Saturday, May 7, 2016

A Real Life Rock Star

Stick It!: My Life of Sex, Drums, and Rock ‘n’ Roll – Carmine Appice with Ian Gittens (Chicago Review Press)

I don’t think that I can put my finger on exactly when it happened, but at some point in the not too distant past, the term rock star has become an over-used business cliché; as in “he is a real rock star marketer” or some other lame business-y claim. The dictionary definition makes no such reference to business, when it defines Rock Star as; “a famous and successful singer or performer of rock music.”

Well I am here today to bring Rock Star back to its rightful place, to remove all doubt and all lameness and hang the once mighty appellation where it truly belongs, on a man who truly embodies not only the spirit, but also the hyper-sexual and well earned ego of being dubbed a ROCK STAR! That all conquering hero comes in the form of one of the true monsters of rock drumming, Carmine Appice.

What leads me to making this daring declaration you ask…it’s as easy as thumbing through the pages of legendary tales that make Appice’s new bio,  Stick It!: My Life of Sex, Drums, and Rock ‘n’ Roll. This guy found his way up when the rock world was populated with real men; you know guys who had their choice of groupies and didn’t care what you thought about them wearing chick’s clothes!

The list reads like a who’s who of legendary rock figures that this guys has either rubbed elbows with or played drums for. That list includes: Rod Stewart (who penned the books forward), Jeff Beck, Vanilla Fudge, Ted Nugent, and many, many more. Hell it was this guys Seattle hotel room that was the scene of one of the most infamous, talked and written about incidents in all of groupie-dom…you know the one that involved members of Led Zeppelin’s road crew, fishing poles and a mud shark. Not familiar with that tale? Appice serves up his eye witness perspective that only adds to the legend!

As I worked my way through the book I found myself wondering why the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame hadn’t seen fit to induct this guy into its ranks?! Then I remembered just how lame that place really is, and figured a real rock star probably wouldn’t want anything to do with the place.

Stick It! Features all the must haves, that every great rock bio needs; sex, stories from the road, sex, stories from the studio, sex, stories of rubbing shoulders with other rock stars, sex, insider insights about band fellow members, sex, and gossip about what a douche bag some rocker really is…oh and sex. This one is a truly entertaining and fun read.  

  

 

 

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