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Alright kids, here's the deal. I know ya all love going out to the rock'n'roll bar and getting crazy digging yer favorite band while sucking down a few overpriced drinks and lamely attempting to pick up someone to take home and , uh, impress with your vast collection of rare 1980's hardcore singles (yeah right). But there's more to this rock thing than the live performance aspect, and more than recorded documents be they etched on vinyl or digitally encoded on cd. There are books, folks, lotsa books. Books on everything from the bands themselves to entire histories of rock'n'roll to record collecting to....you name it, somebody probably put it in a book. So, I'm gonna use a bit of space in the 'egg to give you a little info about some of these tomes. Some will be new, many have been in print for some time, I'm not concerned with being current here, just with turning you on to some cool words you may not have checked out yet. And, being the cool people we are, you can actually click on some of the covers or a link and order them for yourselves from amazon.com. Pretty cool, eh? Here we go, lesson one. Lotsa our readers are of the punk rock persuasion so lets have a look at a few titles dealing with the history of this ongoing insurrection.

Please Kill Me (Penguin)

Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain's "Please Kill Me" is without doubt one of the best books on the subject. Formatted as an oral history, meaning the content is entirely made of quotes from interviewing people who were involved in the whole shebang, this is an easy read. And it's funny as hell. As McNeil was involved in the making of Punk Magazine, the primo US p-rock fanzine of the 70's (also available as excerpts in, you guessed it, a book) he was definitely there and knew what to dig for.You get hundreds of pages of no holds barred gossip, from the Velvet Underground's days with Andy Warhol's Factory and Iggy and the Stooges in the late 60's thru the sad last days of the New York Doll's Jerry Nolan of just a few years past, and everything inbetween. There are loads of tales from a time long past, when a bunch of crazy but brilliant people picked up guitars and changed the course of rock and roll as well as popular culture. The stories of overzealous drug use, pre-aids sexual abandon, shady deals and personality crises galore combined with some great photos give a glimpse into one of the most exciting periods of our culture ever, and you can bet we won't be seeing a scene like this again in our lifetimes. So this is a great way to find out what it was like from those who lived it. With a host of names both familiar (Ramones, Iggy, Patti Smith, etc. etc.) and obscure, this book is non stop fun. Get it now.

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From the Velvets to the Voidoids (Penguin)

While "Please Kill Me" is largely concerned with the New York scene of the 70's there were things going on all over the place. Clinton Heylin's "From the Velvets to the Voidoids" title namedrops two NY bands but delves deeply into the connection between the Big Apple scene and goings on in Cleveland during the same period. The Dead Boys/Pere Ubu axis gets examined in detail and while this book is not as full of outrageous anecdotes as McNeil & McCain's is, it's still full of interesting info. A nice selection of rare photos is included. Being an Ohio boy I was eating this up, but this one is probably better suited for those of you who are a bit more fanatical than merely curious.

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Too Much Too Soon (Omnibus Press)

Fans of the New York Dolls will be happy to see Nina Antonia has finally gotten her book "Too Much Too Soon" published. A decent history of this band has been long awaited and now you got it. The whole story is pretty much here, from rehearsing in a bike shop to becoming the toast of the town to a pretty un-glamorous collapse in Florida, and all that followed. It's well written and all, but I could've used more, y'know? As long as this book has been in the works and as thorough as some of Ms. Antonia's other books have been, I would've expected more background info although considering how many of the people who were a part of the Dolls saga are now dead there are probably a lot of tales which will never be told. Also would've liked a lot more photos. The book itself makes much note of the fact that the band's look captured a lot of attention and created many problems and this would seem to justify the inclusion of a pretty substantial selection of pics. So that was a little disappointing. Over all, the book is certainly not a failure and is essential for any fan of the Dolls and their off-shoots. I was just expecting a more fleshed out version of this story. Buy it and hope her updated Johnny Thunders bio actually comes out next year.

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Search and Destroy (Re/Search)

Elsewhere in the States, the west coast wasted no time developing a rebellious scene of it's own, a fit setting for kicking at the hippy old-guard of the time. The fanzine "Search and Destroy" documented much of the goings on there and elsewhere and Re/Search has issued a two volume edition of the best of this fine publication. Basically reprints of articles and graphics in an oversize format. This is cool cos it's not really a look back at anything but rather a chance to see and read exactly what people were looking at while it was happening. Very recommended.

