Limited Edition Vintage Punk Photos

You've been hit with these images time and again over the past year that Punk Turns 30 has been online...if you lived or visited Chicago, Nashville, New York, Memphis, Tampa, Tallahassee, Milwaukee or Cleveland while I showed there, you saw these images up close and personal.

Come the summer, these images will be represented by a gallery and its likely you won't be able to afford a print - that is if you want to own one. I am offering a Limited Edition of these images - I'll print only 100 of each, they'll be signed and numbered. You can buy them through my Paypal Shopping Cart on my sales info site, and you can also read up on investing in and buying photography as art on my Frequently Asked Questions info page.

I AM SO RELIEVED

On Friday afternoon, I had a long, leisurely lunch with Pleasant and Randy Detroit, a sort of Lobotomy, the brainless magazine reunion of sorts, at our favorite Hollywood eaterie for such meetings, Victor's. We monopolized the table, but it was a late lunch, and the staff there love Pleasant.

Over much reminiscing, laughter and yes, stares from the nice normal people who wouldn't know from rip roaring laughter over punk rock, my phone rang and it was Gun Clubber, Terry Graham. Terry and I arranged to meet later in the day, and the phone was passed around to Randy and Pleasant. I think we agreed to do some kind of LA Class of 77 Reunion THING later this year.

As what normally happens, you start to talk about what's different about things, especially your home town, 30 years later (oh, yeah and the scary revelation of how old we really are). I truly believed that the Famous Lobotomy Apartment was a goner. I'd driven past the corner of Franklin and La Brea scores of times over the last three months that I've been in LA. On the corner, where the empty lot used to be is now a gigantic apartment complex, over-landscaped with trees so that it looks like a Caribbean resort. Check it out: 1801 N. La Brea. a monstrosity. But, as Randy gave me a ride to the post office, I asked him to drive past the site of the pad.

To my relief and Randy's "I told you so" bemusement, 7231 Franklin Ave., the Beresford Apartments ARE STILL STANDING. Yes... a tiny piece of LA punk history LIVES. That's where we pasted together some issues of Lobotomy...where Spazz Attack frequently crashed and cleaned the apartment before we all got up. Kid Congo also did the same because he thought he puked all over the rug... only it was a mixture of baby food and dog food that Pleasant cooked up as a practical joke to make Kid think he puked. You see, we weren't yet 21 when I lived at the Famous Lobotomy Apartment. We'd go into Rock n Roll Ralph's and buy vodka, baby food, Alpo and disposable diapers. We'd want the cashier to believe we were housewives - anyone with a dog and a baby could use some vodka, right? That was our logic and it worked. So, with a treasure trove of baby food and Alpo, what else could you do with it BUT play practical jokes.

There was a time however, that no practical joking was necessary. I believe that someone somewhere has got to have snapshots of what led to this - once Pleasant, Kid and I all passed out on the floor, only I didn't know I had some kind of cold or flu. I was taking aspirin and going back to sleep. I woke up probably every two hours and took two more aspirins. Needless to say, when I woke up for real, my stomach hurt. BAD. Just like the humorously well-known Tommy Burgers pickled jalapeno and Twinkie incident, I turned to cheap, fast dessert food to cure my ailing and burning stomach. Kid and I went to the Rock n Roll Ralph's and bought one of those cake mixes that comes complete with its own weird pan. We made the cake and tried to flavor it with baby food (apple or something like that) and it was pretty awful. I do not recommend this. Lobotomy experimented so you don't have to! In retrospect, I should have stuck with the Twinkie defense.

Anyway, I am relieved to have been mistaken about the fate of my first apartment...sometime, you should ask Pleasant about the presence of a Siegfried and/or Roy type fellow there and his pet tiger...

And the answer is.....

When the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Inductees for 2006 were announced, I wondered aloud and on this blog if Gary Valentine would be attending the ceremony. That's him behind Debbie Harry in the photo here... I could not have been more surprised to hear from him via email that he will be there! We shall be touched by his presence, dear.

In case you didn't get the pun, "I'm Always Touched By Your Presence" is the title of the song written by Gary on Blondie's second album.

I was further reminded of Gary tonight, my last night in LA for a month or so - my gracious hostess for this month, Jackie Sharp, of Target Video fame was showing me a reel of Target highlights that included a clip from an Iggy Pop show circa 1982/83 at the Old Warfield in San Francisco. Iggy was wearing black silk stockings, garters, hot pants and a cap - looking like something from the movie Cabaret. His band? None other than: Clem Burke, Gary Valentine and Rob duPrey, essentially the Blondie rhythm section and a Mump. I was at that show. I flew up from LA to see it. That night, I remember having a sushi dinner with Gary, going to the show, and staying up all night with my pals in the band. I, too, was wearing black silk stockings and garters... but no hot pants. I wore stilleto heels... Iggy did not. Score 1 for me...

Me & Clem.... but no stilleto heels

Punk Fashion

Yesterday it was all about the hair; today it is all about the clothes.

These three punk rock and Hollywood "It" Girls don't look like your average punk rock chicks. They're not your average girls either. In one of the many books on the LA Punk scene, scenester Hal Negro commented on how the punk girls of LA were not good looking. Well, he got his attitude kicked for that all over the place. Look at Belinda, Pleasant, and Wyline. I dare you to find three more attractive women in one rock club, now or then!

Notice if you will that none of these ladies is decked out in the leather or ripped and safety-pinned garb that might be considered iconic punk. They're all in thrift store clothes.

Thrifting was our sport. Pleasant had introduced Debbie Harry to the Beverly Hills All Saints Church Rummage Sale fairly early on, and it was a place that we routinely visited. I picked up a fantastic fuschia and chartreuse mini dress for 25 cents, as well as some bright green Schiaparelli pumps. I ended up giving the dress to Debbie who looked way better in it than I ever could. It wasn't really a color that worked for a brunette. Alas, I don't have a photo of Debbie in it scanned for you - but in a couple weeks, you just might see it. I'll wager that Stephen Sprouse saw that dress. The stuff he's been designing for the past few years bears a remarkable resemblance to the vintage mini Debbie wore in 1978.



This is one of our favorite Debbie Harry stage outfits. Its all white except for the bright orange crossing guard vest.



