's's
Dancing About
Architecture
because "....writing about music is like dancing about architecture." -- William
S. Burroughs.
July/August 2004
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Hank has three books down and four to go. Surprisingly, no one has submitted a review of Turning Points of Rock and Roll yet. Hank is extremely proud of this book, from the Dave Marsh introduction (Hank blushes every time he thinks about it) to his own 20 points.
In the fall, Noise of the World will mark Hank's fourth book in a little over half a year. Hope to have a cover on that soon.
In the mean time, Hank is entertaining a few new projects, one of which is
mentioned later in the issue.
The Billy Joel Book proceeds apace. A little slower
than Hank hoped, but the outline is taking shape and a couple of more interviews
have turned up.
Hank has been officially hired as an adjunct professor at
Ramapo State College in Mahwah, NJ. This will mark his third such
position. He will continue to teach at Baruch College in New York City.
He has also previously taught at Bergen Community College.
To try and turn these adjunct positions into something more
permanent, Hank has embarked on his Masters Degree after 25 years out of
Rutgers. He will be studying at Thomas Edison State College.
Finally, Hank is in negotiations with two new clients.
Well one new one and one semi-new one. For one, Hank hopes to create web
copy that will break ground as it brings in customers. For the other, Hank
is committed (or ought to be) to reviving the way-ahead-of-its-time Interactive
Quarterly with the same publisher, but a new title and a slightly different
focus.
In other news:
Hank recently got a copy of Turning Points of Rock And Roll from Citadel and it looks terrific!
Book: The Bruce Springsteen Scrapbook, written by Hank Bordowitz, published by Citadel Press/Kensington Publishing Corp.
If you are picking up a book called The Bruce Springsteen Scrapbook, I'm
assuming you're already a fan. I'm assuming that you know much of Bruce's music.
I'm assuming that you know bit's of his story. I'm assuming that you've seen at
least some of the information I'm presenting here. My goal here is to amplify
that story and information for you and decorate it with a bunch of really
wonderful images from one end of Bruce's career to the other. In the spring of
1974 critic Jon Landau saw Springsteen opening for Bonnie Raitt and wrote: "I
saw Rock'n' Roll's future and it's name is Bruce
Springsteen" The author has captured Bruce Springsteen and has made him part of
our Rock'n'Roll life, even if we thought we knew Bruce before.
From the Jamaican Gleaner, for crying out loud!
Copyright 2004 The Gleaner Sometimes something nice pops up in the ol' email box amid the offers for
mortgages and sex of all descriptions. Got this and it made my month: Dear Hank, Thanks Bob. Hank started writing reviews for MUZE recently. This
service provides information to various web and retail presences. Here are
some of them:
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=3013044
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=3009393
The Gleaner
April 18, 2004
NOT JUST ANOTHER MARLEY BOOK
BEFORE THE inevitable not another Bob Marley book! leaves their mouths, fans of
the reggae king should take a browse through Every Little Thing Gonna Be Alright
, a new tome by American writer Hank Bordowitz. It was released July 1 in the
United States by Da Capo Press.
Every Little Thing Gonna Be Alright is a collection of feature stories mostly
published either side of the 1970s: in the early stages of the decade when
Marley was a struggling singer/songwriter with The Wailers, and the latter half
when he became a bona fide superstar.
There are articles from respected publications such as Newsweek,
Rolling Stone and The Village Voice; and writers like (the late)
Lester Bangs of
Creem Magazine and Alice Walker of Essence.
Bangs, who died in his New York City apartment in 1982, visits Marley in the
summer of 1976, just weeks before there was an attempt to kill the singer at his
St. Andrew home. He not only addresses the mystique surrounding the reggae star
as the next big thing in pop music, but paints a vivid picture of the political
upheaval in Jamaica at the time.
Walker is among a handful of African-American writers who followed Marley s rise
and his frustration at being unable to find a large black audience in the United
States. Through these articles, the reader discovers the impact Marley and
reggae had in the United States during the 1970s.
'He certainly got better coverage (in mainstream magazines) than a lot of
African-American artistes at the time, including George Clinton and the
Motown acts,' Bordowitz told the Sunday Gdleaner. 'His music had much more power
in terms of writing.'
Every Little Thing Gonna Be Alright is not limited to music. There are in-depth
stories on Marley s performances in newly-independent Zimbabwe in
1980 and the messy legal battles concerning his estate following his death in
May, 1981.
Marley s wife Rita and Wailers members Aston Familyman Barrett American Al
Anderson also contribute articles. According to Bordowitz, 'I wanted to get as
many voices in as possible.'
As graduate of Rutgers University where he studied journalism, Bordowitz has
worked for several publications such as Creem and Jazziz. He has written books
on the Irish rock group U2, Bruce Springsteen and the 1960s message band
Creedence Clearwater Revival; his current project on superstars of the Third
World, is expected to be released later this year.
- Howard Campbell
BAD MOON RISING
Thank you for writing one of the best rock-n-roll biographies I have ever
read: "Bad Moon Rising." I don't know why it took me so long to read; I've
had it on my shelf ever since it first came out. I've read "Up Around the
Bend" and (I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was 16 at the time) John Hallowell's
"Inside Creedence." In my opinion, your book rates just as high on the list
of great rock-n-roll books as Dan Matovina's "Without You: The Tragic Story
of Badfinger," Johnny Green's book about being a roadie with the Clash and Joe
Jackson's "A Cure for Gravity." Those three immediately come to mind, even
though I have other favorites as well. I'm not a big U2, Springsteen or
Marley fan, but I'm looking forward to your book on Billy Joel.
Bob Mitchell
News Director, KRWG 90.7, Las Cruces, New Mexico
MUZE
BLOG ON
I can't speak for the film industry, as I've had
limited participation, and by all appearances it is doing well (of course,
appearances can be deceptive...). As to the music business, collapse of the
world as we know it is imminent, albeit it may not be as revolutionary as just
falling down and leaving the pieces for scavengers.
Knowing and developing your niche, going with your
strength and expanding -- slowly -- from there is the key. A brilliant
example of this is Madison House, the String Cheese Incident's corporate
entity. They know their audience, know how to reach them in terms of concerts
and recordings, understand the economics of what they're doing. When the
bottom falls out, they won't be giants, but they might be the Davids, and a
whole lot healthier and happier than the giants.
Watch out for the live industry to become the next
to fall. It's been threatening to longer than the recording industry, believe
it or not, as the margins for everyone get tighter every year. It's more
expensive to tour, more expensive to maintain a venue, more expensive to
promote, and even with $300 tickets, tougher to make a profit even with a
sell-out. The healthiest place, relatively, are the clubs, but the margins,
again, are way smaller.
What this all boils down to, I guess, is economies
of scale. Fewer and Fewer businesses in the entertainment industry are going
to get huge, especially in a big hurry. Many might build to a place where
they're comfortable.
© 2004 Bordowitz Media Werx