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Punk Rock: An Oral History
Punk rock musician John Robb spent over a year interviewing more than 100 contributors to bring the inside view on the seminal events of the radical Punk Rock movement that exploded in Seventies Britain. The result is the definitive oral history.
576 pages, Paperback
First published February 27, 2006
106 people are currently reading
1646 people want to read
About the author
John Robb
110 books106 followersAuthor/Music Scribe/TV Presenter/Environmental Activist and Bass Player for perennial post-punk survivors The Membranes, John Robb is a man who cannot sit still. When he’s not touring with his band (they recently toured in Europe with The Stranglers, The Chameleons and Fields Of The Nephilim), he’s presenting, moderating or writing for his popular UK music site Louder Than War. John has previously written the best-selling books “Punk Rock : An Oral History” and “The North Will Rise Again : Manchester Music City 1976-1996”. His latest opus is the 550-page “The Art Of Darkness : The History of Goth”, an in-depth account that he feels presents the first major and comprehensive overview of Goth music and culture and its lasting legacy.
Starting with a night out in a Goth club, it then takes us on a deep-dive into the wider culture, exploring the social conditions that created ‘Goth’ in the post-punk period. It examines the fall of Rome, Lord Byron and the romantic poets, European folk tales, Gothic architecture and painters, the occult to modern-day Instagram influencers.
The book is built mainly around the 80s post-punk Goth period featuring interviews with Andrew Eldritch, Killing Joke, Bauhaus, The Cult, The Banshees, The Damned, Einstürzende Neubauten, Johnny Marr, Trent Reznor, Adam Ant, Laibach, The Cure, Nick Cave and many others. …it looks at the music, style and the political and social conditions that spawned the culture and the great music, fashions and attitudes - clubs that defined it, and is also a first-hand account of being there at some of the legendary gigs and clubs that made the scene happen...
Starting with a night out in a Goth club, it then takes us on a deep-dive into the wider culture, exploring the social conditions that created ‘Goth’ in the post-punk period. It examines the fall of Rome, Lord Byron and the romantic poets, European folk tales, Gothic architecture and painters, the occult to modern-day Instagram influencers.
The book is built mainly around the 80s post-punk Goth period featuring interviews with Andrew Eldritch, Killing Joke, Bauhaus, The Cult, The Banshees, The Damned, Einstürzende Neubauten, Johnny Marr, Trent Reznor, Adam Ant, Laibach, The Cure, Nick Cave and many others. …it looks at the music, style and the political and social conditions that spawned the culture and the great music, fashions and attitudes - clubs that defined it, and is also a first-hand account of being there at some of the legendary gigs and clubs that made the scene happen...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
May 1, 2023
I only read 50% of this, but I got out of it what I wanted, which was a history of the early years of British punk, in the words of those people who made it happen. It's fascinating, but in the end, it's almost too much information. Exhaustive is an understatement.
If you like music histories, especially about the 1970s, this is definitely worth your time.
If you like music histories, especially about the 1970s, this is definitely worth your time.
July 20, 2019
I loved this big brick of a book of punk history. It’s got the actual words of all the key players and I read things here I haven’t read in any other books about punk.
March 15, 2011
John Robb war selbst mit seiner Band Membranes von Anfang an dabei, als Punk entstand. In PUNK ROCK läßt er Mitglieder der Sex Pistols, von The Damned, The Clash, Siouxsie and The Banshees, The Adverts und vielen anderen Bands der ersten Stunde aus ihrer Sicht erzählen, wie Punkrock in England entstand und sich bis 1984 entwickelte. So bekommt man einen teils sehr persönlichen und auf jeden Fall informativen Abriss von der Geburt des Punk bis hin zur Absplitterung von Oi, Postpunk, New Wave, Gothic, Alternative und was immer seinen Ursprung in den ersten Konzerten der Sex Pistols und von The Clash hatte. Anekdote reiht sich an Anekdote, die Antipathie mancher Bands untereinander unterhält mindestens so gut wie John Lydons alias Johnny Rottens Verachtung nahezu aller Punkbands nach den Pistols. Die Musikindustrie bekommt ebenso ihr Fett ab wie die englische Regierung unter Thatcher.
