Book Review: Dave Thompson’s London’s Burning (2009)

British music journalist Dave Thompson is a veteran author of rock ‘n’ roll biographies, penning dozens of books on folks like Iggy Pop, Kiss, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among many others over the past couple of decades. As frequently as he has turned his insight towards dissecting the life and art of others, however, this is the first time that Thompson has used his undeniable talent to look inward at his own life and experience.

Subtitled “True Adventures on the Front Lines of Punk 1976-1977,” Thompson’s excellent London’s Burning is, as he calls it, a “memoir” without “too much me” included. Ostensibly the story of a year in the life of British punk rock, the teenage Thompson had a front seat to the birth and evolution of punk from a provincial underground phenomenon to a worldwide cultural revolution.

Dave Thompson’s London’s Burning

To tell this tale, Thompson relies on his own memories, and those of the many musicians that he has interviewed through the years, as well as those he spoke with specifically for the book. Beginning with the death of the glam-rock era and the lingering descent of pub-rock into obsolescence, Thompson’s personalized history of the first stirrings of punk is developed from his youthful vinyl obsession and eager attendance at dozens of shows by early versions of bands like the Sex Pistols, the Adverts, the Stranglers, and the Damned, as well as his friendships with many of the music-makers.

Thompson marks the flashpoint of British punk rock with the first performance of American rocker Patti Smith, her powerful, primal sound launching a hundred bands. Although the story touches upon many of the aforementioned and better-known punk outfits, Thompson takes great care to include obscure (but no less talented or fondly remembered) bands like the Arrows, Radio Stars, and Heavy Metal Kids in his exploration of the music. Sometimes his stories are funny, sometimes poignant, and sometimes even harrowing as Thompson describes the racism present in mid-to-late-‘70s England, as well as the violence that would come to be leveled against anybody perceived as being a “punk rocker.”

Thompson is being only a little disingenuous when he calls London’s Burning a memoir without too much “me” because, in truth, it is the presence of his younger self, and that experience that is central to the book’s immense charm. In remembering his youthful love of the music, and unbridled enthusiasm for the changes wrought by punk’s ascendance, Thompson also reminds us of why the “Class of ‘77” was so important in the overall evolution of rock music. The stories and memories of the assembled musicians are vital to the story here, but it is Thompson’s interaction and role as a documentarian that drives the book.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

British punk rock circa 1977-79 has been covered in abundance, almost to the point of absurdity, by dozens of books and hundreds, if not thousands of magazine articles and even compilation albums. Few have the firsthand knowledge and experience of Dave Thompson, though, and the talent to express it so succinctly and in an entertaining manner. Nobody has the stories that Thompson has accumulated, making London’s Burning the final word in ‘70s British punk rock. If you’re an old-school punk fan, you should definitely check this one out… (Chicago Review Press, published May 1st, 2009)

Review originally published by the Trademark of Quality (TMQ) blog…

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