Book Review: Dave Thompson’s London’s Burning (2009)

British music journalist Dave Thompson is a veteran author of rock ‘n’ roll biographies, penning dozens of books on folks like Iggy Pop, Kiss, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among many others over the past couple of decades. As frequently as he has turned his insight towards dissecting the life and art of others, however, this is the first time that Thompson has used his undeniable talent to look inward at his own life and experience.

Subtitled “True Adventures on the Front Lines of Punk 1976-1977,” Thompson’s excellent London’s Burning is, as he calls it, a “memoir” without “too much me” included. Ostensibly the story of a year in the life of British punk rock, the teenage Thompson had a front seat to the birth and evolution of punk from a provincial underground phenomenon to a worldwide cultural revolution.

Dave Thompson’s London’s Burning

To tell this tale, Thompson relies on his own memories, and those of the many musicians that he has interviewed through the years, as well as those he spoke with specifically for the book. Beginning with the death of the glam-rock era and the lingering descent of pub-rock into obsolescence, Thompson’s personalized history of the first stirrings of punk is developed from his youthful vinyl obsession and eager attendance at dozens of shows by early versions of bands like the Sex Pistols, the Adverts, the Stranglers, and the Damned, as well as his friendships with many of the music-makers.

Thompson marks the flashpoint of British punk rock with the first performance of American rocker Patti Smith, her powerful, primal sound launching a hundred bands. Although the story touches upon many of the aforementioned and better-known punk outfits, Thompson takes great care to include obscure (but no less talented or fondly remembered) bands like the Arrows, Radio Stars, and Heavy Metal Kids in his exploration of the music. Sometimes his stories are funny, sometimes poignant, and sometimes even harrowing as Thompson describes the racism present in mid-to-late-‘70s England, as well as the violence that would come to be leveled against anybody perceived as being a “punk rocker.”

Thompson is being only a little disingenuous when he calls London’s Burning a memoir without too much “me” because, in truth, it is the presence of his younger self, and that experience that is central to the book’s immense charm. In remembering his youthful love of the music, and unbridled enthusiasm for the changes wrought by punk’s ascendance, Thompson also reminds us of why the “Class of ‘77” was so important in the overall evolution of rock music. The stories and memories of the assembled musicians are vital to the story here, but it is Thompson’s interaction and role as a documentarian that drives the book.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

British punk rock circa 1977-79 has been covered in abundance, almost to the point of absurdity, by dozens of books and hundreds, if not thousands of magazine articles and even compilation albums. Few have the firsthand knowledge and experience of Dave Thompson, though, and the talent to express it so succinctly and in an entertaining manner. Nobody has the stories that Thompson has accumulated, making London’s Burning the final word in ‘70s British punk rock. If you’re an old-school punk fan, you should definitely check this one out… (Chicago Review Press, published May 1st, 2009)

Review originally published by the Trademark of Quality (TMQ) blog…

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The View On Pop Culture: R.E.M., The Honeydogs, "Almost Famous", Dave Thompson's "Alternative Rock" (2001)

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A few short years ago, R.E.M. were the most commercially successful “alternative” band on the planet. The Athens, Georgia foursome proved to be consistent hitmakers yet retained a street credibility just below that of bands like Nirvana or the Pixies. The band’s last couple of albums have failed to ignite any chart passion, however, a situation that may be corrected with Reveal (Warner Brothers). With drummer Bill Berry leaving the band due to health reasons, the remaining members have substituted synthesizer washes for Berry’s organic big beats. The resulting music is less powerful, but no less enchanting. After 20+ years as a band, R.E.M. know how to create a glorious noise and Reveal revels in its lush instrumentation and wall-of-sound production. Michael Stipe’s ethereal vocals propel “All The Way To Reno (You’re Gonna Be A Star)” to soaring heights while “Imitation of Life” has more pop hooks than the Georgia countryside has kudzu. An altogether beautiful collection of songs, there’s nothing on Reveal to make you forget the band’s earlier successes, but it does show you where the trio is headed.

