Heavy Duty: Days and Night in Judas Priest by K.K. Downing with Mark Eglinton

(hb; 2018: memoir)

From the inside flap

“Judas Priest formed in the industrial city of Birmingham, England, in 1969. With its distinctive twin-guitar sound, studs-and-lether image, and international sales of over 50 million records, Judas Priest became the archetypal hevy metal band in the 1980s. Iconic tracks like ‘Breaking the Law,’ ‘Living After Midnight,’ and ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Coming’ helped the band achieve extraordinary success, but no one from the band has stepped out to tell their or the band’s story until now.

“As the band approaches its golden anniversary, fans will at last be able to delve backstage into the decades of shocking, hilarious, and haunting stories that surround the heavy metal institution. In Heavy Duty, guitarist K.K. Dowining discusses the complex personality conflicts, the business screw-ups, the acrimonious relationship with fellow heavy metal band Iron Maiden, as well as how Judas Priest found itself at the epicenter of a storm of parental outrage that targeted heavy metal in the ‘80s. He also describes his role in cementing the band’s trademark black-leather-and-studes image that would only become synonymous with the entire genre but would also give singer Rob Halford a viable outlet by which to express his sexuality. Lastly, he recounts the life-changing moment when he looked at his bandmates on stage during a 2009 concert and thought, ‘This is the last show.’ Whatever the topic, whoever’s involved, K.K. doesn’t hold back.”

Review

Heavy is a burn-through, deftly written memoir that recounts Downing’s time in Priest as well as his life outside of the band.  A few times, especially near the end of the book, he repeats his mildly stated complaints about certain people (e.g., bandmate-guitarist Glen Tipton) a few times too many in quick succession.  That said, this is a minor nit─I understand that working closely with someone you perceive to be bossy for four decades might inspire deeply felt resentment, as well as a sighing sense of what-could’ve-been for your band.

This book is a fun, informative read that made this Priest fan further appreciate the band and its intentions and music, as well as rethink some of my likes and dislikes regarding their output. Great, friendly and generally friendly read for the genre, worth owning if you are a Priest fan.

David Bowie: A Life by Dylan Jones

(hb; 2017: biography)

From the inside flap

"Dylan Jones's engrossing, magisterial biography of David Bowie is unlike any Bowie story ever written. Drawn from over 180 interviews with friends, rivals, lovers, and collaborators, some of whom have never before spoken about their relationship with Bowie, this oral history weaves a hypnotic spell as it unfolds the story of a remarkable rise to stardom and an unparalleled artistic path. Tracing Bowie's life from the English suburbs to London to New York to Los Angeles, Berlin, and beyond, its collective voices describe a man profoundly shaped by his relationship with his schizophrenic half-brother Terry; an intuitive artist who could absorb influences through intense relationships and yet drop people cold when they were no longer of use; and a social creature equally comfortable partying with John Lennon and dining with Frank Sinatra. By turns insightful and deliciously gossipy, DAVID BOWIE is as intimate a portrait as may ever be drawn. It sparks with admiration and grievances, lust and envy, as the speakers bring you into studios and bedrooms they shared with Bowie, and onto stages and film sets, opening corners of his mind and experience that transform our understanding of both artist and art. Including illuminating, never-before-seen material from Bowie himself, drawn from a series of Jones's interviews with him across two decades, DAVID BOWIE is an epic, unforgettable cocktail-party conversation about a man whose enigmatic shapeshifting and irrepressible creativity produced one of the most sprawling, fascinating lives of our time."


Review

This is one of the best collective-voices biographies I have read in a long time, a compilation of detailed and sometimes-wild quotes relating to Bowie’s numerous distinct phases, musical and otherwise. Life runs from Bowie’s childhood and art-focused adolescence to his last days in New York, when he released his final album Blackstar (2016), days before his death. This is an excellent read if you are a Bowie fan.

What Does This Button Do?: An Autobiography by Bruce Dickinson

(hb; 2017: autobiography)

From the inside flap

"A long-awaited memoir from the larger-than-life, multifaceted lead vocalist of Iron Maiden, one of the most successful, influential and enduring rock bands ever.

