With all of the stress and disappointment that the holiday gift exchange can create, what's usually left is a void that's quickly filled with that little something that you really wanted all along. With the earlier release of the Bomp! and Creem books, this year's crop of new rock'n roll tomes is a great batch, and one of the last minute contestants is Backbeat's The Official Punk Rock Book of Lists, brought to you by Amy Wallace, and Handsome Dick Manitoba of The Dictators fame. With seemingly endless lists featuring everyone from Kim Fowley's favorite golden moments in punk, to Mick Farren's list of his favorite punk movies, right on down to Debbie Harry's list of 'People I'd Like To Fuck," it's a nonstop ride through underground music's halls of insignificance as stories are retold and categorized as only the 'Book of Lists' people do best, and aside from the overly bountiful Sex Pistols-related anecdotes, it's a thoroughly entertaining reference guide. For example, who knew that Ian MacKaye decided to shave his head and start the Teen Idles after seeing Lux Interior throw up on stage? Possibly the perfect prescription for the attention deficient punk in us all, this book provides countless scenarios to debate and quibble around, and with Eric Friedl's '10 Things That Made Memphis Punk' along with New Bomb Turks' Eric Davidson's inclusion of Bloomington/Normal, IL as one of the 1990's Unsung Punk Hotbeds, it's not just another sterile-minded book on punk's narrowly defined "history" which seem to continue to be produced, ad nauseam.
Speaking of which, we have our very first promotional giveaway here at Victim of Time, and if you can correctly answer the carefully chosen trivia question at the end of this article and email it to our central headquarters before anyone else, you will victoriously walk away with a free copy of this highly entertaining, factum-filled 300+ page book that collects some of the most diminutive details from the all-encompassing punk universe. Otherwise, pick up a copy right HERE, or try your luck at answering our trivia question below for a free copy.
Q: What was the name of the pre-punk, mimeographed rock'n roll fanzine published by The Dictators' Adny Shernoff in the early 1970s?
(first correct answer emailed to us at: info @ victimoftime.com must include full name and US mailing address wins!)
Arturo Vega and Danny Fields at the book signing party at Manitoba's 2007, photo by Aaron Lefkove
