Two veteran sidemen step into the spotlight with new memoirs this week. And since their autobiographies are practically the only high-profile rock-related titles on the way, there’s almost no chance they’ll get upstaged — unless you’re really into mushrooms and avant-garde composers. Read all about it:
Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina
By Chris Frantz
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Two iconic bands. An unforgettable life. One of the most dynamic groups of the ’70s and ’80s, Talking Heads, founded by drummer Chris Frantz, his girlfriend Tina Weymouth, and lead singer David Byrne, burst onto the music scene, playing at CBGBs, touring Europe with The Ramones, and creating hits like Psycho Killer and Burning Down the House that captured the post-baby boom generation’s intense, affectless style. In Remain in Love, Frantz writes about the beginnings of Talking Heads ― their days as art students in Providence, moving to the sparse Chrystie Street loft Frantz, Weymouth, and Byrne shared where the music that defined an era was written. With never-before-seen photos and immersive vivid detail, Frantz describes life on tour, down to the meals eaten and the clothes worn ― and reveals the mechanics of a long and complicated working relationship with a mercurial frontman. At the heart of Remain in Love is Frantz’s love for Weymouth: their once-in-a-lifetime connection as lovers, musicians, and bandmates, and how their creativity surged with the creation of their own band Tom Tom Club, bringing a fresh Afro-Caribbean beat to hits like Genius of Love. Studded with memorable places and names from the era ― Grace Jones, Andy Warhol, Stephen Sprouse, Lou Reed, Brian Eno, and Debbie Harry among them ― Remain in Love is a frank and open memoir of an emblematic life in music and in love.”
A Genesis In My Bed
By Steve Hackett
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The long overdue autobiography from guitar great and former member of Genesis, Steve Hackett. As with his music, Steve has written a highly detailed, entertaining and embracing tome that charts his life in full, but with a firm emphasis on his years with Genesis that saw the band’s meteoric rise to become one of the most successful British bands of all time. Steve talks candidly about his early life, his time with Genesis, and in particular his personal relationships with the other four band members, with great insight into the daily goings-on of this major rock band. Naturally A Genesis In My Bed also regales stories of Steve’s career since leaving Genesis and the many different journeys that it has taken him on. With his flair for the creative, and a great deal of levity, A Genesis In My Bed is a riveting read. Indispensable for Genesis fans but also essential for general music lovers and avid readers of autobiographies full of heartfelt and emotive tales.”
A Mycological Foray: Variations on Mushrooms
By John Cage, Kingston Trinder
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Imagined as an extended mushroom-foraging expedition, A Mycological Foray gathers together John Cage’s mushroom-themed compositions, photographs, illustrations and ephemera. Indeterminacy Stories and other writings by Cage are interwoven throughout the first volume within a central essay examining Cage’s enduring relationship with mycology. Also included is a transcript of Cage’s 1983 performance, Mushrooms et Variationes. The second volume is the inaugural reproduction of Cage’s 1972 portfolio, Mushroom Book, authored in collaboration with illustrator Lois Long and botanist Alexander H. Smith. Readers are thus drawn through the landscape of Cage’s mycologically centred oeuvre and interests, discovering assorted works, images, compositions, philosophies and ephemera, as one might encounter assorted fungi and flora while foraging. A Mycological Foray constitutes a new, idiosyncratic chapter in Cage’s oeuvre, a departure from the composer’s more established narrative.”
Robot’s Tale: A Dance Gavin Dance Graphic Novel
By Eliot Rahal, Minomiyabi & Ian McGinty
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Do you ever feel like you’re living in a simulation? Like nothing is real and it doesn’t matter? What if you found out you were right? Dog Villain, burdened by this ultimate knowledge, has built a machine. A machine with a single purpose: To destroy the simulation and free Dog Villain from where he feels trapped inside the never ending farce. But there’s something Dog Villain doesn’t know. At the end of the simulation there will be no freedom. Will Dog Villain be able to give up control long enough to find the truth and learn the things that really matter? Based on the mythology created by Dance Gavin Dance, Robot’s Tale is a mind bending story for both fans and newcomers.”
