On January 25 the conversion of Saul to Paul is traditionally celebrated, so along those lines, it's worth mentioning two books about musical conversions which are, after all, quasi-religious in their own right.
Lester Bangs (12/14/1948-4/20/1982), edited by Greil Marcus, Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung (Knopf, 1987).
Bangs, rock critic and editor for Detroit-based CREEM Magazine, serves up his inside hash on bands and artists ranging from Van Morrison, The Stooges, Iggy Pop, John Coltrane, Barry White, Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Lou Reed, The Clash and more. Which is why I still own a copy.
Another interesting tome is Jon Savage's England's Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock and Beyond (St. Martin's Press, 1992). It explores the social and artistic milieu from which punk sprang, giving full credit to American developments as well as England's dreamin.' There's a good discography included, and updated editions with various covers and additional matter have been published since the 1992 original. Before this one, Savage had written a book on The Kinks.
Today's birthdays include those of: Virginia Woolf and Somerset Maugham. Earlier this week we had Lord Byron's, Stendhal's, and Edith Wharton's.
Today's Rune: Possessions.
God Save the Queen!
The fascist regime!
They made you a moron!
Potential H-bomb!
3 comments:
She ain't no human being, remember.
I have fond memories of picking up a pre-release copy of Psychotic Reactions whilst working in a book shop. It's great, isn't it?
We could sure use another Lester Bangs to tear apart the whole music scene and point us in the direction of smaller, lesser known bands offering their music on the internet.
Hey dudes, thanks for the comments -- love those books. JR, excellent idea -- with YouTube and individual recs, that might really be feasible. . . . .
Post a Comment