Die Menge an Interviews vermittelt Authenzität, auch wenn sie sich teilweise widersprechen, da jeder aus seiner Perspektive erzählt und Dinge oft anders erlebt oder zumindest in Erinnerung hat als seine Mitstreiter oder gar andere Bands. Die informativen, zusammenfassenden Texte zu Beginn jedes Kapitels dürften allerdings etwas ausführlicher sein, um Zusammenhänge, die man sich so aus den Interviews zusammenreimen muss, klarer herauszustellen.
Dennoch ist PUNK ROCK eine Pflichtlektüre für alle, die über Punk schimpfen, davon schwärmen, alten Zeiten nachtrauern oder meinen, den einzig wahren Punk darzustellen. Was hierzulande und wahrscheinlich auch weltweit in Sachen Punkrock passiert, hat oft kaum mehr etwas mit dem zu tun, was vor über 30 Jahren in England entstand. Manches war eben nicht so, wie viele heute denken, und vieles wurde von den Punks der ersten Stunde ganz anders gesehen als Legenden glaubhaft machen wollen.
Anmerkung: John Robb ist dem Punkrock treu geblieben und ist seit 1995 Frontmann der Band Goldblade (http://www.goldblade.com/).
Die Menge an Interviews vermittelt Authenzität, auch wenn sie sich teilweise widersprechen, da jeder aus seiner Perspektive erzählt und Dinge oft anders erlebt oder zumindest in Erinnerung hat als seine Mitstreiter oder gar andere Bands. Die informativen, zusammenfassenden Texte zu Beginn jedes Kapitels dürften allerdings etwas ausführlicher sein, um Zusammenhänge, die man sich so aus den Interviews zusammenreimen muss, klarer herauszustellen.
Dennoch ist PUNK ROCK eine Pflichtlektüre für alle, die über Punk schimpfen, davon schwärmen, alten Zeiten nachtrauern oder meinen, den einzig wahren Punk darzustellen. Was hierzulande und wahrscheinlich auch weltweit in Sachen Punkrock passiert, hat oft kaum mehr etwas mit dem zu tun, was vor über 30 Jahren in England entstand. Manches war eben nicht so, wie viele heute denken, und vieles wurde von den Punks der ersten Stunde ganz anders gesehen als Legenden glaubhaft machen wollen.
Anmerkung: John Robb ist dem Punkrock treu geblieben und ist seit 1995 Frontmann der Band Goldblade (http://www.goldblade.com/).
August 14, 2025
I'm impressed with my perseverance and commitment to finishing this book, all 539 pages, since it wasn't all that enjoyable. First, it just needed to be a video documentary. This oral history had no business being a book, in my opinion, and I think who will enjoy it most is the lot of OG punks who hung out at Sex and attended those first shows at elite art schools, rehearsal spaces, and pubs. Almost half of the book was spent discussing how it all began, which was amusing at times since different people had entirely different memories of the same event, and attributed many different people, events, and places to being the "first" or the origins of the movement that was never a movement, etc. There is little that everyone agrees with when looking back to create a narrative of the origins of punk. Lots of redundancy, lots of conflicting stories, stories that were not really interesting anyway....it just wasn't great. I say it would appeal mostly to these OG punks because I was not familiar with a lot of what was being described. I had to use my phone constantly to look up slang, styles of clothing, sounds, etc. because there were barely any pictures at all...GOD, if ONLY this were a documentary so that there was audio and visual! I've seen punk documentaries, and they are great, so really, I'm a bit annoyed with myself for sticking with this book when I learned very little that enhances my understanding or will impact my life. Also, it is all based in the UK and very little of what happens in the USA is mentioned besides the Ramones, who were influential and critical and but also total drivel and unimportant, depending on whose oral history you're reading at any point in this book. Lyrics, by the way, were not at all important within these 500+ pages, nor what any band was trying to say. But I know in excruciating detail where they played, who was swapped out for whom in forming the band, which labels signed whom and how great or horrible that was, depending on whom you ask... The performers, those involved in the original scene, narrate with very limited vocabularies and keep it very surface level...you don't really get anything deep or surprising out of this. It was a delight to see what an arrogant SOB John Lydon is, but I think everyone already knew that; I now know it even more.
