Mind the Bollocks: A Riotous Rant Through the Ridiculousness of Rock 'n' Roll

by Johnny Sharp

Rock star egos, concept albums, pretentious behavior, nonsense songs, and silly sunglasses are all targeted in this bile-spitting, spleen-venting, comical rant through the utter ridiculousness of rock 'n' roll's raucous history  Like the author's bitingly hilarious  Crap Lyrics , this book celebrates the rampant stupidity, misguided experimentalism, and occasionally inspired mania that has made rock 'n' roll so much more exciting than just a form of music. The book exposes, celebrates, and condemns the "culture of nonsense" that surrounds rock, uncovering truths such as the manager who advised the Rolling Stones to sack Mick Jagger in 1962, and the reviewer who told Michael Jackson that his new album Thriller was a right old stinker and he should fire his whole production team. Diving head first into the whirlpool of lurid folklore and cultural exotica surrounding rock 'n' roll, this riotous screed surfaces with a few pearls of truth, as well as the odd discarded Rolls Royce.

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2012

Reviews

[Richard Luck · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun trawl through the excesses and idiocies of music journalism.

[Jamie Donovan · Rating 3 out of 5]

God I wish I had been alive in the 70s and 80s - such an interesting time musically.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is full of amusing observations about music and those who make and promote it. It covers pop, rock and indie mostly. It has tons of quotes from musicians and fifteen wonderful chapters about aspects of the music business. My favourite chapter was chapter three, about what musicians really mean when they trot out their tired old interview clichés. If you read any music magazine you will recognise these phrases. It’s a really visually appealing book, with lots of black and excellent design throughout. It has a broad enough spread of music to appeal to anyone passionate about music. My own fave genre is metal and there were snippets of this and of rap and hip hop.

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is as the title says however I didn't have lots of laughs with it though equally I found some of it quite boring. I am glad I read it and it is completely out of my safety zone however that said I would not really recommend someone rush out and buy it.

[Danny Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delicious read. Always good to see the nonsense exposed! Spoiler: the hacks did it.