Dreadnaught: King of Afropunk

By D. H. Peligro

Genre: Punk, Rock

D. H. Peligro was the drummer for Dead Kennedys and briefly the drummer for Red Hot Chili Peppers. He later fronted the Band Peligro, which along with Fishbone and Bad Brains, became one of the few black performers in the punk rock movement. Peligro's autobiography, Dreadnaught, chronicles his work with these bands but also give good insight on what it was like being black in a musical environment that was predominantly white. His biography seems to be a basically honest account. Peligro doesn't hold back when he discusses his own personal issues. He speaks with frankness and isn't afraid to bring up his demons. For instance when he writes about being abused by his step-father , he communicates an uncomfortable mixture of terror and childhood vulnerability...

Sometimes when he was really drunk, he would wake me up out of a dead sleep and I would be staring into both barrels of his twelve-gauge shotgun pointed directly in my face.

"What yo' sweat? Are you a man?" he would ask me. I can still feel his hot alcohol breath on my face and hear his hoarse, sloppy whisper in my ear.

"Wake up! Are you a man?"

No, I'm a kid. I would think to myself.

He writes with this same frank honesty as he discusses his past drug use which resulted in 27 rehabs. He writes about his anger at his band mates who he blamed for his hardships while, in hindsight, acknowledging that he was essentially his own worse enemy.

The problem with most rock autobiographies is that the road to stardom to drug addiction to eventual redemption is so common most of us have memorized the tune. However, Peligro's account does have some unusual twists. I was surprised to hear that Dead Kennedys were very anti-drug. Also, Peligro had an unusual musical history compared to many punk rockers. Many, if not most, punk rock musicians got into the lifestyle first, then became musicians and learned music as they performed. The joke that the difference between New Wavers and Punk Rockers is that New Wavers can actually play their instruments has a ring of truth. However Peligro had quite a bit of musical experience before he entered the punk rock scene. His Uncle Sam, who played with the legendary bluesman Robert Nighthawk, was influential in Peligro's decision to learn drums and guitar and D. H. played progressive rock and metal before he gravitated to the San Francisco punk scene. It is these little bits of information that keep Dreadnaught from being just another rags-to-riches-to-rags rock tale. His outlook on the punk scene in the late 70s and 80's is a nice addition to the scores of other autobiographies out there and feels a bit more real than the glittery excesses of a Pete Townsend or Rod Steward. D. H. Peligro stayed in the trenches.

If you have any interest in punk rock, Dead Kennedys, or the Punk counter-culture, you should enjoy this book. Three and a half stars.

Background music:  Dead Kennedys - Plastic Surgery Disasters.

I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp

By Richard Hell

Genre: Punk

Q: Why did the punk rocker cross the road?
A: He was pinned to a chicken.

I know. Bad joke. It could have been worse. I could have asked you why Jesus crossed the road.

But this is a book review, so...

I'm not exactly sure if Richard Hell is an household name. He was at the start of the punk rock movement in the seventies. He is often given credit for the punk rock look of torn clothes and safety pins, which explains the chicken joke. Malcolm McLaren gives Richard Hell credit for the visual look, if not the musical style, of the Sex Pistols. Before he started his own group he created the early punk groups, Television and The Heartbreakers (which has nothing to do with Tom Petty and...)If you have heard one Richard Hell and The Voidoids song it is probably "The Blank Generation" which is sometimes called the Punk Rock anthem.

But the interesting thing in this book is how little Hell says directly about his music.While he writes prodigiously about the Punk Rock scene he is more interested in the lifestyle than the music. He thinks of himself as a poet and a writer first and left music in 1988 to devote himself to his writing full-time. He's a pretty good writer. In fact, His writing talent is much better than his musical talent which he admits is on the minimal side. I like Richard Hell but it is the kind of "like" coming from watching a kid put heart and soul into an endeavor where his emotions overshadow his abilities. This autobiography, from someone who can only be called an unreliable narrator, describes the punk rock 70s, especially the New York scene, very well. Richard Hell comes across as over-confident, insecure and defensive all at the same time and it gives a nice tension. He may not be someone that is easy to like but is definitely interesting. The only drawback to this book, and it is a big one,is Hell's constant misogyny. He chooses to tell us every sexual encounter in detail and in usually negative terms to his partner. As I said, he is not easy to like.

Richard Hell is my age. But I felt at some times I was reading a memoir by a perennial adolescent. It can be argued that Hell never really grew up. It is what makes this book so involving at times. Hell recalls the times and its emotions and tensions vividly. I think it is because he never really wanted to leave it. Even if he no longer plays music in the rock scene, Richard Hell may be the Peter Pan of Punk Rock Neverland.

Background CD:  Richard Hell & Voidoids - Blank Generation

Just Kids

By Patti Smith

Genre: Rock

 Just Kids is an incredibly moving story about the relationship between poet/rock singer Patti Smith and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. The love and support between these two persons flows through Patti's poetic words. While they lived in the tumultuous art scene of New York in the sixties and seventies this is never a tell-all book or a sensational gossip book like so many of the other memoirs of this period. The author promised Mapplethorpe before he died that she would tell their story and does exactly that. In fact, the only time the book bogs down is in the section that tells of their separation and her ascend into the rock music world. Smith appears to be rushing, eager to get on with the real story of her love and compassion for Mapplethorpe. When she returns to him, he is dying of AIDS. The passion and longing that permeated this memoir is again evident. If someone asked me if I knew of a book that could vividly and honestly depict the complex pains and joys of an human relationship, I would gladly hand them this book.

Background CD: Patti Smith - Horses