UNDER THE BIG BLACK SUN book review

UNDER THE BIG BLACK SUN

A personal history of LA Punk

By John Doe w/ Tom DeSavia

• Publisher: Da Capo Press (April 26, 2016)

I have been looking forward to reading this book. The LA punk scene has been under-represented. Many people were not aware of it until 1981. Most of this multi-faceted book focuses on the golden age of the Masque and the early scene, roughly the years 1976-1981. Hollywood had a glam rock and groupie scene going on in the early part of the 1970s. That soon morphed into the new punk thing when everyone got a leather jacket. In NYC, they had the clubs Max’s Kansas City and CBGBs and a lot of movies and books and documentaries. London had almost too much hype and coverage. London has often been mistaken as the birthplace of punk rock. Los Angeles was always a third city with an equal force of creativity and importance, ahead of San Francisco, Chicago and DC.

Back at the start, LA had the clubs: the Masque, The Whiskey, and The Starwood were all the main locales for the early scene; plus new clubs were opening up all the time. This book pays attention to the Canterbury Hotel, a block away from the Masque, as LA’s dingy answer to the Chelsea Hotel. Most of the scene’s original 100, or “original 200,” it’s not clear who’s card carrying member or not, are people who are no longer with us. For those dozen people or so who are still with us, some have detailed accounts and others have vague memories that seem general. There was a lot of drug and alcohol abuse back then. I am sure some people have blacked out most of the time. I know that I have. 

There is an introduction by Billie Joe Armstrong. He’s not from LA and he came along ten years too late. I guess the editors of this book wanted to include a big name to attract the millenials? It turns out that most of people in this book are not from LA and came out west when they were young adults. A third of the book is written by John Doe, so it becomes X-centric. Some of the best LA bands of the time like The Weirdos, The Screamers, and The Alleycats, are there in the background.

The book starts out slow. The intro by Armstrong and the forward by Tom DeSavia are generic punk outlines. Instead I suggest that the reader only recall the first time they heard The Ramones or The Germs. Because these two sections are general reminiscences by music fans. In the first real chapter John Doe remembers playing The Whisky and recalls his first impression of the Masque. Exene Cervenka doesn’t add much with her vague history report. Where are the personal tales? John Doe returns in the next section with an impressionistic piece about living on Genesee Avenue, and banging Lorna Doom of The Germs.

The first part of the book drags. The best part of the book comes next: there are two long chapters by Jane Wiedlin and Pleasant Gehman. Jane Wiedlin talks about growing up in the valley and going to fashion school. She discovers the LA punk scene and moves into the Canterbury Hotel. She reminds us that the Go-Gos started out as a punk band. They were the only band to achieve success and tour internationally. While most of the others turned to heroin. Orange County punks didn’t kill the original scene, heroin did. And lack of any success outside of the scene.

Pleasant Gehman links the original scene with The Germs and The Gun Club: some of the best bands to come out of it. Her view of the LA scene is the most cinematic. Her story about how her friends went to meet the Sex Pistols on tour in the south to lose their virginity was pretty hilarious. The hardcore scene came in and Pleasant went rockabilly.

John Doe has a few more chapters that fill in the blanks. Chris Morris talks about his experiences with working at a movie theater and Slash Magazine. Tom DeSavia focuses on the photographers of punk, the best ones being Ed Colver and Jenny Lens. Robert Lopez talks about growing up in San Diego and being in a teenage punk band. The focus turns on how east LA punk and Latino punk bands became involved with the original movement.

Of course, Henry Rollins chimes in and was a little late to the LA scene. By this point of the book I notice how few original native Los Angeles people are represented here. Henry Rollins doesn’t really add much color to what has been said better before. But it is interesting that he mentions how he was followed by the police and the FBI. The question remains: was punk seen as a threat by the FBI at the time?

Chris D. speaks about his experiences with Slash Magazine. Mike Watt goes on for a few pages about growing up Pedro. John Doe speaks about what is punk and not punk. Charlotte Coffey writes about not being cool and not very punk, but being in the Go-Gos, which were the only band from the original scene to have any success and play stadiums.

There is a lot of anti-OC sentiment in these pages. Most of this is refuted by Jack Grisham of TSOL. TSOL is still one of the current bands still offering their brand of punk today. While many lament the end of punk around 1982, due to the OC invasion, in reality the OC punk scene had been boiling for years. Sandy West of The Runaways was from Huntington Beach. There were backyard house parties with The Crowd and The Outsiders. There was more of a punk uniformity and gang element post 1981 and that was unfortunate. But it’s a little sad when people in the original scene are still trying top be the king of the high school when they are 25.

Whether punk had died or not, one thing was for sure post-punk had started. There was goth, rockabilly, electronic music, ska, and new wave. Most of the old punks had put their cards in the rockabilly/Americana movement. Dave Alvin of the Blasters addresses much of this in his chapter. Kristine McKenna Mourns the death of the scene artfully in her section. John Doe then wraps in up nicely. It’s a compelling read and a fresh looking back on the complicated scene.

The band X had been in two documentaries. Still LA feels under-represented in punk rock retrospectives. There is always New York and London, and Los Angeles is a strong third city, although you might think it’s an equal to DC, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. Some of the LA bands don’t really seem as punk as we would like them to. They would play with The Knack, 20/20, and The Plimsouls at the Starwood, although no one talks about those bands being punk.

Punk music is at heart a folk movement. Anyone can start a band. The bands become more successful and move on to the bigger mainstream stage, like the Go-Gos, or they stop after one album and become a legend, like The Germs. Lack of success, and money, and experiences on the road, force bands to hang it up after a few years. Or you can change your tune, or start a new band.

Punk didn’t die in 1982. It just got predictable and old. Due to lack of support and recognition, many bands turned to drugs. Heroin in the early 1980s killed the scene. The OC kids didn’t ruin the scene. The scene became ugly and violent overall. Those younger kids of the 1980s didn’t relate to society and older bands that were too cool for school. And musicians heading towards 30 and playing for five or ten years didn’t want to be spit on by a 15 year old with nothing to lose. See you at the Go-Gos farewell concert tour. It will be fun.

Review by Alexander Laurence