Killer Rock-n-Roll Reads
As the first two books in the Angel Interceptors series get ready for their big debut, I wanted to take a breather from editing mania and make a list of my favorite books about Rock-and-Roll that are set in its true golden age, the 1970s. All of them have inspired or influenced my own writing to one extent or another. So in no particular order:
Diary of a Rock’n'Roll Star- Ian Hunter
Lamentably difficult to find, this is exactly what the title says: The uncensored, no-holds-barred tour journal of Ian Hunter, singer for Mott the Hoople. Ian pulls back the curtain on life in the Rock and Roll circus of the mid-1970s, and man, is it ever mesmerizing. I especially loved how he judges a city’s merits by its pawn shops. You can always tell a serious musician because he uses “pawn shop” as a verb.
Full Moon: The Amazing Rock and Roll Life of the Late Keith Moon – Dougal Butler
Written by the Who drummer’s former roadie (before they were called “techs”), this is one of the funniest books I have ever read. Ever. Nonstop anecdotes that seem too insane to be real, but this is Keith Moon we’re talking about, so yeah. The tale of what happened when Keith randomly decided to hand over his car keys to a couple of teenage fans is worth the price of admission alone. Bonus: it features the expression “hopped down the road like a kangaroo with a lit cigarette in its baby box.” However much Dougal was paid to work for that utter and complete loon, it wasn’t enough. Even if he did get to take spontaneous trips to Europe with literally no cash on him.
I’m with the Band – Pamela Des Barres
Mandatory reading for anyone who thinks she can handle life as a Rock star’s moll. Yeah, the business has changed a lot since the early 70′s when Miss Pamela was on the prowl with the Frank Zappa-orchestrated GTOs. And yet, human nature hasn’t budged a bit. She goes through the same phases that any teenage girl does: crushes, obsessions, first love, rejection, heartbreak…only she went through them with mega-stars and came out the other side with her genuine, sweetheart personality intact. What. A. Woman.
Wonderland Avenue – Danny Sugarman
What would you do for your Rock-and-Roll family? Danny Sugarman was barely in his teens when he landed a dream job working at the management offices of the Doors. The band (Jim Morrison included) did their best to keep him out of trouble, but it found him anyway in the form of an emotional wreck of a girl named Tiffany and an unwitting dose of smack backstage at the Whiskey-a-GoGo. It was all downhill from there (sometimes literally, as in driving a car off the side of Mullholland Drive and into someone’s house). Oh, and there’s lots of crazed junkie Iggy Pop thrown in for good measure. Iggy gets the best line in the book: “Can you please put me some place safe where my so-called ‘friends’ can’t find me?”
Sooner or Later – Bruce and Carole Hart
Okay, what is a breathlessly narrated YA fiction book about a painfully underaged girl and her older crush doing in this list of hard-hitting real-life narratives? Being a kickass sleeper of a classic, that’s what. Jessie is 13 (not a typo…thir-fucking-TEEN!) and all in puppy love with 18-year-old singer/guitarist Michael Skye, who’s already on the fast track to stardom. He has older, more experienced girls wanting their shrimp on his barbie, so to speak. She has to lie and connive to get near him. She’s THIRTEEN. There’s no way this can work.
She gets the guy. ‘Nuff said.
Hammer of the Gods – Stephen Davis
If you read only one book from this list, let it be this one. Led Zeppelin’s full throttle biography set the standard for all band histories to come. And…that’s all.
