Rock Star Babylon: Outrageous Rumors, Legends, and Raucous True Tales of Rock and Roll Icons

by Jon Holmes

Fun, shocking, and compulsively readable, Rock Star Babylon is a guilty pleasure for fans everywhere who want to know more about rock stars behaving badly.From Ozzy Osbourne to Chuck Berry, Courtney Love to Keith Moon, Rock Star Babylon has gathered together the most outrageous antics and diva-esque misbehavior in the annals of rock. Here in a single volume are the most wickedly entertaining stories of over-the-top parties, crazy divorces, hidden cameras, trashed hotel rooms, misapplied epileptic interventions, and innocent headless bats. Running the gamut from the rude to the ridiculous, these reports of rock-and-rollers at their worst come straight from the mouths of those who were there—or those who were there but left early and heard about it afterward.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

248 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 24, 2008

Reviews

[Dj · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a book that uses a subtitle of Outrageous Rumors, Legends, and Raucous True Tales of Rock and Roll Icons, you would expect...well bigger names for one thing, no country and western singers and something more then British Pop groups that barely made the B list.
Even worse the Outrageous and Raucous is pretty tame. The book promises an Atomic Bomb and delivers a Bottle Rocket. Some of the things are funny, like a guy driving his riding lawn mower to the bar to get drunk since his wife hid the keys to the cars. Others are lame, like two child pop stars in the same hotel room playing board games (and nothing else) And one makes you wonder how it got on the list. A Gent using a Hang Glider to make the actual sound of a hang glider on a record only to find out it was the same as the canned sound they already had.
Glad I got it from the Library or I would be wanting to talk to the individual that wrote this and ask to see his Webster's.
A book to be avoided. Unless you are in a real need for some inane trivia.

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Picked it up for .99 so I can't complain too much. The first story drew me in: a forgotten '80's band hit a kangaroo while touring Australia. They attempted to dress the kangaroo in a denim jacket to take pictures with it, but it regained consciousness and hopped off into the outback with the tour bus keys in its jacket pocket... Most of the stories themselves really are funny. For example: Noel from the band Oasis went to see Spinal Tap Live not knowing that they weren't a real band, and was shocked to find out after the show.
Problem is, many of the other stories are downright gross, made worse by the way Jon Holmes tells them. It's even worse than that when he mocks the stories that resulted in the deaths of artists. I found myself skimming through to avoid as much of his commentary as possible and just read the actual tales. In the end it was a 15 minute investment that did include some really funny stories. It just wasn't worth cringing through the rest.

[Peacegal · Rating 1 out of 5]

In a word, disappointing. Those hoping for a fun read sorting rock n’ roll fact from fiction will want to look elsewhere; Holmes reports urban legends right alongside true misadventures and doesn’t distinguish between the two.

He relies entirely too much on “humorous” footnotes--literally every page is littered with them--and the vast majority just aren’t funny. Was the author trying to distract readers from his own book? That’s exactly the result.

Finally, readers outside Britain may want to take heed—Holmes makes extensive reference to UK pop culture figures, and many of his jokes and anecdotes will fly right over the heads of those of us across the pond. I spent much of my time wondering who the heck So-and-So is.

I ended up putting this book in the donation pile. Yet seeing as I bought it for $1.00 on a bookstore clearance rack, it’s no big loss.

[John Lyman · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Lots of insane stories of rock and roll excess and depravity. I enjoyed most of the author's humor a lot, some was too British for me to get, pop culture products, locations, people, etc. A few of the latter stories could’ve been excluded. I appreciate that the author used a fair amount of outside references to prove veracity of things he said.

[Nixx]

Yep, this book is that bad it didn’t even deserve a single star. It’s as interesting and as memorable as grass growing…..give it a miss.

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. I was a little bored because I didn't understand all of the British/UK references and had to just 'go along with it' for the sake of finishing the book. Some of the tales/legends are interesting like the lead singer of Faith No More, Mike Patton, defecating into a hotel hair dryer. Or, Freddy Mercury of Queen having wild parties with 'dwarfs carrying huge silver platters of cocaine' dressed in leather chaps and studded collars. Or, how Celine Dion will not go on stage unless the whole backstage is clear of stagehands. However, one bold Brit technician would not leave, so Dion the Diva had to be brought out with a towel over her head so she couldn't be seen or see the git who wouldn't leave after being ordered to do so. Then there's Van Halen who demand to have either the blue or brown M&M's all removed so as to test the crew and venue on their attention to detail. This book is full of interesting tidbits and stories. It is perfect for the subway, as I didn't get stuck mid-chapter and almost missing my stop, as that happens with most books I read in the subway. I rate this book a three out of five.

