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Drummer
Available for the First Time in Forty Years - the Rock Horror Cult Classic Featured in MOJO Magazine 's " Paperback Rioters " article (MOJO #290, January 2018) “ A hell of a ride ... The closest parallel is probably David Bowie's Diamond Dogs album .”
- From the Foreword by Alwyn W. Turner. A WILD NEON-LIT NIGHTMARE CITY - A BAND ON THE EDGE OF SANITY ----- ...At the first moment of their appearance in the stadium the constant screaming of the fans swelled to a great bestial chaos of sound. Malk held up his arms and appealed for quiet, shouting into his mike in a futile attempt to make himself heard. --Okay, here we go. A-four, a-three, a-two, a-one! They launched into the act. No-one heard them. Like figures in a silent movie they plucked their guitars, mouthed and gaped, stamped, shook, gesticulated. When Sonny smashed his instrument to pieces and hurled away the bits, began to tear off his clothes and scratch his face, the fans took it all as part of the performance. They smelled blood, and howled for more... ----- ...PSYCHEDELIC, PSYCHOTIC... TOO OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD TO BE FACT, TOO TRUE-TO-LIFE TO BE FICTION “A future world dominated by vast discrepancies in wealth and power , and shaped by sex , drugs and rock and roll , with lashings of violence , riots and revolution , not to mention transvestites and deviant sex . ... There’s barely a pulp fiction button left unpressed .”
- From “Girl Gangs, Biker Boys, and Real Cool Cats”. ABOUT DRUMMER In 1971, Scottish author Richard Carlile’s novel DRUMMER was first published. A delirious nightmare journey melding rock-‘n’-roll madness , bloody ultraviolence , and unnerving psychological horror , it was a visceral reaction to the recent Manson Family murders, deaths at the Altamont festival, and other savage cultural flashpoints at the forefront of society’s consciousness. The novel’s unique immediacy and impact earned it a dedicated cult following . Now, DRUMMER returns to print after more than four decades , published by Carlile’s son and with a new foreword by pop-culture maven Alwyn W. Turner , emerging into a very different but no less brutal or uncertain world . Appearing surprisingly prescient to the 2018 eye, DRUMMER reveals a twisted carnival-mirror vision of the corrupting exploitation of the entertainment industry — transgenderism — mass hysteria — and the tragic descent of a divided society into all-out civic war . Proudly published in the U.S.A. by CARLILE MEDIA.
- From the Foreword by Alwyn W. Turner. A WILD NEON-LIT NIGHTMARE CITY - A BAND ON THE EDGE OF SANITY ----- ...At the first moment of their appearance in the stadium the constant screaming of the fans swelled to a great bestial chaos of sound. Malk held up his arms and appealed for quiet, shouting into his mike in a futile attempt to make himself heard. --Okay, here we go. A-four, a-three, a-two, a-one! They launched into the act. No-one heard them. Like figures in a silent movie they plucked their guitars, mouthed and gaped, stamped, shook, gesticulated. When Sonny smashed his instrument to pieces and hurled away the bits, began to tear off his clothes and scratch his face, the fans took it all as part of the performance. They smelled blood, and howled for more... ----- ...PSYCHEDELIC, PSYCHOTIC... TOO OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD TO BE FACT, TOO TRUE-TO-LIFE TO BE FICTION “A future world dominated by vast discrepancies in wealth and power , and shaped by sex , drugs and rock and roll , with lashings of violence , riots and revolution , not to mention transvestites and deviant sex . ... There’s barely a pulp fiction button left unpressed .”
- From “Girl Gangs, Biker Boys, and Real Cool Cats”. ABOUT DRUMMER In 1971, Scottish author Richard Carlile’s novel DRUMMER was first published. A delirious nightmare journey melding rock-‘n’-roll madness , bloody ultraviolence , and unnerving psychological horror , it was a visceral reaction to the recent Manson Family murders, deaths at the Altamont festival, and other savage cultural flashpoints at the forefront of society’s consciousness. The novel’s unique immediacy and impact earned it a dedicated cult following . Now, DRUMMER returns to print after more than four decades , published by Carlile’s son and with a new foreword by pop-culture maven Alwyn W. Turner , emerging into a very different but no less brutal or uncertain world . Appearing surprisingly prescient to the 2018 eye, DRUMMER reveals a twisted carnival-mirror vision of the corrupting exploitation of the entertainment industry — transgenderism — mass hysteria — and the tragic descent of a divided society into all-out civic war . Proudly published in the U.S.A. by CARLILE MEDIA.
140 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 1971
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 27, 2020
A very odd book, unusual even by exploitation fiction standards. The story is centred round the drummer of the title, Ariston. Is he just an acid casualty or is something more sinister involved? He says very little but is a fascinating character. Much of the book is told through his eyes but at times he seems to be an unreliable narrator. He zones out a lot. The book plots the rise of his pop group but changes direction half way through, thereafter touching on all the exploitation faves: sex, bikers, sadism, ruthless exploitative managers, etc., and in one memorable chapter Ariston becomes a tree. A very interesting book.
August 8, 2018
I enjoyed this tale of rock music and horror in a dystopian world. Destitute musician Ariston finds that eating the garbage from the dump where he lives turns him and his band into sex symbols.
Unfortunately there's a small side effect that the fans become blood crazed psychos when they hear the music. Think Hard Days Night meets 28 Days Later. Good fun, loses direction in the 2nd half, but definitely memorable. Great that it is back in print.
Unfortunately there's a small side effect that the fans become blood crazed psychos when they hear the music. Think Hard Days Night meets 28 Days Later. Good fun, loses direction in the 2nd half, but definitely memorable. Great that it is back in print.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews