Well, years of idolizing the British punk scene - the brilliant bands and the movement as a whole - are now in question after reading Please Kill Me.

Authors Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain have gathered a massive amount of material from myriad sources via 1965 to 1995 pertaining to the punk movement in America, which pretty much debunk the British scene's importance in birthing punk. I've always known the movement began here with the likes of the godfathers of punk: Richard Hell and Johnny Thunders. But with this book, we are taken even further back in time to the true inspirations of the movement that would be called "punk" by a couple of guys (John Holmstrom and "resident punk" Legs McNeil) in 1976 who thought it would be fun to start up a magazine to cover what they liked - hamburgers, b-horror movies, and the bands they were into, such as the Stooges, New York Dolls, and the Dictators. In this book we see that punk in the '70s has its basis in the primordial ooze materializing in the '60s with Andy Warhol and the Factory crowd and Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground in New York, and also with the MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges in Detroit.

From concentrating primarily on the English scene, I had always been under the impression that punk was spawned from the economic conditions, rampant unemployment, and a general disillusionment with present-day Britain and the bands that were popular at the time - the arena rock bands, you know, the ones that had the ten minute guitar solo and flamboyant drum fills. Well, this is true. These are the reasons why punk took root in Britain. However, the British youth did not create this phenomenon. Oh no, my friend. Ideas had been fermenting across the Atlantic for years and had reached the UK shores in the '70s. The primary link was Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols' proprietor, who had been to New York and had seen what was going on. At this time, glam and glitter bands were all the rage. It was towards the end of the legendary New York Dolls' reign as kings (queens) of Max's Kansas City, and Malcolm wanted in. He became their manager and well, shortly after, the band disintegrated. But while in America, Malcolm had seen things that made an impression on him. He fell in love with Richard Hell, his spiky hair, "blank generation" attitude, ripped t-shirts, and so on, and decided to take these elements with him, adapt it a little and make it Britain's own. In fact, the title of the book is linked to Richard Hell. He had designed a t-shirt that said "please kill me" with a bull's-eye on it. However, despite the myth, he claims he doesn't remember ever wearing it and says he actually forced his Television band-mate Richard Lloyd to don the then outrageous creation.

Anyway, this book is teeming with sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, shock therapy, all things debauched, and all too often, untimely deaths. After all, if this "depraved" commentary illustrates anything, it's that this was a period that basically glorified self-destructive behavior. I mean how Iggy Pop did not die is one of the main questions you're left with after reading these insane tales. If you want to get an idea of the unwholesomeness contained in these pages, here's a taste from one groupie, as she recounts what Stiv Bators, Dead Boys' vocalist, wanted to have done with his remains: "Upon his death, Stiv wanted to be cremated and then he wanted all of his close friends to do a line of his ashes. And a few people did." Well, if you find this tidbit morbidly entertaining, you'll probably enjoy reading this interesting book. But don't get me wrong, there are also quite touching moments too, like how this same groupie says she didn't snort Stiv's ashes, but rather kept them in a heart-shaped box. As sick as it sometimes comes out, the love and camaraderie for each other does shine through. And although these relationships were in ways psychotic, there was real affection there. Some examples: Dee Dee Ramone and Connie, Dee Dee and Stiv, Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan, Sid and Nancy. Hey, let's just chalk it up to punk rock love.

The story of the origins of punk, it's culmination in New York on the Bowery at CBGB's, and in some people's views it's death in the '80s, reads like a novel although it is an oral history. Everything in this book is taken from previous interviews to form this amazing story that features a cast of characters, some of whom are talented geniuses, incredibly outrageous, but always human. An interesting aspect of Please Kill Me is that we get these Americans' views on the punk scene in England, as the musicians, managers, journalists, and photographers relate stories of touring there. The Heartbreakers were on the Anarchy Tour with the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and for a short while the Damned. We learn of Television's hatred of playing to crowds that took pride in gobbing, or spitting on the performers, as well as Iggy and Bowie's time together, and so on. Contrary to popular belief, ex-New York Doll and Heartbreaker Jerry Nolan tells how cowardly and infantile these British punks were for the most part. In his view, they were frightened and in awe of the New York punks. In all my reading of English accounts of the scene, I have never come across this yet. And on the same note, we even get first-hand accounts from people who were in New York at Sid and Nancy's room at the Chelsea on the night Nancy was murdered and how none of them think Sid was capable of murder. Likewise, only months after this last incident, a woman talks about Sid's death and having to sit for hours in a bedroom with Sid Vicious' dead body before someone came to take it away.

So, some pretty amazing stories are included here, making Please Kill Me a definite must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about punk's (lewd) beginnings.