Rock Bottom (Hardback)
A Music Writer's Journey into Madness
Michael Odell
'One of the best music books ever written, because Michael Odell knows
music isn't about the musicians – it’s about what it does to the listener, even
if what it does ends up being wholly disastrous. It’s sad, funny, fascinating
and wise.' Michael Hann, former Guardian music editor
‘Hilarious and disarmingly honest; a journey into the neurosis of rock
fame, but through doors you don’t expect.’ Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely
Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
A tale of loving, living and surviving rock music
Michael Odell is a rock music writer who takes his responsibility as
cultural gatekeeper seriously; he asks rock stars the forbidden questions to
discover whether they’re worthy of readers’ admiration.
But after interviewing Mick Jagger and Keith Richards – two of the ‘Big Six’
icons – Michael is depressed. He has a public meltdown while chaperoning Oasis
at an awards ceremony; he’s lost joy in his bathroom full of rock’n’roll
memorabilia; and his young son is in trouble at school for emulating rock star
behaviour.
Reluctantly Michael consults Mrs Henckel, a no-nonsense therapist with zero
experience of pop culture. As Michael addresses his feelings about the past, in
particular his failed teenage band, Mental Elf, he’s forced to confront the
question: is it finally time to grow up and forget rock’n’roll?
"Please don't put your life in the hands of a rock 'n' roll band, who'll throw it all away." So advised Noel Gallagher in 1995 and Michael Odell ignored him anyway …
One of Britain's most fearless rock interrogators, Odell turns his merciless searchlight on himself in this wry, compelling odyssey into the heart of his own – and rock n roll's – madness. Larks with the legends are all here (Bowie, McCartney, Mick 'n' Keef … Michael Bublé) but it's his inner life which illuminates, his psyche traumatically crumbling as he confronts his chaotic past.
Hilarious, tragic and timely, this is high farce in high (and low) places, uncovering why rock's lost highway is littered with the bodies of the righteous dreamers. Could it be because "the music people are all mad?" (Clue: yes.)
