Review: “Rock Stars Stole My Life”

The unassuming man behind some of my favorite music publications — including the beloved Word magazine — has just released his memoir, and it’s a fun ride. 

Mark Ellen’s ”Rock Stars Stole My Life!: A Big Bad Love Affair with Music” documents an adventurous 40-year career in British music journalism, starting as a freelancer with New Musical Express; later in editing roles at publications like Smash Hits, Q, Mojo and, perhaps most memorably, The Word; and side trips into broadcasting as a controversial stand-in for legendary British DJ John Peel and as host of “Old Grey Whistle Test.” 

“Rock Stars” is a fast read, with short chapters and tons of vignettes spanning the mid-1970s through late 2012 (when he hilariously documents the sausage making behind Rihanna’s boondoggle of a tour). There are so many unexpected adventures that I started to get the sense Ellen is a musical version of Forrest Gump, a quirky but likable fellow who seems to find himself in the most unexpected of scenarios. 

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RIP: The Word

I'm still numb two days after learning The Word magazine is closing shop. 

As I tweeted on Friday, "I am heartbroken."

I had just gotten a letter in the mail a few days ago from Word editor Mark Ellen thanking me "for renewing my subscription and, obviously, congratulations on your impeccable taste." Like a lot of things in The Word, the use of the word "obviously" was not only clever but understood. 

I've been through this kind of magazine death before with Trouser Press and later Musician, but it's been decades since both those magazines closed. This is a fresh wound. 

I read a lot of music publications, but I guarantee I won't feel the same if Rolling

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Paralyzed by too much choice

The Internet has given us many great things, but it's also overwhelmed our senses. When given the opportunity to dive deep into uncharted territory, many of us prefer to stick to our comfort zones. 

This comes to mind after reading Eamonn Forde's excellent Word magazine story "The Tyranny of Music Choice" (no link because it's print-only). The gist of Forde's piece is that given a wealth of music online, we tend to keep going back to very popular songs. There's a reason Top 20 and classic-rock stations are a staple in every city. 

Case in point is Spotify, the brilliant music-streaming service that makes it easy to stream and share millions of songs. Despite this rich archive of music in front of us, Forde notes that a recent study of Spotify usage indicated that roughly one-third of the 4.5 million songs in its database were never played over a six-month period. And when he says "never," he means zero, nada, zilch, nil. 

More alarming is that 100,000 songs accounted for about 80 percent of Spotify's streams. 

I guess I shouldn't be surprises. Just as restaurant experts will tell you too many menu items overwhelm customers and erode their overall experience, the thought of diving into a morass of unknown talents can be intimidating. Discovering memorable music can be work, and for many of us, we're either too starved for time or just simply too lazy. 

With that in mind, I'll share a few shortcuts on new music that's captured my attention. I'm in no way on the cutting edge of music like I once was, but I do like to stay up on trends.  

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