ALL TOGETHER NOW

I just read a really good couple of lines in a book. "Everyone talked loud, smoked and drank, and made outrageous claims about what might happen and what they might do. And somehow, through shitty jobs and asshole bosses, we found time to rehearse and places to perform those half baked songs." That's John Doe of X, talking about the late seventies punk scene in L.A. circa '77-'79, It sounds like the beginning of every scene ever, but there is a difference. The beginning of most early punk scenes were considerably more DIY than other scenes, both before and after. In an era when word of mouth literally meant word of mouth. Shows, parties, records stores, and fanzines. That was the internet.

Doe just put out a book, Under the Big Black Sun, written partly by him, with chapters by others who were around at that time, including Exene Cervenka, Chris D, Pleasant Gehman, Mike Watt, Dave Alvin, a couple Go-Gos, and others, It's a good read. Some of them can write, some can't, and a couple seem a little self-absorbed, but it's all held together in purpose. Thirty some odd years ago the purpose was getting heard, now it's making sure everyone knows how it happened. Two miles uphill in the snow, bitches.

Here's a link to the first X 45, an appearance on Letterman a couple years later, and a link to the page for the book. You can even get an audio book version, voiced by the contributors themselves. That'd be kind of novel. I don't know. It might be kind of wrong.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
X - We're Desperate mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it.
X - Adult Books mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto.
Video:
X - Breathless at YouTube Song starts at 2:33. David Letterman 1983
The book:
Under the Big Black Sun