Best Of Archives

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

CHRIS STEIN: HIS PHOTOGRAPHIC POINT OF VIEW

Eric Davidson·February 7, 2019

With his camera eye, Blondie’s guitarist offers a fresh angle on the city where he grew up and the punk scene he documented, in his new book. In a candid conversation with Eric Davidson, he recalls the times when NYC...

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LOU REED: FREEING THE ROCK & ROLL ANIMAL

Steve Katz·January 23, 2019

When Steve Katz, late of Blood Sweat & Tears and the Blues Project, signed on to produce some Lou Reed albums, he discovered that there were two Lou Reeds. The first one was an animal, captured beautifully live, and the...

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MICHAEL CHAIKEN: MAKING BOB DYLAN’S ARCHIVE COME ALIVE

James Marshall·January 15, 2019

The Dylan Archive curator’s road to Tulsa was paved with good obsessions, such as free jazz, Godard, the Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker, Norman Mailer and working with Glenn Horowitz. James Marshall hounds out the roadmap in a wide-ranging interview with Chaiken....

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CHRIS BELL: A FALLING STAR IN A FLEETING COSMOS

Bruce Eaton·January 10, 2019

After sketching out the creative blueprint for Memphis-based Big Star, the band that launched a thousand other “power pop” bands, Chris Bell left it in Alex Chilton’s hands after one album. He spent the rest of his short life trying...

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THE ROAD FROM THE CATACOMBS TO ASTRAL WEEKS: VAN MORRISON’S LOST 1968 TAPE UNEARTHED

Richie Unterberger·January 3, 2019

A recently discovered tape, briefly released by Morrison on iTunes, may be a rock & roll Rosetta stone, serving as the link between Van the sorta-pop star and Van the Man superstar. Richie Unterberger talks to some of those who...

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IT’S ALIVE! THE RAMONES!

Ed Stasium·January 2, 2019

Legendary producer Ed Stasium recorded The Ramones It’s Alive 41 years ago at the Rainbow Theatre in London – a recording that many regard as one of the best live albums ever. This is his story. All photos by Danny...

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Sue Brisk. Untitled I, San Francisco, CA, 1976/77. Courtesy of Sue Brisk.

PUNK LUST AT THE MUSEUM: RAW PROVOCATION

Eric Davidson·December 20, 2018

A provocative and entertaining new exhibit at the Museum of Sex in NYC undresses the ‘raw provocation’ that defined the punk era (1971-1985) and planted the seeds for present-day gender deconstruction The Museum of Sex is kind of like the...

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DESIGNING AND LIVING WITH LOU REED: AN INTERVIEW WITH SYLVIA REED

Eric Davidson·December 4, 2018

Sylvia Reed – Lou Reed’s ex-wife, art designer, manager, and reading partner – offers insights into the most productive period of Lou’s career Sylvia (Morales) Reed was Lou Reed’s wife, but she was also his integral creative half during arguably...

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WOODY WOODMANSEY: THE LAST SPIDER FROM MARS

Robert Gourley·November 20, 2018

David Bowie’s drummer recalls his time with ‘Ziggy Stardust’, Mick Ronson and Trevor Bolder and now pays tribute, with longtime Bowie associate Tony Visconti, in Holy Holy, touring in 2019 The last surviving member of The Spiders from Mars, drummer...

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Norman Mailer and Legs McNeil. Photo by Victor Bockris.

NORMAN MAILER MEETS THE RESIDENT PUNK, 1979

Legs McNeil·November 16, 2018

The great novelist had just published The Executioner’s Song—which would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize—when he sat down with Legs McNeil two days after they had attended a Ramones concert at CBGB. Mailer talks about his experiences with drugs,...

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A LOVE SUPREME: HOW JOHN COLTRANE CHANGED THE WORLD

Alan Bisbort·November 12, 2018

With a single night’s recording session and a 1965 album, “Trane” pointed the way toward a new consciousness not just in music but in all things. Jazz historian Ashley Kahn tells us how and why… Mention the word “jazz” in...

