Rock and Roll Book Club Meeting on February 16th at the Enormous Room

Posted on February 4, 2011 by sooz

January zoomed by way too fast!

Rock and Roll Book Club members in Boston are meeting up for our first book club meeting on Wednesday, February 16th at the Enormous Room in Central Square. If you’d like to help organize a book club meeting in your city in the future, please get in touch.

The book: “Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life” by Steve Almond
The location: Enormous Room, 567 Mass. Ave., Central Square, Cambridge
When: Wednesday, February 16th, 6-9 p.m.
RSVP options: Comment on this entry / RSVP on Facebook
Age restrictions: 21+ (for entrance to the Enormous Room)

Did you finish the book? Join us! Did you not quite finish the book? Join us! Did you find out about the book club too late in the month? Join us! This is not going to be a typical book club meeting. Then again, I’ve never been to ANY book club meeting. My guess is that they don’t usually happen at cool music clubs such as the Enormous Room. Let’s start a new trend.

Steve Almond was an exceptional author and participant to work with: he blogged on the website and helped get the word out. The original plan included Steve attending the meeting and playing his favorite “guilty pleasure” songs along with guilty favorites of book club members. A family obligation has come up so he won’t be able to join us. Steve has graciously offered to make a CD for us — so all is not lost! He’s local so hopefully we’ll see him at a future book club meeting. Get our own guilty music mini-playlists ready — we’ll play them at the meeting.

But wait, there’s more …

After the meeting, join us for a superb night of live music across the street at the Middle East Downstairs. One of my favorite bands, The Old Ceremony, is in town from North Carolina on a February tour with Rooney.

Win a pair of tickets to see The Old Ceremony after the rock book club meeting

Send an email with the subject line “The Old Ceremony” and you’ll be entered to win a complimentary pair of tickets from the Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub. You must RSVP for the book club meeting by Wednesday, February 9th to be entered to win. The winner will be selected on Thursday, February 10th.

Buy advance tickets to the show from TicketWeb or go to the Middle East Box Office in Central Square and you’ll not only save $5.75 per ticket but you’ll also be able to use that ticket for 50% off food at The Middle East Restaurant.

VIDEO: “Tender Age” by The Old Ceremony (live)

What book are we reading in February?

I had this grand idea we’d read a book every month. But the voice of reason is kicking my ass and has decided we’ll read a book every other month and during the “in between” months we’ll have a meeting about the book we just read. Not a bad plan, right? Work in progress, indeed!

Book club selections are restricted to members only. Become a member (by joining the email list) and you’ll be notified when it’s time to select the March book.

What rock music book should we read in February? It’s time to vote!

Posted on January 3, 2011 by sooz

photo of Xanadu Music and Books by flickr user ilovememphis Sooner than you know it, January will have zoomed by and it will be time to read our second book throughout February. Thanks to book club members for making recommendations — it’s now time to vote! There are nineteen books to choose from and two rounds of voting. We’ll take the top five most voted for books and vote again in round two. Final voting in round two will be restricted to official book club members. Join the email list (over on the right) and you’re in!

If you’d like to recommend a book for a future month, become a book club member by joining the email list (over on the right) and make note of your book club recommendation. After a few months we’ll check back in with members again so you can suggest other books.

Learn more about the books that Rock and Roll Book Club members have recommended and then vote!

“And a Voice to Sing With” by Joan Baez

“Carved In Rock: Short Stories by Musicians” edited by Greg Kihn

“Corn Flakes with John Lennon” by Robert Hilbrun

“Daddy Left Me Alone with God” by Robin Slick

“Dixie Lullaby” by Mark Kemp

“Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota” by Chuck Klosterman

“Good Vibrations: The History of Record Producing” by Mark Cunningham

“Just Kids” by Patti Smith

“Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991” by Michael Azerrad

“Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk” by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain

“Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung: Rock ‘n’ Roll as Literature and Literature as Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Lester Bangs

“Rat Girl” by Kristin Hersh
“Scar Tissue” by Anthony Kiedis and Larry Sloman

“Songbook” by Nick Hornby

“My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, and Drugs, and Guns N’ Roses” by Steven Adler

“Motley Crue: The Dirt – Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band” by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, and Nikki Sixx

“The Mansion on the Hill: Dylan, Young, Geffen, Springsteen, and the Head-on Collision of Rock and Commerce” by Fred Goodman

“Touching from a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division” by Deborah Curtis

“Vinyl Junkies: Adventures in Record Collecting” by Brett Milano

“You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup” by Peter Doggett

[Photo of Xanadu Music and Books by ilovememphis]

Author Steve Almond Asks: What Are Your Guilty Music Pleasures?

Posted on January 2, 2011 by Steve Almond

[Editor's Note: Steve Almond, author of the Rock and Roll Book Club's inaugural book club selection has graciously offered to participate as we read his book "Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life: A Book By and For The Fanatics Among Us" throughout the month of January. He'll also be joining Boston area book club members at our book club meeting (aka party) on February 16th at the Enormous Room in Cambridge.]

One of the great things about music is that it is so intuitively powerful that sometimes you find yourself loving songs that YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD HATE. For me, this pattern started early. I used to wait hours to hear the DJ on KFRC play “Undercover Angel” back in 1977. “The Things We Do For Love”? Hells yes. I also loved nearly all of Styx’s early work (“the Renegade who had it made retrieved for a bounty!”) and the late, horrible work of Genesis. “Head Games” by Foreigner blew my mind in eighth grade. I knew so many girls at Wilbur Junior High who were “as cold as ice.” The list goes on and on. By the time I was in high school, I was blessing the rains down in Africa with Toto and doing the Safety Dance (whatever the fuck the Safety Dance was) with Men Without Hats. And to remember these infatuations now is DEEPLY SHAMING.

