London's Burning: True Adventures on the Front Lines of Punk, 1976-1977

Description

London's Burning is the story of punk rock as it happened, stripped of hindsight and future legend, and laid bare. Here are the Damned and the Adverts on tour, the Sex Pistols swearing through their prime-time television debut, the Tom Robinson Band conducting a club full of skinheads through the anthem "Glad to Be Gay," rioting Rastas running through the carnage that closed the Notting Hill Carnival, Sid Vicious arguing about which was David Bowie's best song. At the same time, it is a personal story of a confused but dedicated sixteen-year-old looking not just for kicks and great music, but for a cultural revolution--and finding one in his back yard.

Dave Thompson is one of rock's leading experts and the author of Never Fade Away, Stories For Boys, and Wheels Out Of Gear. Among Thompson's other titles are biographies of the Cure, David Bowie, Deep Purple, Depeche Mode, Genesis, Gothic Rock, KISS, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and ZZ Top.

"[Thompson] knows his stuff and can organize and write well about it. Libraries that pride themselves on well-rounded music and pop culture collections should purchase his work." -- Library Journal "Excellent anecdotal pop-music history." --Booklist "Fans of the genre will relish this chronicle from an insider's perspective." -- Kirkus Reviews "Thompson's a bit of a wiz, it must be said ... Truly authoritative ... compelling reading ... Extraordinarily well researched, insightful and very funny ... A dazzling accomplishment ... Thompson is unafraid to have a lively opinion on (and a deep love for) the music he covers. And boy, there is an awful lot of it." --Record Collector "Of everything I've read on punk rock, London's Burning paints the truest portrait of the time." --Cherry Vanilla "He concocts colorful, driving portraits of the artists and we learn a lot from their struggles and triumphs as told by Thompson." -- Paper "Thompson, the 'king of rock book writing,' manages like a good director to efficiently shuffle characters, giving his book[s] a sense of cohesion and refreshing twists and turns. Always a good read." -- Hard Radio "A fond collection of memories from the early days of punk." -- Slug Magazine