ROCKTOBER: I Want My MTV by Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum

A Look Inside I Want My MTV

In their 2011 book I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution, authors Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum revisit the “golden age” of music videos, from 1981 to 1992, based on interviews with more than 400 people. As they learned, sometimes bad videos happen to great songs. Here are ten examples.
Psychedelic Furs, "Pretty in Pink" (1984; 1986)
One of the great songs of the ‘80s, but as a video, it’s a two-time dud. The original video, from 1981, was too dreary and claustrophobic to capitalize on MTV’s emerging Anglophilia. Five years later, a new version, rerecorded and re-filmed for the John Hughes movie of the same name, lacked the snarl of the original; Andie, Blaine and Ducky should never have even bothered.
Fleetwood Mac, “Hold Me” (1982)"
Making a video in the desert is sweaty and difficult, especially with a band that can’t stand one another: “It was so hot, and we weren’t getting along,” Stevie Nicks recalls. “Hold Me” is like a sun-baked hallucination, with sand dunes, guitars, Magritte paintings, Nicks in five-inch platform heels, and an obligatory, early-1980s slow-motion shot of breaking glass. Director Steve Barron: “That wasn’t a good video.” Producer Simon Fields: “John McVie was drunk and tried to punch me. It was a [expletive] nightmare, a horrendous day in the desert.”
Rick James, "Super Freak" (1982)
Not long after MTV launched with a nearly all-white playlist, Rick James decried the network as “racist,” charging that MTV’s segregated programming was “taking black people back 400 years.” James was enraged that MTV refused to air “Super Freak”; in fairness to the network, this gully video, starring James and a multiracial array of hot messes in streetwalker garb, was more akin to Pootie Tang than, say, “Billie Jean.” Carolyn Baker, who was MTV's director of acquisitions, says, "As a black woman, I did not want that representing my people as the first black video on MTV."
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message” (1982)
In the concluding scene, two cops arrest Flash and his band mates, possibly for the crime of making this awful video. The lyrics describe and denounce the dangers of urban poverty – so why are these rappers dressed like low-budget Michael Jacksons? “An immortal song, but the video was pure ghetto,” says Def Jam executive Bill Adler. “Some of the earliest rap videos were terrible.”
Bruce Springsteen, "Dancing in the Dark" (1984)
Springsteen is adorably dorky in his first-ever video appearance, no more so than during his infamous new-wave dance-off with audience plant Courtney “Monica Geller” Cox. Directed by famed filmmaker Brian DePalma, “Dancing in the Dark” was catnip to MTV’s teen demo (girls in particular), but Springsteen's longtime manager, Jon Landau, says the singer had "mixed feelings" about the video: "It broadened Bruce's appeal, but the whole thing was slick and high gloss. Not a typical Bruce Springsteen thing."
Billy Squier, “Rock Me Tonite” (1984)
There are only two videos which merit their own chapters in “I Want My MTV,” and this is one. Squier was a hard-rock superstar before he released this video, which he describes as “diabolical.” Here’s the plot: Squier wakes up in a bed of silk sheets, puts on white drawstring pants, skips around his bedroom, grinds on the floor, rips off his t-shirt, then puts on a pink tank top, and collapses back on his silk sheets. Squier blames this video for ending his reign on the rock charts.
U2, “Pride (In the Name of Love)” (1984)
There are three different video versions of U2’s tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., and none did any favors to the song. The second was shot by Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn, and in his defense, he directed it hurriedly, in the basement of a hotel near Heathrow Airport, before U2 flew to Japan. He uses closeups of the band’s faces, mostly in profile and shadowed, until the end, when Bono frenetically shakes his grand mullet. Corbijn recalls that when the band’s manager saw the video, “he swore that I would never be allowed near U2 again with a film camera.”
Prince, "Raspberry Beret" (1985)
For an artist at his zenith in the ‘80s, Prince never quite figured out music videos. “Raspberry Beret” is the most egregious example of Prince-the-control-freak taking a perfectly bad idea--let’s hire two animators to work around the clock on a tale about a girl in a hat!--and making it worse, by taking the twee animation and clumsily combining it with performance footage. Producer Simon Fields: "Prince would mess with directors. He’d give them the impression that they’d be in charge of the video, then halfway through he’d go, 'Thank you,' take what he liked, and edit it himself." Much respect to his Liza Minnelli hairdo, however.
Aretha Franklin, “Freeway of Love” (1985)
In this comeback hit for the Queen of Soul, it’s difficult to decide which is the worst part of the video. Is it the performance footage, where Franklin and her band grin like someone’s pointing a gun at them? The literally-translated lyrics, which show a pink Cadillac when Aretha sings “Pink Cadillac,” and a traffic jam when she sings “city traffic’s moving way too slow”? Or is it the dance sequences, which seem to have been choreographed by Benny Hill? Let’s say each.
Pixies, "Velouria" (1990)
Not even Dave Kendall could like this one. In need of a last-minute video for the U.K.’s influential Top of the Pops countdown show, the band--not exactly telegenic on its best day--is filmed in suuuuuper sloooowwwww moooooooootion running through a quarry. Any slower and they’d be time traveling. One camera. One shot. That’s it. Band. Running. Quarry.

Description

You will receive one of the two covers. We cannot guarantee which one.

