PHOTO: JULIA GORTON | I recently sat down with Angela Jaeger to talk about growing up in NYC and her newly released punk rock diaries entitled I Feel Famous. Angela entered the scene as a teen in the iconic summer of ’77 and dove in head first. She was everywhere, saw everyone, was friends with everyone in the punk scene, and is much beloved by all.
I Feel Famous: Punk Diaries 1977-1981 is a girl’s coming of age story set to the pulse of punk rock. The book tracks 17-year-old Angela Jaeger’s exciting discovery of punk music and its accompanying lifestyle in 1977. A music enthusiast living in New York’s East Village, Angela’s story unfolds chronologically, charting her late adolescence in tandem with her transition from observer of the nascent punk scene to eager 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.
You can find I Feel Famous where most books are sold. I encourage you to go grab it. Reading it will transport you to your teenage bedroom no matter what era you come from, but this one brings me back to dreaming about stopping at pay phones to make calls, scary East Village bathrooms, and motorcycle boots worn with everything.
Radar features discussions with artists and industry leaders who are creators and devotees of music and is produced by Dylan Hundley and The Vinyl District. Dylan Hundley is an artist and performer, and the co-creator and lead singer of Lulu Lewis and all things at Darling Black. She co-curates and hosts Salon Lulu which is a New York based multidisciplinary performance series. She is also a cast member of the iconic New York film Metropolitan.
