Punk 45: Original Punk Rock Singles Cover Art Paperback – October 31, 2013

If you have any interest at all in punk rock and/or graphic art, this is a treasure trove. Hundreds of iconic 45 sleeves from the early days of punk (19777-1980) lovingly reproduced on high quality paper in actual size (7" x 7").I felt nostalgic at all the singles I used to have (That one! And that one!) but sold off during some lean years. Surprisingly, I still have many (Delta 5, Mo-Dettes, etc) that weren't so sought-after. My copy of Young Marble Giants' "Final Day" is in much better condition than the copy reproduced here, but no matter. Most have seen the wear and tear of 30+ years of turntable action.In addition to all the lovingly-reproduced sleeves are excellent essays interspersed throughout with designers like Jon Savage and the Sex Pistols' iconic logo and sleeve designer Jamie Reid. Also essays from artists themselves, like Richard Hell.Plenty to see, plenty to read.I can't recommend this book highly enough.You can't go wrong with anything from Soul Jazz, and they've really topped themselves this time!

As for the info, it's pretty dense and encompassing. I'm only in it for the visuals and it's worth every penny for that.Each page contains an image and as much production info (artists/label/engineer/dates etc) as the writers could glean, which is pretty extensive from my perspective. If you've enjoyed the classic England's Dreaming by Jon Savage, this is a must have.

Huge book, extremely well done. Biggest plus about this is that the images are large enough to actually see unlike some other album art books I've seen. Recommended!

It’s so cool!

Not that bad, not that good, SIMPLE, NOT THAT ELABORATED.

Arrived on time and in mint condition. Great book filled to the brim and a wonderful addition to my collection.

Highly recommended if your into punk collectables.

Such a great book! Gotta be over 400 early punk, DIY and post-punk releases pictured. Lots of cool artwork. Most of the record covers are probably already burned into your brain if you are into punk much at all. At the start the book there is a small section devoted to proto-punk and also pub rock. If you're really into punk you've probably heard pretty much everything in this book on a record or compilation before. There is 1 record for about every page. The pictures of the records are in the original 7" size. You get the band names, songs on the record, which record label released the record, country, month and year, who performed on the record and what they did. Some listings include tidbits about when the group formed, how many albums they put out, when they split up, etc. The majority of the bands are from the USA or the UK. There is also a listing or two from countries such as France, Wales, Australia, Japan, Northern Ireland, Sweden, Holland, Finland, Canada, Scotland, Belgium, Switzerland. Good interviews with Jon Savage, Stuart Baker, David Thomas of Pere Ubu, Skydog Records, Chiswick Records, Seymour Stein of Sire Records, Richard Hell, Stiff Records, Jamie Reid, Rough Trade, Beggars Banquet, David Brown of Dangerhouse Records, Glenn Branca, Dennis Morris, Peter Saville of Factory Records, Gee Vaucher of Crass and a couple more folks. I thought the only downside to this book was that there are only several Australian bands represented (Radio Birdman, The Saints, Victims *Television Addict*.) I recommend this book. Ask your local library to order a copy. Some kid might find it on the shelf and it might change their life. You can't go wrong with the early punk stuff. Really great tunes.

This book joins the ranks of other coffee table punk product as well as album cover art collections. It documents significant seven inch records, mostly US and UK, from 1976 to 1980 with a full size reproduction of each cover and a smaller photo of each back cover. There is not much additional information on the majority of the records and about a dozen short interviews (one to two pages) with important players in punk rock history like Geoff Travis of Rough Trade records and Dave Robinson from Stiff.I've been a fan of Jon Savage's work for a long while. He's an astute punk rock historian. He wrote the definitive tome on UK punk, "England's Dreaming", assembled a fascinating collection of punk ephemera in "Punk: An Aesthetic", and has consistently assembled strong CD compilations of many genres of music, not only punk. Flipping through the book is like looking at his record collection, which is of course a lot of fun and informative considering his refined level of knowledge. I suppose you can look through it while listening to the companion CD (that doesn't come with the book). In the end I had hoped for more substantial writing about things like the design process or photo sessions for pictures.However if you want to experience these now rare and highly collectible records vicariously as repros and look at over 350 pages of cool cover art, this book is for you.

Good quality and packaging for such a heavy coffee table book was great. The pages are glossy and artwirk is of top quality. Binding on the other hand, didn't provide the samr satisfaction. The hardcover binding maybe better because of the books overall weight. Paperback is fragile and may not last long if read over and over again.

fab booklots of good picsit sums up the punk era really well and is a great gift for anyone with an interest in art

Uno dei pochi libri attinente il punk che rende giustizia ad una produzione discografica molto spesso di nicchia. Il 45 giri che non conoscevi finalmente è riprodotto! Da avere.

une véritable bible pour les adorateurs de punk, et même plus : pour les adorateurs fétichistes de pochettes de disques punk. Ici tout est détaillé disque après disque, chronologiquement (période 76-80 + quelques disques prémices du punk entre 69 et 75, ceux-là nécessaires pour bien comprendre ce qui va suivre), avec les titres et le line-up du groupe + quelques note ci et là. Les pochettes en image proviennent de la collec de Jon Savage himself (rien que ça). L'ensemble est superbe, et truffé de quelques anecdotes / interviews bien senties (qui sont, attention chers lecteurs, en anglais !) qui agrémentent le listing !