100 Books Like The Girl in the Back

Patti Smith’s book beautifully chronicles her intense and formative friendship with the groundbreaking artist Robert Mapplethorpe as they navigated the vibrant and often gritty art scene of late 1960s and 1970s New York City.

Theirs wasn’t a fairytale romance, but a complex, evolving bond between two flawed yet undeniably brilliant creatives. Reading about their struggles, their artistic pursuits within the legendary Chelsea Hotel, and the wider New York City scene evoked a strong sense of nostalgia for me, a time and place I've always found artistically inspiring.

The exploration of their creative partnership, the push and pull between them as individuals finding their artistic voices, is something I’ve often yearned for but haven’t quite experienced in such a profound way.

It was very interesting to follow Laurie Kaye’s progression from a childhood of neglect and abuse to radio fan and later, to becoming a radio star. Her resume of interviews with rock stars and celebrities is stunning. Her intimate descriptions made me feel as if I was there during her incredible moments with several Beatles members and other superstars, who warmed up to her intelligent questions.

Laurie got the scoop of a lifetime with her RKO radio team in 1980—an interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, which tragically turned out to be John’s last. He was murdered hours later. As the author of a Yoko Ono biography, I was thrilled that Laurie accurately described Yoko in a positive light. I found it exciting and harrowing to read about how Laurie’s life became entwined with the sudden death of Lennon, which shattered her psyche and shook the whole world. A… show more.

It was revelatory to read about the struggles and oppression that this icon had to face in her life and career, especially at the controlling and abusive hands of her infamous producer/husband, Phil Spector. I was astonished to learn how hard Ronnie fought to break away to survive and to sing the truth, although she always made it seem effortless.

Despite all the hardship, it is refreshing that she told her story candidly. I love books about wild rock n’ roll experiences told by actual survivors, and this is one of the best! Ronnie’s memoir has been revised and updated since her passing in 2022.

Cherry’s book is so delicious that I devoured it in one day. I was fascinated when I read about the early 70s New York City, when Cherry lived and worked in the best of both worlds. She was among Andy Warhol’s factory superstars and was also present at the beginning (and instrumental in the climax) of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust fame as his publicist and lover. When worlds collide, fabulous things happen! Cherry’s mission statement: ‘…the passion of the groupie is probably the purest, holiest thing in all of rock and roll.’

This was a long-awaited tome (in 2010) from someone in the midst of the mayhem—a fearless, sweet, vivacious 1970s groupie who became a “superstar.” Her first UK touring band included Sting of the Police. She released some albums and was a part of London’s early Punk scene.

This is an essential book for anyone who wants to learn about women in punk—from the explosion in the UK in 1976 to the present, and across geographic spaces.

Goldman covers a broad and diverse range of artists, highlighting the critical work women have put into making punk what it is while also illuminating the ways in which punk as a DIY ethos has allowed women musicians to push back against barriers built by misogyny and discrimination to create lasting and influential records.

This book gave me in-depth information about bands I already knew and loved, and it introduced me to other women in punk across the globe. Thanks to Goldman’s book, I’ve become invested in punk from Indonesia, Mexico, Tokyo, Iran, and more. What a gift.

Marky's drinking almost managed to do what even the hate-love-hate triangle between Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee couldn't do, namely derail the band.

But what makes his book truly special for me is not so much his account of what he calls his "dog days" but his life before becoming a Ramone. He was in a hard rock band called Dust, he played in Richard Hell's Voidoids and he auditioned for the New York Dolls. If he had gotten this job, and he came very close, he would have been in no less than three seminal and legendary New York bands. 

The gold standard of rock and roll oral histories. Two authors, years and years in the making, chronicling one of music's most incendiary eras. "Will you die for the music?" Lou Reed asks in the early pages. In other words, how many knife fights, sleepless nights, and dead friends would it take to stop you from chasing artistic salvation?

Reading this book while I wrote my own made me realize just how sterilized my scene (like much of America) had gotten by the turn of the millennium. Third-wave emo wasn't famously dangerous or gritty, but many of its icons grappled with life-threatening addiction and mental health issues (even more than I expected going in). Yet, thankfully, almost all of those band members are still with us. Please Kill Me illuminated this. It's no accident the final word in my book is "survive."

This is the primer for everything Downtown during arguably Downtown’s greatest era. The contributions are first-rate, by people who were on the scene, and it’s a handsome book to hold. If you’re interested in anything from Punk and Patti Smith to Haring, Basquiat, and Afrika Bambaataa, this is the place to start, without nostalgia, agenda, or hype.

I can’t see myself writing a detailed chronicle of a specific location and period without pulling my hair out. But Will Hermes did precisely that (well, not the hair-pulling-out part) by relating five crucial years in New York. It initially reads weird, maybe even slow, because he writes short intersecting snippets of music history.

Once I got deeper into it, I fell in love. I already knew much of the history he touched on regarding stuff like punk, Bruce Springsteen, and salsa, but those fun factoids aren’t the point of Hermes’s book. Instead, it’s about how multiple scenes coexisted and informed one another. I’m well versed in the NY music scene now and—bonus!—New York itself.

From Martin’s expansive look at things, let’s move onto a more granular approach – Fournier’s Double Nickels. Fournier focuses on just one band and an album (albeit a double record album and one of the best to come out of punk in the 1980s). The Minutemen played a fast, discordant music that sounded like jazz as much as hardcore thrash music. Fournier’s examination turns up something few people consider, that punk wasn’t all about blistering music but rather sophisticated in its nature. Fournier documents how the bassist in the band, Mike Watt, had extended conversations with one of the most important artists associated with 1980s punk – Raymond Pettibon (who as of now has made his way into accomplished art museums and galleries). They talked about everything from Ludwig Wittgenstein to James Joyce. Band members supposedly got into heated debates about history and would stop at public libraries while… show more.