All The Young Punks - Vol 2 - George Berger - Bog

As noted in the description of the first volume of this book, every punk book seems to be about the bands, about the 'faces', about the music. Volume 2 of All The Young Punks brings you more stories from the frontline, from the trenches. Stories from the foot soldiers who made punk what it was without turning it into a career. Born too late for the inner circle, but shining like a thousand comets nonetheless - this is the story of the punks. "It felt like pure energy - like a Sherbet Dip, when you have the first mouthful and your face scrunches up" "Punk Rock had saved me and I dedicated myself to it's glory" "there was music I could relate to for when I was feeling sad, happy, funky or whatever, but nothing for when I felt angry... until THIS." "Then there was the day a bunch of us painted my mate's Woolworths acoustic guitar white then set light to it in the local park while another mate filmed it with his dad's Super 8 Camera as a 'Dada-ist Performance Piece'. Unfortunately we didn't tell the bloke who's guitar it was, and when he found out we had to go into hiding for a couple of weeks as he recruited a bunch of local 'hard nuts' to 'sort us out'...." "Records with swearing in!" "It was like a story with no pre-ordained ending. I still get a electrical twinge when a band hits that first note or chord, what will happen next." "bum flaps fashioned from an old kilt of my mum's, black bondage trousers with the baby reins I had worn as a toddler attached behind, hastily marker penned anarchy armbands." "I remember buying a white catering jacket (on which I pinned a Crass badge with the 'broken gun' image in day-glo orange on white) that I fancied looked a bit like the tuxedo that Sid wore in the My Way video. Margate being a seaside resort, though, I was always being asked if I'd got a job as an ice cream seller." "Its naïve to think that society could change, but to a certain extent, in the early years and with the optimism of youth I believed it could happen." "I still had long hair and was wearing a 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' teeshirt. The guitarist of Slaughter came up to me after the gig and said "Do you like Yes then?", I very nervously mumbled "Er I suppose so", to which he replied "Me too mate, fuckin' great band!" "It came along just at the right time though and gave me somewhere to belong, which was a lifesaver." "I'm still in awe of the sex, style and subversion that the original Punk Explosion thrust upon unsuspecting England and if I'm not out smashing the system then I'm doing my bit to resist it's clammy clutches." "He said, "This album can't be any good. It's got 14 tracks on it." I love that quote."