An interview w/ Campion about the book can be found here:
http://www.thisisbrandx.com/2009/11/new ... tings.htmlThough I'm honestly confused because everything that Campion says is untold, I thought has been told a few dozen times over at this point.
He says,
"Everything we know about the Police has been told from their perspective."Uh, no it hasn't. As is shown, for example, by all the secondary sources in the book.
He says,
"The Police are one of the most famous and successful bands in rock history, but they’ve somehow evaded any kind of critical thought or writing about their music or their career for over 30 years."Dude, are you kidding? The only way I can see that holding is if the only sources you consider are teen magazines.
"the Police were exceedingly good at creating their own myth as they went along -- a compelling narrative about the underdogs who took on the music world and won that’s been taken at face value ever since."Good at creating their own myth: yes.
Underdogs: Mmm, I don't know about that.
Taken at face value ever since: Bollocks.
"But, in fact, there was an awful lot of image management involved in maintaining the fun-loving public face of a band who, even by their own admission, were at each other’s throats from almost the first moment they formed."Image management: yes, true -- but not an untold mystery. Creating myth and image management aren't mutually exclusive; in fact, just the opposite.
"It’s not a book that sets out to flatter either them or their fans but, rather, to show what kind of person it takes to be in a world-beating rock band. Instead of sex and drugs -- which, frankly, gets a bit tiresome -- it’s packed with vanity, ambition, ego and competition. It’s a bit like Valley of the Dolls, if the three protagonists were all alpha males."Can someone tell me where we haven't already heard all of this before? At least half the articles/reviews say as much, the band says as much, and you could add "alpha males" to the Stewart Copeland drinking game. That idea of "culture wars" as symbolized by hair cuts in the book's opening -- also a big one in the SC drinking game, and not a new concept even then. (No offense, Stewart.)
None of this is news. I'm with the guy when he says sex, drugs, rock 'n' yawn. I'm with the guy when he says that Miles Copeland is often underrepresented -- but I wouldn't say that his tactics are. See all that already-told image building, tour scheduling, etc.
I admit again that I have not read the whole book: only parts. There may, in fact, be something genuinely untold in there that I haven't seen. I am not saying otherwise, and I'm happy to be wrong. But thus far, I don't understand how this qualifies as a new angle as all of these new selling points are points that writers have been making for years. I look forward to hearing from folks as they read through.
[Edited ETA: Kellie edited the above to add italics and tweak some of her thoughts that she felt read as unclear. ]
Posted: 14 Nov 2009 17:11
I was expecting more of a cultural travelogue in the early 80s - For 18 dollars! Thinking about canceling preorder.
