Research Catalog

Title

When can I fly? / by Michael Belfer with Will York ; foreword by Jon Savage.

Author

Belfer, Michael

Publication

[Chicago] : HoZac Books, [2020]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• York, Will
• Savage, Jon

Description

224 pages : illustrations (some color); 21 cm

Summary

"Michael Belfer- one of the SF scene's earliest progenitors, who straddled two very different worlds playing guitar in two of the Bay Area's most creative musical groups, The Sleepers and Tuxedomoon. By far two of the most unique bands in the early San Francisco musical landscape. When Can I Fly? is a harrowing memoir filled with stories encapsulating the seedy side of the San Francisco punk and post-punk scene in great detail, from the opening of the Mabuhay to the closing of the Savoy Tivoli and every back alley overdose in between. Tracing the earliest roots of The Sleepers in Palo Alto in 1975-76, Belfer was privvy to witnessing the nascent SF punk scene development as his bandmate Ricky Williams (aka Ricky Tractor) was already playing drums in the first lineup of CRIME at the time. This memoir offers a glimpse into the inner workings of the complications of street-level avant-garde musicianship, as well as the drug empire that was fueling the fires within the movers & shakers of the late 1970s in seething detail, and on a few occasions with grotesque precision. What do Herb Alpert, 'Joe Boxer' briefs, Will Shatter's secret salsa ingredient, Celestial Seasonings tea, and HEROIN all have in common? They all somehow intersect with Michael Belfer amongst the pages in When Can I Fly? - and man, what a ride! Combining this lurid scene of drug-soaked denigration with the most mind-bending experimental sounds of the Bay Area during the era, When Can I Fly? portrays the side of the SF punk story lost in the shadows of addiction and compulsion, and almost even breaches into 'Breaking Bad' territory at some points. Fortunately, When Can I Fly? has been blessed with a plethora of incredible and previously unseen photography from the Richard Peterson archive (Search & Destroy) as well as a wealth of rare flyers and photos by James Stark, Ruby Ray, and Sue Brisk"--

Alternative Title

When can I fly? : the Sleepers, Tuxedomoon & beyond

Subject

• Belfer, Michael
• Sleepers (Musical group)
• Tuxedomoon (Musical group)
• Punk rock musicians > San Francisco
• Rock groups > San Francisco
• Punk rock music > San Francisco
• Punk rock music
• Punk rock musicians
• Rock groups
• California > San Francisco

Bibliography (note)

• Discography: pages 222-223

Contents

Palo Alto -- They killed Flipper -- Dirk, the Mab, and Tuxedomoon -- Big Dave, Crazy Charlie, & the purple crank -- Escape to New York City -- Scream with a view -- Second trip to New York: 1980 -- Kidnapping Ricky -- The Sleeper (try to) take Manhattan -- Poor Ricky -- The clocks of paradise -- The cold lake -- Life in Brussels -- Drugs & self-medication -- The drug empire -- The DEA bust -- The stairway incident -- Life after death and moving to California -- The lesson object -- "Selling out" -- Epilogue.

ISBN

• 9781735998503
• 1735998508

OCLC

• 1246787566
• on1246787566

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library