How To Look Punk: a marketing/trendspotter's "zine" from 1977

From 1977, this "'zine" about "How To Look Punk" written by Marliz, who according to the "note on author" is "internationally known in the industry for her marketing ability in current-trend perception and 'how to' help it explode on the scene.'" This is quite an artifact.
Punk Rock, The New Wave of Sound & Style: "How To Look Punk" (PDF, via threadbared, thanks Koshi!)

UPDATE: Jenny Lens, who took the majority of the photos in this publication, responds in the comments below.

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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Neon Tooth

This person had tons of old totally complete Rodney on the Roq shows from this era/scene but sadly it looks like they’re all deleted now. They were fantastic, so fun to listen to the interviews, local commercials, and gig announcements. Time capsules.
HiTek LoLife

How to Look Hipster: Study and follow this how-to using currently available items then pretend your meticulously contrived attire is just a haphazard fashion accident. Because you really just don’t care. Really.
David Pescovitz

Hi Jenny, I updated the post above with a link to your comment here. Thanks for posting.
Anonymous

Big Swifty and Associates – Trend Mongers
RobNoxious

There’s a shot of Darby Crash in there, listed as his earlier alias, “Bobby Pyn.”

Hilarious. The whole thing is just freakin’ hilarious.
Sterno Dare

Was just yesterday sharing my ca. 1977 techniques for bending those little brass safety pins just enough that they looked like they really were stuck through your nose, but they wouldn’t draw blood, or fall off if you moved. Worked great for making your mom cry, if nothing else.

I also, around that same time, made one of those eye blackout bar things described in a post yesterday — I’d attached a piece of smoked plexiglas to a headband, rather than eyeglasses.
jennylens

I’m not pissed nor combative. YOU walk in my shoes. The original site had a live link to my site. I read a lot of snotty, arrogant opinons on this thread and responded to that. Have any of you actually read anything about LA punk, 1977? My book, PUNK PIONEERS, my pix in We Got the Neutron Bomb, Lexicon Devil, Live at the Masque, Punk 365?? My site? Alice Bag’s site?

IF you really wanna know more, it’s right there at your fingertips. ALL I read was a bunch of gibberish from most commentators. That is why I wrote what I wrote.

Whose POV, mine? Well, YES, I took the photos of my friends, Bobby Pyn, Belinda, Pleasant Gehman, Mary Rat, Alice Bag, Lorna Doom, Sten Gun and so many more in this zine. So many of you wrote that punks had to look this way or that, while my authentic, non-posed, non art directed, taken from real life photos really happened in 1977 in LA.

YOU have NO right to tell ME how punks looked then. YOU were not there. WE dressed for each other, had fun YOU can’t imagine, saw bands YOU will never see. AND I took photos so YOU could ENJOY it, be inspired, smile, have fun and rejoice that ppl did their own thing and made the music, the fashion, the graphics YOU take for granted.

YOU wanna call me an asshole? Doesn’t bother me at all. Cos in 50 years, ppl will still be looking at MY photos, MY friends. I just wanna share. If you think I’m angry, that is coming from YOU, not me. I am at peace. I know the value of what my friends, OUR music genre/era and I accomplished. WHAT lasting legacy has YOUR name on it??

Now that’s Punk Attitude (oh, my photos are on the DVD version of that movie. Pretty much ALL the photos from the LA section are mine. I’m the ONLY LA woman interviewed in the added section).

Now WHO the FUCK ARE YOU, devophill? (rotf lmao) I send you peace, love and understanding.

