# Good movies/books on punk rock scene? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670 "2010-08-09T03:09:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/41 "2010-08-13T00:27:06Z")
Anybody interested in the Washington DC hardcore movement in the 1980s should look for these two books: [Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation’s Capital](http://www.dischord.com/release/ak177/dance-of-days) by Mark Andersen and Mark Jenkins (written mostly by Andersen, who lived through it) [Banned in DC: Photos and Anecdotes from the DC Punk Underground (79-85)](http://www.mindspring.com/~acheslow/AuntMary/banned/index.html) by Cynthia Connolly – this is a huge collection of photos, like a punk yearbook, by another insider. This is one of my favorite anecdotes, from Rites of Spring’s/Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto: > [@](#): > > The night we made the Deadline tape, we decided to go to 7-11. We went to 7-11 and came out. There’s this guy in the parking lot that said, “Hey fag,” to Mike Fellows. Fellows reached into the car and pops him in the mouth. They just sat in the car and shut up. We got into our car and were going, “Yeah!” We thought it was the greatest thing. > > We took a left turn illegally to get back to Don’s and we whipped through all these cars and we make it through the intersection and a cop pulls us over. He says, “Don’t you see, you made an illegal left turn?” We’re all, “Uh…” We were all drinking orange Nehi. He looked in and says, “Oh, man, I can’t believe that. I gotta let you go. You’re all drinking orange Nehi. I’ve never seen anything like that.” We’re all kinda laughing and we say, “Yeah, we don’t drink either.” He says, “Ah, come on,” he picks up a Nehi and smells it, and lets us go. > > Not only did we hit a guy but we got out of the cop thing. That’s why the tape has such a triumphant sound. Man, don’t ever let anyone tell you those guys weren’t dangerous badasses. Illegal left turns, boy…madness! ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/42 "2010-08-13T03:51:14Z")
[Hard Core Logo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Core_Logo) is fiction. And it’s Canadian. But it really has a lot of that punk feeling. Based on a pretty good book–but the movie is better than pretty good. It’s been called a “mockumentary” & compared to _This is Spinal Tap_. Although it’s got plenty of black humor/humour, it is _not_ a comedy. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/43 "2010-08-13T04:52:36Z")
Another state of Mind chronicled a tor with Youth Brigade and Mike Ness’ band. The SF crowd shots were sliced in from another show. I was thewre at the SF show. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/44 "2010-08-13T12:35:03Z")
Might have been mentioned above already, but the photography of Glen E. Friedman contains quite a few classic punk rock shots. This thread makes me happy. I’m gonna go dig out some records. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/45 "2010-08-13T19:41:22Z")
> [@Emily\_Litella](#): > > The Fabulous Stains seemed to be about rebellious teenage girls, and it doesn’t have a lot of great music, mostly just the one song “Be a Professional” they kept singing over and over. But they tried to show life on tour with almost no money. Ray Winstone and Diane Lane were excellent. Worth seeing once. Plus, it’s got Paul Simonon (of the Clash), Steve Jones and Paul Cook (of the Sex Pistols) as members of the touring bands and Barry Ford, who had some minor ska/reggae hits and pops up on Trojan Records comps, as the bus driver and the soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/46 "2010-08-13T19:58:07Z")
If you can find a copy of Susan Seidelman’s movie [_Smithereens_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084698/) it’s worth a watch (not that I’ve seen it since 1986 or something). It’s about a young woman in New York fucking up her life during the early punk years and it’s got Richard Hell in it. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/47 "2010-08-14T06:30:42Z")
Yay! Please Kill Me is in transit on its way to my local library branch! So is Pretty in Punk, a book about women in punk that I requested before even starting this thread. Do you guys know if it’s any good? ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/48 "2010-08-14T12:50:24Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > So is Pretty in Punk, a book about women in punk that I requested before even starting this thread. Do you guys know if it’s any good? Never heard of that one, but if you like it you could also check out _Cinderella’s Big Score_, by Maria Raha. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/49 "2010-08-15T13:10:33Z")
Johnny Rotten wrote an autobiography called **Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs**. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/50 "2010-08-18T05:18:44Z")
Just started Please Kill Me and wanted to thank you guys for recommending it. It’s fun and very readable. I’m only a few pages in, but I can tell this is going to be a good read. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/51 "2010-08-18T08:09:09Z")
I picked up [Dee Dee Ramones’ book](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poison-Heart-Surviving-Dee-Ramone/dp/1905139187/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282118852&sr=1-6) for my GF after flicking through it in a shop and liking the writing style. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/52 "2010-08-20T19:42:43Z")
> [@lexan](#): > > Another documentary film worth checking out is _American Hardcore._ I’m not sure what era or style of punk rock you’re interested in, but if you’re at all interested in the 80s hardcore, it’s outstanding. It mostly focuses on LA, DC, and Boston, but has a brief overview of the rest of the nation. It’s worth a look for the Bad Brains footage alone. American Hardcore started off as a book as well. I haven’t seen the movie but the book was really good. Not sure how much overlap there is. ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/53 "2010-08-20T21:12:46Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > SLC Punk is like an afterschool special with a better budget. Hate to disagree (actually I don’t hate disagreeing at all…) SLC Punk was most like my every day life from 1985 to 1989 as a member of the fan side of the punk scene. Another by a Canadian author, “I Was A Punk Before You Were A Punk” and “I’m On The Guest List” by Chris Walter. Both books are autobiographical and although he is self publishing, he is talented. They can be found along with others of his at [http://punkbooks.com/](http://punkbooks.com/) ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/54 "2010-08-23T20:29:50Z")
