Your New Favorite Book: Gimme Something Better

While our focus has always been on interviewing great musicians, we’re voracious readers with a penchant for great books about music. To that end, we’re going to spend some more time talking to the authors of these books and letting them share their stories with our new feature: “Your New Favorite Book”. You’ll find that we’re barely able to scratch the surface on some of these, but they’re a great introduction and have the TDOA seal of approval. That means: run out and buy these books promptly!

The impact of San Francisco punk on music is something that has received the credit it’s due. From hosting the final performance of the Sex Pistols, to Jello Biafra’s bid for mayor, the rise of MaximumRockNRoll and bands like the Dead Kennedys, Avengers, Flipper, MDC, Green Day, Rancid, NOFX, and AFI, they’ve made an indelible impression on music. Authors Jack Boulware and Silke Tudor amazing book, ‘Gimme Something Better’ chronicles more than two decades of punk music, progressive politics, social consciousness, and divine decadence, told by the people who made it happen.

Both authors took some time with us to share the experience of writing this opus and their thoughts on the music of San Francisco.

TDOA: How did the project come into existence?

JACK: A woman named Karen was living in Brooklyn, and she was about to move in with her boyfriend, who grew up in the East Bay punk scene. Realizing that the Gilman music and community still meant a lot to him, she wondered if there might be a book idea in it somewhere. Karen also happened to work as an editor at Penguin Books.

SILKE: I think Penguin was probably swayed by the popularity of Green Day and Rancid more than the underground reputation of Gilman itself. But that’s what they asked for – a history of Gilman Street.

TDOA: The book went from a 1-year, 300 page project to a 3-year project that produced an 800 page manuscript. How did you keep the publishers off your back throughout?

JACK: We didn’t really have them on our back, to be honest. The original editor quit not long after we got involved. So we were a bit of an unsupervised orphan. Our new editor was pretty supportive, even though she was inheriting someone else’s project. And she let us do the book we wanted to do. When we told them we wanted to expand the book from the Gilman era back to the 70s, to show the progression of punk in the Bay Area, they had no problem with it.

SILKE: As we did interviews and brought the stories to light, it became really obvious that the larger history was too interesting to ignore. No one had gotten all of the Dead Kennedys to tell their story, from the censorship trial to their breakup, or Flipper which is such an outrageous and ultimately sad story, or even Fang, with its charismatic young singer who ends up killing his girlfriend, doing time, and playing music again. Also, we kept emphasizing that Gilman did not rise out of a vacuum. It was shaped by people who had been in the punk scene for a long time already.

TDOA: In the book you argue that punk isn’t dead. How do you respond to some British writers who’ve said that the principle of punk was anarchy and uniqueness? Aren’t current punks just rehashing a music style that’s been around since the 70′s?

SILKE: For me, punk was never just about music. It was a culture. The music spoke to me at a particular point in my life as nothing else ever had – and I think that still holds true for young people today — but the lasting impact was how it taught us to think for ourselves and create for our friends. My generation went on to start masked Mexican wrestling troupes, punk rock circuses, independent car shows, burlesque shows, game shows, bicycle rodeos, theater in elevators, restaurants on buses, poetry readings in sewer tunnels, and sprawling music festivals in the middle of nowhere. Punks travel the world with nothing and invite strangers to stay with them. They build art-boat armadas and float down the Mississippi or crash major European art festivals. They fear less and create more. I think journalists who still focus their attention on three chords have missed the point somehow.

JACK: To me, punk isn’t about how long the genre has been around. As long as young people are questioning authority, making decisions for themselves, and not putting their faith and trust in any institution without seriously examining it first, I think that’s essential. It’s certainly more healthy than paying attention to bullshit American Idol pop culture just because you can watch it on your phone.

TDOA: Women played a much bigger role in punk in SF than virtually anywhere else. What is about SF that made it easier for them to become part of the movement?

SILKE: The Bay Area is politically progressive – PC to an almost debilitating degree — and there is a huge gay population. Nowhere was the sexual revolution taken more to heart. So we grew up with that, taking our equality for granted. But there is no denying punk is largely testosterone-driven. It’s rebellious, aggressive, fierce, and irate. So Bay Area punk naturally attracted a lot of vocal women who had those emotions burning in their chests.

JACK: They also chopped up dildos and threw them into the crowd, which you have to admit is pretty fucking awesome.

SILKE: At the same time, you had a population of guys – this wasn’t always true for the transplants – who had been taught, growing up in San Francisco, that sexism was an archaic anathema, that women were formidable. It was a funny combination. I have male friends who never considered hitting on a girl they liked because that was the role of The Man, and girlfriends who could strike fear in the hearts of soldiers.
From a policy standpoint, MRR and Gilman Street were, and are, volubly anti-sexist and anti-homophobic which made an impression on new kids coming into the scene. But the long-term impact of the gay and lesbian community, both in the area and in Bay Area punk, can not be overemphasized. The influence could be seen in the 70s, but once queercore really took hold a whole new population of girls felt safe going to shows and raising their voice.

TDOA: There’s a great story in the book about Ian McKaye being terrorized by SF punks. In general, how were the East Coast punk bands treated when the came to town?