From Prince and the Time to the Replacements, Husker Du, and the Jayhawks, Minneapolis has proven to be a breeding ground for talented musicians. The city’s latest export, the Honeydogs, hope that Here’s Luck (RykoPalm) will earn them a share of the rock ‘n’ roll dream. The Honeydogs defy any easy pigeonholing, Here’s Luck at its best when delivering rockers like “Sour Grapes” or “Losing Transmissions,” songs replete with chiming guitars and delicious vocal harmonies. They’re at their most adventuresome on tracks like “Wilson Boulevard,” which matches careful vocals and mellow instrumentation with Beatlesque flourishes and pop overtones. An inspired musical cross between Roger McGuinn and Bob Mould, the Honeydogs mix punkish intensity and roots rock sensibility with twangy rhythms and intelligent songwriting on Here’s Luck to create an entirely new breed of rock music. While only time will tell whether the band receives it just due, the Honeydogs are cranking out fascinating music in the meantime.

Filmmaker Cameron Crowe and your humble pop culture columnist have a lot in common. We’re the same age, we both started writing about rock ‘n’ roll while in high school, we were both mentored by older writers (Rick Johnson, where have you gone?), he’s rich and famous and I’m…well, that’s where the similarity ends. But because of this shared background I was prepared to love Crowe’s semi-autobiographical Almost Famous (Dreamworks Home Entertainment). Patrick Fugit, who combines just the right amounts of awe and intellectual curiosity in his role as William Miller, plays Crowe’s music-loving alter ego perfectly in the film. Assigned a story by Rolling Stone magazine, Miller goes on tour with an up-and-coming rock band, falls in love with groupie “Penny Lane” (played with great charm and beauty by Kate Hudson) and loses his journalistic innocence as he becomes privy to the band’s internecine arguments and petty jealousies. Almost Famous is a funny, engaging film that you don’t have to be a rock ‘n’ roll fan to enjoy. The DVD release includes Crowe’s original Rolling Stone articles and the HBO “making of” feature as well as a music video from the film’s fictional rock band Stillwater.

Veteran rock critic Dave Thompson has better than 70 books to his writing credit as well as countless articles and album reviews in publications such as Rolling Stone, Mojo, and Goldmine. Thompson is also one of the most well-rounded music writers that I have ever worked with, possessing an extensive knowledge of the past 25 years of rock ‘n’ roll history. All of which makes Thompson uniquely qualified to pull together Alternative Rock (Miller Freeman), an 800+ page guide to, well, “alternative rock,” part of the Third Ear book series. There are a number of essays covering almost every aspect of the alt-rock world, including various musical genres like punk and ska, specific scenes like San Francisco’s Gilman Street and info on legendary British DJ John Peel’s BBC radio broadcasts, instrumental in jump-starting the careers of many new bands. Thompson also includes an A-Z guide to individual bands that includes capsule reviews of over 7,000 recordings. Alternative Rock is an exhaustive study on the subject, an invaluable guidebook for anyone who prefers their rock ‘n’ roll on the fringes of the mainstream. (View From The Hill, May 2001)

Book Review: Goldmine’s Essential Guide to Record Collecting by Dave Thompson (2017)

For better than 40 years now, Goldmine magazine has been the go-to publication for record collectors, music fanatics, and fellow travelers. Back in the pre-Internet good old days, the zine was an oversized behemoth constructed of durable newsprint, its pages jam-packed with ads from various vinyl vendors. Some were selling albums and 45s outright for a set cost while other advertisers ran auctions that required the interested party to send their bid by U.S. mail and wait, patiently, for a month (sometimes two) to find out if you were the lucky soul to win the auction and, by the way, where’s my money?

These Goldmine ads, often in migraine-inducing type sizes, provided a valuable education for those of us interested in the minutiae of obscure doo-wop singles, psychedelic rock albums, and other musical flotsam and jetsam. Each issue of the zine also featured well-written artist interviews and album reviews (a few of which I penned) that easily stood shoulder-to-shoulder in quality with mainstream music rags like Rolling Stone, Spin, and Creem, et al. Goldmine is still published monthly and while many of the auction advertisers have fled for Discogs or eBay, a few remain, and the zine’s music coverage is still top notch, featuring writers like my old buddy Martin Popoff, Gillian Gaar, Bill Kopp, Lee Zimmerman, and the ‘Mack Daddy’ of them all, Dave Thompson.

