Category: Music

The Top 50 Essential Novels for Weirdos

Posted by on February 14, 2011 | 15 comments
Books • Essential Books for Weirdos • Geezerism • Music • Underworlds • What Did We Do Before the Internet? • Yeah, I Was in the Shit

OK… so… um, hi there, “Internet.” What’s up?

I am both stunned and humbled to say the least by how far and fast my list of “essential” non-fiction titles has traveled. Not just among sites and people of which I was already aware, but across entirely unexpected factions. Nuts! But at the same time, really satisfying to realize that there was indeed a need for some kind of list, even if just to open the door for additions and comments.

So now that I’m out there, literarily bare-assed, if you will, I’m going to take a stab at the fiction list. But first some additional detail about my original intentions and ground rules.

Doing this first occurred to me a couple of months ago, when a friend of mine told me that he gave his Led Zeppelin box set to his niece. She’s getting to be in her late tweens, and is showing the signs of becoming a pretty cool kid. So he figured, ‘Hey, I’ve got all this stuff ripped, I’m just going to give it to her. Corrupt the youth!’ (Just wait until she eventually figures out that he used to be in the Meatmen.)

That struck me as a terribly cool thing to do, not least because when I was growing up and trying to figure out what to listen to or to read, I had absolutely no such mentor. And when I recently asked around, I discovered few of my friends had one either. We all just dredged and scoured and wandered around (without the internet! in the driving snow! uphill both ways!) until we landed on things.

So if these lists have a subhead, it’s this: Stuff You Should Check Out If You’re Starting to Get Into This Sorta Thing. See, that’s not as catchy, is it? But it’s nonetheless the intent. To that end, I continue to insist that this should be a community effort. Think my list stinks? Give us yours! I forgot something brilliant? Cough it up! Google is going to bring the curious to this list for a long time, I suspect. Let’s make it a good one.

My 50 fiction titles are designed to feel a bit more like a Modern Library-type list. Tastes in fiction are infinitely broad, so I’ve gathered what I think are the classics in a particular mindset, remembering that many of them were considered shocking and even offensive upon their original release. Others are books I simply loved to death. Together, they’re a primer on dark, counter-cultural fiction. My remarks (no spoilers!) after the jump.

(N.B.: Yeah, I left off Henry Miller. I just can’t stand the guy. He makes Norman Mailer seem like a riot grrrl. But if you must, mentally add Tropic of Cancer and call this your list of 51.)

Missed the non-fiction list? Check it out here.



» Read the full post

The Top 50 Essential Non-Fiction Books for Weirdos

Posted by on February 9, 2011 | 58 comments
Books • Essential Books for Weirdos • Geezerism • Music • Underworlds • What Did We Do Before the Internet? • Yeah, I Was in the Shit

Knowing that I’ve been a voracious reader since I was a kid, someone recently asked me if I’d read all of the Modern Library’s top 100 list. Hm, never checked. So I took a look. Surprisingly, I’ve done pretty well. Not so surprisingly, that is one fusty, moldy list! Three DH Lawrence titles? Really?

Even worse had to be the “Reader’s List” that the site compiled in reaction to their editor’s list. Any time you have Ayn Rand and L. Ron Hubbard gobbling up the top of both the fiction and non-fiction lists (and I won’t even mention the inclusion of Howard Stern’s Private Parts), skepticism is the best policy.

Then I started to dig around. There’s gotta be a list of essential cool/strange books, right? Wrong. There are lists for just about everything — sci-fi, romance, female authors, young adults, top sellers — but not a list for “us.” Who’s “us”? Well, I’m not sure. I figure if you’re part of “us,” you probably already know.

Aside from the fact that making a top 100 or 50 or 10 of any kind of art is a fool’s errand, I have nominated myself to this task. I’ve come up with 50 non-fiction and 50 fiction titles I think are keystones to understanding subculture. Or counterculture. Or alternative thinking. Or something. In large part, I went with the Supreme Court Justice Stewart method: I know it when I see it.

It’s just a list — my own personal list, pretty heavily centered on 20th century titles, rather American — but I hope that it can serve as a primer for some, a refresher for others, a discussion for veterans, maybe even a window into another way of thinking for still others. All I know is, if a post I did on Russian prison tattoos can garner 6,000 reads and (rapidly) counting, then this one can certainly get the good word out about some great reading.

Enjoy the quickie slideshow, or hit the jump for the list in text form along with comments about each. And please, leave your own suggestions in the comments! Community effort!

Now Live: 50 fiction titles.