Billy Idol, our other favorite blond, led a trend of the customised t-shirt. He's wearing a self-made Generation X t-shirt. Pleasant and I spray-painted our own versions of same. I hope I still have mine stashed away somewhere in the garage.



Both Dee Dee and Stiv always had fun t-shirts.

YES... the leather jacket was ubiquitous and I think deserving of its own separate entry and fashion photo spread. So I'll save it for another time.

Bubbling under was the clean cut, art school thing. Talking Heads, Modern Lovers and other bands just wore button down shirts...

Neo new-wavers, Detroit's Pizzazz remind me of that look. They weren't even born in 1977... their 2005 look is all their own, whilst so reminiscent of my own college days



Safety pins and leather - another day.

The Punk Haircut

As you pretty well know by now, I'm hooked on analysing my statistics. Almost every day, some readers come to this site via a Google search for "punk haircuts."

So, today, I thought I'd show you a variety of good ones.

Billy Idol had absolutely the BEST hair. What a look he had and maintains to this day. Even back in 1978, he knew the value of a photo opportunity. I always thought this photo would get more mileage than the one with Joan Jett, but I guess magazines like their multiple faces in one shot.


Penelope Houston, Avenger and Rodney Bingenheimer, Mayor of the Sunset Strip both had iconic hair cuts. Notice how Penelope and Billy are both so beautiful, blonde and photogenic. I always thought that Penelope could have been a big pop superstar like Billy. She's still a riveting performer even though she's not a house-hold name.


While Stiv Bators and Frank Secich wore shaggy versions of Beatle hair, Greg Shaw had the perfect pageboy. It was his trademark and it never looked out of place on him, even over the course of the several decades he wore it.


Hairdresser to the punk stars, Connie Clarksville, on Dave Alvin's right coiffed just about everyone you know. She's sporting a delightful bad-girl variation on the bob while Pleasant opts for a Cleopatra look and Belinda goes short and spiky. Lorna Doom, her high school pal, below goes for a blonder look, and short with spiky potential. Inspired by Billy Idol? You bet.



Notice that everyone's hair is either black or peroxided-out blonde. Unless you had some fabulous red hair, there was no middle ground here.


This is Kent Smythe, wonderful guy and loyal Runaways roadie. His natural blonde has been colored shoe-polish black. I guess he and Joan showed some solidarity in the fashion arena too.


The Cramps, one of the more style conscious of bands boast Ivy's curls, Lux and Nick's rockabilly bad boy cuts and Creep Meister Bryan Gregory's Bride of Frankenstein streak.

The Ramones each represented a different sensibility when it came to their hair.


Joey had the long hair that Howard Stern totally copied.



Dee Dee and Johnny opted for that Greg Shaw haircut that all the garage rock dudes wear these days.


Now, I was having a glam hangover for most of 1977 through probably 1979. I adored T Rex and Marc Bolan. My hair is naturally wavy, but I went for the total T Rex look. You can compare the hair. There's Marc Bolan and then there's me in one of the few photos of me from back in the day that do exist and are published. I'm going to get my hair cut just as soon as I'm in Detroit...in a couple weeks.

Here's the lady who cuts my hair:

Sandy Kramer, and her salon:

Barberella, Hamtramck, Detroit
That's her family - husband Jim and pooch, Cookie. Right after this photo was taken, Sandy made sure she made Jim over. Too bad his handsome new cut didn't get snapped. I left the salon, on my way to see the Detroit homecoming show of the MC5 Reunion Tour. Even Wayne Kramer was blonde!

Sports and Teen Idols

Yes, that is the skinny, 5'5" Stiv Bators shooting hoops in a recording studio. We used to stress that "Disconnected" was recorded on a basketball court (that's all natural reverb, you know) with the band set up right on the floor, between the hoops. You don't really think of the Dead Boys, Disconnected Band or Lords of the New Church as jocks, do you? Well, they aren't really. But who doesn't enjoy throwing a ball around? And who doesn't enjoy a game of hoops? As a UCLA alumna, basketball was always around me. John Wooden was still on campus when I started there. He still casts a giant shadow there - of course, with a hall named after him...

Then there's the great American past-time: baseball. And its pedestrian cousin: softball. There's a Sunday afternoon softball game in Detroit's Woodbridge neighborhood, and you can find your hipster garage and punk rockers there. I even participated in one of these games...if you can call hanging out in the outfield participating. Mostly I cheered for the erstwhile Young Soul Rebels Records and Tapes store and label owner and sometimes Go bass player Dave Buick to hit a homer, and marveled at how Detroit Cobra drummer Kenny Tudrick could run around the bases in his boots.


Dave Buick on the right

I remember back in 1978, in Los Angeles, there was some event concocted by the NBC television network that a bunch of us went to in person - The Rock n Roll Sports Classic. This was a made-for-tv sporting event where music celebrities competed for what? Television ratings I guess. However, Pleasant, Randy Detroit and I attended because our girl, Joan Jett was one such competitor. She was in a bike race and I think she did a relay race, too. There were some mainstream top 40 music people there that I never thought I would ever see much less watch them do sports...like Gladys Knight and Kenny Loggins. Apparently, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders were at this event, though I can't remember what they did (its on their website.) Really. What I found highly entertaining (and even have a blurry photo of somewhere in storage that I will indeed show you if you ask) was then-teen-idol, Leif Garrett playing soccer on a team with Rod Stewart. Rod and soccer, I understand... the man kicks soccer balls into the audience when he plays the Faces hit, "Stay With Me" in concert, and after all, he's English and that makes sense, but Leif Garrett?

Now let's talk about Leif Garrett for a second. Teen Idol. Leif and Shaun Cassidy had top 40 hits at the same time that punk rock was in full swing (at least in LA). Pleasant and I were fascinated by Teen Idols. In a big way. We both have all the picture sleeve 7" singles that Leif Garrett and Shaun Cassidy released. Those boys recorded covers of previous teen idol hits like "Run Around Sue" and they had some pop craftsmen churning out hits for them as well. Instead of boy bands, back then, we just had boys. It was comic relief for us, and we enjoyed every moment of it.



