Jenny Lens, MFA, Punk Pioneers Punk Photographer, 1976-80
Alice Bag interviewed Jenny Lens in 2004. Alice is considered by many to be the very first hard core singer with her radical band, the Bags, who first hit the streets in 1977. Their riotous show at the Troubadour, known for folk singers and laid-back rockers, is still talked about today. I always considered Alice […]
April 1977 was THE month LA punks came out in force. A movement was coalescing. New York, England, San Francisco and LA creatives were changing world music and culture, forever. I was there, photographing everywhere, everything and everyone! We gathered for Cheap Trick opening for the Runaways, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium (April 1), opening […]
by Richard Schaefer in Lisa Fancher’s “Street Life” fanzine. Proof I was the Ramones “numero uno fan and famous paparazzi in her own right.” In EARLY 1977!! Tantalizing sounds of the skirmishes of desire, of lips surrendering cheap kissed in the other room, brought torture to anyone who listened. We stood between the jungle and […]
Claude “Kick Boy” Bessy, in “Decline of the Western Civilization,” Part 1, directed by Penelope Spheeris, reads a letter to the editor of Slash Magazine, his role at that pioneering punk fanzine. He relates the tale wherein the writer is complaining about people who threw themselves onto the back bumper of the car and held […]
What is it about Saturday (Friday too) nights that I feel on a cellular level? Was it coming home for photographing of lovely opening to find all hell broke loose in my apartment building? Moved into paradise until a despot took over. Lady MacBeth and Professor Moriarty (think meaner and vicious). Without detailing it, let’s […]
My rebuttal to article claiming Punk saved the Whisky but then talked more about non-punk bands. Minimal about LA Punk bands. I could write a book. Read what I wrote (below or use link) after reading his long article. Why the fashion photo above? Author included photos of English punks with swastikas on their faces. Not in LA! Plus […]
Go-Gos, 1977-1980. I loved photographing Belinda Carlisle, Jane Draino Wiedlin, and the totes adorbs Margot. A few shots of Charlotte Caffey with then-boyfriend, Leonard Phillips, singer of the Dickies, first LA punk band to get signed. Plus Jane with her then-boyfriend, Terry Graham, drummer for the Bags and Gun Club. And more, so let’s get started with some IDs and stories behind my photos. Plus so many of our friends. Good times.
