With appeal to more than just punk history obsessives, Orstralia offers an unprecedented snapshot of an underacknowledged segment of Australian life and history.
Far from punk’s more modish North Atlantic core in the late 1970s, discontented youth in Australia were enacting similar musical and cultural reckonings. Yet in spite of Australia's purported “laid-back” national demeanour, punks there were routinely met with insult, fist, or the police baton.
More subterranean than the national scandal that was punk back in “homeland” Britain, Australia’s own bands nonetheless came to be heralded internationally. Orstralia represents the first definitive account of the country’s initial years, from progenitors the Saints and Radio Birdman in the mid-70s, through the emergence of hardcore in the 1980s, to the stylistic diffusion that accompanied transition to the 1990s.
Based on over 130 interviews, Orstralia documents the most renowned to the most fleeting and obscure acts the nation produced. Included are equally engrossing and shocking personal narratives befitting such a passionate and intemperate cultural form, as well as punk’s placement within broader Australian society at the time.
“Australia has some claim to being a punk founder nation, most obviously through the influence of the Saints and Radio Birdman. In Orstralia, Tristan Clark explores the wider terrain to recover a vibrant prepunk, punk, and postpunk history that captures the vibrancy and excitement of a culture brimming with ingenuity and teenage verve. A brilliant book and essential reading for all those interested in punk's cultural past.”
—Matthew Worley, author of No Future: Punk Politics and British Youth Culture, 1976–84
“If your knowledge of Australian punk grinds to a halt at the Saints, Radio Birdman, the Hard-Ons, and Vicious Circle, Orstralia is a deep dive into that country’s turbulent alternative underground of the late 1970s and ’80s, when rebellious youths clashed with the police (not to mention the church, the government, the media . . . authority in general), rival subcultures, their parents and even themselves. Proving that an oppressive police state is no match for subversive creativity in the long run, Australian punk evolved and thrived in the face of such adversity—very much its own beast given its isolation from London and New York—and this forensically researched tome is its story, written in such detail and with such fascinating insight, you can relive it all vicariously without having your nose broken and discover a treasure trove of passionate noise into the bargain. This is an important and entertaining piece of work.”
—Ian Glasper, author of Burning Britain: The History of UK Punk 1980–1984 and The Day the Country Died: A History of Anarcho Punk 1980 to 1984
The first-ever in-depth biography of iconoclastic Sydney punk band Radio Birdman.
'Radio Birdman live brought loyalty as strong and powerful as their music. Yeah hup!' Anthony Albanese, PM and fan
'Radio Birdman are analogous to dark matter: largely unseen yet profoundly influential.' Brad Shepherd, Hoodoo Gurus
'Murray's raw passion somehow doesn't mess with his skill to present the story, the context and the truth.' Tim Rogers, You Am I and The Hard-Ons
Sydney's legendary Radio Birdman were a stake through the satin and scarfed hearts of the mid seventies' music scene, revolutionising the conservative Australian industry in the process. Regarded as one of the earliest punk bands, before the world had heard of the Sex Pistols, Birdman were feared and loathed by many, yet adored by fiercely loyal fans. But their story has never been told in depth-until now.
Murray Engleheart's Radio Birdman: Retaliate First is drawn from more than 150 interviews with the band members, their closest associates, devotees and observers. From tales of singer Rob Younger filling his mouth with sheep brains from a human skull to fans breaking limbs while dancing wildly at gigs and publicans cutting the power in a desperate bid to halt their force-of-nature-like performances, the Radio Birdman story is one of confrontation, commitment and inspiration.
With 2024 marking their half-century of existence, and a commemorative tour that may be their last, it's the perfect time to look back over fifty years of the band that never took a backward step and made rock and roll thrilling and dangerous once more. Radio Birdman: Retaliate First is the ultimate insider's guide to how Australia's most hated act were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and became global icons.
'Riveting and insightful.' Stuart Coupe
Idols, an authentic compendium of 1970s’ New York style and attitude, and a confirmed masterpiece, began with an awestruck Larrain visiting Max’s Kansas City in the explosively liberating early years of the gay rights movement, and befriending Taylor Meade and John Noble. Once they came to be photographed, the rest followed. Idols represents a generation of New York’s most talented, outrageous, glamorous, and mostly gay personalities, after spending hours applying original makeup and costumes to pose for Gilles in his now legendary SoHo studio.
Ryan McGinley is a New York based photographer raised in New Jersey. After moving to New York in 1998, he began extensively photographing his downtown environs. He received a BFA in graphic design from Parsons School of Design in 2000. In 2003, at the age of 25, McGinley was the youngest artist to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. His work has appeared in galleries and museums worldwide, on the covers of magazines and albums, and has
been collected in five monographs, most recently in Life Adjustment Center (Dashwood, 2010).
This book is signed and second hand and is in great condition.
Originated by Tomato, this work is closely related to the message and imagery of techno band Underworld's music, creating a typographic map of a journey through the streets of New York.
This book is secondhand and is in great condition
In Generation Ecstasy, Simon Reynolds takes the reader on a guided tour of this end-of-the-millenium phenomenon, telling the story of rave culture and techno music as an insider who has dosed up and blissed out. A celebration of rave's quest for the perfect beat definitive chronicle of rave culture and electronic dance music.