Stiv was into his teen idol worship too. Like Rodney, Stiv was a fan of the young Brooke Shields, who was an overnight sensation in the movie "Pretty Baby," which starred Susan Sarandon. Pretty Baby was such a phenomenon that even Blondie had a song called "Pretty Baby" on the album that broke them commercially, "Parallel Lines."

Although many people think I took this photo of Stiv with Brooke Shields, I did not. I don't know who did...but who ever you are, I can only imagine how Stiv made this happen.

Take Notes, Cast Votes

TAKE NOTE FOR TODAY - Sunday, January 22, The Avengers are playing at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco. Catch them tonight, because they are going off to tour Europe for the first time, and you won't be able to see them again in San Francisco til April when they are part of the big show with the Dead Kennedys, Flipper and Mutants. Tonight's show starts at 8 PM, doors open at 7. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Its a 21 and older show... sorry young people. Cafe du Nord is located at 2170 Market St. at Sanchez. Phone 415 861-5016. Check it out if you can. If you've never seen the Avengers before, don't miss them now. Its no secret that they were one of my favorite punk bands, and one of the best bands to come out of San Francisco.

Now, you can cast your votes here (leave comments by clicking on the word "comment" right below this post) for what the theme of the Punk Turns 30 2006 tour will be, and it will be the theme of my first-ever coffee table book of vintage punk pictures. I've done some grass-roots marketing outreach looking for opinions. I've also studied the statistics to see what photo you request most in search engines. So far, the statistics say you like Dee Ramone and Stiv Bators together. But my specific question is - for a book and exhibit - would you prefer to see them LIVE or BACKSTAGE/hanging out?

Compare:


Backstage


Live

Not to sway you, but I've seen so many great live shots of bands from so many photographers over the years, I think that there's already enough to go around. But that's just me. I want to know what you want...what you would buy and keep and look at. Let me know.


Meanwhile, I'm still in this big movie-watching mood and I'm going to watch that movie "What About Me" about the Lower East Side of NYC with music by the one and only Johnny Thunders.

Wherefore Art Thou, Indie Record Store?

Here I am at the Tampa branch of Vinyl Fever last October, during the Punk Turns 30 tour of the South. Except for the Horizontal Action Blackout in Chicago, where we started, and the CBGB Benefit at CB's Gallery in New York City, Punk Turns 30 has exclusively shown its wares in indie record stores like Vinyl Fever in Tampa and Tallahassee, Goner in Memphis, NYCD in NYC, and Grimey's in Nashville.


Here's Cheetah Chrome and his son, Rogan dropping by the exhibit at Grimeys.


Here I am with Jeanine at the Goner store on the evening of my opening party. Jeanine designed the cool paint job on the walls inside the store.


Here are the handsome Matt Williams, booker of the Blackout and drummer for the Baseball Furies with Goner store and label proprietor, Eric Oblivian at the Punk Turns 30 opening, and here are Billy and Timmy from the Human Eye at Goner:



Over the years, perhaps one of the most satisfying relationships I have had is that with the Independent Record Store. I worked in one as a teenager (well, I bet most of you reading this have, too!) and took great pride in turning on my friends and regular customers to records, bands and stuff I think they should like as well as the stuff I thought they would like if they only gave it a spin. Of course, I also loved to terrorize the philistines by blasting some choice Sparks tunes such as "Everybody's Stupid" and "This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both of Us." It was in the indie record store that I KNEW my goal was to get a job at Island, a label that I could count on to consistently release superb material regardless of the genre. From the wacky Eno solo material that is perpetually on my Permanent Top Ten ("Here Come the Warm Jets") to the best in reggae (Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru) and my closet, guilty pleasure, folk music (Richard Thompson/Fairport Convention/Sandy Denny), Island put it out. At the time I worked there, I too, firmly believed that U2 were the best band in the world. At that time. We even had our own next Bob Dylan/Van Morrison in Mike Scott of the Waterboys, who I am proud to have worked with.

When I was a student at UCLA, in Westwood, I was no stranger to the brilliant Rhino Records store on Westwood Blvd. It was there that I met and became friends with Gary Stewart, who turned me on to so many records and bands I still love today. Like The Jam.



I bought all my Sex Pistols singles at the Rhino Store, and they certainly indulged my love of Eno by tracking down weird imports and keeping me abreast of foreign releases, domestic releases and all kinds of collector ephemera. Would I have known about Ultravox had I shopped elsewhere? Maybe not.

It really saddens me to report that the Rhino Record store is closing this weekend. They close hot on the heels of another indie LA record store closing, Aron's.

When I sent out a mass email to all my friends about the Rhino store, pasting in an article written by the Hollywood Reporter's Chris Morris, I heard back from one of my life-long friends, and fellow indie record store aficionado and now casting director supreme, Barbara Barna. She wrote me a wonderful missive that I want to share with you:

And Aron's is gone too? I actually welled up with tears. I hope someone who's a good writer can articulate in an article or well-read blog, without being elitist or nauseatingly "back in the day," what it meant to actually have to go out and find stuff, how it helped define who you are and the magical transporting self-discovery of the Capitol Records parking lot, or PooBahs or Aron's or wherever in the US -- how you read about American Blues or Rockabilly or Soul or Country + Western in interviews with British bands in Rolling Stones and the rare NME or MM or even Creem or Rock Scene and how you hunted to find out about this music and how in the process you found yourself. How it felt to handle the vinyl (oh, the Japanese!) and to appreciate album cover art. How do people clean their pot now anyway? Does it come seedless like grapes and bananas?

I guess we all are that guy in "High Fidelity." Other than Aron's and Rhino, I also am sad to report that my favorite indie store in New York City, NYCD has closed its retail doors. They have an office and are continuing to do business of the "special order" variety. Give them a call: (212)-244-3460. Or email them at heynycd@aol.com

Still going strong, and perhaps their massive size, parking and central location put a dent into the market for the detriment of other stores, and that is the mini chain Amoeba which has stores in Hollywood, San Francisco and Berkeley. They have taken a page from Rhino. Amoeba is going to start releasing records on their own imprint. In the punk rock days, we frequented Vinyl Fetish which has moved a few times but is still in business and is now on Cahuenga Blvd. In the Valley, we had Moby Disk and Bomp, both gone. In Pasadena, there is still PoohBah which when I was living in LA boasted not only knowledgeable sales staff, but a former member of one version of Capt. Beefheart's band. I miss them - there's not really a store like them on the East Coast.

