The Wildhearts

can anyone reccomend any books on rock music.The only one I've read is "The Dirt - Motley Crue" which was entertaining but I'm looking for something a bit more worthwhile ( at least until ginger gets round to publishing/finishing his

Iron Maiden's Run To The Hills,

top read in my opinion

and The Dirt as already mentioned, trememndous!!!

A drink with Shane Macgowan by his bird (i cant remember her name).
She just sat down with him and a tape recorder in different locations over a few months or whatever, did a few interviews with him and it was transcribed into a book.
It's decent, give it a go.

Oh aye,
White Line Fever by Lemmy Kilmister. I read it in about an hour, there's some funny stories in it though.

And another i read years ago,
Marilyn mansons autobiography. It's completely fucked up, in a good way.
I never liked his music but it's a good read.

Can't think of owt else.

Mark Radcliffe's SHOWBUSINESS: The Diary Of A Rock 'N' Roll Nobody.

Sighs of recognition from failed rockers everywhere, and damned funny as well.

If you want fiction, there's always Espedair Street by Iain Banks

The Clash book by Johnny Green called A Riot of Our Own is excellent, the perspective of the roadie on their career, as such it isn't nostalgic or tainted with band egos...

scar tissue by anthony keidis its along the same lines as the dirt but even if your not a fan (like meself) you`ll still find it interesting

I can recommend a rock film. Find a copy of "Dig!" if you can...

Ean wrote:If you want fiction, there's always Espedair Street by Iain Banks

Fantastic book.

I heard a rumour at one stage they were planning a film based on Espedair Street with Fish playing the lead. Would have been good......

Ross wrote:The Clash book by Johnny Green called A Riot of Our Own is excellent, the perspective of the roadie on their career, as such it isn't nostalgic or tainted with band egos...

thats an excellent read

Damian wrote:I can recommend a rock film. Find a copy of "Dig!" if you can...

Fantastic film.

I can't stand either band save for a song or two, and after watching this I hated them even more. Except for Joel, he was pretty cool and more than a little human by the end of it.

Oh, and Peter Hayes. Although the BRMC main man doesn't get too much screen time.

Must have seen it about 9 or 10 times now and I still watch it with my jaw on the floor.

Try "The Eight Legged Atomic Dustbin Will Eat Itself" (Wonderstuff, Neds, Poppies) or "Goodnight Jim Bob: On the road with Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine". Both great books with a distinctly Brit perspective on the music business, very different to stuff like Scar Tissue (which is also good).

Ean wrote:Mark Radcliffe's SHOWBUSINESS: The Diary Of A Rock 'N' Roll Nobody.

Sighs of recognition from failed rockers everywhere, and damned funny as well.

If you want fiction, there's always Espedair Street by Iain Banks

I started reading that Mark Radcliffe book, but couldn't get far through it. I like the guy as a presenter and generally find him funny; but I thought trying to squeeze in about 4 jokes/comic exaggerations a sentence was a bit much to stomach for a book-length read. It was funny for a while, but then I just got saturated with it.

I mean, I thought it got to the point that it was pretty much impossible to discern how many of/ to what extent the events which occurred at a particular gig/event were true. The writing style seemed more suited to an autobiographically-tinged piece of fiction or maybe a regular magazine column than an entire book supposedly about a passage from the writer's own life.

But maybe I shouldn't take it so seriously I might go back and have another look at it. Bite-sized chunks, mind.

WiredOut wrote:
But maybe I shouldn't take it so seriously I might go back and have another look at it. Bite-sized chunks, mind.

I know a fair few names were changed to protect the guilty, but it's still a good read. Just pretend it all really happened, in a Spinal Tap sort of way. Maybe smaller doses is better... I still re-read it about once a year.

His novel about the folk scene, Northern Sky, is worth a read too, although I'll admit I wasn't keen on the ending.

I enjoyed Fargo Rock City.

And how could I forget John Peel's "Margrave of the Marshes". Really hits home what a great bloke he was.