Images of Punk. Musical Anarchy That Inspired a Generation

Denis O’Regan
Castle Communications PLC.
Copyrigth Date: 1996
Review Date: 1998

It seems like everybody and their brother is cleaning out the attic and cranking out a book of punk photography. Punk spunk, banana-funk. Who cares? My first reaction to this book was not favorable. It looks cheap, it’s got cheesy type, and the title is embarassing. Almost immediately I noticed some peculiarities in the way the photos were printed* – some areas were super focused and others were really low contrast. Anal retentive? Me? An undergrad degree in photography will do that, but it’s still a little distracting. I was prepared to dismiss this book rather offhandedly, but I’ve changed my opinion. While this book isn’t great, it’s pretty good. For some it will be more appealing than others, depending on which bands you can recall fondly. In explanation, the short foreward is written by Hugh Cornwell of the Stranglers, a fact that surprised him since the Stranglers were never a central figure in the scene. O’Regan’s point is that “People forget that the scene then was composed of a complete cross section of people and types.”

The photos in this book were taken from ’76 to ’78. O’Regan says he used to come home and develop and print each night in his bedroom, and then get yelled at by his boss for coming in late to work the next morning. I believe him. The prints are often crappy, but there is a quality to the collected work that transcends all the faults. Dennis was in the right place at the right time. O’Regan doesn’t claim to present a difinitive record, just a documentation of the events and people as he experienced them. I kick myself for not having the foresight to have documented my surroundings when punk first started leaking slowly into the midwest back in the eighties.

All the heavies are there in spades. Some of the photos are the ones you’ve already seen. Some are the ones that probably didn’t make the cut. The hidden gems are the pics of the bands who only have limited representation in your record collection. Maybe you haven’t replaced all your vinyl with cds. Maybe you have a beat up old tape that has a song that you used to love and have no idea what the band members look like. The Members, Slaughter and the Dogs, the Rich Kids, Eddie and the Hot Rods, the Rezillos, Penetration, the Adverts, X-Ray Specs and others join the likes of the Clash, Sex Pistols, and the Damned. Not all of the acts are strictly punk, bands like the Police, the Tubes, Elvis Costello, Doctor Feelgood, the Tourists, and the Boomtown Rats are all in evidence. New York is represented by Johhny Thunders, Blondie, Wayne County, the Ramones, and the Taking Heads.

O’Regan’s tenacity eventually paid off. He was able to quit his job and tour with Bowie, Duran Duran, the Rolling Stones, and others. In closing, I’d just like to say that I think I’d make a really good addition to the McDonald’s team if you decide hire me. Just like a job at McDonald’s, this book would appear easy to pass on. Unlike McFood, there’s more meat than the actual presentation shows. While not excellent, it’s still pretty good. How good it is depends on how nostalgic you are about the featured bands.

Rating: Three and a half out of five greatest hits records.

UPDATE: The author has informed me that this was the first attempt at a completely digital work flow for the author, publisher, and printer. Because of some weak links and not being completely adept at the process, the end result was kind of botched in terms of the photo quality. To add insult to injury, all the digital files were lost. Denis said that he might remedy the situation in the future. If this happens, the rating for this book would certainly improve.

174 pgs. Perfectbound $24.95