Better to Burn Out: The Cult of Death in Rock 'n' Roll

by Dave Thompson

From Joe Meek, the brilliant rival of Phil Spector, who was cursed with a premonition of Buddy Holly's death and whose descent into Satanism and paranoia led to a gruesome murder/suicide, to Jonathan Melvoin, the Juilliard trained keyboard player who succumbed to the lure of heroin while touring with the Smashing Pumpkins, Better to Burn Out documents the deaths of the foot soldiers of rock'n'roll. This fascinating addition to the select shelf of musical necrographies - books about the deaths, not the lives, of their subjects - recounts more than seventy untimely, unexpected, and just plain unfortunate deaths, some in passing, some in depth, some in almost painful detail, drawn from well over a decade's worth of personal interviews and conversations.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1998

About the author

English author Dave Thompson has spent his entire working life writing biographies of other people, but is notoriously reluctant to write one for himself. Unlike the subjects of some of his best known books, he was neither raised by ferrets nor stolen from gypsies. He has never appeared on reality TV (although he did reach the semi finals of a UK pop quiz when he was sixteen), plays no musical instruments and he can’t dance, either.

However, he has written well over one hundred books in a career that is almost as old as U2’s… whom he saw in a club when they first moved to London, and memorably described as “okay, but they’ll never get any place.” Similar pronouncements published on the future prospects of Simply Red, Pearl Jam and Wang Chung (oh, and Curiosity Killed The Cat as well) probably explain why he has never been anointed a Pop Culture Nostradamus. Although the fact that he was around to pronounce gloomily on them in the first place might determine why he was recently described as “a veteran music journalist.”

Raised on rock, powered by punk, and still convinced that “American Pie” was written by Fanny Farmer and is best played with Meatloaf, Thompson lists his five favorite artists as old and obscure; his favorite album is whispered quietly and he would like to see Richard and Linda Thompson’s “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight” installed as the go-to song for the sad, sappy ending for every medical drama on TV.

Kurt Cobain, Phil Collins, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett, David Bowie, John Travolta, Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne, Bob Marley, Roger Waters and the guy who sang that song in the jelly commercial are numbered among the myriad artists about whom Thompson has written books; he has contributed to the magazines Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, Mojo and Melody Maker; and he makes regular guest appearances on WXPN’s Highs in the Seventies show.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book provides the seedy underbelly of rock 'n roll fellowship. so many untimely and just plain creepy stories about people i never knew about until reading this. i think the most disturbing fellow was perhaps joe meek.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thompson focuses on the lesser-known artists, ranging from classic rock of the 60s to punk rock. His statement that "for every John Lennon there is a Stuart Sutcliffe" sums up this wonderful look at the tragic loss of talent, both Brit and American.