Research Catalog

Title

Better to burn out : the cult of death in rock 'n roll / by Dave Thompson.

Author

Thompson, Dave.

Publication

New York : Thunder's Mouth Press, [1999], ©1999.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xvi, 272 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

• "From Joe Meek, the brilliant rival of Phil Spector, who was cursed with a premonition of Buddy Holly's death and whose descent into Satanism and paranoia led to a gruesome murder/suicide, to Jonathan Melvoin, the Juilliard trained keyboard player who succumbed to the lure of heroin while touring with the Smashing Pumpkins, Better to Burn Out documents the deaths of the foot soldiers of rock'n'roll.
• This fascinating addition to the select shelf of musical necrographies - books about the deaths, not the lives, of their subjects - recounts more than seventy untimely, unexpected, and just plain unfortunate deaths, some in passing, some in depth, some in almost painful detail, drawn from well over a decade's worth of personal interviews and conversations."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

• Rock music > History and criticism
• Rock musicians > Biography
• Rock musicians > Death

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [255]-259) and index.

Contents

• 1. it's hard to believe it: the amazing world of joe meek (Buddy Holly; David Box; Joe Meek) -- 2. you can phone the ambulance now, mama (Eddie Cochran; Gene Vincent) -- 3. they just couldn't resist her with her pocket transistor (Johnny Theakstone; Wally Whyton; Alma Cogan) -- 4. "remember when all those people said you were dead? that was a hoax, right?" (Stuart Sutcliffe; Brian Jones) -- 5. what becomes of me was meant to be (Ronnie Lane; Steve Marriott) -- 6. when my time is up, i'll see all my friends (Martin Lamble; Sandy Denny; Trevor Lucas; Nick Drake) -- 7. the dum dum boys (Nico, Dave Alexander) -- 8. i know i'm small, but i enjoy living anyway (Marc Bolan; Steve Peregrine Took) -- 9. now rest your weary bones, no need to suffer anymore (Jobriath; Ramases; Gary Holton) -- 10. picking lilacs for the passing time (Alex Harvey; Leslie Harvey; Jacques Brel) -- 11. this isn't au revoir, this is good-bye (Howard Pickup; Peter Laughner; Stiv Bators) --
• 12. something that i said (Malcolm Owen; Sid Vicious; Darby Crash) -- 13. this is the hour when the mysteries merge (Ian Curtis) -- 14. fuck with us and die (Tracy Pew; Steve Gilpin; Michael Hutchence; Epic Soundtracks) -- 15. under the bridge (Hillel Slovak; Eric Carr; Freddie Mercury) -- 16. gone again (Rob Tyner; Richard Sohl; Fred "Sonic" Smith) -- 17. come as you are (Andrew Wood; Stefanie Sargent; Mia Zapata; Kurt Cobain; Kristen Pfaff) -- 18. "you never know when you're giving your last performance" (Shane Lassen; Rozz Williams; Gunther Dietz; Cernunnos; Pelle Dead; Euronymous) -- 19. the infinite sadness (Dwayne Goettel; Shannon Hoon; Brad Nowell; Jonathan Melvoin) -- 20. the show must go on (Mick Ronson) -- gallery of death -- that'll be the day that i die: a calendar of rock'n'roll casualties.

ISBN

1560251905

LCCN

98028635

OCLC

• ocm39307491
• SCSB-4024789

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries