Customer Reviews

Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock, 1970-1982

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have any interest at all in this era of music history, this is the book for you. Includes detailed information about all the well-known acts and also more obscure, but just as important bands.

I am a music lover and collect recordings in nearly every genre and media. 1977-82 was one of the greatest listening periods of my life. Punk (and new wave) meant a great deal to me--the Clash were (are?) "the only band that matters." This book reacquainted me with many lost friends, and introduced me to some of their cohorts. There is only one problem; to paraphrase one of the Amazon reviewers of the earlier edition, this book can be hazardous to your wallet.

Let's be clear about the realistic prospects of getting something like this back in print, given the small market anything historical serves. Keep that in mind when noting deficiencies in editing and layout. Much as we might like the proofing that a reference text like a dictionary gets for something such as this, I doubt the $$ were available for that given the meager profit to be realized here. And consider the very high probability for errors given the sheer scope and volume of information getting pushed through these pages. Again, given the narrow demographic this labor of love now serves we're lucky it exists at all. That's not to excuse the existence of errors, it is an attempt to get some perspective on why those errors exist and persist.

The format might not be to the taste of all but there are plenty of narratives out there with a smaller scope if you're looking for depth or trenchant analysis. I can't speak for Gimarc but I doubt that was the point in his work so comments in that direction are kinda pointless. I find the story arcs and parallels which this format draws attention to to be fascinating.

Mine isn't the only view though. I'd suggest that before you draw conclusions on this reissue that you track the comments to be found on the originals: "Post Punk Diary : 1980-1982" and "Punk Diary: 1970-1979".

Original, entertaining....this Herculean effort surveys the genesis of the only music that matters. Gimarc is the clearly the go-to guy for all things punk. The definitive reference work of the genre, and a must for any serious collector. Don't miss the interviews on the included CD.

This book takes the unique approach of a diary format to explore the punk phenomenon. Date by date, the author writes about what bands are coming on the scene, who is performing where, band member changes, recording gigs, record releases, magazine quotes. This book covers many big name bands (like the Stooges and the Sex Pistols) as well as lesser known fundamentals (like Television and the Dead Boys), and a ton of little bands I bet you never even heard of. One of the previous reviewers is right...minutae?! You bet!! Here are odd details and tidbits that one would spend a lifetime compiling...and this guy did. Many (well...not enough for us fans, but you get what I mean) indepth books have been written about the individual bands and artists that propelled the punk movement, but this book gives you a sense of the scene as it evolved. This book will give you new insight into the bands you love, and maybe just help you find a few more bands that will be your favorites in the future. This is not prose, it is a diary. Cut-up, rough, and chock full of stuff. Kinda like...uh...punk?! Subjective? Yes! Detailed? Yes! Worthwhile? Yes! Get it!!! Read it!!!

Remember when you were a kid and the teachers kept telling you to memorize dates and places and people and you were like, "but I don't care about these dates and places and people! Why can't they give us a history book about stuff that actually matters!?" Well, here it is. George Gimarc's Punk Diary is nothing short of an historical tome about a time in the world where music evolved from The Carpenters to The Sex Pistols. It's chock full of dates and times and places, but more importantly it lays out the progress of people who revolutionized a culture in the latter half of the twentieth century. Punk Diary lays it out for you, and doesn't limit itself merely to punk music. In reading this work, you see how the lines blur and how punk isn't just a particular style of music but an approach to it: a way of bucking what was conventional at the time and exploring entirely new avenues of musical expression. Punk Diary goes to the clubs and the studios and presents the angst and the zaniness as well as the dark sadness of unbridled fervor for a generation of artists whose brief urban culture clash is but a memory captured on vinyl and now reproduced digitally for future generations.

When reading Gimarc's Punk Diary, one can opt to look for particular names of bands one has enjoyed over the years, research specific talents of the time period to understand them more, read through the book cover to cover from date to date, or just randomly peruse it and learn something new and novel with each turn of the page. One can learn random trivia from the book, like how Sting got his name. It's just a lot of fun to read. Complete with a CD of selected clips from George Gimarc's radio show from the time, where he interviewed many of the provacateurs of the punk movement, Punk Diary is a must for anyone who considers themselves an afficianado of contemporary music.

To those who question the validity, referring to entries in the diary that may conflict with other sources? Where would the fun be with history if there were nothing to argue about? Gimarc lived through that scene personally, and history is written by the victors.

This is such an impressive bible of information, with a mind-boggling array of bands and artists - a book that can serve as a great resource but one that's easy to dip in and out of - you'll find yourself flicking through the pages reliving those lost years of musical youth. This was obviously a complete labour of love, bringing together what must have been year upon year of dogged research. The text is accompanied by plenty of illustrations and memorabilia and on the inclusive audio CD is a great collection of exclusive interviews, many with artists that were still fresh on the scene. Relive the most important and influential years of musical history, day-by-day - if it's not in here, it didn't happen!

It's rare when a cultural anthropologist presents his or her work without an agenda. Yet here it is. Gimarc's astounding breadth of content and painstaking attention to detail has resulted in a book that is of the moment and could only have been accomplished by an author who lived, and loved, Punk. With thousands of bands covered, only the most pathetic critic will find the material wanting. Gimarc's mission isn't to exclude or place an academic significance to Punk, but to document its every breath. If "Punk Diary" isn't in your book collection, then the "Sex Pistols" probably aren't in your music library either.

The bottom line is this, if you love Punk or if you simply want some insight into one of the most disruptive movements in pop culture, you should read this book. Even for people who were there, there are details that some of us never knew or, as the saying goes "if your memory is too good, you probably weren't there." Gimarc's book makes memories unnecessary.

I have been involved and collected Punk music since nearly the beginning and this book is very well done and a must have for anyone who loves this music and thnks they knew everything about the "scene"

Wanted to love it more but I found errors on almost every page. Little things like misspellings, typos, etc - for a book like this to be this sloppy was very disappointing. The book compiles two earlier books like this that George did, and the integration of the two texts was handled very carelessly. Entire chunks of text repeat themselves and worse.

Someone should have looked at this book before they printed it! It really seems like there was no copy-editing and no quality control. It's a shame because it is obvious that George spent years putting together all this information!