PRE-SALE DATE: December 5, 2025

Anarchy In The Studio: Punk Music

1970-1979

The Rise of Punk Rock

Hardcover

+Limited Edition Slipcase 

+Slipcase Edition w/168-page Interview Book

  Author: Punk Historian Tim Stegall

Foreword by Laura Jane Grace

• ISBN: 9798218458669
• Dimensions: 11.5x11.5x3.5 inches
• 512 Pages
• Over 200+ Photos
• Formats:
• Hardcover
• Limited Special Slipcase Edition
• Limited Edition Slipcase Edition with 168-page Interview Book
• Release Date: January 2026

"This book is written to be heard - an instant library of rock 'n' roll canon-fire at 33 1/3 from a revolutionary decade still wreaking the right havoc. Even if you loved these records at the time, you don't know all of this richly reported chaos. Everyone else: Your future starts here - loud and fast."  –  David Fricke, MOJO/Sirius XM Radio/former Senior Editor, Rolling Stone Magazine

''Brother Tim shows an enthusiasm in his stories that mirrors the energy of the music and artists he writes about. Colorful, direct, never overbearing, and at a fast pace, which is just how the words should be!"  – Keith Morris, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and OFF!

“Tim is the real deal — a screaming, snarling, spiky encyclopedia of punk. This book is essential reading for all fans of anti-establishment music history.”  – Bob Mould, Hüsker Dü, Sugar

“Tim has performed the Herculean task of describing the messy, sweeping history of punk told in more than 140 of the genre’s most vital recordings of the 1970s. Guaranteed to be a fascinating read (and song list) for every counterculturist and music freak.”  – Penelope Houston, The Avengers

“Tim Stegall is one of those crazy writers (like me) who are so committed to rock 'n' roll, punk rock and their history that he deserves your attention and respect. So check this out! Ya might learn something.”  –John Holmstrom, PUNK Magazine 

"The revolutionary spirit of the first punk era is alive in the pages of this book, just when we need it!  More than enough deep detail here to re-ignite those who were there, and plenty of high octane inspiration to kick start those who will bring the next phase."   – Deniz Tek, Radio Birdman

Book Description

Punk rock did not begin in New York City in 1975, any more than it started in London in 1976. Punk was a spontaneous eruption of fans of a handful of outsider American rock ‘n’ roll bands — The Velvet Underground, MC5, The Stooges, New York Dolls — forming the band they heard in their heads, because they were not hearing it in the outside world. They happened virtually simultaneously, before the groundswell became unignorable: Ramones, Patti Smith and Richard Hell in NYC; Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned in London; Buzzcocks in Manchester; The Saints in Brisbane, Australia; Radio Birdman in Sydney, Australia. Whether by Legs McNeil at Punk Magazine or Caroline Coon at England’s Melody Maker, the music got branded with the name Creem writer Lester Bangs coined for what’s now known as ‘60s garage: “punk rock.”

Anarchy In The Studio: Punk Music 1970-1979 —The Rise Of Punk Rock is veteran punk journalist/historian/musician Tim Stegall’s comprehensive ‘70s punk history. Based around a selection of over 140+ of the best punk albums of the ‘70s, Anarchy In The Studio is the rare punk book that is not regional in focus. The early protopunk era not only takes in the aforementioned American influences such as The Stooges and the Dolls, but English forerunners such as Third World War, Pink Fairies, Mott The Hoople and The Hollywood Brats. All of the biggest names of the ‘70s are here: Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Dead Boys, Richard Hell and The Voidoids, The Damned, The Slits, Buzzcocks, Generation X. Equal attention is given to regional heroes such as X, DMZ, The Weirdos, Pure Hell, Death, The Nuns, The Bags, Avengers, and The Dils.

