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I Love Rock 'n' Roll (Except When I Hate It): Extremely Important Stuff About the Songs and Bands You Love, Hate, Love to Hate, and Hate to Love
Music breeds duality. We enjoy the music we love-listening to it, talking about it, reading about it. But it's just as fun to passionately revel in mocking the music we hate. Fortunately, musicians make this two-lane path very easy to follow. Half the time they're creating timeless works of art that speak to the soul; the other half, they're recording ridiculous concept albums about robots. I Love Rock 'n' Roll (Except When I Hate It) covers both It celebrates the music world's flashes of genius, the creation of masterpieces, and the little-known stories...as well as the entertainingly bad ideas. Armed with a healthy dose of Brian Boone's humorous asides and lively commentary, you'll learn extremely important stuff ? How bands got their stupid names ? All alternative rock bands directly descend from Pixies ? The most metal facts of metal in the history of metal ? The secret lives of one-hit wonders ? The story behind "Layla," and other assorted love songs about George Harrison's wife ? What is quite possibly the worst song in rock history Boone also reveals terribly useful information like chart trivia, the rules of music, lists, and many more origins, meanings, and stories about everyone's most loved and loathed musicians.
- GenresMusicNonfictionHumor
226 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 2, 2011
6 people are currently reading
98 people want to read
About the author
Brian Boone
57 books12 followersBrian Boone has contributed material to Funny or Die, The Onion, Bunny Ears, Vulture, ClickHole, RiffTrax, CBC Comedy, The New Yorker, MAD, Weekly Humorist, Looper, Someecards, How Stuff Works, and many high profile podcasts. He's the author of many children's joke books, the music trivia title I Love Rock n' Roll (Except When I Hate It) and is a longtime contributor and editor for the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series. He lives in San Verguenza, California, with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 19, 2024
"Music is possibly the most polarizing of all media. For example, [.] I adore The Beach Boys in their period of Brian Wilson-led wild creativity in the mid-60's, and hate them onward from when Mike Love took over to make 'Kokomo' a sad reality. But perhaps you think [.] that 'Kokomo' is one of the greatest pop hits and comeback records of all time . . . You are certainly entitled to your opinions, [but] we can never be friends. Because you are just plain wrong about music . . . See? Polarizing." - from the introduction
Harkening back to a time - the early 21st century - when humor-laced pop cultural list or countdown shows routinely dappled cable network (such as VH-1, ESPN, Bravo!, etc.) airwaves, author Boone's I Love Rock 'n Roll (Except When I Hate It) feels very much like a product ripped straight from that era, especially with its 2011 copyright. While some of the sections have not aged particularly well - jokes about substance abuse by Scott Weiland and Amy Winehouse land with a thud in the aftermath of their eventual overdose deaths - Boone often keeps things light (and make no mistake, this is some light reading) and fast-moving with his snarky, smartassery, and sometimes off-color commentary / opinions on popular music and its many artistic purveyors. However, he manages to cram in some facts along the way - such as the intended title for the Beastie Boys' debut Licensed to Ill, which nowadays would've had the trio blacklisted from the Western hemisphere - in his nimble narrative.
Harkening back to a time - the early 21st century - when humor-laced pop cultural list or countdown shows routinely dappled cable network (such as VH-1, ESPN, Bravo!, etc.) airwaves, author Boone's I Love Rock 'n Roll (Except When I Hate It) feels very much like a product ripped straight from that era, especially with its 2011 copyright. While some of the sections have not aged particularly well - jokes about substance abuse by Scott Weiland and Amy Winehouse land with a thud in the aftermath of their eventual overdose deaths - Boone often keeps things light (and make no mistake, this is some light reading) and fast-moving with his snarky, smartassery, and sometimes off-color commentary / opinions on popular music and its many artistic purveyors. However, he manages to cram in some facts along the way - such as the intended title for the Beastie Boys' debut Licensed to Ill, which nowadays would've had the trio blacklisted from the Western hemisphere - in his nimble narrative.
November 18, 2021
FINALLY! Someone agrees with me! Yes L Buckingham is a genius guitar player! He’s also moody, narcissistic, and still stuck on Stevie but there ya go!
April 21, 2015
I love (reading books about) Rock 'n' Roll (Except when I hate it). I've read many books on popular music, some trivia books, some informal meanderings on the subject. Some of the books I've read I've kinda hated (no names here). But I picked this book up after reading some very complimentary reviews on Amazon, and I have to say that I agree with them.
I first expected this book to be a compilation of essays on music (Boone is a famous blogger) in the vein of Chuck Klosterman, John Sellers, Rob Sheffield, and David Hajdu. I'm happy to report that this book is not one of those books (though all of the those mentioned before are great writers). The book is more a compilation about trivia about rock, which I think was just what I needed when I picked up the book.
