SUNDAY IN THE DARK WITH NO-ONE

I guess in a combination of Sunday angst, the aftermath of so-far wretched holidays, the art avoiding art, and a general sense of impending disaster, I looked myself up on a web search, maybe to convince me that I still existed. Among all of the on-line stores specializing in obscure books and records (and heaven only knows I have enough of them) I discovered this lovely review from Richie Underberger. Thanks Ritchie, you brightened a dreary day.


GIVE THE ANARCHIST A CIGARETTE, by Mick Farren (Pimlico). Though Mick Farren might not have been a hugely recognizable name to the rock public in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was very much in the middle of Britain in both the underground rock scene and the general counterculture. {-Give the Anarchist a Cigarette} is his memoir of his wild early years, covering his flailing (yet ultimately successful) attempts to be in a rock group in the mid-1960s; his years as lead singer of the shambling psychedelic band the Deviants; his work as a journalist on the British underground paper {~International Times}; and his edging closer to the mainstream in the 1970s as a writer for {~New Musical Express}. On its own steam, Farren's story is very interesting; he got almost as much an inside view of the British psychedelic scene, as a fan and performer, as anyone, and likewise was much involved in the political protest and social counterculture of the time with {-International Times} and other activities, such as the psychedelic {~UFO} club. What makes this a truly fine read, however, is that Farren is also an excellent and extremely witty writer, churning out story after story of madcap adventure (and quite a lot of sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll) in the British hippie era. These rope in characters from the most famous rock stars and writers to obscure groupies and hangers-on, from Led Zeppelin, Joe Boyd, Barry Miles, and Germaine Greer on down. For those who are interested, here at last are thorough details on his erratic yet intriguing band the Deviants -- their recording sessions, their chaotic gigs, the weird rotating cast of musicians, their ignominious bust-up on their first American tour. More than that, though, this gives a great sense of the adrenaline rush and heartbreaking disappointments of the hippie era, as well as its hangover into the 1970s, ending with Farren's decision to leave Britain for the US at the end of the '70s. Fans of Farren's writing were waiting a long time for a comprehensive account of his experiences during this era, which had leaked out in bits and pieces of various of his writings, and when he did put it all together in this book, he delivered the goods in splendid fashion.

I also found, on a website called Flirt -- The Snob Way To Indie Culture, a quite extraordinary analysis by one Federico Ferrari of a comment I wrote about the Ramones way back in 1977, in which I expounded the theory of rock & roll minimalism and suggested The Ramones were direct descendants of the Phil Spector classics, but stripped to the bare essentials. I received a lot of rock-crit flack at the time, but was later vindicated when Spector himself attempted to produce the Ramones. I don't know if Mr Ferrari agrees with me because his essay is in Italian, but it looks damned impressive.