John Doe has worked as a roofer, an aluminum siding mechanic, a manager of poetry readings, a musician, and an actor. He met Exene Cervenka at the Venice poetry workshop in 1976 and started working with Billy Zoom around the same time. When DJ Bonebrake joined X in mid-1977, the lineup was complete. As one of the last original punk rock bands standing, they continue to tour, most recently with Blondie and Pearl Jam in front of stadium-sized crowds and audiences born after the band's formation. He has recorded eight solo records with numerous renowned singers and musicians and as an actor has appeared in over fifty films and television productions, including Road House, Great Balls of Fire, Boogie Nights, and Roswell. He currently tours as both a solo artist and with X. Doe lives north of San Francisco.Tom DeSavia is currently head of creative services for SONGS Music Publishing and is based in Los Angeles, California. Prior to joining SONGS, DeSavia did lengthy stints as both a publisher and record label A&R man, as well as many years running pop membership for ASCAP. He currently serves on the West Coast board of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and previously served on the board of directors for both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). A native of Southern California, Tom began his career as a music journalist.
"A great book."--Billboard.com
"A juggernaut of reminisces from an eclectic cast of Cali punk
characters."--The Observer (UK), "The Best Music Books of 2016"
"A wonderful multi-authored book not just about what turned out to
be a key time in this music scene but with much wider resonance
about invention [and] community."--Manchester Review of Books
"John Doe anchors this collection of memories from those who
survived the L.A. punk scene...It's like listening to a group of
friends reminisce."
--Goldmine
"John Doe and Tom DeSavia have woven together an enthralling story
of the legendary West Coast scene from 1977-1982 by enlisting the
voices of people who were there." --Business Insider Australia
"The book does a fine job of capturing the rebellious spirit of
this group of anti-Top Forty radio commandos...Although books of
essays that collect the thoughts of various authors are often
uneven, somehow this one retains its coherence and sense of
identity. Everyone who writes here was part of the scene in one way
or another, not simply observers writing from a distance...If you
want to learn more about the LA punk scene of the 70s, this is a
good place to turn."
--Portland Book Review
"The book is an incredible read, on part with Easy Riders, Raging
Bulls, or The Kid Stays In The Picture. But the audio version is
sensational, because the essayists who contributed to the book read
their own work. If you're a fan of the music and the musicians, I
can't oversell how great it is to own both audio and print
versions, because the photos in the print version are magnificent."
--WilWheaton.net
"While X led the way, the L.A. punk scene had a distinctive voice
all its own. With contributions from those who were there, this is
a time capsule of music, politics and personal freedom." --Indie
88
LA Weekly, 7/28/16
"A collection of essays by a fraternity of key members of L.A.'s
early punk scene between 1977 and 1982, before any of them
experienced major-label interest and mainstream success...Stories
of hardscrabble living, house parties and shambolic
shows...Includes loads of photos and vintage gig fliers." Scanner
Zine, 7/25/16
"Each chapter works in its own right, focusing on a specialized
area from each writer. As a collection, they create a comprehensive
narrative that takes in all of those early LA legends...All of John
Doe's pieces read like a noir film; his writing is incredibly
stylized, panoramic and informative...This is the most complete and
in-depth look at that initial LA Punk scene yet...Doe has collected
a group of people who actually know how to write and write with
flair...An informative and exciting book...It's deftly written,
beautifully presented and makes the reader yearn for a time
machine." Red Dirt Report, 7/25/16
"[In] Under the Big Black Sun, we get a truckload of stories, mixed
in with haphazard memories and hilarious situations, set against
the angsty punk scene of Greater Los Angeles circa 1977-82, before
everything was MTV-ized and sanitized for your protection...Offers
a quick, 249-page peek into a scene that was so important to the
music that would follow. A bloody good read."
SLUG Magazine, May 2016
"Filled with the rich personal histories from participants of the
L.A. punk movement, Under The Big Black Sun shares L.A.'s history
with the world...Through these tales, the enticing history of the
first-wave era comes alive with each turn of the page...[A]
thorough exploration of the ins and outs of the L.A. scene...Well
worth the read...An essential collection that explores a punk era
that was rich, interesting and above all, unapologetically honest."
