Kurt Loder

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 show more 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.

Merged review:

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. show less

A nice series of snapshots of movies released in the last 10 years or so. I don't always agree with Loder, and he sometimes hits way the far off the mark, but he is never boring. He also has separate sections that cover foreign films and documentaries, subjects usually ignored by the mainstream movie-going audience. In addition, the book concludes with a section devoted just to the awful films that Nicholas Cage has made recently, which was a nice comedic touch/tribute.

The book is well show more worth the read. And for those who are not film conesours, it is neatly divided-up, making it easy to avoid individual films and categories of films that are not of interest to you. However, I did find more than a few new films I am now interested in checking out for myself. show less

A nice series of snapshots of movies released in the last 10 years or so. I don't always agree with Loder, and he sometimes hits way the far off the mark, but he is never boring. He also has separate sections that cover foreign films and documentaries, subjects usually ignored by the mainstream movie-going audience. In addition, the book concludes with a section devoted just to the awful films that Nicholas Cage has made recently, which was a nice comedic touch/tribute.

The book is well show more worth the read. And for those who are not film conesours, it is neatly divided-up, making it easy to avoid individual films and categories of films that are not of interest to you. However, I did find more than a few new films I am now interested in checking out for myself. show less

A nice series of snapshots of movies released in the last 10 years or so. I don't always agree with Loder, and he sometimes hits way the far off the mark, but he is never boring. He also has separate sections that cover foreign films and documentaries, subjects usually ignored by the mainstream movie-going audience. In addition, the book concludes with a section devoted just to the awful films that Nicholas Cage has made recently, which was a nice comedic touch/tribute.

The book is well show more worth the read. And for those who are not film conesours, it is neatly divided-up, making it easy to avoid individual films and categories of films that are not of interest to you. However, I did find more than a few new films I am now interested in checking out for myself. show less