But it’s also weirdly liberating.

This is what music does: it comes in below the critical radar. A great rhythm and melody bypass all the “cool kids” posturing we do around music and speak directly to your limbic system. They release your ass from the ass cage, and swell your heart with ridiculous and delicious feelings — usually of woe or lust.

So here’s my question to all you mods and rockers and mockers: what are your guilty pleasures. What song, or songs, do you LOVE BUT HATE YOURSELF FOR LOVING? And what memories go along with those songs?

“Undercover Angel” by Alan O’Day

“The Things We Do For Love” by 10cc

This song can’t be embedded — watch it on YouTube.

“Cold as Ice” by Foreigner

“Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats

Help us get to 500 book club members and win a handmade mixed CD from Steve Almond

Posted on November 28, 2010 by sooz

photo of mixed tapes

It’s been a fun ten days since the Rock and Roll Book Club first came to life on Friday, November 19th. Starting January 1st through January 31st, book club members will be reading “Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life: A Book by and for the Fanatics Among Us” by Boston author Steve Almond. If you don’t have the book yet, buy it from your favorite local, independent bookstore (we recommend Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, MA) or you can also buy the book from our online store at amazon.com.

How to win a handmade mixed CD from author Steve Almond

Steve Almond is making five handmade mixed CDs for book club members who refer the most people to the club. The first contest runs November 28, 2010 through January 1, 2011 with CDs going to the top three members who refer others to the club during that time. The second contest runs January 2, 2011 through February 1, 2011 with CDs going to the top two members who refer others to the club during that time. In order to receive credit for the referral, your full name, email address or Twitter username must be included in the “referred by” field on the email list sign-up form. You need to be an existing book club member (signed up through the email list) to win a CD.

Book club members from anywhere in the world are invited to join us. Cheers!

Photo of mixed tapes by Listen Missy! on Flickr.

Twitter list for Rock and Roll Book Club members

Posted on November 25, 2010 by sooz

If you’re participating in the book club and you’d like to be included in our rock book club Twitter list, send us your Twitter username or include it as a comment on this blog entry. You can also share Twitter info in your email list signup, located at the top left of this page.

Here’s the Twitter list for the rock book club so far. You can subscribe to the list if you’re curious to read the assortment of tweets from members.

In January when we are all reading the book, use the hashtag #RockBookClub and you’ll be able to see everyone on Twitter who is talking about our inaugural book club selection “Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life: A Book by and for the Fanatics Among Us” by Boston author Steve Almond.

“Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life” inaugural book club selection

Posted on November 23, 2010 by sooz

Cheers to everyone who suggested books we should read in the comments of our first blog post, on Facebook and on Twitter. Mignon Ariel King suggested the book we’ve selected for the kick-off of The Rock and Roll Book Club (January 2011): “Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life: A Book by and for the Fanatics Among Us” by Boston author Steve Almond. As Mignon says, this is a book “for rock fans who have brains!”

How do I join the Rock and Roll Book Club?

STEP 1: Subscribe to the email newsletter.

The only required info is your email address. Provide your Twitter username if you’d like to be included in a book club member Twitter list. The email list sign-up form is at the top left of this page.

STEP 2: RSVP on the Facebook event page.

If you’re reading the January 2011 book ( “Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life: A Book by and for the Fanatics Among Us” by Steve Almond), RSVP on the Facebook event page and let others knows you’re participating, too.

STEP 3: Buy the book.

If you’d like to support our efforts, buy the book through the Rock and Roll Book Club’s Amazon.com bookstore. If you prefer the physical world of bookstores, please buy the book at your local, independent bookstore such as Harvard Book Store. If you’re not in the Boston area, search Indie Bound for an independent bookstore near you.

STEP 4: Read the book. Talk about it. Write about it.

Everyone has the month of January to read the book. While you’re reading the book and after you’ve finished it, tweet about the book using the hashtag #RockBookClub and post on your blog using the tag Rock Book Club.

Follow the Rock and Roll Book Club on Twitter (@RockBookClub) and join us on Facebook. Please join the email list — it’s truly the best way for us to connect with you directly.

Does the Rock and Roll Book Club Meet In Person?

As much as we love the internet that keeps us at our computers for most hours of the day, it’s good to see humans face-to-face (sometimes). We’ll be hosting a Boston gathering in early February for everyone who read the book club’s first book selection in January. Stay tuned for the event details. If you live outside of Boston and you’d like to help plan a meetup in your area, let us know. We’d love to hear from you!

Will the book’s author, Steve Almond, participate?

Quite possibly! We are working on inspiring him to join us by contributing a guest blog entry on the website. Perhaps he can even be inspired to join the Boston event in February.

What else?

Check out the online mixtape (aka “Bitchin’ Soundtrack“) that book author Steve Almond put together for Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life.

Video: Steve Almond and Toto

According to Steve Almond’s website this is The official reluctant exegesis of Toto’s seminal “(I Bless the Rains Down in) Africa.”

Selecting the first book to read

Posted on November 20, 2010 by sooz

There are a lot of books written about music and there are many new books written by musicians. That makes it quite an adventure deciding what to select for the first book. @MegMathur on Twitter suggested we start with Keith Richards new book “Life.” If that’s not the first book we read it should definitely make it on the list of books we read within the next couple months.

The idea is to pick one book every month or two then everyone writes their short reviews and thoughts about the book on Twitter. You’ll be able to search the hashtag #RockBookClub to see what people are saying about the latest book.

And then in a few months once things get going, we’ll start to meet in person — in Boston and beyond.

Share your ideas for the first book on Twitter or the comments here. The first book will be read throughout January 2011.

Rock on!