A sleazy, neon- and grease-stuffed chronicle of London’s rock scene during the pivotal year of 1972—from Marc Bolan to the New York Dolls.
 
Elvis, Eddie, Chuck, Gene, Buddy, and Little Richard were the original rockers. Dylan, the Beatles, the Stones, and the Who formed rock’s second coming. As the 1960s turned into the 1970s, the crucial question was who would lead rock ’n’ roll’s third generation?
 
Pin-Ups 1972 tracks the London music scene during this pivotal year, all Soho sleaze, neon, grease, and leather. It begins with the dissolution of the underground and the chart success of Marc Bolan. T. Rextasy formed the backdrop to Lou Reed and Iggy Pop’s British exile and their collaborations with David Bowie. This was the year Bowie became a star and redefined the teenage wasteland. In his wake followed Roxy Music and the New York Dolls, future-tense rock ’n’ roll revivalists. Bowie, Bolan, Iggy, Lou, Roxy, and the Dolls—pin-ups for a new generation.

Peter Stanfield’s books include Maximum Movies: Pulp Fictions, Hoodlum Movies, and A Band with Built-In Hate: The Who from Pop Art to Punk, the last also published by Reaktion Books. Music is integral to his work, be it the blue yodel of a singing cowboy or the chug ’n’ churn of a biker soundtrack.