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Punk '77

Another California based book is "Punk 77" by James Stark. Lotsa photos and quotes from San Francisco's key players, find out all about legends like Crime, The Nuns, Avengers, and many more. Not an enormous source of info, there's nonetheless a fair amount of interesting stories in here.

England's Dreaming (St. Martins Press)

Of course a whole other storm was gathering across the Atlantic near the same time. The British punk explosion of the 70's is equal in legend to the events in the States, and has inspired much debate re: who came first. What can't be disputed is that both stories are fascinating, and for the British perspective the finest work is "England's Dreaming" by John Savage. A participant in the scene, Savage published an early fanzine and saw many of the events he describes firsthand. This book is the most comprehensive study of punk I've ever seen, regardless of variety. Strongly focused on the Sex Pistols there is much interview material, excerpts from the author's journals of the time, rare pix, some in color (in hardback at least) and a pretty good listing and description of recordings by the principal artists of the era. Beginning in the swinging London of the 60's and following key players thru art school to the beginnings of what would become the most reviled movement in England's history of pop music, and going up to the beginnings of the post-punk era, this is an exhaustive study of a brief period which burnt thru the past with an anger not previously seen, provoking outrage within the government and mainstream society as well as the music world. A very good book, this gets an A plus from me. Buy today.

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Last Gang in Town (Henry Holt)

Besides the Sex Pistols, The Clash were the definitive UK punk band, and there are a couple of books to check out covering this band. "A Riot of Our Own" is by Johnny Green and Gary Barker and is a pretty funny account of what life was like on the road with these folks. No pix but some great cartoons by Ray Lowery and lots of entertainment value to be had learning just what goes on behind the scenes with a bunch of maniacs on the way to being rock stars. "Last Gang In Town" by Marcus Grey is like getting a whole "England's Dreaming" about one band. A huge book with rare photos ( check out guitarist Mick Jones before and after, yikes!) and more info than you ever could ask for, this goes back and examines the childhoods of band members, all of their pre-Clash musical activities, the whole story of the band itself, and most of what came afterwards. A real gift for Clash fans and not just a bunch of press clippings and already known facts, you get interviews with people never before even mentioned in accounts of the group, including a few the members probably wish had kept their mouths shut! This is what I wanted with the NY Dolls book but didn't get. If you aren't a huge Clash fan, this book is probably way too much to deal with but what a swell job. And if you do dig 'em, you gotta have this, no way around it.

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Destroy (Britannia Press)

Also on the UK slant there's "Destroy" by Alvin Gibbs. Mr. Gibbs was a member of well known Brit-punk band UK Subs and this is his take on things. The history content is fairly well done tho not real thorough and has been done better elsewhere but the more personal observations are kinda cool, being an insiders perspective an' all. It's kinda pricey as well so maybe this one isn't the best place to start but not an awful book by any means.

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And God Created Punk

And again from England is "And God Created Punk" which is by Erica Echenberg and Mark P, both of whom were involved with the first UK punk fanzine "Sniffin' Glue", one of the most influential zines ever in terms of form, being a xerox and staple affair which became the standard DIY method. This book is composed of lotsa photos and some pretty opinionated text (Mark P hasn't changed much) and again not a great jumping in point but if this era is yer thing you'll certainly dig this book.

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Punk Diary (St. Martins Press)

To wrap this up for this issue, we have "Punk Diary" by George Gimarc. And it's just what it says it is. A nearly day by day chronicle of the 70's punk happenings, it's very slanted to the British side of things. A pretty ambitious project to say the least, if yer really into this stuff you'll dig it. Otherwise this will mean nothing to you. Good for reference, although I found a number of inaccuracies but no one's perfect I guess. Fun to look at between other things, too much for long reads. Give it a look. It also comes with a cd but my copy was found on Broadway for a buck and the cd was missing. What can I say? There is also a Post-Punk Diary but I ain't read it so I ain't writing about it.

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