Bat Chain Puller: Rock and Roll in the Age of Celebrity

by Kurt Loder

Numerous interviews with rock legends reveal how rock 'n' roll—once the soundtrack for the counterculture and rebellious youth—has gone mainstream, prepackaged by image consultants and openly bowing to authority. Kurt Loder, rock and pop culture journalist for Rolling Stone and MTV, discusses fame with the famous themselves, getting the scoop on what it means to be a rock star nowadays. Interviews focus on people who have had lengthy—in some cases two—careers: Rock wildmen turned British gentry Mick Jagger, The Who, and David Bowie; American originals Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Iggy Pop, and Bruce Springsteen; and unclassifiables Captain Beefheart, Laurie Anderson, and Frank Zappa. Along with a few pieces on strictly-80s phenomena (e. g. Cyndi Lauper and Max Headroom), Bat Chain Puller examines a time and place saturated by media and enthralled by celebrity, and what those at the center of all this attention have to say about it.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Pop Culture

408 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Kurt Loder is an American film critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at Rolling Stone, during a tenure that Reason later called "legendary". He has contributed to articles in Esquire, Details, New York, and Time. He has also made cameos on several films and television series. Prior to Rolling Stone, Loder had worked for Circus magazine and had been drafted into the United States Army. He is currently best known for his role at MTV News and for appearing in numerous other MTV-related television specials.

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ronnie Lane interview is a must-read for anyone interested in the Ronnie Lane benefit concert in the 80s or anyone who likes The Faces and Lane solo.

[My Spines Are Crooked · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of interviews/articles with various rock legends.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to not like this collection, just because part of me resent my teenage fixation on MTV. (Loder joined MTV in 1987 as the host of their flagship music news program, The Week in Rock. It was later expanded and renamed to MTV News in which he was an anchor and correspondent.) In these essays and interviews, most of which were originally published in Rolling Stone, MTV commentator Loder takes a look at popular culture in the 1980s, focusing on the celebrity industry and how various members of the rock culture have dealt with it. The gamut is those looking back on greater heights: Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, Cynda Lauper, Deborah Harry, and others. What I really like about this is his cogent praises on unsung heroes that deserved fame avoided, including Iggy Pop, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart (hence the collection's title), and more. It's not just music icons here, Loder also covers artist Andy Warhol, actor Sean Connery, performance artist Laurie Anderson and even the fanzines and fans of grade-Z slasher movies. Loder defendes the purity of Bob Dylan and (against Republican co-option) Bruce Springsteen. Tina Turner then coming into mega stardom comes across with a gleam while Don Johnson still seems out of place, despite Loder's efforts. The post-fame medical woes of Ronnie Lane and the culmination of ZZ Top nicely fit in this compendium, which I have now been drawn to read twice.

Veteran and able narrators Stefan Rudnicki and Stephen Hoye take the role of interviewer and subject bringing life to the interview pieces as actual conversations.

[Brigette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection of Kurt Loder's interviews with a wide variety of celebrities. His style of writing is informative and descriptive, and even thoughtfully critical at times. This is a good book to pick up when you only have a short time or interrupted opportunities to read. It is an interesting collection of essays and interviews at the dawning of the era of full blown "celebrity" culture.

[Emeelu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, captured the music scene at that area. The book was able to capture the artist, the personality and the voice behind the music. I find Frank Zappa's article to be enlightening and witty. Touching piece on Captain Beefheart.

[Patrick Fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and insightful. Not, like a lot of rock books, a collection of crazy stories. But a series of thoughtful efforts to get under the surface and see what makes these interesting people tick.

[Marianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts were interesting, some parts were pretty bad.