Punk Rock - An Oral History by John Robb (Ebury Press/Random House).How many books on punk rock does the world really need? Thirty years down the line it seems like there's new ones appearing just about every week. And while most of 'em are blatant cash-ins, John Robb's tome is a very worthwhile addition to the p-rock bookshelf. The oral-history is of course a perfect format; not only is it able to give voice to the key-figures and hanger-ons alike, it also serves as a platform for conflicting views uninterfered by journalistic obejectivity. Focusin' on the UK scene from roughly '76 to 1984, this book throws up plenty of new stories, viewpoints and whatnot. Robb's own POV that (to quote his old band) "everything's brilliant" can be a bit tiresome (esp when he's singin' the praise of some twerp who has been "livin' the life for three decades"), and there's some serious fuck-ups in the chronology (and, hey, what's up with this guy Eddie Cochrane that gets mentioned all the time?), but if you were in anyway part of this back in the day, or want to get a good "feel" of what it was all about back then (at least from a UK point of view), this is a great, great read. Skip the latest Mojo or Uncut "special edition" and get this...
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