I am a sucker for the rock autobiography. The greatest regret of my life outside of not being a short reliever for the Giants, is not having been a kickass guitarist in a rock band during my early 20s. I have no talent, so it's not surprising this never came about. But I love reading about those who even for a few short moments get to be up there on stage cranking it out for an audience that loves them and will remember that moment, like say New York in 1977. Blondie was one of those bands. I know, they became silly and sort of disco-y. But before that they shared the same influence and scene as The Ramones. They dug that golden age of 60s AM pop. And a closer listen to the first few records turns up some gems like X-Offender, Rip Her To Shreds, Out in the Streets, Always Touched by Your Presence. Great Shangri-La stuff but with more grit and guitars. And Debbie Harry was smoking in those days.
So I read New York Rocker by bassist Gary Valentine. His tenure with the band was short. Just the first record or so. But that's the era that I care about. Like all good rock bios, there is a ton of info that fills in the dots of others you have read about NY and the CBGB/Max's scene. In short, The Ramones are cool, Patti Smith is a bitch, and everything in New York smelled, was broken and there was no other place you would rather be. Iggy's in here, and so is Bowie and Lou.
Which isn't to say New York Rocker is well- written. It isn't. But it's mindless fun. And for a few hours I forgot about the drapes that haven't arrived, the two girls on their way and that business trip to Portland. I almost felt like I was in a real big band for a moment. If only for a few minutes.
2 comments:
I've never listened to a Blondie record. My ex was obsessed with them, but I never let her near the stereo. And Patty Smith a bitch? That's not the usual take. Egotistical and flighty and pretentious, perhaps, but bitchy? That's new. Didn't Gary Valentine used to manage the Mets? Tee hee.
According to Valentine, there was bad blood between Smith and Harry. They fought over band members. Also, Smith looked down on the other CBGB types for not being true artists like herself, natch.
Again this is not a well written book. But I love the gossipy stuff and these snapshots of a certain place and time.
Did you read Rich's column this AM? It was rather self congratulatory and disingenous, don't you think? "hey even those boneheads on the Right have stopped being bigots. Us liberals have won."
The cultural Right make some decent points even if I don't agree with their overall message. And yet there is Rich dismissing all of them as former bigots who time has past by never once actually considering the merits of their views. That's journalistic laziness at best or intellectual cowardness at worst.
Post a Comment