Has it really been twenty years since the first publication of Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, the excellent and fascinating collection of interviews with punk rock icons as assembled by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain? That would make punk rock itself about forty years old! But none of that matters. What matters is that Please Kill Me was first published about twenty years ago and a new special edition of it has been published by Grove Press and, in order to publicize it,  Mr. McNeil and Ms. McCain were sent on the road to read from it, with a party being thrown at each location–an event room at an Ace Hotel.

The Boogaloo Bag writers will take it for granted that all readers have already read Please Kill Me. (If you have not read it,  you should immediately google it in order to see what an important work of literature it is. We’ll wait.)

Well, ok, a little background: Legs McNeil, along with John Holmstrom, founded Punk Magazine, a cool fanzine that coincided with the underground rock scene then developing in the East Village of New York City during the mid-seventies, especially at clubs like CBGB’s. So you know that this fellow knows about what was going on and who was doing it. Gillian McCain is a published poet who has worked with the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, so you know that she is smart and knows how to put together a story. And what a story! The book traces the development of punk rock music from its roots to its explosion. From The Velvet Underground, The Doors and The New York Dolls up through The Ramones and The Sex Pistols.

It’s time to replace your old, beaten up copy of Please Kill Me with the new edition, which has some new material, including many more photosgraphs.

Suffice it to say, the publication of the 20th anniversary edition provided a great opportunity to throw a most excellent party at  Ace Hotel in Manhattan, and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus was invited to DJ the event, held on July 13. As folks were entering the Liberty Hall, The Boog played some, shall we say, lower energy underground rock records for about thirty minutes.

The master of ceremonies was Michael Des Bares–the Boogaloo Bag writers remember him from his days in the seventies British glam rock group Silverhead and he currently hosts a show on Sirius XM Radio.

 

After Mr. Des Barres introduced Mr. McNeil and Ms. McCain, the authors proceeded to read passages from the book.  Then Mr. Des Barres engaged them in a question and answer period. After that, the authors signed books as The Boog played more raucous punk rock records, starting with “I Wanna Be Your Dog!”

 

Here is a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the Please Kill Me 20th Anniversary Tour event at Ace Hotel*:

• Patti Smith–Pissing in the River (Arista)
• Television–Little Johnny Jewel Part One (Ork)
• The Velvet Underground and Nico–I’ll Be Your Mirror (Verve)
• The Doors–Wild Child (Elektra)
• Pere Ubu–30 Seconds Over Tokyo (Hearthan)
• Lester Bangs–Let It Blurt (Spy)
• Talking Heads–Love Goes to Building on Fire (Sire)
• Mink De Ville–Let Me Dream if I Want to (Atlantic; Germany)
• Iggy Pop–Sister Midnight (RCA; Germany)
• The Velvet Underground–What Goes On (M-G-M)
• Suicide–Rocket U.S.A. [from LP Suicide] (Red Star)
• Television–Marquee Moon Part I (Elektra; UK)
• the stooges–i wanna be your dog (Elektra)
• New York Dolls–Personality Crisis (Mercury)
• Ramones–Sheena Is a Punk Rocker (Sire)
• The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed–Sweet Jane (Atlantic; Germany)
• David Bowie–The Jean Genie (RCA Victor)
• Richard Hell & the Voidoids–Blank Generation [from the LP Blank Generation](Sire)
• Television–Ain’t That Nothin’ (Elektra)
• Sex Pistols–Pretty Vacant (Columbia; Japan)
• The Damned–Neat Neat Neat (Stiff; UK)
• Ramones–Blitzkreig Bop (Sire)
• New York Dolls–Jet Boy (Mercury; UK)
• The Undertones–Teenage Kicks (Sire; UK)
• The Jam–In the City (Polydor; UK)
• The Radiators From Space–Enemies (Chiswick; UK)
• The Saints–(I’m) Stranded (Power Exchange; UK)
• The Primitives–The Ostrich (Pickwick City)
• 999–Homicide (United Artists; UK)
• Talking Heads–Psycho Killer (Sire)
• The Adverts–Gary Gilmore’s Eyes (Anchor; UK)
• Blondie–Rip Her to Shreds (Chrysalis; UK)
• Magazine–Shot By Both Sides (Virgin; UK)
• The Clash–White Riot (CBS; UK)
• Lou Reed–Vicious (RCA; UK)
• The Feelies–Fa Cé La (Rough Trade; UK)
• The Only Ones–Lovers of Today (Vengeance; UK)
• Heartbreakers–Born to Lose [from LP L.A.M.F.] (Track; UK)
• Zeros–Don’t Push Me Around (Bomp!)
• Damned–Sick of Being Sick (Stiff; UK)
• Eater–Thinkin’ of the U.S.A. (The Label; UK)
• The Jam–News of the World (Polydor; UK)
• X-Ray Spex–The Day the World Turned Day-Glo (EMI International; UK)
• MC5–Human Being Lawnmower [from LP Back in the USA] (Atlantic)
• Iggy and the Stooges–Shake Appeal (Play Back)
• The Weirdos–Destroy All Music (Bomp)
• The Cramps–Drug Train (Illegal)
• Dead Boys–Sonic Reducer [from LP Young Loud and Snotty] (Sire – test pressing)
• Johnny Thunders–You Can’t Put Your Arms Round a Memory (Real; UK)

 

*unlike most lists, the order on this list is approximate due to the LP tracks not being noted when they were played, so their playing order is estimated here. None of these records are for sale.