31 Comments
User's avatar
Chris Bro's avatar

I have more books to add to my queue. Thank you! ๐Ÿ‘Š๐Ÿค˜๐ŸŽธ

S.W. Lauden's avatar

Theyโ€™re publishing more of them all the time!

Chris Bro's avatar

I need more time. And money.

S.W. Lauden's avatar

I tend to buy books, but I have some friends that still swear by the library app. I've only used it a few times. Might need to reinstall it this summer.

Chris Bro's avatar

Yes! Love the library. Never used the app.

Brad Tolinski's avatar

Great list. I especially endorse Dan Epstein's excellent Now You're One of Us.

S.W. Lauden's avatar

Such a great book! Amazing companion to the documentary.

Jim Ruland's avatar

Thanks for the shout out! Lots of bangers here and a few I still need to get to.

S.W. Lauden's avatar

It was hard to choose between your many excellent books. But Iโ€™m a South Bay guy at heart.

Jim Ruland's avatar

๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿ™Œ

Robin Murray's avatar

Chris Frantz book is fantastic! I've just finished John & Paul, Ian Leslie's excellent Beatles tome.

S.W. Lauden's avatar

Great reco!

Joe Bonomo's avatar

Great stuff, thanks SW!

S.W. Lauden's avatar

Thanks! What are you reading?

Joe Bonomo's avatar

Music wise, Richie Unterberger's Do What You Fear Most: The History of the Velvet Underground, Charles Cross's Room Full Of Mirrors: The Bio of Jimi Hendrix, Robyn Hitchcock's Stranded in the Future, Hit Repeat Until I Hate Music: The March Xness Anthology, among them!

Paul Covington's avatar

Death to the Pixies

Our Band Could Be Your Life

See A Little Light (Bob Mould)

Perfect Circle (REM)

Morrissey (autobiography)

Unfaithful Music And Disappearing Ink (Costello)

We Got The Neutron Bomb (L.A. punk)

Please Kill Me

Who Killed Mister Moonlight? (David J and Bauhaus)

Songs That Saved Your Life (The Smiths)

Head On (Julian Cope and The Teardrop Explodes)

Rise Of The Super Furry Animals (SFA)

Born To Run (Springsteen)

Under The Big Black Sun (X and first wave L.A. as it fell to the beach punks)

Kraftwerk: Man, Machine and Music (Kraftwerk)

Krautrocksampler (krautrock)

Frontman (The Bongos and Richard Barone)

Heroes & Villains (The Beach Boys)

I Am Brian Wilson

Penny Kiley's avatar

I loved Head On. Cope is such a character.

Paul Covington's avatar

Absolute lunatic. Mad as a hatter.

Penny Kiley's avatar

Thanks for the shout-out!

I wrote a blog post about my ten favourite music books but it was a good few years ago now and there have been so many great new ones since. https://olderthanelvis.blogspot.com/2014/06/my-top-10-music-books.html

Of those you mention here, I've read and enjoyed Chris Stein and Chris Frantz's books. I'll have to check out the others.

S.W. Lauden's avatar

Loving Atypical Girl!

Dan Epstein's avatar

Really appreciate your continued support of the Redd Kross book, man. Thank you so much - and thanks for reminding me of the ones on this list that I still want/need to read! (Just finished Mark Ian Wilkinsonโ€™s Thunderclap Newman bio, and am about to dive into Robyn Hitchcockโ€™s new one!)

S.W. Lauden's avatar

Itโ€™s a fantastic book about an incredible band!

Edward Stafford's avatar

Aaaand my Towering TBR of Terror just got taller. Great list! Robyn Hitchcock just dropped the follow-up to 1967 which follows his hallucinate avatar throught the next decade. It's called Stranded in the Future and it's very pink.

S.W. Lauden's avatar

That oneโ€™s on my TBR pile!

Yorick's avatar

Atypical Girl is a terrific read, highly recommended. Especially if you were there!

S.W. Lauden's avatar

I wasnโ€™tโ€ฆbeen now I kinda feel like I was.

Justin Steiner's avatar

Glad to hear that Fountains of Wayne bio is good; I've had my eye on it. I have the Redd Kross book on my TBR shelves too. Going to save this post for the other recs.

I read and enjoyed The Cars bio by Bill Janovitz earlier this year and enjoyed the fictional band in the book The Future Saints by Ashley Winstead.

S.W. Lauden's avatar

I need to check out The Future Saints! Thanks for the reco.

MonoStereo's avatar

I just finished "Alternative For The Masses" by Greg Prato. An oral history, so it was easy to read on my Kindle while on my exercise bike.

For a rec, I'll throw out a more obscure one people might not know about : "Cheese Chronicles: The True Story of a Rock n Roll Band You've Never Heard Of" by Tommy Womack. Fun read.

S.W. Lauden's avatar

Awesome! Thanks for the interesting recommendation.