Best Of

A selection of our top stories, for your reading pleasure…

THE INTREPID TRAVELLER: KEN BABBS ON THE MERRY PRANKSTERS, THE BEATS, THE DEAD, WOODSTOCK, AND MUCH MORE

Gregory DaurerJuly 1, 2020

How did a basketball-playing Marine Corps lieutenant from Ohio become a driving force for the Merry Pranksters, an emcee for the Grateful Dead, farmer, novelist, publisher and raconteur? The ageless Ken Babbs talks with PKM’s Gregory Daurer about how...

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JONI MITCHELL: A RECKLESS DAUGHTER’S BRILLIANT JOURNEY

Scott SchinderJune 25, 2020

Joni Mitchell was a “folk singer” for two years, but she has been an artistic badass for more than half a century since then. Her pioneering work and enduring influence over the decades are, however, often reduced to that early image of the twee folk...

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YOU CAN’T WIN: WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS AND THE REAL JACK BLACK

Tony MostromJune 23, 2020

Jack Black was a burglar, rambler, jailbird and writer whose lone published memoir, You Can’t Win (1926), was an important early influence on William S. Burroughs and, through him, the other Beat writers. With a film adaptation of the book, starring ...

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FRED WILLARD WAS FOREVER YOUNG: AND REALLY REALLY OLD

Burt KearnsMay 27, 2020

For 60 years, Fred Willard made us laugh playing the same character, from early comedy club gigs with Vic Greco and appearances on Steve Allen’s and Ed Sullivan’s shows to countless appearances on David Letterman’s and Jimmy Kimmel’s shows. And then ...

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SHOOTING STIV BATORS AND LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH

Chris EptingMay 7, 2020

When he was a senior at Boston's Emerson College in 1982, Chris Epting was enticed by members of Lords of the New Church (Stiv Bators, Brian James, Dave Tregunna, Nick Turner) to tag along on a short band tour with a video camera. They wanted their o...

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DENNIS HOPPER’S BLUE PERIOD: THE MAKING OF OUT OF THE BLUE (1980)

David StewartMay 4, 2020

Dennis Hopper followed the success of Easy Rider (1969), which he directed and claims to have co-written, with the abject failure of The Last Movie (1971), a shambling, incoherent, drug-fueled epic set in Peru. He then spent the next decade as Hollyw...

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REMEMBERING VICTOR HAYDON: THE MASCARA SNAKE, FAST & BULBOUS

Pamela Des BarresApril 30, 2020

Pamela Des Barres’ life changed completely when she met Victor Haydon, first cousin to Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) and later The Mascara Snake in his Magic Band. A high school infatuation became a lifelong connection to “Uncle Vic,” an artist, ...

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WERE WE ALL BRAINWASHED BY THE CIA WITH SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK & ROLL?

Joseph L. FlatleyApril 14, 2020

Did you know that LSD and hippies were invented by the CIA in the 1960s? No? Well, the idea was to hook kids on sex, drugs and rock & roll (hey, it worked!), so they would not overthrow the military industrial complex. Accomplices in this diaboli...

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A RIOT GRRRL PRIMER: REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW

Sharon M. HannonApril 2, 2020

As Bikini Kill makes plans for their first tour in 23 years, PKM revisits the roots of the Riot Grrrl movement that the band helped bring to life. Sharon M. Hannon has prepared an annotated timeline of events and red-letter dates. As Bikini Kill Kath...

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BASIL WOLVERTON: AMERICA’S WEIRDEST ARTIST

Alan BisbortMarch 31, 2020

Cartoonist Basil Wolverton (1909-1978) cast a large, if sometimes unrecognized, shadow over the underground comix of the 1960s and punk graphics of the 1970s and 1980s. Robert Crumb and his two cartooning brothers were smitten with his work in MAD ma...

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HIS LIPS ARE SEALED: THE DEATH OF SONNY FRANZESE, NEW YORK’S LAST OLD SCHOOL MOBSTER

Mark JacobsonMarch 24, 2020

When Sonny Franzese died last month at age 103, he was the last living remnant of the New York Mafia from its heyday. A feared enforcer and dictatorial head of the Profaci (later Colombo) family, he knew where all the bodies were buried, so to speak,...

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THE PUZZLING CASE OF PATTI SMITH: GROUNDBREAKER, ‘GODMOTHER OF PUNK’ AND YOUR MOM’S FAVORITE AUTHOR

Billy HoughMarch 12, 2020

Patti Smith has been one of Billy Hough’s “Ride-or-Die” favorites ever since he heard her debut album, Horses. In his inimitable style, Billy muses on and marvels about the poet, playwright, author, musician and icon; he also messes with her current ...

