Henry Rollins: The Column! Alice Bag's 
Punk Rock Legacy
Her life was heavily shaped -- and ultimately transformed -- by music. As a high school student, she was a triple XL Elton John fan, but it was punk rock that changed her life and inspired her to express herself. She sets up her transition from an overweight and shy girl into a confrontational punk chick very honestly and courageously.
Damn, it's rare that someone at the real beginning of something so monumentally influential is around long enough to put it down in writing. Violence Girl is not some sentimental look back at how great it all was. Alice, without exaggeration, allows the reader to understand how exciting and in-the-moment things could be -- but also how quickly and easily things can go bad and come to an end.
And come to an end it did. The Bags made one single, played some wild shows and then promptly fell apart. It was sleepless, dangerous and thrilling, and then it was over. By the early '80s the scene had changed radically, and what had come before was never to be repeated. With The Bags in the middle of it, it was a time of incredible innovation, explosive creativity and recordings that stand the test of time.
I recommend Violence Girl. I hope you check it out, but I hope you don't stop there. Please investigate Punk Pioneers by ace photographer Jenny Lens, who captured the scene so perfectly. The late Brendan Mullen -- the man who started the Masque, a ground-zero venue in Hollywood -- left behind a slew of books documenting the scene. I also direct you to Live at the Masque: Nightmare in Punk Alley, the artwork of Gary Panter and, if you can find them, copies of Slash magazine. It was quite a time.
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