Michael Grecco was an 18-year-old guileless college student from suburban New York when he first discovered punk music. He followed the throbbing sound of a local Boston band named 'La Peste' to the basement below his favorite late night food spot. The underground club was known as 'the Rat' - Boston's answer to New York City's legendary punk venue, CBGBs.
'That was my introduction to punk,' he says, recalling how the smell of cigarettes and sweat did little to mask the odor of the Rat's beer and vomit soaked carpet. Nonetheless, Grecco was captivated.
'I found I suddenly joined a club where everybody belonged. I could finally be myself, or at least find out who I really was,' he says.
From that day forward, Grecco went out every night, trolling the bowels of Boston from one basement to the next, always with a camera in hand. He shot The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones, Billy Idol, The Cramps, The Talking Heads, Joan Jett and The Dead Kennedys.
Now, some 43 years later, Grecco's work can be seen in all their safety pinned glory in a special collector's edition of his book: Punk, Post Punk, New Wave: Onstage, Backstage, In Your Face, 1978 to 1991. His candid portraits of these legendary iconoclasts and all their rude awakenings come as close as the music itself in capturing the raw, raucous energy of that era.
He catches up with DailyMail.com below with exclusive never-before-seen images, and tales from his debauched years spent as punk rock 'chronicler and participant.'
Renown photographer, Michael Grecco spent a decade embedded in the punk-rock community of Boston during its hey day in the late 1970s through the 1980s. Bouncing between underground clubs he shot everyone from The Clash (pictured above backstage), to The Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, The Cramps, Buzzcocks, Billy Idol and so many more
Lead singer Lux Interior (born Erick Lee Purkhiser) of the punk rock band 'The Cramps' performing on stage at a theater in 1980 in Boston, Massachusetts. For Grecco, punk rock wasn't just about the music, it was also a movement that had 'infectious freedom'
Jello Biafra, lead singer of the punk rock group, Dead Kennedys, poses back stage in April 1981 in Boston, Massachusetts. Grecco was an 18-year-old college student at Boston University when he followed the thumping sound of music coming from the basement beneath his favorite late night food spot. The underground club was called 'The Rat' - a legendary DIY venue that hosted punk shows for bands that went on to become very famous
Musician Joan Jett performs at the Cape Cod Coliseum in 1981 in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. Rock journalist, Jim Sullivan writes in the books foreword: Any American band that played a New York club played a Boston club—the CBGB-to-the-Rat express was very much on the rails. He added: 'Think of Boston as a microcosm for a youthquake that was happening in cities across America, England, and Europe'
David Byrne of The Talking Heads stands center stage. After discovering Boston's underground music scene, Grecco said: 'I found I suddenly joined a club where everybody belonged. I could finally be myself, or at least find out who I really was'
Michael Grecco snapped Joey Ramone of the Ramones in his iconic leather jacket and stripe tee-shirt. 'College radio changed everything,' says Grecco, who attributes local student radio stations with the raise of punk rock music. Up until that time, the music industry was dominated b hyper-produced, manufactured classic rock bands like Kansas, Journey and Rush. 'And I think that bands or organic small bands felt like they couldn't be part of that system'
Jonny Rotten (John Lydon) lead singer of the band, Public Image Ltd, performs a set at the Channel Club in Boston sometime in the early 1980s. Rotten formed Public Image Ltd (PiL) following the breakup of his first band, The Sex Pistols in 1978
Billy Idol performs live on stage one month after his debut solo album release of 'Billy Idol' on August 01, 1982. Grecco became close with Idol over the years and recalls how the musician once sent his manager with 'a gallon bag of blow' as a peace offering after he flew into a violent rage over a perceived slight
For Grecco, it wasn't just about the music, it was also a movement that had 'infectious freedom.' He tells DailyMail.com: 'It was an explosion.' During a time when the mainstream music industry was dominated by hyper-produced classic rock bands like Kansas, Journey and Rush. 'Blech! Make me puke,' said Michael Grecco.
Michael Grecco, now 63, is a commercial photographer based in Los Angeles. Grecco looks back on his youth 'in awe,' he tells DailyMail.com. 'We were part of an incredible time that you can't replicate ever again'
'Punk was like a wound, or a sore building up under the surface and then it just exploded.'
College radio paved the way for punk music because it proved that people were interested and wanted to hear these local bands that would have never garnered the attention of big record labels in the first place.
In his foreword for the book, rock-journalist Jim Sullivan quotes something Joe Strummer told him backstage after a gig in 1979. 'At least the young people are playing rock ’n’ roll now,' he before adding, 'How can you be like Yes and have a secret ambition to be a rock ’n’ roller? You think 'Forget it, I’ll go back to my cleaning shop.''
Grecco captured the youth rebellion in its very nascent years - on stage, back stage and on the gritty streets of Boston between 1978 to 1986. It was always the first tour stop for bands visiting from England. Now those very same irreverent performers have gone on to become legends.
One such person was Billy Idol, with whom Grecco said they immediately 'hit it off' after meeting through a mutual friend at Boston's rock radio station. 'Every time he would come to town, I'd get a call from his road manager, Ace Penna, 'Billy wants to see you and hang out,' he told DailyMail.com, while recalling their all-night, drug-fueled ragers.
The two friends had a deal: Grecco would be allowed to shoot if it were for an assignment, but other than that, Idol didn't want to be pestered for a picture. One night after a show, Idol was inexplicably angry. He picked up a metal milk crate and threw it at the wall (narrowly missing Grecco's head). 'He goes, 'Your girlfriend keeps asking me to let you photograph me and we're mates and you can't take pictures of me all the time.'' When Grecco explained that he didn't have a girlfriend, Idol sheepishly sauntered off into his dressing room before sending a peace offering, 'a gallon bag of blow,' he recalls.
'Billy feels really, really bad,' said his Idol's manager to
