Under the Big Black Sun
A Personal History of L.A. Punk
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4.5 • 19 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Under the Big Black Sun explores the nascent Los Angeles punk rock movement and its evolution to hardcore punk as it's never been told before. John Doe of the legendary band X and co-author Tom DeSavia have woven together an enthralling story of the legendary West Coast scene from 1977-1982 by enlisting the voices of people who were there. The book shares chapter-length tales from the authors along with personal essays from famous (and infamous) players in the scene. Through interstitial commentary, John Doe "narrates" this journey through the land of film noir sunshine, Hollywood back alleys, and suburban sprawl. Illustrated with 50 rare photos, this is the story of the art that was born under the big black sun.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Doe, frontman for X, has gathered the testimonies of punk's progenitors in L.A., a scene only rivaled by those of New York and London for fecundity and influence. Twenty-four chapters draw on the accounts of Mike Watt (the Minutemen), Jane Wiedlin (the Go-Gos), El Vez (aka Robert Lopez), and others to follow the genesis of punk beginning with glam, garage, and early punk abroad. Focused around the Masque club and the Canterbury Apartments, a few hundred outcasts exploited the low-rent environs of Hollywood and downtown L.A. to live in semi-communal squalor and make rock new again. The punk scene ultimately became fragmented by way of heroin, death, and migration to major labels, with the final blow coming from the brutal intrusion of Orange County musicians ("OC kids") who didn't share punk artists' art-school inclinations or gender ambiguity but embraced their confrontational rage to create hardcore metal. Chapters by older artists and members of the East L.A. contingent demonstrate punk's broad appeal. Even the despised OC kids get a say through Jack Grisham (TSOL), whose response to the original punks' contempt for the newcomers, while self-aggrandizing, is both savage and eloquent. In an essay on photographers and other visual artists, Doe's co-editor, talent scout DeSavia, traces an influence that transcended sound. L.A. punk's unique aesthetic, heir to Raymond Chandler and Joan Didion, is filtered through "exhaust fumes, rumble, muscle and smoking tires" to reveal the darkness behind the sunglasses.
Customer Reviews
Great book about the music,art,and people who made up LA’s early punk scene.
Lots of great information,photos,and band flyers from LA’s early punk rock scene. Each chapter is written by a different person who was involved in the scene, be it, musician, writer, or scenester. And it shows the different point of view of each writer.