Remember the first time you saw Michael Jackson dance with zombies in "Thriller"? Diamond Dave karate kick with Van Halen in "Jump"? Tawny Kitaen turning cartwheels on a Jaguar to Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again"? The Beastie Boys spray beer in "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)"? Axl Rose step off the bus in "Welcome to the Jungle"?

Remember When All You Wanted Was Your MTV?

It was a pretty radical idea-a channel for teenagers, showing nothing but music videos. It was such a radical idea that almost no one thought it would actually succeed, much less become a force in the worlds of music, television, film, fashion, sports, and even politics. But it did work. MTV became more than anyone had ever imagined.

I Want My MTV tells the story of the first decade of MTV, the golden era when MTV's programming was all videos, all the time, and kids watched religiously to see their favorite bands, learn about new music, and have something to talk about at parties. From its start in 1981 with a small cache of videos by mostly unknown British new wave acts to the launch of the reality-television craze with The Real World in 1992, MTV grew into a tastemaker, a career maker, and a mammoth business.

Featuring interviews with nearly four hundred artists, directors, VJs, and television and music executives, I Want My MTV is a testament to the channel that changed popular culture forever.

About the Author

Craig Marks was the top editor for two influential music magazines, SPIN and Blender. He is the editor in chief of Popdust.

Rob Tannenbaum has been the music editor at Blender, a columnist at GQ, and has written for The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Details, New York Magazine, Playboy, Spin, and The Washington Post. 

 

Details

• Hardcover: 608 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (October 27, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525952306
• ISBN-13: 978-0525952305

OHH...How I want this book!

ROCKTOBER: Occupants by Henry Rollins

Description

For the past twenty-five years, Henry Rollins has searched out the most desolate corners of the Earth—from Iraq to Afghanistan, Thailand to Mali, and beyond—articulating his observations through music and words, on radio and television, and in magazines and books. Though he’s known for the raw power of his expression, Rollins has shown that the greatest statements can be made with the simplest of acts: to just bear witness, to be present.

            In Occupants, Rollins invites us to do the same. The book pairs Rollins’s visceral full-color photographs—taken in Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Northern Ireland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and elsewhere over the last few years—with writings that not only provide context and magnify the impact of the images but also lift them to the level of political commentary. Simply put, this book is a visual testimony of anger, suffering, and resilience. Occupants will help us realize what is so easy to miss when tragedy and terror become numbing, constant forces—the quieter, stronger forces of healing, solidarity, faith, and even joy.

About the Author

Henry Rollins joined the Southern California band Black Flag as vocalist in 1981. Upon its demise, he formed Rollins Band, and has been making records, writing books, and touring the world ever since. Rollins has averaged over one hundred shows a year for over 30 years. He also performs in movies and TV shows and hosts a weekly LA radio show.

 

Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press (October 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569768153
• ISBN-13: 978-1569768150

 Henry Rollins is an amazing author, although his poetry is really what sets him apart from most singers writing books.  It is gritty and beautiful at the same time. 

ROCKTOBER: Metal Rules the Globe by Jeremy Wallach, Harris M. Berger and Paul D. Greene

Description

During the past three decades, heavy metal music has gone global, becoming a potent source of meaning and identity for fans around the world. In Metal Rules the Globe, ethnographers and some of the foremost authorities in the burgeoning field of metal studies analyze this dramatic expansion of heavy metal music and culture. They take readers inside metal scenes in Brazil, Canada, China, Easter Island, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Nepal, Norway, Singapore, Slovenia, and the United States, describing how the sounds of heavy metal and the meanings that metalheads attribute to them vary across cultures. The contributors explore the dynamics of masculinity, class, race, and ethnicity in metal scenes; the place of metal in the music industry; and the ways that disenfranchised youth use metal to negotiate modernity and social change. They reveal heavy metal fans as just as likely to criticize the consumerism, class divisiveness, and uneven development of globalization as they are to reject traditional cultural norms. Crucially, they never lose sight of the sense of community and sonic pleasure to be experienced in the distorted, pounding sounds of local metal scenes.Contributors. Idelber Avelar, Albert Bell, Dan Bendrups, Harris M. Berger, Paul D. Greene, Ross Hagen, Sharon Hochhauser, Shuhei Hosokawa, Keith Kahn-Harris, Kei Kawano, Rajko Muršič,Steve Waksman, Jeremy Wallach, Robert Walser, Deena Weinstein, Cynthia P. Wong

About the Author

Jeremy Wallach is Associate Professor in the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He is the author of Modern Noise, Fluid Genres: Popular Music in Indonesia, 1997–2001.
Harris M. Berger is Professor of Music at Texas A&M University. He is the author of Stance: Ideas about Emotion, Style, and Meaning for the Study of Expressive Culture and Metal, Rock, and Jazz: Perception and the Phenomenology of Musical Experience.
Paul D. Greene is Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and Integrative Arts at Pennsylvania State University, Brandywine. He is a co-editor of Wired for Sound: Engineering and Technologies in Sonic Cultures.

Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Duke University Press Books (November 28, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822347334
• ISBN-13: 978-0822347330

This one is a shout out to Susan over at West of Mars.com -- she has a ton of Rocktober posts as well...so go check it out!

