TASTEMAKERS FOR DISCERNING POP CULTURE GEEKS
Like most artists that emerged during the post-punk/new wave era, Elvis Costello suffers from the same dilemma, that is, of being perpetually branded as a product of the 80s music scene.
Continue reading “ROCK HISTORY : ELVIS COSTELLO – UNFAITHFUL MUSIC & DISAPPEARING INK”
Considering that rock legend Bruce Springsteen is famous for his lyrical genius, the very idea of a Springsteen memoir is exciting and intriguing. Would an autobiography match up to the cinematic lyrics found in classics like “Born in the USA”, “The Promised Land” and of course, “Born to Run”?
Continue reading “ROCK HISTORY : BORN TO RUN BY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN”
As the title of his autobiography Not Dead Yet suggests, singer/drummer/producer/actor/film composer Phil Collins is a bit of a joker. This 400-page book is written in a breezy style and it would not be too difficult to finish it all off in a couple of days.
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Robbie Robertson (real name: Jaime Royal Robertson) is perhaps best known for being the guitarist/principal songwriter of The Band, a highly influential group that were active mainly from 1968 to 1977. Robertson has also a solid reputation as a solo artist, film composer and producer.
Continue reading “ROCK HISTORY: TESTIMONY BY ROBBIE ROBERTSON”
The eighth part of cartoonist Troy Chin’s autobiographical work finds our protagonist still trying to make sense of life in Singapore.
Continue reading “GEEK OUT! THE RESIDENT TOURIST (PART 8) BY TROY CHIN”
I have been a fan of the Canadian singer-songwriter since the early 80s when a friend of mine (who was then studying in Canada) gave me a mixtape of his music and that was that, I was sold!
To be absolutely honest, Chrissie Hynde was one of the first female rock ’n’ rollers I seriously got into at the very beginning of the 1980s. Considering the times, she represented something very different in rock ’n’ roll for a female performer and fronted an amazing band in Pretenders.
At the launch of the seventh edition of Troy Chin’s The Resident Tourist held at Books Kinokuniya, the author himself mentioned to me that my reviews of his books are ‘biased’. Meaning that my glowing assessments of his work are somehow less than objective due to the fact that I appreciated their intrinsic value as art.
Continue reading “GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: THE RESIDENT TOURIST (PART 7)”