The book will probably be treasured by some much older people who were teens or 20-somethings in the mid-to-late seventies in the UK, but for us Americans and later generations, much of this is rubbish. I'm off to read The Story of Crass, because I imagine that will be fascinating, and in the future (aside from this book about Crass), if I learn more about punk, I will do so by watching and listening, not reading. Prepare for tedious and conflicting chronicling of events, and all of the best things about punk being totally glossed over.
I earned a paltry 5 points for Book Battle for reading a book about music, yay.
The book will probably be treasured by some much older people who were teens or 20-somethings in the mid-to-late seventies in the UK, but for us Americans and later generations, much of this is rubbish. I'm off to read The Story of Crass, because I imagine that will be fascinating, and in the future (aside from this book about Crass), if I learn more about punk, I will do so by watching and listening, not reading. Prepare for tedious and conflicting chronicling of events, and all of the best things about punk being totally glossed over.
I earned a paltry 5 points for Book Battle for reading a book about music, yay.
June 3, 2020
Three-and-a-half stars. UK punk, with three chapters each on 1976 and 1977 and one each devoted to 1978 and 1979. UK Punk burned bright and fast. It started fashionable (or anti-fashion), arty and snotty. It seemed everyone knew each other living on such a small island. According to those interviewed in this book, it quickly became a trend and lost its edge.
There are loads of names and bands I'd never heard of before who perhaps never really hit in the U.S. Or maybe time has forgotten them a bit. Regardless, I appreciate that this isn't just the big players. On the other hand, the book may have too much ground to cover by including so many voices. After a while it felt like "meanwhile, this happened...meanwhile, this happened;" earlier on, this gave a sense of punk taking over, but as the book went on dragged a bit.
There are loads of names and bands I'd never heard of before who perhaps never really hit in the U.S. Or maybe time has forgotten them a bit. Regardless, I appreciate that this isn't just the big players. On the other hand, the book may have too much ground to cover by including so many voices. After a while it felt like "meanwhile, this happened...meanwhile, this happened;" earlier on, this gave a sense of punk taking over, but as the book went on dragged a bit.
January 7, 2012
Superb: reminded me of gigs, venues, bands & individuals I'd seen, been to & met but had half forgotten over 30 odd years. Also confirms that the SPOTS gigs were not a figment of my imagination. Very sound on the distinction between middle class art school fashion victims in the first wave, and their dismissal of the more honest bands who reached the same place through convergent evolution.
Lydon & McClaren did not invent UK punk. McLaren's voice is notable for it's absense, and Lydon still holds to his conceited “there's me, and imitators of me" line, but that's Rotten for you... Titanium balls, great charismatic vocalist/front man, but not the god he deludes himself to be. Robb's intro's and footnotes are concise, accurate and relevant, without obstructing the voices of the people who in 5 odd years gave us the biggest influence on contemporary pop/rock since the Beatles
Lydon & McClaren did not invent UK punk. McLaren's voice is notable for it's absense, and Lydon still holds to his conceited “there's me, and imitators of me" line, but that's Rotten for you... Titanium balls, great charismatic vocalist/front man, but not the god he deludes himself to be. Robb's intro's and footnotes are concise, accurate and relevant, without obstructing the voices of the people who in 5 odd years gave us the biggest influence on contemporary pop/rock since the Beatles
October 23, 2014
It's more of a pub-rock book, it's very good but not really my scene. It wasn't a very quick read for me and I found my self not caring about the stories, this is mostly likely because I'm the product of the 80's NYC scene. I did learn a lot and was reminded about a few artists I had long forgotten about.
