The Seattle and S.F. Lewd, 1977-1982: U.S. West Coast Punk Pioneers

$29.99
by Mr. Eric N. Danielson

Shop Now
This book follows the life of J. Sats Beret, aka Satz, from the Whiz Kidz in Seattle in the first half of the 1970s through his short-lived bands the SYO Virgins and the Knobs, to the Seattle Lewd of 1977-1979, and on into the Lewd’s years in San Francisco from 1980 until their break up at the end of 1982. After that it documents the significant Lewd reunion shows until the last one in 2020. The narrative is sort of a combined gigography and discography, using the known live shows and audio/visual recordings as a chronological framework. At the end of the narrative text there is a bibliography of sources, but there are also in-text citations throughout. A large collection of gig flyers and photographs is included in a separate appendix. Six living members of the Lewd from the 1977-1982 lineups were interviewed, including Jon Nay (1977-1979), Brad Ramels (1978-1979), David Reutercrona (1978), Kurdt Vanderhoof (1978-1980), Bob Clic (1980-1982, 1999-2020), and Chris Reece (1981-1982). I also interviewed Dag Midtskog of Violent World, a sort of sister band that often played shows with, and traded members with, the Seattle Lewd. In addition, before his death, Satz was made aware of my research, had been shown early drafts of my research, and had given his approval of it, as proven by copies of his E-mail messages to me printed in this book. I also interviewed members of Satz' pre-Lewd bands, the Whiz Kidz, the SYO Virgins, and the Knobs, as well as members of the Seattle Lewd's contemporaries, such as the Telepaths, the Snots, Clone, and Violent World. The Tomata du Plenty archives held by Richard Daystrom were also consulted on the Whiz Kidz period, as were rare out of print fanzines such as Chatterbox, Twisted, & Noize. The book contains many archival photos of the Lewd never publicly seen before, including shots by Saulius Pempe, Dag Midtskog, and Randy Hall, as well as many gig posters. Included are shots of Satz pre-Lewd band The Knobs that haven't been publicly seen since 1977. This book is loaded with new information that was never publicly known before the 1st edition was published, and it solves many mysteries about the early years of the Lewd, including who was in the band when, where was the 1979 single recorded, and the existence of an unreleased full album recorded in 1978. For the first time ever the telegraphic hieroglyphic credits on the Lewd's 1979 single are decoded. The identity of their first manager, their hairdresser, their first record label, their first rehearsal studio, and their first recording studio are revealed for the first time. The numerous frequent lineup changes are for the first time ever documented as to who was in the band when, which shows were the first and last played by which members, etc. This book did not rely on using already easily available free sources online. Quite the contrary. The text of this book analyzes those online sources only to point out and prove how they were virtually all completely wrong and full of inaccurate information. For the first time ever, this is the previously untold, accurate story of the origins of the Lewd.

Customer Reviews

No ratings. Be the first to rate

 customer ratings


How are ratings calculated?
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Review This Product

Share your thoughts with other customers