Punk [Paperback]

Billy Ingram (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2012

Billy Eye covered the Punk, New Wave and East L.A. underground music scene in Los Angeles for Data-Boy magazine, a Los Angeles gay publication that began in 1968.

These rock columns appeared between 1980 and 1983, detailing a tumultuous environment where Fear, Black Flag, Red Wedding, Missing Persons, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Los Illegals, and The Stains banged away in smoky clubs like The Starwood, Brave Dog, Al's Bar, Vex and Cathay De Grande. It was a world almost no one else was writing about at the time.

Take a close look at two bands that were popular in Los Angeles in the early 1980s—the city's first openly gay group, underground post-punkers Red Wedding, and Missing Persons, the first superstars of a newly launched MTV.

This book explores what it was like to live openly gay in the 1970s and early 1980s, the parallax between brutal police suppression, rampant gay bashing, the widening acceptance of queer culture, and the discovery of AIDS.

And then there's the sorted sordid world of pornography and prostitution the author finds himself confronted with. When one of your clients is accused of bludgeoning four people to death in one of the bloodiest crime scenes history maybe it's time to reassess your life.

You would think...

It's a filthy, sordid tale the whole family can enjoy!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Billy Ingram launched TVparty.com in 1997 and it quickly became one of the internet’s hottest spots for entertainment and information, attracting millions of users a month; TVparty! was the first to broadcast clips of TV shows online. In 2002 he released the best-selling book TVparty: Television’s Untold Tales to rave reviews from around the world. He wrote and starred in a series for VH1, Super Secret TV Formulas, and two series on Bravo along with The Christmas Special Christmas Special. Billy Ingram produced, art directed, and conducted and transcribed hundreds of interviews to craft the storyline for Beyond Our Wildest Dreams, an oral history of Las Vegas entertainment in the 1970s. He also produced the Eisner Award nominated Dear John: The Alex Toth Book. He was a designer on some of the most successful Academy Award campaigns, film trailers, and movie posters of all time, for stars like Harrison Ford, Barbra Streisand, Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg and many others. An internationally acclaimed actor, internet pioneer, artist, and writer, Billy Ingram starred in the 2011 indie motion picture 'Swimming in a Lake of Fire.'

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (June 30, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1475148712
• ISBN-13: 978-1475148718
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,467,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Billy Ingram launched TVparty.com in 1997 and it quickly became one of the internet's hottest spots for entertainment and information, attracting millions of users a month. TVparty! was the first to broadcast clips of TV shows online.

In 2002 he released the best-selling book TVparty: Television's Untold Tales to rave reviews from around the world. He wrote and starred in a series for VH1, Super Secret TV Formulas, and two series on Bravo along with The Christmas Special Christmas Special.

Billy Ingram produced, art directed, and conducted and transcribed hundreds of interviews to craft the storyline for Beyond Our Wildest Dreams, an oral history of Las Vegas in the 1970s. He also produced the Eisner Award nominated book Dear John: The Alex Toth Book.

He was a designer on some of the most successful Academy Award campaigns, film trailers, and movie posters of all time, for stars like Harrison Ford, Barbra Streisand, Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg and many others.

An internationally acclaimed actor, internet pioneer, artist, and writer, Billy Ingram starred in the 2011 indie motion picture Swimming in a Lake of Fire.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fully Exposed July 25, 2012

By LScantland

Format:Paperback

As a person showcased in the book... wait I think Billy, myself, and maybe one or two others are still around... I feel that Billy brought back a time that was lost in the memory bank of my mind. Remembering the period of time and those people that originally influenced me and set me on my path of enlightenment is something that I felt I had lost.

This book allows everyone a glimpse into a family of friends and co-workers who worked in one of the first gay-owned businesses that was not a bar. Our trials and the hurdles we sailed over were the foundation of learning as you go.

It was not about the business as much as it was about accepting oneself, seeing friends that stood by you ... most of the time... and pushed you out of the nest.

This book will provide the reader an understanding of what it was like to be gay and open and succeed and PROUD.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Punk Underground July 12, 2012

By Terrysatana

Format:Paperback

I titled my review "Punk Underground" since this book exposes a side of the Los Angeles punk scene rarely written about. There are several excellent memoirs out there about this time and place, but none have chronicled the major contributions of the gay artists at times considered pariahs within their own community, since they did not subscribe to the West Hollywood gay culture.

Billy Eye has an insider's experience that is both entertaining and heartbreaking when delivering his vignettes about the up and coming bands of the time, along with the post scripts of "where are they now?" The vitriole is tempered with a kind sense of humor that makes this book both an important historical recollection and enjoyable read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Stroll Down Memory Lane August 1, 2012

By GregM

Format:Paperback

What a great book! Having moved to Los Angeles in 1979 and staying through 1992, it brought back so many memories for me. Ingram chronicles a place and time that was as much a period of discovery for me as it was for him. I'm glad he was able to keep such better notes, clippings, and fliers from some of the best shows of the period. It was great being transported back to such places as Al's Bar, the Odyssey, the Starwood, Cathay de Grande, the One Way, and especially, The Theoretical parties. This book is a must-read for anyone who lived in Los Angeles in the '80's or who wants an idea of what it was like.