Phoenix New Times, 5/6/16
"Chronicles the rough-and-tumble punk jungle of the L.A.
underground scene that exploded between 1977 and 1982. Pretty heady
stuff." Ground Control, 5/6/16
"Under The Big Black Sun breaks tradition and presents a different
kind of story in so doing...Like a brilliant mosaic, each piece
fits together...In the end, what proves to be the coolest thing
about Under The Big Black Sun is the fact that, no matter what tone
the author employs for his or her contribution (be it heavy or dark
or direct or folksy or sweet or sassy etc.), the tie that binds
them all together is how obviously each of them adored their scene
and how faithfully they wish to preserve it in this book. That love
holds Under The Big Black Sun together and renders it a complete
and satisfying read."
Vegas Seven, 6/14/16
"Under the Big Black Sun captures a bit of a shining moment before
mass media took over, where the underground was something you had
to dig for." Austin Chronicle, 6/17/16
"A book as special as the scene it anthologizes." Waterbury
Republican-American, 6/19/16
"All of the familiar names are here, as well as hundreds of bands
many readers will wish they could have witnessed in person."
Exclaim.ca, 6/21/16
"Punk rock can save your life, if it doesn't kill you first. That's
the notion tying together Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal
History of L.A. Punk, a collection of oral histories, war stories
and elegies...If it reads like a whirlwind pastiche of different
styles and tones, that's because that's the way the scene really
was. Besides, there's real delight in reading about the wild and
often unstable alliances forged between bands desperate to make it
in unforgiving L.A...Valuable for not only giving us a glimpse into
what punk rock looked like and sounded like, but also what it felt
like." Music News, 6/20/16
"Chronicles the early years of the frequently bleak and gritty
scene through various contributors who were front and center...A
brisk read...24 unflinchingly real chapters."
Esquire.com, 4/26/16
"The new book from punk icon John Doe offers a history of the
overlooked music scene...For anyone who thinks that punk rock was
limited to the famed scenes in London and New York, Under the Big
Black Sun offers hard evidence that the L.A. scene was just as
important--and perhaps created an even greater, lasting impact...A
great story about the underappreciated music that came out of the
City of Angels during that golden period of 1977-1982." The A.V.
Club, 4/25/16
"Under The Big Black Sun opens up L.A.'s punk-rock
underbelly...Culled from the personal remembrances of roughly a
dozen of the city's most prized punk-rock figures, the book digs
deep into the ugly, dangerous, but nonetheless fraternal nature of
the burgeoning L.A. punk scene of the late '70s and early '80s.
From Hollywood over to East L.A. and south to San Pedro and
Huntington Beach, Under The Big Black Sun covers the scene's
considerable sprawl, from the sketchy clubs and apartment dwellings
to the bands and the drug and booze-fueled chaos that followed
them...The dirt dished on the bands and the music is great, but the
book wisely casts a wider net to capture broader aspects of early
L.A. punk culture...You-had-to-be-there style storytelling."
Examiner.com, 5/3/16
"A fascinating, first-person account of professional gigging and
groupie-dom in the late 1970s and early '80s...Doe's descent into
the dark tumult of southern California in the post-Carter years is
as seedy and unsterile as it is musically and historically
significant...Doe effectively Sharpies an X on our hands for
reentry into a world most of us probably never knew, into a
labyrinth of alleyways and urine-besotted staircases populated by
society's fringe-dwellers--the talented outcasts and intellectuals
longing to carve their own niche into the urban fabric...It's all
here, really, in its glorious repugnance: The intoxication,
self-mutilation and promiscuity, the battered amplifiers and
eyeliner, the outrageous exploits in brick-and-mortar meccas that
would be shuttered after skinheads and hardcore thugs started
yanking fixtures off the restroom walls...In Under the Big Black
Sun, punk's unsung forefathers (and mothers) finally have their say
their way...and we emerge smelling of cigarette smoke and alcohol,
ears ringing."
Music Aficionado, 5/6/16
"Really takes the reader back to the time punk broke in the L.A."
Lincoln Journal Star, 5/14/16
"Filled with candid, well written pieces...As valuable as a
historical record as it is an innovative recounting of the scene."