Gabba gabba hey, we accept you, one of us. ;-)
Purplecat

Isn’t this sort of painting by numbers, carbon copy style the very antithesis of punk? Punk was supposed to be DIY and individualism. In order to look punk the only instruction should be: Do anything you want to do.
- Neon Tooth
  
  Are you suggesting that:
  
  Punk’s not dead, it just deserves to die, when it becomes another stale cartoon?
  - Boba Fett Diop
    
    No, Punks Not Dead.
    - Neon Tooth
      
      Ha, I saw them play that live about 25 years ago. By the end of the set their mohawks had all gone soft and floppy.
      - Boba Fett Diop
        
        Yeah, I think that’s one of the reasons the hardcore scene switched over to the Dickies, chucks, and t-shirts look pretty quickly.
- ubermittlung
  
  I see the pseudo-conformist aspect, but isn’t the term “punk” from the German word “punkt” ar the Swedish “ponkt,” which actually means “pointed.” I think the term originally came from the points of the spiked hair and spiked armbands etc.
  
  I mean , sure…Black Flag looked like hippies when they played a lot of essential punk music and bands like All probably got harrassed in high school and college for being nerds not punks, but their music is still considered punk by many people.
  
  I’m just saying there is a difference beetween punk image and punk music and there are also many different degrees and aspects of punkness that gets recognized in different individuals.
  
  Even if this “zine” isn’t independant of oxegen or whatever, I can identify with wanting to have more people around me wanting to look punk. I’ve tried to talk my straight-edge brother into buying Doc’s before (he chose not to like most people) but what is wrong with sharing ideas about choosing image with others? Is it wrong to do it if you have the rescources to do so but cool if you just wish it or something?
  
  So no, I do not think “looking punk” is the anti-thesis of punk.
biovert

Don’t forget, Belinda Carlisle did a stint as a drummer for The Germs, so she has mad-early L.A. punk cred.
- mindysan33
  
  If I remember correctly, she never actually played with the band, except maybe in a couple of practices. Before they played their first gig, she came down with Mono, I think, and Don Bolles joined the band. However, she was the prop coordinator for their early gigs. She would hand Darby the mayo and peanut butter he would smear himself with.
  - biovert
    
    Thanks for the correction. I always forget (must be frazzled neurons) that Don was a Germ. I think of him as the 45 Grave drummer (though not now). Maybe Belinda will see this, go back to her roots and start a punk band now.
jennylens

As much as I appreciate finally being mentioned in the top, why did it take friends on Facebook alerting me to this, my writing to finally be mentioned?? Mark knows me, I sent him Punk Pioneers book and my Ramones pdf, my site is easy to find. THAT IS LAZY.

You all wanna know more? HOW about YOU merely type my name into Google, and voila, a whole section on Punk History and some pix. I know you all know how to do that.

NO, I’m not going to push my photos for sale on a comment. Then you’d say I’m a selfish spammer. Yikes, there’s no pleasing you.

Much easier to tell me what to do after you ask questions, make assumptions and then attack me for speaking the truth. Whatev, I do this for those who don’t attack or blame or tell me how to behave.

Many thousands are very appreciative SOMEONE took so many pix and works harder than any of you could possibly imagine, for so little money (but tons of acclaim). I bet NONE of you would do what I do. SO STFU.

Just enjoy the pix.

Next time, let your fingers do the walking and check out the ORIGINAL sources before you start mindlessly typing. Or not. You live your life, I live mine.

BUT CREDIT THE PHOTOGRAPHER for G-d’s sake. So at least ppl will be able to see more pix. And IF anyone wants to buy or license pix, fine, drop me an email via my site.

BUT the main thing is, ENJOY the photos and stories. Have a great weekend. I’m out for a walk, enjoying this gorgeous day. Cos too many of my punk pals are dead. Let’s celebrate them and life itself. ;-)
Anonymous

Flapper magazine http://boingboing.net/2011/04/10/flappers-dictionary.html +55 years. Different, and yet the same.
Stuart Ellis

I could’ve sworn that this had already been posted on Boing Boing before…
- Stuart Ellis
  
  … There we go. It was MetaFilter:
  
  http://www.metafilter.com/91114/How-To-Look-Punk
grs

I know HOW to TYPE in CAPS TOO! It helps ME get MY POINT across so MUCH BETTER.

