
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk (Paperback)
Legs McNeil (author), Gillian McCain (author)Published: 03/07/1997

A turbo-charged, expletive filled blast through the heyday of US punk rock, Please Kill Me is populated by icons of the scene and assorted hedonistic hangers-on. This is oral history as electrifying as a fuzz-toned guitar riff.
What Britain refined, America defined. Assembled by two key figures at the heart of the movement and told through the voices of musicians, artists, iconoclastic reporters and entrepreneurial groupies, Please Kill Me is the full decadent story of the American punk scene, through the early years of Andy Warhol's Factory to the New York underground of Max's Kansas City and later, its heyday at CBGB's, spiritual home to the Ramones, Talking Heads, Television and Blondie.
Please Kill Me goes backstage and behind apartment doors to chronicle the sex, drugs and power struggles that were the very fabric of the American punk community, to the time before piercing and tattoos became commonplace and when every concert, new band and fashion statement marked an absolute first. From Iggy Pop and Lou Reed to the Clash and the Sex Pistols (the first time around), McNeil and McCain document a time of glorious self-destruction and perverse innocence - possibly the last time so many will so much fun in the pursuit of excess.
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
ISBN: 9780349108803
Number of pages: 544
Weight: 420 g
Dimensions: 187 x 125 x 37 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Comes as close to capturing the coruscated brilliance and vein-puncturing style of the Blank Generation as the written word is likely to get' - Mojo
'Archly contentious and enormously enjoyable' - The Sunday Times
'Monumental and intensely entertaining' - The Independent on Sunday
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“Essential reading for those interested by New York Punk.”
There's one mistake I am aware of in this text: Mick Jones -in the index of names- wasn't a bass guitarist but rather a lead guitarist for The Clash. A texted oral history sounds a little contradictory but... More
“One for any music or punk fan!”
To start with I wasn’t keen on the writing style, however once I got into the flow I loved the use of quotes, interviews and newspapers articles to narrate the punk movement. As someone who’s born after I’ve enjoyed... More
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