Black Postcards: A Musical Romance

by Dean Wareham (Goodreads author)

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246 ratings, 3.75 average rating, 92 reviews (more data...)

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5		17%
4		48%
3		27%
2		5%
1		1%

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published

March 13th 2008 by Penguin Press HC, The

binding

Hardcover, 352 pages

isbn

1594201552 (isbn13: 9781594201554)

description

A bewitching account of the lures, torments, and rewards of making and performing some of the most interesting music in some of the most iconic indie ...more

[close] A bewitching account of the lures, torments, and rewards of making and performing some of the most interesting music in some of the most iconic indie bands (Galaxie 500, Luna) in recent memory

What do you do if you're an outsider with a funny accent coming of age in alien bastions of privilege in New York City and Cambridge, Massachusetts? If you're a certain sort of kid, you front a rock band. And if you're Dean Wareham, you end up founding a rock band, Galaxie 500, that continues to enjoy what can be called notable postmortem cult success. And then you start a new band, Luna, which enjoys even more spectacular, albeit still "cult" success (which means they don't play your songs on mainstream radio and you never crack MTV), until, some fifteen years after it began, that band reaches its natural end too. And then you write a book about it all: an unsentimental journey through the great, world-wide indiemusic landscape.

A wickedly honest and unsparing account of a journey through the music world-the artistry and the hustle, the effortless success and the high living as well as the bitter pills and self-inflicted wounds-by a brilliant and fearless participant-observer, Black Postcards is absurdly rich in rewards for anyone who was ever in a band or just took an interest in indie music over the past twenty years-a sort of Kitchen Confidential written by a different species of front man. Black Postcards also captures what has happened, for good and ill, to the entire ecosystem of popular music over this time of radical change, a time when categories like "indie" and "alternative" started to morph beyond all recognition. Rolling Stone called Dean Wareham's band Luna "the greatest band you've never heard of " and named its album Penthouse one of its 100 greatest rock albums of our time. Black Postcards is also about what it's like to have to pretend to be civil as you answer the same helpful question over and over again, "Why aren't you guys more famous?" Why indeed? [close]

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M/T Reading Friends: april 2009 - sandi	3	45	05/09/2009 04:49PM

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04/24/08

Steven rated it:

This book is everything you want from a rock n roll page-turner. Dean writes in a way that makes him feel like he could easily be your friend- he's flippant yet affable. He doesn't hold back on his opinions about other bands, the industry, his friends, and his loves or trysts, which is exactly what you want from this sort of book. None of that candy-coating, boring placating stuff that famous people tend to do.

Perhaps it's called a Musical Romance because while reading this you ...more

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01/07/09

Stop added it

bookshelves: interviewees

Read in April, 2008

Read the STOP SMILING interview with Black Postcards author Dean Wareham:

Dean Wareham, singer and primary songwriter for Galaxie 500 and later Luna, has written a different kind of rock story — the indie-rock underdog’s life story. Sure, there’s sex and drugs and rock ’n’ roll, but it’s viewed through the eyes of a musician who, though lauded and revered, never quite made it in the unrealistic sense that MTV and Clear Channel — and even his own former label Elektra, part ...more

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04/20/09

Surfing Moose rated it:

Read in April, 2009

I enjoyed this book but was disappointed by the omission of one piece of trivia. At the last show in Vancouver Dean looked up at the balcony and saw around 15 people (myself and Tim J included) all standing on the shelf against the back wall, which is used just for drinks. He did a double take and a perplexed look on his face. I guess from his angle it looked like we were all standing on the railing. It was the one and only time I ever saw Luna and do miss them. As Tim J said, "Man they are...more

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05/24/08

Simone rated it:

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Simone by: We Sometimes Read book club
recommends it for: music fans

I had not heard of Dean Wareham or Luna when I started reading this book. I took it on as a bit of a burden simply because it was this month's book club book and I try to be a good member, even though reading is not compulsory.

