The Roxy Our Story: The Club That Forged Punk In 100 Nights Of Madness Mayhem And Misfortune “It’s a rarely detailed account, proper eyewitness gold” – Kris Needs Underground is known for its associations with punk culture, often championing the venues which brought the genre to the masses. We have discussed Manchester’s The Hacienda before,… Read more »
Turn the World Dayglo: The Creative Life of Poly Styrene “I think her legacy is: ‘Don’t be scared of being different. Embrace it, harness it.’ Poly will be remembered for being the one who opened the doors for so many people who were different and wanted to express themselves.” – Mike Bennett Underground has always… Read more »
Defying Gravity: Jordan’s Story by Jordan Mooney and Cathi Unsworth “Jordan created punk rock. She was selling it on the front line”- Adam Ant Caught up in the chaos as anarchy began to sweep the UK, Jordan Mooney (real name Pamela Rooke) was at the centre of the movement. Originally a ballet student from Sussex,… Read more »
The Hacienda – How Not to Run a Club by Peter Hook From Peter ‘Hooky’ Hook, co-founder of Joy Division and New Order and the New York Times bestselling author of Unknown Pleasures, The Hacienda is the story of the club that began a clubbing revolution. His insider, and often horrifying account of the club… Read more »
Spirit of 76 by John Ingham Taken over ten days and three shows, these photographs triumphantly showcase the energy, fashion and palpable atmosphere of 1976. From innocent beginnings to becoming portrayed as ‘violent’ by the mass media following a few incidents, punk quickly became known to the mainstream public. Boasting unseen photographs from the early… Read more »
“Ripped & Torn was the supercool paper that always got it right” – Jayne County Tearing up the rule book and capitalising on the ethos of D.I.Y, the presentation of Ripped & Torn is the quintessential nod to the thriving late 70’s punk scene. It contains a collection of all eighteen issues of the original… Read more »
Vivien Goldman, author of Revenge of the She-Punks in 1981 (Photo Credit: Jean Bernard Sohiez) Vivien Goldman’s essential punk herstory ‘Revenge of the She-Punks’ explores the crucial relationship between the genre and gender. A veteran of punk, new wave and reggae since the 1970s, Vivien Goldman is a renowned writer, musician and academic. Goldman was… Read more »
Sex Pistols: The End is Near by Kevin Cummins “Huddersfield was the very last gig the Sex Pistols played in England. Then we went off to America and murdered each other” – Johnny Rotten Christmas Day 1977, a day to be spent with family and loved ones, unless of course you had decided to spend… Read more »
One of the best books in the Underground library has to be In the Gutter by Val Hennessy. Published in 1978, it is a real-time account of Punk as it happened. As a newspaper columnist, Val Hennessy presented a series of TV shows which were labelled as a “chaotic disaster”. Entitled “Punk and Acne Go… Read more »