In NYC, there was always Bleecker Bob, and scores of other stores and many of them still stand. I lament the loss in Hoboken of Pier Platters. I always hate to see these stores go. Even though Isla Vista's branch of Morning Glory Music is gone, some links on its chain remain throughout Santa Barbara County. One of my favorite stores and hang-outs in Detroit, Young Soul Rebels, closed right before the Christmas holidays.

These stores closing says a lot more to me than nostalgia. Its the harsh reality that the way we listen to and buy music is changing... the way we find out about music is changing. I've got nothing against the WWW... after all, I'm here and you're reading this, but when did myspace get to be the sine qua non of spreading the word? I guess that's how the kids do it these days. There are few radio stations that we can rally around...its all micro- and niche-marketing. Progress. Well, give me analog and old school, please.

San Francisco Revival Redux

Not my artwork - it was done by one of the Mutants to promote their upcoming show at the Cafe du Nord in San Francisco. That's in a couple weeks. Make sure you get your tickets. This show will sell out fast!

Even better news, however is that a couple months later, the very same Mutants will be part of a big punk rock show that you absolutely cannot miss. April 8 at the Fillmore in San Francisco, its the Dead Kennedys, Flipper, Avengers and Mutants.



I don't think that San Francisco has ever gotten enough props or notice in the recent years that punk rock itself has been enjoying another moment in the sun. But this is the city that nurtured the Dead Kennedys (and remember how Jello Biafra ran for Mayor in 1980?), Mutants, Avengers, Nuns, Dils, Romeo Void, Peter Case, Chrome, The Offs, Negative Trend, SSI, VKTMS and of course, Flipper, among others. As the more cosmopolitan of California's two big cities, San Francisco was also more arty, more political and less adamant about its place in the picture. People from around the world love the city by the Bay and just about every punk band that mattered passed through and made an impression, whether at the renown Mabuhay Gardens, Target Video, Deaf Club, Fillmore and other performance places.

Of course, it seemed to me that every time I was visiting San Francisco (and it was often, as my boyfriend from high school was going to San Francisco State University, which meant I had a place to stay and a heads-up when something cool was happening), I would run into people and bands from LA. I've probably seen the Alley Cats at the Mabuhay more times than at any LA venue. Then again, I probably saw the Avengers in LA more often than in San Francisco...them crashing on my floor notwithstanding...I could never get enough of them.

San Francisco had then, and has now, so much to offer the world culturally. In 2006, Punk Turns 30 is going to give more space to SF bands and stories. I can't wait to be reunited with my archives in NYC next week so I can start making some new pictures.



Last time I was in San Francisco was 2003. I was conducting research and interviews for a premium cable tv biopic and in between meetings, I snapped some pics of anachronisms and unique San Franciscanisms. Like the "Donuts and Chinese Food" pictured above.



And when I was snapping this brightly colored motor lodge on Polk St., I was approached by this fabulous transvestite, Grace.



"Are you a professional photogrupha?" S/he asked me. "Well, I get paid for my photos, so I guess I am." "Take my pictcha, girl!"

That was the exchange between Grace and myself. S/he told me all about the current tranny scene on Polk St. Of course, while I was there, in March of 2003, this nation was on pins and needles about when we were going to be thrust into another senseless war.



San Francisco's finest were posted everywhere, just in case riots broke out. Which they did not.

It was not the San Francisco I knew from the 70s.... any excuse for a protest.

Stay tuned this year for more on San Francisco...

Punk in the 1990's

Yes, folks, even during the grunge movement, there was bonafide punk in the 1990's. Not that I'm saying Nirvana wasn't punk...I think they were a rock band with punk overtones. Now, King Louie, pictured here IS and ALWAYS WAS a bad ass punk rocker. Fronting bands such as the Persuanders, Kajun SS and his own King Louie One Man Band, this New Orleans-born and bred music maker, probably part gator, has been doing the punk thing since forever. It was the 90's when he made his mark. He was part of that underground that also brought you the likes of my favorite band of the 1990s, the Oblivians.

This three-man line-up here is a combination of King Louie, Jack Oblivian and Harlan T. Bobo, known collectively as Loose Diamonds. Missing from the shot is Chad, who had already gone home by the time the rest of us got around to taking this picture. Sorry Chad... next time.

What makes this punk? The do-it-yourself initiative and drive, the just-do-it thing, and the completely passionate and unhinged nature of the performance and of the music itself.

I wish I had photos of these guys from the 90s... but this is what they looked like last September. It just goes to show the staying power of the forgotten music, the underground sound, and that contrary to popular belief....these misfits actually fit in somewhere...even if it is their own private world.

There has been so much romanticising of the punk rock years by just about everyone who was not living in it. Can I tell you the truth? It wasn't unlike high school cliques and hanging around wondering who was going to drive, or who we could scam a ride from, could we get on a guest list and was there enough money for alcohol and other forms of entertainment? Most importantly, we didn't give a damn about what anybody said and thought about us.

Best place to find the music made by these folks? Goner Records the homegrown label (and record store) started by Eric Oblivian back when the Oblivians needed to put out their music. Still going strong.



Oblivians and Goner are a whole subculture unto itself. I don't think there's anything more punky and trashy around. I mean that in the most affectionate way, too. There's no sentimentality...just an adamant love of the music and a stubborn insistence that if it ain't trashy garage punk, it ain't worth the time of day...

That my friends, is punk from the 90's...

And then it was the 80's

Chrissie Hynde arriving at the Pretenders in-store at Tower Records on the Sunset Strip, April 1980.

It was the Pretenders first tour of the USA. They had some excellent singles out in the UK - produced by Nick Lowe! They covered what at the time was one of my favorite Kinks songs, "Stop Your Sobbing." It appealed to me because I loved the idea of a woman singing it...singing those lyrics, telling a guy to stop his sobbing. Yeah. Which is pretty much the same reason why I never did join the anti-Linda Ronstadt bandwagon even though I was a punk and she was an old-school-LA chanteuse with her Eagles connection, her pop-star fame and her California Governor boyfriend... because she covered Warren Zevon songs and she routinely turned the boy-girl narrative songs inside out by never changing the gender. Like when she covered Elvis Costello's "Allison."

