240 pages Edited by Garrett McGrath Photography(s) by Michael Grecco Foreword by Fred Schneider of the B-52s Designed by Heesang Lee 25.4 × 21.6 cm Language: English Hardback Publisher: Abrams 2020
Sweat-soaked performances, backstage encounters and posed portraits capture the overlapping worlds of punk, post-punk and new wave between 1978 and 1991. Michael Grecco’s photographs move through clubs in Boston and New York, recording musicians both in front of an audience and away from the stage. Black-and-white images sit alongside colour photographs, bringing together the physical intensity of live music and the clothes, gestures and personalities that shaped these scenes.
The Cramps, Dead Kennedys, Talking Heads, Human Sexual Response, Elvis Costello, Joan Jett and the Ramones appear among the artists photographed. Concert images share space with album-cover and promotional work, showing how musicians presented themselves across different settings. Moments of theatrical confrontation alternate with quieter, informal encounters, building a portrait of a musical culture through its performances, friendships and public identities.
