Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk

Rating:
Summary: GENUINE ARTICLE PUNK HISTORY
Review: Oral history is my favorite, the words a biographer usually draws upon, the source, and this book is an easy-as-pie, page-turning read, taking you from proto-punk Detroit and NYC beginnings (i.e. Iggy Pop, the MC5, the New York Dolls and the Velvet Underground/Andy Warhol's Factory) through to the many nerves that branched off to sickening endings. I love this book. It gets the stories from their source: quotes from those who were there when Punk happened. Introduced to many bands I'd never heard of, PLEASE KILL ME served as a guide through the later 70s lower Manhattan lore of CBGBs and Max's Kansas City, and -- of course -- the happenings across the Atlantic, where the Clash, the Damned and the Sex Pistols were among the first. I wanted more after I was finished. It's a good place to start and an excellent place to check if you already have a Punk background. In the back of the book there's a fitting picture of William Burroughs in front of big words, "Life's a Killer." I thought long and hard (beyond his circumstantial Bunker residency, which located him physically near the heart of the scene) about why his picture was at the back. You should too. Also, I really enjoyed meeting and learning about Lester Bangs' part in the story. Really enjoyed this one. I can think of no reason to give it any less than five stars.

Rating:
Summary: Wildly entertaining
Review: A rollicking great read of the road from late 60's bands like the Velvets and the MC 5 to the original glam band, the NY Dolls, to NY punk and beyond as told by those who were there. Centered in decadant and decaying NYC of the time, the stories of drugs, music, artistic inspiration, sexual liasons, and classic "I was there" stories about performances (from the first Ramones show, Iggy's glass act, and the NY Dolls at the Mercer) this book is a snapshot of time gone by. At the same time, given the way pop culture works, so many of today's bands owe their existence to these pioneers, many/most of whom never made much money at their craft.

With the passing of Dee Dee and Joey Ramone in recent years, and icons like Johnny Thunders and Nico before them, this book's snapshot of the late 60's and early 70's takes on something of a bittersweet edge. A wonderful book you may be tempted to read again and again.

Rating:
Summary: Punk=short and to the point
Review: I loved this book because it tells you what happened straight from the horses' mouth. Legs and Gillian use these people's memories and stories to paint a picture of New York City and punk rock in the seventies. A must have for any punk: young and old!

Rating:
Summary: Blunt, crude and utterly original, the best punk history yet
Review: Over the years there have been so many people and bands who have claimed to carry the "punk" banner that it's essence and spirit has been diluted into marketing babble. This book sets the record straight on the origins, practitioners and locations that defined what punk was all about. The narrative here is unadulterated and incredibly engrossing.

While you may think about some of these icons differently after reading this book, you cannot deny the incendiary creativity and raw lust for life in these New York and Detroit punk pioneers. At times simultaneously hilarious, repulsive and depressing, this book is a fascinating historical trip through the '60's and '70's. Say what you will, but these folks walked the talk like no one else in rock and roll before or since.

Finally, the bare bones, tell-it-in-their-own-words style here is refreshing and free of over-interpretation. Like punk itself, it avoids hyperbole and reflection and just tells it like it was, warts and all. Thanks to McNeil & McCain for such a terrific read. Some recent artists who claim to be punk should read this and just be ashamed of themselves...

Rating:
Summary: "It's about gesture, and shock tactic" (Mary Harron)
Review: I wanted to read a comprehensive history of Punk Music, so I ordered a copy of "Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk." I imagined that I was going to read a book that started with a sentence along the lines of "Punk Rock music started in..." blah, blah, blah. So I was initially a little disappointed in the format of "Please Kill Me", but as I read more, the book's style grew on me.

"Please Kill Me" is written in anecdotal style with absolutely no editorial comments. The book is essentially quote after quote from the movers and shakers in the music industry. Contributors include--the musicians, their girlfriends and boyfriends, groupies, wives, record producers, roadies, journalists, and hangers-on.

My purpose was to learn more about Punk Rock, and "Please Kill Me" certainly helped me to achieve that goal. Before reading this book, my impression was that Punk Rock started with the Sex Pistols. I learned I was wrong--Punk Magazine, for example was in existence prior to the Sex Pistols. The book begins with quotes about the music industry beginning in 1965 and traces the roots of Punk--the major bands--the musicians, and the book concludes in the mid-90s. There's a lot of information here about the Doors, Iggy Pop, the Ramones, the New York Dolls, and many, many others. The book concentrates on the music scene in America, and the American roots of Punk before moving on to explore the British Punk scene. Quotes from Malcolm McLaren are quite explicit when he describes how he was influenced by his management of the New York Dolls. McLaren describes his desire to take the "politics of boredom" back to England, and he also cites the influence of Richard Hell on the Sex Pistols: "this image of this guy, this spiky hair, everything about it--there was no question that I'd take it back to London." The book includes quotes regarding the differences between British and American Punk. Some of the best analyses come from Mary Harron (Punk Magazine) and Malcolm McLaren (manager of the New York Dolls and the Sex Pistols).

