Face the Music: A Life Exposed

Hands down the best music memoir I've ever read. I couldn't put it down;  I read this massive tome in one day. I'm a pretty recent Kiss convert, after seeing them in Indianapolis on their fortieth anniversary tour, I knew I was in love. I had grown up hearing the songs, saw Detroit Rock City, Role Models, etc. But nothing prepared me for seeing them live. They were amazing! So being the librarian that I am, I decided to read more about them. I recalled that Paul Stanley had recently written a memoir so I decided to start there. I am soo glad I did. It was the perfect introduction to the world of Kiss. Paul writes about his humble beginnings, his insecurity, the gradual rise to fame, and the internal conflicts. The memoir is peppered with great photographs that help visualize the story. Insanely great. I went from knowing virtually nothing about Kiss to getting a great overview on the history of the band. It also sets the story straight about Peter and Ace, even Gene to an extant. At parts he sounded a little whiney and bitchy about his fellow band members, but it was probably well deserved. A must read for anyone in the Kiss Army.

Wonderkid

Stace, Wesley. Wonderkid. 10 CDs. unabridged. 11 hrs 55 mins. Dreamscape Media. 2014. ISBN 9781629236988. 

Perhaps the greatest band that never existed, author Wesley Stace (you may also know him as folk singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding), sure makes you wish they had. Under the direction of the madly energetic and bizarre Blake Lear, a group of London misfits goes from being an unnoticed nonsense band to an overnight sensation in America. The reason for their success? The record label saw potential in their mad rag tag group and decided to market them to a new audience, children. In Los Angeles they pick up some new band members and put together a show that kids and their parents will enjoy. Everyone music. Told from the perspective of Sweet (Lear's recently adopted kid, only ten years his junior), the gradual rise of the Wonderkids is a sight to behold. It is laugh out loud funny and oh so believable. Regrettably, the story started out a bit slow, but by the time the band is in America it picks up massive momentum and becomes impossible to stop listening to. There is added authenticity to the story as it is narrated brilliantly by the author, complete with British twang, hilarious impressions and two bonus songs at the end. A must read for fans of music memoirs and humor. - Erin Cataldi, Johnson County Public Library, Franklin, IN