Rating: 
Summary: thoroughly engrossing - rock stars de-mythologized
Review: It's interesting how "punk" means so many things to so many people. To some, it is a triumph of substance over style; to others, the exact opposite. This book starts at the roots of US/UK punk rock and works it's way up, and it's a fascinating read into the often sad world of the rock star life.Since every band in this book is pretty famous and well-known, the whole account is like a fairy tale, with bands drifting from gig to gig to album to album without much mind; for most of the participants in this saga, the objective is sex and drugs, usually in the opposite order. The after the fact musings by Wayne Kramer of the MC5 and Iggy Pop and Ron Asheton on the Stooges heyday is worth the price of admission alone; Asheton's remembrance of snorting coke alongside Miles Davis is a bizarre image I can't get out of my head, a real mix of eras and genres, where for all of these different musical icons, drugs are the bottom line. if you read this book without having heard any of these bands, I can't imagine coming away with any interest in hearing any of their music, since it is so obvious how little attention was paid to the music. However, if you know something about the punk world of the late 60's through the late 70's (MC5, Stooges, NY Dolls, Lou Reed, Heartbreakers/Johnny Thunders, Bowie, Patti Smith, Jim Carroll, Ramones, Dead Boys, Sex Pistols, Clash, Dictators, etc.), this book is absolutely essential reading.
Rating:
Summary: punk: the real deal
Review: Please Kill Me is an informative and truly captivating read. It really gets right in there and seperates fact from myth while still feeding your rocknroll fantasies. This novel is a great read for not only those of us who love punk but also for those of us who are interested in humanity. It is funny, absurd (in the best sense), thrilling, gritty and brutally heartbreaking at pivotal moments. The most emotionally compelling secion of the book was the relationship between johnny thunders and sable starr. I loved how they loved eachother but it was so intense that it was almost destructive. I also found it quite interesting that she had this whole big shot groupie image going on, but that just by loving her johnny thunders brought out all of her vulnerability. It was also quite clear that johnny loved her but that he didn't know how to handle her. small sections of the book such as that bring these legendary rock charachters down to a much more human level. Overall, Please Kill me gives the reader a general sense of where punk came from and what it meant. If someone randomly tells you that the Velvet underground influenced Anti-Flag you might smile and nod, but you wouldn't really know what they meant. This novel helps fill that void while providing you with pages of true accounts that you will not be able to put down
Rating:
Summary: When the music mattered...
Review: "Please Kill Me" is an invaluable record of what the 70's were really like, & why the music that came to be known as punk was inevitable & absolutely necessary. The authors (who were part of the scene as publishers of the first fanzine "Punk") let the musicians & scenesters tell the story in their own words. The structure of the book is the same as George Plimpton's "Edie", simply a collection of quotes grouped to tell a chronological story. McNeil & McCain really went to the effort of finding some of the most obscure "hangers-on" who were there, so the overall view is very well-rounded. What is truly intelligent about the presentation is that they understand punk did not beging with the Sex Pistols or the Ramones. Instead, we start with the Velvet Underground & Warhol, move to Detroit to talk to the MC5 & Iggy and the Stooges, then it's early glitter with the New York Dolls! Great stuff & the timing is excellent, especially since many of those interviewed have since died. The photo sections are also excellent altho I have a few quibbles about why some people are included & others not. There is also a very helpful "Cast of Characters" at the end of the book which even the most knowledgeable rocker will flip to often. Many younger readers may be surprised that most of the book deals with the New York City music scene. Punk has become so identified as a British import that those who weren't part of it may not realise the Brits only got going after a visit to the UK by the Ramones. CBGB's was already a very hot & happening spot, long before Johnny was Rotten! Whether you were there or not, you will enjoy "Please Kill Me", as well as learning quite a bit from it; check it out!
Rating:
Summary: Funny, sad, outrageous, offensive..what can ya say?
Review: I vaguely remember the punk rock movement when I was in school. But where I grew up, you didn't hear any of the music. So it was with great interest that I picked up this book and I have to say, it is one of the best tomes I have read in a long time. What made this work for me was the different voices and takes on the movement by the people who actually lived it, not the pontifications of self-important rock critics. By reading the accounts, I got a better idea of why the music was as it was, where the inspirations came from, how it was to live the life of an underground musician at a time when rock and roll stars took themselves too seriously. The sadness, the insanity of it all came across very vividly. No doubt some people I know would be shocked at some of the confessions and language, but so wonderful to see how people really feel. If you are a fan of rock history like me...GET THIS BOOK! But be forewarned, it is not for the faint of heart, or the easily offended. But what is life without a little shock?
