Rating: 
Summary: "Ever had the feeling you've been cheated?"
Review: "12 Days on the Road: The Sex Pistols and America" is co-authored by Noel Monk and Jimmy Guterman. Monk was the tour manager for the Pistols during their disastrous North American tour in January 1978, and Guterman is a writer for Rolling Stone. As a constant presence on the tour, Monk is more than qualified to give us his record of the events that took place during that time. The book begins with the Pistols' performance at the Longhorn Club in Texas, and then quickly flashes back to a brief overview of the history of the Pistols. It's quite obvious from the start that Monk has no respect or liking for the Pistols' manager--Malcolm McLaren. Well, no one seems to like him much, so I wasn't particularly surprised at the rather obvious loathing that oozed from the pages. However, exactly why Monk dislikes McLaren becomes blatantly obvious as the tour gets underway. Monk was paid a mere $500 a week to escort, babysit, and protect the Pistols 24/7, and he earned every penny of it. From the tour's inception, it's all too obvious that the concert venues are problematic. McLaren insists on a "Texas/Southern Tour", but a compromise is worked out to include some dates in larger cities in the North. Unfortunately visa problems ensure delays (thanks the Pistols' criminal records). Concert dates must be cancelled, and McLaren gets his way with the tour concentrated in the South. The Pistols arrived in New York on January 3rd, and by January 14th, the Pistols played their final concert in San Francisco. They spent 12 days on the road, and by the end of it, the band members were at each other's throats, McLaren had his own hare-brained scheme to go to Argentina and film ex-Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, and Rotten was out of the band. Into this mess, add the sad fact that Sid Vicious, a known Heroin addict was sent on tour--with the theory that he'd just manage ... somehow ... cold turkey, and you have a recipe for total disaster. Monk chronicles each day spent on the road, and the ways he managed to elude pushy reporters, hangers-on, and washed-out groupies. He also details Sid's dramatic decline in often gut-wrenching detail. The main complaint I have about this book is that it's written in the third person and includes comments and observations about people's thoughts that Monk could not have possibly known (unless he was a mind reader). For example, there's one scene when Monk confronts Forcade ("High Times") about one of Sid's many disappearances during the tour. Forcade responds, according to the authors, by "suspecting that Monk's threat of violence is for real and making a mental note to hire his own bodyguards." Now by writing in the third person, this is disingenuous--at best. If the book had been written in first person, the reader would easily catch the fact that there's no way Monk could have been privy to Forcade's thoughts. Plus, Monk appears as quite the swashbuckling hero. He seems to be the only one with the guts to take charge and throw people around. I don't know, perhaps he did this sort of thing regularly, but again, as it's written in the third person, I find such statements disconcerting: "Monk walks back to the slowly recovering Sid with McLaren all but cowering in the corner." Just imagine that written in first person, and you'll see what I mean. But that criticism aside, this book is an eyewitness account written by one of the players. It's full of fascinating detail--for example, the band played to an audience of 5,000 for the Winterland show, and their cut was a mere $66.00. The authors include a photo of the statement to prove it. Many black and white photos taken on the tour accompany the text. The Pistols arrived in Atlanta with some curiosity and even a degree of enthusiasm, but the drain of confinement (with Sid the Heroin addict), hostile crowds, and long brewing resentments took their inevitable toll. Fans of the Pistols should read this book, and weigh the content with other books about the Pistols. This version of events is a piece of the puzzle, and fans of the Pistols should enjoy reading it while regretting the ultimate outcome of the tour--displacedhuman
Rating: 
Summary: The best book on the Sex Pistols
Review: A great document about life on the raod and the dissolution of the foremost band of its' day. if you want to read more about the punk movement, then read Please Kill Me by Legs mcneil and John Savage's England's Dreaming, and you're set. From the Velvets to the Voidoids is also a good addition, and the Sid Vivious essay in Nick Kent's The Dark Stuff is also essential.
