Pago 18
Daily Nebraskan
Monday, May 4, 1987
Rock'n'roll readings
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Reading about rock'n'roll is a lit
tle like reading about someone
else's incredible sex life, but
there's much to be said for printed
material that can generate one-tenth
the excitement in even the most hack
neyed pop song.
Texts and magazines that are as
vital and prurient as the best rock'n'
roll come alongjust about as often as a
verifiable tale of someone else's incred
ible sex life.
Most of the magazines and books in
this short list are available locally: the
books at the Nebraska Bookstore or the
University Bookstore and the maga
zines at either Dirt Cheap or Pickles
Records and Tapes (the fanzines listed
are available at these stores sporadically).
Charles
Lieurance
4. A -
Books:
1. "Mystery Train" by Greil
Marcus.
Marcus, who has been published as a
critic and writer in every major rock
magazine, writes about American music
(blues, rockabilly, country and hybrids
of those forms) a bit too academically
at times (citing Melville in an essay
about Robert Johnson's influences does
seem to be stretching things a bit), but
generally the energy of his prose and
:he scope of his knowledge wins out.
Marcus knows American literature,
American folk myths and American
musical traditions inside and out. He
reacts to the musicians discussed in
this book Presley, Johnson, The
Band and Randy Newman with a
poetic, worshipful reflex that brings
life to the landscapes he creates. He
populates the Mississippi delta that
spawned Robert Johnson not just with
the colorful characters that actually
wandered through that area but with
the friendly chimeras of the American
imagination, too.
The essay on Elvis Presley's televi
sion comeback in the late '60s and
early 70s is enough to send shivers up
your dorsal fin. Beautiful writing even if
it doesn't have the "common man"
appeal and rhythm of the music itself.
2. ' 'Blond ie "by Lester Bangs.
The name of this book doesn't really
encourage you to do all the searching
you might have to do to find it, but
don't be misled.
"Blondie" is about Blondie, the rock
group, but it is also about drugs, the
inception of New Wave, where punk
rock will lead us (or has led us),
fashion, hating some music and liking
other music, touring, bars, alcohol,
dancing and fetishism. Bangs' prose
goes from bashfully documentarian to
out-of control without skipping a beat.
Sometimes intolerant and braggy,
sometimes lost and timorous, Bangs, a
rock'n'Nler himself, has written prose
that comes as close to rock's pagan
abandon as it gets.
His death was a rotten, foul thing.
3. ''Rolling Stones Book of Lists, "
Roll ing Stone writers.
Everything odd, spooky, absurd and
revolting about rock music is con
tained herein. Just when you thought
you were too old to be spooked over
things like back-masking, Paul Mc
Cartney death rumors and where Jim
Morrison really is now, this book
comes along to open up rock's most
hallowed caskets.
There's also ridiculous fluff lists,
like Top 10 Songs About Fashion, Top
10 Songs About Drugs, etc. All in fun.
4. Trouser Press Record Guide.
Trouser Press was, for four or five
years, the only serious alternative to
Rolling Stone magazine. The writers
liked the music more than the sound of
their own overly educated voices, had a
pubescent love of trivia and noisy
racket instead of a post pubescent love
of Bang and Olafsen sound and good
cocaine, and you could read about the
latest releases from Pere Ubu and the
Fleshtones instead of the newest Joni
Mitchell or Journey.
The Trouser Press Guide came out
after the magazine closed down and it
critically profiles most every band or
musician on the fringe of mainstream
rock music. The guide covers hip-hop,
rap, new wave, hardcore, industrial,
electronic and some ambient space
music.
The writing is fresh and as objective
as good rock journalism can be. Per
haps the best word is "open," not
objective. The writers are open to most
anything from the far-out to the poppy.
Put Dave March, et al.'s "Rolling
Stone Guide" in a dark attic where you
can find it when ravaged by middle age.
"Trouser Press" is the superior guide
for anyone continually interested in
the shifting landscape of rock music.
Magazines:
2. SPIN
SPIN magazine is just the hippest
thing available right now. It's got its
faults, sure. One, it's run by Bob Gucci
one Jr., who seems to take more inter
est in protecting his daddy from Jimmy
Swaggart than in where music is head
ing. Two, the writers sometimes come
from irreputable places. Glenn O'Brien,
for instance, is completely full of poop.
These are small faults, however, in a
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