February 24, 2018
An oral history of the "punk rock" scene in the UK presented much like it's USA counterpart "Please Kill Me."
February 6, 2015
More like 3.5, I think, but I rounded up. It started a bit slow (I keep trying to care about the early pub rock scene, but I just don't) and ended a bit slow, but I thought the middle chunk was great. More splintered than Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk -- really, the more oral histories I read, the more impressed I am with that one and its strangely cohesive narrative, which is very difficult to pull off -- and faaaar more about the music than the gossip. I learned hardly any gossip! Still a pretty good read, though.
May 16, 2013
Those who are already familiar with the punk movement, bands, and particularly key people involved might enjoy this book. While most people likely know the Sex Pistols and The Clash, I for one was less familiar with all the individual musicians in the numerous other punk bands that came into being in the mid-late '70's, and as a result, I found the book format choppy and hard to follow. Consisting of snippets of comments from a large number of musicians, writers, managers, and producers, tied together in essentially a linear timeline, it lacks the cohesiveness of a single biography, and does not have enough editorial integration to tie each of the pieces together.
Want to read
August 13, 2016Why Everything You Think You Know About Punk Is Completely Wrong:
http://generation-add.blogspot.com/20...
http://generation-add.blogspot.com/20...
December 15, 2019
Is it still punk rock to read a book about punk rock? Well, it's apparently punk rock to not hire a proofreader...
May 26, 2012
Surprised at all the Morrissey references.
August 13, 2023
I have finished reading “Punk Rock: An Oral History” by John Robb.
John Robb is a musician, writer, music journalist and TV presenter. He formed the punk/alt-rock band The Membranes in 1977 and is currently the lead singer of Goldblade.
What musical influences inspired the first generation of Punk Rockers? Much of it seems at face value quite conventional with some of the earlier rockabilly generation such as Eddie Cochrane, Little Richard and then later Cliff Richard who was inspired by them. But then later in the testimonials you see more appreciation of less mainstream influences such as the Velvet Underground and The Stooges. Iggy Pop’s incendiary stage performances (more than a few which by rights should have killed or maimed him) in particular gave inspiration for those who would become Punk Rockers to make Rock and Roll more unshackled, stripped down and wild.
The first Punk Rockers declared themselves bored of the course of rock and roll in the mid 1970s. They saw the music scene then as stale and self-indulgent with the rise of Prog Rock and their songs which seemingly went on forever. In response Punk Rock delivered loud, short, sharp shocks to clear the system of Prog Rock’s endless introspection. The political troubles of the 1970s which included hyperinflation, unemployment and endless strikes also fuelled the need to channel disillusionment and defiance in another kind of music.
The Sex Pistols were the headliner band for the first wave of British Punk Rock. But the speed, style, inspiration and sound of the Sex Pistols and the bands that rose beside them were heavily influenced by the US Punk scene. The Ramones arriving in the UK led to gigs where a who is-who in British Punk Rock artist roll call of attendance. After the Ramones all British Punk artists seemed to play faster.
What was unique about the first generation of Punk Rockers was their preoccupation with not “selling out”. Many stayed on independent record labels despite multiple offers from big record companies in fiercely determined attempts to retain artistic independence. However, sometimes this came at a price. Constant touring also added pressures with volatile personalities being stuck in tour vans and buses with each other, just to keep their band visible and moving. Often this led to little time for recording. Recording was often done with a minimalist mindset, with bands conscious of not losing their raw live sound.
In a weird way I found this book had many of the advantages and faults of Punk Rock. It fiercely set it’s own direction, seemed ramshackle in structure with both pleasant and unpleasant surprises before it came to a strangely bittersweet but hopeful ending.
