So... back in 1977....

Johnny Ramone, 1977

In Los Angeles about this time in November 1977, the frequency of punk rock shows was accelerating. I attribute this to the late summer opening of The Masque. It forced the mainstream clubs (and I worked at one) to really step up their game. And as more punk rock records were being released, it was a great time if you were a punk rock music fan. The Ramones were back for the FOURTH time in this year alone!


Joey Ramone, 1977

AND better yet, Mumps were in town for a few weeks...


Kristian Hoffman and Kevin Kiely, Mumps on Halloween, 1977 (note Jack O Lantern!)

after their stints earlier in the month opening for Devo at the Starwood on Halloween, and the Dead Boys a few days later, they co-headlined a gig with their pals, The Dickies, and then they had an even more prime gig opening for The Ramones to kick off the month of December!



The Dickies

This was that time that is always romanticized in print by both those who were there and those who weren't born yet... not unlike Paris between the wars... simply a fertile breeding ground for music, art, culture... I received an electronic note today from someone much younger than myself who proclaimed jealousy over the life I seemed to have lived, vis a vis my photos... and I was thinking about that just a few minutes ago when I was letting the dog out back for her midnight constitutional...


Mump Kevin Kiely

I think that every generation that gives a damn about their culture and thinks for a moment about what their own legacy might be believes (with a healthy shot of narcissism) that their generation is creating something phenomenal to contribute and that it will have a lasting effect on culture.

Its not that anyone in punk rock circa 77 predicted just how important the Ramones would continue to be... but I think we were simultaneously touched so deeply that we knew we were on to something. That's why some of us carted our cameras everywhere we went.


Dead Boy Stiv Bators goes solo

Why would I take pictures of unknown-at-the-time young men in recording studios? Well, they were my friends and it was about making memories... but I too felt that it was a memory worth preserving... regardless of what the future held.

And I think that even though many of us felt like were changing the world (ie: every lead singer ever born!), most of us would have done this anyway... and some of us did change the way people saw the world... while others of us preserved the way the world was for just 1/125th of a second.


Lance Loud, Mumps, Halloween 77

Praise photography - the feat that makes time stand still.