PUNK: We Were Going to Change the World

TV News Desk (broadwayworld.com, Jan. 31, 2018); Prof. Stacy Russo, Tom Power ("Q" cbc.ca, March 15, 2018); Seth Auberon, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Los Angeles punk rock continues to inspire female rebellion like Russia's Pussy Riot

Latina Alice Bag appears in Penelope Spheeris' The Decline of Western Civilization, Part 1

 

Stacy Russo explores women and the early SoCal punk rock scene

The punk rock scene of the 1970s and '80s in Southern California is widely acknowledged as one of the most vibrant and creative periods in rock and roll.

Over the years, many books have come out exploring this explosive time in music and culture, but none have exclusively focused on the vitality and influence of the women who played such a crucial role in this incredibly dynamic movement.

 

Prof. Stacy Russo, Santa Ana College

Stacy Russo has created a unique book about the punk rock era, focusing on the women who were such a huge part of it.

• Q AUDIO: Stacy Russo's primer playlist of female artists is a Gateway to SoCal punk rock
• Russo brings her primer playlist of female artists from the era and shares stories about the impact women had on the punk rock movement as a whole. — Produced by Vanessa Nigro (Q)

We Were Going to Change the World: Interviews with Women From the 1970s and 1980s Southern California Punk Rock Scene is out now (Santa Monica Press).

It captures the stories of women who were active in the SoCal punk rock scene during this historic time, adding an important voice to the cultural and musical record.

Exene Cervenka and boyfriend John Doe of X perform "Los Angeles"

Former stripper Wendy O'Williams captures the punk spirit of the time

 

Early Latina L.A. punk innovator Alice Bag

Through exclusive interviews with musicians, journalists, photographers, and fans, Russo captures the essence of why these women were drawn to punk rock, what they witnessed, and how their involvement in this empowering scene ended up influencing the rest of their lives.

"As a librarian and college professor, I have always been interested in research projects I could do with my students," Russo explains.


 
"I came up with the idea of interviewing women like me, now in our middle or later years, who grew up in the punk rock scene in Southern California. How did punk rock influence the rest of their lives?

"What attracted them to punk rock, and how did they get involved? And, most importantly, what was it like being a woman in this music scene?" More

• Women of the SoCal punk scene tell their own stories in Stacy Russo... (LA Weekly, Dec. 1, 2017) Russo is a librarian and professor at Santa Ana College as well as an artist and writer. Her book, released in August, is a collection of recollections of the era...
• Meet Stacy Russo, OC's punk zine poet (OC Weekly) After a 20-year hiatus, Russo self-published poetry zines in 2014, edited a collection of radical protest essays...

(Edison Lighthouse) "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" not punk