Punk Turns 30

Great seeing you last night! That's all....

I have always LOVED The Dickies and I'm gonna see them tonight in Hollywood. You can too! They are playing The House of Blues in Hollywood with Sham 69!! I know that you may not be accustomed to such elegant and dignified images of these men - but I think the Dickies and these two founders, Leonard Graves Phillips and Stan Lee are way more than the Clown Princes of Comedy in Punk Rock. Congratulations on keeping the Dickies flame burning, guys. See you tonight!

We have heard the sad news that CBGB founder, Hilly Kristal has passed on. Hilly was diagnosed with cancer last year. He has been quiet, in media terms, since the club closed, but had discussed moving CBGB and some of its iconic fixtures to Las Vegas. Goodbye Hilly. Thanks for all the good times. Kick Stiv in the ass when you see him. Here is the story from New York Newsday and this is the NY Times obit AP file photo

If you saw Sham 69 back in the day, you'll remember these two Daves. But if you go to see Sham now, you'll see only Dave Parsons, the tall blond fellow on the right. Dave Tregunna still plays with his Lords of the New Church compatriot, Brian James in the Brian James Gang. Chances of you seeing Sham 69 right now? PRETTY DAMN GOOD - if you live in the Western USA, you can see them during the next two weeks!There are some tour dates posted on the Official Sham 69 myspace. I'll be there. Dave Parsons now.

That's Mishka Shubaly whom I refer to as the real hardcore troubadour. I met Mishka a few years ago in Atlanta as he was driving across the country, sleeping in his van and playing gigs. When I met him, he was opening for the Dirtbombs and The Forty Fives. We both were staying over at our mutual friend Morgan's house and a punk rock alliance was born. In 2005, Mishka rescued me from a Great Lakes winter that was lasting into Spring (seriously - there was snow in April), and drove 150 miles out of his way to pick me up in Cleveland and we shared the long boring drive to New York City. Mishka is the man who coined my favorite driving phrase: "PA, its in the way." Pennsylvania is the state that never ends... Wendy's is the best bang for the fast food travel dollar and Mr. Shubaly is an ace at car rental rigamarole. He's got a record release show on Wednesday in NYC - and I give you his clever missive because its just too good NOT to. New Yorkers, BE T...

Michael Davis puts his money where his mouth is! Literally! Michael Davis was once a trouble maker together with the rest of the MC5. Now he's taking the purity of the ethics that were always the foundation of the proto-punk rock mayhem born in the 1960s rock n roll culture and channeling it for something everyone can truly get behind. Its still about Revolution. Music Is Revolution. Here's the message, straight from Michael Davis, one of the Godfathers of Punk Rock who remains a standard bearer nearly 40 years after first kicking out the jams. Dear Friends of the Revolution, THE TIME HAS COME. Its been an exciting summer here at Music Is Revolution. We have some major events in the works so please stay tuned. We also have been receiving grant applications on a daily basis from teachers all across the country. Now we need your help. We are in desperate need of the funds to fill these grants. Were asking you to please go to our website www.musicisrevolution.org and donat...

Eighty-seven years ago, on Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing American women the right to vote, was certified in effect by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. Of course, we have always run the show! I think its time to show off a little punk rock girl power in pictures once again. Yes, we recently had a lengthy photo tribute series to the ladies who rock the punk - but its definitely time for a reprise! You all know Cramps co-founder, Poison Ivy Rorschach , the lithe lady with a big guitar who invented a whole new punk genre. Alley Cats co-founder Dianne Chai has a big surprise for fans of this loved-by-all and legendary but mysterious Los Angeles band. Please click this link to Time Coast Music and see what vintage Alley Cats music you can listen to and download for next to nothing. It will make you happy, I guarantee. Miriam Linna, early member of The Cramps, eternal A Bone and co-founder of Norton Records. Everything that Miriam und...

I succumbed to Blogger's seductive 'upgrade your template' and thought I could spiff this place up before I went to sleep... guess what? I was WRONG! So, the colors have changed some and I'm not sure what else. I flipped back to the original template because the new one deleted all the links. I will be messing around with this some more - but now I'm going to sleep. In the meantime - catch up on your reading, enjoy this classic group portrait of The Cramps, and take a look at the just-born Punk Rock Portrait Gallery. It will be a place where you can always find all my punk rock PORTRAITS - and you can buy them too!

Dave Parsons, Sham 69 What year is this? Its the Summer of 2007, and after 30 years of making noise, punk rock is still going strong - and playing in big venues, and (hopefully) earning respectable guarantees. Next week, a couple years after they celebrated and benefitted the CBGB concern, Sham 69 are back touring the States. They have always been one of my favorite bands (and Dave Parsons and I are basically twin siblings of different parents, as we share a birthday). So, I'm going to catch them at the House of Blues on Sunset Blvd. with The Dickies! The Dickies have always been near and dear to my punk rock heart as well. LA's favorite sons still going strong and driving all you Big Gorillas Ape with their wild and crazy show. Leonard Graves Phillips, The Dickies The Official Sham 69 webpage. The Dickies on myspace

Memphians should get their asses to the Buccaneer Thursday night (August 23) for Jack Oblivian & the Tennesse Tearjerkers Bon Voyage Show That's right! Jack and crew, together with Harlan T. Bobo will be spending the next several weeks in Europe. We haven't confirmed the venue yet - but on his return - Memphians and those who visit the city that invented rock n roll will be treated to a very special celebration collaboration of Jack O & Punk Turns 30 on November 1. Keep your eyes open! Now let's talk about REAL CELEBRATIONS! Nick Bataran, formerly of Back in Spades, currently helping The Go on tour in the Western USA...will be a married man on Thursday August 23. Uh huh. I saw the Detroit couple last night in all their happiness and glory - and oh, yes... saw The Go kick ass in Hollywood at the Knitting Factory. Plimsoul Eddie Munoz was in the house, enjoying the band and even took home an LP...that's the best endorsement I can give ya. You should f...

