Los Angeles Punk Rock 1980-1985 Photography by Vincent Ramirez

BLURB • 2016
SOFT COVER | 30 PAGES | 10" x .2" x 8"

An exercise in contrast and priorities. This is worth getting and adding to your library of visual stoke.
This special edition includes new photos and new layout. At the height of the Los Angeles punk rock movement photographer Vincent R. Ramirez captured the musical transformation of a city and its people that forever changed the face of the music industry. What emerged was a thriving underground punk rock music scene and the DIY ethic. These unpublished photos tell of the author's eyewitness account as a fan and the cultural impact it had on the Los Angeles music scene.

"Pretty cool collection of punk rock photos from the “golden years” of L.A. punk. You get the well-known heavy hitters like Black Flag, Fear, X, Adolescents, and the Circle Jerks. Then there are the bands that are also heavy hitters to everyone who’s deep into this music, such as the Stains, SWA, Suburban Lawns, 45 Grave, Castration Squad (how many photos has anyone ever really seen of Castration Squad, ever?), Mad Society, The Cheifs, and others. I’m particularly stoked on the image of Lee Ving hanging from the ceiling at the Stardust Ballroom in 1981, shirtless, legs wrapped around piping, and he’s leaning forward, microphone in hand. Then there’s the photo of The Plugz. What makes this photo for me is not so much that it’s The Plugz at the Cathay de Grande in 1982, and people are up close, which is all cool, but it’s the dude who’s taking a moment to light his cigarette while Tito Larriva is giving his guitar a workout"
— Matt Average

VINCENT RAMIREZ was born and raised in Los Angeles California–most years in the San Fernando Valley. Bought his first camera in early 1980, a Chinon CM3. He started photographing the Los Angeles punk rock scene at local clubs: The Whisky A Go-Go, The Starwood, Godzilla’s, Cathay de Grande, Hong Kong Café and the much larger venues such as the Stardust Ballroom, Devonshire Downs, The Olympic Auditorium and The Vex. His first photo shoot was at The Starwood in March of 1980 where Fear and The Plugz played. He continued shooting various punk bands up to early 1985.