I have to say though, this book won me over pretty much right away. There was a great ease with Wareham's story telling that kept me engaged and interested without a lot of great explosive events to keep it going. I really liked that, for something I had no int...more

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06/26/08

Vendaface rated it:

Read in July, 2008

Dean Wareham's account of the music industry in the late 80s, 90s, and early 00s, and his personal experiences with it throughout those years makes for a riveting read. His recording and tour travelogs are flushed out into a smooth and engaging narrative. Not only has Dean helped create some of the most beautiful and richly layered music my ears have ever encountered, but he proves that he can write a solid memoir that stands on its own. His obvious intelligence, frank grumpy humor, appropriate ...more

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03/16/08

Sarah rated it:

Read in March, 2008

Written by Dean from Luna, which is one of my favorite all time bands. After reading this book (which I scarfed down in one day), I feel like I know Dean as an intimiate friend - all of his life was opened to full display, including the drugs, sex and rock & roll. I recommend this book for folks interested in reading a first hand account of indie vs major label deals. Dean doesn't glorify indie labels, but he does glorify the 'Neil Diamond'.

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01/16/09

Will rated it:

bookshelves: bio, cool-music

Read in February, 2009

This is a good book. It doesn't hurt that I idolize this artist. Galaxie 500 and Luna are amazing bands. Amazing in a slow tempo, mellow, curious lyric sort of way. His writing style is dead dead-pan with clever insights composed in a minimal way. Just like his singing voice. He's an extremely talented guy and it shows in his prose. He's lived a pretty interesting and semi-charmed life. He went to Harvard and borrowed Conan O'Brien's drum set for his first band. His band Luna is huge in Spain (s...more

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03/27/08

Amy rated it:

Read in March, 2008

eh. a singer/songwriter writes his memoir. he quotes his own lyrics. i would never do that if i were writing my memoir. he describes being given cookies after a bookstore gig as "infantile". what a grumpy pants.

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12/29/08

Kyla rated it:

Read in December, 2008

Coloured by the fact that I read this on a sleepless night, pondering the world and immortality, it hit me like a ton of bricks. He sounds kinda like a jerk, but an honest jerk and who isn't a jerk when they're honest? The detail (shows and what he ate and who was there - must have been keeping detailed diaries all along) mixed with the big picture of just how completely music and culture has changed kept me up and thinking all night. Not good thoughts, but thinking. Much better than you might t...more

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11/03/08

Marc Horton rated it:

bookshelves: rock-and-roll

recommends it for: indie rock fans

Many musicians have made careers through the unabashed thievery of the sound/look of the Velvet Underground, but few have been as celebrated as Galaxie 500 and Luna. Dean Wareham's erstwhile memoir (based on tour journals) is an account of nearly two decades of touring the world's rock dives as a founder of both bands, and is notable not only for its almost photographic recall of the bands, gigs, places and hangers-on of the time, but also his unwavering honesty about the psychic toll and prolon...more

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08/05/08

Luke rated it:

Read in September, 2008

Just finished this last night and really enjoyed it. Wareham's not an amazing writer, but I liked the spareness of the writing and its down-to-earth wistfulness. It certainly is not a glamorous portrayal of life in a small rock band. It kind of made me really glad to have the life I have now.

The anecdotes about touring w/ a rock band are the real treasure here. In all my years of music obsession and concert-going, I never once imagined band members sleeping on the floor of a strange...more

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06/26/08

Kirstie rated it:

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Kirstie by: Brad
recommends it for: fans of Luna, Galaxie 500, Dean and Britta, music autobiographies

This book gives a great deal of insight into the mind of Dean Wareham, lead singer of Galaxie 500, Luna, co lead in Dean and Britta. It reads much more like an autobiography of a person in bands than anything else. Like true autobiographies, it begins in childhood back in New Zealand. Dean talks about his family, most notably his brother who gets into all sorts of trouble throughout his life, and all of the music he listens to. That was one of the fun things about the book-we get to see how h...more This book gives a great deal of insight into the mind of Dean Wareham, lead singer of Galaxie 500, Luna, co lead in Dean and Britta. It reads much more like an autobiography of a person in bands than anything else. Like true autobiographies, it begins in childhood back in New Zealand. Dean talks about his family, most notably his brother who gets into all sorts of trouble throughout his life, and all of the music he listens to. That was one of the fun things about the book-we get to see how his music tastes evolved just as later on we see how some of the lyrics came about.