ROCKTOBER REVIEW: Rock and Roll Homicide by RJ McDonnell

Description

Just as the rock band, Doberman's Stub, was about to reach stadium tour status, its leader was brutally murdered when his headphones exploded during a recording session. The widow, who inherits $5 million, is the San Diego Police Department's number one suspect. She hires Jason Duffy, a 27-year-old PI and former musician, in his first year of private practice. Jason learns that the victim was in the middle of an acrimonious renegotiation with the record company at the time of his death. He also finds that the record company has a very unhealthy tie to the Russian Mafia. As an inexperienced detective, Jason does not yet have the contacts within the police department to gather vital information. He is forced to mend fences with his estranged father, an opinionated ex-SDPD detective. While Jason investigates the record company, he also takes a close look at the three surviving members of the victim's band. One is an alcoholic/drug addict drummer, on the verge of being kicked out of the group. The second is a bass player who camouflages his rock star status by living in an ordinary house in a lower middle-class neighborhood. Third is a lead guitarist and writer of half of the band s songs, who lives well beyond his means. Jason has not yet become hardened to the very real dangers of his new profession. We experience his inner conflict as his girlfriend, staff, and family are drawn into the danger zone. After Jason's part-time employee is severely beaten during a stakeout, he sells the story of the Russian Mafia's involvement in the record business to a tabloid journalism TV show in a misguided effort to protect his employer and coworker. This serves to drive the case to new heights of danger and suspense. Jason goes behind the industry veneer of sex & drugs & hedonistic lifestyles. He shows us how the 21st Century world of downloads, file sharing, and image demographics need to be considered in a case of Rock & Roll Homicide.

Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Killeena Publishing with RJ Communications; 1ST edition (2008)
• ISBN-10: 0981491413
• ISBN-13: 978-0981491417

SPECIAL GUEST REVIEWER:  
SUSAN HELENE GOTTFRIED

This review appears on Susan's blog Rocks and Reads on her West of Mars site. 
Be sure to visit her site and check out all of the reviews!

When author RJ McDonnell dropped me a note, I was more than thrilled to hear from him. I’d seen his name around in certain circles and since he writes about a dude who used to be in band, and since his first mystery, Rock and Roll Homicide.
Not the sexiest title out there, but I love the cover shot of a Fender Strat that’s been splattered with blood. Even though the dead guy dies in the preface, and I doubt any residue would make such a lovely pattern on a white strat, it doesn’t matter. And if it did, there’s so much good stuff going on here.
I’m not sure where to start, really, other than to say I loved this tale. I loved the main character, Jason Duffy. I loved his quirky cast of mentally disabled people and helpmeets. I loved Duffy’s narrative voice; it has total character. I loved his dad and the veteran, grizzled cop and the computer geek dude who never wants to use his names.
Maybe we should back up. Our intrepid hero, Jason Duffy, hasn’t been in business very long when he gets a visit from the very wealthy Chelsea Tucker. It turns out it’s her husband’s brains that have been spattered across the aforementioned guitar — among other things. It seems her husband is the famous — but contentious — Terry Tucker, frontman and business genius behind Doberman’s Stub, a band rocketing to the top — and currently recording their third album. This is the one that’s going to push them up to that coveted peak. Everyone knows it.
That’s why Terry was killed, it turns out. He put on a pair of headphones (conveniently given to him by his wife. What a loving woman.) and … kablooey!
The wife needs Jason’s help to clear her name. And Jason dives right in, encountering the Russian Mafia, the Irish Mafia, Orangemen, half-naked women, photographers with Tourette’s Syndrome, and a whole laundry list of surprises and twists and turns that even a experienced knitter couldn’t unravel.
Needless to say, McDonnell pulls it off. Neatly, I might add. And with no small dose of humor — particularly the scene where Jason goes sneaking around a shower. Trust me. It’s the best scene in a good book.
Now, you know I can’t write a review without talking about the downers, and there were some, of course. I’ve yet to read a book without them.
In Rock and Roll Homicide, there are two big ones. First is that the cast of characters is huge. Quirky and well-drawn, sure. But it’s big. Big casts can get confusing, and alliteration never helps. Oh, I’m not talking about the way in which half the characters have Russian names. See above about the Russian mafia.
Rather, there are an awful lot of women whose names start with the letter J. A lot of people with the first initial of C.
It’s a shame, really. These characters are all given such delicious quirks and characters, and then to confuse us with the similar names… talk about torture.

I’ve got McDonnell’s second book here, waiting for me to read it, too. Rock & Roll Rip-Off, it’s called. All I gotta say is that it’ll be a ripoff if there’s no third book in the works.

ROCKTOBER: The girl friends and wives speak out.

There are so many memoirs written by the girlfriends and wives of rock stars....here are a few tell-alls that I have enjoyed:

 From GoodReads:
The stylish, exuberant, and remarkably sweet confession of one of the most famous groupies of the 1960s and 70s is back in print in this new edition that includes an afterword on the author's last 15 years of adventures. As soon as she graduated from high school, Pamela Des Barres headed for the Sunset Strip, where she knocked on rock stars' backstage doors and immersed herself in the drugs, danger, and ecstasy of the freewheeling 1960s. Over the next 10 years she had affairs with Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Keith Moon, Waylon Jennings, Chris Hillman, Noel Redding, and Jim Morrison, among others. She traveled with Led Zeppelin; lived in sin with Don Johnson; turned down a date with Elvis Presley; and was close friends with Robert Plant, Gram Parsons, Ray Davies, and Frank Zappa. As a member of the GTO's, a girl group masterminded by Frank Zappa, she was in the thick of the most revolutionary renaissance in the history of modern popular music. Warm, witty, and sexy, this kiss-and-tell–all stands out as the perfect chronicle of one of rock 'n' roll's most thrilling eras