Punk's breakthrough in the 70s, through the media and the sheer tenacity of the bands, artists and fans to plant flags and stake a claim on a slice of pop culture pie by opening up their own clubs, record labels, stores and publications, certainly helped the mainstream swallow it to a certain degree. Major record labels tended to sign bands that were riding this new wave (hmm, akin to the "nouvelle vague" movement in French cinema in the 50s perhaps? Not really...I always balked at the naming convention.).... ANYWAY, this is where I think "new wave" and "80s" music formulates itself.

Purveyors of pop music smartly incorporated the energy, urgency and drive of punk rock and in many instances, really did put a refreshing stamp on palatable radio-friendly pop music. And besides, some of my favorite punk bands did draw from the pop lexicon - like The Jam, The Nerves, The Go-Go's



and in grand fashion, The Ramones who went so far as to make records with pop music geniuses like producers Phil Spector and Ed Stasium.


No suprise then, that the Go-Go's would get a major label deal and have big radio hits! Please don't forget they were a punk band. Belinda Carlisle has a strong punk pedigree, having been the very first drummer of the Germs, after all, as "Dottie Danger." Go-Go Charlotte Caffey was an essential punk rock guitarist and songwriter when we met. She was still in the Eyes, and we met right up front and center at the lip of the stage at the Whisky A Go Go when the Ramones played. Because of that, I always associate Charlotte with the Ramones, although she was a constant fixture during the Dickies rise to local fame through their constant gigging. She and Leonard Graves Phillips were an item...

So here stands Chrissie Hynde with one foot in punk rock and the other in mainstream pop. How did she do it? Why was she able to stand on both sides of the line and be accepted by both sides? Well, that first Pretenders record was solid, each track a killer. There have been so very few auspicious debut records, and hers is always among them, regardless who is making the list.

Chrissie Hynde was a journalist before becoming a recording artist. She reviewed records for one of the UK music weeklies and she was brutal and brutally honest in her reviews. The stakes were pretty high when it came time for her to be on the other side of the coin - although I don't think that the scrutiny is what motivated her. I think she had then and still has now a great musical sensibility. After all, she's from Ohio, a place that spawned such musical creativity as a reaction to the boredom, the economic depression and the tension that was all around. In the interview she gave to VH1 when I was working on the mini-series, "VH1 Presents the 70s" (NOT to be confused with the "Remember The.." series about decades past that is on that channel now. A VERY different animal), Chrissie talked about being at Kent State when the National Guard shot those four innocent students down in cold blood.

So...that child of the 60s and 70s becomes a viable public voice in the 80s.

I remember that the Pretenders announced a tour in the USA, and in Los Angeles, they were scheduled to play the small Palomino club in North Hollywood, CA. It holds maybe 300 people, if you count the patio area outside where you can't see the musicians on stage. But that show sold out in about a minute and another show was added at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium for the next day. The Civic holds about 3,000, and it too sold out. That should tell you something about how quickly people caught on to the Pretenders.

In London, Chrissie was part of a group of people who all did amazing work, and most of whom went on to create lasting works of music and written word, including Vivien Goldman, various members of the Clash, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello and that whole contingent of smart writers for the Melody Maker, Sounds and NME weekly papers. Of course, she met, romanced and had a child with Ray Davies, and later married Jim Kerr of Simple Minds.
Sure, it sounds soap operatic to you, but all these people were peers who hung out at the same places and lived in the same neighborhoods.

The 80s did signal an end to me of the kind of music that really changed things. Of course, that's not to discount music that was created in the 80s, for I certainly did love a lot of bands and records.

But let's look at what happened when the 70s became the 80s:

John Lennon is assassinated on December 8 by a man posing as a fan. On the same day, LA punk pioneer, Darby Crash takes an intentional overdose of heroin, dying at the same time as the man who was more popular than Jesus.



Having left Generation X, Billy Idol becomes a superstar.



MTV launches in 1981, helping people like Billy Idol boost their stardom, but also giving rise to the "style over substance" complaint... and for me it was all over... except that I did go work for the MTV Networks in the 90s...at VH1, following in the footsteps of other indie and punk type people who held that job before me, namely filmmaker Mark Pellington, and Target Video principal, Jackie Sharp.

Now, look into Target Video if you please. It was the nexxus of everything punk in San Francisco, and its life story is as interesting as anything you will ever hear. But its not my story to tell. You can buy their products, however....Screamers, Cramps, X and Devo live performances that happened at Target or were shot by Target. Its really the best stuff you'll ever see.

1969.....1979.....

Iggy Pop from 1978, actually. The "1969" is a reference to the Stooges song of the same name... and 1979 just takes us ahead ten years.

If you weren't born then, or if you were very young, there's a lot of stuff about the popular culture that birthed punk rock that you don't know. 1969 heralded the end of the peace and love decade in a terrible way... right after the Woodstock Festival - three days of peace, love and music over there in the farmlands of New York, the West Coast had a series of misfortunes that would help set the tone for the 70s becoming the "me" decade...movie star Sharon Tate and her friends were viciously murdered in their home by a cult that followed a charismatic but evil man, Charles Manson. He claimed Beatles songs drove him to do it. To add insult to injury to the Beatles, the Los Angeles County prosecutor who tried this case wrote his memoirs and called the book "Helter Skelter." Sorry Paul...

Then at the end of the year, to close the decade with even more ironic horror, the Rolling Stones gave a free concert at Altamont, near San Francisco, where Hells Angels caused mayhem near the stage, killing a young man in the process. They weren't the only perpetrators of violence...cops beat up Jefferson Airplane member Marty Balin. All that was memorialized in Al Maysles film Gimme Shelter.

What was happening in this new decade, the 70s? There was a war in Viet Nam that we were losing. We got out in 1975. Disgracefully. Discontent spawned great works of art, from protest songs to movies like Apocalypse Now. We eventually voted out conservative war mongers and got a peanut farmer in the White House.

