Punk Avenue: Inside the New York City Underground, 1972-1982

Punk Avenue: Inside the New York City Underground, 1972-1982

by Phil Marcade

Narrated by David de Vries

Unabridged — 5 hours, 22 minutes

Punk Avenue: Inside the New York City Underground, 1972-1982

Punk Avenue: Inside the New York City Underground, 1972-1982

by Phil Marcade

Narrated by David de Vries

Unabridged — 5 hours, 22 minutes

Audiobook (Digital)

$19.99
FREE With a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime
$0.00

Free with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime

START FREE TRIAL

Already Subscribed? 

Sign in to Your BN.com Account


Listen on the free Barnes & Noble NOOK app


Related collections and offers

FREE

with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription

Or Pay $19.99

Overview

Punk Avenue is an intimate look at author Paris-born Phil Marcade's first ten years in the United States where he drifted from Boston to the West Coast and back, before winding up in New York City and becoming immersed in the early punk rock scene.



From backrooms of Max's and CBGB's to the Tropicana Hotel in Los Angeles and back, Punk Avenue is a tour de force of stories from someone at the heart of the era. With brilliant, often hilarious prose, Marcade relays first-hand tales about spending a Provincetown summer with photographer Nan Goldin and actor-writer Cookie Mueller, having the Ramones play their very first gig at his party, working with Blondie's Debbie Harry on French lyrics for her songs, enjoying Thanksgiving with Johnny Thunders' mother, and starting the beloved NYC punk-blues band The Senders.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Finalist, 2017 Indie Book Awards for Autobiography/Memoir, Foreword Reviews

“Beautifully observed memoir from key early CBGB / Max’s Kansas City player . . . A suave evocation of a lost, grittier New York.” —Mojo Magazine

“The best book on the New York punk scene since Please Kill Me!”—Rockerzine

"Recommended reading 2017." —Stereogum

Punk Avenue is the story of a naïve young man looking for simple fun, accidentally fumbling through a music revolution, and in the meantime becoming a symbol for the rise and fall of a scene.” —Pop Matters

"Phil Marcade is a fun and fascinating memoir set during one of New York City’s most unique era. This book takes you back to the time when Punk was ruling–even if it was just on the underground." —New York Trend NYC

"Nowadays, when punk aesthetics and ideologies are studied, archived and presented in curated museum shows, Marcade’s new memoir, Punk Avenue, is a timely gem. His words fill the page with meaning but never overstay their welcome, illuminating untold stories, different scenes, and missing links between the hippies and the punks, between black American music and the reclamation of a three-minute sonic spike to the vein. This is uncluttered, unordained prose.” —The Observer

"An incredibly informed and informative biography of a man that includes the rise and fall a unique genre in American music history, Punk Avenue: The New York City Underground 1972-1982 is a truly riveting read from cover to cover."—Midwest Review of Books

“Lucid, grimly humorous and gripping. . . . Truly a perspective from the inside. Highly recommended." —I94 Bar

“A fun, funny, and f**king fast read.” —Stomp and Stammer

“A quick, engaging read. It is chock full of great anecdotes and tales of shenanigans while also adding some color and flavor to a scene that too often suffers anymore from over-analyzation and the icy, sterilizing eye of academia. His is a leaving breathing world where those “names” are real people doing real people shit, good and bad, and he is one of them.” —Jimmy Alvarado, Razorcake

“A fascinating and amusing book . . . deservedly belongs next to your copy of Please Kill Me and New York Rock.” —Shake Some Action

“A must-read for all Punk Rock fans and those looking to be entertained while getting a personal look at the birth of the NYC punk movement.” —The Punk Site

“Even if Punk Avenue isn’t likely tell you anything about the ’70s Downtown NY scene you didn’t already know, it’s just insanely entertaining stuff and a must read for anyone whose copy of Please Kill Me is in tatters from over-reading.” —Midnight to Six

"The real noteworthy feat is not simply remembering stories, but weaving them together in a way that is fun and funny and sad and personal and gripping, whether you’re a fan of early the early NYC punk scene or not. Marcade not only does exactly that in expert fashion with Punk Avenue, but he does it in a language that’s not his first.” ——Dying Scene

“PUNK AVENUE is relatable for me in a way no other book about that era has been. . . . I do not need to be part of the scene to feel a spirit of inclusion when I read PUNK AVENUE. That is what the best books are, the ones where we are welcome into the story.” —Rock NYC

Punk Avenue throws in an outsider’s perspective on the scene–author Marcade came to New York from Paris. Throw in contributions by Debbie Harry and Legs McNeil, and you have a decidedly interesting work on your hands.” —Vol.1 Brooklyn

“The French-born musician cut his teeth during the heyday of New York punk, rubbing elbows with the likes of the Ramones, Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls and Nancy Spungen (of Sid and Nancy fame).”—Tidal

"Phil Marcade's Punk Avenue is both fascinating memoir and a detailed, first-person account of the birth (and growth) of punk rock in New York City." —Largehearted Boy

"Marcade's great sense for storytelling, as well as his knack for being in the right place at the right time, make this a must-read for those interested in the history of punk." —Library Journal