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DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM: THE RADIO BIRDMAN STORY

Amanda Sheppard·November 9, 2018

Australia’s proto-punk pioneers formed in 1974, were signed by Seymour Stein in 1977, and influenced a generation of Oz rockers by leading a DIY revolution in Sydney. Their story is recounted with gusto in a new documentary film. Amanda Sheppard...

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The Day Lemmy Taught Me About Speed

Chris Simunek·November 5, 2018

Motörhead’s leader holds forth on the joys of the powder, the dangers of heroin, the need for a code of honor and the saving grace of rock & roll It was as incongruous a sight as you could hope to...

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LIFE IN FRANK ZAPPA’S PAD, 1968

Pauline Butcher Bird·November 1, 2018

For a bright and shining moment, the Laurel Canyon ‘log cabin,’ once belonging to Tom Mix, was home to Zappa, his family, his band and staff, and a crossroads to a musical who’s who. An assistant to Zappa tells all…...

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Jack Kerouac based his muse/lover “Mardou Fox” in The Subterraneans on Alene Lee, a mixed race (Black/Cherokee) bohemian writer and intellectual who was a part of the NYC Beat circle of Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and Lucien Carr. Despite her intimate connection to these writers, the real Alene Lee is nowhere to be found in most accounts and biographies—partly due to her own reticence to speak. Erika Blair did some digging and presents a more rounded portrait of this fascinating woman. Read more!

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ORK RECORDS: STARTING AN INDIE-ROCK REVOLUTION ONE SINGLE AT A TIME

Paulo César Gadioli: How PKM Changed My Life

THE STOOGES – PART 1: THE THREE CHORD TRAIN TO HELL

Best Of

THE STOOGES – PART 1: THE THREE CHORD TRAIN TO HELL

DAVID GODLIS: THE STREET PHOTOGRAPHER AT CBGB

PLEASE READ ME: THE BEST OF PKM FOR 2021, PART II

TINA BELL’S HIDDEN LEGACY: THE BLACK WOMAN WHO CREATED THE SOUND OF GRUNGE

THE LONESOME DEATH OF DANNY RAPP: THE FRONT MAN FOR DANNY & THE JUNIORS

STAG: THE EARLIEST, DIRTIEST ROOTS OF PORNOGRAPHIC FILM

Best Of

CHRIS STEIN: HIS PHOTOGRAPHIC POINT OF VIEW

LOU REED: FREEING THE ROCK & ROLL ANIMAL

MICHAEL CHAIKEN: MAKING BOB DYLAN’S ARCHIVE COME ALIVE

CHRIS BELL: A FALLING STAR IN A FLEETING COSMOS

THE ROAD FROM THE CATACOMBS TO ASTRAL WEEKS: VAN MORRISON’S LOST 1968 TAPE UNEARTHED

IT’S ALIVE! THE RAMONES!

PUNK LUST AT THE MUSEUM: RAW PROVOCATION

DESIGNING AND LIVING WITH LOU REED: AN INTERVIEW WITH SYLVIA REED

WOODY WOODMANSEY: THE LAST SPIDER FROM MARS

NORMAN MAILER MEETS THE RESIDENT PUNK, 1979

A LOVE SUPREME: HOW JOHN COLTRANE CHANGED THE WORLD

DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM: THE RADIO BIRDMAN STORY

The Day Lemmy Taught Me About Speed

LIFE IN FRANK ZAPPA’S PAD, 1968

ORK RECORDS: STARTING AN INDIE-ROCK REVOLUTION ONE SINGLE AT A TIME

Paulo César Gadioli: How PKM Changed My Life

THE STOOGES – PART 1: THE THREE CHORD TRAIN TO HELL

NATALIE STOOGELING: THE FAN, THE LEGEND, THE PKM INTERVIEW

DAVID GODLIS: THE STREET PHOTOGRAPHER AT CBGB