A great dream last night
Those best feelings
of hanging with your favorite band Touring as they were Family and friends were nearby Chris Bailey was sweet His lovely sly grin shone my wayas he looked at mea rich heavy Irish accent formed few words“I’ll see ya tomorrow!” I said.Adoringly glowing a depth of loveand mutual respectJohn and I left the band until tomorrow’s show. We walked by wavingAt Nathan Jones We walked by a
large window coffee shop on the Blvd. There Ed Kuepper sat alone. Having a cup of coffee and a smoke. Standing in front of a backstage club,I looked at the band’s list.Many names flew byUnder crew - stage
I saw Holly Cornell. John pointed it out Feeling a joy Only a favorite band could give ya We will be there early tomorrow. To help and see the band .
1977 – 1981 Jimmy Carter, 1981 – 1989 Ronald Regan, 1989 George Bush.
Be More Than An Animal
“Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning. Pg. 27, Frankl.”
Anarchy, chaos and no government were unending slogans within the punk rock community. Remember this structure. We turned the peace hippie finger symbol into vice, vandalism and violence. Plenty of clubs were destroyed and punks were not asked to come back. We rebelled against authority. The music and lyrics of songs moved us. Our persona as punks defined many of us but not all of us.
Today I see a President who is using these same ideals. Less government, anarchy against our United States constitution. Every day he creates chaos by dividing the people of our republic.
It is strange to me to see this. I am not the young punk I once was. When young I rebelled because I was angry at a world that let me down. I had the freedom to rebel. Other countries do not have this freedom to speak out.
Now as an older woman I see how corruption does not care about the goals of freedom. Without a conscious we have no chance of drawing a line.
As a young punk I developed and learned about compassion, integrity and creativity. I have a moral compass. I have come more to see the world as in a constant state of duality or contrary perspectives.
When Trump uses anarchy, chaos and less government to take from the poor and give to the rich, I rebel.
When Trump and his fossil fuel industry take from the land and give to the rich. I rebel.
When immigrants are housed in cages, similar as a concentration camp, and separated from their children to be sexually abused. I rebel.
When the republican party supports anti-abortion propaganda while taking healthcare away from children. I rebel.
Trump takes the truth and inverts it and surrounds it with emotionalism. A heated propaganda simile. Politicians do play their games, but Trump uses his ministry of propaganda like Paul Joseph Goebbels did. He was a German Nazi politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany.
As a young punk I unconsciously searched for the dignity of life. As young punks we questioned the status quo. I guess I am still doing this. It is a good quality to have. I want to believe that most living punks have this insight. A joined movement inside us individually and collectively. An inside continuity. A search for meaning.
I am sure we all see this differently, but this is my perspective. There was something that brought us together.
At a current Youth Brigade show I heard similar words spoken about politics, age and being angry. No longer young punks we are standing up for life as something to believe in. Something is very wrong with our current President.
“Three possible sources for meaning in work (doing something significant, in love (caring for another person), and in courage during difficult times. Suffering in and of itself is meaningless; we give our suffering meaning by the way in which we respond to it. At one point, Frankl writes that a person “may remain brave, dignified and unselfish, or in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal.” ~ Victor Frankl, Man’s Search For Meaning.
Amazingly we are still alive. Punk Rock Bowling with the celebration of 40 Years of the Circle Jerks and Charged GBH this spring. I am besides myself with joy to be attending. Yes, all the bands seem interesting, yet my history also includes Madness. When I was a 19-year-old punk I was looking for a 45 by Prince Buster entitled Madness. This stirred me on a strange journey to a Los Angeles record store. They never could locate that 45 for me. Then the band came touring. At least the name of the band was right. Playing the Whisky A Go Go. I remember dancing to the band with Kick Boy Face from SLASH MAGAZINE (my first Punk Rock correspondence.) (Slosh and Flopside) It was grand beyond grand. Imagine it all coming together again.
Punk Rock Bowling 2020
Some of my best punk memories.
Ross’s bass guitar case. GBH 1980s
I am standing in this image next to Ross’s first bass guitar case. He gave it to me. He bought a new one. I lost it. Yet, my mom had put it in a special place. After her death we cleaned out the basement and their it was. How happy that mom preserved some wonderful punk history. I still have it and will give it “will it” to my sons. I love it like punk rock. I hope I am not sucking on Ross’s “tits” when I say I love him too. Thanks for thinking of me back then. All the best and looking forward to Las Vegas for a week of punk and beyond bliss.