"Pioneers of Britain’s nascent Rock & Metal scene back in the late 1970s, Iron Maiden smashed its way to the top, thanks in no small part to the high-octane performances, operatic singing style, and stage presence of its second, but twice-longest-serving, lead singer, Bruce Dickinson. As Iron Maiden’s front man—first from 1981 to 1993, and then from 1999 to the present—Dickinson has been, and remains, a man of legend.

"But OTT front man is just one of the many hats Bruce wears. In addition to being one of the world’s most storied and well-respected singers and songwriters, he is an airline captain, aviation entrepreneur, motivational speaker, beer brewer, novelist, radio presenter, and film scriptwriter. He has also competed as a world-class level fencer. Often credited as a genuine polymath Bruce, in his own words (and handwritten script in the first instance!), sets forth many personal observations guaranteed to inspire curious souls and hard-core fans alike.

"Dickinson turns his unbridled creativity, passion, and anarchic humour to reveal some fascinating stories from his life, including his thirty years with Maiden, his solo career, his childhood within the eccentric British school system, his early bands, fatherhood and family, and his recent battle with cancer."

Review

Button is a light, fast, highlights-of-Dickinson’s-life read that focuses on the events, elements and people who shaped his life, his musical beginnings and career, and his other interests (flying airplanes, writing sex farce novels and fencing). If you are looking for details about his and others’ romantic relationships, dirt on other people, and other sleazy aspects of the rock ‘n’ roll world, you are likely to be disappointed. While there are mentions of sex and drugs (briefly mentioned, usually indulged by others) and profanity, from time to time, this is a relatively clean and respectful-of-others read that timelines Dickinson’s life thus far.

Button is a good offering for what it is, a fast-moving book that often feels like Dickinson is a tour guide focusing on the positive, not the salacious ─ a wise choice, considering how much it has allowed him to accomplish in his life.

Girl in a Band: A Memoir by Kim Gordon

(hb; 2015: rock 'n' roll memoir)

From the inside flap:

"For many, Kim Gordon, vocalist, bassist and founding member of Sonic Youth, has always been the epitome of cool.

"Sonic Youth is one of the most influential and successful bands to emerge from the post-punk New York scene, and their legacy continues to loom large over the landscape of indie rock and American pop culture. Almost as celebrated as the band's defiantly dissonant sound was the marriage between Gordon and her husband, fellow Sonic Youth found and lead guitarist Thurston Moore. So when Matador Records released a statement in the fall of 2011 announcing that -- after twenty-seven years -- the two were splitting, fans were devastated. In the middle of a crazy world, they'd seemed so solid.

"What did this mean? What comes next? What came before?

"In Girl in a Band, the famously reserved superstar speaks candidly about her past and the future. From her childhood in the sunbaked suburbs of Southern California, growing up with a mentally ill sibling who often sapped her family of emotional capital, to New York's downtown art and music scene in the eighties and nineties and the birth of a band that would pave the way for bands like Nirvana, as well as help inspire the Riot Grrl generation, here is an edgy and evocative portrait of a life in art."


Review:

Girl is a standout, thoughtful and atypical music memoir in that it doesn't read like a VH-1 Behind the Music episode with its usual drug-addled rise-and-fall-of-a-band arcs. Instead, Gordon's nonfiction book is smart, precise and effective in its quick-sketch, warm mentions of her emotions and experiences as a woman, artist, musician, wife and mother. There is -- for this reader, at least -- enough details about Sonic Youth's music and songs that were particularly moving for her, though bass guitarist geeks might be disappointed at how little she writes about her instrument tunings (which varied over the course of the band's thirty-year period).

This is an excellent rock 'n' roll and art memoir, one worth owning.

