Punk Turns 30

Jack Oblivian and Mike Hurtt February will be here before long...eleven days, in fact. The Punk Turns 30 traveling photo exhibit will be landing at Louie Fest - which takes places in King Louie's home town of New Orleans from February 21 - 24. Be sure to click the link to Louie Fest... the musical line-up is tremendous... King Louie King Louie's own Black Rose Band will be playing... Jack Oblivian, Jimbo Mathus, Royal Pendletons, Mr Quintron & Miss Pussycat, Alicja Trout... Jello Biafra doing spoken word and so many more bands that will make your head spin. Royal Pendletons - Matt & Mike In addition to the vintage punk pix from the 70s... I will be unveiling a sneak peak of the 2008/2009 show I'll be touring of rock n roll portraits during Louie Fest... because so many of those faces are in it... such as: Mike Hurtt Matt Uhlman And I've been waiting for the opportunity the trot out a great big blow up of my favorite portrait of King Khan, an image you...

George Cabaniss & David Quinton from Stiv Bators Disconnected Band, 1979 The young man on the right who's giving us the finger is David Quinton, the Teenager from Toronto who ascended the drum throne vacated by the Dead Boys Johnny Blitz. In the first of a series of punk rock coincidences, Johnny Blitz lives in Canada. NOW. Stiv Bators was some kind of Good Will Ambassador to our northern neighbors. In 1978/79, he brought attention to Toronto's B Girls and helped them build anticipation for and eventually sell out the Whisky A Go Go...he had brought his then-girl friend, B Girl bass player Cynthia Ross with him everywhere he went, and her presence, personality and pop punk music made everyone take notice. Cynthia Ross And the B Girls didn't disappoint live audiences either. Xenia Fans appreciated the tip of their hats to American Girl Group and beach blanket movie culture. The B Girls wore that homage on their record sleeves. If you really stop and take a good ...

The Alarm Clocks are a band from Parma, Ohio - a suburb of Cleveland. In the 60s, they made a record called "No Reason to Complain" that won them a place in the hearts of garage rock fans everywhere once it found its way on to compilations made many years after the fact. But in 2006, they made a come- back, with triumphant live shows in Cleveland, Memphis and Brooklyn. I shot this picture sleeve and album cover in July, 2006 in Brooklyn, NY. Norton Records released these fine disks at the end of 2006. I might add that the Alarm Clocks album is one of my favorites of the year - my participation in its face notwithstanding. Also for Norton Records, I photographed Mary Weiss, the legendary former lead singer of 60s super girl group, The Shangri La's, who recorded a new album with The Reigning Sound. Here's a photo I shot that is being used on Mary's myspace page, and as a promo photo of her with the band. It was an honor and a pleasure to have been invite...

Here's a quick shot and a hint of what's to come.... I'll be posting my favorite records of 2006.... the hint? Well, this is a photo of the King Khan & BBQ Show -- one of a few reliable bands that always release one great record after another, year after year.... stay tuned!