John Joseph McGowan has been a lot of things in his life, a drug dealer, brawler, crack head, scam artist, hardcore legend, cult member, spiritual pilgrim, storyteller and more. He’s hated by many in the New York City scene and loved by perhaps an equal amount. He’s opinionated, honest and unwilling to compromise his beliefs. He is also the author of one of the funniest and most disturbing punk autobiographies in recent years.
If he had only been the lead singer of the legendary Cro-Mags, his book would get enough attention for those who want to know more about the minutia of the eighties and nineties hardcore scene in New York, But John Joseph was only a Cro-Mag for a part of his life and in his new autobiography, Evolution of a Cro-Magnon, John Joseph not only talks about the years he spent singing for the Cro-Mags and working as a roadie for the Bad Brains, but he also reveals with unflinching, hilarious and sometimes horrifically sad anecdotes about a life lived in foster homes, institutions and the streets.
Source John Joseph McGowan has been a lot of things in his life, a drug dealer, brawler, crack head, scam artist, hardcore legend, cult member, spiritual pilgrim, storyteller and more. He’s hated by many in the New York City scene and loved by perhaps an equal amount. He’s opinionated, honest and unwilling to compromise his beliefs. He is also the author of one of the funniest and most disturbing punk autobiographies in recent years.
If he had only been the lead singer of the legendary Cro-Mags, his book would get enough attention for those who want to know more about the minutia of the eighties and nineties hardcore scene in New York, But John Joseph was only a Cro-Mag for a part of his life and in his new autobiography, Evolution of a Cro-Magnon, John Joseph not only talks about the years he spent singing for the Cro-Mags and working as a roadie for the Bad Brains, but he also reveals with unflinching, hilarious and sometimes horrifically sad anecdotes about a life lived in foster homes, institutions and the streets.