I didn’t always find this book to be an easy read. To be honest, I have read other Oral Histories that have managed to stay more on message and facilitate more sustained and focused ‘conversations’ between their contributors. I see the irony in asking for more disciplined from a book discussing a musical movement that thrives on being undisciplined, but still there are probably easier books to read about the same subject matter. But flipside of this is the wide number and variety of contributors in the book who hail from the more mainstream Punk brand (Sex Pistols, Clash and the Damned) to the less mainstream (Crass, The Membranes and the Rezillos etc). For diversity of opinion and immersion in Punk Rock subculture I would say this book rates very highly. It was certainly a crash course for myself who wasn’t born until 10 years after the genre’s emergence.
Much like Punk Rock itself this book is flawed and interesting, although for length it felt more like Prog Rock. I would say that with a bit more of an edit this book could have shone through a bit more for me. I also felt that the US Punk Rock movement got unfairly treated like a side issue. This would likely be contested by many Music Journalists today who would say that the US movement came first and the influences between the two movements were crucial.
Because of this issue I felt that there was a lot more of a scope for a much more ambitious book. One telling the story of how Punk Rock grew up in US cities, spread across the Atlantic, over Europe and then over the world into the music mainstream. I would assume that one could easily make a series of books about this. There was a hint of this in the “outro” at the end of the book which talked about how modern bands display their Punk Rock influences.
I will add though that this book does a very thorough and honourable job of representing UK Punk Rock outside of London, in particular highlighting it’s importance in Bristol, Newcastle, Liverpool, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Punk Rock’s story in Northern Ireland in particular is too often not told.
Maybe this book can be seen much like one of the multiple waves of Punk Rock. It burns with ambition and energy, doesn’t quite live up to it’s potential but hints at a more determined generation who will carry the torch forward.
John Robb is a musician, writer, music journalist and TV presenter. He formed the punk/alt-rock band The Membranes in 1977 and is currently the lead singer of Goldblade.
What musical influences inspired the first generation of Punk Rockers? Much of it seems at face value quite conventional with some of the earlier rockabilly generation such as Eddie Cochrane, Little Richard and then later Cliff Richard who was inspired by them. But then later in the testimonials you see more appreciation of less mainstream influences such as the Velvet Underground and The Stooges. Iggy Pop’s incendiary stage performances (more than a few which by rights should have killed or maimed him) in particular gave inspiration for those who would become Punk Rockers to make Rock and Roll more unshackled, stripped down and wild.
The first Punk Rockers declared themselves bored of the course of rock and roll in the mid 1970s. They saw the music scene then as stale and self-indulgent with the rise of Prog Rock and their songs which seemingly went on forever. In response Punk Rock delivered loud, short, sharp shocks to clear the system of Prog Rock’s endless introspection. The political troubles of the 1970s which included hyperinflation, unemployment and endless strikes also fuelled the need to channel disillusionment and defiance in another kind of music.
The Sex Pistols were the headliner band for the first wave of British Punk Rock. But the speed, style, inspiration and sound of the Sex Pistols and the bands that rose beside them were heavily influenced by the US Punk scene. The Ramones arriving in the UK led to gigs where a who is-who in British Punk Rock artist roll call of attendance. After the Ramones all British Punk artists seemed to play faster.
What was unique about the first generation of Punk Rockers was their preoccupation with not “selling out”. Many stayed on independent record labels despite multiple offers from big record companies in fiercely determined attempts to retain artistic independence. However, sometimes this came at a price. Constant touring also added pressures with volatile personalities being stuck in tour vans and buses with each other, just to keep their band visible and moving. Often this led to little time for recording. Recording was often done with a minimalist mindset, with bands conscious of not losing their raw live sound.
In a weird way I found this book had many of the advantages and faults of Punk Rock. It fiercely set it’s own direction, seemed ramshackle in structure with both pleasant and unpleasant surprises before it came to a strangely bittersweet but hopeful ending.