Ministry: The Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen by Al Jourgensen with Jon Wiederhorn

(hb; 2013: autobiography)


From the inside flap:

"The high octane, no-holds-barred memoir by the legendary godfather of industrial music and Ministry founder Al Jourgensen . . . is both ugly and captivating, revealing a character who has lived a hard life his way, without compromise.  Al Jourgensen, one of the most innovative and prolific artists to pick up a guitar, a mandolin, harmonica, or banjo, or to sit at a 90-channel SSI console, wanted to be a musician, yet became a rock star.  And fame and fortune almost killed him.  An IV drug abuser from the age of 15, Jourgensen delved deeper into heroin, cocaine and methadone and alcohol for 22 years before cleaning up, straightening out, and finding new reasons to live.

"During his career, Jourgensen has explored multiple avenues of electronic, industrial, metal, punk and even country music with Ministry, The Revolting Cocks, Lard, and others.  Along the way he engaged in all of the rock 'n' roll clichés regarding decadence and debauchery. . .  Despite his addiction and debauchery, he created seven seminal albums, including the hugely influential classics: 1988's The Land of Rape and Honey, 1989's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste, and 1992's platinum blockbuster Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed & The Way to Suck Eggs. . ."


Review:

This is one of my all-time favorite rock biographies.  Jourgensen, with the help of co-author Wiederhorn, tells his life story in an unapologetic, no-bullcrap manner, with lots of raunchy verve, humor and self-aware observations (this latter element is something that many people seem to lack in their day-to-day lives).  This adds zing to this fast-moving book, which is one of the rawest, craziest autobiographies I've read.

There will likely be some tempest-in-tea-cup controversies regarding Ministry: Jourgensen not only dishes dirt about himself, but those around him - Robert Plant, Ice-T, William S. Burroughs, Henry Rollins, R. Kelly, Trent Reznor, Jello Biafra, Timothy Leary, and others, including his longtime bandmate Paul Barker.

There's lots to laugh at, lots to be horrified by and lots to admire here; if you're a fan of rock/music autobiographies, pick this up.  You may not want to hang around Jourgensen when he's in full-tilt crazy mode, but he tells smart - if especially dark - entertaining stories.

Ministry is worth owning if you're not easily offended and easily grossed out, a member of the Grammar Police, or expecting detailed explanations of where some of your (possibly) favorite songs came from.

Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock & Roll, by Ann & Nancy Wilson with Charles R. Cross

(hb; 2012: rock 'n' roll memoir/autobiography)


From the inside flap:

"The mystery of 'Magic Man.'  The wicked riff of 'Barracuda.'  The sadness and beauty of 'Alone.'  The raw energy of 'Crazy On You.'  These songs, and so many others, are part of the fabric of American music.  Heart, fronted by Ann and Nancy Wilson, has given fans everywhere classic, raw and pure badass rock and roll for more than three decades.  As the only sisters in rock who write their own music and play their own instruments, Ann and Nancy have always stood apart - certainly from their male counterparts but also from their female peers.  By refusing to let themselves and their music be defined by their gender, and by never allowing their sexuality to overshadow their talent, the Wilson sisters have made their mark, and in the process paved the way for many of today's female artists.

"In Kicking & Dreaming, Ann and Nancy, with the help of. . . music biographer Charles R. Cross, recount a journey that has taken them from a gypsy-like life as the children of a globe-trotting Marine to the frozen back roads of Vancouver, where they got their start as a band, to the pinnacle of success - and sometimes excess.  In these pages,  readers will learn the truth about the relationship that inspired 'Magic Man' and 'Crazy On You,' the turmoil of inter-band romances gone awry, the reality of life on the road as single women and then as mothers of small children, and the thrill of perfoming and in some cases partying with the likes of the Rolling Stones, Stevie Nicks, Van Halen, Def Leppard, and other rock legends.  It has not always been an easy path.  Ann struggled with and triumphed over a childhood stutter, body image, and alcoholism; Nancy suffered the pain and disappointment of fertility issues and a failed marriage but ultimately found love again and happiness as a mom.  Through it all, the sisters drew from the strength of a family bond that trumps everything else, as told in this intimate, honest and uniquely female take on the rock and roll life."