The book also spent quite a bit of time explaining the club scene in America--and I read probably more than I wanted to read about who vomited in whose toilet. Some of the quotes were not very important--but others were very nicely linked (and relevant) to others.

I couldn't help but find myself gathering impressions of many of the high-profile musicians--Lou Reed. Patti Smith, Debbie Harry and Iggy Pop, for example. A great deal was said about each one, and after a while, certain trends became apparent.

At the end of the book is a "Cast of Characters." Everyone who is mentioned in the book is alphabetically listed here--along with a short explanation of who they were, their involvement, and the date of the death (if applicable). Many people quoted in the book are now dead. I'm rather surprised any are still alive after reading about the drug and alcohol binges. The "Cast of Characters" is invaluable. When I first started reading the book, I was completely lost, and I had to flip to the back of the book so that I could place the quote, but after a while, I didn't have to do this quite as much. The "Cast of Characters" is a great source for additional reading too. I picked up several more book suggestions from this resource. If you want to learn more about Punk music or the music scene, I heartily recommend "Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk."--displacedhuman

Rating:
Summary: Great read.
Review: Please Kill Me is a fantastic and highly entertaining exploration of the early American punk rock'n'roll scene. This is the REAL history of punk baby! Killer interviews with the true heroes of punk about the crazy exploits and wild times in mid to late 70's New York. Please Kill Me features lots of interviews with members of The New York Dolls, Heartbreakers,Ramones, The Dictators, the founders of Punk magazine and many, many more people that were part of the CBGBs scene.

Rating:
Summary: Blunt, crude and utterly original, the best punk history yet
Review: Over the years there have been so many people and bands who have claimed to carry the "punk" banner that it's essence and spirit has been diluted into marketing babble. This book sets the record straight on the origins, practitioners and locations that defined what punk was all about. The narrative here is unadulterated and incredibly engrossing.

While you may think about some of these icons differently after reading this book, you cannot deny the incendiary creativity and raw lust for life in these New York and Detroit punk pioneers. At times simultaneously hilarious, repulsive and depressing, this book is a fascinating historical trip through the '60's and '70's. Say what you will, but these folks walked the talk like no one else in rock and roll before or since.

Finally, the bare bones, tell-it-in-their-own-words style here is refreshing and free of over-interpretation. Like punk itself, it avoids hyperbole and reflection and just tells it like it was, warts and all. Thanks to McNeil & McCain for such a terrific read. Some recent artists who claim to be punk should read this and just be ashamed of themselves...

Rating:
Summary: Read it before you die...
Review: Although it's occasionally a bit boring, this book is easily one of the best 'punk' reads on the market (or off it, for that matter). Oral biographies are usually easier to swallow, and in any event, there's enough information from many of the original sources to validate the book's existance.

In other words, it wasn't some hack writer who had nothing better to do except rummage through morgue files and try to make a buck off the names of some dead junkies. Although I was never personally a fan, the VU coverage is particularly impressive, and the bit about Miles Davis snorting up with Iggy & the Stooges is worth the cost of the book alone.

I don't know that the twenty-or-so last pages were worth putting in; they read like outtakes of the book that were left out for simply being mediocre stories. But the respective coverage of each scene represented is very even-handed, and mostly everybody comes out of it whole.

Even if they don't all come out alive.

Rating:
Summary: Better to burn out than fade away
Review: "Please Kill Me" is a beautifully arranged oral history of punk music in America. Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain are heroes for clipping together hundreds of interviews and making it not only coherant (it reads like everyone is in the same room together), but visceral - when Stiv Bators gets in a knife fight on the street or the Ramones pee into Johnny Rotten's soda, you're right there with them. It's a great read, and totally entertaining.

And something else, too. McNeil and McCain have the benefit of hindsight - they didn't arrange this book until long after punk was no more. The writing during the glory years have a wonderful, kinetic urgency to them - but as the music started to get co-opted, and people started to die as a result of hard living, the book becomes genuinely moving and heartfelt. And the fact that so much time is spent on "forgotten" artists is totally heartwarming - and completely in the spirit of the music, and the movement.

You can skip around "Please Kill Me," but it's a much better read from cover to cover. Read it, and emit a deep, mournful sigh at the next Blink 182 song you hear.

Rating:
Summary: Total must-read, perfect for the punk-obsessed. (Read: me.)
Review: I loved this book, it's a total gem. I first bought it because my music history textbook is incomplete and inaccurate when it comes to punk music.(It actually spelled Siouxie Sioux's name as 'Susie Sue'.) It is completely fun... (I didn't ever compare two of my favorite songs- "Pretty Vacant" to "Blank Generation", but it makes sense now. And reading about Lou Reed is quite entertaining.) I only give this four stars because I personally find Bebe Buell the most irritating woman alive, not counting Madonna, of course.