I didn’t always find this book to be an easy read. To be honest, I have read other Oral Histories that have managed to stay more on message and facilitate more sustained and focused ‘conversations’ between their contributors. I see the irony in asking for more disciplined from a book discussing a musical movement that thrives on being undisciplined, but still there are probably easier books to read about the same subject matter. But flipside of this is the wide number and variety of contributors in the book who hail from the more mainstream Punk brand (Sex Pistols, Clash and the Damned) to the less mainstream (Crass, The Membranes and the Rezillos etc). For diversity of opinion and immersion in Punk Rock subculture I would say this book rates very highly. It was certainly a crash course for myself who wasn’t born until 10 years after the genre’s emergence.
Much like Punk Rock itself this book is flawed and interesting, although for length it felt more like Prog Rock. I would say that with a bit more of an edit this book could have shone through a bit more for me. I also felt that the US Punk Rock movement got unfairly treated like a side issue. This would likely be contested by many Music Journalists today who would say that the US movement came first and the influences between the two movements were crucial.
Because of this issue I felt that there was a lot more of a scope for a much more ambitious book. One telling the story of how Punk Rock grew up in US cities, spread across the Atlantic, over Europe and then over the world into the music mainstream. I would assume that one could easily make a series of books about this. There was a hint of this in the “outro” at the end of the book which talked about how modern bands display their Punk Rock influences.
I will add though that this book does a very thorough and honourable job of representing UK Punk Rock outside of London, in particular highlighting it’s importance in Bristol, Newcastle, Liverpool, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Punk Rock’s story in Northern Ireland in particular is too often not told.
Maybe this book can be seen much like one of the multiple waves of Punk Rock. It burns with ambition and energy, doesn’t quite live up to it’s potential but hints at a more determined generation who will carry the torch forward.
February 5, 2019
A very good history of the punk movement. I found the early-going when they're talking about their influences informative but a little repetitive, and then the middle part a little disjointed, but overall, I really learned a lot. I knew mostly the big bands - the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, UK Subs. I had heard of The Slits but didn't know anything about them, and had heard of The Stranglers but didn't know they were from the same era. Ditto for The Jam. And then there were tons of bands that I'd never heard of that were fairly big names.
Robb does a great job of following the evolution of the movement, so you see how it became New Romantic, Goth, New Wave, etc. He did a good job of explaining Oi music - I had heard it was a right-wing, racist skinhead music and nothing else, so it was a bit of an eyeopener to hear that wasn't the reality. I really feel I've learned a lot about the scene that I never knew before - especially how small it started - the same people going to all the same shows. And it was interesting to see mention of people like Ian Astbury as being an earlier follower of Crass. I always forget that all these people would have been influenced or grown up during the punk years. I've seen Boy George talk about how punk affected him and thought really? But it makes sense that if you were living in England at the time it would have effected you. And punk's heyday was just before the dawn of the '80s, so of course it would have an impact.
My only two complaints are that the final chapter, Outro, was a little too overdone - "punk is everywhere!" and that John Lydon is a prick. Obviously, you can't avoid quoting him, but I find he's so self-absorbed and full of himself that he can't give anyone else any credit for anything. His quotes were probably the worst parts of the book. I read his autobiography at one point and he was the same in that. Just a self-absorbed pretentious jerk.
But those aside, I'd heartily recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn more about the English punk scene.
Robb does a great job of following the evolution of the movement, so you see how it became New Romantic, Goth, New Wave, etc. He did a good job of explaining Oi music - I had heard it was a right-wing, racist skinhead music and nothing else, so it was a bit of an eyeopener to hear that wasn't the reality. I really feel I've learned a lot about the scene that I never knew before - especially how small it started - the same people going to all the same shows. And it was interesting to see mention of people like Ian Astbury as being an earlier follower of Crass. I always forget that all these people would have been influenced or grown up during the punk years. I've seen Boy George talk about how punk affected him and thought really? But it makes sense that if you were living in England at the time it would have effected you. And punk's heyday was just before the dawn of the '80s, so of course it would have an impact.