Boone is a good writer and, at times, hilarious. I found myself chuckling or even LOLing outright while I was reading. Some of the humor is hit-and-miss, but for the most part the book was fascinating and funny. It's also a quick read, written about various topics like Brian Wilson's ill-fated foray into rap music, Trent Reznor's pre-NIN project as a corny 80s pop outfit, and some of the strange deaths of rock stars. Two other parts I thought were interesting and funny: all of the smart rock stars out there (ie, Brian May of Queen has a PhD in astrophysics and Kris Kristofferson got a master's degree as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford), and all the decidedly non-metal things about metal stars (ie, Lars Ulrich was a young tennis star). Many of these things you've heard before (if you're a music trivia enthusiast...er, nerd) like me. But the way Boone writes them is novel and fun.
I also like his tongue-in-cheek descriptor in the subtitle--that the book is "extremely important." This stuff is certainly not high culture...I don't foresee Theodor Adorno really liking this book, for instance. But the book is exactly what you'd expect: it celebrates rock music and doesn't take itself seriously. It strives to address the essence of popular music in its tone: quick, fun, and sometimes subversive.
I first expected this book to be a compilation of essays on music (Boone is a famous blogger) in the vein of Chuck Klosterman, John Sellers, Rob Sheffield, and David Hajdu. I'm happy to report that this book is not one of those books (though all of the those mentioned before are great writers). The book is more a compilation about trivia about rock, which I think was just what I needed when I picked up the book.
Boone is a good writer and, at times, hilarious. I found myself chuckling or even LOLing outright while I was reading. Some of the humor is hit-and-miss, but for the most part the book was fascinating and funny. It's also a quick read, written about various topics like Brian Wilson's ill-fated foray into rap music, Trent Reznor's pre-NIN project as a corny 80s pop outfit, and some of the strange deaths of rock stars. Two other parts I thought were interesting and funny: all of the smart rock stars out there (ie, Brian May of Queen has a PhD in astrophysics and Kris Kristofferson got a master's degree as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford), and all the decidedly non-metal things about metal stars (ie, Lars Ulrich was a young tennis star). Many of these things you've heard before (if you're a music trivia enthusiast...er, nerd) like me. But the way Boone writes them is novel and fun.
I also like his tongue-in-cheek descriptor in the subtitle--that the book is "extremely important." This stuff is certainly not high culture...I don't foresee Theodor Adorno really liking this book, for instance. But the book is exactly what you'd expect: it celebrates rock music and doesn't take itself seriously. It strives to address the essence of popular music in its tone: quick, fun, and sometimes subversive.
November 22, 2011
Am I giving this book four stars because I went to college and edited a magazine with the author of this four-star book? No! I am giving it four stars for those reasons and because it was an entertaining and informative read, and because five stars would just go to his head.
Sure, I could have learned plenty of these facts by spending hours on Wikipedia reading about rock music, and in some cases I knew some facts ahead of time because I've spent hours on Wikipedia reading about rock music, but the genius of this book is that it's like spending hours on Wikipedia reading about rock music without—get this—spending hours on Wikipedia reading about rock music.
As Brian Boone's former editor, it was no small trip down memory lane, re-experiencing the comic voice of Brian Boone. No, it was more like a winding suburban lane with cul-de-sacs and roundabouts. Yes, that's supposed to be a compliment.
And for new fans of Mr. Boone's oeuvre, I suggest you go back old school, i.e. to our former school publication, and experience the greatness of his rant against the squirrelly menace in Eugene, Oregon: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~ocomment...
Sure, I could have learned plenty of these facts by spending hours on Wikipedia reading about rock music, and in some cases I knew some facts ahead of time because I've spent hours on Wikipedia reading about rock music, but the genius of this book is that it's like spending hours on Wikipedia reading about rock music without—get this—spending hours on Wikipedia reading about rock music.
As Brian Boone's former editor, it was no small trip down memory lane, re-experiencing the comic voice of Brian Boone. No, it was more like a winding suburban lane with cul-de-sacs and roundabouts. Yes, that's supposed to be a compliment.
And for new fans of Mr. Boone's oeuvre, I suggest you go back old school, i.e. to our former school publication, and experience the greatness of his rant against the squirrelly menace in Eugene, Oregon: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~ocomment...