Geez. How sad on so many levels.
jennylens

Jenny Lens took ALL but one photo. Thanks for no credit. I feel very cheated. ANYONE bother to read the credits? And people wonder why I never made money or became more famous for my very famous photos. Signed, “the girl with the camera eye,” anointed by Patti Smith, while she was onstage at the Roxy. Jenny Lens, the MOST published West Coast early punk photographer.

My best pal, Mark A Martinez, met Marliz at a Hollywood newsstand. He took her to a party, cos I always took pix, so she used some of my pix from the party and other places. SHE wrote the LAME text.

ALL MY photos were REAL punks. WE never followed any rules about dressing. You all are so LAZY. Why don’t you ASK the woman who lived it and photographed it, me? BUT no, you all write from your POV. Whatta shame, a living, breathing historian, easy to find, but you are too arrogant and lazy to bother to check me out. MY PHOTOS. Except that stupid page 3 the Knockers.

What a worthless thread. And whatta shame this is posted, a total violation of both Marliz’s son and my rights. But you don’t care. I am not bitter, but you are all missing the point. Poseurs.
- Anonymous
  
  Know this: offer to talk to these people, with a link to a webpage selling your prints, combined with a little insight, and we will *all* be richer for it.
  
  Boing will give you a forum, if you want it.
- blueelm
  
  If it weren’t for people digging this kind of stuff up I’d never even know about it. Nice pics. Sorry it pisses you off so much.
Verre

Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?
Forkboy

A zine for trendy-ass posers.
PauloButt

Why is zine in quotes like that? Are they not a real thing anymore? I remember when bOING bOING was a zine.
- mindysan33
  
  I think in this case the quotes are warranted… seems very industryish to me, not put out by actually punks.
  - Deidzoeb
    
    I had the same thought, that maybe David put “zine” in quotation marks to indicate that it was too polished and “industryish” to count as a zine. Like punk, I think the word “zine” should count even if it’s been co-opted. It’s still punk, it’s just stretching the idea beyond its origins, maybe to the point that it’s broke. Think about it: the idea of drawing a hard line between what does and doesn’t count as “punk” or officially count as a “zine” is anti-thetical to the idea of punk and zines.
nixiebunny

We still have a few 1970s style punks wandering the streets of the hipster neighborhoods. They’re getting a bit wrinkly, though.

Leave it to the fashion followers to think that the more junk you attach to yourself, the better. The real punks back then had either very long or very short hair, and they just wore t-shirts and jeans and either boots or tennis shoes.
- Deidzoeb
  
  “The real punks back then had either very long or very short hair, and they just wore t-shirts and jeans and either boots or tennis shoes.”
  
  No real punks and no true Scotsman would consider wearing anything else.
sean

Jenny! Baby! Let’s talk! I think there’s gold in the hills for both of us in these old photos! I see an exclusive with Hot Topic- the kids will eat it up! Have your man call my man!
Anonymous

“The real punks back then had either very long or very short hair, and they just wore t-shirts and jeans and either boots or tennis shoes. ”

still describes me today! of course, wearing a 30-year-old ramones shirt is just as pathetic as the ol’ hippies we despised for still wearing janis joplin tees in 79.
- biovert
  
  Totally. I hated the janis joplin heads then and I still hate them now. The Ramones shirts turned into toddler one-sies was a capitalistic stroke of genius. But capitalism requires we co-opt what we can, so what’s underground now, will soon be mainstreamed. But faster. And harder.
Muneraven

Looking grunge was so much simpler. If you lived in Washington State already like I did, all you had to do was wear your regular clothing.
Anonymous

overheard at a shopping in Corpus Christi, Texas in the early 90s, from one teen to another:

“We can’t dress punk, we’re anarchists!”

this is true.
IWood

I was never punk.
Antinous / Moderator

They all look like the Captain and Tennille trying to be Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Where are the asymmetrical hairdos and partly shaved heads that would actually make it difficult to go back to school or work on Monday morning? Where are the scabrous facial piercings and allergic reactions to dyes that were never meant for human use?

