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Hi folks - as you know, I have been selling signed prints of my 1977 and beyond punk photos for the last little while at various book and zine fairs, concerts, and art galleries.
These are unique images from my time as a music journalist for Cheap Thrills, New York Rocker, Bomp! and other publications.
All the photos were usually accompanied by interviews with the artists involved (Patti Smith, The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, The Damned, Richard Hell, Dead Boys, Diodes, Viletones, Mo-Dettes, Barracudas, etc etc). I kept all the cassettes with all the interviews, in addition to copies of the final articles as they appeared at that time.
Over the years, I had thought about creating some kind of book but always kind of left it on the backburner as life carried on and I became engrossed with other projects, including publishing the ground-breaking Treat Me Like Dirt book by Liz Worth and initiating the genesis of what was to become Trouble In The Camera Club by Don Pyle.
At every fair or art exhibit where I have my photos, people enjoy my stories behind the images and ask about a book. Well, life is short and if I don't get this going, it may never happen. Thankfully, technology exists today that I can finally involve outside services to help transfer the interview cassette audio to digital and then transcribe them to text that can be edited properly.
I hope to expand my original articles with further quotes from the original interview tapes.
Scanning the photos is the most time consuming and needs extra care and attention.
The whole process will take a few months but worth the wait.
Once we have everything ready, we will either self-publish or partner with an established publisher.
You can contribute to making this book a reality by helping me with the costs. I cannot do this by myself.
Any contribution under $25 will get you a PDF of the final book, while $25 will get you a physical copy of the final book. NOTE: these are CANADIAN DOLLARS (good deal for USA and Euro folks).
I don't have a name for it right now but as it unfolds, I'm sure it will reveal itself.
This is an important work for me and I welcome you along for the journey.
Please share this page with friends you think would be interested.
Thank you.
Ralph Alfonso
NEWS AND UPDATES:
* I will autograph all advance books orders (thanks Dan Husband for the suggestion).
* PRE-ORDER GOAL IS: 300
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Update:
- pre-orders thus far are at 50
- you can pay with cheques, cash, or money orders or interac-Transfer (ralph@bongobeat.com)
- mail cheques (payable to Ralph Alfonso) or cash (well-hidden) to: 2049 Melrose, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H4V 2T1
- you can also see me in person at BBAM! Gallery in Montreal (808 Atwater, Lionel Groulx Metro)
- there is interest from a European publisher for a co-publishing situation
- if you have an idea for an exhibition of my photos in your town, let me know
