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Nov 13, 2010

Jessica rated it:

I read most of this one night while working the graveyard shift at a very institutional group home in the real methy part of SE Portland. I was the only person awake and not severely mentally-ill in the whole building, except for the parole guys, who I was pretty sure were faking it, or at least greatly exaggerating. There were these big sliding glass doors where of course the methhead psychos lurking in the dark could watch me mopping, all lit up, but I couldn't see out, and most nights I'd be More...

3 comments like (13 people liked it)

Jan 12, 2012

matt rated it:

As an avid reader (and subsequent loather) of "punk rock" history, I was excited to get into this. And although I didn't get exactly what I was looking for, it's certainly worth a read for those who can stomach it.

I can't claim to say that I don't like oral histories as I'd only previously read the "People's Oral History" by Zinn which we can all agree is a blood orange compared to Wayne Kramers' red delicious apple. That being said, I found this book far too gos More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Mike rated it:

Man, Lou Reed is such a dick.

3 comments like (18 people liked it)

Nov 30, 2008

Laura rated it:

If you love gossipy oral histories, this is the book for you. It's probably better if you're familiar with the music, but that's not a prerequisite. And it's often hysterically funny, depending on who's being interviewed -- Richard Lloyd and Richard Hell both made me laugh out loud a number of times.

One of the best parts: several people are talking about how completely talentless Jim Morrison was, and Ray Manzarek comes along saying, "Jim was a shaman." Hahahahahaha what an More...

7 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 08, 2010

Erik rated it:

At times I can't help but think that Legs McNeil gives himself a little too much credit in terms of defining what came to be known as "punk" or "punk rock." However, one thing you could never take away from Legs is this amazing book. Out of all the same old rehashed books on the history of rock music, "Please Kill Me" is not only refreshing, but it may be the definitive source on the underground rock and roll culture from the '60s onward. It was wise for the stor More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2008

Noel rated it:

I absolutely inhaled this. Legs' view is that punk was a strictly American phenomenon with its roots in The Doors, The Velvet Underground, The MC5, & The Stooges, and that the British got it completely wrong and basically killed the movement. And he presents that argument well.

Pretty much everyone in the book appears to be exactly what I already thought:
* Jim Morrison was often drunk and frequently terrible live, and wrote really bad high school-grade poetry.
* David Bowie w More...

1 comment like (10 people liked it)

May 15, 2007

Meredith rated it:

i loved this book. i picked it up on a whim, thinking "hm, i don't really know enough about punk," and i couldn't put it down. (which became amusing: what's LESS punk than opting out of a crazy fun party on a friday night to stay in and read a book about punk?)

the book is compiled entirely of excerpts from interviews with all the people who were involved in the New York punk scene. Leggs McNeil, the author, was one of the founders of Punk! magazine, and was actually the p More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 26, 2008

Thomas rated it:

when i was a kid and i would whine about not getting new shoes or some stupid shit my mom would sing that old Rolling Stones song, "You can't always get what you want" only she wouldn't sing it she would talk it like it was some ancient wisdom from the lips of Plato inserting pauses to let the complicated cadence of his words sink in, "but if you try some time...you just might find... you get what you need." It always pissed me off and made me embarrassed that my mom though More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2009

Rachel rated it:

It is an inside look into the New York punk scene during the late seventies. It's foul so don't read it!

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Aug 08, 2007

Matt rated it:

The explicit redundancy of the punk scene is offensive. While some of the stories are interesting and the first hand account of it all is better than most, it's just boring. Listening to how f'd up people get has become tiresome. It isn't awesome anymore.

That said, some of the stories are pretty ok. If you're a disillusioned person looking for something to hang on to look no further. Your rebellious ways are all documented and ... shockingly enough ... they happened more than 30 More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2012

Erin rated it:

I waited for what seemed like months for this book to become available at the library. I’m happy to report that it was, in fact, worth the anticipation. Like many (many!) books on the history of punk rock, Please Kill Me conveys its information through interviews with prominent individuals directly or indirectly involved with the scene. Unlike other histories, however, Please Kill Me focuses much, much more heavily on the history of protopunk -- The Velvet Underground, The New York Dolls, Lou Re More...