January 5, 2012
This book had me laughing, reminiscing, singing to myself, being embarrassed that I actually owned some of the records he speaks of, and searching for some undiscovered music for myself. Boone is very twisted and witty in his trip down memory lane wen it comes to music. Lots of great background stories about the songs and the artists. If you love music, this is a book for you. It is a very quick read, so take a wee bit and take a "trip" down memory lane. He covers such a wide range of the rock and pop genre, that I dare say that all can find a part that they will relate to. Boone covers all the way back to the early rock ages to some present day artists. This is a great way to bridge the generations wen it comes to the universal language of music.
August 23, 2012
I loved this book because it delivered exactly what I was looking for. The author shares lots of snippets and factoids about rock-n-rollers. You definitely could open this book, read an interesting little blurb, and then save the rest for another day (perhaps in your bathroom). Not what I did though. I kept opening to random pages until eventually I'd read the whole book. My favorite part was when he talked about specific songs. Of course, I had to go on youtube to hear for myself. Next thing you know, hours and hours have passed. I must've listened to a million Leonard Cohen songs.Then Hugh Masakela to The Blackbyrds to Hot Chocolate. I dragged myself away after listening to "Everyone's a Winner"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3fX2_...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3fX2_...
August 4, 2011
I've been writing about music for over 20 years, and Brian Boone's book still managed to teach me a few things. (Frank Sinatra recorded a disco version of "Night and Day"!) Plus, it's funny and opinionated -- just the kind of thing you're looking for when you want to read a book for rock geeks, by a rock geek. My only complaint is that it's too damn short. More!
September 24, 2017
Lots of rock and roll trivia will make this interesting for rock and roll fans.
The author has a bit of an anything-for-a-laugh streak. Sometimes I like the weird and the bizarre for what its worth, without necessarily a punch line.
Well-outlined light reading. Easy come, easy go . . . like reading *The Book of Lists.*
The author has a bit of an anything-for-a-laugh streak. Sometimes I like the weird and the bizarre for what its worth, without necessarily a punch line.
Well-outlined light reading. Easy come, easy go . . . like reading *The Book of Lists.*
November 7, 2017
Opinionated book that doesn't detract from the sheer information contained within it. The author seems to take us through an eclectic volume of facts and tabulated data. There is plenty to learn here but mostly within the past, enjoyed it completely.
I'm even finding myself looking for bands and people that were within the book.
I'm even finding myself looking for bands and people that were within the book.
July 23, 2023
I wanted to like this book more than I did. It's lists of things about rock music, and facts about rock music, but with opinions mixed just enough to make some of the facts not factual at all. Plus the writer is not as funny as he thinks he is. I give this one a meh.
Read
October 16, 2011As much enjoyment as I get out of listening to music, the same pleasure comes from reading about it. I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll (Except When I Hate It) by Brian Boone is a collection of musical facts, useful, and useless knowledge chronicling a wide range of artists and genre’s. Boone graces us with his witty humor throughout, such as the title of Chapter 2, part 9, “So, Was They Bonin’ or Was They Not Bonin’?”
Other interesting titles include, “Whatever Social Ill U2 Was Upset About That Day”, “That Song, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means”, and “Let’s Get The Band Back Together! Wait, Let’s Not. I Just Remembered That I Wish You Were Dead”. The latter discusses the 2005 Coachella Festival wherein Morrissey was apparently offered $5 million to reunite with the The Smiths. Morrissey turned down the Coachella promoters adding, “I’d rather eat my own testicles than reform the Smiths, and that’s saying something for a vegetarian”.
At 205 pages, a quick read indeed, I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll… is filled with tons of information sure to help you win any Rock ‘N’ Roll elitists debate. Buyer beware, Boone makes a few grave errors that may have you questioning the validity of the text as a whole. On page 196 he refers to Tina Weymouth as the drummer of the Talking Heads. As we all know Chris Frantz is the Heads drummer, Weymouth is the bassist. On page 202 Boone states that, Nirvana didn’t play “Smells Like Teen Spirit” after 1992. This “fact” simply isn’t true.
Although Nirvana did choose to 86 the song after 1992, it wasn’t completely nixed from their set. Nirvana played “Teen Spirit” in both 1993, and 1994. Some specific dates and venues include, but are not limited to, 4/4/93 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, 11/9/93 at the Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa, 1/7/94 at the Seattle Arena in Seattle, Wa, and 2/25/94 at Palatrussardi in Milan, Italy.
When attempting to write a book that’s based on such minute, factual information, it’s important to be sure that what you’re saying is in fact the truth. Although Boone clearly spent many hours researching his subject matter, it’s where he falls short that raises the reader’s suspicions to a point where they’re questioning the author’s credibility.