 From GoodReads
On the surface, Mary Weiland had a fairy-tale life. She was a highly paid fashion model married to successful rock star Scott Weiland, the notorious frontman for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver. Then came the rampage in a Burbank hotel room and the resulting media frenzy that revealed to the world her bipolar disorder and drug abuse. In "Fall to Pieces", Weiland describes the extreme highs and lows of her life, the volatility of which long hinted at mental illness. Working with acclaimed journalist Larkin Warren, Weiland tells her story with refreshing candour, unflinching detail, and more than a little humor. Reminiscent of celebrity memoirs by Tatum O'Neill, Brooke Shields, and Valerie Bertinelli, Weiland's story offers a window into the world of modelling and rock 'n' roll celebrity while providing deep insights into a serious and misunderstood psychological disorder. 

From GoodReads
We all knew and loved Valerie Bertinelli as the girl next door cutie, Barbara Cooper, in the hit TV show "One Day at a Time." Now she is the divorced mother of a teenager and is conducting a very public -- and already successful -- campaign to lose weight as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig. Losing It is Bertinelli's frank motivational story -- from her complicated family life to her struggles to maintain a healthy self-image while coping with celebrity, her tumultuous 20-year marriage to rock star Eddie Van Halen, and her difficulties with depression. She takes us behind the scenes in her acting career and marriage, recalling the stress and concerns of being a rock star's wife, the joys of motherhood, her lifelong battle with weight, and her determination to let herself feel loved again.
With courage and candor, humor and emotion, Bertinelli shares her fears and insecurities in ways that will appeal to the hundreds of thousands of women who face these same issues every day.

ROCTOBER: Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway

Description

California high school student Audrey Cuttler dumps self-involved Evan, the lead singer of a little band called The Do-Gooders. Evan writes, “Audrey, Wait!,” a break-up song that’s so good it rockets up the billboard charts. And Audrey is suddenly famous! Now rabid fans are invading her school. People is running articles about her arm-warmers. The lead singer of the Lolitas wants her as his muse. (And the Internet is documenting her every move!) Audrey can’t hang out with her best friend or get with her new crush without being mobbed by fans and paparazzi.
Take a wild ride with Audrey as she makes headlines, has outrageous amounts of fun, confronts her ex on MTV, and gets the chance to show the world who she really is.

About the Author

Robin Benway grew up in Orange County, California and attended college at both NYU & UCLA. At NYU, she won the Seth Barkas Prize for Best Fiction by an Undergraduate. She has worked at Ballantine, Knopf, Borders, and Book Soup in West Hollywood. Robin currently lives in Santa Monica. To the best of her knowledge, no one has written a song about her. Yet.

Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Razorbill (April 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159514191X
• ISBN-13: 978-1595141910

 I must be in my young adult phase this week since this is all I have picked this week.  After meeting the author at the OC Book Fest -- I need to get this one and read it now!

ROCKTOBER: Rock Chicks by Alison Stieven Taylor

Description

With profiles on hottest rock 'n' roll women spanning from the 1960s to current times, this book has everything there is to know about the most rockin' chicks in history—from Janis Joplin and Suzi Quatro to Courtney Love and Pink

With perceptive biographies and in-depth music critiques, this is an up-close and personal look at the experiences, adventures, and musical passions of these extraordinary and talented women whose wild vocals and on-stage antics have made them rock 'n' roll legends. Through personal heartaches, drug addictions, public humiliations, and private nightmares, these rock chicks have risen to take the music world by storm—often facing great personal adversity, pressure, and scrutiny that would have destroyed mere mortal's souls. From Madonna spending years living in squats in New York before going on to sell 250 million records, to Tina Turner surviving the brutal bashings of her husband and then going on stage to perform with broken ribs and contusions—all of these women overcame great obstacles to make some of the most memorable music the world of rock has heard. Their inspiring and entertaining stories, compiled here in this profusely illustrated and thoroughly researched book, make for an adrenaline pumping and compellingly memorable ride through rock 'n' roll history.

About the Author

Alison Stieven-Taylor has been a freelance journalist for more than 20 years, and has written for such publications as Rolling Stone magazine. Today she is the director of a successful PR consultancy working with bands across the world. She is the author of The Price of Love. 

Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Rockpool Publishing (February 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 192129535X
• ISBN-13: 978-1921295355

 It will be interesting to see who the profiles are, one of them better be Chrissie Hynde!

ROCTOBER: Where She Went by Gayle Foreman

Description

It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

About the Author

Gayle Forman is a self-described "perpetual teenager" and an award-winning author and journalist whose articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Seventeen, Glamour, Elle, and The New York Times Magazine. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and children.

Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (April 5, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525422943
• ISBN-13: 978-0525422945

 I know, I know, another YA book, but this looks so good and I loved If I Stay.  Now, why didn't anyone tell me about this book?

