Best artist / band biography...

ok,
bit of a different post. i've put it here as this seems the most apropriate place....
currently i've read the following
groupie - jenny fabian
crazy from the heat - david lee roth
nico, songs they never play on the radio - ????
black days with sabbath and other stories - mick wall
currently reading lemmy's white line fever.
what other band / artist autobiography's would people recommend? particularly mid '80 excess and led zeppelin.
i also want to read grace slick's autobiography as that sounds mad from the excerpt i have read but i can't find it anywhere.
cheers

julian

 

If rock 'n' roll excess is your thing, I'd recommend the Motley Crue one, I think it's called 'The Dirt'.

Some very funny - and very sad - stories in there, some relating to David Lee Roth in fact. I'd be interested to know whether they tell the same story from a different perspective. I'm sure the Gene Simmons 'Kiss and make up' one has a few tales too.

I've not read it, but I remember picking up a biography of Paul Dianno from Iron Maiden, which had a quote from it on the cover which talked about him being arrested with a carboot full of coke and uzi's - I guess that might be of interest too.

Hope that helps....

 

thanks goomer,
the dirt is next on my list and the paul dianno one rings a bell so i'll keep my eyes open for that one too.
cheers


julian

 

If you want *real* excess, read Art Pepper's Straight Life (he was a bad, bad man) and Charlie Mingus's Beneath the Underdog, which is completely obscene and hugely entertaining.

-- Ian

 

related

But Beautiful - geoff dyer

the dark stuff - Nick Kent

 

Shakey - Neil Young

 

Ghost Rider - Neil Peart

 

Rush, there's a group from my past

 

Excess eh??

"Moon the loon" written by Keith Moons minder is worth a read

"The Rocker" the Phil Lynnot bio is worth a read

and the Marvin Gaye bio is good too [I'll try and find it - we still haven't unpacked since we moved in in July..]

 

moon the loon is an exalent read,especialy the tale involving the welsh conservitive party and escaped snakes stairway to heaven by richard cole,zepplins tour manager is a good warts n all story of there excesses,wasnt that impressed with white line fever,to much winging about record companys for my tastes

 

Down the Highway - Bob Dylan's biography is an interesting read, given the enormous influence he's had on modern music.

 

A couple of great autobiographies:

'Wonderland Avenue' by Danny Sugerman – this is the kid who bunked off school to manage The Doors when he was about 14-15 and later managed The Stooges. He is best known for his excellent biography Doors biog 'No one here gets out alive', but this is IMHO the funniest book. Few people have survived the amount of drugs Danny Sugerman flung down his neck, and this book is a hysterical account of total excess; stories such as whiting out after a fix whilst driving home and waking up to find his car in mid air just about to crash through the roof of someone's house etc. The one about having to rescue a high Iggy who was working through his rich ex-girlfriends dad's car collection – the image of Iggy standing on the roof of a Ferrari hacking it to bits with a axe is one I'd have paid good money to see. A totally amazing book.

Head On by Julian Cope – incredibly funny account of life in the Teardrop Explodes. It has everything from chasing Bill Drummond across Wales high on drugs with a shotgun to pushing his 'accidental shower crap' down the plug hole with his girlfriends toothbrush. Even includes the old 'What's the difference between The Teadrop Explodes and a cow?' joke* If you have a Music Zone outlet near you they currently have the double issue including part two of his autobiography 'Repossessed' remaindered to about £3 – well worth reading even if you don't like the guy's music. Unquestionably one of the funniest books I have ever read.

Tony.

(*A cow has the horns at the front and the twat at the back...)