(Keith, Hudley, Chris, Annette and Iris) Group shot taken last month after our fun (and a little drizzly) reading at Stories Books and Cafe ~ Photo by the great Gary Leonard
A new cover but otherwise this is a replica of the original issue but better. I have already gotten some nasty criticism about the new cover. Let me tell you why I did it the way I did.
The new cover is a picture Al Flipside took. This is one of my favorite pics of the early punk scene with Subhumans (Canadian Band) and Samoans. Greg Turner, Metal Mike, Wimpy, Hud, Gary and Jim.
I am holding Flipside’s tape recorder.
We recorded all of our band interviews included in each issue on this tape recorder.
We were always in the middle of bugging the bands. So, to me it is symbolic of us. Al and I as we ran a Fanzine. It also shows you the world through Al’s eyes. We literally had thousands and thousands of negatives and pictures in our office.
The yellow patina is gone, and the pages are all straight. This issue of Flipside # 54 was originally printed on newsprint paper, so the pages did yellow.
I put a great deal of time into making this paperback into the sweet little punk rock number that it is. Some punks have told me that this was their punk rock bible. It is Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine issues one through fifty. A lot of punk voices. The integrity of what punk was at any time during the original punk rock scene is shared here.
Flipside Fanzine # 54 captures the continuity and real experience and thoughtful wild exuberant expression of many interesting individuals. It was a passion of mine to share in this documentation of a scene. It still is which is why I continued over the years with this project to have a new handheld Flipside # 54 for anyone who wants to hold it too. I think it is incredibly special, in a punk kind of way, I hope you will enjoy it too.
Within this paperback book is our history of the early punk rock scene. We at Flipside covered that scene thoroughly, what we wanted to cover that is. It is best you read the editorial included at the beginning of this paperback to get a real sense of who we were. Ten years of documenting a scene included in issues one through fifty is a great deal to read. A magnifying glass may be needed.
I always say the proof is in the pudding. Shit workers who worked on each issue are clearly defined in each issue. This is what I mean by proof. Always a lot of hands in the cookie jar at the Flipside house. Suffice to say I will let this spectacular punk documentary speak for itself from the giant community of punk voices.
I also recommend my memoir My Punkalullaby as a sidekick to this paperback book. Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine # 54 Ten-Year Anniversary Issue (replica) is my punk rock opus and I am very proud of it. Both issues are for purchase at Amazon.
It is complete. My Punkalullaby. I coined the term Punkalullaby in the mid-1980s. It means I live my life from one song to the next as a constant.
I had a little creative section in Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine where I included fictional stories and later came the poetry.
The history of getting this book published is a long one. First, I published it like a fanzine, in my little home computer publishing room. I sold them through PayPal. I also sold them at speaking events. During this time, before and after, I approached four publishers, talked to other punks, and had the help from a master editor. Yet the only thing I got from publishers were comments like,
“It has to be action packed filled with excitement!”
One Santa Monica publisher declined me. Years later this same publisher wanted to include my story in a hodgepodge of other punk women. No offer of royalties or compensation either. Written by a woman that had no experience with the punk scene at all. She turned out to be the usual user. Yes, I have met a lot of them over the years too.
So, I finally figured it out for myself. The punk or Flipside Fanzine way. We never asked for help in how or what we published. We did it ourselves and in our own way. So, my punk opus is completed the punk Flipside Fanzine way.
My Punkalullaby does not countian action ball packed adventure or embellished fictions. The truth is that for me the punk scene was about supporting a growing punk scene. I did this with my whole heart. It was a great deal of work prompting a scene. I did not love every second of it, but I did learn a lot of skills along the way. Made some good long-time buddies and lost a few as well.
My Punkalullaby is a story about a young punk rocker who co-edited and published a fanzine called Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine. Hudley Flipside is a pivotal character a motif of that early punk scene.
It was a scene that I still look for although it is not there anymore. It echoes in me as a constant call. Hopefully finishing this book will help that haunting call to wane away.
Cheers to twenty years of Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine and to the underground growing punk scene. This is my ten years about it 1979 to 1989.
