When it comes to getting credit for nurturing the rise of punk music, L.A. is typically overshadowed by such cities as New York and London, which are known for giving birth to seminal punk bands like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols.
But two new books by local punk legends are helping to shine a spotlight on the early L.A. punk scene.
“Our scene, I would say, was just as great as the London scene and the New York scene,” said Keith Morris, the former Black Flag and Circle Jerks lead singer whose autobiography, “My Damage: The Story of a Punk Rock Survivor,” written with Jim Ruland and published by Da Capo Press, chronicles the ups and downs of his life.
Morris, who was a founding member and vocalist of Black Flag and later co-founded the Circle Jerks in 1979, delves into all aspects of his life story, including the hard partying, the band relationships and the attempts to navigate the music industry.
Morris isn’t the only L.A. punk pioneer with a book offering an eyewitness account of the early days of West Coast punk.
With the help of a few friends, X bass player and singer John Doe recently released “Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk,” also on De Capo Press.
The book consists of stories about the punk scene from 1977-1982 as told by people who were there, including Doe, his co-author Tom DeSavia, Doe’s fellow X singer (and ex-wife) Exene Cervenka, Henry Rollins of Black Flag, Mike Watt of Minutemen, Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s and others.
“A number of people encouraged me to work on a book,” Doe said. “Finally, I had an idea that coincided with the whole kernel of what was important with L.A. punk rock, which was community and collaboration.
“It was a collaborative scene of crazy misfits, bohemians and weirdos,” he added.
The punk scene developed in L.A. after it burst out of London and New York, where such bands as the Ramones, who formed in 1974, and the Sex Pistols, who came together in 1975, were regarded as the vanguards of the movement.
But L.A. wasn’t far behind with the birth of such bands as X, the Germs, the Zeros, the Weirdos, the Screamers and Bags, who by 1977 were at the forefront of the local punk scene.
“It was a huge scene. It wasn’t selling millions of records, but pretty much everyone had veered away from the horrible ’70s music,” said Lisa Fancher, founder of Frontier Records, a label she started in Sun Valley in 1979 that became one of the first to focus on the punk movement in L.A. and Orange County. “It was pretty much what everybody was following; it was basically the biggest sound.”
Frontier Records’ roster of bands included the Circle Jerks, Adolescents, the Weirdos and Suicidal Tendencies.
“L.A. always got very little attention compared to London and New York, because they decided they were so wonderful,” she said with a bit of a chuckle. “I certainly liked all the British bands for sure — the Clash, the Sex Pistols — but it was a different sound and different kind of feeling here. Nobody was trying to copy what the New Yorkers were doing. Maybe there was a little bit of fashion following, but musically it was a stand-alone sound.”
The scene’s collaborative spirit also set L.A. apart, Doe noted.
“People borrowed equipment, people had to play together in order to draw enough people to the shows,” he said. “If you weren’t onstage, you were probably in the audience.”
And while New York had legendary punk havens such as CBGB, where the Ramones made a name for themselves, L.A. punks also had their own home venues, most notably The Masque, a small, short-lived punk club in the basement of an X-rated theater that became the center of the early scene here.
Many of the first shows were also held at people’s homes or at rented halls, Doe recalled.
“And these poor unsuspecting people who rented them thought it would be nice kids putting on a show and then the toilet would get smashed and that would be the last time we’d ever work there,” he said with a laugh.
But L.A. was also probably overlooked in part due to the undeniable influence of the Ramones.
“I don’t think anyone could be as influential as the Ramones,” Doe said. “I think the Ramones changed everything.”
Indeed, the new exhibit at L.A.’s Grammy Museum called “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go: Ramones and the Birth of Punk” chronicles the impact the New York band had on punk and rock ’n’ roll.
“I think overall L.A. punk gets a bit overlooked because of the Ramones and New York,” said Bob Santelli, executive director of the Grammy Museum and exhibit co-curator. “So much of what was happening that was absolutely influential and profound was coming out of the Bowery and lower New York City. What was happening in L.A. was perhaps as equally exciting as what was happening in New York; it’s just that New York happened earlier because of the Ramones.”
Still, L.A. may get more recognition for its contributions to punk, since the Grammy Museum may soon focus on the music that came out of its own backyard.
“Hopefully soon we can do a follow-up exhibit that allows us to look very deeply at L.A. punk,” Santelli noted.
