Please Bee Nice : My Life Up 'Til Now

by Gary Floyd

Gary Floyd is an iconic underground rock’n’roll figure who has resided in San Francisco for three decades. He epitomizes the links between the outsider ethos of the Beats (both their queerness and spirituality) and the vexing and volatile punk era. If one band other than the Dead Kennedys and MDC defined the political turmoil of the 1980s, it was the Dicks, one of the anchors of the infamous Rock Against Reagan tour. Plus, as one of very few openly gay punk rockers in a scene saturated with righteous politics, Floyd became a queer icon. In an earthy, engaging, and honest voice, the memoir covers much of his life, including his early East Texas dog days, his queer-punk radicalism and ornery hell-raising in Reagan’s homophobic America, his rootsy and blues-leaning Sister Double Happiness alternative rock, and his discovery of Eastern spirituality (he almost became a monk), plus the Gary Floyd Band and Black Kali Ma. The book, stylized with rare flyers and photos, is breezy, sharp-tongued, detailed and insightful, poetic but not overly ponderous, raw and refined in the right places, and candid about a scene still mired in controversy.

Genres: Music, Memoir

Kindle Edition

First published October 26, 2014

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in Austin, the Dicks were telephone pole poster vernacular and watching them go in and out of Raul's from the Conan's pizza next door. Then, I finally got fortunate enough to see them live in my senior year of high school. They may have been playing in town from SF, with the Butthole Surfers - not totally sure. Anyhow, it's cool reading about Gary's interesting life. So glad he's found some peace. Thanks, Brother Gary.

[David Melbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A life lived. An inspiration to me since I first heard demo versions of "Freight Train" and "You Don't Know Me" (how I had this tape is another tale!). After seeing SDH in 1987 at the I-Beam on Haight St. in San Francisco, my car was hit from behind and totaled. A memorable night, a lifetime experience and I am proud to know the man.

[Rich Cocksedge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book. Gave a good insight into Floyd's life and his time in various bands. If you have any interest in The Dicks then this is worth giving a go.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Punk memoirs all have one thing in common: they’re stories about outsiders who find their community in punk rock. But you’d be hard-pressed to find a more unlikely punk rocker than Gary Floyd, the large, loud, anti-racist, outspokenly gay man from a tiny town in Arkansas who somehow became the frontman for Texas punk legends the Dicks.

I was charmed from the first page with this description of Floyd’s hometown of Gurdon:

“Two railroad tracks full of dead men still spooking people with their lanterns ran like rough zippers through town.”

Not all of Floyd’s writing is this elegant and as a book it’s terribly inelegant. (The kind of slapdash, print-on-demand layout that makes you wonder if the person who made the book has ever read one.) Please Bee Nice is full of stories of Floyd’s struggle for acceptance, his discovery of punk rock, and the journey that led to putting out records with both Alternative Tentacles and SST.

My favorite story concerns Floyd getting drafted to fight in Vietnam and declaring he was a conscientious objector. I never knew that conscientious objectors were given non-combat assignments. Floyd’s was to work at a mental hospital in Houston, Texas, where he was one of the only white people at the facility. That experience opened his mind and his work and put him on the path to Austin and eventually San Francisco.

Gary Floyd is precisely the kind of larger-than-life person whom all too often becomes a footnote in the larger story and I’m glad he wrote this, but I wish a little more care had been put into the book itself.

Recommended for Texas punk obsessives.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming and fun to read, but also written strangely (seemingly part-transcribed from conversation?) and scattered. Quite a lot shorter on details about the Dicks than I was expecting—it’s really only a few pages. I really like Gary Floyd’s music and a lot of this book felt like hanging out with him. That was pleasant even as it wasn’t always easy to follow, and it skipped over a lot of the detail I was most hoping for.

[Reza Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gary Floyd is absolutely awesome, from The Dicks, Sister Double Happiness, Black Kali Ma and his solo records there isn't one of his records which I'm totally enamoured with.

At only 69 pages long I wish the book was longer, he could also have done with a decent proof reader as there are typos littered throughout. Decent nonetheless.

[Blane · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an outsider among outsiders in the early-80s American punk rock scene, Gary Floyd was so important. This book, unfortunately, is not. But since he is no longer with us to further illuminate his life's work, it (& his hard-to-find recorded output) will have to suffice for those interested in learning about this underappreciated artist.

[Bill Sassenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long live Gary Floyd! Kudos to David Ensminger!

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gary Floyd fans only need apply. In desperate need of an editor, or at least a proofreader, there are still nuggets of insight.