Make The Music Go Bang!: The Early L.A. Punk Scene [Paperback]

Don Snowden (Editor), Gary Leonard (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1997

The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Los Lobos, and the Go-Gos got their starts in the 1980s Los Angeles music scene. Collected here are the forefathers of this era, speaking out in voices that only the truly initiated possess. Don Snowden has assembled the writers who knew and lived this scene, who were this scene. Color photo insert.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"So dude what about this L.A. scene? Don't know man, it just happened."--Claude Bessy

"This music sounded as desperate as I felt...I suddenly realized I was a member of a weird, unfriendly, secret club and I sensed the jungle drums beginning to pound."--Kristine McKenna

"We were all extremely powerful (even if that meant a particular, sensitive stupidity that led to jail), we were all young or young at heart, we were all flirting with death and laughing at life."--Exene Cervenkova

"At its finest, L.A. roots rock espoused a spirited authenticity that resisted the music business's marketing strategies."--Chris Morris

"A community of bands and fans were reclaiming music in its raw and primitive form, shaking off all the prefab baloney that dominated the airways and record bins across the map-- no charts, no hits, no easy way around, nada."--Louis Perez

About the Author

Don Snowden is a music journalist who has written for the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Weekly, and Musician magazine. He divides his time between Los Angeles and Valencia, Spain.

Gary Leonard is a photographer living in Los Angeles whose work is part of the permanent collection of the Los Angeles Public Library.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (November 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312169124
• ISBN-13: 978-0312169121
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #740,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really puts you there, May 31, 2002

By 

A. Cooper "possum" (Texas) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Make The Music Go Bang!: The Early L.A. Punk Scene (Paperback)

I just finished re-reading this book after a few months, and it's even better than I remembered. This is the only book I've found that has classic L.A. punk (as opposed to band) photos - pics that I remember looking at twenty-five years ago, and being influenced by them. It talks about Baces Hall and the Vex; this really is the book to buy if you want to get a feel of what it was like. I upped this review from four to five stars, because it's even better the second time around. If you were there, in the mid-seventies to early eighties, it'll bring back great memories; if you weren't there - Make The Music Go Bang will give you a glimpse into what was an amazing scene.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The pictures speak, the text kept me reading., August 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Make The Music Go Bang!: The Early L.A. Punk Scene (Paperback)

This book is full of exceptional photos that document the early L.A. punk scene. I remember seeing Gary Leanord (the photographer) at many of these shows. Hidden in these photos are many of those who went on and carried the L.A. punk scene into the the next stage, such as members of Bad Religion. I purchased this book for the photos but I soon found myself deeply involved in the text. I was especially impressed by the section written by Keith Morris of Black Flag and Circle Jerks fame. Although it was exciting to find myself in a picture slamming at the Starwood, I wouldn't just recommend this book to those that were there, I also recommend Make the Music Go Bang to all those who have an interest in punk rock and music history.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Overpriced and Perfunctory, July 5, 2000

By 

Michael (Silver Spring, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Make The Music Go Bang!: The Early L.A. Punk Scene (Paperback)

I bought this "history" at a time when I was obsessed by the L.A. hardcore scene. Any information on it at all would have been like steak to famished hounds. So why was I let down?

Maybe I was spoiled by excellent books like the essential "Banned in D.C.", but this one did little to satisfy my curiosity. It has some nice photographs and interesting (though brief and overly congenial) chapters by Brendan Mullen and Keith Morris. It has a list of punk venues and hang-outs in L.A. back in the day. But there's nothing else of substance. No history of the development of punk music in California, few exciting anecdotes, and almost no descriptions of performers and punks. What were these people like? What were their inspirations, what drew them together, how did it feel to be a part of this tribe? You won't find out here.

I guess the main draw of the book is the photographs, but there are none from the most interesting and creative era in L.A. punk: pre-1979. And the slender commentary meant to tie these cryptic images together has an overly precious and wistful tone: the equivalent of an old hippie sighing, "You just hadda be there, man...." Half the chronoclers seem to have turned complacent and a little ashamed of their pasts, and others, like Claude Bessy (whose contribution is particularly worthless, rest his soul) deem themselves too "hip" to even try to be coherent. My overall impression is that a true, old-school punk would've ripped a book like this to shreds. Glibness, indifference, and price tag included, it's in denial of everything the movement originally stood for.