Rating:
Summary: Funny, inspirational and one of the best oral histories
Review: Whether punk to you is Iggy Pop rolling on broken glass or the ignoble death of Sid Vicious, this is the book that takes you into the wild, whacked and hilarious world of people "having fun killing themselves" as the book jack describes. The inspiring part of the book is in the fact that most of these bands were talentless and awful when they started and someone told them to just do whatever and they just did whatever without a market survey or executive telling them what would sell. The hilarious parts are teh stories of people sometimes basically clueless and singleminded in their need to offend (I recall Robert Asheton's (sic) wearing of an SS uniform at Iggy Pop's wedding when the bride, the groom and most of the people there were Jewish) There are oral sex scenes on stage, messed up rock stars trashing things and Iggy Pop collapsing over and over again. Other artists who aren't "punk" per se also lend their voices and stories including the Warhol factory and Patti Smith as well as Jim Carrol (by the way, the writers really really hate Lou Reed. They tend to love to put Lou Reed is a creep stories into the mix) Ultimately many of these stories have been told many times in many different ways (see Miles Davis' autobiography for the dangerous lives of jazz musicians) but in punk there was a revelry to the danger that let the audience in on the evil lives and flaunted the wild lifestyle more than anything. Punk is both a music genre and a self-destructive/seductive lifestyle and this book captures that perfectly. At the end when all the stars are dying because they can't sustain these lives forever you are left with a feeling of nostalgia but nothing in the way of cautionary tales, because people who choose their deaths in such a cavalier manner can only be applauded for going out in such a spectacular manner. One last thing - the title alone will get you dirty looks in your workplace, church, synagogue or mosque. It's still worth the trouble
Rating:
Summary: From the Mouths of Babes...
Review: This is by far one of the best books I've read about punk or music in general. Told by the people who lived it, Please Kill Me is a compilation of years and years of interviews with almost everyone who was even remotely involved in the punk scene from the sixties through the eighties. This book starts off with the MC-5 and the Stooges, goes through the Andy Warhol and David Bowie period, through the New York Dolls, the beginning of the New York punk scene, the explosion of the English punk scene and keeps on going in. Read the TRUE story behind Dee Dee Ramone's infamous "53rd and 3rd", who Sid Vicious' friends think REALLY killed Nancy (AND who they think killed Sid!) and the story behind the break-up of the New York Dolls. Since its all told by the original scene members, this book is filled with great anecdotes that other punk "history" books would never be able to get. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is at all interested in early punk - especially early New York area punk.
Rating:
Summary: Edie style history of punk on the Lower East Side
Review: This is the best and most entertaining book about punk rock that I have read. Much better than Lipstick Traces or England's Dreaming. I saw Legs and Gillian give a reading at St. Mark's about a year ago. They are preparing an oral history of the porn industry. It sounds like it is going to be just as funny and informative.
Rating:
Summary: Chronilogical history of destruction
Review: A must read for anyone interested in this era. The scene of Max's and CBGB's told by the people who lived through it and quoted for the people who didn't live. It begins with people young and frustrated looking for a musical output like no one else was producing. It moves on through the drug addictions and the anoynomous sex. Later, it sadly ends with the destruction of music and of lives destroyed by angst and drugs. It is a wonderful book, told by those who know it best.
Rating:
Summary: The Sound And The Fury
Review: Absolutly compelling. If you like Rock & roll, or the Andy Warhol Scene, or post modern performance art, or storys about generally self destuctive behavior, this is the book for you. Masterfully constructed, this is the story of one of the most misunderstood, scoffed at and even villanized movements in popular music of the last century, as told by the people who were there. McNeil captures the decadence and pagentry of the rock & roll lifestyle perfectly. If there I have one complaint about this book it is that the scope is a bit narrow, focusing almost completely on the New York scene. But anything more would be a massive undertaking, and NY is where this all started anyway.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: Wow! I came of age after the punk revolution that the people in this book started -- when punk look and attitude were watered down and mixed with disco beats, synths, and British fey to become New Wave. So opening this book is like stepping in a time machine to see punk origins, with the bonus of 'hanging out' with some extremely rowdy folks. From the mouths of Lou Reed to The Ramones, the narratives are so engaging you'd swear you were in front of CBGB's with a leather jacket slouched against a brick wall and puffing a smoke -- or much worse. Because unlike so many hyped books and movies these days, Just Kill Me is TRULY 'shocking,' 'edgy,' and 'it WILL blow you away.' The book follows the rekindling of the authentic rock and roll bonfire, fed by young bodies. They live fast and hard and many die disgusting. But the short lives and the way they are portrayed here is nothing short of brilliant. Why I else would I have such a strong desire to want to get to know these people even better -- even if it means waking up with a cut face and a needle in my arm. (That's poetic license -- Just Say No). I simply could not stop being utterly fascinated by these players. Wow! Only in America.... And then Britain.... And then back with 'meaning'... and profit.... Just Kill Me lets our relatively unhyped punk founders have their say -- and boy do they have a lot to say. Did I mention Wow?
| 
