Harley Flanagan provides a fascinating memoir: a homeless child prodigy and family friend of Andy Warhol and Allen Ginsberg, at a young age he became close to many stars of the early punk rock scene such as Joe Strummer of The Clash and was taught to play bass by members of the famed black punk band Bad Brains. He went on to start the notorious hardcore band Cro-Mags.

From the memoir’s introduction by American Hardcore‘s Steven Blush: “Harley Flanagan is not like you or me. Most of us grew up in relative safety and security. Harley came up like a feral animal, fending for himself in the ’70s Lower East Side jungle of crime, drugs, abuse and poverty. By age 10 he was a downtown star at Max’s Kansas City and CBGB, drumming in his aunt’s punk band The Stimulators, and socializing with Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Cleveland’s Dead Boys. Everyone thought it was so cute, but it wasn’t.”

Harley was never shy: making friends with important figures like Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, defending himself in street battles, and, most recently, finding media play and court battles after former band members betrayed their one-time friend and bandmate.

“Harley Flanagan’s incredible story is not just the history of New York hardcore, of which he is a founding father, but a history of New York itself.  It’s all here, an amazing series of unlikely coincidences, catastrophes, accomplishments and associations.  Chances are if it happened in New York and it was important and interesting, Harley Flanagan was somewhere in the room.  If you care anything about music history, punk rock, hardcore or just a ripping good story, this book is the punch in the face you want and need.” – Anthony Bourdain

Bustin’ Balls tells the strange but true story of World Team Tennis (1974-1978) that attempted to transform the prim and proper individual sport of tennis into a rowdy blue-collar league. Billie Jean King and her partners merged feminism and civil rights with queer lifestyle, pop culture and a progressive political agenda to create a dazzling platform for the finest tennis players of the day to become overnight stars.

Iconic trailblazer King infamously played a hyped 1973 Battle of the Sexes against Bobby Riggs proving definitively that women athletes were competitive equals and changed the sports landscape forever. The vision of the World Tennis League with its mixed-sex teams and looser rules that encouraged fast and aggressive play, propelled tennis into a television fixture and the players into household names.

Evonne Goolagong who fought racism throughout her life was the first indigenous woman to win at Wimbledon and a member of the Pittsburgh Triangles was America’s introduction to a person of Aboriginal heritage. Chris Evert of the Los Angeles Strings became America’s sweetheart. Billie Jean King played for the Philadelphia Freedoms at the height of Bicentennial fervor and was feted by Elton John in the song, “Philadelphia Freedom”. And there’s no forgetting the bad boys of the court! Tabloids followed the nightlife exploits and made pin-ups of Ilie Nastase, Jimmy Connors, and Vitas Gerulitis.

Relive the most fun tennis ever had in the photo-filled history, Bustin’ Balls

Expanded Edition (original release here)

“We’re not ashamed of a little hairspray and makeup. We’ve always said it takes a real man to wear makeup.”?Bret Michaels, Poison

There was a time?not so long ago?when pomp and spandex dominated MTV and pop radio playlists. Nearly 20 years after the first edition, people can’t get enough hair metal!  The new expanded edition of American Hair Metal visually celebrates this orgy of flamboyance, androgyny, and animal magnetism, of big-haired alpha males and the beautiful women who surrounded them. Interest in hair metal is currently exploding?witness arena-level revival tours, reissue compilations, and documentaries and docudramas that revisit the excesses of the eighties and nineties.

Hundreds of striking photographs are complimented by hedonistic ephemera from bands like Poison, Cinderella, Mötley Crüe, Skid Row, and Stryper. Wild quotes from major players such as David Lee Roth, Jon Bon Jovi, Sebastian Bach, Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, Bret Michaels, Don Dokken, and many unsung heroes. The expanded edition includes more photos, more quotes, and a new introduction by Chip Z’Nuff (Enuff Z’Nuff) and an interview with Rik Rox (WASP, Steeler).

The Second Edition of the “definitive work on one of rock’s most important eras” (-Juxtapoz), has over 100 new pieces of artwork, hundreds of new band bios and a radically expanded discography. The first edition, which became the Sony Classics released documentary of the same name, was 328 pages; the new edition clocks in at 408 pages.

According to the Los Angeles Times, American Hardcore is the “definitive treatment of hardcore punk,” changing the way we look at punk rock. And according to Paper magazine, American Hardcore sets the record straight about the last great American subculture.”