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Title: England's Dreaming : Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond by Jon Savage ISBN: 0-312-28822-0 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 18 January, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (25 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: God Save John Lydon
Comment: Jon Savage is a wonderfully fluent writer of English, rock history, and language. At 43 years of age now I look back at my salad days, or what I remember of them somewhat awestruck. What is amazing is not that the revolution never really happened, but that so much has been written about what at the time seemed rather more like fun than civil disobedience. Dressing up in silly costumes, consuming too many drugs, and mashing up My Father's Place when the Ramones played etc. At the heart of it then, we really did think we could change the world, and if anyone actually did bring real change it was the Sex Pistols and their mastermind Malcolm McLaren. I'm writing 25 years to the week after Sid Vicious died in New York, and two years after Joe Strummer of the Clash passed on. These bands changed the way music could be done in a fundamental way.
This book gives a detailed chronical in first hand reports of the early days of punk in London. For those of us who used to hang out at Club Mudd in the late 70's it is a mirror to look in to see ourselves in our self destructive glory. If you're too young to remember, or you're just into rock history this book is still important. I read this book when it first issued, then picked it up again recently, and both times thoroughly enjoyed it.
Savage put a wonderful scholarly gloss on the artistic and social heritage of punk rock. Some of his analyses may be overwrought but however tenous the links, it is undeniable that punk rock combined nihilism, socialism and the spirit of revolution in a way that is somehow unique in musical history. The first disenfranchised hip-hop generation of the late '80s is somehow a fair successor to the punk movement. Maybe I'm a crusty old rocker now, but everything else seems derivative somehow. I've read a bunch of punk rock books and this one is a gem among sow's ears. This book provides an amazing snapshot of the music and social scene in England at one crucial turning point in the history of music. It is well worth reading. Sometimes you might want to wear your old leather motorcycle jacket and pop on the Buzzcocks too.
Rating: 5
Summary: An epic, definitive documentation of the era
Comment: Awesome overview of mid-70s punk. The best thing is how it imparts a sense of the hysteria of London 1976-77: The chapter on the chaotic June '77 Sex Pistols boat ride, taken from the author's diary, is downright gripping (he was on the boat!), painting this period as the pinnacle of all the madness (and the book).
Credit is deserved for tracing the lineage of punk, plus all the criminally overlooked concurrent scenes (No Wave, Cleveland punk) as well as the psychological underpinnings of it - though an Electric Eels lyric quoted sums it up better than any sociologist could.
What's unfortunately lacking is the musical aspect of it, and the US proto-punk bands (Stooges, MC5, etc.). Take this as a vivid, complete picture of a vital moment in England. I've read this several times, and it still gives me the thrill of history being made with each passing day of the Pistols' existance.
Rating: 3
Summary: Erik is So Right!
Comment: Oh Erik Selvia - you are so right! The focus of this book is so narrow and exclusionary that one never gets the full picture of the so-called "punk movement". What movement? Please! The 60's music scene represented a social movement, but this punk thing pales in comparision. Savage tries to elevate it to the same level of significance (as far as social change is concerned). Real changes occurred in the 60's - the late 70s and 80s punk music scenes merely voiced a rude and crude complaint. Don't get me wrong - a lot of great music was generated out of the complaint, but its level of historical significance, outside of contributing to the development of new musical styles and presentation, is minimal to be sure.
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Title: Rotten : No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs by John Lydon ISBN: 031211883X Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 15 February, 1995 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil, Gillian McCain ISBN: 0140266909 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: September, 1997 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Vacant: A Diary of the Punk Years 1976-1979 by Nils Stevenson, Ray Stevenson ISBN: 0500281033 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: 01 July, 1999 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Philosophy of Punk: More Than Noise by Craig O'Hara ISBN: 1873176163 Publisher: AK Pr Distribution Pub. Date: February, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: The Filth and the Fury by The Sex Pistols ISBN: 0312264941 Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Pub. Date: 16 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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