I thought it might be a good idea to create a few resource posts to keep linked in the sidebar.

Biography, auto-biography, fiction, this one is all about punks in print.

Feel free to post any additions to the list in the comments below.

NON-FICTION

  • American Hardcore: A Tribal History - by Steven Blush - Hardcore punk was an underground tribal movement created with anger and passion but ultimately destroyed by infighting and dissonance. This oral history includes photographs, discographies, and a complete national perspective on the genre.
  • Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise and Fall of SST Records - by Jim Ruland - A no-holds-barred narrative history of the iconic label that brought the world Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, and more, by the co-author of Do What You Want and My Damage.
  • Going Underground: American Punk 1979-1989 - by George Hurchalla - Despite the misguided mainstream press declarations that ‘punk died with Sid Vicious’ or that ‘punk was reborn with Nirvana’, author Hurchalla followed the DIY spirit of punk underground, where it not only survived, but thrived as a self-sustaining grassroots movement rooted in seedy clubs, xeroxed zines and indie record shops.
  • I Was a Punk Before You Were a Punk - by Chris Walter - In I Was a Punk Before You Were a Punk, the author joins the fledgling Hardcore movement and jumps headlong into the punk lifestyle. Detailing the early exploits of punk legends such as Personality Crisis, the Stretch Marks and the Unwanted, I Was a Punk Before You Were a Punk is a riotous account of early hardcore on the prairies.
  • NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980–1990 - by Tony Rettman - Oral history of the New York Hardcore music scene.
  • Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 - by Michael Azerrad - The definitive chronicle of underground music in the 1980s tells the stories of Black Flag, Sonic Youth, The Replacements, and other seminal bands whose DIY revolution changed American music forever.
  • Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk - by Legs McNeil - An oral history of the most nihilistic of all pop movements. Iggy Pop, Richard Hell, the Ramones, and scores of other punk figures lend their voices to this decisive account of that explosive era.
  • Sellout: The Major Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994–2007) - by Dan Ozzi - From celebrated music writer Dan Ozzi comes a comprehensive chronicle of the punk music scene’s evolution from the early nineties to the mid-aughts, following eleven bands as they dissolved, “sold out,” and rose to surprise stardom.
  • Smash!: Green Day, The Offspring, Bad Religion, NOFX, and the '90s Punk Explosion - by Ian Winwood - A group biography of '90s punk rock told through the prism of Green Day, The Offspring, NOFX, Rancid, Bad Religion, Social Distortion, and more.
  • Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk - by John Doe and Tom DeSavia - Under the Big Black Sun explores the nascent Los Angeles punk rock movement and its evolution to hardcore punk as it’s never been told before. Authors John Doe and Tom DeSavia have woven together an enthralling story of the legendary west coast scene from 1977-1982 by enlisting the voices of people who were there.
  • We Got the Neutron Bomb : The Untold Story of L.A. Punk - by Marc Spitz - Taking us back to late '70s and early '80s Hollywood–pre-crack, pre-AIDS, pre-Reagan–We Got the Neutron Bomb re-creates word for word the rage, intensity, and anarchic glory of the Los Angeles punk scene, straight from the mouths of the scenesters, zinesters, groupies, filmmakers, and musicians who were there.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY

