Dave Luhrssen and Michael Larson experienced the new music firsthand at Milwaukee venues like Zak’s and The Starship. Encyclopedia of Punk and New Wave 1975-1985 is a follow up to the duo’s collaboration on classic rock and the middle piece to the forthcoming volume on early rock and roll.
With Encyclopedia, the duo profile bands of significant impact and lean into artists who particularly caught their interest; artists that listeners could connect with as the heyday of rock and roll excess faced a seismic shift to a do-it-yourself mindset.
Foundational artists like Television, The Ramones and Sex Pistols naturally get entries as does Jonathan Richman—whose group The Modern Lovers bridged the Velvet Underground to Talking Heads, the group that included his old bandmate Jerry Harrison. Luhrssen and Larson also broaden the focus to include movements (New Romantics, Ska Revival, Cowpunk) and influential record labels like Stiff and Bomp! While historically New York City and London get credit as ground zero, the authors include Radio Birdman and the Saints, a pair of Australian bands who released debut records in 1977, punk’s watershed year.
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