Review:

Different, fun, lovesome page-turner - what sets Kicking & Dreaming apart from other rock bios is its focus on women's issues and the importance of family (blood kin and chosen), without sacrificing the rock 'n' roll vibe of the book. 

Worth checking out, this.

Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division, by Jon Ginoli

(pb; 2009: rock 'n' roll memoir)

From the back cover:

"Deflowered is Jon Ginoli's journey of self-discovery, musical passion, and drive to become the founding member of Pansy Division, the first out and proud punk rock band to make the national scene. We follow the band from their inception in the early '90s in San Francisco, to their search for a music label, and their current status as indie rock icons. We see the highs - touring with Green Day - and the lows - homophobic fans - of striving for acceptance and success in the world of rock. Featuring behind-the-scenes photographs and replete with the requisite tales of sex, drugs, groupies, band fights and label battles, this rollicking memoir is also an impassioned account of staying true to their artistic vision of queer rock 'n' roll."

Review:

Engaging, humorous, and fast-burn read that's more focused than most rock memoirs. More than another self-absorbed "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" make-cash book, this has progressive political passion to it, lending itself to a bigger, necessary movement.

Fun, thoughtful, important work - worth owning if you're a rock/pop punk memoir collector, a proponent of the LGBT movement or a Bay Area resident.

If you're a California resident, and interested in seeing the band live, they're playing two California shows next month - one in Berkeley (Friday, January 27, 2012) and another in Los Angeles (Sunday, January 29).

Old Gods Almost Dead by Stephen Davis

(pb; 2001, 2002: biography)

From the back cover 

"The saga of the Rolling Stones is the central rock mythology. From their debut as the intermission band at London's Marquee Club in 1962 through their 2002/2003 world tour, the Rolling Stones have defined a musical genre and experienced godlike adulation, quarrels, addiction, legal traumas, and descents into madness and death - while steadfastly refusing to fade away. Now, Stephen Davis, the New York Times best-selling author who has covered the Stones for three decades, presents their whole story, replete with vivid details on the Stones's musical successes - and personal excesses."


Review

Intimate, electrifying read about the Stones - their personalities (and inherent flaws), their music (varied in its influences, sometimes groundbreaking, sometimes not) and their lives.

One of the best rock bios I've read in a long while. Worth owning, this - perhaps one of the most comprehensive Stones/rock bios I've ever read.

LZ-'75: The Lost Chronicles of Led Zeppelin's 1975 American Tour, by Stephen Davis

(hb; 2010: rock 'n' roll memoir)

From the inside flap:

"As a young music journalist in 1975, Stephen Davis got the opportunity of a lifetime: an invitation to cover for a national magazine the sold-out 1975 North American tour of Led Zeppelin, the biggest and most secretive rock band in the world. He received a backstage pass, was granted interviews with band members, and even got a prized seat on the band's luxurious tour jet, the Starship. While on duty, he chronicled the Zeppelin tour in three notebooks, but after writing his article in 1975, he misplaced them. After three decades of searching, in 2005 he finally found the notebooks, on the covers of which he had scribbled the words LZ-'75, and unearthed loads of new information from the tour.

"In LZ-'75, Davis offers an unseen look at a pivotal year in the life of the band that includes lost interviews with canny vocalist Robert Plant and the brilliant guitarist Jimmy Page; information on the rock icon who moonlighted as a heroin dealer; revelations about the identity of the lover Robert Plant sings about in 'What Is and What Should Never Be' and 'Black Country Woman'; a detailed chronicle of each performance from a musical perspective and a vivid account of the band members' extravagant, and often troubled, lives on tour."

Review:

Excellent, near-impossible-to-set-down memoir of life on the road with one of the more hedonistic bands of the Seventies - LZ-'75 is an indispensible companion book to Davis' Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga.

Worth owning, this, if you're a fan of Led Zeppelin or bands of their ilk.

Not Dead & Not For Sale, by Scott Weiland with David Ritz

(hb; 2011: rock 'n' roll memoir)

From the inside flap:

"In the early 1990s, Stone Temple Pilots. . . [aka STP] toppled such megabands as Aerosmith and Guns N' Roses on MTV and the Billboard charts. Lead singer Scott Weiland became an iconic front man in the tradition of Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Robert Plant.

