Uncommon people : the rise and fall of the rock stars

Named one of the best music books of 2017 by The Wall Street Journal An elegy to the age of the Rock Star, featuring Chuck Berry, Elvis, Madonna, Bowie, Prince, and more, uncommon people whose lives were transformed by rock and who, in turn, shaped our culture Recklessness, thy name is rock. The age of the rock star, like the age of the cowboy, has passed. Like the cowboy, the idea of the rock star lives on in our imaginations. What did we see in them? Swagger. Recklessness. Sexual charisma. Damn-the-torpedoes self-belief. A certain way of carrying themselves. Good hair. Interesting shoes. Talent we wished we had. What did we want of them? To be larger than life but also like us. To live out their songs. To stay young forever. No wonder many didn't stay the course. In Uncommon People , David Hepworth zeroes in on defining moments and turning points in the lives of forty rock stars from 1955 to 1995, taking us on a journey to burst a hundred myths and create a hundred more. As this tribe of uniquely motivated nobodies went about turning themselves into the ultimate somebodies, they also shaped us, our real lives and our fantasies. Uncommon People isn't just their story. It's ours as well. September 14, 1955, Rampart Street, New Orleans, Louisiana : Enter the first rock star September 26, 1956, from Memphis to Tupelo : The first rock idol July 6, 1957, Woolton Village Fete, Liverpool, England : The first rock fans form a band May 22, 1958, London Airport, England : A bad boy flies in February 3, 1959, Clear Lake, Iowa : A good boy flies out July 1, 1960, London, England : Enter the guitar hero September 25, 1961, Gerde's Folk City, New York City : A boy invents himself September 28, 1962, Sefton Street, Liverpool, England : The man who fit in May 1, 1963, London, England : The man who didn't fit in December 23, 1964, Los Angeles airport : The rock star as tragic genius September 26, 1965, Aarhus, Denmark : The rock band as perpetual drama October 1, 1966, Central London Polytechnic, England : A new sheriff in town June 18, 1967, Monterey, California : The first female rock star May 15, 1968, New York City : The view from Olympus August 9, 1969, Birmingham, England : The devil's business June 24, 1970, New York City : Rock god embraces the occult May 16, 1971, New York City : The comeback July 26, 1972, Madison Square Garden, New York City : Rock goes high society July 3, 1973, Hammersmith, London, England : A "rock star" retires August 6, 1974, 914 Studios, Blauvelt, New York : Rock in a complicated world July 18, 1975, the Lyceum, London, England : The best rock isn't always rock July 4, 1976, Tampa, Florida : The X-factor August 16, 1977, Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee : Death is good for business December 9, 1978, London, England : A raspberry on top of the charts August 4, 1979, Knebworth House, Hertfordshire, England : Twilight of the gods December 8, 1980, New York City : Death by fan August 13, 1981, Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Middlesex, England : Sex, violence, and television March 19, 1982, Leesburg, Florida : Road fever September 31, 1983, the Continental Hyatt House, Hollywood, California : The absurdity of rock stars January 27, 1984, the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California : A superstar on fire July 13, 1985, Wembley Stadium, London, England : From dumper to sainthood July 16, 1986, Madison Square Garden, New York City : Rock royalty up close August 1, 1987, Greyhound bus station, Hollywood and Vine, Los Angeles, California : Looking the part September 9, 1988, Sotheby's, London, England : Elton John clears out his closet March 21, 1989, United States of America : Clean and sober May 29, 1990, Toronto SkyDome, Toronto, Ontario, Canada : Rock star as celeb November 24, 1991, Kensington, London, England : The party's over May 7, 1992, Tokyo, Japan : Man overboard June 7, 1993, Minneapolis, Minnesota : Career suicide April 5, 1994, Seattle, Washington : The last rock star August 9, 1995, Mountain View, California : Revenge of the nerds

Named one of the best music books of 2017 by The Wall Street Journal

An elegy to the age of the Rock Star, featuring Chuck Berry, Elvis, Madonna, Bowie, Prince, and more, uncommon people whose lives were transformed by rock and who, in turn, shaped our culture

Recklessness, thy name is rock.

The age of the rock star, like the age of the cowboy, has passed. Like the cowboy, the idea of the rock star lives on in our imaginations. What did we see in them? Swagger. Recklessness. Sexual charisma. Damn-the-torpedoes self-belief. A certain way of carrying themselves. Good hair. Interesting shoes. Talent we wished we had. What did we want of them? To be larger than life but also like us. To live out their songs. To stay young forever. No wonder many didn’t stay the course.

In Uncommon People, David Hepworth zeroes in on defining moments and turning points in the lives of forty rock stars from 1955 to 1995, taking us on a journey to burst a hundred myths and create a hundred more.

As this tribe of uniquely motivated nobodies went about turning themselves into the ultimate somebodies, they also shaped us, our real lives and our fantasies. Uncommon People isn’t just their story. It’s ours as well.

"The age of the rock star, like the age of the cowboy, has passed. Like the cowboy, the idea of the rock star lives on in our imaginations. What did we see in them? Swagger. Recklessness. Sexual charisma. Damn-the-torpedoes self-belief. A certain way of carrying themselves. Good hair. Interesting shoes. Talent we wished we had. What did we want of them? To be larger than life but also like us. To live out their songs. To stay young forever. No wonder many didn't stay the course. In Uncommon People, David Hepworth zeroes in on defining moments and turning points in the lives of forty rock stars from 1955 to 1995, taking us on a journey to burst a hundred myths and create a hundred more. As this tribe of uniquely motivated nobodies went about turning themselves into the ultimate somebodies, they also shaped us, our real lives and our fantasies. Uncommon People isn't just their story. It's ours as well."--Dust jacket flap.