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Please Kill Me
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk | Legs McNeil, Gillian McCain
"No volume serves juicier dish on punks New York birth . . . Tales of sex, drugs and music that will make you wish youd been there.--Rolling Stone "Ranks up there with the great rock & roll books of all time.--Time Out New York Once the most reviled musical movement in history, now a global rallying cry for the young and rebellious, punk has energy and power that remain undiluted. A contemporary classic that has inspired scores of other books,Please Kill Me is the definitive oral history of the most nihilist of all pop movements. Iggy Pop, Richard Hell, Dee Dee and Joey Ramone, Malcolm McLaren, Jim Carroll, and scores of other famous and infamous punk figures lend their voices to this decisive account of that outrageous, explosive era. From its origins in the twilight years of Andy Warhols New York reign to its last gasps as eighties corporate rock, the phenomenon that was known as punk is scrutinized, eulogized, and celebrated by the people who were there. In this 20th anniversary edition,Please Kill Me features several brand-new chapters, new interviews, new photos, and a new afterword by the authors.
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Julsmarshall
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Pickpick

Wow! Bleak, sensational, sad. So much talent wasted by pain, excess, and addiction. The format is brilliant, the history raw, and the pace compulsive. Hard to put down, I‘ll be thinking of this one for a long while. If you are an 80‘s punk kid, I highly recommend! #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 13mo
Ruthiella I loved this book. Such a great oral history of a bygone place and time. 13mo
RamsFan1963 I wasn't an 80s teen (I was 20 by 1983), but I did listen to lots of punk rock, so definitely stacked 13mo
50 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Julsmarshall
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Kinda cool watching ACL and reading about the history of punk. How far #livemusic has come!

Ruthiella I loved this book. 13mo
49 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Ast_Arslan
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I am posting one book per day from my to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it. Some will be old, some will be new - don't judge me, I have a lot of books.

Day 153th

Join the fun if you want!

#tbrpile

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Trace
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Pickpick

It is too bad these bands had such destructive habits they would have made amazing music for decades.

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Ast_Arslan
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Game by @Eggs
I saw this posted by @TheNeverendingTBR and I decided to play

I have to post a song that always pumps me up, so... Do you remember rock and roll radio? 🤟
I can't resist to Ramones ❣

https://youtu.be/Gi9a7IdRiBI

TheNeverendingTBR Ramones 🧡🧡🧡 4y
Ast_Arslan @TheNeverendingTBR I can't name just one fav 🤣 Lately, I listen 'Pet Semetary' once a day but during high school I used to listen mostly 'Sheena is a punk rocker', 'I wanna be sedated' and 'Do you remember rock and roll radio' 🤣 4y
See All 13 Comments
mandarchy I can listen to the Ramones with a migraine. So many good tunes. 4y
Ast_Arslan @mandarchy I totally agree ❤ 4y
AmyG I saw the Ramines once back in the mid-late 70‘s. The entire show was played in a heartbeat it was so fast. Great band. 4y
TheNeverendingTBR I agree, there's so many good one; I guess Poison Heart and Pet Sematary are my most played. 🖤 4y
Ast_Arslan @AmyG I truly envy you 🤣😍 it must have been a great show 😍 4y
AmyG It was something. Those were crazy times in NYC. Alot of fun. 4y
Ast_Arslan @AmyG Lucky you! 😆 4y
AmyG Ha! Yes. But now I am just old. 🤣 4y
Ast_Arslan @AmyG 🤣 I still envy you 🤣 4y
19 likes13 comments
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Seuss.and.Tattoos
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Between this book and the No Dogs in Space podcast, my knowledge of punk is going to skyrocket.

6 likes2 stack adds
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The_Penniless_Author
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Pickpick

The internet is lousy with "oral histories" of subjects that barely merit a brief paragraph, a phenomenon I'm willing to wager owes itself in no small part to this book, one of the most influential pieces of music writing ever, and maybe the only way one can do a "true" history of a subculture so familiar now to mainstream society, yet whose beginnings are mired in myth and legends. This was like my teenage Bible!

Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick Just one more book I haven't read yet, sitting among my stacks. What am I waiting for?!😁 4y
30 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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TracyReadsBooks
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Forgot to post this Little Free Library I stumbled across a few days ago while walking around with a friend. I noticed the LFL first and then the tagged book. Definitely an eye catching title! Curious, I looked it up—turns out it‘s a history of Punk. Anyway, I like the barn look...especially in the middle of the city!

