A collection of essays celebrating the history of underground American music venues.

Paul Collins' memoir covering the early Punk and Power Pop scenes in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the 1970s. Throughout the 1980s with The Beat, and up to the present day.

A collection of assembled essays from Sal Maida and Mitchell Cohen & friends on lost classic rock, folk, RnB, psychedelic and funk LPs from the late 50s to the mid 80s.

Foreword by Vadge Moore, drummer for the Dwarves From the darkest rat hole basements to flash arenas, here is a wild ride through Rock's worst moments. Rife with confessionals, Gigs from Hell strips the mythology and starry-eyed allure of life on the road to its barest essentials - puke, rip-offs, come-downs and the odd stab at glory. Collected and translated from drunken rock-speak by music writer Sleazegrinder, this book offers a rare glimpse at what it's really like to tour, record and survive in the cut-throat music industry. Illustrated.

Available for the first time as a traditional paperback, this revised and updated edition contains new and archival interviews with those closest to Chris Bell and the Big Star circle: their friends, family, former bandmates—even fans, exes, classmates, and coworkers. “Bell’s and Big Star’s existence was short, but the wealth of stories and quotes here provides a healthy sustenance for the truth seekers. A top-notch biography.” —San Francisco Book Review The varied cast of voices—many from the band’s hometown of Memphis—comprises all the members of Big Star, including Chris Bell, the iconic Alex Chilton, Andy Hummel, and Jody Stephens. In the following decades after its 1975 breakup, the obscure group somehow reached and inspired some of rock’s most important bands, including R.E.M., the Replacements, Yo La Tengo, Teenage Fanclub, Beck, and Wilco. With Chris Bell at the center of the Big Star universe, this book carefully reveals the production of the band’s masterful 1972 debut LP, #1 Record, for Ardent/Stax Records. Despite stellar reviews, the record suffered abysmal sales. Soon after, toxic personality conflicts and turmoil tore the band apart while Bell battled drug abuse and depression. There Was A Light then delves into Big Star’s second and third albums, while recounting Bell’s second act as a struggling solo musician and born-again Christian. During several trips to Europe, he produced ambitious recordings and pitched himself to record labels—even crossing paths with Paul McCartney. From this fertile era arose Bell’s lone solo album, the posthumously released I Am the Cosmos—his swan song and masterpiece. There Was A Light details the pop culture phenomenon that made Big Star legendary and divulges how its staunch fanbase saved the band from obscurity. “... an encyclopedic compendium…illuminating Bell’s life from a thousand angles.” —Memphis Flyer

'The Stone Roses have become folk heroes, frozen in time. And their story, with roots in punk through post-punk, scooter boys, skinheads, Northern Soul, psychedelia, acid house and Madchester, is everything that is great about British street culture.' Reni. Mani. Ian Brown. John Squire. Names that will forever be remembered for creating their defining album The Stone Roses and a unique but inimitable baggy style. Their phenomenal story was first documented by the man who was with them every step of the way: John Robb. And now, in this special edition of his acclaimed and intimate biography, Robb brings the ultimate rock 'n' roll tale fully up to date.

In the late '70s and early to mid 1980s, San Francisco was a creative incubator, bringing forth all manner of new music acts. Ground zero for the scene was the Mabuhay Gardens, home to huge barrels of popcorn, once-a-week spaghetti nights, colorful emcee Dirk Dirksen, and punk/new wave bands from all over the Bay Area. Concert booker and renegade radio deejay Howie Klein joined with Aquarius Records owner (and fellow deejay) Chris Knab to launch a record label in support of that scene.Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave is Bill Kopp's chronicle of the groundbreaking independent record label founded by Howie Klein & Chris Knab, featuring the stories of Romeo Void, Red Rockers, Translator, Wire Train, Roky Erickson, The Nuns, Pearl Harbor and Explosions, and nearly two dozen other bands.Based on nearly 100 interviews with the artists, industry execs, producers, friends, rivals, onlookers, journalists and hangers-on, Disturbing the Peace also features hundreds of photos and memorabilia from the personal archives of those who were there.