Bookforum, 5/12/16
"Shin[es] a light on a legendary but largely unexamined corner of
the West Coast counterculture...Nostalgic fans of LA punk will
learn amazing things." Chicago Tribune, 5/31/16
"A chronicle of the influential LA punk scene from 1977 to 1982, a
first-hand story told by many of the musicians who lived it...The
book captures a scruffy and rebellious era where a new breed of
musicians flourished in cheap apartments, dive bars and music
clubs. It was an underground scene that thrived on word of mouth
before the advent of cellphones and the internet. Nearly 40 years
on, that heady cultural time continues to influence music and
fashion." San Francisco Chronicle, 6/1/16
"Written with immediacy and brio, the book is suffused with the
heady feeling of finding your tribe." Philadelphia Inquirer,
6/5/16
"The music that emerged from the Los Angeles punk rock scene of the
late 1970s and early '80s resisted easy categorization...It's an
era skillfully recounted in Under the Big Black Sun."
PopMatters, 4/25/16
"A series of essays in which each voice shines...These aren't
Rolling Stone profiles that have been sanitized to protect us from
the truth, they're the real conversations that you'd have with this
gang if any of them were your friends...The memories, some of them
anyway, are here too for us to sort through and feel something akin
to being there. What more could we want?"
Praise for Under the Big Black Sun Vogue.com, 2/28/16
"A candid look at one of rock's most exciting scenes." Publishers
Weekly, 4/4/16
"Doe, frontman for X, has gathered the testimonies of punk's
progenitors in L.A., a scene only rivaled by those of New York and
London for fecundity and influence." Q Magazine, June 2016
"An excellent dissection of the unique cultural and sexual
plurality of the LA scene...Compelling reading." Library Journal,
4/15/16
"[A] fascinating collection of essays." Rolling Stone, 5/5/16
"The true story of the Los Angeles punk scene...A set of vivid
personal essays...The most artist-centered look yet at a scene that
helped define the future of a music whose rallying cry was 'no
future.'" John Evans, co-owner of California's Diesel: A Bookstore,
on NPR's All Things Considered, 7/22/16
"A great and generous memoir of L.A. punk." Booklist, 7/21/16
"An entertaining, firsthand history that should appeal to punk fans
everywhere." Record Collector, May 2016
"A great read for anyone with even a passing interest in the U.S.
underground of the time."
RollingStone.com, 5/10/16
"A welcome diversion from the typical punk history books, which are
often narratives or oral histories." Punk Rock Theory, 5/20/16
"A personal history of LA punk, told by the people who were
there...Together they paint a picture of a scene that was ugly,
dangerous and came with sketchy clubs and lots of drugs, but where
at the same time there was room for friendship, love and big
dreams...Paints a surprisingly clear story of what must have been
hazy days for all those involved." Media Mikes, 5/18/16
"Written by X vocalist/bassist John Doe along with help from Tom
DeSavia and laundry list of who's who from the late '70s and early
'80s L.A. punk scene. For the first time in one place the true
story of a scene often overlooked is told in all of its gritty and
grimy detail by none other those who experienced it and by those
who helped create it. This is not your typical memoir however as
this book tells not only of how the scene began and developed but
also how it went on to change music forever...John Doe does a great
job recounting his stories from this era with vivid detail and
truthfulness that make you want to keep turning the page...[A]
captivating story...Full of rare photos that by themselves are
worth the price of the book...From cover to cover Doe and DeSavia
and crew nail it."
Spectrum Culture, 7/7/16
"The West Coast's answer to the seminal New York punk history,
Please Kill Me...Help[s] paint a more complete picture of just what
it was like to live and create in that climate...Under the Big
Black Sun serves as the definitive statement on the richly diverse,
unfairly overlooked Los Angeles punk scene." Blurt Online,
7/1/16
"Did the world really need one more book about Punk Rock?...Yes.
Yes, it did...There are bookshelves crammed with tomes about Punk
Rock and plenty of those deal with the L.A. punk scene of the late
'70s. But few are as refreshingly personal as John Doe's Under the
Big Black Sun." San Francisco Book Review, 7/17/16
"Told by those who lived it, those who sparked it, those who
thrived there, and those who suffered there, Under the Big Black
Sun is as personal a history as you're bound to find, exploring the
evolution of punk in all its forms...This is a front row seat to
the joy and mayhem...With voices like Jane Wiedlin, Henry Rollins,
John Doe, and Exene Cervenka, among many others, this is punk
brought to life, ugly and beautiful and vibrant and mean all at
once." Austin American-Statesman, 7/16/16
"Does was wise to get a few different voices in here; it gives
Under the Big Black Sun a pleasing emotional heft."
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