Punk: The Definitive Record of a Revolution

by Stephen Colegrave, Chris Sullivan

Recreating the complete story of the punk phenomenon — including where it came from and what it turned into — Punk is a massive and visually stunning record of five years that changed the world: from 1975 to 1979. Collecting the testimony of more than 260 artists, record producers, designers, and journalists — including John Cale, Debbie Harry, Joe Strummer, Maureen Tucker, Gerard Malanga, Lou Reed, Johnny Rotten, Danny Fields, Legs McNeil, Bob Gruen, David Byrne, Iggy Pop, Tommy Ramone, William S. Burroughs, Terry Southern, Cherry Vanilla, and Malcolm McLaren, former manager and ringleader of the Sex Pistols — Punk brings to life the profound effect punk music had on global popular culture in the words of those who created it. With reverberations in style, fashion, attitude and philosophy, the birth of punk music released the greatest shockwaves in the popular culture since The Beatles. Punk tells the story through the words of the people who were closely tied to the mania and through hundreds of contemporaneous color and black-and-white photographs.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Punk, History, Rock N Roll, Photography, Journalism

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Kim Annabella · Rating 1 out of 5]

shit, a shitty badly written.... well honestly a hardly written at all book. Somehow believes punk to have originated with warhol and studio 54, hello pop art and disco there was nothing much punk about that; what about dadaism and nihilism??


Also, it is messy, spends whole sections on Malcolm mclaren and viv Westwood, only to repeat the same later on, repeatedly dredges up Siouxie Sioux only to tell some shock story, nothing much about the bands aside from sex pistols who basically it is about and i know old punks and pretty much the consensus is they were the popular side of it, and crap at that, also briefly mentions the ramones, the clash & the damned (who i like but the book refers to as a cartoon of a band, and has nothing to say about female bands (aside from the obvious debbie harry and lydia lunch i suppose bc they was photogenic), or curiously enough the fans aside from branding them as "posers" when honestly...what else is a 15 to 17 y/o blank slate trying on a movement going to be.


I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I thought it would be full of interviews, but it only features poorly chosen excerpts from them,his is the literary equivalent of a cock tease, and random in the worst way.

[Jerry]

heavy

[Andrew Benzinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough and entertaining look at the roots of punk in the late 70's. Some of these photos and tidbits are pure gold for historians, musicians and plain curious people. Even if some of the commentary veers into gatekeeper-isms, it's somewhat unavoidable considering the unique spirit of the movement and the kind of people interviewed.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

One excellent perk of working in a library is that sometimes I get to order books which are right up my alley. Excellent book about the background and leadup of the punk era in the 70s. Full of quotes, interviews and awsome photos. Highly recommend for any punks.

[Chesney1587 · Rating 2 out of 5]

everything written in the other community comments about redundance and self-centered-ness is true. But at least the book triggered some nice-music sessions: "Irgendwas strahlte Punk aus, was zum Mitmachen anregte, man gründete eine Band oder ein Fanzine." (p 153) I wanna be a DJ...

[Angela Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

The pictures were nice, but I felt like the writing could've been better. A lot of focus on the Sex Pistols and constant repeat stories about Siouxie Sioux being like the female Johnny Rotten.

[Madame Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of ruins the ethos of punk.

[Brendan Letizia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing layout and pictures. Definitely earns the title of "definitive"

[Alexandra the Great · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes my heart sing. It's not perfect by any means, and definitely not definitive (Joan Jett, for one, had better be included in any record of Punk that wants to call itself "definitive" and unfortunately she's nowhere to be found here. Also, I truly don't remember much mention of the California scene, except maybe in passing, or the East Coast hardcore scene.) I did really appreciate the inclusion of hip hop at the end, because while it wasn't Punk, groups like Run-DMC and Public Enemy certainly were punk.

There's a bit too much Andy Warhol in here for my taste though.

[Ed Wagemann]

Why Everything You Think You Know About Punk Is Completely Wrong:
http://generation-add.blogspot.com/20...

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A monolith that's tough to house (depending on your bookshelf), this is my pick for the must-own book on its subject that has pictures. (The superb England's Dreaming is heavy on text but sparse on photos, if it even has any at all; I read it years ago, so forgive me if my memory is hazy.) What we have here is an exhaustive travelogue through one of music's most divisive forms, and every page of it is crammed with fascinating and compelling details. I cannot recommend it enough.

[Tom Hitchner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Often interesting, but hampered by the authors' prejudices. Bands they don't care for get one page each, and the authors have the annoying habit of putting their own opinions in the book as objective-sounding quotes, then finding a bunch of other quotes that say the same thing, creating the illusion of consensus.

[Dx-xb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories centralized about the music genre known as punk rock. I found it very interesting and humorous. I appreciated the diversity of the people and bands covered in this book. One infamous incident (I won't give anything away) involving Wayne County was the highlight of the book for me.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Punk - record of a revolution" ist in der Größe einer LP gehalten und ist voll an wunderbaren Fotos der frühen Punkzeit. Die Texte sind meist aus dem "Please Kill Me"-Buch übernnommen. Der Punkt an "Punk - record of a revolution" sind klar die Fotos einer teenage rebellion.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oi

[Afroditi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every page is a history chapter!

My only personal objection is that i totally disagree with the writer. The bands he hates are my favorite. But then again i never got to live the punk '77 so...

[Neekro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some cool pics but the story through quotes and conversations wears thin quick,

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love punk, so I am biased, but I loved the book. I loved the stories, the pictures, and the memories it brought back. There is nothing better to make a middle aged chick feel 17 again.

[Jeff Gunter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very nice photos. Period.

[S.R. Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful look into the life, times, and characters involved with a movement that is inspirational and, in many ways, vastly important to the world of today.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

great pictures