Punk Turns 30

FIRE OF LOVE, the album by Jeffrey Lee Pierce and his band, The Gun Club was released 30 years ago today on Ruby Records, a division of Slash. Within a couple of years, Jeffrey had catapulted from the dedicated local punk music fan and president of the Blondie Fan Club to a bona fide artist worthy of his own following. FIRE OF LOVE was an auspicious recorded debut - likely the first record from Los Angeles punk rock that would incorporate blues in a distinctive way that would distance the band from punk without distancing the players from the scene. The Gun Club, alongside X and the Blasters would carve a unique place in the genre game with their mix of traditional American roots music with a psychedelic and punk rock interpretation. Indeed many years after paving the way for hybrid genres, X musicians, John Doe, Exene Cervenka and dual Blaster/X guitarist, Dave Alvin all have a firm and respected place in the world of Americana (as does Plimsouls founder/front man, Peter Case)...

Today, August 11, 2011, less than a week before Belinda Carlisle's birthday, The Go Go's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled. Here, for your convenience, I've copied and pasted the text from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's website: In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Go-Go’s 1981 landmark debut album “Beauty and the Beat” and their current “Ladies Gone Wild” summer tour (including a headlining concert at the Greek Theater on August 17), the Go-Go’s will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the former nightclub, *The Masque, where they played their first show. Charlotte Caffey From their halcyon days as America's sweethearts to their current status as superstars who pioneered a genre, The Go-Go’s preside over an amazing three-decade reign as high pop priestesses. The internationally-loved pop hit makers helped cement the foundation of the early ‘80s pop-rock sound without the aid of outsid...