Punk Turns 30

If you're in the mood to go out, there are some great shows going on all over the USA The Reigning Sound and Cool Jerks ring it in at the Hi Tone in Memphis. The Alarms Clocks headline the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, with the Rainy Day Saints opening. And in New York City, The A Bones, Swingin Neckbreakers, Great Gaylord and The Thing With Two Heads count it down in my old neighborhood - the 718, Brooklyn, New York. One of the best New Year's Eves I spent was in San Francisco with Blondie, as 1978 became 1979. They were opening for the Greg Kihn Band, and down the street, the Blues Brothers were opening for the Grateful Dead. At the end of all this there was a party at the Jefferson Airplane's house. I went to the party with my sister, Clem Burke and Jimmy Destri of Blondie, and Blondie roadie, Michael Sticca. When we arrived at the party, Chris Stein advised us to drink stuff out of bottles or cans that we ourselves opened, or else we'd get dosed. ...

And good riddance to 2006 already.... Actually, 2006 had its ups and its downs, just like any other year. Before we go any further, let's wish a Happy Birthday to David Quinton Steinberg the young man on the right, flipping you off. He's 18 in that photo, taken for the Stiv Bators solo album, "Disconnected." At 18, he was already a punk rock veteran before joining Stiv, having been playing punk rock since 1976... And 1976 is when I really felt the active punk rock era began for me...the first time I saw Patti Smith in January 76, touring in support of her debut album, "Horses" which was released in November 1975. Its also Patti Smith's birthday this weekend, and Lenny Kaye's too! But by most counts, people credit 1977 being the year punk broke (despite the fact there's a documentary/tour film called "1991: The Year Punk Broke" - which is a movie about grunge bands and includes the Ramones). And what all that means is that 2007 is...

This photo of Billy Idol and Joan Jett was published around the world - 47 magazines from mainstream to fanzine. This clip is from Japan's Music Life but most people I know remember it from Creem. Regardless of where you've seen it, or if this is the first place you've seen this image, it was the image that kicked my photography career up a notch and a half. In May 1978, Billy Idol came to the USA to do some pre-release promotion of the Generation X album that Chrysalis Records was releasing. For months in advance of his visit, Pleasant and I had been talking with Billy on the phone, thanks to Rodney Bingenheimer, of KROQ fame. That's Rodney in the shadow behind Billy. In addition to our ally and secret weapon in Rodney, who knew of Pleasant's fascination/obsession with Billy, we had a lot of help from Brendan Bourke of Chrysalis. Brendan is a cool Englishman who had worked at Island Records, and at this time, was at Chrysalis and in charge of Billy...

Like a total statistics dork, I look at the logs for this blog all day long to figure out what photos you all like best, and this year, Debbie Harry has drawn more visitors to Punk Turns 30 than anyone else. Because people seem to like it SO MUCH, we have made an Open Edition available for purchase. Check it out here. Here's another photo that brought a lot of attention: Kid Congo and Pleasant. Finally, Lux Interior of the Cramps was the other consistent attraction. This image of Lux is one of the few available in the Punk Rock Gift Shop at Dot Photo. Enjoy the images!

Some of my favorite images are the ones where the subjects didn't know they were being photographed, like The Joneses in the photo behind Belinda Carlisle, backstage at the Whisky. Or were totally at ease in their environment and didn't really care that there was a camera in their midst. Penelope Avenger and Sally Mutant, backstage in San Francisco. Just a fly on the wall... Joan Jett's kitchen, where she and Billy Idol are chatting, provides the backdrop for something I always thought was a frame from a cinema verite of "Party on San Vicente," a fake movie in my head that I see all the time when I go through my slides and negatives. Nancy "Nitro" Nagler is in the foreground, smoking a cigarette, and the winsome strawberry blonde seated on the right of the frame is Lisa Curland, who was Joan's roommate on San Vicente. Kent Smythe, whom I know through Joan and Lisa, caught unawares, just sitting around being Kent. And finally, one of my fav...

