'Adventures of a Rock Photographer' Book Available

My friend Vernon Gowdy just produced a new book called Adventures of a Rock Photographer and it's very cool. The book is just over 200 pages and contains a collection of Vernon's best rock photos from 1976-1986.

In addition to photos, Vernon includes interesting stories of behind the scenes action and his days with Jam magazine. In total, there are more than 200 color and black and white photos. Some of the bands photographed in the book include the Rolling Stones, The Who, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Boston, Van Halen, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Pat Benatar, AC/DC, The Cars, Devo, Journey, Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, Sammy Hagar, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, Talking Heads and more.

In full disclosure, I should mention that I have a credit in the book and I did help Vernon with the copy. Friends do for friends, of course.

If you'd like to buy a copy of this hardcover book, they are available now for $69.95 with free shipping in America.

Save or Spend: Music Edition

How do you save money while still keeping up with music?

That is a question that has bugged me for the past year or so. I've drastically cut back on non-necessary spending. These days I'm more into saving for the future instead of just living for the present.

It's hard to keep up with all the new music when you've made a conscious decision to not buy much of anything unless its a necessity. Concert tickets are another story entirely. Tickets are even worse because of the cost factor alone.

So, what do you do? Obviously I still buy albums (you already know I don't download) and I do go to shows. For 2011, I've decided to cut down on my number of concerts and I'll only be doing a couple festivals this year. At some point, we all need to make a collective decision to boycott astronomical tickets prices. After all, as much as we love our bands, at some point we're just lining the pockets of big corporations like Live Nation and hurting our own bottom lines.

Really, it's a frustrating predicament. I'm a bona fide music nerd. Music obsessed, that's me. I've been buying at least one CD a week since I was 14. That's a lot of music, yo. But now what? I always support the bands I love – but I just can't do it to my own detriment anymore. So what do you do? Or don't do? I'm curious.

Underrated: Romeo's Daughter

Let's dig deep and remember a classic band from the 80s: the female-fronted Romeo's Daughter.

The British band formed in the mid-1980s, released a couple albums and is now back together. The cool thing about Romeo's Daughter is that the band's self-titled debut included tracks produced by Mutt Lange. As we all know, basically anything touched by Mutt in the 80s turned into music gold (and platinum).

Romeo's Daughter got a big break when “Heaven in the Back Seat” was included on the Nightmare on Elm Street V soundtrack. (Click the link and read more about that soundtrack and singles).

In case you aren't familiar, the band members are Leigh Matty vox, Craig Joiner (guitar), Tony Mitman (keyboards), Ed Poole (bass) and Andy Wells (drums).

According to the band's Facebook page, the members of Romeo's Daughter are hard at work on a new album now for release soon. I don't expect we'd see the band live in America, but I bet our European friends will and can therefore report back!

Funk and Glam = Electric Boys

Who remembers the Electric Boys?

The Swedish band formed in the late 80s and created songs that were funky, melodic and Glam. So yeah, they rule. Like, “All Lips n' Hips” might be one of the best songs ever. The band broke up years ago but reformed and now they are confirmed for the Sweden Rock cruise.

Have you seen the video for “All Lips n' Hips?” It's like a bizarre mash of big hair, scarves, dark lighting and a Marrakesh-like color palette.

Boy, if bands made songs like “All Lips n' Hips” these days, the world would have a lot less problems. The good news is that the Electric Boys are putting finishing touches on a new album – and I can't wait.

This talk of “All Lips n' Hips” makes me realize I need to add the song to my workout mix. It's definitely great music to move to!

Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year 2011 Glam fans! Let's hope the year rocks us all in a great way!

For now, a Kix video...just because I want a Kix clip to be the first posted on this site into the new year. Once again, they remain one of the bands I am most excited to see live again this summer.

Good luck with those resolutions!

Bret Michaels: 2010 Celeb of the Year

Well, I guess Bret Michaels is our Glam man of the year. After all, he successfully kept his name in the press more than any other musician in 2010. Fox News even just awarded Bret the title of Celebrity of the Year.

You have to admit Bret has, um, saturated the media market this year. From (almost) being decapitated at the Tony Awards, to nearly dying from a brain hemorrhage, to appearing on American Idol, winning Celebrity Apprentice and starring in a new show on VH1 called Life As I Know It, Bret's certainly been out there.

Of course, Bret also toured incessantly with his solo band and released the album Custom Built. Unfortunately Custom Built turned out to be a pretty bad record. In fact, the album landed on a lot of “worst of” lists for 2010.

So, now that Bret is officially Celeb of the Year, I wonder what 2011 will hold for the bandana-clad one? He's having heart surgery in a couple weeks and he's supposed to do more solo dates. Bret is engaged to longtime girlfriend Kristi Gibson...and 2011 is also the 25th anniversary of Poison. The jury is still out on a possible Poison summer tour, although I'm sure it will happen. I mean, how can it not?

So, now the question remains: who will be our music celeb of 2011?

Am I the Only Person Who Still Likes Bon Jovi?

All the comments on Christian's recent Bon Jovi live review got me thinking: am I the only person who still likes Bon Jovi?

Now, that statement is a sweeping generalization and of course, the answer is no...but still. The negativity - on this site especially - really stunned me. Bon Jovi as a band are known to have some of the most loyal fans...period. They continue to sell out venues around the world and above all else, they've remained relevant since the 80s.

I am not of the persuasion that the guys in Bon Jovi steal songs although I do think they charge way too much for concert tickets. I don't think the band has necessarily “sold out” to other genres to stay famous. After all, music is a business and Jon Bon Jovi is a capitalist. If that means making some country tunes, well, I guess I don't have to listen to those particular songs.

So what is the main beef with Bon Jovi? Song theft? Ticket prices? Non Metal songs? Just curious on this cold Thursday.