Dean does give his side on the breakup of Galaxie 500, in case you're wondering. He also talks about his wife and son and his affair with Britta Phillips. He deconstructs the idea of the classic rock star life and yet most of the elements are there-he's visiting glamorous places, doing drugs, having one night stands and the finally hooking up with Britta. Really, the only thing missing is that he doesn't have much money and Luna isn't selling out clubs regularly until their last farewell tour. Other themes include major label vs. minor labels, big bands more as corporations, and the recording experience.

I think one of the most difficult things about the book is that I just wanted Dean to be a better person..probably as much as he wants to be. I didn't want him to do tons of drugs and to cheat on his wife. It's probably true that he wasn't doing drugs all of the time, just when it became available in certain cities, but it still bothered me. Dean is an incredibly intelligent person, and that's apparent, but he's a very conflicted person morally.

The novel ends with the farewell tour of Luna and it's an incredibly honest ending besides. There's a good sense of closure with the ending band wise because of it. Still lingering is his personal conflicts within himself, though. Obviously, he's with Britta now and still makes music but I wonder about his relationship with his first wife and his son and I hope that has been resolved. I think there are so many good qualities to Dean, intelligence, talent, sense of humor and I wouldn't have known much about this just from watching him on stage. Though I did appreciate Luna as a live band (I saw them once at the Metro and once at The Abbey, then Dean and Britta at Schubas and then Lakeshore Theater), it's much more revealing to hear about his personal story. It takes alot of guts and honesty to come out with this, anyhow.(less)

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06/23/08

Matt rated it:

Read in June, 2008

Maybe I'm being too harsh with my review, but I don't think so-- many of the features that would make you think a Dean Wareham book a lay-up of pure pleasure are missing here. The man is known through his lyrics for being funny and suave, quick with a good natured sizing up and pinning down, an acute social observer, but there's little of that here, aside from some occasionally funny asides, like comparing Eddie Vedder's vocal style to Cher's. But there are far too few moments like that in this ...more

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06/03/08

Julie rated it:

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: fans of Luna, Galaxie 500, Wareham, indie rock fans, people who have been in a band

I think only a fan of Galaxie 500/Luna would give this book 4 stars, but I think any rock fan would enjoy it some.

A few things I wish I could say to Wareham:

1) I don't have a lot of patience for people who leave their family when they have a small child. I wish you had given more of a reason than "I had a crush on Britta." And I think you're fooling yourself when you say your romance started after the Boulder, CO show. I said to my husband that night that t...more

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05/31/08

El rated it:

bookshelves: misc-nonfiction

Read in May, 2008

Dean Wareham - the frontman for Galaxie 500, Luna and most recently, Dean & Britta - has compiled his thoughts and diary excerpts since the beginning of his interest and participation in music history. His autobiography is quite frank, from the break-up of Galaxie 500 in the early 90s to the break-up of his marriage due to the hot bassist he had hired for Luna. Throughout he drops names of some big names in the music industry and others not so well known, making the read both interesting and s...more Dean Wareham - the frontman for Galaxie 500, Luna and most recently, Dean & Britta - has compiled his thoughts and diary excerpts since the beginning of his interest and participation in music history. His autobiography is quite frank, from the break-up of Galaxie 500 in the early 90s to the break-up of his marriage due to the hot bassist he had hired for Luna. Throughout he drops names of some big names in the music industry and others not so well known, making the read both interesting and slightly pretentious. It then leads one to wonder why he felt the urge to write a memoir at this point in his life anyhow - he's not particularly a good memoirist, his writing leaves a lot to be desired, he's grumpy and bitter and often very defensive. But it's like a train wreck, I couldn't turn away. He did not describe a glamorous rockstar lifestyle, but did manage to include your typical rockstar behaviors (infidelity, drugs, battling egos, etc.).

