book data
230 ratings, 3.76 average rating, 30 reviews
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published
November 13th 2001
by Three Rivers Press
binding
Paperback, 320 pages
isbn
0609807749
(isbn13: 9780609807743)
description
Taking us back to late ’70s and early ’80s Hollywood—pre-crack, pre-AIDS, pre-Reagan—We Got the Neutron Bomb re-creates...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 284)
Read in December, 2007
i bought this becuase i was so bored one day with nothing to do. i guess i was waiting around for someone. so i went to rhino records and bought this a few days before christmas.
i never knew a whole lot about the l.a. punk scene or even punk music for that matter and i felt that it has been calling me all my life. so i purchased it, sat down at my work and began to read it.
to my surprise it was a very interesting book and and a pretty easy read. i learned things like how jim morrison is ...more
i never knew a whole lot about the l.a. punk scene or even punk music for that matter and i felt that it has been calling me all my life. so i purchased it, sat down at my work and began to read it.
to my surprise it was a very interesting book and and a pretty easy read. i learned things like how jim morrison is ...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
punkers and non-punkers alike
I read this in one weekend despite not knowing (or liking) L.A. punk very much. What struck me the most was the obvious difference between people who embraced punk as a means of artistic expression--people who'd been rejected or marginalized elsewhere--and the people who were just in it for the scene or to make trouble--Belinda Carlisle (imo) and the later hardcore fistfighters. To me, it came down to being an outsider because that's who you are versus being an outsider because you perceive it a...more
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In an effort to counteract all the East Coast chauvinism of "Please Kill Me," Spin writer Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen, owner of seminal L.A. punk club the Masque, gathered up California’s surviving punks and let them narrate W"e’ve Got The Neutron Bomb," with Jim Morrison as spiritual forefather, X as the guiding light, Darby Crash as the tragic figure and sleazebag svengali Kim Fowley as the embodiment of Hollywood’s debauched soul. Like "Please Kill Me," i
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The subtitle of this book is, The Untold Story of LA Punk. It is an oral history of the LA punk movement in the 70's and 80's--a parallel to the NY book Please Kill Me.
If you have seen the movie, The Mayor Sunset Strip, about Rodney Bingenheimer you will be familiar with some of the main characters at the beginning of the movement--Bingenheimer and Kim Fowley.
I think after reading this I should finally try and see The Decline of Western Civilization.
If you have seen the movie, The Mayor Sunset Strip, about Rodney Bingenheimer you will be familiar with some of the main characters at the beginning of the movement--Bingenheimer and Kim Fowley.
I think after reading this I should finally try and see The Decline of Western Civilization.
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This was highly informative. If you can get over how abruptly it ended and if you can overlook how it glazed over punk after Darby Crash died, it's a good read. I haven't been able to find many other sources for the music scene in L.A. at that point in time, so you may have no choice but to enjoy the only thing available. If there are other books that I've missed that cover that scene, feel free to refer me.
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I dig oral histories and this is the SECOND one you need to read if you want to know the truly hidden history of punk. This is the LA version of the story. Read PLEASE KILL ME first, which is the NYC's side of it. Good shit in this one, though. Lots of movers and shakers talking about how great they are. Plus, mention of some GREAT bands who never released an album, yet influenced every band out there.
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Falls noticeably short in comparison to Please Kill Me, but does the same thing for the LA/West Coast scene. Darby Crash is my hero and the various personal takes on his unconventional character are really valuable. The coincidence of Lennon's murder occurring on his date with suicide completely overshadowed Crash's final stab at securing his 15 minutes, which never ceases to bum me out.
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Read in February, 2008
Obviously written in response to the lack of Los Angeles in Legs McNeil's Please Kill Me, We Got the Neutron Bomb takes an interesting look at the LA scene. I'm biased because born-in loyalty to Los Angeles and it's terrible ways, but this book kicks ass.
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An outrageous history of early LA punk, with voices clamoring over each other. Often one statement is said, then absolutely contradicted by the next person. A great mix of history and weird personal moments.
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It's the bastard child of Please Kill Me, and it's outstanding. It's the real Los Angeles in this book, Germs and Circle Jerks and the Weirdos. Filled to the gills with information, but never dull.
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Read in November, 2007
See what I wrote about Please Kill Me. Read this and the McNeill book together: Please Kill Me as Volume 1 and Neutron Bomb as Volume 2 for an engaging oral history of U.S. punk.
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What an excellent fast read. All chapters are done
in an interview style, so your getting a talking history about an exciting time in punk rock.
Highly recommended
in an interview style, so your getting a talking history about an exciting time in punk rock.
Highly recommended
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Read in January, 2006
Indispensible for fans of American, and especially West-Coast punk rock in the late 70's/early 80's. Told straight from the mouths of those who have been there and survived.
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recommends it for:
Punk rockers and bottomfeeders.
The west coasts answer to "Please kill me". I liked it better I think than the aforementioned. More youth and spirit. Good companion book for "American Hardcore".
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Though I like the communal storytelling style of this book, it did at times make me feel, "had to be there to get it". But I guess that's the point.
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i had always been more into the 70s new york scene a lot more, but this really educated me on what was going on in LA. really entertaining read.
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Great for anyone who wants to know the history of the So Cal punk scene, like a west coast version of Please Kill Me.
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If you want the in depth history of LA California punk circa 1975-1980ish, then this is the book for you.
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Read in October, 2002
tres informative, without being dry and crappy. a necessity for any audiophile with punk leanings.
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A synthesis of interviews describing the evolution of the early LA punk scene. Well crafted.
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