"Then, when STP imploded, it was Weiland who emerged as the emblem of rock star excess, with his well-publicized drug busts and trips to rehab. Weiland has since made a series of stunning comebacks, fronting the supergroup Velvet Revolver, releasing solo work, and, most recently, reuniting with Stone Temple Pilots. He still struggles with the bottle, but he has prevailed as a loving, dedicated father, as well as a business-savvy artist whose well of creativity is far from empty.

"These earthling papers explore Weiland's early years as an altar boy right along with his first experiences with sex and drugs. Weiland discusses his complex relationships with his parents, stepfather, siblings, and the love of his life, Mary Forsberg Weiland. Readers learn the. .. stories behind his most well-known songs and what it was like to be there at the beginning of the grunge phenomenon, as Rolling Stone proclaimed on its cover: 'the year punk broke.'"

Review:

Barebones, hard-to-set-down memoir about a rock 'n' roller who gives a taut, heartfelt but drama-free presentation of his up-and-down life. He doesn't try to excuse his drug addictions or misbehavior, though he does occasionally, briefly explain his mindset at said life junctures.

Good, entertaining, non-dirt-dishing and often inspiring read about a sincere and creative individual.

Check it out.

Enter Night: A Biography of Metallica, by Mick Wall

(hb; 2011: rock biography)

From the inside flap:

"As Led Zeppelin was for hard rock and the Sex Pistols were for punk, Metallica became the band that defined the look and sound of 1980s heavy metal. Inventors of thrash metal followed - Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth - but it was always Metallica who led the way, who pushed to another level, who became the last of the superstar rockers.

"Metallica is the fifth-largest selling artist of all time, with 100 million records sold worldwide. Their music has extended its reach beyond rock and metal and into the pop mainstream, as the band moved from speed metal to MTV with their hit single, 'Enter Sandman.' Until now there hasn't been a critical, authorative, in-depth portrait of the band. Mick Wall's thoroughly researched, insightful work is enriched by his interviews with band members, record-company execs, roadies and fellow musicians. He tells the story of how a tennis-playing, music-loving Danish immigrant named Lars Ulrich created a band with singer James Hetfield and made his dreams a reality. Enter Night follows the band through tragedy and triumph, from the bus crash that killed their bassist Cliff Burton in 1986 to the 2004 documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, and on to their current status as the leaders of the Big 4 festival that played to a million fans in Britain and throughout Europe and continues in the United States in 2011."

Review:

Excellent biography of the band.

Wall, a longtime music critic and friend of Metallica, chronicles the personalities, music eras and facts/opinions in an entertaining, straightforward and informative write. His take on their music, both its faults and merits, is pointed, kind and constructive - the best thing any critic or friend can be.

Worthwhile read, if you're fan of the band, past (Cliff Burton-era or pre-Load) or present.

I Am Ozzy, by Ozzy Osbourne with Chris Ayres

(hb; 2010: autobiography)

From the inside flap:

" 'They've said some crazy things about me over the years. I mean, okay: 'He bit the head off a bat.' Yes. 'He bit the head off a dove.' Yes. But then you hear things like 'Ozzy went to the show last night, but he wouldn't perform until he'd killed fifteen puppies. . .' Now me, kill fifteen puppies? I love puppies. I've got eighteen of the f*cking things at home. I've killed a few cows in my time, mind you. And the chickens. I shot the chickens in my house that night.

"It haunts me, all this crazy stuff. Every day of my life has been an event. I took lethal combinations of booze and drugs for thirty f*cking years. I survived a direct hit by a plane, suicidal overdoses, STDs. I've been accused of murder. Then I almost died while riding over a bump on quad bike at f*cking two miles per hour.

"People ask me how come I'm still alive, and I don't know what to say. When I was growing up, if you'd have put me against a wall with the other kids from my street and asked me which one of us was gonna make it to the age of sixty, which one of us would end up with five kids and four grandkids and houses in Buckinghamshire and Beverly Hills, I wouldn't have put money on me, no f*cking way. But here I am: ready to tell my story, in my own words, for the first time.