Rating: 
Summary: Hindsight being 20-20
Review: I always wonder how someone can go back and remember things that happened 15-20 years ago so very clearly. Conversations, events, who was drinking what and who said what ugly thing to whom. I really think that unless someone was keeping a journal (not very likely, considering how un-introspective most rockers & roadies are) most of this was just sort of made up. The picture of Sid after his bath was precious, though, and would almost make the cover price worth it. I was most distressed and sickened by the fact that everyone ignored Sid's problem and nobody seemed to worry too much when he escaped his 'babysitters' and disappeared to score drugs. I know you can't stop a junkie, but would it have made a difference if he'd known that people actually CARED about him? And, yes, Lydon is an obnoxious supercilious bastard, but so is everyone who is 'too smart for his/her own good' and tries to be something other than what society/ management/corporate wankers want him/her to be. Strictly from a professional standpoint, I can't believe Monk actually admitted in writing to what amounts to misconduct on the job.
Rating:
Summary: Hindsight being 20-20
Review: I always wonder how someone can go back and remember things that happened 15-20 years ago so very clearly. Conversations, events, who was drinking what and who said what ugly thing to whom. I really think that unless someone was keeping a journal (not very likely, considering how un-introspective most rockers & roadies are) most of this was just sort of made up. The picture of Sid after his bath was precious, though, and would almost make the cover price worth it. I was most distressed and sickened by the fact that everyone ignored Sid's problem and nobody seemed to worry too much when he escaped his 'babysitters' and disappeared to score drugs. I know you can't stop a junkie, but would it have made a difference if he'd known that people actually CARED about him? And, yes, Lydon is an obnoxious supercilious bastard, but so is everyone who is 'too smart for his/her own good' and tries to be something other than what society/ management/corporate wankers want him/her to be. Strictly from a professional standpoint, I can't believe Monk actually admitted in writing to what amounts to misconduct on the job.
Rating:
Summary: Great book, well written and interesting.
Review: I helped Noel Monk do research for the book, and was rewarded with a "thank you" in the book. If you like to read about rock music, this is a very interesting book, giving the reader insight on what life on the road really is like
Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Review: I read this in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. Great anecdotes from the road (and priceless pictures). Well written.
Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Review: I read this in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. Great anecdotes from the road (and priceless pictures). Well written.
Rating:
Summary: Everything I know about the Pistols,I learned from this book
Review: I've been an absolutely huge Sex Pistols fan since I was 9,and reading this book at the age of 12(i'm 14),helped me to learn about the actual persons.I aboslutely hate John Lyden now and I love Sid Vicious.I guess it's because of the book.If any true fan wants to know more,read this book.Great nude pics of Sid too
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Vacant
Review: If I was feeling charitable I'd say that this was an excellent read. Unfortunately for Messirs Monk and Guterman that I've read too many excellent books about the same subjects that covered them much better. England's Dreaming for a general 'punk' overview, John Lydon's autobiography for literary style (and fun reading), Bob Geldof's 'Is That It?' for an alternate viewpoint on the general consensus. These are three pretty much essential books for the average punk reader, and they're not the only ones. But aside from the tour photos, this book's tone is just way over-the-top, in a rock-star fashion that the Pistols were trying not to achieve. Some interesting tidbits (not for the timid) about Sid's increasing drug problems, but the tour was so short it hardly warranted the creation of an entire book. There are no insights to be found here, but as a coffee table book (if your coffee table happens to be located in a Turkish Prison) it could pass the time.
Rating:
Summary: 12 Days on the Road
Review: If you are in any way rotten this is a book for you. None of the Pistols claim to remember those twelve days very well. Neither would the average bear if the difference between chicken soup an vomit become a blur. Glad we have Noel Monk to remember for them. Selective amnesia is common in any business, but especially so in this rock hard business. Thanks Noel... The true fan will want to put this twelve shooter in his arsenal.
|