My only two complaints are that the final chapter, Outro, was a little too overdone - "punk is everywhere!" and that John Lydon is a prick. Obviously, you can't avoid quoting him, but I find he's so self-absorbed and full of himself that he can't give anyone else any credit for anything. His quotes were probably the worst parts of the book. I read his autobiography at one point and he was the same in that. Just a self-absorbed pretentious jerk.
But those aside, I'd heartily recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn more about the English punk scene.
February 8, 2018
Robb's epic-length (almost 600-page) history of punk, published in 2006, is different from competing books in a number of ways. It begins with 1950s rock'n'roll and ends in 1984, not 1978 or 1979. Robb is refreshingly unconcerned with hipness: he interviews members of bands like the U.K. Subs, Vibrators and Stranglers, who are generally left out of the punk canon. John Lydon gets plenty of room to complain entertainingly (he doesn't even like the Fall wholeheartedly!), but he's far from the most dominant voice, and members of the Damned may get more space than him. This is the only book I've read about punk to take Oi! seriously, and it's also the only one not devoted to the genre's politics to give anarcho-punk much room. But it also goes into the genre's roots; it's amusing to read about some of the older musicians' days as hippies, and Robb gives credit to British bands like the Pink Fairies, Hawkwind and Edgar Broughton Band - as well as more obvious precursors like T. Rex and David Bowie - for bridging the gap. This really should've been called BRITISH PUNK ROCK: AN ORAL HISTORY; although Robb interviews Irish, French and Australian musicians, he never talks to any Americans. Nevertheless, while Lydon and a few other artists spout off "everything from America is crap" bullshit, Robb gives credit where it's due, especially to the Ramones' first album as an inspiration to British punks (whom, he claims, immediately sped up their tempos.) It may help that Robb himself is both a musician (in the '80s indie rock band the Membranes, who declared "death to trad rock") and a critic.
February 8, 2024
if you need an extremely exhaustive history of punk's beginnings from the late 60s into 1984-this is for you!
at a whopping 500+ pages, this book has SO MUCH information. almost too much at times. while it was very interesting to see the rise of punk from people within the first wave, it was focused way too much on it. you don't even get into the 80s until ~300 pages in. it also primarily focuses on only the british side, very briefly mentioning american bands and i can probably count on one hand the mentions of any other country. but i get it, robb is british and so were most of the people interviewed.
speaking of people, this is something that isn't at fault to the author, but every time john lydon said ANYTHING it took me so long to get through. his pretentiousness is the biggest flaw in this book, it's honestly the only reason i took longer to finish it. but that's just him, i hate the guy.
the rest was fine, i wish that they delved more into women in early punk. there was really only a couple sections despite having several women interviewed-and one of them was only focused on the sex appeal of women in punk bands which left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
do i think this should have been as long as it is? probably not, it definitely could have been condensed to give room for more info post-1984 but hey it's what it says on the tin. an oral history of punk rock.
at a whopping 500+ pages, this book has SO MUCH information. almost too much at times. while it was very interesting to see the rise of punk from people within the first wave, it was focused way too much on it. you don't even get into the 80s until ~300 pages in. it also primarily focuses on only the british side, very briefly mentioning american bands and i can probably count on one hand the mentions of any other country. but i get it, robb is british and so were most of the people interviewed.
speaking of people, this is something that isn't at fault to the author, but every time john lydon said ANYTHING it took me so long to get through. his pretentiousness is the biggest flaw in this book, it's honestly the only reason i took longer to finish it. but that's just him, i hate the guy.
the rest was fine, i wish that they delved more into women in early punk. there was really only a couple sections despite having several women interviewed-and one of them was only focused on the sex appeal of women in punk bands which left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
do i think this should have been as long as it is? probably not, it definitely could have been condensed to give room for more info post-1984 but hey it's what it says on the tin. an oral history of punk rock.