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TAQUILA MOCKINGBIRD: KEEPING PUNK HISTORY ALIVE IN L.A.

Lucretia Tye JasmineMarch 3, 2020

Taquila Mockingbird developed a following in LA with her various bands (punk and jazz) beginning in 1977, and she became a fixture on the LA punk scene when, from 1980-1984, she booked acts as Do Monkey Productions with Richard Skidmore for New Wave ...

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CAROL KAYE: THE BOSS OF THE BASS GUITAR

Michael ShelleyFebruary 12, 2020

Carol Kaye started as a jazz solo guitarist, working the club scene of 1950s LA, when she was asked to work on some studio tracks for Sam Cooke. Though she loved the bebop jazz scene, Carol was a single mother with three kids and so to the studios sh...

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The Plasmatics, fronted by the unmatchable Wendy O. Williams, may have been the most misunderstood rock ‘n’ roll band ever. Conceived as all of the following: performance art, social comment, consumer culture satirists, and rock ‘n’ roll band; the Plasmatics were impossible to categorize, falling somewhere between punk rock and Kiss/Alice Cooper (both bands were fans), their shows were a legendary as they were terrifying, featuring chainsaws, hammers, exploding cars and TV sets. PKM’s Adam Ganderson speaks with former ‘Matics Wes Beech and Richie Stotts and revisits the legacy of W.O.W. Read more!

Pluto on 10 ROCK BANDS YOU’VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF BUT SHOULD DEFINITELY CHECK OUTAmazing list! Thanks for sharing. Way too many sites with “top 10” lists full of radio fluff/garbage. These bands you have listed are real and raw. Love it!
roger steinbrink on RUTH UNDERWOOD: A MOTHER OF INVENTIONHow about the Rock'N'Roll hall Of Fame for this lady? Oh, I forgot, they don't pander to true musical genius.
James Mitchell on RUTH UNDERWOOD: A MOTHER OF INVENTIONI was fortunate enough to witness Ruth's incomparable musicianship live a few times. She deserves her place in the pantheon of cross genre magnificence, and she stood out as a woman who rose above any potential criticism one might offer. I found her stage presence both mesmerizing and breath taking.

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TAKE MY MOTHER IN LAW…PLEASE: CAROL O’SHAUGHNESSY

‘OUR KID’: MIKE MCCARTNEY CAPTURES THE EARLY BEATLES ON FILM

VLADIMIR VYSOTSKY: HAMLET WITH A GUITAR

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Best Of

THE INTREPID TRAVELLER: KEN BABBS ON THE MERRY PRANKSTERS, THE BEATS, THE DEAD, WOODSTOCK, AND MUCH MORE

JONI MITCHELL: A RECKLESS DAUGHTER’S BRILLIANT JOURNEY

YOU CAN’T WIN: WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS AND THE REAL JACK BLACK

FRED WILLARD WAS FOREVER YOUNG: AND REALLY REALLY OLD

SHOOTING STIV BATORS AND LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH

DENNIS HOPPER’S BLUE PERIOD: THE MAKING OF OUT OF THE BLUE (1980)

REMEMBERING VICTOR HAYDON: THE MASCARA SNAKE, FAST & BULBOUS

WERE WE ALL BRAINWASHED BY THE CIA WITH SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK & ROLL?

A RIOT GRRRL PRIMER: REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW

BASIL WOLVERTON: AMERICA’S WEIRDEST ARTIST

HIS LIPS ARE SEALED: THE DEATH OF SONNY FRANZESE, NEW YORK’S LAST OLD SCHOOL MOBSTER

THE PUZZLING CASE OF PATTI SMITH: GROUNDBREAKER, ‘GODMOTHER OF PUNK’ AND YOUR MOM’S FAVORITE AUTHOR

TAQUILA MOCKINGBIRD: KEEPING PUNK HISTORY ALIVE IN L.A.

CAROL KAYE: THE BOSS OF THE BASS GUITAR

TAKE MY MOTHER IN LAW…PLEASE: CAROL O’SHAUGHNESSY

‘OUR KID’: MIKE MCCARTNEY CAPTURES THE EARLY BEATLES ON FILM

VLADIMIR VYSOTSKY: HAMLET WITH A GUITAR

DENIS KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL: UNDERGROUND COMIX PIONEER KEEPS ON TRUCKIN’

THE GUN CLUB DOWN UNDER