Dream Baby Dream: Suicide - A New York Story
Dream Baby Dream is the story of Suicide , the most enduring of the influential seventies downtown New York punk explosion. From their anarchic and taboo-busting sound during the early years to their sold out shows in July 2015, the band have reinvented both themselves and entire genres. This is the journey of activist artist Alan Vega and jazz musician Martin Rev, also known as Suicide . As a response to the politics, culture and sheer madness of early seventies New York, the artist Alan Vega came together with musician Martin Rev to create the counter-cultural performance art statement that was Suicide . They had been causing havoc with their infamous live performances for several years before the traditional punk scene launched into full effect. Indeed, they were the first band to self-identify with the term 'punk', using it in some of their earliest posters. In this fascinating biography, written with the close help of Rev and Vega, author Kris Needs offers the first detailed accounts of the band's complete career, taking a tour of their atmospheric genesis in New York to their notoriously violent 1978 European tours, their albums that seems to predate genres that did not yet exist, right up to the present day, showing why Suicide are considered one of the most influential bands ever. Interviews with other pivotal figures including Peter Crowley, Blondie, James Chance and the New York Dolls make Dream Baby Dream the definitive Suicide biography. A fascinating delve into how this pioneering band came to prominence, and continued making musical waves even up to the present day, Kris Needs's narrative skilfully blends his depth of knowledge with revealing interviews and some fantastic photography to craft this account of the life and times of a unique musical partnership.