ROCKTOBER REVIEW: Rock Stars by David S. Grant

Description

ROCK STARS is a look back and forward with the glam metal singers from the eighties. ". . .Wearing tight acid washed jeans, Jon Bon Jovi made no qualms about putting "pop" back into rock. Videos focused on his ass made it appear there was an unspoken jeans rivalry between Jon and Joe Elliot of Def Lepard. . ."". . .In hindsight there were signs Rob Halford was gay. The video for "Hot Rockin" was pretty much just a bunch of guys working out in a gym. Hello!!. . ."". . .Sebastian Bach and Skid Row made music for the kids smoking cigarettes behind the school. Essentially, Sebastian Bach made music for the bad kid in The Breakfast Club. . ."Twenty-eight mini-profiles detailing strengths, weaknesses, and X factors ranging from Kip Winger's hair, David Lee Roth's use of the microphone, to Bret Michaels reality series comeback. Think Behind The Music on cocaine.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

David S. Grant is the author of Corporate Porn (Silverthought Press), Bleach|Blackout (Silverthought Press), Happy Hour (SynergEBooks), Emotionless Souls (Brown Paper Publishing), Hollywood Ending (SynergEBooks), The Last Breakfast (Brown Paper Publishing), and Rock Stars (Oak Tree Press). In 2010 David's short story collection Lost Souls will be published by Brown Paper Publishing, and next novel, Blood-The New Red, by Silverthought Press.

Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: lulu.com (November 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0557182409
• ISBN-13: 978-0557182404

SOURCE:  www.westofmars.com -- Thanks Susan!

 MY THOUGHTS:

LOVED IT
This book reads like a MTV show.  Put a guy in front of a computer and give him a beer, then let him rant about his favorite metal bands.  Well, not the bands per se, but the lead singers.  A nice illustration accompanies each chapter, although I thought the pictures were a little eery.  There was just something off with the eyes of each artist.  Overall, a nice little coffee table book to bring up memories. 

---

ROCKTOBER: Starting Over: The Making of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy by Ken Sharp

Product Description

The murder of John Lennon on December 8, 1980, sent shockwaves around the world. The most acclaimed singer/songwriter of his generation, first a Beatle and then a boundary-pushing solo artist, was senselessly silenced forever at age forty; immediately, his final musical statement, an intimate, pop-infused collection called Double Fantasy, released only weeks before his death, skyrocketed to #1 worldwide, as did its poignantly titled single, "(Just Like) Starting Over." His first studio recording since 1975’s Rock ’n’ Roll—and his first musical endeavor of any kind since taking a much-needed hiatus to raise Sean, his son with Yoko Ono—Double Fantasy represents more than a comeback album to Lennon fans and music critics alike. It captures a cultural icon at the pinnacle of his creative success and personal fulfillment; thirty years later it remains a musical touchstone and an affecting reminder of what could have been.
Starting Over is an oral history of the making of Double Fantasy and the definitive account of John Lennon’s last days. From early demos to sessions at New York City’s The Hit Factory, from the electrifying chemistry of the studio band to keeping the project under wraps to the album’s release and critical reception, here is fascinating, insightful commentary from all of the key players involved in its extraordinary creation: Yoko Ono, David Geffen, producer Jack Douglas, engineers, arrangers, session musicians, music journalists, and even Lennon himself via archival interviews.
Featuring never-before-seen photos of John and Yoko in the studio, candid images taken by David M. Spindel and Roger Farrington, Starting Over is the essential portrait for anyone who hears both a beginning and ending in the tracks of Double Fantasy.

About the Author

A Los Angeles based singer/songwriter with three CDs to his credit (1301 Highland Avenue, Happy Accidents and Sonic Crayons), Ken Sharp has authored or co-authored over ten music books including Elvis: Vegas '69, Writing For The King, Overnight Sensation: The Story of the Raspberries, Reputation Is A Fragile Thing: The Story of Cheap Trick, Small Faces: Quite Naturally, Eric Carmen: Marathon Man, Power Pop!, KISS: Behind The Mask and others.  He also contributes to a variety of national music magazines, works on music documentaries and has done CD liner notes for releases by Elvis Presley, Sly & The Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Santana and others. 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: MTV (October 19, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439103003
• ISBN-13: 978-1439103005

MY THOUGHTS:

I haven't read this one yet, but it looks really good. When John Lennon was murdered, I remember hearing it on the radio and calling all of my friends.  It was one of those cultural phenomenons that will remain with you always.

ROCKTOBER: This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitan

Description

In this groundbreaking union of art and science, rocker-turned-neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin explores the connection between music—its performance, its composition, how we listen to it, why we enjoy it—and the human brain. Drawing on the latest research and on musical examples ranging from Mozart to Duke Ellington to Van Halen, Levitin reveals:
• How composers produce some of the most pleasurable effects of listening to music by exploiting the way our brains make sense of the world
• Why we are so emotionally attached to the music we listened to as teenagers, whether it was Fleetwood Mac, U2, or Dr. Dre
• That practice, rather than talent, is the driving force behind musical expertise
• How those insidious little jingles (called earworms) get stuck in our heads

And, taking on prominent thinkers who argue that music is nothing more than an evolutionary accident, Levitin argues that music is fundamental to our species, perhaps even more so than language. This Is Your Brain on Music is an unprecedented, eye-opening investigation into an obsession at the heart of human nature.