  • Agnostic Front/Roger Miret - My Riot: Agnostic Front, Grit, Guts & Glory - by Roger Miret - Miret’s memorable, affecting stories capture an important time in the hardcore music scene. . . Equal parts music memoir and gritty coming-of-age story, it’s an eminently readable and fast-paced look at life during hardcore’s heyday.
  • Bad Relgion - Do What You Want: The Story of Bad Religion - by Jim Ruland - From their beginnings as teenagers experimenting in a San Fernando Valley garage dubbed “The Hell Hole” to headlining major music festivals around the world, discover the whole story of Bad Religion’s forty-year career in irreverent style.
  • Bad Religion/Greg Graffin - Punk Paradox: A Memoir - by Greg Graffin - Punk Paradox is Graffin’s life narrative before and during L.A. punk’s early years, detailing his observations on the genre’s explosive growth and his band’s steady rise in importance.
  • Black Flag/Henny Rollins - Get in the Van: On the Road With Black Flag - by Henry Rollins - As a member of the seminal punk band Black Flag, Henry Rollins kept detailed tour diaries that form the basis of Get in the Van . Rollins’s observations range from the wry to the raucous in this blistering account of a six-year career with the band - a time marked by crazed fans, vicious cops, near-starvation, substance abuse, and mind numbing all-night drives.
  • The Cro-Mags/Harley Flanagan - Hard-Core: Life of My Own - by Harley Flanagan - Harley Flanagan provides a fascinating memoir: a homeless child prodigy and family friend of Andy Warhol and Allen Ginsberg, at a young age he became close to many stars of the early punk rock scene like Joe Strummer of The Clash and was taught to play bass by members of the famed black punk band Bad Brains.
  • The Cro-Mags/John Joseph - The Evolution of a Cro-Magnon - by John Joseph - In his new autobiography, NYHC legend John Bloodclot Joseph recounts his hard times and spiritual redemption.
  • Dayglo Abortions - Argh Fuck Kill: The Story of the Dayglo Abortions - by Chris Walter - The DayGlo Abortions are perhaps the most misunderstood and maligned punk groups ever to exist. To this day, critics and naysayers are unable to see past the corrosive lyrics and explicit imagery to the true meaning beneath.
  • The Germs/Darby Crash - Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs - by Brendan Mullen - The true story of punk-messiah Darby Crash.
  • Keith Morris - My Damage: The Story of a Punk Rock Survivor - by Keith Morris - Keith Morris is a true punk icon. No one else embodies the sound of Southern Californian hardcore. Short and sporting waist-length dreadlocks, Morris is known the world over for his take-no-prisoners approach on the stage and his integrity off of it.
  • NOFX - NOFX: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories - by NOFX - NOFX: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories is the first tell-all autobiography from one of the world’s most influential and controversial punk bands.
  • Personality Crisis - Personality Crisis: Warm Beer and Wild Times - by Chris Walter - This guts-and-glory biography covers the trials and tribulations of legendary 80s rock band Personality Crisis. Largely unknown outside of hardcore punk circles, Personality Crisis were hugely influential and remain popular even though they played their last show in 1984.
  • The Ramones/Dee Dee Ramone - Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones - by Dee Dee Ramone - Lobotomy is a lurid and unlikely temperance tract from the underbelly of rock ‘n’ roll.
  • The Ramones/Joey Ramone - I Slept With Joey Ramone - by Mickey Leigh - Told by Joey’s brother, Mickey Leigh, here is an intimate look at the turbulent life of one of America’s greatest–and unlikeliest–music icons.
  • The Ramones/Johnny Ramone - Commando: The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone - by Johnny Ramone - Raised in Queens, New York, Johnny Ramone founded one of the most influential rock bands of all time, but he never strayed from his blue-collar roots and attitude.
  • The Ramones/Marky Ramone - Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone - by Marky Ramone - The inside story behind one of the most revered bands in music history during the early days of punk rock in New York, from legendary drummer Marky Ramone.
  • Sick of It All/The Koller Brothers - The Blood and the Sweat: The Story of Sick of It All’s Koller Brothers - by Lou and Pete Koller - When it comes to New York City hardcore, its community proudly boasts Lou and Pete Koller–brothers who have dominated the scene worldwide since 1986 with the aurally devastating Sick of It All as their vehicle.
  • SNFU - SNFU: What No One Else Wanted To Say - by Chris Walter - In 1982, five brave but foolish young men traded the safety and boredom of suburbia for a brutal regimen of greasy food, endless touring, shaky gear, dingy bars, too much booze, and violent fans. While SNFU did not immediately seem like obvious candidates for punk rock stardom, they quickly rose up to take not just Edmonton, Alberta, but the entire world by storm.
  • TSOL/Jack Grisham - An American Demon: A Memoir - by Jack Grisham - Complex memoir about 1980’s punk culture by the band True Sons of Liberty’s front man.
  • Groschi@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 by Michael Azerrad

    Going Underground: American Punk 1979-1992 by George Hurchalla