3.0

This is a fun book about the author as a teenage boy in the early 80's and how the early 80's new wave music and the arrival of MTV shaped his life. He grew up to be a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, so obviously music had a huge impact on his life.

While I enjoyed the stories he told, I found that I could only relate to about 25% of them. There are three reason:
1) when he turned 16 and was young and wild and free blasting music and cruising around with friends, attending concerts, etc. I was only 8 years old. The song Centerfold by The J. Geils Band was #1 on the charts. Obviously that song held different meanings for an 8-year-old girl vs. a 16-year-old boy.
2) he is so into music that he may not realize that some of the bands he mentions are way more obscure than he thinks they are. Haysi Fantazee? There is a whole chapter on that band and their songs.
3) I am at a disadvantage because I never really got into The Smiths and/or Morrissey and their/his music played a pivotal role in a chunk of the author's life.

Nonetheless, the book was a quick read and enjoyable. I savored the moments when he wrote about The Go-Go's, Culture Club, Hall and Oates, Paul McCartney, Prince, Madonna, and of course, Duran Duran.

He has a book that he released prior to this titled LOVE IS A MIXED TAPE and I will likely read that one too.