> [@lexi](#): > > > [@filling\_pages](#): > > > > SLC Punk is like an afterschool special with a better budget. > > Hate to disagree (actually I don’t hate disagreeing at all…) SLC Punk was most like my every day life from 1985 to 1989 as a member of the fan side of the punk scene. I’m sorry, but that whole “I never do any drugs at all, never, none. Okay, just this once I will take one pill. Now I am dead,” bs was straight out of an after school PSA. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/55 "2010-08-23T20:34:04Z")
**filling\_pages** , wasn’t it a whole bunch of pills, mixed with booze? ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/56 "2010-08-23T21:14:04Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > **filling\_pages** , wasn’t it a whole bunch of pills, mixed with booze? Meh, one pill or many with booze, I don’t remember but I thought his death was more just a bit of dark humour or perhaps weak irony. I had friends die in far less glamourous ways - which can happen when you are very drunk & drugged up and I definitely didn’t see that part of the story as preachy. It is a coming of age story, from a suburban kid turned punk, and perhaps the plot was nothing more than that, but the world of the young punk was 100% authentic. Everything from the violence to the infidelity, to the dilapidated apartments & houses, to the music, set the scene in such a way, I was going back to the 1980’s when that was my life. And just like Stevo there came a day when I realized the clothing & hair was not what punk was really about, and I too was sick of the violence, deaths, and living in dilapidated buildings, I got my hair cut, and went back to school - leaving that life behind. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/57 "2010-08-24T16:26:20Z")
YMMV. It struck me as an outsider’s view of what they took the punk subculture to be. I mean, warring tribes? Sure, the scene’s got its share of fighting, but nothing ever as formalized as all that. Funny story: the band Eight Bucks Experiment played at our local venue one time about three years after SLC Punk came out. They played the band in the show scene in the movie, and they were really playing that up. Except that no one had heard anything about them other than that, no punks I knew liked that movie, and they weren’t very good in general. So they showed up to an empty room and then tried to get the guy who booked shows there to pay them a $500 “guarantee” that they hadn’t actually arranged beforehand. he finally gave them $20 out of his own pocket and they left without ever playing. ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/58 "2010-08-24T22:27:57Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > YMMV. It struck me as an outsider’s view of what they took the punk subculture to be. I mean, warring tribes? Sure, the scene’s got its share of fighting, but nothing ever as formalized as all that. Maybe the view of it has more to do with where & when you were part of the scene. For me it was the mid to late 1980’s across Canada, and also visits to Seattle & Portland. The scene in the movie was the scene in a small conservative city, from a teenager’s view. It was neither from the adult, or established older punk’s point of view - the story is about the teenager who is engrossed in a culture they only partially understand because they aren’t mature enough to be real to themselves yet - and of course realizing that the hardcore dress code doesn’t make you more hardcore, and that although you think your life is so radical and hardcore, you are far less a rebel than the older punks who have left the scene and have day jobs and dress in regular clothing but still go to shows. Those older people are not sellouts, they just have grown up and understand themselves. The tribes thing was overblown for sure, but the feelings were there. When I was in the scene, the fighting between the different groups in the cities I lived in & traveled to there were wars against the (nazi)skins and punks. There were also fights between headbangers & punks too, but fighting the skinheads was almost ritualized, that portion didn’t stretch to far from what I had seen in more than one city in my travels. Also regarding headbangers & rednecks, you never got stuck while hitchhiking in a hicktown? Yeah - those guys declared war on punks the moment they saw them! As for Mods & New Wavers, those were just other people who went to the same bar & some of us dated people in those scenes (once it seemed we’d slept with everyone in our own). And I wouldn’t have paid to see Eight Bucks Experiment either… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/59 "2010-08-25T04:40:20Z")
I wouldn’t recommend this for a first read on the broader subject of punk music, but Stephen Lee Beeber’s [The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGBs](http://www.amazon.com/Heebie-Jeebies-CBGBs-Secret-History-Jewish/dp/155652613X/ref=sr_11_1/002-4068679-2894417?ie=UTF8) is a worthy book on the subject of Jews in the NY punk scene. Here’s a teaser of sorts: the same author’s ambivalent, nuanced [essay on “the Nazi aesthetic of the Stooges”](http://www.jewcy.com/daily_shvitz/blitzkrieg_stop_the_nazi_aesthetic_of_the_stooges_and_the_punk_music_they_begat). ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670/60 "2010-08-25T15:50:08Z")
Same scene, different experiences. I’m from a smallish hick city, isolated from most big areas. we didn’t have splits like that in the scene (except for any nazis that came around, obviously) because our population wasn’t big enough to specialize that way. We were more like the crowd in Suburbia - mods, punks, nonracist oi skins all hanging together - because otherwise it would have been tiny, splintered groups with not enough numbers to draw in shows. Once straightedge hardcore started getting big, they split off, but they mostly fought among themselves. Not with us. Now I’m one of the old guys holding down one end of the bar and watching the scene ebb and flow. It amazes me sometimes how long the whole thing’s lasted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-movies-books-on-punk-rock-scene/549670.md?page=4)