MikeL , of all the books on your list , I've only read the Ramones book and "Please Kill Me".
I read more Rock books than I'll ever own up to , but , my favorite is still "The Life and Times of Little Richard". It's hilarious. But , there's a serious side , too. He deals with racism , homophobia ,and Pat Boone covering his hits before they could chart , without sounding bitter.
I'm reading "Violence Girl" by Alice Bag , in my spare time. It's highly enjoyable. She goes from her childhood in East L.A. , listening to British Invasion , Motown , Los Teen Tops and Thee Midniters , to going headlong into Glam (If you consider Elton John or Queen "Glam") , and , not much later , becoming a fixture on the L.A. Punk scene. The writing has a lot of humor and charm , and , you get the feeling she did not ever regret sticking her hand into the fire now and then.
"Heebie Jeebies at CBGBs" - A document of the "Secret" influence of Jews on Punk. Of course ,the likes of Joey Ramone , Lenny Kaye , Jonathan Richman, Lou Reed , Sylvain Sylvain , Chris Stein and The Dictators are all present and accounted for. Behind the scene impresarios like Seymour Stein , Genya Ravan and Hilly Kristal are duly noted , too , but didja know Malcolm Maclaren was Jewish ? I did'nt know that , either. Would that mean people should have been any less irritated by the "Ironic" use of swastikas in The Pistols' campaign ? Lydon , probably for this reason alone , was asked to be a spokesman for The National Front. He publically told them what they could do with their offer. Still , it all reads like shock tactics, today, just like Maclaren's previous attempt to salvage The New York Dolls' career by making them out to be the one thing you could'nt be in the states , at that time : Red Chinese sympathizers.
Tommy Ramone only recently admitted to being Jewish , stating that he did'nt think anyone cared. Of course , being from Hungary , he had relatives who were imprisoned and/or killed in The Holocaust , and it seemed too painful for him to talk about it , until now.
But , did'ja know , that Alan Vega and Richard Hell are Jewish , too?
Hell refused to talk about it , being raised an Atheist , but , still , ethnically Jewish.
There were others , not mentioned here , Lydia Lunch , Lora Logic , the singer from Slaughter and The Dogs (Sorry , forgot his name.), the Dembling/North Brothers from The Comateens (Not a Punk band , but from the same scene in NYC.) and more......
It's a fun read. It deals with antisemitism ,but , makes the argument that Punk was supposed to be like that Jewish - American cultural milestone , MAD magazine . I always agreed with that.
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