Revelation Records has announced the upcoming release of the book, Why Be Something That You're Not: Detroit Hardcore 1979-1985. Written by Tony Rettman, the book will be available on July 6th. Here's the official description: "In the early seventies, Detroit was the musical hub of America. Everything from the chart topping sounds of Motown records to the vicious proto-punk of The Stooges was being brewed out there and it seemed like there was no end in sight. But by the early eighties, the city was both a physical and cultural wasteland due to major label buyouts of the artists as well as the crippling drug habits of some of the others. Detroit's most known musical export at the time was the vapid sounds of New Wave heartthrobs The Romantics; this wasn't good. It took a gaggle of suburban skateboarders, a grade school teacher and a census bureau clerk to wake this city up from its slumber and start one of the first hardcore punk scenes in America. "Why Be Something That You're Not chronicles the first wave of Detroit hardcore from its origins in the late seventies to its demise in the mid-eighties. Through a combination of oral history and extensive imagery, the book proves that even though the Southern California beach towns might have created the look and style of hardcore punk, it was the Detroit scene - along with a handful of other cities across the country - that cultivated the music's grassroots aesthetic before most cultural hot spots around the globe even knew what the music was about. "The book includes interviews with members of The Fix, Violent Apathy, Negative Approach, Necros, Pagans, Bored Youth, and L-Seven along with other people who had a hand in the early hardcore scene like Ian MacKaye, Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson." A preview of the book along with photos and additional information can be found here. BOOK RELEASE SHOWS:
7/16 Cleveland, OH @ Now That's Class (Tesco Vee's Hate Police/White Flag/Hellmouth) 7/17 Chicago, IL @ The Abbey Pub (Tesco Vee's Hate Police/White Fla) 7/31 Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall (Negative Approach/Tesco Vee's Hate Police/Sorcen/Violent Apathy/Hellmouth) 8/27 Philadelphia, PA @ Northstar Bar (Tesco Vee's Hate Police/Hellmouth/American Speedway/Common Enemy) 8/28 New York, NY @ Santo's Party House (Negative Approach/Tesco Vee's Hate Police/Mind Eraser/Off With Their Heads/Hellmouth/New Lows)
