Tommyrot gets it in one.

The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think/And by the way, which one's Pink? One of my favorite lyrics.

Trudy, I am so not the punk reference in these (or any other) parts. I'm maybe the 29th or 30th most informed source when there are thirty people here. Lower as the number rises. So take these recommendations with a grain of salt.

Albums: I support the recommendations so far. I'd also add Richard Hell & the Voidoids Blank Generation. (I don't remember seeing it.) Bob Quine's guitar is worth the price, Ivan Julian is shamefully neglected as the Richard Lloyd to Quine's Verlaine, and Richard Hell's songs are great. I was listening to it a LOT about a month ago. For some reason I had never noticed how funny a lot of it was, a big oversight on my part. Maybe Pere Ubu, Dub Housing or The Modern Dance. Are they punk or some other simultaneous development? Again, not my area of expertise. Good stuff, though, regardless of category. Can't believe Hec didn't recommend the Dolls even if they are more precursors than punk proper. I prefer In Too Much Too Soon to New York Dolls but they're both pretty great.

Books: I haven't read Legs McNeil's Please Kill Me but it's supposed to be very entertaining. I have read Lipstick Traces, and I'm a Greil Marcus fan, but entertaining is not the first word that comes to mind, and had I read it at 13 instead of 23 I probably would have said please kill me. At 23 I said, what the fuck is he talking about... maybe I'll read Mystery Train again: "HE GOT WHAT HE WANTED BUT HE LOST WHAT HE HAD!!! SHUT UP SHUT UP!!" I prefer Marcus's other book on punk, Ranters and Crowd Pleasers: Punk in Pop Music, 1977-1992, which seems to have been reissued under the godawful title In The Fascist Bath Room. According to the Strand's website they have a copy for ten bucks. This article may give you more of a feel for it. I like it, but I don't know if a teenager would dig it. Legs is probably a better bet.

Videos: I was going to recommend Penelope Spheeris's The Decline of Western Civilization, and if you can find a reasonably priced copy I still do, but it seems to be OOP and pretty steep. The Decline of Western Civilization, Pt. II -- The Metal Years is kinda horrifying but the kimono-clad Ozzy frying eggs is so great. I'm tired and not well-versed in the subject, so no alternate recommendations. Except Repo Man. "John Wayne's a fag." "Otto? Otto who? Otto Parts?!" "Otto! What about our relationship?" "Fuck that!" "Yeah, kid needs to see Repo Man.

The terrible punk-related news is that X is playing NY for the first time in year tomorrow, and I have a ticket, but I can't go because of my goddamned back. Stupid cervical radiculopathy!

Ouch! The Knitters show this summer was so transcendent, I don't know if I'm sorry I'm missing X, or happy with what I've got.

Definitely the Buzzcocks. Now I have to go listen to "Jerk" again.

X is playing NY for the first time in year tomorrow, and I have a ticket, but I can't go because of my goddamned back. Stupid cervical radiculopathy!

Man, that's tough. Because they haven't declined but maybe a half inch from their peak and that's mostly on Exene's vocals which are a little raggedy compared to their previous raggedy standard. But Zoom and Bonebrake and Doe still play with some ferocity and talent.

Trudy, here's the book to buy. A Debbie Harry centerfold AND a Bay City Rollers interview!

Ahhh. I've got about 7 original issues of Punk magazine. Including the Nick Danger fumetti with Richard Hell, and the Beach movie fumetti starring Debbie and Joey Ramone. Among my most treasured artifacts.

Check out some of the links at the bottom of that page, David, esp. the Quine bio. I think one of the Spins I kept was the issue with "Huck Hell & Legs Sawyer On The Mississippi" in which Messrs. Hell & McNeil go rafting. Maybe I'll dig it out tomorrow as it has yet to make its way to storage. And even though I have no idea when I'll be going to work again I suppose I should go to bed. Goodnight, John Boy.

Check out some of the links at the bottom of that page, David, esp. the Quine bio.

Will do.

I'm having lunch with lisah today! Oysters and champagne. Yay, bivalves.

Jealous...want to meet lisah. A little cautious about oysters, though. Have never eaten one.

A little cautious about oysters, though. Have never eaten one.

Your stomach does seem a bit on the jumpy side. Have you never eaten clam chowder or oyster stew?

I don't like east coast oysters that much. I prefer the smaller, more intensely flavored ones that come out of Seattle. Kumamoto's especially. Oh, they're tiny but good. But also Miyagi and Hama Hama.