Rock Biographies

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Ok, so maybe this is a question that should be/has been asked on ILM, but i don't frequent that board that often, so here goes: what Rock Biographies have you read/do you recommend? i really really like Marcus Gray's one on REM "It Crawled From The South" as it seems to be incredibly well-researched, full of humour and irreverence where needed, and generally just well written and a hoot, whilst providing lots of spoddy-type info for the rabid fan (haven't read the updated version though!)

in contrast i am reading the new Talking Heads bio by David Bowman, and i am hating it. not only does he really seem to have it in for Tina Weymouth (OK, so she may not have been the nicest person in the world, but then neither as far as i can see was Byrne, and his habit of referring to her constantly as "cute" when she plays the bass is annoying me), he dismisses Duran Duran as an unimportant band (!!!!) and generally has the kind of short, clipped writing style that i associate with Camille Paglia. he writes entire paragraphs using TH lyrics ("David moves his hair around a lot. he likes its design.") and for some reason i find this very, very irritating.

just needed a rant i suppose. so, any comments?

― katie, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

or another TH bio that i can read, compare and contrast?

― katie, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Talking Heads WHO?

But serioushly folks - I really liked reading the Lester Bangs bio, Let it Blurt, a Factory records book, which I believe was called From Joy Division to New Order, the Factory story - although it's coming up 'not published' on Amazon so I might be getting confused. And then there's the Mark Radcliffe autobiography which is hilarious. The Lester Bangs one is good too if yr a devotee of drinking coff medicine.

― Sarah, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Now, where's my Benylin.

― Sarah, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Sarah is OTM on Showbusiness, the Mark Radcliffe story, it's very very funny. And who'd a thunk that he was one of the founder members of a famous nazi punk band that I won't mention for feear of nasty googlers. Not that they were a nazi punk band in them days.

― chris, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm a huge fan of "Uptight: The Velvet Underground Story" by Victor Bockris. It's always a huge asset when the book gets the blessing of all band members and their entourage. It's even more of a surprise when it doesn't descend to a protracted exercise in ass-kissing.

It's an invaluable addition to the VU lexicon, and provides some great insight into the band's dynamics often from the band members themselves. Their comments on the making of "White Light/White Heat" are particularly memorable. Since reading this, I can't help but view "Sister Ray" as an act of psychological warfare.

And Sterling Morrison's "killer dwarf" anecdote is priceless.

The best Talking Heads biography is the one that goes up to the release of "Little Creatures". I can't remember its name, but it has the heads of the band on the cover in extreme close-up. There's a very comprehensive Eno section in it as well.

― Trevor, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

arrh, Showbusiness - i'll retrieve my copy from me mam's house for re- reading! thanks for the VU suggestion Trevor, i've been looking for a VU bio for some time! will sashay into Waterstone's on my way home...

― katie, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

'Hellfire' (Jerry Lee Lewis) and 'Dino' (Dean Martin), both by Nick Tosches - doesn't matter if you are particularly 'into' the subjects or not, Tosches is such a supreme stylist he'll have ya spellbound anyway.

― Andrew L, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Head ON by Julian Cope is fantastic. I've only ever heard like 3 records he's ever made, so I'm in no way a fan, but it's just a fantastic book about rock'n'roll.

― Steve.n., Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"he writes entire paragraphs using TH lyrics ("David moves his hair around a lot. he likes its design.")"

Yeah, that's a real warning sign.

― Trevor, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I was also reading a book on the fusion between gospel/soul and country in the deep south - the Southern Side of Country Soul or something along those lines. It's pretty interesting but written in a rather clinical style which can make it a bit heavy going at times - I've not managed to finish it yet. I hate it when a writer makes it such hard work to trawl through!

― Sarah, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh yeah you're right! The Julian Cope bio is hilarious!!

― Sarah, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

In the bookstalls under Waterloo Bridge on Saturday morning I found an ancient Pan Books copy of Ian Hunter's Diary Of A Rock And Roll Star for just £1.50. Written in '74. It has to be read to be believed.

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

that motley crue book had my g-friend in hysterics.

― Alan Trewartha, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Victor Bockris' Lou Reed biography made me hate Lou Reed.

Autobiographies I've enjoyed were those of Pamela Des Barres, Sandie Shaw, Marc Almond, Holly Johnson, and Angela Bowie.

― rosemary, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh yeah, I forgot that Bockris did "Walk on the Wild Side" as well.

I think that's what impressed me most about the VU biog - I felt that the portrayals were extremely honest, and yes, they were very often unflattering in the process. It certainly wasn't an exercise in hero worship. Bockris remains admirably objective throughout.

― Trevor, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Philip Norman's 'The Stones' reads like a bonkbuster but with facts in. Also far less embarrasing to read on the bus than Jaackie Collins.

