Published in ALARM magazine –December 2006
Rock ‘N’ Roll’sStrangest Moments
Mike Evans
Robson Books
Is Paul McCartney dead? Did Michael Jackson place a bid on the Elephant Man’s bones? Did TedBundy almost kill Debbie Harry? As part of Robson Books’ series boasting titlessuch as Science’s Strangest Inventionsand Royalty’s Strangest Characters, Britishauthor Mike Evans addresses these questions and more in Rock ‘N’ Roll’s Strangest Moments. Evans assembles some of the mostpertinent bits of rock history between 1947 and 2005, accompanied by thegenre’s most famous (and infamous) anecdotes and myths (most of which Evansdebunks). You already know David Bowie’s ZiggyStardust: Now read about his alleged affair with Mick Jagger, or the storybehind his differently colored eyes. Not all of the book’s events andsituations are necessarily strange. A number of parts simply chronicle thelives of rockers like Syd Barrett, Iggy Pop, and Charles Manson. With anaccessible format—“chapters” are no more than four pages in length—andreader-friendly prose, Rock ‘N’ Roll’s Strangest Moments is a perfectread for those on the go. If you know(or think you know) all there is to know about the sex/drugs/murder seedyunderbelly of the rock ‘n’ roll legacy, this book will bore you. If you just want to know more about yourfavorite genre, give Rock ‘n’ Roll’sStrangest Moments a try.
The Show I’ll NeverForget: 50 Writers Relive Their Most Memorable Concert-Going Experience
Sean Manning, Ed.
Da Capo Press
Musicians, music journalists, and authors alike combinetheir talents under the guidance of 27-year-old editor Sean Manning for animpressive result—a collection of 50 stories weaving together personal memoirsand concert reviews. While The Show I’llNever Forget covers all the concerts you’d expect—Queen, Nirvana, theBeatles, 1969’s Woodstock, and The Kinks—uniqueness abounds with quite a fewconcert experiences: Television, Black Flag, Kevin Spacey’s 2004 live tributeto Bobby Darin, Antony and the Johnstons joined by Lou Reed, and yes, the WhiteStripes. (If you just rolled your eyes, don’t be dissuaded. Read on.) Too manysimilar books read like a concert review section—you’d be better off reading amagazine or Web site. Not this one. One author begins her story with the deathof her father and ends with an amazing recount of a 1970 Nina Simone show in New York City. The starof the book though, hands down, is Chuck Klosterman’s North Dakotan Prince exposé.Klosterman was so completely blown away by Prince’s talent that he forgot hewas there on assignment for the Forum,a Fargo-based newspaper —and ironically, that’s why it was so memorable. “Thistiny capricious freak walked onstage and started making rock music. And it wasso goddamned mesmerizing that I remember almost none of it,” he writes. Da CapoPress is in the habit of publishing great books; The Show I’ll Never Forget is no exception.
Rock ‘N’ Roll’sStrangest Moments
Mike Evans
Robson Books
Is Paul McCartney dead? Did Michael Jackson place a bid on the Elephant Man’s bones? Did TedBundy almost kill Debbie Harry? As part of Robson Books’ series boasting titlessuch as Science’s Strangest Inventionsand Royalty’s Strangest Characters, Britishauthor Mike Evans addresses these questions and more in Rock ‘N’ Roll’s Strangest Moments. Evans assembles some of the mostpertinent bits of rock history between 1947 and 2005, accompanied by thegenre’s most famous (and infamous) anecdotes and myths (most of which Evansdebunks). You already know David Bowie’s ZiggyStardust: Now read about his alleged affair with Mick Jagger, or the storybehind his differently colored eyes. Not all of the book’s events andsituations are necessarily strange. A number of parts simply chronicle thelives of rockers like Syd Barrett, Iggy Pop, and Charles Manson. With anaccessible format—“chapters” are no more than four pages in length—andreader-friendly prose, Rock ‘N’ Roll’s Strangest Moments is a perfectread for those on the go. If you know(or think you know) all there is to know about the sex/drugs/murder seedyunderbelly of the rock ‘n’ roll legacy, this book will bore you. If you just want to know more about yourfavorite genre, give Rock ‘n’ Roll’sStrangest Moments a try.
The Show I’ll NeverForget: 50 Writers Relive Their Most Memorable Concert-Going Experience
Sean Manning, Ed.
Da Capo Press
Musicians, music journalists, and authors alike combinetheir talents under the guidance of 27-year-old editor Sean Manning for animpressive result—a collection of 50 stories weaving together personal memoirsand concert reviews. While The Show I’llNever Forget covers all the concerts you’d expect—Queen, Nirvana, theBeatles, 1969’s Woodstock, and The Kinks—uniqueness abounds with quite a fewconcert experiences: Television, Black Flag, Kevin Spacey’s 2004 live tributeto Bobby Darin, Antony and the Johnstons joined by Lou Reed, and yes, the WhiteStripes. (If you just rolled your eyes, don’t be dissuaded. Read on.) Too manysimilar books read like a concert review section—you’d be better off reading amagazine or Web site. Not this one. One author begins her story with the deathof her father and ends with an amazing recount of a 1970 Nina Simone show in New York City. The starof the book though, hands down, is Chuck Klosterman’s North Dakotan Prince exposé.Klosterman was so completely blown away by Prince’s talent that he forgot hewas there on assignment for the Forum,a Fargo-based newspaper —and ironically, that’s why it was so memorable. “Thistiny capricious freak walked onstage and started making rock music. And it wasso goddamned mesmerizing that I remember almost none of it,” he writes. Da CapoPress is in the habit of publishing great books; The Show I’ll Never Forget is no exception.
