TOXIC SHOCK Assassin of Mediocrity A Story of Love, Loss and Loud Music BOOK

This is the SIGNED second edition with complimentary two-sided bookmark and 3 vinyl stickers!
A tribute to my late wife and partner, this is my memoir, newly revised and expanded. Earth Island Books in the UK has printed a second edition of my first book, Toxic Shock Records-Assassin of Mediocrity- A Story of Love, Loss and Loud Music. This heavily illustrated tome is now a 6” x 9” 338 page full color work. Images that were originally postage stamp size now encompass half or full pages from brand new scans by graphic designer Welly Artcore. Includes 40 unreleased photos not seen in the first edition! Rare flyers, album artwork, highlights from the 2024 Books n Broccoli Book tour, plus full sets of photos from all manner of early gigs I attended in the 80's at venues like the Whisky, Olympic, PAL boxing gym, the Eastern Front fest, Desolation Center and several Raw Power US tour diaries. New photo contributions from the likes of Edward Colver , Ben DeSoto and Bob Durkee . Revamped cover art and illustrations by Brian Walsby, Pushead, Vince Ransid, Jim Blanchard and more.
Chronicles the history of the punk record store/mail-order enterprise and groundbreaking record label Toxic Shock from its origins in 1980 in the grimy suburbs of Pomona CA, a brief foray into New Orleans. to its demise after 23 years spent in Tucson by 2014. Through a combination of a very personal biography, oral history and extensive imagery, the book covers the many twists and turns that made Toxic Shock an often misunderstood punk rock institution. It covers how the death rock band Christian Death inspired the co-owners to create the record label and how it survived without selling major label releases. Graphic artists such as Pushead, Vince Rancid and Jim Blanchard lent their artwork to document its record label releases and mail order catalogs. It covers it’s involvement with the bands Decry, Zero Boys, Skinner box, Corrosion of Conformity, Dayglo Abortions, the Hickoids, th’Inbred, Skin Yard, Sloppy Seconds, Treepeople and more! Includes tour diaries with Italy’s Raw Power. It features cover art and several illustrations from graphic artist Brian Walsby, plus several never published photos from the iconic Ed Colver. The book covers the trials and tribulations of running a totally independent record store through 3 decades and an in-depth oral history from former employees, and musicians from the Toxic Shock roster, such as Decry, Modern Industry, Manson Youth, Massacre Guys, Human Therapy, Raw Power, Peace Corpse, Pillsbury Hardcore, Hullabaloo, House of Large Sizes and more!