"A lot of it ain't gonna be pretty. I've done some bad things in my time. I've always been drawn to the dark side, me. But I ain't the devil. I'm just John Osbourne: a working-class kid from Aston, who quit his job in the factory and went looking for a good time."

Review:

Entertaining autobiography whose often funny, word-deft pace both respects and fast-tracks the surreal depths and vertexes of Osbourne's small town/rock n' roll life and demons (self-doubt, booze, drugs, infidelity, etc.).

This is a darkly hilarious, relatable and unflinchingly honest rock n' roll history lesson and caveat.

Check this out.

Hit Hard, by Joey Kramer with William Patrick & Keith Garde

(hb; 2009: memoir/autobiography. Introduction by Nikki Sixx)

From the inside flap:

"In 1997, amid Aerosmith's sold-out world tour and number one album release, word about Joey's troubles was reported in the press. Despite the advice he had received to play it down, Joey revealed in an interview his ongoing struggles with depression. The response from fans and people battling those same internal demons was overwhelming. Joey -- who has been the drummer in Aerosmith since it was founded in 1970 and is the first member of the band to release his own book -- now tells the complete story: the early days of the band, glamorous drug-addled events leading up to their eventual sobriety, battles within his family and among bandmates, and the explosive internal dynamics in Aerosmith that continue to unleash a fury of endless creativity.

"This is not just another rock n' roll memoir. In addition to the never-before-told Aerosmith war stories that abound in the book, Hit Hard unpacks the history of a rock star who was both fragile and tough, who, after years of insane wildness, became willing to accept help and finally kick a serious alcohol and drug addiction, only to find that the real terrors and hard work were still ahead. It's the story of an average kid from an average American suburb who went through physical and emotional trauma. It's about years of depression and the nervous breakdown at the height of the band's comeback success. Ultimately, Hit Hard is about how Joey recognized his confusion between love and abuse, awakening to the kind of self-acceptance and compassion that make relationships possible in the 'real world' as a member of the biggest band in American history."

Review:

Straightforward, no-frills memoir/autobiography.

Kramer, Patrick and Garde write about: Kramer's Bronx childhood in the Fifties, born to a tough, emotionally-stilted father and strict mother; how, early on, he discovered rock n' roll, and later, r&b and other styles of drumming; about how he and rock drummer/singer Steven Tallarico (later named Steven Tyler) grew up in nearby neighborhoods, and met at key moments in both their lives; and how Kramer, over the course of thirty-plus years, overcame a cycle of depression and emotional abuse (at the hands of his father, Steven Tyler, and ex-wife April) to finally become a stronger, sober musician and man.

Kramer and his co-authors don't skimp on the main selling point of the book (Aerosmith's media-fabled chemical and musical decadence), nor do they make these already-chronicled years the main point of the book, which sets this apart from other rock/drug-addiction memoirs.

The closest memoir I've read of this sort is Nikki Sixx's The Heroin Diaries; fittingly, Sixx provides a thoughtful, punkish Introduction to the book. As Sixx writes in his Introduction: "Joey had the balls to see what's underneath the hood, and fix it. Being a rock star was easy compared to that."

Solid, don't-rush-to-read memoir about one man's emotional maturation, from youth to middle age. Any readers seeking salacious and scandalous books about Aerosmith might want to check other tell-alls about the band.

Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones, by Dee Dee Ramone with Veronica Kaufman

(pb; 1997, 2000: autobiography)

From the back cover:

"Lobotomy is the most lurid and unlikely temperance tract yet from the underbelly of rock 'n' roll. On a wild rollercoaster ride from his f**ked-up childhood in Berlin and Munich to his lonely, methadone-quaffing stay at a cheap hotel in Earl's Court and newfound peace on the straight and narrow, Dee Dee Ramone catapults us into the raw world of sex, addiction, and two-minute songs. It isn't pretty. With the velocity of a Ramones song, Lobotomy rockets through headlining days at CBGB's to the breakup of the Ramones' happy family with an unrelenting backbeat of hate and squalor: His girlfriend ODs; running buddy Johnny Thunders steals his ode to heroin, 'Chinese Rocks'; Sid Vicious shoots up using toilet water; and a pistol-wielding Phil Spector holds the band hostage in Beverly Hills. Hey! Ho! Let's go!"

