For those of you that have been following Spinning Platters since it’s inception (Hi, Mom!), you may recognize one of the two names sharing authorship of the book Bay Area Stand Up Comedy: A Humorous History. Yup! Our one-time comedy editor, OJ Patterson, has graduated from the world of volunteer blogging to become an actual published author! I’m so very proud!!! (I’m actually weeping a little. Don’t mind me!) I’m also very sad that, within his bio within the book, there is no mention of our little pocket of the internet. I won’t hold that against him, however. Because he, along with fellow Bay Area stand-up comic Nina G, has gifted the world with something that we’ve desperately needed: a written history of the highly influential Bay Area stand-up comedy scene.
Category: Books
Book Review: “You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone: The Biography of Nico” by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike
The year 2021 is shaping up to be a pretty solid one for fans of The Velvet Underground. In the next few months, we will see Velvet Goldmine director Todd Haynes’ long-awaited documentary The Velvet Underground hit streaming platforms as well as an indie-rock star-studded tribute to The Velvet Underground & Nico called I’ll Be Your Mirror featuring literally everyone you are thinking of right now that would participate in a project like this. This year is also giving us a brand new biography of the life of Christa Päffgen, better known as Nico.
You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone: The Biography of Nico, out now in the UK and coming out August 10th from Hachette Books in the US and Canada, isn’t the first book on Nico. Far from it. But it’s the first book to tell the entire story of Nico, from birth to death, without condescension or sensationalization.
Writer Jennifer Otter Bickerdike presents her hypothesis early on- while male artists who struggle with addiction and mental health issues are often deified, female artists who deal with similar issues are often mocked and disrespected by the public and press. It’s impressive that, over the course of 512 pages and 49 years of life, the book never veers from that hypothesis.
The book begins in Germany in 1938, presenting the most detailed account of life under Hitler for your average family, as well as what it was like to raise a family as a single parent after the war. The writer doesn’t shy away from the fact that Päffgen’s father fought on the side of the Nazis but also sympathizes with the kind of poverty and desperation felt by the survivors during this tumultuous time in Germany. This pain early on helped forge the “Nico” identity.
The book explores Nico’s time as a teenage model, becoming the “it” girl at a young age. We learn about her desire to create avant-garde art that introduces her to Andy Warhol, who in turn introduces her to The Velvet Underground, convincing the band to let her join. (Spoiler: The band was not happy about this)
Throughout this story, we are introduced to a surprising array of celebrities with ties to Nico, some of whom she dated and some she didn’t. The writer is careful not to paint Nico as someone who “slept her way to the top,” but instead explains which partners helped encourage her and which ones were less than great to her. Without much detail, both Jim Morrison and Iggy Pop come off as class acts, while Brian Jones and Jackson Browne made for less kind partnerships. And Lou Reed is probably the biggest asshole of all.
Despite how significant her time with The Velvet Underground is in our awareness of Nico, the book spends very few pages on her time in the band. Possibly because it amounted to less than a year of her life, her most famous solo record, Chelsea Girl, is also glossed over to make room for exploring her lengthy solo catalog. During that time, we watch a woman struggle to make a living as an artist while people seem to be hyper-focused on her looks. Her struggle for credibility takes her on a road of addiction and, in her mind, doing whatever she could to not present as “pretty” in order to be taken seriously.
The book is a stunning portrait of a conflicted artist that I personally knew very little about before reading this book. It’s a deeply engaging, well written, and well paced book that I enjoyed immensely and may even read again soon.
Book Review: Lily’s Grooves
Full Disclosure: I write about music and sometimes comedy. I am not an expert on literature, and, specifically, I’m not an expert on Children’s Literature. I am also married to an expert on Children’s Literature, and I really should have asked her to write this review, but I didn’t. However, currently, I am living life as a stay-at-home Dad to an amazing toddler that demands that I read to her several times a day. This kid also loves music, records, and cats. So, when I opened up my mailbox and found a copy of Lily’s Grooves, the story of a record store cat, I decided that it wasn’t really my opinion or even my partner with a master’s in Children’s Literature opinion that mattered. Just the kid.
Spinning Platters Interview: Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s and The Bluebonnets
There aren’t many artists out there that can stake the claim that they are having a “big” 2020. However, Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s is having one of the biggest years of her career! Earlier this spring she released her first book, an autobiography of her early years, leading up to the Go-Go’s mid-’90s reunion, All I Ever Wanted. In addition to the book, she released a solo record to accompany the book, also called All I Ever Wanted, providing a soundtrack to that book. This Friday, July 31st brings us the first new single by the Go-Go’s since 2001, “Club Zero.” Once you have given the new single a few dozen spins, that very same night brings us the premiere of the Go-Go’s on Showtime, a documentary film about the life and times of the most successful all female rock band of all time at 9/8c!
Spinning Platters had the opportunity to chat on the phone with Kathy Valentine, and in between a few fanboy moments of excitement, I managed to ask a few questions. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s and The Bluebonnets”
Book Review: Natalie Murray’s Emmie and the Tudor King
In a small town in Western Mass resides Emmie, a sensitive and inquisitive 17-year-old with lofty ambitions. The Laura Ingalls-esque young woman lives with her hardworking mother, Carol, who has taken her from London to San Diego to New England to chase after the unrequited love of her now ex-husband. Carol’s heartache and yearning for more is the aura she carries with her, a yearning that also resides in our hero. Emmie has her eyes set on an art school in London, and spends her time curating the piece of jewelry that she believes will be her ticket out of Hatfield. Continue reading “Book Review: Natalie Murray’s Emmie and the Tudor King“
Spinning Platters Interview: Patty Schemel of Upset and Hole
Patty Schemel is probably best known as the drummer for legendary rock band Hole. More recently, she’s had a documentary about her life called Hit So Hard released, as well as started a band with Ali Koehler of Vivian Girls called Upset. She’s also written an autobiography, also titled Hit So Hard. The book is in stores on October 31st. (Yes, on Halloween!) Spinning Platters had the honor of getting to speak with Schemel recently about her career, writing a book, and what it’s like to play in a band with musicians from a different generation.
Hit So Hard:A Memoir can be preordered here!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Patty Schemel of Upset and Hole”
Book Review: A Heartbeat And A Guitar: Johnny Cash The Making Of Bitter Tears by Antoninio D’Ambrosio
Johnny Cash might be the most chronicled musician in pop music history. There are literally hundreds of biographies, authorized and unauthorized. The best, of course, is Cash by Johnny Cash. This book is not a biography of Johnny Cash. It’s the story of a record, one of the greatest records ever made.