Journalists Ann Summa & Jeff Spurrier on the Chinatown Punk Scene

When photographer Ann Summa and journalist Jeff Spurrier arrived in Los Angeles via Tokyo in the early 1980s, they hadn't yet heard of the punk or British invasion trends. Having been covering the music scene for Rolling Stone in Asia, they were ready for a change. They found it in Chinatown's Main Plaza.

What they discovered was "trans-formative" because punk captured the essence of L.A.'s disenfranchised (and ethnic) youth. As Jeff told us during our interview both he and Summa covered the scene - of mostly unsigned bands - for the Los Angeles Times music column for a couple of years, becoming the public eyes and ears of an era and a movement that only now is getting credit. Ann Summa's book on the history of Los Angeles punk, The Beautiful & The Damned , was published in the fall of 2010, and guess who owns the first copy? No other than fashion designer Marc Jacobs.

The Roots of L.A. Punk
"Movement of punk to L.A. helped develop and direct both careers."

The Chinatown Music Wars
"Ann Summa and Jeff Spurrier discuss the rivalry between the Hong Kong Cafe and Madame Wong's."

The Punk Ethos
"Ann Summa and Jeff Spurrier discuss the ethics and assumed background of punks in Chinatown."