He remembers where all the crappy hotels are, where random happenings occurred, all of which led to the impossibility of putting it down. He spoke lovingly of some of the places he has toured, including Pittsburgh (though the only real mention is that we have three rivers and a bunch of bridges, all a different color - but he liked it here nonetheless) and, surprisingly to me, Columbia, Missouri which I left in which to come here. He mentions Mojo's Roadhouse and I actually felt a pang of sadness as I remembered I found out about Luna's show at Mojo's in 2002 the day after the show. He went on to mention how the next day he walked around Columbia, which he described as a "pretty college town" - and then I remembered that it is pretty until you live there for 15 years and then it loses its novelty.

I enjoyed the book. Through all the black cloudness over his head, it's evident he loves his music and he has loved the process in which he has grown. On a personal level his different musical endeavors have touched me in different ways throughout the years, so I was especially looking forward to reading this when I found out about it. He did not let me down, though it makes me sad that he is so bitter about so much in the past, whether he's justified or not. He made me think fondly (for at least a minute) by mentioning my old town, which is not an easy task. He also claims to not like the Pixies or U2, so one can't take everything he says to heart.(less)

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04/23/08

Kurt rated it:

Read in May, 2008

This doesn't seem like it should be a five-star book--a memoir by an indie rock also-ran? Yet it's a great read, start to finish. It helps to be a fan of Wareham's music, either with Galaxie 500 or Luna, but for anyone who was fan and follower of late '70s punk/new wave and then '80s and '90s indie rock, this is like a roadmap of the reader's musical life. Wareham listened to, played gigs with, or crossed paths with just about every noteworth indie musical act you could name during that period, ...more This doesn't seem like it should be a five-star book--a memoir by an indie rock also-ran? Yet it's a great read, start to finish. It helps to be a fan of Wareham's music, either with Galaxie 500 or Luna, but for anyone who was fan and follower of late '70s punk/new wave and then '80s and '90s indie rock, this is like a roadmap of the reader's musical life. Wareham listened to, played gigs with, or crossed paths with just about every noteworth indie musical act you could name during that period, and his opinions of them are fascinating and funny. No doubt he will piss off a few people.

Wareham's narration is fairly deadpan and his humor dry; some reviewers have termed his style "cold." But to me, his style feels exactly right for a smart, literate guy who was never terribly ambitious about his musical career but managed to carve out a 20-plus year career as a full-time musician regardless. He questions that "accidental" career frequently and often beats himself up for the rock cliches he lives out along the way--drug use, infidelity, etc. But he carries on, not really knowing what else to do. The reader sees both the appealing and dreary sides of the rock lifestyle; Wareham doesn't romanticize the former and he often bemoans the latter, but at the same time, you realize there's nothing else he would have been more suited for the last two decades. It's an interesting perspective, different from the usual rock-star dream.

His honesty and self-criticism makes his occasional defensiveness palatable--for example, his reasoning behind the "controversial" Galaxie 500 breakup that many people never forgave him for. And he beats himself up plenty for cheating on his wife and young son when he takes up with new Luna bassist Britta Phillips. Wareham's candor is refreshing.

All in all, "Black Postcards" is an excellent read, and while it may be the only book of this type Wareham can ever produce, I hope he continues to write. As with Robert Forster of the late Go-Betweens, the printed page might actually be a better format than song for Dean Wareham. (less)

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03/31/08

Jeff Gramm rated it:

I’m a long-time Dean Wareham fan and an avid reader of rock autobiographies, so I guess it makes sense that I loved this book. But I have to admit that I was nervous about reading it. After I read a few reviews and I saw how Penguin was marketing Black Postcards, I was worried it would focus too much on Dean's failing marriage and his romance with Luna bassist Britta Phillips. Thankfully, this book covers what I really wanted to read about: Dean Wareham's bittersweet affair with rock music....more

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03/18/08

Tim rated it:

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: galaxie 500 fans, indie music fans.

