At Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2004 18:33:22 John wrote:

>I'm in the middle of "Kill Your Idols," edited by Jim DeRogatis. It's a 
>scathing reevaluation of some of rock's sacred cows.
>Someone finally had the stones to take on "Sgt. Pepper," and I couldn't be 
>happier.
>If it's not been mentioned already, I'd highly recommend David Cavanagh's 
>excellent history (and lengthy) of Creation Records, "My Magpie Eyes Are 
>Hungry for the Prize," and, of course, you can't go wrong with Jon Savage's 
>"England's Dreaming."

I just cracked open Dee Dee Ramone's third (and final?) memoir -- "Legend Of 
A Rock Star: The Last Testament of Dee Ramone".

I started reading it at 6:30....it's now 8:40 and I'm halfway through the 
book. Interesting stories....if they're true. Have a hard time believing 
this guy shot and killed three border guards in Norway, dumped the bodies in 
the desolate woods outside Oslo, in the company of two bandmates and a van 
driver, and continued touring like nothing had happened. The whole incident 
was written matter of factly.

Other than Gene Simmons, I've never felt so un-empathetic to a writer as I 
do this guy. Arrogant, self-loathing, and truly unsympathetic. He doesn't 
even come across as an Anti-Hero. Just a degenerate dickhead with little 
reason to exist other than writing what amounts to wasted prose (he was 
actually quite an articulate writer).

I'm not even sure if I'll finish the book.....the fact that he died at the 
end of this means that the circumstances in the book never got any better. 
Without self-realization this guy's life, and his death, had no meaning. 
Bah.

Jaimie Vernon,
President, Bullseye Records
http://www.bullseyecanada.com
Author, Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicPopEncycloPages