LEGENDS OF ROCK by photographer Joe Stevens
as told to our own Lisa Carver

1966. I took two beautiful Greenwich Village girls back to my hotel room, and one of them knew Janis Joplin. She made some calls, and Janis came up. Janis was enamored of this girl, and they retired to the bathroom. Came out an hour later. She was all pimply, Janis. She was just a kid. Whatever happened to pimples? Remember pimples? There were lots of pimples, lots of sex, scarves, patchouli, pot, speed. Janis was terribly friendly, and not aware of what was about to happen to her.

I spent a lot of time around the Pistols, and except for Steve Jones, they didn’t seem to be into sex at all. In fact they resented all those girls hanging around. Rotten was very asexual. Like most British guys. “All you hippie girls care about is sex.”

The Clash, though, would bang your car. The horniest guys that play music on earth at that time.

Joe Steven’s website

First time I met Lydia Lunch was in CBGBs in the mid-70s. There was a pool table in the back, and Lydia was playing pool with Lou Reed’s future wife Sylvie Moralas (SP?). Two tough punk ladies from the east side. I had a really nice sweater on. Lydia knew I was a photographer from London, she thought I was a Brit. She wanted me to shoot pool but I said, “No, I want to take pictures.” She said, “No, no – you’re gonna play pool, you’re gonna shoot pictures, and you’re gonna do what I tell you to do.” And she grabbed my very nice sweater and starting pulling it and she tore it apart! Just ruined it. And we became friends for life.