Overview

Late '70s San Francisco. The Summer of Love is a hazy memory, the AIDS crisis is looming, and nearby Silicon Valley is still an obscure place where microchips are made. The City by the Bay is reeling from a string of bizarre tragedies that have earned it a new name: the 'kook capital of the world.' Yet out of the darkness comes a creative rebirth, instigated by punk and sustained by the steady influx of outsiders who view the city as a place of refuge, a last resort. What ensues is a collision of sounds and ideas that spans the golden age of analogue DIY culture, from the dark cabaret of Tuxedomoon and Factrix, the apocalyptic sounds of Minimal Man and Flipper, the conceptual humour of Gregg Turkington's Amarillo Records; through to the subversive pop music of Faith No More, the left-field experimentalism of Caroliner, Mr. Bungle, and Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, and much more. Drawing on extensive research - including interviews with over 100 musicians, artists, and other key players - WHO CARES ANYWAY is the first book to chronicle the wild post-punk San Francisco music scene, courtesy of those who lived it. It's a tale full of existential drama, tragic anti-heroes, dark humour, spectacular failures - and even a few improbable successes.

Full Product Details

9781915316059

Table of Contents

Reviews

If your concept of San Francisco rock starts with The Jefferson Airplane and ends with The Beau Brummels, then good for you because The Grateful Dead were terrible. On the other hand, you're missing out on some of the oddest, most oddball, and downright oddballest music ever created. Thankfully, Will York is determined to introduce you to the sights, sounds, sites and wounds of excellent but under-heralded artists like Flipper, the Residents, Toiling Midgets, Caroliner, Pop-o-Pies, The Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 and even MTV's Faith No More. Great book! --Mark Prindle, markprindle.com Some of the most interesting, if not always easily delightful, music and art comes from loons larking about on edges. The San Francisco-based art-terrorists, whose stories Will York captures, reveals a scene where every bizarre cranny both amuses and alarms, keenly giving the feeling of fascinated unease the musicians themselves inspire. --Brian Doherty, author of THIS IS BURNING MAN and DIRTY PICTURES This thorough examination of a time and place in music and performance art history takes you to an astounding and beautiful realm. I admire Will York for taking on the task of explaining the unexplainable, and for putting into words an experience most could only fathom with their eyes and ears while they were in the process of living it. My Mother came to a Caroliner show in San Francisco when I was 18 and had first started in the band. Her description is the best one I've ever heard: 'It's like being inside the center of a Victorian haunted crazy carousel that's spinning out of control all around you.' And honestly, that's also what it also felt like to be in the band. --Dame Darcy, Caroliner

If your concept of San Francisco rock starts with The Jefferson Airplane and ends with The Beau Brummels, then good for you because The Grateful Dead were terrible. On the other hand, you're missing out on some of the oddest, most oddball, and downright oddballest music ever created. Thankfully, Will York is determined to introduce you to the sights, sounds, sites and wounds of excellent but under-heralded artists like Flipper, the Residents, Toiling Midgets, Caroliner, Pop-o-Pies, The Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 and even MTV's Faith No More. Great book! -- Mark Prindle, markprindle.com This is a really cool book that describes a San Francisco that such a unique and creative place, and which will probably never exist in this form again. Great stuff documented with detail and respect! -- Bill Gould, Faith No More This thorough examination of a time and place in music and performance art history takes you to an astounding and beautiful realm. I admire Will York for taking on the task of explaining the unexplainable, and for putting into words an experience most could only fathom with their eyes and ears while they were in the process of living it. My Mother came to a Caroliner show in San Francisco when I was 18 and had first started in the band. Her description is the best one I've ever heard: 'It's like being inside the center of a Victorian haunted crazy carousel that's spinning out of control all around you.' And honestly, that's also what it also felt like to be in the band. -- Dame Darcy, Caroliner

If your concept of San Francisco rock starts with The Jefferson Airplane and ends with The Beau Brummels, then good for you because The Grateful Dead were terrible. On the other hand, you're missing out on some of the oddest, most oddball, and downright oddballest music ever created. Thankfully, Will York is determined to introduce you to the sights, sounds, sites and wounds of excellent but under-heralded artists like Flipper, the Residents, Toiling Midgets, Caroliner, Pop-o-Pies, The Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 and even MTV's Faith No More. Great book! --Mark Prindle, markprindle.com This is a really cool book that describes a San Francisco that such a unique and creative place, and which will probably never exist in this form again. Great stuff documented with detail and respect! --Bill Gould, Faith No More This thorough examination of a time and place in music and performance art history takes you to an astounding and beautiful realm. I admire Will York for taking on the task of explaining the unexplainable, and for putting into words an experience most could only fathom with their eyes and ears while they were in the process of living it. My Mother came to a Caroliner show in San Francisco when I was 18 and had first started in the band. Her description is the best one I've ever heard: 'It's like being inside the center of a Victorian haunted crazy carousel that's spinning out of control all around you.' And honestly, that's also what it also felt like to be in the band. --Dame Darcy, Caroliner

...a breathtakingly fast paced, rollicking, dirty story of a wild time... / one of the most entertaining rock books I've read in a long-ass time. - JD Stayfree, I-94 Bar (on the author's previous book, When Can I Fly?) ...story after fascinating story starring an all-star line-up of violent bikers, insane lead singers, drug connections, and even an ornery Robert Fripp (Belfer's biggest guitar inspiration).... This is recommended rock reading. Midnight to Six blog (on the author's previous book, When Can I Fly?)

Author Information

Will York has written about music for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Alternative Press, and AllMusic.com and is co-author (with Michael Belfer) of When Can I Fly? The Sleepers, Tuxedomoon & Beyond (Hozac Books, 2020). Born and raised in Raleigh, NC, he graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before spending his young adulthood in San Francisco. Somewhat incongruously, he holds a PhD in Cognitive Science and a master's degree in History & Philosophy of Science, from Indiana University. He currently splits time between Raleigh and the mountains of Western North Carolina.

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