Punk pioneer Legs McNeil, and author and poet Gillian McCain are the masterminds behind Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History Of Punk, a book that is largely regarded as the first and most comprehensive written piece on punk history. Please Kill Me is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with a re-release and a series of readings (well, more like parties with music, alcohol, and Michael Des Barres hosting). BUST spent some time with Legs and Gillian and talked about the book, the evolution of punk, and how the show Vinyl got it all wrong.
This book was originally supposed to be just on Dee Dee Ramone. How did you make the decision to expand it?
L: Gillian kept saying it was bigger than that. I was like no, then I go and I interview Danny Fields.
G: Dee Dee was getting hard to get along with.
L: What happened? I thought Dee Dee just kind of lost interest.
G: No, he was just getting a little crazy. He interviewed Danny Fields for days and days, and Danny would talk about the MC5 and the Stooges and I was like, “Oh my God, this book’s about Dee Dee, this can’t go in there.”