Other interesting titles include, “Whatever Social Ill U2 Was Upset About That Day”, “That Song, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means”, and “Let’s Get The Band Back Together! Wait, Let’s Not. I Just Remembered That I Wish You Were Dead”. The latter discusses the 2005 Coachella Festival wherein Morrissey was apparently offered $5 million to reunite with the The Smiths. Morrissey turned down the Coachella promoters adding, “I’d rather eat my own testicles than reform the Smiths, and that’s saying something for a vegetarian”.
At 205 pages, a quick read indeed, I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll… is filled with tons of information sure to help you win any Rock ‘N’ Roll elitists debate. Buyer beware, Boone makes a few grave errors that may have you questioning the validity of the text as a whole. On page 196 he refers to Tina Weymouth as the drummer of the Talking Heads. As we all know Chris Frantz is the Heads drummer, Weymouth is the bassist. On page 202 Boone states that, Nirvana didn’t play “Smells Like Teen Spirit” after 1992. This “fact” simply isn’t true.
Although Nirvana did choose to 86 the song after 1992, it wasn’t completely nixed from their set. Nirvana played “Teen Spirit” in both 1993, and 1994. Some specific dates and venues include, but are not limited to, 4/4/93 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, 11/9/93 at the Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa, 1/7/94 at the Seattle Arena in Seattle, Wa, and 2/25/94 at Palatrussardi in Milan, Italy.
When attempting to write a book that’s based on such minute, factual information, it’s important to be sure that what you’re saying is in fact the truth. Although Boone clearly spent many hours researching his subject matter, it’s where he falls short that raises the reader’s suspicions to a point where they’re questioning the author’s credibility.
April 15, 2012
When I was fourteen, I stumbled across Kenneth Anger's "Hollywood Babylon" deep in the bowels of my local library. I devoured it and then went back to the front cover and started right back in again.
After reading the description of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll (Except When I Hate It)" I took a risk and bought the book. Now, having finished it, I feel as though I merely broke even.
Which is to say, the book is fun and funny and full of quirky stories and anecdotes and the occasional new factoid. At the same time, I really wanted snark and perhaps a little bit of bitter resentment for flavor. I wanted to read an angry take down of musician's self-aggrandizing pretentiousness disguised as a brief factoid about how the Beatles wanted to call the album "The Beatles" "A Doll's House" instead.
And while there is a bit of sarcasm, there is a lot more gentle, mildy ribbing humor instead. I realize that criticizing a book for being the wrong kind of funny says a lot more about me as a reader than it does about either the author or the book in question. I accept that. What I'm saying though, is that music is too important to all of us to be treated so mildly.
The information is good. The stories and lists and columns are well presented and (according to Wikipedia and Google) as correct as they can be. Some of it is genuinely fascinating (Concert cliches, I'm looking at you) and great fodder for your next cocktail party (Chapter Two: About a Song). But I wanted more anger.
After reading the description of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll (Except When I Hate It)" I took a risk and bought the book. Now, having finished it, I feel as though I merely broke even.
Which is to say, the book is fun and funny and full of quirky stories and anecdotes and the occasional new factoid. At the same time, I really wanted snark and perhaps a little bit of bitter resentment for flavor. I wanted to read an angry take down of musician's self-aggrandizing pretentiousness disguised as a brief factoid about how the Beatles wanted to call the album "The Beatles" "A Doll's House" instead.
And while there is a bit of sarcasm, there is a lot more gentle, mildy ribbing humor instead. I realize that criticizing a book for being the wrong kind of funny says a lot more about me as a reader than it does about either the author or the book in question. I accept that. What I'm saying though, is that music is too important to all of us to be treated so mildly.
The information is good. The stories and lists and columns are well presented and (according to Wikipedia and Google) as correct as they can be. Some of it is genuinely fascinating (Concert cliches, I'm looking at you) and great fodder for your next cocktail party (Chapter Two: About a Song). But I wanted more anger.
May 22, 2012
Brian Boone is a funny, funny, funny man... and I was happy as hell (if unsurprised) to discover that the same sharp, sarcastic humor he brings to his blog and tweetstream manifests throughout this book. Now, I'm aware that I'm more or less the ideal audience for this book - I love music, I love lists, and I love sharp, sarcastic humor - but that doesn't mean that the content is appealing only to those who fall into the somewhat limited blue lobster demographic.
Let me put it to you this way. One section of the book is called "Succinct Information In Column Form," and features an item with a number of options beneath the question "Little girl object of fancy or little girl object of fancy that is also the title of a Mariah Carey album?" The answer, per Brian Boone? "Mariah Carey has released Rainbow, Charmbracelet, Butterfly, Daydream and Glitter. She has not yet released albums titled Unicorn, Princess or Sparkles."