From the Back Cover

"Endlessly stimulating, a marvelous overview, and one which only a deeply musical neuroscientist could give. Daniel Levitin has a huge knowledge of music developed since the 1950s (and of blues, jazz, and etc. before this), and not merely a formal but a deep personal knowledge as an expert performer no less than as a listener. I liked the discussion of 'safe' and 'dangerous' music, and I very much liked the final chapter on the evolutionary origins of music. An important book."
-Oliver Sacks, M.D. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

DANIEL J. LEVITIN runs the Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition, and Expertise at McGill University, where he holds the Bell Chair in the Psychology of Electronic Communication. Before becoming a neuroscientist, he worked as a session musician, sound engineer, and record producer working with artists such as Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan. He has published extensively in scientific journals and music magazines such as Grammy and Billboard.

Details

• Paperback: 322 pages
• Publisher: Plume/Penguin (August 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452288525
• ISBN-13: 978-0452288522

If you are a music fan, you need to read this book.  It will really open your eyes about why you love to listen and why that song is stuck in your head.

ROCTOBER: JUST SAY NO TO PIRACY (A special message from Gilbert Gottfried)

WARNING: If you are upset by explicit language, don't watch this. Seriously, he says a few bad words, but you knew that. Gilbert doesn't say bad words in front of his kids though.

ROCKTOBER: To Live Is to Die: The Life and Death of Metallica's Cliff Burton BY Joel McIver

Description

Among non-metal fans and hard rockers alike, Metallica is undeniably a household name. But few know that their style developed much of its sophistication under the guidance of their original bassist, Cliff Burton. Born and raised in San Francisco, Burton pushed the band to new musical levels with his training, songwriting, and exceptional skills on the bass. When Cliff was killed in 1986 — the band’s tour bus overturned on a Swedish mountain road — Metallica plummeted into despair and, by their own admission, never pushed the creative envelope as radically as they had done with Burton. This biography explores Cliff’s background, talent, and influence — one acknowledged by musicians of all kinds.

About the Author

Joel McIver writes for Total Guitar, Metal Hammer and many other music magazines and is the author of 12 books to date. The best-known of these is Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica (2004), which has sold over 30,000 copies in eight languages. He makes regular appearances on radio and TV.

Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Jawbone Press; Original edition (June 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 190600224X
• ISBN-13: 978-1906002244

 Yes, Susan, I posted this for you!  Check out Susan over at www.westofmars.com for even more Metallica goodness.

ROCKTOBER: 20 Questions with Jan Bornstein, author of Beyond Beautiful

I would like to welcome Jan Bornstein, author of The Song Trilogy, three musically inclined romance novels.  Jan has stopped by to answer my 20 questions and the answers are quite fabulous. I found myself laughing a bit while I posted this.  Stay tuned for my reviews of all three books and your chance to win my set of books.  

20 QuestionsWith Jan Bornstein


1. Bookmarks or dog ears?
Jan Bornstein – Bookmarks

2. Dust jacket on or off when reading a hard back?
JB - I leave it on to use as a bookmark because it’s handy.

3. Favorite author?
JB - Eugenia Price (rest her soul.). Her books are historical fiction with romance added. She made stories based on real characters as well as fiction.
Basically my books are based on a similar theme of people I knew in the past or still know as well as the fictional aspect.

4. Favorite genre’?
JB - I can't say I have "a" favorite. I like a vast field of reading. Romance, historical fiction, biographies just to name a few.

5. What is the best book you have read in the last year?
JB. I have to say Marley and Me. It’s so darn sweet!

6. What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
JB. H-mmm, okay, well I'd like to see my trilogy in a movie. There have been at least 2 other books similar to mine that have become movies.

7. E books: Friend or foe?
I think it's a foe financially for authors but Smashwords is looking good. 

8. Was there a book that inspired you to write?
JB - Not one particular book but rather the theme of Eugenia Price's as well as the movie, A Star is Born.

9. What are you reading right now?

JB - Jesus. No seriously, it is the name of the book

10. What is the last book you bought just for the cover?
JB - Marley and Me. I'm a sap for pictures of animals

11. What is the last book you received in the mail?
JB - From Pain to Peace. It is by an author on my Facebook page.

12. What is the number of books you own?
JB - Probably around 1000.

13.What is the first book you remember reading by yourself as a child?
JB - I'm too old to remember that far back. It may have been “Winnie the Poo.”

14.Do you have a favorite place to read?
JB – In bed especially romance books.

15. What is next for you, publishing-wise?
JB - I'll continue with self-publishing. I think eventually it will be the only way to go. Trade publishing is losing it's almighty following. My new book will be a sequel to the others.

16. Do you have a favorite place to write?
JB - My office because it's a mess and nobody wants to try and come in

17. Do you have any pets ?
JB - I have 4 cats and a dog.

18. How does your garden grow?
JB - What garden? Unfortunately I don't have time for gardens. But, I do love animals and sports, hanging out with friends and reading good books.

19.The last thing you Googled?
JB – Job sites.

20. What makes you cringe?
JB. Slippery slimy snakes.

 Since I sent Jan the questions before I was able to read the books, I may have to ask her back.
Thank you so much for stopping by!

ROCKTOBER REVIEW: Jane by April Lindner

Product Description

Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, a world-famous rock star on the brink of a huge comeback. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her magnetic and brooding employer and finds herself in the midst of a forbidden romance.

But there's a mystery at Thornfield, and Jane's much-envied relationship with Nico is soon tested by an agonizing secret from his past. Torn between her feelings for Nico and his fateful secret, Jane must decide: Does being true to herself mean giving up on true love?