The article below my rabid opinion is a straight lift from the Los Angeles Times. You can read it and see a 2007 photo of Patti Smith by clicking on the title of this post. I think unless you were around when punk rock broke, in the mid-70s, you can't really understand the importance of someone like Patti Smith. I can't tell you how many hours I have spent debating her importance with people who don't get it. I don't hold it against them - they're too young to have been there the first time to feel it...Patti Smith was one of the ladies who made it safe to be a ferocious punk rock lady. I never had a female hero in music until I heard Patti Smith. Sure, I loved listening to the girl groups - but what made Patti different was that she did what she wanted to do, no holds barred... and she was a remarkable poet. Her artistry has only grown since then. Richard Cromelin, easily the best of the newspaper music writers in LA ever since I started reading about po...

SO, I am trying to decide which photos I'm going to take on the road with me this Fall. I have decided against live, in concert photos, concentrating instead, on behind-the-scenes images... let me hear from you! What faces do you want to see? What cities want to see some vintage punk rock photos up close and personal? This time around, there will be some BIG prints for show and sale! The suggestion box is open!

Live Fast Die's Camero Werewolf Live Fast Die are right at this very moment partying it up in Brooklyn - rocking out at Magnetic Field at the Norton Records BBQ and rock show. Then the power punk trio is off to Europe, where the spirit of 77 has never died and provides a happy touring ground for so many of the deserving American punk rock bands that prosper there but not so much at home. The A Bones (that's Bruce Bennett and Billy Miller pictured above) are always a good party - making summer a little hotter and more sweaty with the rock n roll that is loud and out of control. They're another long-lived ensemble who get lots of love in Europe - perhaps more than on this massive continent... probably why its impossible to catch them anywhere but NYC and Europe! Which reminds me that tonight, the countdown to European touring also begins for Jack Oblivian, who is at this moment rocking the Hi Tone in Memphis (he has another Memphis gig next week ). Then we American...

It was in the middle of the summer that Stiv Bators and I took these photos in Malibu. Why is it that only rock n roll guys can wear full cold-weather gear in summer and not break a sweat? I need to go jump in a pool right now...

August 16, 1977 - Elvis Presley, The King of Rock n Roll is dead. August 16, 2007 - Who is the King of Punk Rock? Well, I asked Google that question and it told me unequivocally that it was Iggy Pop. Iggy, aged 60, apparently showed punk rockers of the 21st Century on stage at Lollapalooza just who invented this stuff... yes, kids young enough to be his grandchildren were shown how its done. Long live the King!

I was considering taking a print of this image on my next tour...and to check the integrity of both the negative and the scan, and to consider the best printing method...I got a work print made digitally. Its an 8x10, so I can't do much with it. I framed it and now its on ebay and it can be yours! Auction ends on August 22 around 11:30 PM Pacific Time!

Among many other things that occurred historically on August 15, in 1769, Napolean Bonaparte was born on the isle of Corsica. He famously met his military demise at Waterloo, which the game of free-association brings my mind to the great track by Television's Tom Verlaine, "Postcard From Waterloo." Had the French Emperor sent a postcard from Waterloo, what would he have said? Would he have remembered that on this same date, nearly 700 years prior (in 1057), the real MacBeth, King of Scotland (the one after whom Shakespeare created his famous tragic play) was slain by the son of his rival, King Duncan? Well, of course, we will never know. In more recent times, August 15 is remembered as the first date in the 3-day long Woodstock Music & Art Fair, as it was supposed to be called - but is known simply as Woodstock. It was the mid-point of the most turbulent of years, 1969. The 60s were the decade that youth culture really took front and center in the media and...

Happy Birthday to George Cabaniss (left), giving the punk rock salute to growing another year older. On the right, David Quinton - photo from 1979, during the recording of Stiv Bators solo album, "Disconnected."

Both the Stiv Bators album cover outtake and the Darby Crash in rehearsal portrait are currently available in a Limited Edition print. Click here for details You can buy just about any of the photos you see here on Punk Turns 30!

August 13, 1961 - Berlin is divided. Just about everyone who became active in punk rock was just a child, and some were not quite born yet. Most of us in the Old Skool grew up under the shadow of the Cold War and the Berlin Wall. I post this photo of the Sex Pistols because they name-check the Berlin Wall in their humorous song, "Holidays In the Sun." Oddly enough, on this date in 1926, a major player in the Cold War, Fidel Castro was born. In 1521, the Aztec nation fell to an invading Cortez (the Killer). Not a good month in terms of peace and quiet, August...there was some rock n roll rumbling on this day in 1952. On this day in 1952, the original version of "Hound Dog" was recorded by Willie Mae (Big Mama) Thornton. It was the first hit for the song-writing team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. (The also wrote "Kansas City," which was a hit for Wilbert Harrison, and I've got to say that the cute Beatle, Paul, sang a killer cover of it; ...