east bay/rozz

One of the more interesting aspects of the Punk pioneers get together was that YOKO had never met any of these people…So when we returned home we combed thru PUNK 77,X-CAPEES, BRUCE CONNERS MABUHAY,HARDCORE CALIFORNIA, and my pictures for images of the people I had introduced her to…as they were in 1977 and 1978…the BEFORE PICTURES…she met the AFTER PICTURES in person….

ROZZ,valim,mary,domenique AKA vince

she was especially shocked at young JOE REES (TARGET VIDEO), PETER URBAN,PAUL DRAPER, and the various DEAD KENNEDYS excluding YELLO (who was a no show) as well as the transformation of luminaries such as SALLY MUTANT and VINCE AKA DOMENIQUE, …

I forgot how handsome that scene was…YOKO fawned over a dashing young PETER URBAN in the X-capee’s book…lot of young sexy punk rock bitches we was…I had forgotten… the music and the girls in that iniatal explosion of the SF77 scene…gorgeous in a primal sorta way…

I was sorry to hear of the passing of photographer/artist BRUCE CONNER who took the single most ICONIC picture of yours truly, perhaps one of the ten most notable pictures of the punk rock era in general…I feel that photograph of the target on my chest,.. and the one with I HATE ART written on my pants (that won the ART FORUM award) are partially responible for my marginal success…they kept my name and image out there over the years in book,gallery shows,magazines and even the news papers…appearing on the cover of the BAY GUARDIAN in fall of 97.THE VILLAGE VOICE NYC in january 2005…RIP BRUCE CONNER…you will be missed

unknown glamazons

GREG INGRAM, VALE, RESA,MICHEAL BELFER,and PENELOPE to some degree are essentially aging in the DICK CLARK tradition (before the stroke anyway) and look pretty much the same aside from a scant few pounds and barely visible crows feet…I consider myself in this catagory..my strategy was to distract everybody from how hammered I look with the tight red pants and FLEUVOG shoes…this was as close to a high school reunion for me so I took note of every detail…

mary,craig grey,belfer

SMILE LINES and the overall continence of facial feature usually indicate a life of LaUGHTER, or a life of UNHAPPY STRUGGLES…most everyone looked as if they had been living a good life…only a few had BITTERNESS burned on thier brow…

one other thing that gave YOKO the HEEBEE GEEBEES was looking at pictures of the late RICKY WILLIAMS after meeting his son ZACHARY and mom REBECCA….The likeness is absolutely eery…I wanted to take pictures of ZACH but thought it might appear exploitive and inapropriate…he is very handsome and a sweet young man…I didnt realize he was twenty or I would have took pic’s…he looks 13 or 14…

so YOKO saw the AFTER…and now were cross referencing books for the BEFORE….and it is bizarrely perveresly fascinating…there are two other notable stories from the trip I will recant when possible

domenique and ?us in 78rozz/paul draper