the inside story on the punk chaos of The Plasmatics
Go behind the scenes of a chaotic punk era through the eyes of a steady drummer amidst exploding cars, smashed televisions, and legal battles. This intimate collection of diaries captures the raw madness of a legendary musical phenomenon!
Alongside the singer Wendy O. Williams, lead guitarist Richie Stotts, and bassist Chosei Funahara (later to be replaced by bassist Jean Beauvoir), Stu Deutsch was the original drummer for the American punk and heavy metal band The Plasmatics.
He performed with them during their formative and most iconic years from 1978 to 1981, playing on the band's debut album, ‘New Hope for the Wretched’ (1980), and the early ‘Vice Squad' EP Recordings and each of The Stiff (UK) single releases.
The Plasmatics toured The USA and Europe extensively and were known as the ‘Notorious’ group from New York City. While their first gigs originated from the legendary Bowery Club, ‘CBGB’s’, The Plasmatics were never associated with the other CBGB’s bands from that era like The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, or the Dictators. Instead, they distinguished themselves with spectacular and often controversial stage shows which famously included blowing up cars and chain sawing guitars, as well as pyro stage effects, exploding amps, falling lights, and Wendy smashing TVs and destroying things on-stage.
The band blew up but faced obscenity trials, but all the while Stu Deutsch remained a ‘reliable professional who kept his head down and focused purely on the sonic execution’. He kept diaries, flyers, and notes of all the crazy events along the way. With a foreword by award-winning journalist Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta, cover notes by Plasmatics guitarist Richie Stotts, and many before unseen photographs, flyers and reviews from the time, this is Stu’s story of The Plasmatics, from being right there, on the inside of a punk phenomenon.
Officially publishing 6th November 2026, you can now pre-order your first print copy directly from the publishers, Earth Island Books, to receive it on or before the publishing date.
Otherwise, the book will be available locally to you, worldwide, in stores and online resellers, from 6/11/26 onwards.
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