Under the Big Black Sun (book) - John Doe with Tom DeSavia and Friends

Having moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 1979, I jumped head first into the new music scene that was happening in town and naturally, X was among the new bands that really struck a nerve with me. I saw them in small settings like the Hong Kong Cafe and bigger showcases like the Whisky-a-Go-Go with Ray Manzarek sitting in with them. They remain one of my favorite and one of the best known bands to emerge from the scene.

I was assuming that this book would be Doe's story of the evolution of LA punk, but he actually writes very little here - instead, he compiled chapters from friends and fellow scenesters to paint an overall picture of the happenings. Obviously, this makes the book less single-minded, but I was a bit disappointed, as I consider Doe to be a fine writer and was interested in his specific viewpoint.

Regardless, the tale is told by many well known names from the time - Exene, Jane Wiedlin, Pleasant Gehman, Robert Lopez, Chris D. (I really enjoyed his chapter), Dave Alvin (a damn fine writer), Mike Watt (not being a minuteman fan, his huge, unpunctuated chapter is a bit rambling to me), Charlotte Caffey (love that her high school music teacher was Captain Beefheart's cousin!), Jack Grisham (who stands out for having an attitude about everyone who hates the violence that his ilk brought into the scene) and many more. Along with the music, we discover the emerging art, fashion and fanzine contingencies, as well, by the people who created it all.

I do hope that Doe will write his own memoir some day, but in the meantime, this is another good overview of the initial LA underground scene.