SOME OF US WERE BLEEDING FOR STYLE!!!
Followers of Black

Where’s Black Randy when you need him? He knew how to handle Jenny Lens and then some: http://www.blackrandy.com/blackrandy1.html
Halloween Jack

Heh. I went as a “Punk Skout” for Halloween of my senior year in high school. I took an old Boy Scout uniform, ripped one sleeve off, and put safety pins through some merit badges; a bit of fake blood and Scotch tape on the backs, and it looked like I safety-pinned the badges directly to my skin.
johnnycache

Jen you gotta understand THIS site (boing boing) is an aggregater…it didn’t re-publish your photos.

As for the people posting, you have to understand they are the readers directly and like any room full of people they’re going to have different attitudes and outlooks and even senses of humor.

Some people may not have had the luck to be in a certain time and place in 1977 but a punk rock song may have saved their life in lincoln nebraska or scranton pa and to them that succor and shelter and community are pretty real and that matters an awful lot more than any given “side” in ‘what punks should wear’ conversation.

As for why it took facebook friends to alert you, it’s a 35 year old zine with poor crediting,to begin with, reposted from a free source for free – you aren’t being cheated out of any particular money or credit here, rather you have a chance to reach an audience again.

As for me, I’m very curious as to how your photos ended up paired with such vapid content – did you sell this person these photos or did she just get ahold of them somewhere?
Neon Tooth

Ha, I thought that was Belinda Carlisle in the middle.
- David Pescovitz
  
  It is!
  - James
    
    Hey, don’t knock Belinda. Jello Biafra once told me that he would kill for an early Go-Gos tape, before they were a pop group.
  - Neon Tooth
    
    Yeah, it was my guess and then I clicked through and found out I was right! This kicks ass btw. I love all this “punk” memorabilia, makes me want to listen to some old Rodney on Roq!
    
    @Deidzoeb
    Yep, it immediately reminded of Gilda Radner too.
    - mindysan33
      
      Gilda Radner was totally punk rock, especially when she did Rosanna RosannaDanna! And i can’t read that without hearing her voice in my head saying it.
- Anonymous
  
  Me too!
devophill

You know who gets on my fucking nerves? Jenny Lens.

You all are so LAZY. Why don’t you ASK the woman who lived it and photographed it, me? BUT no, you all write from your POV. Whatta shame, a living, breathing historian, easy to find, but you are too arrogant and lazy to bother to check me out.

How about you don’t assume that everybody has it in for you? What a shame, an interested audience, who would love to be informed about punk rock history, easy to comment in an informative, non-combative way, but you are too paranoid and fucked up to even consider not being a schmuck. Who else’s POV should people be writing from, anyway? Yours?

Christ, what an asshole.
Deidzoeb

That first gal’s Rosanna Rosanna Danna hair is as punk as can be. Wonder if the costume designer from the punk episode of Quincy was influenced by this zine.
mindysan33

Belinda Carlisle and Helen Killer on the cover there (and is that Pleasant Gehman?)… Most the pictures are straight out of the first wave Hollywood punk scene (Masque and Slash!)! And page 9 (the second picture that is up) I think is supposed to be Mary Rat, not Mary Kat? Was there a Mary Kat as well as a Mary Rat? Mary Rat was one of the Plungers, I know.

This brings up interesting questions about exploitation of youth subcultures by marketing types, doesn’t it? I wonder who “Marliz” was and which industry is the person “internationally known” in? Fashion, I’m guessing. Anyone know anything about this person? I wonder if she put this together with the help of some of the Hollywood punks (I notice some Jenny Lens pics) or if she lifted pictures it from Slash and Flipside (August 77?) mostly?

Very interesting, though! Thanks for posting this historical gem, David!
the Other michael

“Signify with Safety Pins” (p11) !!!!

Perpetually late to the party, I was still doing this in 1990 at a rural Minnesota college.

PUNK AS F**K, ma’am!