An irresistible romance interwoven with a darkly engrossing mystery, this contemporary retelling of the beloved classic Jane Eyre promises to enchant a new generation of readers.

About the Author

April Lindner is an associate professor of English at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. Her poetry collection, Skin, received the Walt McDonald First-Book Prize in Poetry, and her poems have been featured in many anthologies and textbooks. She holds an MFA in writing from Sarah Lawrence College and a PhD in English from the University of Cincinnati. Jane is her debut novel.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Poppy (October 11, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316084204
• ISBN-13: 978-0316084208

SOURCE:  AROUND THE WORLD ARC TOURS

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

I adored Jane Eyre, so this story done with a washed up rock star as Mr. Rochester seemed a natural for me.  Of course, just like the original this one had me in tears in several parts, but I like a book that makes you feel some sort of emotion.  I always think the author has done an exceptional job if they can create emotions with their written word.  The story follows the original plot of Jane Eyre with a few modern twists.  Jane is still fiercely independent and trying to overcome the horrors of her childhood.

I thought the recasting of Mr. Rochester as a rock star was a stroke of genius.  I mean who else can convey the moodiness of a current character better than a rock star.  There is no questioning why Nico Rathburn is almost bipolar than to make him a musical artist.  Jane comes off vulnerable, yet still strong and develops in a way that she does become Nico's true love.  She doesn't fall into the trap of Rock Star Groupie, but becomes something more.  There are elements of drug abuse and sexual relations so this one is best suited for older teens.  Another rock star romance that I can really recommend!

ROCKTOBER REVIEW: Last Night at Chateau Marmont: by Lauren Weisberger

Description

Brooke loved reading the dishy celebrity gossip rag Last Night. That is, until her marriage became a weekly headline.Brooke was drawn to the soulful, enigmatic Julian Alter the very first time she heard him perform “Hallelujah” at a dark East Village dive bar.Now five years married, Brooke balances two jobs—as a nutritionist at NYU Hospital and as a consultant to an Upper East Side girls’ school, where privilege gone wrong and disordered eating run rampant—in order to help support her husband’s dream of making it in the music world.Things are looking up when after years of playing Manhattan clubs and toiling as an A&R intern, Julian finally gets signed by Sony. Although no one’s promising that the album will ever hit the airwaves, Julian is still dedicated to logging in long hours at the recording studio. All that changes after Julian is asked to perform on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno—and is catapulted to stardom, literally overnight. Amazing opportunities begin popping up almost daily—a new designer wardrobe, a tour with Maroon 5, even a Grammy performance.At first the newfound fame is fun—who wouldn’t want to stay at the Chateau Marmont or visit the set of one of television’s hottest shows? Yet it seems that Brooke’s sweet husband—the man who can’t handle hot showers and wears socks to bed—is increasingly absent, even on those rare nights they’re home together. When rumors about Brooke and Julian swirl in the tabloid magazines, she begins to question the truth of her marriage and is forced to finally come to terms with what she thinks she wants—and what she actually needs.

About the Author

Lauren Weisberger is the author of The Devil Wears Prada, which spent more than a year on the New York Times hardcover and paperback bestseller lists. The film version, starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, won a Golden Globe Award and grossed over $300 million worldwide. Her second novel, Everyone Worth Knowing, was also a New York Times bestseller. She lives in New York City with her husband.

Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Atria; First Edition edition (August 17, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439136610
• ISBN-13: 978-1439136614

Source:  Public Library

LOVED IT

So what happens when you have struggled to support that musician boyfriend and he hits it big?  Lauren Weisberger does a credible job about bringing together the tabloid press, the publicists and managers who believe any press is good press and the family of the famous who become collateral damage.  Brooke falls in love with Julian after hearing him sing and in a slightly stalkerish way, follows him around NYC.  But Julian feels the same about her, so it is all good.  Except when the new found fame takes him on a whirlwind tour of performances, press and parties.  He gets lost in the commotion that he is creating and Brooke is at the bottom of his to-do list. 

This is well written and the dialog sounds so realistic that it turns into a very quick read.  Of course there is conflict when pictures emerge of Julian with another women and Brooke finds herself in the limelight.  I did find a few things that nagged me about story.  Julian doesn't call when he is supposed to and there is no real help for Brooke in combating the tabloids that are now on her tail.  I just find it hard to believe that Brooke is left out in the cold and Julian provides little support.  Brooke is the real star of this book and it is nice to see that good behavior is rewarded.  I definitely recommend this one to any lover of chick lit.

ROCKTOBER: Just Kids by Patti Smith -- National Book Award Finalist!

Description

It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation.
Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style toward photography. Bound in innocence and enthusiasm, they traversed the city from Coney Island to Forty-second Street, and eventually to the celebrated round table of Max's Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamous—the influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. It was a time of heightened awareness, when the worlds of poetry, rock and roll, art, and sexual politics were colliding and exploding. In this milieu, two kids made a pact to take care of each other. Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years.
Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. It serves as a salute to New York City during the late sixties and seventies and to its rich and poor, its hustlers and hellions. A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists' ascent, a prelude to fame.