But all the peace love and brotherhood of the 60s took its toll on those who tried to make it work on a hippie, rock n roll or socialist level... people did hard time for exercising their inalienable rights. Guys ranging from the MC5, White Panthers, and to the Chicago Seven which included the future Mr. Jane Fonda (remember "Hanoi Jane?") and politician, Tom Hayden.

And that was all happening in the USA.

If you were in England, your economy was in the toilet. You were on the dole and you were years and sometimes decades ahead of our stateside youth spokespersons when you declared there was "No Future" and you were "Bored with the USA" even though you admitted that "England's dreaming..."

If you were in New York, your city's economy was also in the toilet and President Carter gave you short shrift, refusing to bail you out. You belonged to the "Blank Generation."

If you were in LA, your economy was OK, but you were terrorized by the Hillside Strangler and your governor was dating pop singer, Linda Ronstadt. You claimed "We Don't Need the English," but damn you liked their punk rock. You observed the "Trouble at the Cup" and read "Adult Books."

In 1979, the United States got to a point where it was rationing gas... the price was jacked way up to about 79 cents per gallon (believe me, at the time, it was HUGE.) You could only purchase gas on alternate days, which were determined by whether or not your license plate had an odd or even number.

I don't know how all this affected you or your fave punk band... but it was all happening that way in the 70s...

Talking About the Germs

That's what's happening today, so to get in the mood, here's a seldom-seen photo of Lorna Doom and a unique photo (although seen on these pages before) of Darby Crash and Pat Smear in rehearsal...

Feel Like You Been Cheated?

On January 13, 1978, my friends and I were making our last minute plans for driving up to San Francisco from Los Angeles to see the Sex Pistols at Winterland the following day, January 14 - an important date in punk rock history.

Quite frankly, this tour ruled our social life and all our plans. I had friends who traveled across the country to see them. We knew this was going to be the event of the year, of the decade and the event of many people's short lives to date. Why and how? Nothing had shaken up the culture as much as the Sex Pistols did.

I was the only girl in the vehicle. Mike Ruiz, the drummer for New York power popsters Milk n Cookies had a van and he drove me, Luke Zamperini, a bandmate, and Sal Maida up to San Francisco for the show. Sal Maida is someone special. At the time, he was playing bass for Milk n Cookies, but also had toured with Roxy Music (he's on Viva Roxy Music, the live album) and played with Sparks as well. I don't know if me being the only girl in the van affected the guys' sense of humor, but I did make them stop a lot along the way for bathroom breaks. Some of the pitstops were unpleasant locations, but everyone who's driven up California on Highway 5 knows the usual stops - Button Willow... smells like cows...

It was drizzling rain when we drove up. I had my camera under my shirt, to keep it dry, and it looked like I was pregnant, so no one bothered to search me. I was wearing an off-white heavy cotton middy top - that's the proper fashion name for the kind of shirts that sailors wear, the loose-fitting ones with the big square back collar. Of course, my wearing of that style was inspired by the music video for the Rolling Stones "Its Only Rock n Roll." Those soap bubbles still make me laugh.

Two local bands opened the show, The Nuns and The Avengers. They were both great and it was exciting that people you knew were becoming part of rock n roll history, simply being on that bill. Then the Pistols came on. They played a sloppy set and before you knew it, it was over. Yeah, I heard Johnny Rotten say "Feel like you've been cheated?"

No one had any idea that it would be the last show this particular foursome would ever play.

After the music was over, thanks to Sal's cult celebrity status, we simply all waltzed backstage and hung out with the Nuns, Avengers and Pistols. There was one of those great big industrial popcorn poppers like you see in movie theatres, and it was popping corn and melting butter. You could help yourself (promoter Bill Graham, notoriously cheap on many fronts, was also at the same time incredibly hospitable), and the bands did help themselves and there was melted butter all over the floor and people were slipping and sliding all over the place. Johnny Rotten stepped on a butter slick and went careening across the floor bumping into people along the way, including me. To my surprise, he was as polite as could be, "I'm so sorry to have rammed into you."

No problem, John!

Again, following Sal's lead, we sauntered over to the Miyako Hotel, which is the place in San Francisco where bands stay. Still to this day! He must have had the cult celebrity glow about him, because there was security at the hotel, but we cruised right on in. I can't recall the details of the after show party, but I remember a lot of people giving Steve Jones grief over his red jacket, reminiscent of the red hunting jackets the Kinks used to wear onstage. In fact, Pleasant and I continued this taunting once the band had come down to LA to enjoy some Southern California sun a few days later.

Paul Cook and Johnny Rotten even attended a Mumps gig. I went to take some pictures of them at the show, but it was way too dark and I was NOT going to use a flash. Just take my word for it: Pistols saw the Mumps. Lance was over the moon!

Los Angeles was kind to the Sex Pistols. Rotten and Jones stayed here...in fact, Steve Jones is still here and he has the best ever radio show hosted by a musician in this nation. Jonesy's Jukebox on Indie 103 in Los Angeles, or online at www.indie1031.fm .

Why don't you spend the weekend celebrating the Pistols by giving their "Never Mind the Bollocks" a spin. There's really nothing like it. A classic. And now they're gonna be in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Amazing...

San Francisco Punk Revival

That's the beautiful Penelope Houston of the Avengers with Rodney Bingenheimer, photographed at KROQ during his show, Rodney on the ROQ. In 1977, San Francisco's Avengers had an awesome 3-song EP out on Dangerhouse, a Los Angeles label that also released records by X, Black Randy, The Weirdos, The Bags, The Dils, and The Alleycats - hope I'm not forgetting anyone. Anyway, The Avengers single, "We Are The One" was anthemic and bold. They always performed with great conviction, and to me, Penelope had that same kind of star quality you saw in Billy Idol, and it was a lot more than just their scultped good looks and spiky blonde hair. She was simply riveting.

If you missed her the first time around, don't fret. The Avengers will be playing in San Francisco on Jan 22 at Cafe Du Nord. The show is $10 advance. But note: 21. It's a warm up gig for the Avengers first European tour! They'll play Italy, Swizzleland, Germany, and the UK.

Another amazing San Francisco band you may have missed the first time will also be playing at the Cafe du Nord in February. The Mutants will be performing on Saturday, February 4. You can buy tickets online at www.cafedunord.com. Its a small place. Don't miss out on either of these shows.