“A must read book if you love the inside scoop on New York City's authentic rock scene from 1972-82.  Written from the perspective of Phil's own life story, the history of Max's Kansas City and the gritty NY punk scene gets documented with often hilarious detail.” —Dave Cromwell Writes

"The brief, insane explosion of the punk scene in 1970s New York has fascinated people ever since and left a lasting impression on art, culture, and music. Punk Avenue: Inside the New York City Underground, 1972–1982 is a first-person account by Phil Marcade that brings this savage decade to life. . . . Marcade’s stories surprise and delight, reviving an influential, exciting moment in American culture." —Foreword Reviews

“A musician's memoir of punk rock in its New York City heyday shows how much fun it was while it lasted, before AIDS and heroin had the last laugh. . . . Must-read for those who love that era and want a fresh perspective on it.” —Kirkus Reviews

"Punk Avenue leads us from the early highs through the dark periods of addiction and loss without losing hope." —The Villager

"It was hard to put this book down. It's a fun and dishy read!... Gives us the real 411 about both CBGB's and Max's Kansas City and the drug scene that was happening." —Ginger Coyote, Punk Globe Magazine

"Punk Avenue is a fast, fun read that fills in historical gaps and establishes Phil Marcade as more than a character lurking in the shadows. Fans of CBGB and American punk will dig it.” —Michael T. Fournier, Razorcake

“Just when you think you led a fascinating, fun, wild, scary life, along comes this maniac. I’m amazed Phil’s still here. But thankful he managed to make it back with these untoppable tales from the inside of the inside — of his pals Johnny Thunders, Joe Strummer, Debbie Harry, Dee Dee Ramone, of Max’s, CBs and the long-ago Lower East Side, all told in a matter-of-fact style that only makes them more incredible. A definitive dispatch from the trenches (and gutters) of New York punk.” — Robert Duncan, Managing Editor, Creem; author, The Noise

“A riveting account of desperate days and high-octane nights that vividly recall the gritty glamour of New York in the 1980s, that penniless yet golden age of sex not sexting, drugs not hugs, and pure, unadulterated rock and roll. Written in blood by somebody who was there, in the combat zone, loving every manic minute.” — Max Blagg, poet

“Marcade's book is  historically important, invaluable in fact, but it’s also a fun, fast, nasty read. I couldn’t think of a better introduction to NYC in the days when the streets were dangerous, the rents were cheap, and the fun never ended.” — James “The Hound” Marshall, Bar owner, radio personality

Library Journal

03/15/2017
In this memoir, artist and writer Marcade (Au-delà de l'Avenue D) discusses being a French expat who became a fixture in the New York City punk scene in the late 1970s. Unlike other books of this sort, which mostly focus on legendary figures, this one features a fringe character on the scene. His 1950s rock revival band, The Senders, never attained the popular or critical recognition that Blondie, Television, or the Ramones did. As a result, Marcade's account is more relatable. While this volume highlights his relationships with people such as musician Johnny Thunders and photographer Nan Goldin, it's the personal anecdotes that make this work memorable. Examples include surviving a fall from a cliff while high on LSD, adopting a cat owned by the future wife of Sid Vicious, Nancy Spungen, that is addicted to heroin, or almost getting into a fight with The Clash's Mick Jones over a cigarette. The more solemn moments recount his battle with heroin and the many friends he lost to drug addiction and AIDS. VERDICT Marcade's great sense for storytelling, as well as his knack for being in the right place at the right time, make this a must-read for those interested in the history of punk.—Brian Flota, James Madison Univ., Harrisonburg, VA

Kirkus Reviews

2017-03-07
A musician's memoir of punk rock in its New York City heyday shows how much fun it was while it lasted, before AIDS and heroin had the last laugh.As frontman for the Senders, Marcade never saw his band achieve the notoriety of the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, or others that played CBGBs and Max's Kansas City, but his memoir has an antic vitality and humor that seem to encapsulate the spirit of those times. Everything seemed so funny—even nodding out from heroin, throwing up from overindulgence, and getting tossed into jail, where the teenage Marcade begins this account after getting busted for dope. A French native, he had come to America for adventure. He found his share and also found himself in the middle of the punk scene that was soon to emerge on the Lower East Side. Everyone seemed to know him and like him—former New York Doll Johnny Thunders brought him from Boston to New York and provided entree. The Clash appreciated him so much that they invited the Senders to open for them at their peak. Marcade was the one who, by his account, told Nancy Spungen to follow her heart to London, where she began her fatal romance with the Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious. ("You need love, not heroin," he remembers telling her.) There are a number of hilarious, outrageous scenes involving pets—not just dogs and cats, but monkeys—or parties, and some featuring both, and there is plenty of insider observation: "The Ramones got along great with everybody, which was funny because they couldn't stand each other." And there are way too many exclamation points. Ultimately, AIDS cost many their lives and others their sexual freedom. Heroin also took many of Marcade's friends, his marriage, and his band. Written 35 years after he kicked his addiction for good, the book retains the madcap spirit of that time and place, suggesting how punk happened and why it had to end. Must-read for those who love that era and want a fresh perspective on it.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940171157654
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Publication date: 05/08/2018
Edition description: Unabridged
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews