Books About SF Punk and Hardcore

Punk ’77 (RESearch Publications) by James Stark, is not only a great-looking book with excellent photos, it is also a fantastic look at the golden age of San Francisco punk. I initially picked up this book while researching my now back-burnered Flipper book, but noticed it has some great pics of Will Shatter from when he was in Negative Trend and Grand Mal.

Gimme Something Better (Penguin Books) by Jack Boulware and Silke Tudor is an exhaustive look at the San Francisco underground scene from 1976 all the way up to the late ‘90s. There is included a chapter on Flipper and it is a very interesting book. Tons of information.

I would recommend both books for anyone interested in San Francisco underground music history. Both use a lot of quotes from people who were there. In fact, Gimme Something Better is virtually all quotes, while Punk ’77 uses both quotes and narration by Stark.

Shed No Tears

"The pain of life is great/And some will find it sweet/To rot beneath the earth/As we rot and live an breathe" -- Will Shatter.

Awake at 4 a.m., I had trouble going back to sleep. I admit to not thinking about anything but how disappointed I am by life right now. I did a little crying, then fell back asleep. Why is doing what I want to do so hard? Am I afraid to fail? Of course. But that is only one small part of the story. If I could get my ego out of the way I could just forge ahead without reservation. So be it.

"Get Away"

I remember my band Noise For Nothing opening for Fugazi at Tacoma's Community World Theater in 1987 I believe. I wore Flipper pants -- pants I had drawn the Flipper fish all over, and I mean, all over. We did a cover of Flipper's song, "Get Away" and other songs to a crowd of fifteen. I don't remember a lot of that show but do remember singing that song. Oh, and rockin' out to Fugazi when they played. Danger Mouse also played, and tried to have pizza delivered onstage. I don't remember if they succeeded. It was not long after that I was kicked out of my own band because I couldn't really sing... it devastated me. Go, go get away

Life Is The Only Thing Worth Living For, Part Two

There is no doubt that Will Shatter, Gemini that he was, had at least two sides to him. One side was a drugged-up nihilist; the other, a hopeful anarchist. That hopeful side was illustrated in songs such as "Life", where Will sang about finding out "what living is all about". "It's life, life, life is the only thing worth living for."

This would be good for me to remember as I struggle through these days of depression and ennui, unemployed, unmotivated, just "un". Especially now that it may be a couple of weeks where I will be stuck without any money, unless I pawn something. So, along with my inspirational readings and cds, I can go back to Will Shatter's song "Life" for some additional comfort and strength.

I Should Be Working On The Book

Instead of doing this blog. It's the beginning of another month. My goal this month is to complete a chapter, maybe two, and contact some more people I need to interview. I am feeling rather down lately, not very inspired, but I think about working on it every damn day. We'll see how far I get.