D.O.A., Teenage Head, The Diodes, and The Dishrags roared outta Canada, one of the best yet most criminally unsung punk scenes in the world. Australia is given special recognition via The Saints, Radio Birdman, Victims and Boys Next Door, predecessors of The Birthday Party. Art-punks and post-punks such as Suicide, DEVO, Screamers, Teenage Jesus and The Jerks, and Public Image Ltd. and The Pop Group are given their due, as well as idiosyncratic acts such as Chrome, Metal Urbain and The Cramps. Hardcore’s earliest rumblings filter in through the first chords struck by Middle Class, Black Flag, D.O.A., Bad Brains and the Germs. 

Additionally, an 168-page interview book is available as an option with the slipcase edition, featuring recent interviews with over 30+ punk heroes of the 1970’s, including Richard Hell, Wayne Kramer (MC5–one of his final interviews), Danny Fields, Steve Diggle (Buzzcocks), Bob “Derwood” Andrews (Generation X), Alice Bag (The Bags), James Williamson (Iggy And The Stooges), Brian James (The Damned), Wreckless Eric, Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols, Rich Kids), John Lydon (Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd.), Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, and many more.

Chock full of inside tales, origin stories, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and little-known facts, Anarchy In The Studio details the organic rise of DIY culture, spawning punk rock/fashion/media/literature/record labels/more. Beginning with MC5’s Back In The USA and The Stooges’ Fun House in 1970 and ending with The Clash’s London Calling and The Pretenders’ self-titled debut in 1979, Anarchy In The Studio tells the story of punk rock, 12 inches at a time.

About The Author

Tim Stegall is an Austin-based music journalist, author, editor, and punk historian whose work spans four decades of documenting rock 'n' roll's most volatile underground. Since 1985, he has written for Flipside, Maximum Rocknroll, Your Flesh, Alternative Press, The Austin Chronicle, The San Antonio Express-News, Ugly Things, and PUNK Magazine, bringing deep archival knowledge and firsthand perspective to the music's evolving mythology.

He has penned liner notes for landmark releases by The Heartbreakers, Iggy Pop & James Williamson, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros (earning a Grammy consideration for Best Liner Notes), the New York Dolls, Red Rockers, The Undead, and others, and has contributed editorial work to books including Punk: The Illustrated History of a Music Revolution by Adrian Boot and Chris Salewicz (Copy Editor), and Phoenix: A Memoir by Steve Davis (Editor). 

His Substack, The Tim "Napalm" Stegall Substack (https://timnapalmstegall.substack.com), continues his mission of chronicling punk's past, present, and its culture's aftershocks through essays, interviews, deep-dives into research, and an unapologetic attitude. A punk rock musician since the mid-'80s, he has led his "fundamentalist punk band", The Hormones, since 1986, carrying the spirit he writes about onto stages for nearly forty years. 

Anarchy In The Studio: Punk Music 1970-1979, The Rise of Punk Rock builds on decades of firsthand reporting, reflecting a life spent inside the music it chronicles.

About The Designer

Paul Palmer-Edwards is an acclaimed book designer, writer and artist, living in the UK. During his early career in the 1970s he was responsible for once making coffee for Brian Eno as well as creating artworks for album covers and music ads. Throughout the 1980s and 90s he performed with various bands and despite being voted second-best on Gary Crowley's Demo Clash, ultimately fame proved to be elusive. In 2000 he co-founded, what went on to become, a successful London design company that specialised in publishing, of which he was a Director for 20 years. During that time, he received industry recognition for his book designs, including two International Society of Typographic Design, ‘Certificates of Excellence’ for Cosmos (Quercus) and The Art of Punk (Omnibus Press) and his work has been published in various design manuals, including Grids (Ava Acedemia), Logotype (Laurence King) and Diagrams (Rotovision). He is the co-author of The Art of British Rock (Frances Lincoln) and his books have been awarded numerous accolades, including 'Best Non-Fiction Lifestyle Book' at the British Book Awards and 'Drink Book of the Year' (twice) at The Fortnum & Mason Book Awards.