Vacant: A Diary of the Punk Years 1976-1979

by Nils Stevenson, Ray Stevenson (Photographer)

From its beginnings at World's End, King's Road, London, where Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood turned art into fashion and fashion into life from their shop SEX, punk sent shock waves of anarchistic music, attitude, fashion, and style through Europe, the United States, and beyond with a force that is still at work at the end of the century. Nils and Ray Stevenson were there from the start. More graphically than any other writer, Nils traces the roots of the experience that lay at the heart of "We had no regard for 'authenticity.' We owned it and we manipulated it with an irreverence that was previously unheard of. . . . Punk was a cage to go wild in." The raucous reality of the unfolding story is recreated month by month in Ray's riveting photographs, accompanied by his brother's startlingly frank diary entries and handwritten comments from others who were part of the scene. McLaren and Westwood, the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Clash, the Buzzcocks, the Slits, the Stranglers, and their fellow renegades from across the Atlantic--Richard Hell, the New York Dolls, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, and Debbie Harry--all come alive and kicking off the page. The first book to capture the immediacy and excitement of the original punk, this is a must-buy for all fans of punk, neo-punk, and the distinctive British music and fashion scenes.

Genres: Music, Punk

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1999

About the author

Nils Stevenson was the brother of photographer Ray Stevenson and, as well as managing Siouxsie & the Banshees, worked with Vivian Westwood, Malcom McLaren, the Sex Pistols, Neneh Cherry, Don Letts and many others.

Read his obituary at:
http://www.untiedundone.com/obit.html

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a brief look via photographs and entries from Nils Stevenson’s diary at the burgeoning London punk scene from 1976-1979