Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, authors of Please Kill Me: the Uncensored Oral History of Punk, were the guests of honor at the Ace Hotel’s Liberty Hall in New York on Thursday, July 14th, with guest host Michael Des Barres. The event was a celebration of the release of the 20th anniversary edition of their book, and featured a book reading, book signing, and a party DJ’d by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus.
The book includes first hand accounts from famous and infamous punks who lent their voices to chronicle a musical revolution and social history, including David Bowie, Debbie Harry, lggy Pop, Dee Dee and Joey Ramone, Lou Reed, Patti Smith and many more. From its origins in Andy Warhol’s New York to its last gasps as eighties corporate rock, the phenomenon known as punk is analyzed, criticized, eulogized, and idealized by the people who were there, and who made it happen.