[Ginny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read---more like skimmed. I have to agree with just about all of the reviews on here. This book falls flat on its face. When I see "Outrageous and Raucous" right in the title I expect outrageous and raucous. Not some girl band in England who no one cares about punching a bathroom attendant. And some of the stories (ie the "hairdryer" one) was horrible. If that's really true....ugh!

However, I did like Jon Holmes' style of writing. Some of the footnotes made me laugh. The best line in the whole thing: "James Brown didn't so much have a brush with the law, he attacked it with a Dyson pet hair vacuum." (snicker) It was little treats like this one that prompted two stars instead of one.

[eRin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good. Not good at all. I'm thinking that the book is going to be like the title suggests--which, to be fair, it is. Kind of. Although instead of verifying or disputing the rumors and legends, the author just repeats them. Again, to be fair, I was warned in the introduction. But like the idiot that I am, I discarded this information and continued to read. It was a mistake. Most of the tales are about little-known bands or musicians. The others are ones that I've even heard of. And the footnotes. Oh, lord, the footnotes. It shocked me that there were two whole pages that did not contain any footnotes. I'm not sure how Holmes contained himself. The footnotes are meant to be an attempt at humor. An attempt that failed.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I normally get into books like this one. I was expecting funny stories - some I've heard before, some perhaps new. He doesn't differentiate between what is real and what is not. His introduction is a fallback for him to be able to say it's your own fault if you expected anything more than what he offers - which is a bunch of rumors about a lot of obscure bands. His footnotes are extremely irritating. I got to a point where I just quit reading them. It is completely obvious that the author thinks he is hilarious when in reality, he is not. Oh, and he likes to insult the United States a decent amount as well. Overall, just not funny.

[Beth Kostecki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a quick read, written as short anecdotes, and I enjoy the author's style, which was worth an extra star. But overall it was disappointing, mainly because there was almost nothing new to be found. If you're a music fan you'll have heard most of these stories, and the ones you haven't involve such obscure artists that you won't care.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. After 3/4 of the way through, I realized that it offered no new information, and it was there that I started to lose interest. I did finish it, however, but only because I forced myself. I felt that the use of footnotes was sometimes enlightening and funny, but most often it felt forced and annoying. And he kind of rambled. A lot.

[Driscoll (Joe & Jerry) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly entertaining. Some of these I'd heard years ago, some I'd never heard before. This would have been about half as many pages without all the mostly useless so-called "footnotes", which I eventually stopped reading and just stuck to the main text of the mostly not that "outrageous rumors, legends and raucous true (?) tales of rock & roll icons. 2 stars.....it was OK.

[Marjanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is generally just a bunch of hearsay with supposedly 'witty' comments thrown in from the author at footnotes. Most of the stories are just gross. You won't find any useful information in these pages. Pretty much a waste of time, though (thankfully) a short waste of time.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilarious, if only for the footnotes. It's a pack of unsubstantiated rumours about rock stars. Most of said rumours involve one or another icky body fluid. Or vats of drugs. I laughed my way through it, even the gross parts. Not for the seeker of truth nor the easily offended.

[Nocheevo · Rating 1 out of 5]

As the title says its largely rumours, some well known, some new. Essentially urban myths. Written in a style that must have appeared funnier during the chats with the editor. The Humorous verbose footnights scraped in at being funny about half the time.

[Pete · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good concept, but pretty disappointing. Very British. I hadn't even heard of half of the pop stars he talks about. Makes no attempt at sourcing anything and openly admits that a lot of the stories are probably bogus. Pretty funny, though.

[Jeannie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, this was so boring. Don't know how or even why I bothered finishing it. Usually give up on a book when it doesn't capture my attention in the first couple of chapters. Guess I'm just a glutton for punishment. and that pretty much sums this book up.

[Eileen]

Iffy stores about barely recognizable bands -- do not recommend.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun read, but you have to really like your more obscure artists.

[Jak · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very light quick read. It's a collection of urban myths based on rock and roll legends. If any are true, they are in the minority. Some are funny but most others aren't.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of tell all, rumors from the rock and roll world. Warning - there are some really gross, potentially life changing stories in here. I will never use a hotel hair dryer again.

[Michael Lee Howard -Mayhew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was decent it did not have anything too shocking or informative ... quick and easy read .

[Liz Novak · Rating 1 out of 5]

garbage!

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entertaining at times but largely dull, there's nothing really new there and it's not as funny as it wishes to be.