the kids here seem less focused on the artsiness or landing record deals. It was really about having a community, realizing pretty much anyone could start a band, and getting lost in the exuberance of it all. So there you have it, stories of kids who rely on each other, find their way across some instruments, and the magic begins. From the small stages of the the Whiskey Go-Go and the Masque, a new sound would propulse L.A. and in the course redefine their city, and the entire rock genre.
This is one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to, and it’s one that I’d say is better to listen to than it is to read (though I haven’t read it). LA history and the origins of punk in LA as told by many of the people who lived it.
Read this book.
I can't put it any simpler. I was in 6th grade in 1976, and so a handful of years too young to know about or be a part of the first punk scene in L.A. which grew out of the corpse of an older music scene on Sunset Boulevard, which, itself, had died but a handful of years before. But even in junior high, we knew something was happening in Hollywood. Skater friend, Mike, told us about KROQ and Rodney on the Roq, where we first heard L.A. punk and "new wave." The genius of this book is that it avoids cramming the fifteen contributors' pieces into a single storyline for easy consumption. Sure, there are recurring themes — the change with the arrival of suburban kids from Orange County, the toll that heroin took on the scene, the rise in violence, etc. — but those are simply signposts in a wide and deep country that these kids, musicians, journalists, and intellectuals carved out for themselves, their friends, and, through the music, for the rest of us.
I can't put it any simpler. I was in 6th grade in 1976, and so a handful of years too young to know about or be a part of the first punk scene in L.A. which grew out of the corpse of an older music scene on Sunset Boulevard, which, itself, had died but a handful of years before. But even in junior high, we knew something was happening in Hollywood. Skater friend, Mike, told us about KROQ and Rodney on the Roq, where we first heard L.A. punk and "new wave." The genius of this book is that it avoids cramming the fifteen contributors' pieces into a single storyline for easy consumption. Sure, there are recurring themes — the change with the arrival of suburban kids from Orange County, the toll that heroin took on the scene, the rise in violence, etc. — but those are simply signposts in a wide and deep country that these kids, musicians, journalists, and intellectuals carved out for themselves, their friends, and, through the music, for the rest of us.
A pretty decent collection of first-hand recollections of life in the LA punk scene. It's more curated by John Doe and Tom DeSavia than written by them, though each contribute several pieces. Most of the contributors stress the same points-- the early scene was diverse, polysexual, and open to all kinds of approaches, but that it turned dark and violent shortly thereafter and closed to women, gays, etc. There's one voice from that violent crowd, Jack Grisham from Vicious Circle, which was interesting to hear. Some of the others- Elvez, for example-- look at the scene from enough distance to be a little analytic about the bigger picture, and those essays were appreciated.
I learned a lot, and the pics and collected posters are pretty awesome.
I learned a lot, and the pics and collected posters are pretty awesome.