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I just finished Rip It Up and Start Again by Simon Reynolds. It’s an easy and entertaining read about the period in music that probably defines my musical “coming of age” - the years 1978-1984. I’ll date myself here by saying that by 1984 I’d already been in a “cover” band playing Blondie, Ramones and Clash songs, played in a musical “post punk duo” called Narthex with some success and Philadelphia club exposure, and was into the first year of my dozen plus year “career” as a member of the Dead Milkmen.

The book is a bit Anglocentric but does touch on the New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles scenes. I have the original British edition released in early 2005 that includes a separate chapter on SST Records and a few other items that ended up being “folded” into the US edition that came out this spring (mine also includes a few photos that aren’t in the US version).

Highly recommended.

3 Responses to “Rip It Up and Start Again”

1. MrBaliHai Says:
   June 6th, 2006 at 1:46 pm

   Sounds like my kind of read. You might also be interested in “New York Rocker” by Blondie’s original bassist, Gary (Lachman) Valentine. Although it’s not one of his best books, it’s filled with a huge amount of inside poop on the CBGB scene.

2. M.Ace Says:
   June 7th, 2006 at 7:19 pm

   Yep, good book. I’m not as cool as Dean, so I got the US edition. It is shorter, but by the end, I did not feel shortchanged. And it does have some pluses, like sticking to a more consistent timeline, and a NYC-in-the early-80s chapter which is written up as a standard chapter rather than a collection of quotes. That said, I did make sure to read the SST chapter in Dean’s copy. Reynolds has loads of additional material online here:

   http://www.simonreynolds.net/

   Another good book, from way back in 1993, is Clinton Heylin’s “From The Velvets To The Voidoids” — which covers American pre-punk and the early punk scene up to 1980 — beginning with the VU in the mid-60s and running up to the CBGB’s bands. Plus the Detroit and Cleveland scenes, and The Modern Lovers, to boot. This is near the top of my re-read queue at the moment. I see that the current edition (ickier photo-oriented cover design and dumbed-down subtitle) has the inevitable additional material.

   Why does it seem like I put more writing into comments on other people’s blogs than on my own posts?

3. Frankenslade Says:
   August 31st, 2006 at 11:20 pm

   I’ll have to check out this book. I, too, love From the Velvets to the Voidoids! To date, it’s been my favorite punk rock book.

   Hope all is well with you!

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