The Jam headlined a sold-out show at the erstwhile Starwood club on April 14, 1978. I remember the date because it was my birthday. The record company pulled out all the stops this time around. The Lobotomy crew was pleased to be invited along for this gravy train. In addition to the photo opp in front of the London double decker bus, we actually got to take a ride on that bus from West Hollywood all the way to the Kings Head pub in Santa Monica where a full-on British fish n chips and mushy peas meal awaited us. Everyone got a chance to play darts with the band and somewhere along the line, I remember drunken choruses of "Happy Birthday" to me. Earlier in the day, Pleasant and Randy interviewed Jam drummer Rick Buckler in his hotel room, and I was along to take pictures. We also attended the soundcheck. We were in the midst of a most-welcome British Invasion of new music. The Spring of 1978 alone was jam-packed with what seemed like one fantastic show after anothe...

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day's night present an issue: do you stay at home with the family, or do you head out after dinner for some rock n roll? In 1977, Los Angeles punks headed down to the Whisky A Go Go to see The Dickies. In 1978, you'd better believe the turnout at the Whisky for Christmas shows with The Ramones. This Christmas, you will most likely find me, and many other Los Angeles punk rock alumni celebrating a Loser's Christmas with former Rhino Records A&R genius, Gary Stewart. So whether you watch "Its a Wonderful Life," or cheer on Hermie the misfit elf who wants to be a dentist, or simply dig out your favorite records or spike your eggnog... enjoy.

Believe it or not, the two men walking on Sunset Blvd. out of the Whisky A Go Go are Malcom McLaren and Johnny Rotten. That night, Mumps were playing and McLaren and Rotten came in to see them. This was a few days after the Sex Pistols ended their US tour in San Francisco at Winterland. All of us who were standing out on the sidewalk in front the Whisky were at that show. What I think is fun to note are the billboards in the background --- Engelbert Humperdink was playing somewhere (Vegas?) and the ad for it was the first thing you saw upon leaving a rock n roll joint! In the hazy winter night, under the street lamps, you can see Belinda Carlisle in her cat eye glasses, sitting outside watching McLaren and Rotten leave the Whisky and head back towards the Tropicana, where Malcolm set up house for several weeks to come. Mumps were staying there too, and on many a night, for a laugh, Pleasant, Bradly Field (of Teenage Jesus & the Jerks. He came out to LA with Mumps) and I...

He was the art director of and designed the logo for Lobotomy and he was our partner in all things Mumps as well - Brad Dunning, a Los Angeles punk rock, Lobotomy zine alumni who graduated on to fantastic things. Brad Dunning is known to the general public as an interior designer to the stars. He always had a fantastic sense of style, design and composition. One thing I will never ever forget is that Brad kept his bed in the closet of his Fountain Avenue apartment. Fountain is one of the most traversed cross streets in Los Angeles, running parallel to Sunset, Hollywood and Santa Monica Boulevards, it is a must faster route across town than the other avenues because there are way fewer businesses and driveways for cars to turn into and disrupt the forward flow of traffic. I think it must be terribly loud, however, to live off this avenue, so putting your bed in a closet would be a good move. And a closet, having no windows, would guarantee that your bedroom is dark, too. And if...

The most chaotic rock n roll shows I have ever seen since I started seeing rock n roll shows in 1968 have to be those starring either Stiv Bators and the Dead Boys or Dee Dee Ramone. Put those two guys together, and you have mayhem as well as chaos. This Dead Boys photo is the last I have where Johnny Blitz is on drums... just a few months later, David Quinton would be filling that seat. And those few months later, when Stiv was recording his solo album, "Disconnected" in Los Angeles, there was a constant parade of well-wishers in the studio, ranging from Greg Shaw on whose Bomp label the record would be released, to various ladies like Bebe Buell, photographers and friends like me, David Arnoff, Chris Marlowe, and musicians and local notables like Kim Fowley, whose contributions can be heard on the Bomp release, "L.A.,L.A." which features all kinds of interesting tracks Stiv and crew recorded (and featuring photos by yours truly). In Los Angeles, making ...