Punk Turns 30

The Dils, a Target Video perennial fave... The Target Video show on April 30 at Los Angeles' Silent Movie Theater (part of the on-going Don't Knock the Rock-curated shows at that venue) will be quite a departure from past shows. Unlike other Target shows, this one basically presents footage direct from the vaults. Uncut. Unmixed. Raw and original. The Cramps and Target Video = a can't miss combination! The folks at Target have begun calling the show "Raw Power" for its sheer voyeuristic quality. The pieces document explosive musical events from the late 70's and early 80's. The soundtracks are all original: from a simple camera microphone recording to studio mixes. Presented more music tv style than movie. The Germs, another band captured first and best by Target Video Target Video presents an authentic thrill ride through the West Coast's punk past. It's not pretty. It's raw and the way it was. Be there! Get your tickets here!!

I never know what images people are going to respond to... but the past few weeks, these are the ones that have been stand-outs. Blondie has always been popular... and this shot of Debbie Harry and Nigel Harrison with Rodney Bingenheimer in tow visiting the B Girls backstage at the Whisky has been a consistent favorite and seller! If you have Cathay Che 's book Platinum Blonde, you saw this photo in there! Much to my pleasant surprise, this summer while scanning everything I own, I found this shot from the Plimsouls record release party. No one has seen it ever! It made its debut in Houston. Pictured are Eddie Munoz of the Plimsouls and his friends, Penelope Sevier on the left and behind them, Kyle Hetherington. People who came to Sound Exchange last month were happy to see Texas represented in Eddie, and since I only had one print, the photo was "the one that got away" to many an attendee. Clem Burke, punk rock's most valuable player... When I present...

Of all the punk bands that hailed from Los Angeles, The Germs more than any other have attracted the most attention over the last couple years. They are the subject of at least two feature films in post-production at this very moment - one narrative, the other documentary - and are never excluded from the variety of punk rock survey films, writings and analyses. Taking photos of The Germs at the earliest of their practices was as easy and natural for me to do as breathing. So, 30 years later, when the gritty image of the band on the cover of their 7" single on What?Records, "Forming" that I photographed (for no reason beyond our friendship) is acknowledged as a symbol and even an icon of Los Angeles Punk Rock, I feel both ridiculously proud of having had the good luck to have been born at the right place and time and proud of all of Los Angeles's contributions to punk rock. California has been given short shrift in the past couple years that punk rock has enjoyed ...

It was on this date, December 8, in 1980, that Darby Crash was discovered dead from a heroin overdose. While a crushing tragic blow to his friends, family and fans in his hometown of Los Angeles, his death was overshadowed by the assassination of John Lennon in front of his home on the evening of December 8. Darby is pictured above in the group shot of a party at Joan Jett's apartment. Taken in May, 1978 at a party Joan hosted for the visiting English punk star, Billy Idol. Darby is the first profile on the right side of the photo - his hair is dark . You can see Lorna Doom on his right - and of course Joan, Pleasant, and Billy are in the center. Of course, most people know and have the record that Joan produced for the Germs, GI . Everyone has their own memories about the departed Darby, so I leave you with a photo from July 1977, a show at the Whisky A Go Go - so much frenzy on stage that it seems the only thing moving slower than Darby at the moment I snapped this was...