Tell me, do you notice a trend with these recent news items?
-- British rocker Elvis Costello announced in March he's penning not one but two books for Simon & Schuster: (1) a story collection inspired by his songs due in late 2005 and (2) a "comic philosophy" tome on how to play the guitar.
-- R&B singer-pianist Alicia Keys has let folks know she's in talks to create a series of children's mystery books called Alicia Keys' Street Mysteries, with each novel named after one of her tunes.
-- Esquire introduced pop singer-guitarist and Grammy winner John Mayer as the writer behind the new monthly column "The Resident Rock Star," beginning in June.
Is it me or are a whole lot of pop stars picking up pens and laptops? Is everyone in the music world fancying herself the next Faulkner?
If I sound paranoid, maybe it's because I'm typing this peeking over my shoulder, afraid Britney Spears is convincing my editors she would do a better job with this column.
Hey! Plugging in an amp and plugging in a laptop are two very different things, guys. What gives? Of course, something tells me the quality of Spears' and Costello's copy would differ wildly.
Alas, this phenomenon isn't so new.
It called to mind rockers in the past with published prose. It also reminded me that some of it wasn't half bad. Including:
-- Richard Hell, punk rock guitarist and leader of Richard Hell and the Voidoids, in 1996 published the critically acclaimed novel Go Now, which dazzled, among others, cyberpunk author William Gibson. (Hell has published other works, too.)
-- Kinky Friedman, once the leader of Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys, a beloved quirky country band, is now better known as a mystery author.
-- Henry Rollins, former Black Flag and Rollins Band leader, is so in love with the printed word he created 2:13:61, a grass roots publishing company to release his and other maverick authors' books.
POP POETS
When it comes to poetry, look out. Seems every rock and pop lyricist under the sun considers himself well-versed enough to be published. The bards include:
-- Jim Morrison of the Doors, because he was the Lizard King, and as such, he could do anything, including writing Lords and New Creatures.
-- The voice of his generation , Bob Dylan, whose song lyrics have been printed as poetry in many collections. So have those of Lou Reed, former leader of the Velvet Underground and disciple of poet Delmore Schwartz, Reed's professor at Syracuse University. Several of Reed's songs are dedicated to Schwartz.
-- Punk singer/spoken word performer Lydia Lunch (once the frontperson for the 1970s act Teenage Jesus and the Jerks), who has had many journals and books of poetry published.
-- Patti Smith, the Godmother of Punk, acolyte of Dylan, the Stones and Rimbaud, who has been published in many forms.
-- Jewel, the little folkie who penned the god-awful A Night Without Armor.
-- Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg of the Fugs, both published poets.
-- The late rapper Tupac Shakur, whose lyrics have been published as poetry.
And let's not forget Joseph Simmons, better known as Run of pioneer rap group Run-DMC. In April, Simmons entered himself as a candidate for poet laureate of Queens, N.Y. (He didn't win.)
POP CRITICS OR POP STARS?
A category dear to me features folks who pulled off both tasks. These are the music writers and pop music critics who wrote about other performers and played music in bands of their own:
-- Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders
-- Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys
-- Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo -- Patti Smith (so, she wrote a lot!)
-- Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group
-- And of course, famed Creem critic Lester Bangs, who led Lester Bangs and the Delinquents.
NOVEL ROCKERS
In a very special domain, we place noted fiction writers and aspiring rockers Stephen King, Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Kathi Kamen Goldmark and Barbara Kingsolver, who together call themselves the Rock Bottom Remainders and perform occasionally.
The band, which features King and Barry on guitar and Tan on lead vocal, got started back in 1992 playing covers such as Louie Louie and Sea of Love for fun. The Remainders even embarked on a tour, dubbed the "Three Chords and an Attitude" tour, and released a Stranger Than Fiction CD.
How good are the Rock Bottom Remainders? On the band's Web site, Barry says, "The band plays music as well as Metallica writes novels."
* * *
SHORT STORIES BY MUSICIANS: Thunder's Mouth Press recently released Carved in Rock: Short Stories by Musicians, featuring stories by outlaw country singer Steve Earle, Joan Jett, Pete Townshend of the Who, Eric Burdon of the Animals, Ray Manzarek of the Doors, and the aforementioned Lydia Lunch and Kinky Friedman, among others.
A DISC OF HAIKU: 16 Haiku & Other Stories (Thirsty Ear) is an album of poems by Greek Nobel laureate George Seferis sung in English and performed musically by a cast of hep indie rockers including Cat Power, Mark Eitzel (American Music Club), Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab) and Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth).
The album was shaped by Greek multi-instrumentalist Akis Boyatzis, better known as Sigmatropic, who was determined to give the disc a global sound, heavy on the cross-cultural vibe.
"In this ever-shrinking political world of ours," Boyatzis told Magnet, "people of all backgrounds - especially artists - need to keep abreast of each other's thoughts and world views."
PUNK ROCK ART SHOW: If you get nostalgic about the good old days of punk rock, you should check out "Punk Since 1977," a multimedia exhibit of punk rock goodies by GDHB at Gold Dragon Galleries, 3508 S Manhattan Ave., Tampa. The show runs through June 11. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call (813) 832-2755.
-- Gina Vivinetto can be reached at 727 893-8565 or gina@sptimes.com