To Pooch, Nate, Kat, Keith and others for your encouragement and support… you know who you are! My loving family included! John, Johnfred~ Sara and family, and Shayne.
I see how the term Punk Rock is always trying to be defined by many. Yet the real-life definition it is not an out their term to read about in academic journals because it is based on the foundation of experience. It is viewed by the action of individuals. As shown by Pudd’nhead Wilson, (1894) the novel by American writer Mark Twain; Punk Rock is as unique as a person’s fingerprints. Mark Twain is the grand Punk Rocker. Think about that.
Punk Rock is based on the foundation of experience and is unique as a person’s fingerprints. I think that is clear enough. It is not who you know, or what shows you go to, or if you wear the right clothes or sport the wildest haircuts. Maybe you are a punk rocker who likes to camp out in the wilderness. It is when your deep-down dreams affirm to you that you are a punk rocker, then you know. It does not matter what others think of you either. It is a happy curse of creativity and inward ambition.
W.P. Witcutt wrote a book on William Blake entitled Blake, A Psychological Study. He came up with a term that explains the artist and visionary William Blake but also what a punk rocker is. A punk rocker has “introverted intuition.” I believe Blake had introverted intuition. Blake took his deep-down creativity and brought it out upon the world in often wild, unique and creative ways. Yes, I think he was a punk rocker.
Beatniks identified themselves as: Jane Doe, Beatnik, artist, writer, wife, mother. I too can say I am. Hudley Flipside, Punk Rocker, writer, artist, wife, mother. Alison Braun can be identified as Alison Braun, Punk Rocker, photographer, wife, mother (She may wish to add to the list).
When she took these pictures, being a female was not always the way of the land. Lots of guys in bands, as promoters and running record labels to communicate with and finding another female was not so easy. At least one who was a punk rocker living the life.
Creatively her photos show unique skills of capturing a time and place in our punk rock history (1981 to 1990). I feel this is very important for surviving punk rockers to preserve, document and tell our stories. It is a healthy natural flow of our collective unconscious experiences. To take that deep-down creativity and bring it out upon the world again is grand! I am very happy to see punk rock on an individual scale like this.
Sunday May 26 will be the time to join with punk comrades and celebrate our originators and characters of the early California punk scene. The Avengers, the Dils and the Alley Cats.
In memory of Jimmy Wilsey
I stumbled into the early punk scene. The Australian Saints and the San Franciscan Avengers gave me the courage to go and see any other alternative underground bands on my own. I found myself melting into a wild alchemy of youths that had something to say. We were finding our voices. All the unknown characters were there, nobodies creating a scene together. We were wild and knew all the songs by heart by The Dils, The Alley Cats and the Avengers.
I will be there handing out some badges joining in the event in memory of our youthful rebellion that is still the heart beat of this crazy continuity of punk rock that still drives our DNA onward,,,
The Avengers, The Dils and The Alley Cats + many special guests (A Celebration of the Life of Jimmy Wilsey) at Echoplex
Charged GBH early 1980 Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine Picture… at hotel near the pool.
This post has to do with Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine. Yawn, it has been a long time since I was co-owner and editor of this fanzine, RIP. Yet I also worked with a crew of supporters and contributors then. The last thirty years people have come out with books and documentaries about the early punk scene. That is great. They ask me if they can use stuff from Flipside. Images, videos, music and my KFJC DJ tapes. I usually say OK. Just say courtesy of Hudley Flipside. Only twice have I signed something to be used. Once in a picture, and once in documentary. The times I signed legal papers is when I had a personal connection with the creation of an item. For example, a picture I took. I did risk one or two items due to the direct connection as part of a KFJC Tape that I recorded. My creation. Otherwise I do not have the authority to sign for random things from Flipside for creative projects. I speak only for the 1980s. Maybe if Al Flipside and I and all contributors got together and had a pow-wow and decided to sign some sort of legal documents for people to use Flipside stuff that would be a very happy moment. This is not the case. The truth be told, there is a lot of Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine stuff on-line for the taking. Ripped up good. So, stop the gossiping and false assumptions out there. If you use Flipside stuff proceed at your own risk. Don’t ask little old me to sign anything… my loyalty lies with those I worked with.
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