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Musicians - Interviews, Punk/New Wave
Punk Rock: An Oral History by John Robb — book cover

Punk Rock: An Oral History

by John Robb, Lars Fredriksen (Introduction)
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Overview

Vibrant and volatile, the punk scene left an extraordinary legacy of music and cultural change, and this work talks to those who cultivated the movement, weaving together their accounts to create a raw and unprecedented oral history of punk in the United Kingdom. From the Clash, Crass, Henry Rollins, and John Lydon to the Sex Pistols, the Stranglers, and the Buzzcocks, this reference features more than 150 interviews that encapsulate the most thrilling wave of rock and roll pop culture ever seen. Ranging from its widely debated roots in the late 1960s to its enduring influence on modern bands, fashion, and culture, this history brings to life the energy and anarchy as no other book has done.

About the Author, John Robb

John Robb is the founder of the 1970s punk rock band the Membranes and is a current member of the group Goldblade. He is the author of Death to Trad Rock, The North Will Rises Again: Manchester Music City 1976–1996, and The Stone Roses. He lives in Manchester, England. Lars Fredriksen is a member of the punk rock band Rancid. He lives in Oakland, California.

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Editorials

From the Publisher

"Its unique brand of energy helps make it a riot all its own."  —Harp Magazine

"Robb, in an ambitious compendium, with brief forewords by Michael Bracewell and Black Flag's Henry Rollins, provides those who were there and many of us who listened from a distance in time or space the sensation of freedom."  —www.PopMatters.com

"John Robb is a great writer . . . and he is supremely qualified, in my opinion, to talk about punk rock."  —Mick Jones, The Clash

"Former Membrane John Robb recognized the gap in the tale that appears in any third person telling: the punks didn't get to tell their side of the story in their own words. So he went to work on picking the brains of over 100 first and second wavers and ended up with Punk Rock: An Oral History." —www.PsychoBabble200.blogspot.com

"With its brilliant balance of in-depth information and accessibility, this title will be equally at home on academic, public, and personal library shelves. Essential for punk fans and highly recommended for readers interested in firsthand accounts of the growth of new cultural movements." —Library Journal (December 2012)

"It takes a punker to write one of the definitive books on punk rock that exploded on the music scene in the mid-1970s before fragmenting into niches like Oi, Hardcore and Two Tone. John Robb (The Membranes) has written such [a] book." —www.IBRNews.com

"From the early pub scene, to the U.K. debut of The Ramones, from the grrrl power of The Slits, to the chaotic saga of The Sex Pistols, from 1977 to the peak of the second wave and beyond. Robb chronicles it all through those who lived through it." —www.DonPalabraz.com

"I'd say it's as close to a go-to tome as you're gonna get if you're looking for a street-level account of the origins of Europe's wing of the punk revolution." —Razorcake (February 2013)

Library Journal

Longtime music journalist and founding member of The Membranes Robb (Death to Trad Rock) has collected the stories of over 100 eyewitnesses to the birth of British punk. From icons like John Lydon (Sex Pistols) and Mick Jones (The Clash) to lesser-known but no less outspoken musicians, managers, promoters, and fans, the interviewees bring a wide range of viewpoints to their tales of the scene's development. In scope and format, Robb covers much the same ground as Jon Savage's 2010 collection of interviews, The England's Dreaming Tapes. From an editorial perspective, however, the difference between the two works is striking. While Savage presented his transcripts in their entirety, Robb uses a cut-and-paste chronological arrangement, grouping together several subjects' takes on a given event or band. These multiple, often conflicting voices, together with the cheeky footnotes that clarify certain obscure references or blatant misrememberings, add a level of wit and chaotic energy to this book not present in earlier oral histories of the era. VERDICT With its brilliant balance of in-depth information and accessibility, this title will be equally at home on academic, public, and personal library shelves. Essential for punk fans and highly recommended for readers interested in firsthand accounts of the growth of new cultural movements.—Neil Derksen, Snohomish, WA

Book Details

Published
July 17, 2012
Publisher
PM Press
Pages
568
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781604860054

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