― Anna, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I like The Real Frank Zappa Book. The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play is also fun (even if there's a lot of BS in it).

The Brothers Davies' books -- X-Ray and Kink -- are both excellent.

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I dislike the Real Zappa bio. The first half was okay but then it started to bore me to bits. Currently reading a Dennis Wilson bio which contains 99 percent dribble about how each record is so brilliant. The one percent is about Dennis Wilson being a great guy.
My favourite bio-writer is probably Bockris.
I know you guys don't much like DeLillo but his (fiction book) Great Jones Street was rocking. Loved it.
The previous book I read was Jim M/Doors bio by Sugarman and Hopkins. It was okay. Thought it was weird they didn't mention Nico that much.

― helenfordsdale, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The film "Nico:Icon" is very good, as is most of the Behind The Music series. MTV Diary is mostly inconsequential, save of Britney Spears making a comment about how she likes to wear jeans and a "simple shirt" when she's not onstage or rehearsing.

As for books, the Keith Moon bio is OK, tho NOT great literature. This Band Could Be Your Life is pretty much as good as one would expect it to be.

― Jm, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Ah, Marcello, you fortunate man, I've been looking for that for a while. Find another copy for me and I'll pay you back.

Cope's books are a scream. Elsewhere I've rambled about Marc Almond's autobiography in detail.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Most valuable rock biography is probably a Yoko Ono one I read years ago, I think by someone who did Jim Morrison books, can't remember the name. Valuable because although it isn't the best book ever, it made me *like* Yoko Ono (I hesitate to use any stronger word) and I think I've got quite a lot out of that. PS: I don't listen to her records, it's not *that* good a book.

Sideline: Is the Clash biography good for non-Clash fans?

― Peter Miller, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

James Young's book on Nico was a fantastic read. I had a very different picture of John Cale after reading that. Speaking of Cale, I thought "What's Welsh for Zen" made Cale seem extremely dull indeed.

The Go-Betweens book by David Nichols was a good read, although the history of Queensland stuff was rather unnecessary, and he skimmed over the latter part of their career a bit much.

I've always wanted to read the Mick Fleetwood book, is it any good?

― electric sound of jim, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Jon Savage's England's Dreaming is about as good a book on UK punk as it's possible to write.

As far as the endless racks of Beatles books go, Philip Norman's Shout! is definitely the finest of the lot. Albert Goldman's unfairly slammed Lennon bio is also worth a read: it may be rude but it's more thorough and objective than any of the others.

― Justyn Dillingham, Tuesday, 18 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Katie is OTM re: Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa: Talking Heads adventures in the twentieth century by David Bowman. I read it in a furious huff last week. I was particularly disappointed because Bowman has written at least one fantastic novel (Let the Dog Drive) and seemed to be a pretty smart guy. But this book is clumsily written, littered with stupid opinion (disco was "culture death", apparently), and just generally half-assed. (There are some good anecdotes about Seymour Stein, however) But then again, I have never read a pop biog I liked. In fact I have never read a biog fullstop that I liked. Apart from David Thomson's Orson Welles (note to N.: I still have this book 2 years after borrowing it from you).

― Edna Welthorpe, Mrs, Tuesday, 18 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

You should read The Boy Looked at Johnny at the same time as Englands Dreaming. I did!

― Sarah, Tuesday, 18 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

goldman: thorough objective BADLY WRITTEN AND FULL OF IGNORANT LIES hurrah

norman also crippled by abject yoko-loathing (also the fact that he = a pinhed)

there are no good beatles booXoR

― mark s, Tuesday, 18 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I didn't notice any anti-Yoko bias in Shout! (Let's face it, though, she's not really the most overwhelmingly lovable person on earth, is she?) Norman did have an obvious distaste for McCartney which spoils the book somewhat.

― Justyn Dillingham, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

seven years pass...

I was going to start a POX thread but I thought "use the search function, dummy" and found this but yeah list the best rock (and I'd broaded to say pop/trad/jazz - any popular-music bios) here!

― worm? lol (J0hn D.), Friday, 5 June 2009 13:46 (sixteen years ago)

of course this thread has a lot of good ones already
best/worst rock biographies

― worm? lol (J0hn D.), Friday, 5 June 2009 13:46 (sixteen years ago)

I'm reading the Zevon oral biography.

― Bud Huxtable (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 5 June 2009 13:47 (sixteen years ago)

I've always wanted to read the Mick Fleetwood book, is it any good?

― electric sound of jim, Sunday, December 16, 2001 8:00 PM (7 years ago)

I can't recommend it highly enough. Juicy and substantive!

― Johnny Fever, Friday, 5 June 2009 14:11 (sixteen years ago)

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