JACK: There was a faction of SF punks that terrorized EVERYONE from out of town. It didn’t matter who it was. It was all about territory. But Ian got picked on more than probably anybody. In the Bay Area, getting drunk and high is a personal lifestyle choice, people are proud of it. There’s a long tradition here of getting out of your head, from opium dens in Chinatown, to 1950s speed-and-booze Beat poets, to freaks who made and popularized LSD in the 60s, to the punk scene, to today’s pot clubs and ridiculous gourmet cocktail culture. It’s a party-hearty port town in the fog. And if someone comes to town, openly advocating a straight-edge lifestyle, you’re going to fuck with them on principle. All that aside, Ian’s bands were also extremely popular here, because they were great bands.

SILKE: I also think there is this smart, snarky, practical joker element in San Francisco that predates punk but was taken to new levels by people in the scene. It is a quality that is often misunderstood by those who did not grow up with it. Which, sadly, only heightens the urge to prank and poke fun.

TDOA: Many bands have talked about the impact of seeing the early punk bands like the Sex Pistols playing in their town. Given the historical significance of the SP show in San Francisco, was there a great impact on the formation of the punk scene as a result of their appearance and demise?

JACK: You have to understand, when the Sex Pistols first toured America, that was many people’s first introduction to punk. If you lived outside of New York or San Francisco, and the Ramones didn’t come to your town, hysterical media coverage about the Pistols was how you learned punk rock even existed. I was first exposed to punk from a very alarmist segment about the Pistols U.S. tour on the Today Show, of all things. Everybody had heard of them. Everybody was watching to see what would happen. And when they played here at Winterland, 5,000 people showed up. For a punk show in the 70s that was just insane.

You could argue that the Pistols’ media blitz, along with the Ramones touring the country, lit the match. Those two were the primary reasons people started punk bands. When the Pistols broke up, it was huge news at the time, and we all read about Sid’s demise in the magazines. But since the Ramones and many other bands were also churning along by that point, it wasn’t the end of punk, not by a long shot.

SILKE: I think the Ramones had a larger impact. The Sex Pistols show was like a circus.

TDOA: Other than Green Day, Jello Biafra is probably the most well-known product of the SF punk scene. How did you find him to work with during the process of writing this book?

JACK: At first Jello didn’t want to participate in the book because it was published by a large corporation, but as it went along, and he saw that we were interviewing so many people, he agreed. He’s an unusual person to interview, because he’s been interviewed so many times, and many of the stories are memorized at this point. He would even rewrite sentences as he was saying them out loud, to improve the quote or focus the answer. Despite all that, I think we got some new quotes and insights out of him. It’s no secret he’s a long-winded guy. He talked to us for over four hours straight, in my kitchen, and wouldn’t leave until he felt we had what we needed.

SILKE: The majority of the people we talked to were not that accustomed to being interviewed. They were raw and unfiltered. Jello is an orator. He had a lot to say and knew how to say it. Even after we felt we had gotten all the material we could use, he would turn the tape recorder back on and speak into it.

JACK: He also asked to review all of his quotes, and then rewrote many of them to sharpen the language and add more jokes. I later talked with him on the phone, to clarify a few things, and he can actually be a very charming likable guy. He’s had a long history of supporting other bands, and he even allowed us to come into the offices of Alternative Tentacles and burrow through their archives for images.

SILKE: It was an odd experience, but we’re grateful. His insight was invaluable and his quotes are crucial.

TDOA: Can you discuss the lasting impact of Maximum RocknRoll, not just on SF, but on the punk movement in America?

SILKE: The role of MRR can not be overestimated. It connected punks from around the world. It gave us glimpses of these little pockets of rebellion and creativity erupting everywhere and made us feel allied. The networks that allowed little bands to travel across the country in a station wagon, or knock on someone’s door in Portugal, were formed through MRR. For all its faults and fallacies, MRR kept serious ideas in focus and pounded home the concept that money, power, and authority are not the answer, they are the question.

JACK: The ink also still rubs off on your hands. You can’t get that from a website.

TDOA As music fans, is there a band that you came out of the project with a new-found appreciation for?

SILKE: Bad Posture and Schlong. And Victim’s Family. I also found myself returning to my love for that first Fang record, after years of abstention. And the unifying force that was Operation Ivy. And the mighty heavy Neurosis – but I’ve always felt deep appreciation for them. Does it go without saying that the Avengers may have been the greatest punk band to come of San Francisco?

JACK: We listened to as much of the music from the book as we could. Some of it was dated, or really badly recorded, or more of the had-to-see-it-live variety, but I still listen to a lot of the Avengers, Negative Trend, Mutants, No Alternative, DOA, MDC, Dicks, Fang, DKs, Op Ivy, Rancid, MTX, Pansy Division, Dwarves, Fleshies, Neurosis, and even the real wacked-out stuff like Flipper and the Schlong. All the bands that played at our Gilman launch party were fucking incredible, especially Social Unrest, they just killed it.

TDOA: In the book, you indicate that the punk scene in SF is still vibrant. What bands should people outside of San Francisco be listening to?

JACK: I have no idea. It’s up to them. Go fucking check it out!

SILKE: Who the fuck am I to tell you what to listen to? Call 510-BAD-SMUT. Visit the List. Dig. Research. Listen. Punk rock should not be spoon fed. Discovery is always half the fun. Someone in our book talks about finding a mixed tape on the ground when they were a kid. It was like a treasure map to a foreign land. I wish that experience for everyone.

To order this great book, click on the link below:
Gimme Something Better: The Profound, Progressive, and Occasionally Pointless History of Bay Area Punk from Dead Kennedys to Green Day

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Tags: Gimme Something Better, Music