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Under the Big Black Sun

Written by: John Doe, Tom Desavia
Narrated by: Exene Cervenka, Henry Rollins, full cast
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Publisher's Summary

Under the Big Black Sun explores the nascent Los Angeles punk rock movement and its evolution to hardcore punk as it's never been told before. Authors John Doe and Tom DeSavia have woven together an enthralling story of the legendary West Coast scene from 1977 to 1982 by enlisting the voices of people who were there. The book shares chapter-length tales from the authors along with personal essays from famous (and infamous) players in the scene. Additional authors include: Exene Cervenka (X), Henry Rollins (Black Flag), Mike Watt (The Minutemen), Jane Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey (The Go-Go's), Dave Alvin (The Blasters), Chris D. (Flesh Eaters), Jack Grisham (T.S.O.L.), Teresa Covarrubias (The Brat), and Robert Lopez (The Zeros, El Vez) as well as scenesters and journalists Pleasant Gehman, Kristine McKenna, and Chris Morris. Through interstitial commentary, John Doe "narrates" this journey through the land of film noir sunshine, Hollywood back alleys, and suburban sprawl - the place where he met his artistic counterparts, Exene, DJ Bonebrake, and Billy Zoom - and formed X, the band that became synonymous with and in many ways defined L.A. punk.

Under the Big Black Sun shares stories of friendship and love, ambition and feuds, grandiose dreams and cultural rage, all combined with the tattered, glossy sheen of pop culture weirdness that epitomized the operations of Hollywood's underbelly. Listeners will travel to the clubs that defined the scene as well as to the street corners, empty lots, apartment complexes, and squats that served as de facto salons for the musicians, artists, and fringe players that hashed out what would become punk rock in Los Angeles.

©2016 John Doe and Tom Desavia (P)2016 Random House Audio
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punk not hardcore

This is probably the best audiobook I have listened to. the style told in an oral tradition with the primary characters reading their own chapters seems more like a happening than a book. John Doe and Tom DeSavia also tell the story but act more as sheppards for the first 100 punks as well as the keepers of the flame. This book unique in its approach deserves to be listened to and also read. Each contributor is both poet and historian. This is a work of art.
It is triumphant and melancholy. It is the Dharma Bums of L.A. punk.

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