A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Back to main page

John Lydon: Stories Of Johnny
(Chrome Dreams)

A collection of essays about John Lydon, much like the recent collection of interviews with Tom Waits, was always going to be entertaining, and such proves to be the case. So we have Greil Marcus being all bookish and wordy contemplating lofty themes and confusing the hell out of this reader. Kris Needs writing like an enthusiastic journeyman hack/
musician, and being all the more entertaining because of it (he also had plenty of interview time with the notoriously spiky interviewee who obviously finds him less tiresome than most journos he encounters). Legs McNeil brings a punky yank slant to the proceedings, which lends a whole new angle to some things and misses the point entirely on others (proving the Sex Pistols meant something totally different culturally to our American cousins) whilst yet another US interloper, Judy Nylon, gives us all the ‘I was there’ goss, and in consequence provides probably the most entertaining read here. Of the remainder Clinton Heylin thoroughly deconstructs the ramshackle and bad tempered Public Image story and there's also an extensive recent Pat Gilbert interview. Barb Jungr is a bit dull, Alan Clayson is workmanlike and Nigel Williamson takes the opportunity to write about himself, which is nice...
Ruby Palmer

buy the book from Amazon

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Back to main page