A few of my favorite books on rock'n'roll...

[MikeL]

"Glam: Bowie, Bolan, and the Glitter Rock Revoluion" by Barney Hoskyns.

"Please Kill Me: The Uncensored, Oral History of Punk Rock" by Legs McNeill.

"Let it Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs" by Jim Borgatis.

"KISS and Sell: The Making of a Supergroup" by C.K. Lendt.

"Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin Uncensored" by Richard Cole.

"Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal" by David Konow.

"On the Road with the Ramones" by Monte Melnick.

"Diary of a Rock'n'Roll Star" by Ian Hunter.

Has anyone else here read any of these books? If so, please feel free to share your comments.

[Jon S]

Definitly worth reading.

I also want  to recommend Iggy Pop Open Up and Bleed by Paul Trynka and We Never Learn by Eric Davidson.

Bibliodiscoteque said:

How was Rotten? I just got it in from a local bookshop, but not sure if it is furniture or really something to dedicate time to.

MikeL said:

I'd also like to add "Neon Angel: Memoir of a Runaway" by Cherie Currie, which I just finished this past weekend, and "Rotten" by John Lydon.

[sleazy]

[The Blue Giant Zeta Puppies]

I really enjoyed Mo Foster's book on his life in the music industry "Seventeen Watts". It's a sort of mixture of a collection of interviews, anecdotes and gear descriptions, about the early days of British Rock and Roll and Mo's career as a session bass player through the late sixties to the eighties.....it seems to have got stupidly expensive at the moment....hopefully it will get a reprint......

[John Battles]

I  THOUGHT "NEON ANGEL" WAS SURPRISINGLY GOOD. IF THE MOVIE HAD STUCK CLOSER TO THE BOOK , ADMITTEDLY , IT WOULD HAVE HAD A LIMITED RUN , AT BEST , BUT , IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE POWERFUL , EVEN THO' I TOOK THE MOVIE FOR WHAT IT WAS , AND ENJOYED IT.....I MET KIM FOWLEY , ONCE. THAT GUY NAILED HIS WHOLE PERSONALITY , AND , IN SO DOING , STOLE THE WHOLE MOVIE.  
 
MikeL said:

I'd also like to add "Neon Angel: Memoir of a Runaway" by Cherie Currie, which I just finished this past weekend, and "Rotten" by John Lydon.

[John Battles]

MikeL , of all the books on your list , I've only read the Ramones book and "Please Kill Me".

I read more Rock books than I'll ever own up to , but , my favorite is still "The Life and Times of Little Richard". It's hilarious. But , there's a serious side , too. He deals with racism , homophobia ,and Pat Boone covering his hits before they could chart , without sounding bitter.

I'm reading "Violence Girl" by Alice Bag , in my spare time. It's highly enjoyable. She goes from her childhood in East L.A. , listening to British Invasion , Motown ,  Los Teen Tops and Thee Midniters , to going headlong into Glam (If you consider Elton John or Queen "Glam") , and , not much later , becoming a fixture on the L.A. Punk scene. The writing has a lot of humor and charm , and , you get the feeling she did not ever regret sticking her hand into the fire now and then.

"Heebie Jeebies at CBGBs" - A document of the "Secret" influence of Jews on Punk. Of course ,the likes of Joey Ramone , Lenny Kaye , Jonathan Richman, Lou Reed , Sylvain Sylvain , Chris Stein and The Dictators are all present and accounted for. Behind the scene impresarios like Seymour Stein , Genya Ravan and Hilly Kristal are duly noted , too , but didja know Malcolm Maclaren was Jewish ? I did'nt know that , either. Would that mean people should have been any less irritated by the "Ironic" use of swastikas in The Pistols' campaign ? Lydon , probably for this reason alone , was asked to be a spokesman for The National Front. He publically told them what they could do with their offer. Still , it all reads like shock tactics, today, just like Maclaren's previous attempt to salvage The New York Dolls' career by making them out to be the one thing you could'nt be in the states , at that time : Red Chinese sympathizers. 

Tommy Ramone only recently admitted to being Jewish , stating that he did'nt think anyone cared. Of course , being from Hungary , he had relatives who were imprisoned and/or killed in The Holocaust , and it seemed too painful for him to talk about it , until now.

But , did'ja know ,  that Alan Vega and Richard Hell are Jewish , too?

Hell refused to talk about it , being raised an Atheist , but , still , ethnically Jewish.

There were others , not mentioned here , Lydia Lunch , Lora Logic , the singer from Slaughter and The Dogs (Sorry , forgot his name.), the Dembling/North Brothers from The Comateens (Not a Punk band , but from the same scene in NYC.) and more......

It's a fun read. It deals with antisemitism ,but , makes the argument that Punk was supposed to be like that Jewish - American cultural milestone , MAD magazine . I always agreed with that.

'

[John Battles]

I read "England's Dreaming" , recently , too. One of the most personal and in- depth takes on the early UK Punk scene. YES!! NO ROCK'N'ROLL BOOK LIST IS COMPLETE WITHOUT "HELLFIRE", or Tosches' "Unsung Heroes of Rock'n'Roll".
 
Jon S said:

I see most of my favorites are mentioned here. I also enjoyed England's Dreaming by Jon Savage (on The Sex Pistols and punk), Passion is a Fashion The Real Story of The Clash by Pat Gilbert, The Dirt by Mötley Crue/Neil Strauss (of course) and I really loved Hellfire by Nick Tosches.

Anybody read Keith Richard's Life or the John Einarson's Arthur Lee bio?

[Joe Bonomo]

Gotta add Tosches' Country, also.

[Jon S]

Did I mention Sweat by Joe Bonomo? Great book about a great band.

Just finished John Einarson's Forever Changes and Keith Richards' Life. Both excellent reads.

I will definitly check out the Tosches books mentioned above.

[Kirk Teeters]

Thanks for starting this discussion. I've now got a long list of books to try to track down. And, for anyone who hasn't checked out Lemmy's autobio, you really should. It's pretty egocentric even for that type of book, but it's a hoot.

http://www.amazon.com/White-Line-Fever-Lemmy-Kilmister/dp/080652590...

[sleazy]

This beauty's coming in the mail fast...................