Review:

Born to a German ex-go-go-dancer and an American Army soldier (who was twenty-one years older than his wife) in 1951, Douglas Colvin -- who later, in his teens, would become Dee Dee Ramone -- had a rough life. Both his parents were raging alcoholics, his father more physically abusive than his nutso mother. A sensitive, hyperactive kid, he was shooting heroin by his early teens, while revering bands like The Beatles (Colvin took his later name, Ramone, from Paul McCartney's early non de plume, Paul Ramone), the Troggs, the Kinks, The Beach Boys, the Small Faces, The Hollies, the Walker Brothers, The Who, and the Rolling Stones.

When his mother finally left his father in the mid- to late-Sixties, Dee moved to Queens, New York, with his mother and his younger sister, Beverly. Forest Hills, Queens, was just as rough as Pirmasens, Germany, in a different way: it was there that Dee discovered the Stooges, and the New York Dolls.

It wasn't long before Dee befriended, and banded with, Joey (who initially was the Ramones' drummer, but later became lead vocalist) and Johnny (guitar). After a few line-up changes, the Ramones -- whose members adopted the surname "Ramone" -- were: Joey (vocals), Tommy (drums), Johnny (guitarist), and Dee (bass). It wasn't long before they were playing gigs, alongside up-&-coming bands like Blondie. Initially, they didn't know much about being musicians: Dee didn't even know how to tune a guitar, or read sheet music. As Dee writes, they were all social misfits, f**k-ups, who somehow, over time, became cool.

Tommy Ramone, their drummer, who was tired of the rock 'n' roll life, left the band after the Ramones' third album, Rocket to Russia (1977). He was replaced by hard-partying, volatile Marc Bell (aka, "Marky Ramone").

According to Dee, life in the Ramones was less fun than it seemed. Their tour manager, Monte Melnick, along with Johnny Ramone, pretty much told the other Ramones what to do. And all of them liked to party hard -- Dee and Marc, especially. (In later years, Joey became an out-of-control alcoholic.) Dee, who wrote or co-wrote a good number of the band's songs, often felt like he was being bossed around by those who were doing the least amount of work. Yet, for all their neuroses and faults, they complemented each other musically: when one member had a problem finishing a song -- whether it was writer's block, or a lack of musical expertise -- one or several of the other Ramones could step in and help the first member finish it. They were "bruddas," as Dee repeatedly writes, tight and dysfunctional as any crazy family.

Dee left the band in 1989, shortly after the release of their Brain Drain album. He'd been in The Ramones for seventeen years. During all of that time, he'd been a miserable junkie, trapped by fame -- it was terrifying to encounter many of the band's "fans," and he was constantly bullied by the other band members. Shortly before he left The Ramones, he recorded a rock-rap album called Standing in the Spotlight under the name Dee Dee King, which alienated his bandmates (they thought Ramones fans would hate it). The solo album sold well, and received favorable reviews from many music critics.

CJ Ramone became The Ramones' bassist, while Dee wandered through a mid-life drug haze. He was aware that he needed to stop using heroin, but his own personality -- as well as other druggies around him -- thwarted his efforts. During this brief period, a good number of his friends died, among them: Stiv Bator (former lead singer of The Dead Boys, and The Lords of the New Church), when he was hit by a taxi in Paris, France; guitarist Johnny Thunders, when he was murdered while tripping on LSD; and Dee Dee's longtime ex-girlfriend, Connie (a stripper/prostitute and fellow junkie), who OD'd.

Dee also started a band in Detroit, Michigan, called The Chinese Dragons, which was a moderate success, and, according to Dee, a joyous, bluesy rock 'n' roll experience.