Annie1215 This is on my TBR! 4y
Nute These little free libraries are always so cute! 4y
TracyReadsBooks @Nute Agreed! I love seeing how creative people are with them. 4y
32 likes3 comments
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Qpri
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A looooong read! But members from my fav RnR bands kept cropping up, and that was so cool! 🤘

16 likes1 stack add
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Qpri
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I‘m now declaring this book 100 pages too long! 😩😩😩

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Qpri
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I‘m happy if there‘s coffee on one side, and books on the other! :)

Soubhiville Life is good! 5y
Qpri @Soubhiville 🙌🙌🙌 5y
BarbaraBB Great picture! 5y
Qpri @BarbaraBB Thank you!! ☺️☺️☺️ 5y
20 likes4 comments
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Christinak
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”Me and Fred Smith had been in #rival neighborhood bands in Lincoln Park, a suburb of Detroit.”

#QuotsyMar19 #31DaysOfNonFiction

gradcat I think Legs McNeil is great! (edited) 6y
46 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Christinak
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Then one day, they said, “Okay, I think he‘s ready.” And then they gave me this other injection and I started feeling not so good. And they took me and put me in this room, and I was like, “Wait a minute, it‘s rubber … I‘m in the RUBBER ROOM!” By then I was starting to kick and #bounce around like a rubber ball—and they‘d come every half an hour and open the little window, and watch me, until I stopped moving. #QuotsyJan19

59 likes1 stack add
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slightlyfoxed
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Trying to get caught up with #riotgrams after spending the whole weekend feeling like 🤢. Just a couple of #music themed nonfiction titles from my shelves, heavily influenced by my blue-haired youth.

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cnfurlano
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No, honey, I didn't fuck nobody on the road, and by the way, I gotta go to the VD clinic.

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HannaPolkadots
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Not a request, though - actually - please do not kill me. Interesting, sometimes disgusting, sometimes infuriating, read. But mostly a #rorygilmoreread.

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HannaPolkadots
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#10questions from @LazyOwl
1. Read about Litsy on BookRiot
2. Long before I could read - our parents always read A LOT for us
3. Anne of Green Gables and everything by Anne Cath. Vestly
4. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
5. Sewing
6. Criminal Minds
7. ElfQuest
8. 100 books in a year on Goodreads
9. Nope
10. My parents ❤

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HannaPolkadots
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I think this is my #mostanticipated for August. Been meaning to read it for å long time - it always makes me think about Jess from Gilmore Girls 😍 #backtoreading #teamjess #gilmoregirls #anditsaugust @RealLifeReading @Tiffy_Reads @JoeStalksBeck

Leftcoastzen Read it a while back ,really liked it. 7y
HannaPolkadots Glad to hear it @Leftcoastzen !👍😀 7y
18 likes1 stack add2 comments
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mrozzz
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There are MANY fresh-from-the-store unshelved books missing from this picture but this is my happy place. Bottom left shelf is one my favorites and a mini ode to Gillian McCain and NY punk #shelfie #riotgram @bookriot

5 likes1 stack add
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AMVP
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#rockinmay day 17 - #londoncalling

Who didn't have a punk phase in high school? Mine wasn't some much about rebellion as it was listening to The Ramones and The Clash on my discman while on a class trip to London.

Reviewsbylola You're taking me down memory lane. You had me at discman. 😂 7y
Cinfhen Who takes a class trip to London? We went to Hershey Park!!! And yes, the beloved Sony Discman ❤️❤️❤️ 7y
AMVP @Cinfhen Was for an AP program, and we all had to pitch in to help cover costs, but yeah, was pretty cool. 7y
17 likes3 comments
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2BR02B
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Somehow nearly all my music biographies (and many of my LPs) have achromatic covers. I guess I have a type.

#blackandwhitecovers #maybookflowers

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kirriemummy
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This from Malcolm McLaren is as good as anything I've read to sum up rock and roll and being young. #punk #nonfiction #greatquotes #stickittotheman

5 likes2 stack adds
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kirriemummy
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I'm liking this one so much more than i thought I would- so well researched and readable. I've even listened to some of the music! #rorygilmorereadinglist

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katelizabee
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Came back from a trip to find this (extremely exciting) book mail! (!!!)

7 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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ChrisStingray
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Pickpick

Epic and necessary for any music fan.

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katelizabee
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Speaking of books about punk rock ... I won a copy of Please Kill Me, and I couldn't be more excited! 🎉 This oral history is one of the defining books about the punk scene, and I've been meaning to get a copy of my own for a while. 🎉 Thanks, @thelithub & @GroveAtlantic ! You've made me a very, very happy girl.

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HardcoverHearts
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Pickpick

Nothing like hearing the stories first hand, from around the time things actually happened. No revisionist history here. Just crazy stories from the early days of the NYC punk scene! And great photos to boot!

18 likes3 stack adds