» Read the full post

Tags:

Yes, You Should’ve Heard The Joshua Tree By Now

Posted by on February 4, 2011 | One comment
Geezerism • Laughing At • Music • Yeah, I Was in the Shit

Let’s just get this out of the way: I’ve been absent. I’ve faltered in my blogging responsibilities. Hey, it happens to everyone. You’re blogging away, and then suddenly you realize it’s easier to just make cheap cracks in your Facebook status updates, and it’s all over. Blogging lethargy. Lapse of faith.

But I got a fire under me now. Why? Well, the “You’ve Never Heard?!” feature on NPR Music’s (otherwise great) All Songs Considered blog, for one. As the site editors describe it: “This is a recurring series in which we ask our unimaginably young interns to review classic albums they’ve never heard before.” OK, sure.

» Read the full post

The Rust Belt Hits You Never Knew You Missed

Posted by on May 14, 2010 | 2 comments
Geezerism • Music • What Did We Do Before the Internet?

“Hey, are you wardrobe for this Donnie Iris video shoot today? Awesome. Here’s what we need: a yellow tux, an hour of that pretty office manager lady’s time, and some pink culottes. Can you get that together in an hour?”

I’m always stunned when my iPod throws this Donnie Iris classic at me from the shuffle. Stunned and thrilled, actually. Hatched in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Iris was a “rock star” in Cleveland and the surrounding Midwest — horrible hair, weird teeth and all. It’s true: There was once a time when AOR was independently-minded and regional enough that songs could be local hits. The olden days!

Today, singing a few bars of this to any Midwesterner of a certain age bracket will bring about a hearty sing-along, but in the interest of spreading it farther, please enjoy it here. In the meantime, I’ll continue to kid myself that Cleveland’s Michael Stanley Band had a huge national hit with “He Can’t Love You.”

How’s the Runaways Movie, You Ask?

Posted by on March 21, 2010 | 4 comments
Film • Music

Sure, fair question. Honestly? Not that great. Not horrible! Actually, lots of great elements. Just… put it this way: I looked up a bunch of reviews, and the translation of the star ratings amounts to roughly “fair and a half.” That would describe it.

It’s really a drag, because the Runaways story is so fantastic, I keep expecting someone to really nail it. There have been books, a documentary, certainly plenty of articles. I had thought that this film would do it. Not so much. The problem isn’t quibbling with details. It’s more like the entire thing is like skipping rocks. Big chunks of info are just not there. Maybe there’s just too much to tell? Who knows, maybe someday this guy will come out with something killer.

But lest I discourage your attendance (!), here’s what’s kind of fantastic about it:

1) The work of the stylists and set designers is incredible. This isn’t a slightly modernized, glossy ’70s. This is an ugly, grimy ’70s, where the platform shoes were actually terrible looking and home decor was a cheap melange of brown and orange. Hideous but flawless.

2) From a visual standpoint, it’s far richer than you’d expect from a film made for less than $10 million. Great cinematography packed with color and contrast. Best of all are, without a doubt, the shows and performances. Lord knows we’ve all suffered through terrible, hokey “underground rock club” scenes in films, but these gigs look and feel exactly right. It’s loud and dirty, pitch black in the corners and crammed with high style rockers.

3) Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie. Pretty astounding. Considering that I know her as a bulgy-eyed, quasi-adult eight-year-old chirping on late night talk shows, I was floored. You won’t even recognize her. Hardest of any role in this movie was getting Cherie right, vocally and visually. The Runaways are thought of as sexy jailbait, but in reality it was not a male fantasy. It’s ugly and vulgar, and Cherie had a very weird vocal delivery. Knowing all that, watch the video below. Crazy, right?

4) Michael Shannon as Kim Fowley. Holy crap. I’m burying the lead here, because this one portrayal is basically the DeNiro/Raging Bull of rock movies, I’m tellin’ ya. Shannon’s already made a name for himself playing slightly unhinged characters, but the way he nails Fowley is incredible. It’s more than just nutty outfits and the ranting and raving; he actually captures Fowley’s vampirish combo of megalomania, lasciviousness, desperate greed and raw ambition. The real Kim Fowley, taken as a whole, is a complete creep in my opinion, but I’m forced to admit his “vision” has generally been beyond reproach. As a result, Shannon gets the movie’s best lines, whether he’s putting the band through boot camp, coaching them about touring, or manipulating recording sessions. And let’s just say that when he answers the phone hanging upside down while reading The Art of War, you have to wonder if it’s virtually documentary.

Go see it, and cross your fingers for a film version of Ozzy’s book!

« Older posts
Powered by Wordpress and Stripes Theme Entries (RSS) | Comments (RSS)