Dean Wareham, former lead singer of the bands Galaxie 500 and Luna toured multiple countries over the course of the last two-plus decades. Now he's committed to paper a compelling set of his own recollections in Black Postcards.

I grew up on Galaxie 500. they were ‘the’ band for me, in many respects. They gave voice to all that teenage loneliness and angst; But the non-gothic, non-emo, variety. Less dramatic.
The kind you mostly kept to yourself.
The kind where...more
Dean Wareham, former lead singer of the bands Galaxie 500 and Luna toured multiple countries over the course of the last two-plus decades. Now he's committed to paper a compelling set of his own recollections in Black Postcards.

I grew up on Galaxie 500. they were ‘the’ band for me, in many respects. They gave voice to all that teenage loneliness and angst; But the non-gothic, non-emo, variety. Less dramatic.
The kind you mostly kept to yourself.
The kind where you just quietly envisioned another life not too far off from your own, but a little happier, or at least with more distractions in it.

A few Years ago Wareham contributed some liner notes to the Galaxie 500 box set, and while his bandmates, Damon and Naomi, both seemed to make reference to the band’s bitter breakup, Dean just focused on the tiny moments: on the makes of cars he drove, on seeing a pair of shoes on a telephone line, on a funny thing that happened outside of a club somewhere.

Black Postcards is an entire book of that. Emotions rarely rise to the surface, and even when they do, there’s a feeling an awful lot is still being held back. And all of it awash in this endless stampede of details. this is one dense sensory time capsule. Wareham is not quite an “unreliable narrator”, but there’s a bit of that in the mix, especially with regards to his romantic life.

By the end, I found myself feeling a bit sad for Wareham, for Luna, and for Damon and Naomi (who don’t get mentioned much past the first third of the narrative). Since Galaxie 500 formed, the sound-scape, scene, and industry has changed a mammoth amount. And guys like Wareham are falling through the cracks left and right. There’s always this feeling that they were ‘this’ close to the brass ring, that the life they were living, while a bit paler than expected or dreamed, was almost the life they deserved. It didn’t, or couldn’t last, but there was a lot to recall at the end of the road. And I guess that’s the feeling Galaxie 500 first imparted to me.

My brother got me Black Postcards for Christmas 2007, four months earlier than the books release date: an advance uncorrected manuscript.
It's one of the best christmas gifts i've ever gotten, and having this 'special' edition was just too perfect, like having someone score you the demos of the album before anyone else got to hear it. (But I’m talking about back in the days, before these things got leaked on the Internet every other week, back when you’d hold that tape in your hands, and meet up with friends in a dorm room somewhere and all listen to it in the dark).
And then when the tape clicked off, you’d call your brother to thank him for scoring the find, and argue about your favorite songs, and which would get played live when we drove up to the Middle East café, and when the seven inch was coming out, and what color the vinyl would be, etc.

My brother's the best!

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02/09/08

Mrlunch rated it:

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: Galaxie 500 fans, Luna fans

Over the last 15 years whether with Galaxie 500, Luna, or Dean & Britta, Dean Wareham has been been one of my favorite artists.

Having been a huge Galaxie 500, Luna, and Dean & Britta fan over the past 15 years, I was really excited to sit down and read Wareham's recent autobiography.
I'm not disappointed...he tells so many great stories about his influences, the rigors of touring, and of trying to maintain friendships (and a marriage) while living the life of an indie rock n' ...more

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02/02/09

Jason rated it:

A good quick read. Great stories about what it's like to be a working indie rock musician over several decades. The book has two interesting themes - one is about the ongoing grind of being in a touring rock band and just how unglamorous it can be, and two about the emotional and psychological toll of not only touring but being in a band that only finds a fair amount of success rather than playing arenas and selling in the millions.

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