The two original and essential books on punk from that time were "Punk" by Julie Davis and "1988 - The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion" by Caroline Coon. Both books are long since out of print and I imagine that copies are hard to find and very expensive. The Davis book (she's the editor) contains interviews, writings and pictures of the people that were involved in the original British punk movement. The Coon book is much more comprehensive and contains her columns from Melody Maker about the various bands and also contains lots of great pictures. Both books are of large size and they pretty much ignore any American bands (with the exception of the Ramones) and only cover the first wave of British bands from 1976-77. Nevertheless each book gives a fascinating glimpse of what punk was at its founding.
The two books that provide the best overview of the entire punk era are "England's Dreaming" by Jon Savage and "Please Kill Me" by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain. Jon Savage focuses on the Sex Pistols and the British punk scene and provides the most detailed description of that time with a lot of information about the pre-punk era of the early 1970's. An additional bonus is an index of each band's essential recordings. This is especially useful with the Pistols, who had all sorts of junk issued to cash in on their name. The McNeil/McCain book is the perfect complement to the Savage book as it covers the New York scene. This book is really a collection of interviews with the people that created the original New York punk scene, A great thing to find is how the same event can be described so differently by people who were there. Both books are in print, (in paperback) are heartily recommended.
The "punk diary" is a day-to-day listing of all the important (& not so-important) events that took place from 1970 through 1979 in the British pre-punk and punk music scene. "Punk - The Illustrated History of a Music Revolution" provides both text and lots of great pictures and it manages to include a lot of the newer stuff such as Nirvana and Green Day. Fittingly, it ends with the Sex Pistols reunion tour of 1996.
A good introduction to the American pre-punk and punk era is provided by Clinton Heylin in "From the Velvets to the Voidoids". It provides an added bonus by actually acknowledging the fact that there was influential music being created in places like Detroit and Cleveland.
There have been various books written about the bands that were part of the punk movement. Obviously, the Sex Pistols have attracted the most attention. There are autobiographies by two members of the band: "I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol" by Glen Matlock and "No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs" by Johnny Rotten. Each one was written before the 1996 reunion and provides a forum for their own view of the band. Another Sex Pistols book worth finding is "12 days on the Road" By Noel Monk and Jimmy Gutterman. This describes the final self-destructive tour of the Pistols across the USA in 1978. "The Sex Pistols File" is a thin book containing lots of pictures and newspaper clippings with no text.
The Clash is given its due in history by Marcus Gray in "Last Gang in Town". This book is long (500 pages) and provides a wealth of detail about the members of the "only band that matters". None of the main three members of the Clash even spoke to the author, but his research was extremely thorough and covered everything you always wanted to know about the Clash (except what they may have said). A second take on the Clash is given in "A Riot of Our Own" which was published in 1999 and written by a former Clash roadie. It is a much easier read than the Gray book and provides a wealth of great material on the early days of the band.
One book on the Ramones I was able to find was aptly titled: "Ramones - An American Band" by Jim Bessman. It provides a history of the band from their founding in 1974 through 1992. A great addition to this book is a list of all the concerts the Ramones played in those years. It was tough, but I managed to find the twenty or so shows that I had the privilege of attending. Another late addition is the autobiography of Dee Dee Ramone entitled "Poison Heart". This obviously focuses on Dee Dee and many of his well-documented problems both in the band and outside of it. Dee Dee Ramone spent significant time in Ann Arbor and this book is marred with very shoddy editing where all sorts of place names in the Detroit area are badly misspelled.
Lester Bangs had written a short book called "Blondie" which described the early days of that band with lots of pictures of Debbie Harry
Two books that I wholeheartedly recommend are by Gina Arnold: "Route 666: On the Road to Nirvana" & "Kiss This". Both books provide a very insightful and almost too-accurate view of what it mean being part and growing old while trying desperately to preserve your "punk spirit". She mostly writes about the San Francisco scene, but many of those episodes are familiar to all of us, no matter where we lived. One of my favorite episodes is the all-too typical scene where your favorite unknown band becomes successful. You're always happy for them, but you are so pissed off that your private shows are now flooded with ignorant late-comers.
Another must-read is the Henry Rollins book "Get in the Van" about his days with the perhaps America's best hardcore band: Black Flag. Rollins is an immensely talented writer and has published many books, but this book catches the essence of hardcore punk in the early 1980's. The original punk movement had long been splintered and supplanted by post-punk and new wave in the public consciousness, but bands like Black Flag kept the spirit going with their constant touring. The local hardcore scene in Detroit was healthy, but Black Flag always provided us with great shows in some of the most forgettable places that bands had to play. This book is indispensable and I often wonder how that band kept ot going for those years.
The books from the 1970's may be tough to find, but most of the other stuff is available in paperback at most major bookstores or through the Internet.
Last Updated on: 02/13/2008