Hey, punk fans, did you know Lou Reed liked asking people to shit in his mouth? Or that Nico gave Iggy Pop his first case of the clap? Or that Patti Smith tried to steal band members from Blondie? Do you know what a Twat Vibe Eye is? If you didn’t know any of that, but are intrigued and/or titillated nonetheless, you need to read Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk as soon as humanly possible. This book has everything you ever wanted to know (and some things you probably didn’t) about the early east-coast punk scene in the states. The farthest west the authors go is Detroit, so you’re not going to find any Black Flag or Adolescents in here. But if CBGBs is where it begins and ends for you, this is your bible.
For those of us who weren’t around back then, Please Kill Me… is a play-by-play of the who, the what, and the why, straight from the people who actually were there. This isn’t your standard history book either (that wouldn't be very punk, now would it?); the entire narrative is constructed from snippets of interviews that were conducted over several decades, all ordered chronologically. Iggy Pop, The Stooges, Nico, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, The Ramones, The Dead Boys, The New York Dolls, Richard Hell, The MC5, Malcolm McLaren…these are just some of the people included. And the title’s not kidding. This really is the uncensored history of the early scene. It’s like going back in time and reading Star or US Weekly of the punk world 'cause people don’t hold anything back in these interviews. They talk shit about each other constantly and once you’ve got one version of a story, the authors bring in the other people involved and you get their side of the story, leaving it up to the reader to decipher what actually happened. Not that it really matters. The stories are endlessly entertaining regardless of how true they are.
You’ll need something to listen to while you’re reading, so why not pick this up as well?
Seriously, if Please Kill Me… makes you want to cover your walls in spray painted anarchy symbols, this is pretty much essential listening. You get 100 tracks of the best early punk ever recorded, all in one convenient package. If you’re like me, this music doesn’t just get under your skin, it makes you want to crawl out of it. Let these guys stick with the heroin though - you can put on some headphones and mainline this without the nasty side effects (withdrawal will set in if you go too long between listens). It also comes with a nice book giving you a few essays and bios on the bands involved. Rhino doesn’t skimp on their box sets to begin with, which means this is totally worth the price, but it’s been out for several years now so chances are you can score a used copy on the cheap if money’s tight.
Just set aside a few extra bucks for a new studded belt. You’re going to need one by the time you’re done.
To whet your appetite:
And:
Can't wrap it up any better than this (volume is crazy low, so turn your speakers all the way up...it's worth hearing, I promise):
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