Great post. I absolutely cannot wait for your full story one day. I went to college and was a college DJ during the Blake Babies/Dinosaur Jr. days and was in Boston all the time to see shows (I went to UNH). I’m sure your full telling will be a great read!
Great read, John -- thanks for the list. I'm excited to get to Campbell's book soon.
An underrated rock memoir is So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful Of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer's Life by Jacob Slichter, the drummer in Semisonic. It's a fun read and worth it just for the details of how "Closing Time" became such a massive hit.
Loved that one. I’m due to re-read it. I love the 90s books. My favorite is All I’m Cracked Up To Be by Jen Trynin from Boston. One of those buzz-fueled bidding wars that went nowhere.
I really enjoyed this post, John. Your comment on Blink 182's music rings true. Actually, it totally passed by me, but my daughters loved them when they were in middle school. Katie Toupin showed me the value in their lyrics and melodies when she did americana covers of a couple of their songs.
You suggested some good reads. I'm currently reading Peter Wolf's book. He was the late night DJ at the nascent WBCN in Boston when me and a couple of buddies got an apartment on Newbury St. right nextdoor. We all thought he was black :). If you haven't read this one you might want to check out "Radio Free Boston: the rise and fall of WBCN". It's a great read! ( at least the first half which covers my time in Boston until I moved out west).
Best music memoir I’ve personally read recently is the brilliant “ Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me from Success “ by Lush’s Miki Berenyi. Fantastic writing and a very unique story.
Re: "It's all connected" and marketing: When we were doing Batter Blaster we paid a consultant group quite a bit of money to do some brand analysis and help us build the business. They came back in their first consultation to tell us they couldn't find anything wrong with our branding and we were exactly where we needed to be. Literally, "Great job! Thanks for the money!" Wish I was making that up.
I wish I could find the exact quote, because google isn't helping my admittedly faulty memory, but I remember Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes saying something along the lines of, we're all singing the same song. Meaning, it's another fabric stitched into this blanket we call music. Especially among those of us who enjoy chasing the history of any kind of music back to its roots, giving it credit, and trying to be inspired by it and expand upon it. I think that sentiment is very true, as opposed to the Stolling Rone List Of 100 Greatest Who-Gives-A-Shit Of All TIme, which isn't for people who love music, it's for people who love to argue. I don't care how hippie-dippie it sounds, true lovers of music, inspired by music rather than ego, are just adding their own stitch to the greater fabric, and that IS all connected!
Neneh Cherry’s recent memoir “A Thousand Threads” is a fascinating journey and perfectly brought to life by her Stockholm-meets-New York-meets-London accent. She’s an incredible storyteller.
A side note: River's Edge was my introduction to Ione, Crispin Glover and K. Reeves. That flick was the most realistic film portraying (white) teens that I've ever seen, at least thru this suburban stoner kids eyes. It really resonated with me.
Same reason I write on Substack: “Someday I’ll write my own, that’s why I write this Substack. Someday I’ll write my own; I just have to do a bit more living first to make it more interesting and worth reading.”
“Someday I’ll write my own; I just have to do a bit more living first to make it more interesting and worth reading.” Respectfully, I disagree. You’ve done a lot of living that’s plenty interesting already, and it’s best to get started on your memoir in the - unlikely, it may seem now - event you start forgetting.
Great post. I absolutely cannot wait for your full story one day. I went to college and was a college DJ during the Blake Babies/Dinosaur Jr. days and was in Boston all the time to see shows (I went to UNH). I’m sure your full telling will be a great read!
Thank you!
Great read, John -- thanks for the list. I'm excited to get to Campbell's book soon.
An underrated rock memoir is So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful Of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer's Life by Jacob Slichter, the drummer in Semisonic. It's a fun read and worth it just for the details of how "Closing Time" became such a massive hit.
Loved that one. I’m due to re-read it. I love the 90s books. My favorite is All I’m Cracked Up To Be by Jen Trynin from Boston. One of those buzz-fueled bidding wars that went nowhere.
I really enjoyed this post, John. Your comment on Blink 182's music rings true. Actually, it totally passed by me, but my daughters loved them when they were in middle school. Katie Toupin showed me the value in their lyrics and melodies when she did americana covers of a couple of their songs.
You suggested some good reads. I'm currently reading Peter Wolf's book. He was the late night DJ at the nascent WBCN in Boston when me and a couple of buddies got an apartment on Newbury St. right nextdoor. We all thought he was black :). If you haven't read this one you might want to check out "Radio Free Boston: the rise and fall of WBCN". It's a great read! ( at least the first half which covers my time in Boston until I moved out west).
Again, thanks for this post.
Great post John. Thanks.
Best music memoir I’ve personally read recently is the brilliant “ Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me from Success “ by Lush’s Miki Berenyi. Fantastic writing and a very unique story.
Thank you.
Re: "It's all connected" and marketing: When we were doing Batter Blaster we paid a consultant group quite a bit of money to do some brand analysis and help us build the business. They came back in their first consultation to tell us they couldn't find anything wrong with our branding and we were exactly where we needed to be. Literally, "Great job! Thanks for the money!" Wish I was making that up.
Truly insane
On my list
If you haven't read it yet, Jon King's Gang of Four memoir, To Hell With Poverty, is read by the author and is incredibly entertaining.
Thanks for the list, I’ve read a few of those already. Have you read Margo Price’s “Maybe We’ll Make It” too ? It was great.
I wish I could find the exact quote, because google isn't helping my admittedly faulty memory, but I remember Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes saying something along the lines of, we're all singing the same song. Meaning, it's another fabric stitched into this blanket we call music. Especially among those of us who enjoy chasing the history of any kind of music back to its roots, giving it credit, and trying to be inspired by it and expand upon it. I think that sentiment is very true, as opposed to the Stolling Rone List Of 100 Greatest Who-Gives-A-Shit Of All TIme, which isn't for people who love music, it's for people who love to argue. I don't care how hippie-dippie it sounds, true lovers of music, inspired by music rather than ego, are just adding their own stitch to the greater fabric, and that IS all connected!
Neneh Cherry’s recent memoir “A Thousand Threads” is a fascinating journey and perfectly brought to life by her Stockholm-meets-New York-meets-London accent. She’s an incredible storyteller.
You may like Margo Price's autobiography.
I cannot not cry whenever I hear Lucinda's song "Don't Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You. "
A side note: River's Edge was my introduction to Ione, Crispin Glover and K. Reeves. That flick was the most realistic film portraying (white) teens that I've ever seen, at least thru this suburban stoner kids eyes. It really resonated with me.
Same reason I write on Substack: “Someday I’ll write my own, that’s why I write this Substack. Someday I’ll write my own; I just have to do a bit more living first to make it more interesting and worth reading.”
“Someday I’ll write my own; I just have to do a bit more living first to make it more interesting and worth reading.” Respectfully, I disagree. You’ve done a lot of living that’s plenty interesting already, and it’s best to get started on your memoir in the - unlikely, it may seem now - event you start forgetting.
Have you read Moon Unit Zappa’s book Earth To Moon? I loved it.