If you're the kind of person I think you are, that just made you cackle. And that also makes you the kind of person who would enjoy the rest of the book — which I certainly did.
Let me put it to you this way. One section of the book is called "Succinct Information In Column Form," and features an item with a number of options beneath the question "Little girl object of fancy or little girl object of fancy that is also the title of a Mariah Carey album?" The answer, per Brian Boone? "Mariah Carey has released Rainbow, Charmbracelet, Butterfly, Daydream and Glitter. She has not yet released albums titled Unicorn, Princess or Sparkles."
If you're the kind of person I think you are, that just made you cackle. And that also makes you the kind of person who would enjoy the rest of the book — which I certainly did.
November 13, 2013
A quick and entertaining read about well known rock songs and bands. It's in a very tid-bitty format, so you could skip around, but you'll probably just end up reading all of it, even if you're like me and only recognize half the names and song titles. (The Beatles? Hey! I know them!!) But, that is the beauty of iTunes and their 60 second song clips. I discovered that I had heard pretty much every song he talked about, and now I (am more likely to) recognize them by name.
I also loved learning about the gossipy behind-the-scenes romances and band-member politics and all that. I was shocked to learn that the woman who inspired the song "Layla" by Eric Clapton (a special song for us, since my daughter is named Leila) was also the inspiration behind, like, four other very well known songs. ONE woman! Different (famous) rock stars. She got around.
Anyway, Brian Boone has definitely done his homework, and then exercised great self-restraint to include only the most interesting and concise bits. He's an engaging writer, and if you even kind of like rock and roll, I highly recommend this book.
I also loved learning about the gossipy behind-the-scenes romances and band-member politics and all that. I was shocked to learn that the woman who inspired the song "Layla" by Eric Clapton (a special song for us, since my daughter is named Leila) was also the inspiration behind, like, four other very well known songs. ONE woman! Different (famous) rock stars. She got around.
Anyway, Brian Boone has definitely done his homework, and then exercised great self-restraint to include only the most interesting and concise bits. He's an engaging writer, and if you even kind of like rock and roll, I highly recommend this book.
February 20, 2016
This was a fun, easy, and quick read for anyone who loves rock and roll. Although I found some of the remarks a bit mean-spirited, it was funny enough that I didn't dwell on it.
Favorite sections:
1. The duet section which asked the important question "Were the singers bonin' or not bonin'?"
2. The section on Tipper Gore and the PMRC. Censorship is bad, people. But there might have been a little more to it than Tipper getting her panties in a wad because of sex, drugs, and violence in rock music lyrics. (Hadn't she been paying attention back in the '50s? It's always been that way.)
3. The origin of people shouting "Free Bird!" at concerts. And the origin of the devil horns sign.
This is a perfect little summer quickie!
Favorite sections:
1. The duet section which asked the important question "Were the singers bonin' or not bonin'?"
2. The section on Tipper Gore and the PMRC. Censorship is bad, people. But there might have been a little more to it than Tipper getting her panties in a wad because of sex, drugs, and violence in rock music lyrics. (Hadn't she been paying attention back in the '50s? It's always been that way.)
3. The origin of people shouting "Free Bird!" at concerts. And the origin of the devil horns sign.
This is a perfect little summer quickie!
August 18, 2011
"The Beach Boys' 'God Only Knows' can still make me cry on the 10 billionth listen because it makes me acutely aware of the beauty and magic in the universe. However, when I hear the Beach Boys' 'Kokomo' for the 10 billionth time, I feel hopelessly alienated from a world that would happily spend its money on a third-rate Jimmy Buffett knockoff." I'm enjoying this book.
December 12, 2011
Fun, funny, clever, informative, and smart. Lots of little bits of trivia and backstory about songs and artists, going back to the 50s and through the 2010s. Very quick read - I finished it literally 18 hours after buying it. Good stuff - cant wait for a sequel.
August 12, 2011
Interesting and entertaining regarding musical groups, their origins and the stories behind their songs. Humorous and sarcastic, it is an easy read.
August 31, 2011
Made me laugh out loud, which was embarrassing 'cause I was reading on the subway at the time.
September 2, 2011
I love trivia and music so this was a good one for me. Lots of back stories, cool secrets and where-are-they-now stories.
February 28, 2012
Good, easy read. Small vingettes. Don't have to remember a plot.
September 9, 2012
Lots of fun titbits, interesting lists.
January 13, 2013
Funny book...made me laugh out loud at times.
January 27, 2013
I always enjoy this type of book, and Brian Boone's book was better than most. If you love music you'll enjoy it.
March 29, 2013
Great, easy fun read with more facts than you ever wanted to know about music.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews