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Before Punk Had a Name: Protopunk & CBGB Stories
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items A curated selection of books documenting the artists, scenes, and conditions that shaped punk before it had a name. From Detroit’s protopunk explosion to the early days of CBGB in New York. These are grounded accounts focused on context, personalitie...
The definitive oral history of protopunk and early punk, told in raw, firsthand voices. Chaotic, funny, and unfiltered, it captures the scene as it actually felt, not how it was later packaged.
Please Kill Me: Uncensored Oral History of Punk
An oral history that captures MC5 at ground level. Radical politics, volume, and chaos all told by the people who were there. Messy, contradictory, and honest in a way traditional biographies usually aren’t.
MC5: Oral Biography of Rock’s Revolutionary Band
A thorough, unsanitized account of the New York Dolls that treats them as a cultural fault line, not just a band. Glamour, collapse, and influence are all here, with clear attention to how their brief run reshaped what punk would become.
Trash! The Complete New York Dolls
A clear, corrective history of the Velvet Underground that looks past the usual legend to examine how the band actually functioned, fractured, and endured. Especially useful for understanding the gap between their short original run and their long cu...
Loaded: The Life and Afterlife of Velvet Underground
A focused, thoughtful examination of Television’s landmark album, placing it within the CBGB ecosystem and the wider shift away from blues-based rock.
Television's Marquee Moon (33 1/3)
A detailed, archive-driven history of the Stooges that focuses on how the band actually functioned. Focus on the music, the personalities, and the circumstances that shaped their brief, volatile run. More documentation than legend, and stronger becau...
TOTAL CHAOS: The Story of the Stooges by Iggy Pop
A clear-eyed, intimate memoir of art, friendship, and survival in pre-CBGB New York. More about becoming an artist than becoming famous, and stronger for its restraint.
Just Kids - Patti Smith
A focused, ground-level look at Detroit’s protopunk explosion, tracing how MC5, the Stooges, and their orbit reshaped what rock music could sound like.
Detroit Rock City: Uncensored History of Rock
A critical through-line from the Velvet Underground to early punk and protopunk, tying aesthetics, ideas, and attitude together without romantic excess.
From the Velvets to the Voidoids: Birth of Punk
A sharp, unsentimental autobiography from inside the CBGB era, written with the same precision and restlessness as the music. Less scene mythology, more firsthand account of how ideas, style, and attitude took shape in real time.
I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp: Autobiography
A focused cultural history that looks at the CBGB scene through an unexpected but meaningful lens, tracing how identity, outsider status, and downtown New York shaped early punk. Adds depth to the familiar story without rewriting it.
The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: Jewish Punk
Not strictly CBGB, but essential for understanding how protopunk attitudes translated internationally. Sharp, combative, and revealing about how punk positioned itself against rock tradition.
Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs - John Lydon
While UK-focused, it provides critical context for how American protopunk ideas echoed outward. Analytical, grounded, and historically important.
England's Dreaming - Jon Savage