Great Reading: Stay Fanatic!!! Vol. 1 by Henry Rollins

Here’s my Friday morning blog post which is the next music book I’m going to try and blog about it, OK? I think, I do remember saying at least a couple times last year in some other blog posts somewhere, I was reading it but never gave it a whole post for itself for some unknown reason so here it is very late for anyone who’s interested?

To explain Rollins’ Stay Fanatic!!! Vol.1 book very briefly: it’s basically him as a total obsessed music fan and I really mean that in a huge big way. He’s manic vinyl collector, DJ at more than one radio station, huge live music concert goer, try’s to listen to as much music as humanly possible etc. So going into it a little more: when I say vinyl collector, it’s not just buy one copy of something he digs. Off course, Rollins goes the extra mile and goes into microscope details of all sorts of pressing like test presses, 1st, 2nd or any pressings indeed, pressings from different country’s all over the world, different colors pressed and even if the text font is different on the label so he’s got to try a get a copies of all of them. They’re pages on this kind-of over the top details which I’ve never even think of before? He can’t say nope to anyone who asks him to be a DJ on radio shows, his own show on KCRW which he’s just got that, kind-of where the book kicks-of but also does a month artist-in-residence on Aussie Double J show and fills in on Iggy Pop’s BBC show too. Rollins doesn’t just wait for say The Stooges to come touring to his town, in the first chapter he recalls the Aussie 2000’s Big Day Out touring festival doing his spoken word set there but really just to see them every night and then he flies all the way to see them play one show in Seoul, South Korea. The chapters are in diary form, not always daily but pretty much his weekly listening habits and it’s a month per chapter. Without fail every Friday night since being a teenage he has listened to The Damned’s Machine Gun Etiquette, you know? How and what he listens to on tour around the world or just at his local coffee shop which seems to be mostly where all the homeless hangout. Goes into how he makes or what he thinks it takes to put together a great radio shows. Oh yeah, he love collecting gig/tour flyers/posters or for that matter anything punk music related that’s on paper. One part, he gets the Wire’s Pink Flag calendar promo of 1977 from eBay which is folded in half so Henry writes back to the seller telling him off for doing such dumbasses thing as folding this piece of paper, just image getting an email from Henry Rollins telling you off like that or maybe doesn’t say his name? He totally loves Bandcamp website too, explains it’s the best for the artist themselves because they get the most money from any of the formats we use online. He try’s to buy some releases from it every week, nope he doesn’t say his user name but I bet it’s massive online collection by now? Also he has this music theory that some artists/albums sound better at different times of the year, like he has different listening habits of the four seasons of the year: winter, autumn, summer and spring or even just hot and cold weather. Which does make sense after reading it but I really can’t explain it myself here? Kind-of does huge in-depth features on some of his favorite punk bands which they’re just too much tooo name in my little blog post but even stuff you wouldn’t think he would be into like say Hawkwind, to name just one but they’re epic wicked amount of music!

They’re 22 chapters covering the time of August 2013 to December 2015 so that’s 315 pages. It’s a paperback in lager format size book like I think, it’s like A4 paper size, with black & white photos of his records/flyers/setlists/old newspaper clippings/photo of penguins in Antarctica when he visited there etc. No bloody index at all because I think every book should have one, none do! My copy was sign by Rollins in blue pen, it was the first edition printing, the copyright date is 2019 in it. So much music is talked about in this book, I can’t really sum it up easy really? I love Rollins so much and even if he might like he sound like a nutcase in my description, it’s all highly entertaining and amazing reading so I would recommend to other music fans who might enjoy something like this?

Today’s blog post featured music included below: might be a little over broad but inspired Rollins with nothing done in half’s and continue the indie Aussie music theme from earlier this month, maybe you might wanna have a listen to one/some/all of it this weekend or something? Here’s every single Aussie album/release that Rollins talks about in this book which I can find on Bandcamp, embedded here and now:

Eddy Current Suppression Ring‘s Get Up Morning 7″ is on the back cover and ECSR can be found inside, here’s So Many Things comp album.

Hit Me With The Surreal Feel by Kim Salmon & The Surrealists

Calendar Days by Dick Diver

Booga Box by Ooga Boogas pops up a couple of times.

(I’m) Flipped Out Over You by The Victims

Both Typical System and Henge Beat albums by Total Control is featured a couple of times, that’s Mikey Young of ECSR other band and he’s in Ooga Boogas too.

Order Of Operation by AUSMUTEANTS more than a few times.

Rising album by Straight Arrows at least a couple of times.

Jumping the Shark by Alex Cameron

The Worry by Seekae because he writing about AC and that’s his earlier band.

Don’t Hold Back album by Donny Benet

Marry Me Tonight by HTRK he say’s that’s his fave album by them but the couple of other albums are there as well.

Arks Up EP by Dick Diver plus the slip 7″ with Lower Plenty too.

The Scientists EP by The Scientists plus their whole back catalogue too is talked about a lot.

Note the Aussie bands NOT on Bandcamp but in HR book are: The Birthday Party 7″ is on the front cover and who knows how many times inside? I would say has to be easy his fave of all Cave’s stuff plus it seems he’s got a massive collection of live bootlegs of them! Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds cover album Kicking Against The Pricks pops up a couple of times, both on his radio shows: once Lou Reed tribute show after he passed away with All Tomorrow’s Parties and his Aussie Double J radio month residence, his closing song was The Carnival Is Over. As well Grinderman do feature in the book’s intro, the newest at this point in time was the Push The Sky Away album which he does say is one of Cave’s best. Also The Saints 7″ are on the back cover and they’re inside it few times. Also name-dropped are Beasts Of Bourbon, Tumbleweed, The Mark Of Cain, Crime & The City Solution plus amazingly he’s got the very, very rare Livin’ End live album by Slug Guts. Maybe, I might or could have missed something/s but that’s a hell of a lot of music anyway, right? For an American he knows his Aussie music really well. Not to sound like every Americans don’t care about Aussie music but some Americans only care about music from U.S.A. Rollins does a very great job covering it, most likely he would know more about indie/punk Aussie music than your avenge joe blow Aussie to tell the truth, you know?

OK, that’s the next music book which I did finish reading last year but for some unknown reason I wasn’t blogging books which I’ve done a couple others, so far this year. Well, it’s been one music book per month of 2021, Jan. was 33 1/3’s Murder Ballads and Feb. was Lanegan’s Sing Backwards and Weep so let’s see if I do another one next month and so on tooo make it once a month kind-of posts from now on?

I’ve just got Volume 2 a couple months ago so been enjoying that one right now. Which kind-of reminded me I didn’t blog about Volume 1, I should write a post after finishing and not waiting to some later date to blog it? Not to give it away totally but it’s just more of the same of Rollins’ music diary’s! If you have no idea where to find it? If you’re interested? It seem his own website now only has Vol. 2 hard copies for sale but says you can get it where ever ebooks are sold but here’s link because I’ve notices he’s got brand new re-printed copies of his greatest book: Get In The Van: On The Road With Black Flag which I do think every music fan on earth should read that!

This is what the front cover looks like!

Cheers! 🙂

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