november-books

Monday 4 November 2013

Joe Mckenna - Joe's First Issue

A real monster. The incredibly scarce and huge Joe's First Issue, arguably the most desirable magazine/portfolio's of the nineties by one of the greatest stylists ever. Very personal, it's essentially Joe's favourite work with his favourite people, who happen to include Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel, Paul Cadmus, Paolo Roversi, Azzedine Alaia, Vanessa Paradis, Dirk Bogarde and so on, and there's lots of it, quite a lot unpublished elsewhere. Legendary.

Ultra scarce. Linder Sterling and Jon Savage's 'The Secret Public' could be one of the most important pieces of publishing from the punk/new wave period. Published as New Hormones no.2, no.1 being Spiral Scratch by The Buzzcocks. Linder of course is mostly known as the person behind the Buzzcocks' Orgasm Addict sleeve and her work for Factory records, and Savage as the author of 'England's Dreaming'. In retrospect the groundbreaking images first seen in the Secret Public are central to the narrative of Punk/Post Punk and the Manchester scene. Jon Savage: "I now think that The Secret Public wrote its own script. It was a deliberately hermetic document that forced you to enter on its own terms. There were few concessions to any ideas of marketing and accessability. Hearts were not worn on the sleeve. It fully explored its dichotomies: cool designed outer images covering angry, savage montages, women placed in bondage but by their own design (or is that in itself a product of internalised oppression?), metropolises that offered opportunity and excitement at the same time as they ate you alive. Its impact was qualitative rather than quantitive: perhaps this is why, at its best, it has not dated at all."

Scarce. Brutal and intimate portrait of screws, cons, visitors, prison wives at Washington State Penitentiary, considered at the time to be the worst prison in the U.S. Inside Concrete Mama, as McCoy and Hoffman showed without editorial comment or first-person intrusion, some men worked on and rode motorcycles, kept pets, dressed as women, negotiated shaky arrangements with prison officials and roamed the yards in total leisure. "They went inside the walls, they looked, they listened, they learned, they sought to understand ... ." A real classic in the vein of Danny Lyon. Highly recommended.

Wonderful book documenting post war bikers in London, Brighton, the UK and Tokyo. Very different to the US look of the time, covering Cafe Racers, Ton Up boys, the 59 Club, Ace Cafe, the late 50's/early 60s, early 90s revival. The British spin on Biker culture.

detroit outlaws #bikers

editing tomorrows list, bikers and bad girls. if you wanna be on it drop a line to hi@november-books.com

Jim 'Flash' Miteff - Portraits of American Bikers: Like in the 1960's

An astounding book from a true insider. Back in the 1960s, using a Graflex Speed Graphics Press Camera, Jim "Flash" Miteff shot several hundred photographs of the Outlaws 1%er Motorcycle Club. The photographs in the book were specifically selected from his collection by his daughter Beverly, who pretty much grew up on the scene. These never before published images are taken directly from the original negatives that had been in storage for over 40 years. A very different approach from Danny Lyon in the Bikeriders, more of a personal photo album than reportage.

Scarce. Lemoin's super inside story of the Hells Angels in France. Astounding early images by the legendary Yann Morvan (look him up!). The only comprehensive document of French biker culture.

Amazing and brilliantly designed bosozoku book from Fukada, Yuji Moriya, Kazutoshi Sumitomo, and Mutsuhito Fujio. Rideouts, bikes, onesies, girl gangs, more bikes, bikers, badges, weapons and so on. Sits nicely along with the work of Seiji Kurata and co. Seriously underrated.

Wow! Very scarce. The best Bosozoku book by far- this one focusses on all female gangs, and it's amazing. Riding and hanging out with the ladies jokers and the rat racing gang, profiles on baby face, midnight rose and loads of brilliant pictures of custom boiler suits, gowns, new wave make up and lots of other tough girl stuff. Great.

Lyon's first book. Cult photo essay on bikers folowing the Chicago Outlaws. A true classic of 60s biker culture. Beautiful. Cited in Parr / Badger, v1, 256; Roth 190-191; Open Book 236-237.