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Apr 25, 2011

Tuck rated it:

i've read quite a few books on this topic, the best being about 80's and 90's underground music like Rites of Spring, Minor Threat, mission of burma, Big Black etc, azerrad's book is superlative in its history and writing
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53463...

and then the more typical punkwriting of bangs et al
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46208...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91068...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35264...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11213... More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 17, 2010

Stephen rated it:

From Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Rock:

Dee Dee Ramone: "Sid Vicious followed me all over the place. This was before he was in the Sex Pistols. He was very nice and very innocent. I saw him all the time. The worst time was one night when we had a big party. It was the summer, and in London there's no air conditioning. It was at a place called Country Cousin or Country Club, where everybody had their parties. They were serving beer and wine, and everybody wa More...

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Sep 08, 2009

Cynthia rated it:

Punk rockers would make terrible dinner party guests. They will break your good china and roll around in the shards. They will defacate on the dessert. They will shoot up in your bathroom. They will hit on your grandmother. They also should make for interesting reading and, for the most part, the book delivered. I learned:
*Nico drank good wine.
*Phil Spector drank bad wine.
*Nancy Spungen was advised to go to England to clean up and kick her serious drug habit. That's wher More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 10, 2009

Erica rated it:

A few years ago I went to one of the last punk-ish parties I've been to, with many of my scene friends who, like me, are no longer scene. We're out on a porch smoking, and see a pack of teenage punks come by - dressed like we used to (we can't be bothered any more) - posing and disdainful. And my ex-boyfriend, a drummer in a punk band, said one of the most insightful things he's ever said to me: "You know what the best part of not being punk anymore is?" he asked, rhetorically. "N More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 28, 2009

Adam rated it:

Please Kill Me puts stories to the music of 70's American Punk. A lot of this is just party stories--albeit good ones—and they do a great job of illustrating the scene as well as the society at large it was counter to. I sometimes forget that society at large was still shaping the scene, not least of all, the ghetto of hard drugs. Today's punk scenes are so different, so much more positive, and healthier, in fact. You know, when art kids and punks slum it today, it's just not the same. Kids More...

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Feb 02, 2009

Kristin rated it:

This was ok. Good window into some of the minds of the major players of punk, but it seems to be the history of punk according to what Legs McNeil thinks is important rather than a more encompassing portrait. It's basically the history of the NY punk scene with some side bits about the Sex Pistols. It seems to begin like all punk histories with a brief story of the Velvet Underground. I love them too, but let's broaden our horizons a little. The VU was not solely responsible for punk. I guess I More...

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Aug 12, 2010

Spiros rated it:

A decidedly parochial, insular, and completely invaluable account of the birth and death of Punk. McNeil traces the movement from its inception, with the Velvet Underground, its fertilization by the the Detroit strain (the MC5 and the Stooges), through the glitter phase (the New York Dolls), to its full flowering with Patti Smith, Television, and the Ramones. Then he reveals the collapse which set in immediately afterwards. We follow, in both the first and third person, the trajectories of such More...

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Aug 06, 2011

Ron rated it:

A harrowing account of the most powerful art movement of the last 50 years. The scope of the tale is Shakespearean, as just about everybody dies in the end. The great irony for me was that I've always felt that most of the bands from America in this movement were terrible (The New York Dolls; Richard Hell; The Dead Boys) because they were doing nothing more than a new take on rockabilly with loads of vile tales of their own degrading drug use. It was the British bands and the movement toward soc More...

