Some New Kind of Kick: A Memoir | Kid Congo Powers

A coming of age memoir from the man who, as it rightly states in the blurb, has the 'greatest resume ever of anyone n rock music' has to be read. Kid Congo Powers played guitar in the Cramps, the Bad Seeds and the Gun Club (yes, the Gun Club, go look 'em up, they might change your life). 

'Some New Kind of Kick begins as an intimate coming of age tale of a young, queer Chicano kid growing up in a suburb east of East LA in the mid-70s, exploring his sexual identity through glam rock. When a devastating personal tragedy crushes his teenage dreams, he finds solace and community through fandom as founder ("The Prez'") of the Ramones West Coast fan club and immerses himself in the delinquent chaos of the early LA punk scene.

A chance encounter with another superfan in the line outside the Whiskey a Go Go to get into a Pere Ubu concert changes the course of his life entirely. Jeffrey Lee Pierce, a misfit Chicano punk who runs the Blondie fan club, proposes they form a band. The Gun Club is born. So begins an unlikely transition from adoring fan to lauded performer. In Pierce, he finds brotherhood, a creative voice, and a common cause, but also a shared appetite for self-destruction that threatens to overwhelm them both.

Quirky, droll, and heartfelt, with a pitch-perfect evocation of time and place and a wealth of richly drawn supporting characters, Some New Kind of Kick is a memoir of personal transformation, addiction and recovery, friendship and belonging, set against the relentless creativity and excess of the '70s and '80s underground music scenes.'

Size: 162 x 240mm

Pages: 258

Publisher: Omnibus.