It was a delight to host musician, writer and educator Angela Jaeger at The Roscoe Collective on August 28th. Fans of both American and British punk music and memories of the NYC music scene from the late 1970s came together to hear Angela read from her diaries dated 1977-1981.
A music enthusiast living in New York’s East Village, Angela’s story unfolds chronologically, starting in 1977, charting her late adolescence in tandem with her transition from observer to participant. Gradually becoming a nightly fixture of her neighborhood’s vibrant underground rock milieu at CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, by 1978 she had continued to fulfill her punk fantasy abroad.
She followed the Clash on a tour across England, finally returning home in 1979 to start her own band. Angela encountered an impressive cast of characters on her adventures, including Lydia Lunch, Joe Strummer, Billy Idol, Klaus Nomi, and Sid Vicious.
Published by the Hat & Beard Press, I Feel Famous: Punk Diaries 1977-1981 touches on a variety of themes including identity politics, downtown NY, Anglophilia, fandom, fame, and fashion. Contrasting the stark black and white of 1970s New York with the exuberant beat-up color of a decaying London and its disenchanted youth, a lost era is brought back to life through a dedicated fan’s own reportage. Creative, funny and endlessly cool, the result is an unprecedented perspective into an ever-popular moment in contemporary cultural history.
Angela Jaeger is a singer, writer, and teacher who founded the late 70's No Wave band the Stare Kits and has recorded with Pigbag, Bush Tetras, Trevor Horn, David Cunningham, and The Monochrome Set, amongst others. A born and bred New Yorker who has lived in Barcelona and London, she currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