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Nov 03, 2009

Ben rated it:

people who dislike the format of this book obviously ignored the title. beyond that i dont know how one can ignore Legs' gift for editing. sometimes it seems like he's setting these snippets up just to knock them all down with the summarizing paragraph of another first-hand witness that comes off like a punchline to end the chapter. reads like a documentary at times.

people who complain that the book doesnt address the west coast scene, more of the UK variety, or "punk" as a More...

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Oct 06, 2009

Meg rated it:

It's nice to know that Patti Smith can be as much as a fan-girl as me. I guess this is a sort of "kill your idols" book (especially after you read about Lou Reed-YIKES!), but what can I say, I still think Iggy Pop is pretty awesome. What's great about this book is it's purely anecdotal, and the egotistical rock critic romanticism is completely stripped away.
Please Kill Me lost me towards the end, however. The editing could have been better-I mean, I only need to read so many ac More...

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Jan 23, 2010

Nycdreamin rated it:

Considered by many to be the authoratative history of the rise of the U.S. Punk music movement of the 1970's, beginning with it's early origins, centering heavily on the New York scene(touching briefly on the U.K. scene as well), this is an exhaustively researched "oral history," as told by those who lived within the punk scene and created the music. It was compiled by Legs McNeil (along with Gillian McCain) who, as co-founder of "Punk Magazine," was there to witness it all a More...

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May 02, 2008

Raegan rated it:

Gigantic collection of anecdotes about the original NYC Punk scene from anyone still left standing. More than enough dirt here to fill the grand canyon--for fans of that sort of thing.Lucky thing I am so I quite enjoyed this book. Although it actually made me glad I wasn't in a band anymore, ha!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 01, 2008

Hannah rated it:

My lord, on and on and on. I felt like I did during Anna Freaken Goddamn Karenina. But a lot more excited! Coz yaar!! Blood and drugs and booze!! And who doesn't love reading about fucked up bastards who love music. ONLY people who aren't fucked up bastards who love music. And you people suck.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 10, 2009

Caitlin rated it:

I love this book & have read & re-read it many times since it came home with me from Half-Price Books in the U-District in Seattle. I was out of stuff to read last night & headed to the library today so I pulled this out to tide me over.

First, this is an oral history & I love good oral history. Studs Terkel has always been a huge hero of mine & Legs McNeil is way on up there with this book.

Next, this is a wonderful collection of words & musing about the American punk scen More...

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Jan 25, 2010

Kara rated it:

I liked this book about the rise and fall of the New York punk scene a WHOLE lot more because I finished it just before a vacation to New York City. It is mainly a book about excessive drinking, extremely excessive heroin use, excessive casual sex, and a little bit of rock and roll, told through interviews with the people that lived through it.
Two chapters towards the end are beautiful: the brief moment (no more than a year) of scene perfection, and the subsequent chapter about the incred More...

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Dec 15, 2007

Deb rated it:

Made up entirely of sound bites from musicians such as Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, John Cale, Nico and people in the biz at the time.

A very fun read. In the library stacks

1 comment like

Nov 06, 2007

Ryan rated it:

man, what a crazy book. these people were NUTS!! i love the way it was told, perfect technique. i still cant believe what sleazeballs some of my favorite people are!

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 05, 2011

Kristen rated it:

Man, everybody was a mess back then, weren't they? It's not glamorous by any means, of course, but that's what makes Please Kill Me such an interesting read. A real, crude, honest look at proto-punk and punk in the late 60's and 70's with commentary from many of the major players who were involved in creating the music and who were part of the scene in that time period. Most important, I think, is the fact that we don't get information solely from the muscians' point of view, but from the people More...

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Jun 12, 2011

Audrey rated it:

LOVE. You know, I've always generally liked British punk more than American punk, though I know punk started in America. The early NYC punk was closely linked with the art scene - Warhol's factory - and I always preferred desperation and pathos that sprang from the British working class, revolting, spitting and vomiting on the British class system than the posturing and pretensions of the NYC punk poets - Lou Reed, Patti Smith, etc. The New York Dolls, MC5, and the Ramones never did too much for More...

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