While most teenagers daydreamed of summer break while playing rock 'n' roll in their bedrooms, fourteen-year-old Paul Zone danced away his youth in underground clubs with those very same rock stars, exploring the concrete playground with actors, drag queens, and drug addicts. The mid-1970s was a time when the death of glam and the birth of punk rock collided in a celebration of glitter and grunge, and Zone had a front-row seat to it all. In this incredible photo memoir, Zone shares personal images that have never been released to the public alongside memories of the era, all through the eyes of a youngster whose reverential regard to his subjects made him a regular fixture in the lives of these greats. Zone captures the joys and the fantasy of the New York underground with a genuine intimacy, making this volume a worthy tribute to the legends of underground rock royalty.

Paul Zone spent his early teenage years photographing his friends at Max's Kansas City, Mercer Arts Center, Club 82, and CBGB during New York's Glam Rock era and the early days of Punk. He became the resident DJ at Max's and, with his brothers Miki and Mandy, was in a band called The Fast. In the 1980s, Paul and Miki formed the electronic duo Man 2 Man, recording the international pop hit Male Stripper. Although Paul's photography has been exhibited in Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Canada, and the United States, Playground is the first comprehensive assemblage of his personal images from the American punk era. Jake Austen is the editor of Roctober magazine, author of TV-A-Go-Go: Rock Music on Television from American Bandstand to American Idol, co-author of Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip Hop, and editor of Flying Saucers Rock n Roll. He also produces the all-ages dance show, Chic-A-Go-Go. Debbie Harry and Chris Stein are the founders of the punk rock band Blondie and helped pioneer the American New Wave scene of the 1970s.