July 2, 2023
this is pretty much how the title sets out it's stall; interviews with most of, if not all, of the main players in the original punk movement and beyond, where they explain their influences, who was in which band with who, who didn't like who and what points did they think everyone else sold out. The bits I found most interesting were those people who don't normally feature in such histories, those bands that have been lost to the established view of punk and / or those involved in scenes outside the London area; The Adverts, Mark Perry, The Pop Group, even Stiff Little Fingers, The Virgin Prunes and those involved in the Irish and Northern Irish scenes. Some of the major players have been interviewed so many times and some of them have established "interview personas", in these cases something a bit more probing might have got them to drop their guard and be more open (I'd like an interview with the John Lydon who cried when discussing Sid Vicious in the Filth and the Fury for a change). A worthy addition to the library of anyone interested in how punk came to be. As I am a fan of Robb's writing I would have appreciated more of that in between the interviews, more like The Art of Darkness, rather than just the interviews themselves.
November 20, 2025
Wow! I haven’t read anything this exhaustive and fascinating about punk since Please Kill Me (NY Punk) and We Got the Neutron Bomb (LA Punk), Robb talks to all the key players and by sifting through their different perspectives, you get a great idea of what it was like to be at the birth of English and Northern Irish Punk (for some reason Scotland does not factor). I was a huge punk fan right from the beginning after reading about the Pistols in Trouser Press and seeing the Midnight Special on Jan. 1, 1977 featuring the Pistols, Clash and Damned. Their rise and fall is all here, as well as some much-deserved attention given to The Stranglers, Eddie and Hot Rods, Dr. Feelgood and other influential acts. Punk happened in a flash, and we are still finding out new things about the key players. The impact of that movement lives on fifty years later and our fascination with it only seems to grow.
March 2, 2022
I had very little clue when it comes to the slang used or who most of the contributors were, but I suppose that is to be expected when I've only really listened to punk music casually and have never really explored the culture of it all. This book very much assumes you know what everyone is talking about, tossing about opinions in the foot notes and everybody proclaiming somebody else to be the influence, the catalyst that kicked off the UK punk scene. That being said, I enjoyed flipping through this book and "hearing" opinions from the people who were actaually involved. It was a fascinating glimpse into a bygone era of rebellion and growth and music and self-expression and art.
August 5, 2020
A fascinating, entertaining history of the UK punk scene from the many horses' mouths of the scene. Comprehensive interviews with everyone from Mick Jones to John Lydon to Tony Wilson to Poly Styrene to Colin Newman to J.J. Burnell to Billy Bragg. Name any major group of the UK punk scene and they're mentioned in here, if not actively speaking for themselves. An invaluable document of a fascinating scene.
November 26, 2024
Second time I have read this and enjoyed it as much as the first time. The late 70s was a great time for me with discovering punk. What I liked about it was that your skin colour, religion leanings, anything slightly different, didn't matter. Saw many bands, pogoing furiously, bought many singles and albums and just enjoyed every second of it. Great book.
September 5, 2017
Kind of a sloppy book, and not totally cohesive. But Robb talks to the right people, emphasizes the importance of women throughout, and does a good job of exploring origins, setting the stage and then letting the speakers have their say.
April 14, 2018
LOVED reading about the bands' early musical influences, and what the music scene was really like in the late 60's, early 70's.
December 28, 2018
a chill read about a pretty fascinating moment in rock music history, I enjoyed the focus on different cities, different countries and the wealth of influences of punk
February 13, 2019
A fascinating, engaging yet comprehensive history of the all-too-brief punk rock movement, its influences, and its legacy edited by someone who actually was there. A must for any music fan
September 12, 2019
A look at punk rock in Britain a great read for those of us who love the music
April 10, 2020
weirdly almost as long as Gravity's Rainbow and it took the same kind of dedication to the subject to continue through the end but pretty good, nice work John Robb
December 1, 2024
A real historical glimpse into early punk rock that I knew nothing about!
August 21, 2025
actually i couldn't finish it
the thing about oral histories is that pretty much everyone says the same thing.
the thing about oral histories is that pretty much everyone says the same thing.
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