If you don't know who the Mutants are, you really must start digging in. They were a big arty collection of people who lived and breathed the avant garde lifestyle, including the being in a band thing. What really put the Mutants on the map for me was that they played a mental hospital back in 1978, opening for the Cramps. Its just about the craziest, artiest and punkest thing I'd ever heard of then --- and since. That show is pretty famous in our little punk world. Napa State Hospital...where you might not have been able to differentiate the mindset of the patients with that of some of the performances...I'm not saying any of the bands were crazy...but they certainly both gave out-there performances, and that's what one liked about them.

Sorry to say, while I do have some fun photos of the Mutants (well, mostly of Sally) hanging out backstage at a club in San Francisco when they opened for the English Beat, those pictures have yet to be printed.

Its one of my New Years Resolutions: bring you the photos of San Francisco punks!
But, on your own, you can still get their music. Go do it; you still have Christmas cash, right?

My Record Covers

Have you ever done a Google search for yourself? Of course you have! The last time I did, I found out that the All Music Guide has a listing for me! Yes, so if you want to see a tiny fraction of my record sleeve credits you can check my listing in the All Music Guide. Of course, I've shown you photos of my picture sleeves of great punk interest - such as the one at the right for the Ventures and their cover of the Go-Go's "Surfin & Spyin" with the lovely Pleasant Gehman on the double picture sleeve. Keeping on the beach theme, you've also seen the cover of the Pandoras "Hot Generation, a favorite photo feature on this website.



Here they are to compare - one is the familiar Germs picture sleeve for their "Forming" single that you recognize and below it is an out-take from the photo session that yielded it. Very few copies of the picture sleeve were printed, and as things were back in 1977, I didn't get photo credit - but I did get a copy of the record, which I cherish, and a whole lot of memories that are ignited every time I see these gritty images.

While the total DIY What? Records didn't offer a photo credit, there was one label, the grand-daddy of all the indie LA labels that never missed a credit, and one that actually always paid me for my work. Greg Shaw and his Bomp label really accelerated the momentum I was able to build with my Germs and Billy Idol photo experiences - which by the way, were a year apart...so the acceleration was much appreciated.

Although the Pandoras recorded for a Bomp imprint, Voxx, they didn't release that record until the mid 80's, when I had already become a regular Bomp contributor. I'd like to think it was my dutiful documenting of the Stiv Bators experience that helped to seal the deal with Bomp. Stiv was the best, most cooperative and willing photo subject anyone could hope to meet. Those two Stiv albums are chock full of my photos - except the front cover of "Disconnected" is a David Arnoff shot.






All the rest of the photos on the album and CD booklet are mine. You may recognize this one from the band portraits insert (LP) or the CD booklet:



The Germs, Stiv, Bomp, Greg Shaw, Billy Idol, Joan Jett, Rodney and the Kessel Brothers (responsible for the Ventures record plus a nifty Christmas single by Frankie Avalon & Annette Funicello that I shot) kept me in print, whether on sleeves or in magazines throughout the punk years.


And I know, I just dropped a lot of old school Hollywood names, plus names of people who do have cred and popularity. But remember, I was born in Los Angeles, and grew up in the Southern California of the 50s, 60s and 70s where you could see Bob Dylan stuck in traffic in his station wagon, or have gone to school with a grandchild of Laurence Olivier or an actor from The Brady Bunch or an Olympic Gold Medalist... all of which I did. That's just life here in Sunny Southern California. And that's all just to preface this next photo, with a name and face from the golden age of old school and a name and face from the second coming of punk rock.



Mick Collins, Dirtbomb and Kim Fowley svengali record producer, movie maker and mover & shaker at large. This photo was (also uncredited) included in the 2005 In the Red Records double-disc release by the Dirtbombs, a favorite band of mine from Detroit. That disc is "If You Don't Already Have a Look," a collection of rarities, covers and B-sides. You need the record.

Also this summer, a few color photos I shot of Mumps appeared in the Sympathy for the Record Industry release, a divine Mumps comp called "How I Saved the World." I don't have any of the color images in digital form to share with you now (I guess you have to buy that record! It comes with a DVD, so you really do need it. NO collection is complete without it. Really.) But I will share with you a popular photo of Lance Loud, front Mump.



There are other photos of mine tucked away in CD booklets and LP inserts all over the place. I don't have copies of half of them. That's the way it was back then...people were just getting the records OUT...things get lost in the shuffle. You kind of have to plant your flag and wave it if you want the credit, or the legacy. And here is but a slice of mine.

Inside a Favorite Record Store

That's Timmy Vulgar browsing for Black Flag at the awesome Goner Records store in Memphis, TN. Timmy used to be the frontman of the Clone Defects and now fronts the punky art-school out there and highly entertaining Human Eye. The band hails from Detroit, a city best known right now for its particular brand of gritty garage rock. However, Detroit has brought us the most eclectic selection of music from its creative population: soul, R&B, rock, space rock, prog rock, house, trance, dance, punk, country, pure pop, Motown, Madonna, MC5...it just doesn't stop.

The Human Eye could possibly be the most creative and dangerous punk rock band out there today. Twice I've seen them do unnatural things with seafood - in Chicago, Timmy sported a squid hat, and in Memphis, a fish head went flying from the stage... it brushed my ankle and I just couldn't wait to get back to my hotel and bathe.

It reminds me of the time a great big fish made it to the bottom of the swimming pool at the Famous Lobotomy Apartment in 1978. The mystery remains unsolved... or does it?


I did want to tell you why Goner is a favorite record store. They stock the best selection of indie records... records you could not find anywhere else. Goner was born out of a DIY necessity back when the Oblivians wanted to release some music. Eric Oblivian started Goner to be that vehicle. Their split cassette (cassette!!!) with Impala probably fetches a pretty penny on eBay these days. Goner has released some great records - mostly punk and garage rock - and I recommend that you spend some online time perusing their online store. Goner Store Shopping Cart here's the only link you'll need for buying the records you never knew you needed til now:
Reatards Teenage Hate reissue/re-press
King Louie One Man Band - Chinese Crawfish
Dutch Masters 7" Radioactive, etc (this one is for Dead Boys fans - "Radioactive" could be the cousin of "Sonic Reducer.")
Knaughty Knights 7" - a GREAT poppy punky garage record featuring the awesome Jack Yarber
the list goes on and on. I'm going to be ordering some South Filthy in the next few days.