The book's ending isn't fairy-tale-happy, but it is sober (as in: Dee is drug-free) and funny, in a f**ked-up way.

The writing throughout is conversational, and darkly funny, even when the told circumstances of Dee's life are completely crappy. This is a fun read, if you have an appreciation for wow-that's-f**ked-up sense of humor.

*Post-book facts:

Dee Dee Ramone released another solo album, Latest & Greatest, in 2001.

In 2002, Dee Dee, along with his fellow Ramones, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. According to imdb.com, "less than two months after his induction, [Dee Dee] was found dead in his house by his wife [of seven years]," Barbara Zampini. The (somewhat fitting, yet ironic) cause: "accidental drug overdose. . . He was 50 at the time of his death."

The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, by Nikki Sixx & Ian Gittins

(hb; 2007: memoir)

From the inside flap:

"When Mötley Crüe was at the height of its fame, there wasn't any drug that Nikki Sixx wouldn't do. He spent days -- sometimes alone, sometimes with other addicts, friends and lovers -- ina coke- and heroin-fueled daze. The highs were high, and Nikki's journal entries reveal some euphoria and joy. But the lows were lower, often ending with Nikki in the closet, surrounded by drug paraphernelia and wrapped in paranoid delusions.

"Here, Nikki shares those diary entries -- some poetic, some scatterbrained, some bizarre -- and reflects on that time. Joining him are Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Slash, Rick Nielsen, Bob Rock, and a host of ex-managers, ex-lovers, and more."

Review:

Like The Dirt, The Heroin Diaries is sordid, raw, shockingly funny and cruel. It has a more personal element as its focus is on one person -- Nikki Sixx, born Frank Ferrano, the one-time fifteen-year old kid who heard Alice Cooper's "Welcome to My Nightmare" and the Stooges' "Search and Destroy," two songs which not only inspired Ferrano/Sixx, but also "predicted" his future, as well.

The diary entries run from December 25, 1986, when Sixx had already been a junkie for a year, to December 23, 1987, when he overdosed -- was clinically dead for several minutes -- for the second time.

As a read, this is a burn-through. I read the 413-page glossy-paged book in one three-hour sitting: there are few lulls in the fractured narrative, and while Sixx, or Sikki (Nikki's self-named Hyde junkie persona), often appears excessively cruel for the sh*t he did, he's also strangely relatable in his remorse, which never comes off as bathetic. Rather, he comes off as an angry immature kid who got rich and famous too soon, and wanted, in part, to emulate one of his nihlistic musical heroes, Sid Vicious (bassist for The Sex Pistols, who died of a heroin overdose, after killing his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen).

He almost got that wish -- minus the drug skank murder -- twice.

Other voices (his bandmates, friends) are liberally sprinkled throughout the diaries -- punctuating this tawdry, often acerbic book with post-diary reality checks that Sixx clearly didn't want to acknowledge back then. They're welcome additions, balancing out Sixx's chemical and sexual manias with wisdom and recollections that only age can deliver.

The only time Sixx and Gittins stumble are when they allow Evangelist Denise Matthews (aka, Vanity, aka one-time girlfriend to Prince and divinity-obsessed crackhead) to put her two cents in. While her "recollections" don't run very long (they span less than three paragraphs, usually), they read more like denials, like "hey, I don't remember that stuff, I only know God now." Putting her in there once would've sufficed; more than that only slowed down -- albeit briefly -- the written unfolding of Sixx's 1986-7 reality.

At the end of the book, Sixx provides a timeline to, and comments about, his current life/style. It's sweet at times, but not woosy, and clearly age has done wonders for Sixx, who's still self-admittedly a f***-up, but a smarter, kinder one.

The book's design/artwork looks like it was done by the same guy who used to work with Hunter S. Thompson. It's spectacular, and crazy-bloody graphic.

Anybody who's curious about what heroin is like should read this. (This is Sixx's stated reason for publishing this -- as a warning to anybody who's thinking of trying heroin.)

Worth your time, this.