UK Decay

[werewolf]

"77 The Year of Punk and New Wave" New Punk Book

[Pete Brennan]

I was given a book for xmas called Pumk Diary The Ultimate Trainspotters guide to Underground Rock 1970-1982.(Backbeat books www.backbeat.com)

Its fairly huge with over 700 pages and is effectivelly a history of the whole era in a daily diary format.

UK Decay have entries for Jan 9 1980 - Black ep
April 29 1980 - Peel Session
27 August 1980 - Unwind
18 Feb 1981 - Unexpected Guest
5 August 1981 - Peel Session
3 Oct 1981 - Sexual
23 Oct 1981 - For Madman Only LP
18 March 1982 - Punk and Disordely LP
15 Jan 1982 - A Fresh Selection
2 August 1982 - Rising from the Dead.

The book also includes a CD of radio interviews held with various artists including ramones, REM,.Damned, XTC, Adam Ant from the 80's.

Its informative and nostalgic at times. The sort of book you can pick up anytime and open it at anypage. The sheer volume of info can make the book heavy going at times but in short bursts it's quite readable.

[Pete Brennan]

Punk Diary
The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock, 1970-1982

By George Gimarc
750 pages, 7 3/8 x 9 1/4
Trade Paper w/CD
B&W illustrations throughout
ISBN: 0-87930-848-6
Publication Date: August, 2005
Availability: Ships within 24 hours

$24.95

The complete, inside guide to the underground music scene of the 1970's and early '80s

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Punk Diary is a day-by-day account of exactly how this historic and mythologized era came to pass. Here's all the data, important and trivial, presented to you just as it unfolded through an astounding 13 years. The early '70s were a dreary time for music. The latest thing seemed to be introspective singer-songwriters who poured their souls into convoluted lyrics and strummy-strummy noodling, or the ponderous, overproduced hogwash of Queen, Genesis, Yes, and their ilk. There was nothing that the average kid could hope to identify with. They couldn't participate. What was needed was to roll back the clock to the mid '60s when garage bands could plunk out a few raw chords and produce a rattle that would send parents running for their earplugs. By the time 1975 came around, the stage was not only set for a revolution in music, the players were already in the wings, warming up.

There is no other book that so clearly shows how all the pieces fit together, or that lets you be your own rock analyst armed with an expert's fact file. No opinions here, only the day-to-day reality, just as if you were living it all over again, or for the very first time.

"It's a top-notch book."

—Rolling Stone magazine
"The book is obviously well-researched, and is surely the largest gathering of material on the subject."

—Vintage Guitar magazine
"Essential for every punk fanatic."

—Revolver magazine
"....a fabulously, trainspotterishly complete blow-by-blow spanning twelve years."

—East Bay Express
"Essential."

—Harp magazine
"Provides an excellent history of the punk movement."

—Goldmine magazine
"Punk Diary is exhaustive, over-the-top and brilliant."

—South Bend Tribune
"The priceless CD of live interviews helps the musicians come alive."

—Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Punk Diary is by far the best piece of work on the subject that I've ever laid my eyes on."

—Zero magazine


George Gimarc, author of Punk Diary, Post Punk Diary, and Hollywood Hi-Fi, has worked in radio for 30 years. In 1977 he created The Rock & Roll Alternative, one of America's first alternative radio programs. He lives in Rowlett, Texas.



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