You have to spend your Christmas cash somewhere. If its not in my Online Store then do it at Goner.

Its Gotta Start Somewhere and Here it Is

Wayne Kramer

Yes, that's him, Wayne Kramer, godfather of it all. Many tributaries have flown from his mighty current. What I like about Wayne Kramer, of the legendary MC5 is that he owns his history for all its good and its negative points. They were bad boys, you bet. But they made people react, and that's worth more than its weight in precious metals. When you take a stand, people will want to knock you down...this I learned from just chatting with Wayne this afternoon. We can all learn a lot from this man.

So, all I have to say today is: Wayne Kramer - godfather of punk rock, visionary, troublemaker, devilish angel.... and maybe saint.

Keep kickin' ass my brother!

When a Guitar is just a Guitar

Stiv Bators was surely a punk pioneer, but do not make the mistake that he was a total misfit and outsider. Stiv was highly regarded and loved by many...of course, the Dead Boys weren't always among his admirers. But they were like brothers. The love/hate thing is a tough one.

The Dead Boys were a rock band with punk flair, punk attitude and mainstream desires. Like any other skinny, pimply guys, they wanted a sure fire way to attract girls, easy money, acceptance and drugs. Rock n roll gave it all to them. They took their duty as "entertainers" seriously. No one took up that cause more seriously than Stiv.

My dear friend, Jimmy Zero will back me up on this. Stiv's performances were based on audience response. If he did something crazy but the audience didn't respond, that crazy act would never see the stage again. On the other hand, if Stiv did something to piss people off, you can be sure he would do it over and over and over again. Like goose-stepping, spitting and a variety of other stupid pranks. But mostly, Stiv liked to please and entertain.

Jimmy Zero and me


The centerpiece photo of Stiv playing guitar at the Whisky A Go Go while he was fronting the "Disconnected" band is a nod to all those guitar slingers who'd not-so-subtly brandish the guitar in an overtly sexual manner. Well, Stiv was no stranger to dropping his pants and showing off anyway, so what's a guitar? Sometimes, a guitar is just a guitar.

No Lifeguard on Duty

The Pandoras from that photo session on the beach. I can't thank Julie Patchouli enough for making me a digital copy of this photo.

Yesterday in Southern California, the day on which the annual Tournament of Roses Parade was held, it rained, it poured and power went out all over the Southland. First time in 50 years that it rained on the Rose Parade, and during my childhood and teen years, I always wished for it to rain. Of course, yesterday, I realized the importance to Southern California to present its sunny face on television in the middle of winter. Sunshine is what fuels this state's economy in many ways. Back in the early days of motion picture technology, Southern California became the place where that industry HAD to base itself because filming is dependent upon light. And that's only the beginning.

It brings me around the long way to something Alice Bag said in the Dick Rude-produced LA Punk addendum to Don Letts's film "Punk Attitude." Just because its all sunny here doesn't mean that people aren't disenfranchised.

Actually, the sunshine and glitz, glamour and conspicuous consumption of Hollywood and Beverly Hills provided the grist for the punk rock that grew out of Los Angeles. While England's depressed economy fueled the nihilistic "no future" and call-to-arms messages of bands ranging from the Sex Pistols to the Clash, the bands in the United States wrote about their own woes, be they existential or empirical. Of course, Alice Bag went so far as to say that we didn't need the English...

Well, the Pandoras didn't seem to need the English or their influence in order to become a cult favorite then and now. Writing trashy songs about being a girl, and of course girl-boy conflicts, they took their musical cues from American punk precursors in garage rock, and front-Pandora Paula Pierce's own musical beginnings can be traced to wanting to emulate LA's own pop meisters, The Quick, as well as the Ramones.

So, its January as I write you from sunny California. It may have poured yesterday, but its bright and sunny today. Maybe that's why Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone came out west to live the rest of the days in the warm "California Sun."



thanks again to Julie Patchouli

Go Tell The Mountain

I am taking a day's break from original text content and giving you some news from the world of the Gun Club and the highly anticipated bio-pic of Jeffrey Lee Piece.

A Film Portrait of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club
COMING THIS SPRING FROM FRENCH FAN CLUB FILMS


Jeffrey, 1980

Featuring new interviews with: Kid Congo Powers, Ward Dotson, Terry
Graham, Jim Duckworth, Dee Pop, Dave Alvin, John Doe, Henry Rollins, Jacqui Pierce,
Margie Pierce, Mike Martt, Peter Case, Ryan Leach, Theresa Kereakes, Pleasant
Gehman, Steven Tash, and Lemmy Kilmister, this highly anticipated film offers
up a wild ride with Jeffrey Lee Pierce and his three-wheeled car of an
art-terrorist Molotov cocktail punk rock blues unit -- the Gun Club!


Pleasant Gehman & Kid Congo Powers



Patricia Morrison, Gun Club


Pleasant, Belinda Carlisle, Dave Alvin, Connie Clarksville


Peter Case


No drearily predictable rock hagiography, "Go Tell The Mountain" is rather
a provocative and challenging "Festschrift" celebration of Jeffrey Lee Pierce
in all his puckish, shit-stirring glory, and a two-fingered salute in honor of
The Gun Club, one of the most notorious and incendiary bands in the history
of American popular music.

Also to include heretofore unseen live performances from various concerts
spanning the band's career; readings from Pierce's posthumous autobiography,
"Go Tell The Mountain;" private photos from bandmembers and the Pierce estate;
plus the creme de la creme of Terry Graham's recently discovered 1984 Gun Club
tour films, all packed into 100 fierce, fleet and provocative minutes.

Project director is Kurt Voss for French Fan Club Films.

Film to premiere at the "Don't Knock The Rock Film Festival" in Los Angeles
on the weekend of May 11-14, 2006. Brainchild of director Allison Anders,
"Don't Knock The Rock" is now in its third year. Previous editions of the
festival have featured musical performances by Sonic Youth and PJ Harvey, and the
events have garnered strong press support from the LA Times as well as the
English rock press.

Check out a teaser clip for "Go Tell The Mountain" at myspace