Hello there! Most of you will know me from my website at Punk77 that's a history of UK Punk Rock from 1976-79.If not, when you've done here go check it out or check out the Punk77 MySpace !
Despite all my promises never to write a punk book I've done one on the seminal Punk Club, The Roxy, because the story of the place, fans and bands is just too important to miss out. If you don't know this story then you only half of what happened in those punky days of 1977 and 1978. Check out the blog above as they contain more info and details of how to buy the book and for even more info visit the Roxy Club Book Official Website which will contain full interviews, photos and flyers as the months progress. Anyway here's the blurb ...All the best Paul Marko 2007
BOOK PUBLICATION 15th OCTOBER - SEE BLOG FOR PURCHASING DETAILS
While some justifiably hold 1976 as the 30th anniversary of Punk, otherssee 1977 as the magic year when it became more a musical revolution than afashion statement and exploded onto the streets and into popular culture.
Arguably a major factor in this was the opening on New Years Day 1977 of theonly dedicated club for Punk rock &150; the infamous Roxy Club in London’s CoventGarden and the closest British equivalent to New York‘s CBGB’s. For some thegolden age of the club would end in April, just 100 days after opening, whenmanager Andrew Czezowski and staff were evicted. In fact it lasted a furtheryear until April 1978, continuing to attract new fans, bands and regulars thatmade the club their home, but whose interpretation of Punk was not always sharedby those there at the beginning. It would also spawn two live albums (one ofwhich would go top twenty), a book and later a film.
The Roxy Club in its short life span featured nearly every major and minor PunkRock act of the time bar the Sex Pistols. Whether they were the Clash, Damned,Stranglers, Psychedelic Furs, Police or Muvvers Pride they all trod on thatsubterranean stage in front of a Roxy audience. All of them destined for variouslevels of success or obscurity and all with a story to tell about their place ata seminal point in music history.
But a club is not only bands playing; it’s the people and the crowd who go therethat help give it its identity. They add to the bands experiences and reveal themusic, the fashion, the attitude, the sex, the violence and the sheer rebelliousjoy of youth that was Punk Rock then and what has made it so enduring now.
Add to this a backdrop of subterranean London clubs, with an additional cast ofprostitutes, gangsters, criminals and even death, and the Roxy Club story is avital piece left out of the Punk rock jigsaw and an often shocking one.
‘The Roxy Club London WC2 – The Untold Story of British Punk’ is thestory of the club at the centre of the rise of Punk Rock in the words of thebands who played, the people who ran the club and the club goers themselves.
Get a taste of the book from this video...
Check out Eater at the Roxy from Don Letts 'Punk RockMovie'