A rare book about rave culture, second hand in good condition.
Rat Scabies And The Holy Grail is a 2005 book written by Christopher Dawes, published by Sceptre Books in the UK and Thunder's Mouth Press in the US. It is a gonzo-esque quest to find the Holy Grail by punk rock legend Rat Scabies, the one-time drummer of The Damned, with whom Dawes strikes up a friendship when the two become neighbours in the London suburb of Brentford.[1][2][3][4]
"The book, which has been described as "The Da Vinci Code gets the punk rock treatment" (The Bookseller), begins with Scabies introducing Dawes to the alleged mystery of Rennes-le-Château, a remote French village associated with all manner of esotericconspiracy theories. Scabies and Dawes make several trips to Rennes-le-Château and also visit other places said to be linked to the Holy Grail, including Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland. The book is an often hilarious account of the pair’s adventures - they even manage to wangle themselves an invitation to a Knights Templar initiation ceremony - and its supporting cast of characters includes Henry Lincoln (the author of Holy Blood, Holy Grail) and a CIA operative, plus assorted treasure hunters, occultists, alien channelers, reincarnated medieval heretics, and numerous members of secret societies." Wikipedia
TAILS is the third book by former Sharpie Julie Mac that shares the unique 1960s-1980s Australian Sharpie subculture. Sharpies were a mid-century working-class youth movement that was despised by conservative society. Overlooked, hated and ignored for fifty years, Sharpies can now proudly claim their rightful place in Australian social history and these are their tales.
Come on an armchair adventure with Mac and other former Sharpies, as they describe their adolescent fight for diversity and acceptance in a hostile environment. A battle for the right to wear the hairstyles, fashions, tattoos and piercings of their choice.
This book is for every alternative teenager (or adult) missing their Tribe. Sharpie, Goth, Emo, Punk, Skater, Stoner, Metalhead and Misfit. It's not for Sucks, Dags, Straights or Norms, unless they are studying it for pointy head, academic purposes!
SNAP sketches the timeline of a lost Australian sub-culture, the teenage Sharpie gangs. Tough and stylish, the Sharpies created their own diverse family, where mateship and defiance were valued over race, colour or authority. SNAP is loaded with photos, snippets from the internet and first-hand recollections from former Sharpies and observers.
Each generation of Sharpies, the 60s, early 70s, mid 70s, late 70s and the 1980s are fiercely protective of their own style of hair, clothing, footwear, music, dance and mannerisms. Their voices are strong as they argue through the pages as each group believes the sharpies that followed are dickheads and imposters!
Rampage with Julie Mac and the Sharpies on a grouse adventure as they fight, kick and punch through their turbulent teenage years on the unsuspecting streets of 1970s Melbourne. It was a time when bolting from the cops, stooging the ticket inspectors, drinking, spewing, pashing and rooting were all in a night's work for this unique Australian sub-culture.
Utilising the rock posters of Skull Printworks and graphics of Red Eye and Black Eye Records, the book documents the unusual career path of designer and reluctant record executive, John Foy. It’s traverses his experiences in the original 70’s Punk era, legendary record stores, trading 60’s psychedelic posters, and more. With humour as weapon of choice, Foy establishes facts and dispels myths. Rich in colour throughout, the visuals of ‘Snaps, Crack & Pop’ have been brilliantly realised by former Red Eye art director Jim Paton. It’s a book like no other.
The first issue of N D appeared in 1982. At first it was planned that artists, musicians, etc would each send in a page of artwork or information. The first issue was mostly that; different pages of artwork from various networkers. Then beginning with N D 2, I did a couple of interviews (one with filmmaker Kurt Kren) and included those, along with a few reviews of magazines and audio releases. The magazine started out as a contact resource for mailart shows, audio projects and addresses. - Daniel Plunket (1995)
Frans de Waard published Vital, a fanzine for electronic and electroacoustic music, from 1987 to 1995. It was a low-budget, Xeroxed publication, bearing the revolutionary instruction: ‘No Copyright Publication. Reprint Now!’ It featured interviews with Asmus Tietchens, O Yuki Conjugate, Merzbow, P16.D4, Pierre Henry, Jim O’Rourke, Brume, Döc Wor Mirran and many others, hosted discussions on copyright, plagiarism and plunderphonics, house music, ambient music, cassette culture and noise, and included contributions from musicians such as Leigh Landy, Godfried Willem Raes, John Duncan, and GX Jupitter-Larsen. Every issue included reviews of cassette releases, LPs, CDs and books. A total of 44 issues were published. Vital moved online in 1995, where it appeared every week since as Vital Weekly.
Frans de Waard has played with Kapotte Muziek to Beequeen (with Freek Kinkelaar), Goem (with Roel Meelkop and Peter Duimelinks, both of whom are also a member of Kapotte Muziek), Zebra (with Roel Meelkop) as well as solo projects under the moniker Freiband and Shifts, and under his own name. De Waard worked for Staalplaat (1992-2003) and since 1986 as a reviewer for his own independent zine publication Vital. VITAL zine is a lively record of the heyday of cassette culture and industrial music, but also of developments in the wider field of electronic music.
