Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung

Author: Lester Bangs
Publisher: Serpent's Tail
ISBN: 1847655580
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 416

Book Description
Until his death aged thirty-three in 1982, Lester Bangs wrote wired, rock 'n' roll pieces on Iggy Pop, The Clash, John Lennon, Kraftwerk, Lou Reed. As a rock critic, he had an eagle-eye for distinguishing the pre-packaged imitation from the real thing; written in a conversational, wisecracking, erotically charged style, his hallucinatory hagiographies and excoriating take-downs reveal an iconoclast unafraid to tell it like it is. To his journalism he brought the talent of a great a renegade Beat poet, and his essays, reviews and scattered notes convey the electric thrill of a music junky indulging the habit of a lifetime. As Greil Marcus writes in his introduction, 'What this book demands from a reader is a willingness to accept that the best writer in America could write almost nothing but record reviews.'

Main Lines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste

Author: Lester Bangs
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 030748789X
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 429

Book Description
Before his untimely death in 1982, Lester Bangs was inarguably the most influential critic of rock and roll. Writing in hyper-intelligent Benzedrine prose that calls to mind Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson, he eschewed all conventional thinking as he discussed everything from Black Sabbath being the first truly Catholic band to Anne Murray’s smoldering sexuality. In Mainlines, Blood Feasts, Bad Taste fellow rock critic John Morthland has compiled a companion volume to Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, the first, now classic collection of Bangs’s work. Here are excerpts from an autobiographical piece Bangs wrote as a teenager, travel essays, and, of course, the music pieces, essays, and criticism covering everything from titans like Miles Davis, Lou Reed, and the Rolling Stones to esoteric musicians like Brian Eno and Captain Beefheart. Singularly entertaining, this book is an absolute must for anyone interested in the history of rock.

Let it Blurt

Author: Jim DeRogatis
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307487407
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
Let It Blurt is the raucous and righteous biography of Lester Bangs (1949-82)--the gonzo journalist, gutter poet, and romantic visionary of rock criticism. No writer on rock 'n' roll ever lived harder or wrote better--more passionately, more compellingly, more penetratingly. He lived the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, guzzling booze and Romilar like water, matching its energy in prose that erupted from the pages of Rolling Stone, Creem, and The Village Voice. Bangs agitated in the seventies for sounds that were harsher, louder, more electric, and more alive, in the course of which he charted and defined the aesthetics of heavy metal and punk. He was treated as a peer by such brash visionaries as Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, Captain Beefheart, The Clash, Debbie Harry, and other luminaries. Let It Blurt is a scrupulously researched account of Lester Bangs's fascinating (if often tawdry and unappetizing) life story, as well as a window on rock criticism and rock culture in their most turbulent and creative years. It includes a never-before-published piece by Bangs, the hilarious "How to Be a Rock Critic," in which he reveals the secrets of his dubious, freeloading trade.

Watch You Bleed

Author: Stephen Davis
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1440639280
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 472

Book Description
The New York Times bestselling epic tale of the last great rock band From the bestselling author of Hammer of the Gods comes the complete story of Guns N? Roses ? from their drug-fueled blastoff in the 80s to the turbulent life of legendary singer Axl Rose, and his fifteen-year, multimillion dollar quest to make the perfect hard rock album. Riotous world tours. Drug-induced rampages. One hundred millions albums sold. In his sixth major rock biography, Stephen Davis details the riveting story of the last great rock band. Watch You Bleed documents the life of every band member, including the improbable story of W. Axl Rose. Davis brilliantly captures the Guns? raw power ? from the gutters of Sunset Strip to the biggest stadiums on the planet. Based on exclusive interviews, private archives, and packed with stunning revelations, Watch You Bleed is the savage, definitive, and highly unauthorized story of Guns N? Roses. For the first time, millions of fans will learn the whole truth about this legendary band.

Attack of the Killer Facts!

Author: Eric Gryzymkowski
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1440525390
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 237

Book Description
Factoid Attack: Inherent sadistic streak in dentists confirmed! The electric chair was invented by a dentist, Dr. Alfred Southwick. Not surprising, dentists have been perfecting torture devices for centuries. Factoid Attack: Galaxy at risk! Intelligent life in short supply! In 1961, Astronomer Frank Drake estimated the number of probable intelligent civilizations inhabiting our galaxy. Using conservative numbers, that estimate came to 10,000. Unfortunately, we are not included in that total. Factoid Attack: Colorblind bulls hate all matadors equally! The color of a matador's cape, or muleta, is traditionally red, which is widely believed to irritate the bull. In reality, bulls are colorblind, so it is irrelevant what color cape a matador uses to antagonize them. Shot in the dark, but maybe it's the being stabbed with swords bit that pisses them off. Forget Fringe, Warehouse 13, and The X-Files. In this book, you'll find more weird and wacko truths than in all those combined. From golden poison dart frogs with enough venom to kill ten grown humans to cockroaches that can survive radiation 15 times stronger than what kills people, scary and strange just got scarier—and stranger!

Tribute to the Black Woman

Author: M. P. E. R. O. R.
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0615163327
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 114

Book Description
Published by BePublished.Org in 2007, Tribute To The Black Woman, is the complementary and follow-up work to the "Tribute To The Black Woman" CD released in 2003 by M.P.E.R.O.R. (Most Powerful Entering Resurrection Outside Ra)

Whose Tail Is This?

Author: Peg Hall
Publisher: Capstone
ISBN: 1404865942
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 8

Book Description
Examines a variety of animal tails, noting how they look different and function in different ways. Animals shown include a peacock, a monkey, a kangaroo, a humpback whale, a gecko lizard, a rattlesnake, and a sea horse.

The Official Punk Rock Book of Lists

Author: Amy Wallace
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 1617745340
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 339

Book Description
The author's original Book of Lists is a worldwide phenomenon that has sold over 8 million copies. The Punk Book of Lists will feature approx 200 lists - culled from the historical archives and many generated by noteworthy musicians, lists have been put together by film directors, writers, actors, you name it. Punk Rock is cool and the impact has hit every hip person on the planet! Over 50 wicked caricatures of punk rock stars, by noted underground artist Cliff Mott, are peppered generously throughout the book. You don't have to be punk to love the coolest rock 'n' roll toilet-reading, time-wasting masterpiece ever! Absolutely a jewel in the canon of great music books!

The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic

Author: Jessica Hopper
Publisher: Featherproof Books
ISBN: 0983186367
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Book Description
Jessica Hopper's music criticism has earned her a reputation as a firebrand, a keen observer and fearless critic not just of music but the culture around it. With this volume spanning from her punk fanzine roots to her landmark piece on R. Kelly's past, The First Collection leaves no doubt why The New York Times has called Hopper's work "influential." Not merely a selection of two decades of Hopper's most engaging, thoughtful, and humorous writing, this book documents the last 20 years of American music making and the shifting landscape of music consumption. The book journeys through the truths of Riot Grrrl's empowering insurgence, decamps to Gary, IN, on the eve of Michael Jackson's death, explodes the grunge-era mythologies of Nirvana and Courtney Love, and examines emo's rise. Through this vast range of album reviews, essays, columns, interviews, and oral histories, Hopper chronicles what it is to be truly obsessed with music. The pieces in The First Collection send us digging deep into our record collections, searching to re-hear what we loved and hated, makes us reconsider the art, trash, and politics Hopper illuminates, helping us to make sense of what matters to us most.

Out of the Vinyl Deeps

Author: Ellen Willis
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 0816672822
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Book Description
Collects Ellen Willis' writings on popular music from her career at the New Yorker and other publications.