About the Author

Patti Smith is a writer, performer, and visual artist. She gained recognition in the 1970s for her revolutionary mergence of poetry and rock. Her seminal album Horses, bearing Robert Mapplethorpe's renowned photograph, has been hailed as one of the top 100 albums of all time. She has recorded twelve albums.
Smith had her first exhibit of drawings at the Gotham Book Mart in 1973 and has been represented by the Robert Miller Gallery since 1978. In 2002, the Andy Warhol Museum launched Strange Messenger, a retrospective exhibit of her drawings, silk screens, and photographs. Her drawings, photographs, and installations were shown in a comprehensive exhibit in 2008 at the Fondation Cartier Pour l'Art Contemporain in Paris.
Her books include Witt, Babel, Woolgathering, The Coral Sea, and Auguries of Innocence.
In 2005, the French Ministry of Culture awarded Smith the prestigious title of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, the highest honor awarded to an artist by the French Republic. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
Smith married the late Fred Sonic Smith in Detroit in 1980. They had a son, Jackson, and a daughter, Jesse. Smith resides in New York City.

Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ecco (November 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060936223
• ISBN-13: 978-0060936228

How cool is it that a rocker is a National Book Award Finalist! 

ROCKTOBER: Band members arrested after blocking 101 Freeway for performance | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

At least they didn't try this on a Monday....

Band members arrested after blocking 101 Freeway for performance | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times:

"The Imperial Stars are a self-described 'hard core hip hop band' from Orange County whose latest song is 'Traffic Jam 101.' On its website, the band pledges that all the money earned from the song will be going to Homeless Children America. The website features the same truck used during the impromptu concert Tuesday morning."

ROCKTOBER GIVEAWAY! Jack Bruce Composing HImself by Harry Shapiro

Description

When Cream broke up in 1968, it wasn’t Eric Clapton who was a surefire bet for solo success. Rather, it was Jack Bruce who had the looks and who cowrote and sang the band’s major hits, including “Sunshine of Your Love.” But Bruce wanted to be a pioneer, not just a pop star, and he was never content to rest on his laurels. This book traces his life and work, from his formative years in classical music (he composed string quartets at 12) and jazz through his early success with Manfred Mann to the short-lived but endlessly influential Cream era and beyond. It’s been an often troubled life — heroin addiction, management rip-offs, family tragedy, and a failed liver transplant — all of which he speaks about frankly in this authorized biography, telling a story that is sometimes inspirational, sometimes bleak, but always honest.

About the Author

Harry Shapiro an author, journalist and lecturer who has written widely on the subjects of drugs, popular music and film. He is the author of Waiting For The Man: The Story of Drugs and Popular Music, Shooting Stars: Drugs, Hollywood and The Movies, Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy and biographies of Graham Bond and Alexis Korner.

Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Jawbone Press (March 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1906002266
• ISBN-13: 978-1906002268

SOURCE:  PUBLISHER

LOVED IT

WANT TO WIN A COPY OF THIS BOOK?

Contest is open to anyone with a US mailing address (PO Boxes OK!)
Winner will be chosen by Random.org on 10.25.10
Winner will have 48 hours to respond to email or a new winner will be chosen.
This giveaway is sponsored by Jawbone Press and 1 book is available.


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ROCKTOBER! Return of the King by Gillian Gaar

Description

On January 1, 1967, a contract between "Colonel" Tom Parker and his sole client, Elvis Presley, gave Parker a 50 percent cut of profits that Presley generated. It was a shameless grab for a bigger piece of a pie that had actually been shrinking for some time. Though Parker’s plan to reestablish Presley as a star after he left the army proved successful at first (with the triumph of films like G.I. Blues and Blue Hawaii), by 1967 Presley’s singles struggled to break the top 20, and he hadn’t hit number one for six years. Amazingly, by the end of 1968 he was artistically revitalized, reemerging in a TV comeback special and slimmed down for the now-iconic black leather suit. It was the pivotal moment of the second great period of Presley’s career, which lasted through to the end of 1970, during which he recorded some of his most enduring records, including "Suspicious Minds" and "In The Ghetto." Return of the King document's Presley reclamation of his crown, making an extraordinary transition from fading balladeer to engaged, vital artist.

From the Back Cover

Return Of The King tells the story of a tumultuous period in the life
of Elvis Presley. By 1967, The King Of Rock’n’Roll was all but washed-
up, thanks to a string of bland movie roles and lackluster records.
But within a year he had roused himself, loosened the creative
shackles imposed by his grasping manager, ‘Colonel’ Tom Parker, and
reconnected with the rock audience through a riveting TV special.
There followed a glorious but all too brief artistic flowering, in
which he made some of his most enduring records, including
‘Suspicious Minds’ and ‘In The Ghetto.’ This meticulously researched
and elegantly written book, based on a string of new interviews with
colleagues, friends, fans, and observers of The King, sheds new light
on the events of Elvis’s great comeback.

About the Author

Gillian G. Gaar is the author of several books about music, including She's A Rebel: The History of Women in Rock and Roll, Green Day: Rebels With A Cause and The Rough Guide To Nirvana. She has also written for Mojo, Rolling Stone, Record Collector, Goldmine, and the Experience Music Project museum, among others.

Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Jawbone Press (May 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1906002282
• ISBN-13: 978-1906002282

MY THOUGHTS:
I don't know of any one who dislikes Elvis.  His songs are infectious and you can't deny his place in rock and roll history.  I heard his former band mates discuss touring with Elvis at a SXSW panel years ago and it was just fascinating.  The thing I remember most was how they told about Elvis leaving the building.  That famous line "Elvis has left the building" really meant that Elvis had left the building.