Dave Thompson

Walter Lure

My Life in Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers, in the Words of the Last Man Standing

To Hell and Back

There have been many books written about Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, but only by people who weren’t there. Walter Lure was—from the band's chaotic beginnings on New York's Lower East Side, through a now-legendary UK tour with the Sex Pistols and the Clash, and on to a yearlong stay in London—eyewitness and midwife to the birth of UK punk. Now, he tells his story in To Hell and Back, a thrilling ride through the clubs and dives of two continents, in the company of one of the most notorious junkies in rock 'n' roll history. Drawing from his own contemporary journals, Lure paints a vivid portrait of life in both cities, during perhaps the most crucial musical uprising of the past forty years…the music, the characters, the clothes, the fights, the drugs, the orgies, the lot. Lure lays bare his own battle with drugs, and reflects upon his life after the band's split—rising to become a Wall Street fixture yet still finding time to make music.

Alongside Richard Hell, Walter Lure is the last surviving member of seminal punk band Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, and the only one who was there for the full stretch. From New York to London and back again, Lure's autobiography unflinchingly explores both the sensational story of the band and its lurid legacy.

Walter Lure

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