Goldmine’s Essential Guide to Record Collecting

In the interest of full disclosure, Thompson was briefly an editor of mine a number of years ago at an obscure Midwestern zine with a focus on, shall we say, the ‘seedier’ side of the music biz. That colors my opinion of his brilliance not a whit, and many other readers must agree. The man is prolific in a manner that puts even Mr. Popoff to shame, Thompson having written over 100 music-related books (several of which I’ve read); he’s also a well-respected pricing expert for a wide range of vinyl records, writing both The Standard Catalog of American Records and the Goldmine Jazz Album Price Guide. In other words, Thompson knows his stuff and he isn’t going to steer you wrong.

Thompson’s latest contribution to the record-collecting hobby/obsession is the nifty, informative Goldmine’s Essential Guide to Record Collecting. Now the Reverend, I’m not so much a collector as a ‘hunter and gatherer’…I’ve probably sold as many records and CDs as I currently own through the years, and my own reckless and eclectic musical tastes have caused me to constantly hone my collection to fit my mood at any given moment, resulting in a permanent library of a few thousand items. I’ve always been more into the music than the value of the medium, which is why I once sold a collectible promotional copy of a Bob Marley & the Wailers box set on eBay for $100+ and invested the money in several different Marley albums instead.

Addicted to Vinyl

I certainly understand the addictive qualities of record collecting, however, and with vinyl making a long overdue ‘comeback’ due to a generation of fresh-faced music fans, even the Reverend hasn’t been able to resist the lure of a recent Buzzcocks bootleg LP reissue, a Redd Kross rarities collection on gray vinyl, or almost anything from the Third Man Records “live” in the studio series. So while I’m an old hand at buying, selling, and trading records, I nevertheless found Thompson’s work on Goldmine’s Essential Guide to Record Collecting to be an interesting and informative read no matter one’s level of collecting knowledge. Thompson starts out with a couple of chapters on the birth and evolution of vinyl, ‘cause it always helps to know where you’ve been so you can tell where you’re going. A chapter on vinyl grading is essential to the hobby, and Thompson provides valuable examples of how condition can mess with the value of a record.

From this point, Thompson gets into the ‘meat and potatoes’ of the hobby, discussing the ever-collectible Beatles and Stones, dipping into jazz and box sets, and sojourning into the ancient past to talk about the almighty Elvis and other early-era rockers like Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent. Thompson hits many of the touchstones of the collectors’ community, artists like Bob Dylan and David Bowie and record labels like Motown, as well as providing a chapter on the highly-collectible and often pricey field of psychedelia. He spends much more time on disco than I certainly would have – who knew that old 12” disco biscuits were collectible – but Thompson redeems himself with a solid chapter on pub rock and punk. Chapters on the music of the ‘80s and classical music round out the guide, which is profusely-illustrated with artist photos, album covers, 45rpm picture sleeves, and poster art. Frequent sidebars offer a glimpse at current pricing on rarities like “rare blues from the shellac age” 78s and Elvis’s Sun Records releases and more.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Overall, the 240 pages of Goldmine’s Essential Guide to Record Collecting provide an informative primer for the veteran and newcomer alike. I do have a few minor complaints, however – classic blues music from the 1950s and ‘60s is given short shrift, as is old-school hip-hop, which is easily as popular with collectors as disco. An entire chapter on fan favorites like Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Fleetwood Mac, etc would have been nice – rabid fans of those artists will buy anything, and there’s certainly a lot to buy – but then the book would have run in excess of 300 pages, I suppose.

As it is, Goldmine’s Essential Guide to Record Collecting provides an excellent blueprint to the hobby, written in Thompson’s usual friendly but knowledgeable style. With Thompson’s considered advice and a pocket full of cash, one can put together an impressive and satisfying record collection in no time.  Grade: A- (Krause Publications, published June 29, 2017)

Buy the book from Amazon.com: Goldmine’s Essential Guide to Record Collecting by Dave Thompson