A friend who is also in the music industry recommended “Pistonhead” to me and it was a revelation! I spent many years in the trenches of rock and roll and this book hits the mark.
We meet Charlie Sinclair, a factory worker in Boston (they used to have factories there, believe it or not) who plays guitar in a heavy rock band called Pistonhead. The gang is not very successful: the book opens on a Thursday night at the Big Ditch Club, where the gang has attracted an audience of 500 people (heavy drinkers and a violent bunch). There’s a crisis: Jack “Rip” Taylor, the band’s lead singer, has disappeared, presumably to get some dope in the parking lot from those friendly Dust Twins dealers.
The crowd, the scaly manager making a fortune off a dead client, the smarmy concert promoter, the wacko tour crew, the sleazy girlfriends, the violence, sex and drugs, the Dust Twins (I knew those guys! ), the things that go through Charlie’s mind while performing on stage; everything is here.
What makes Pistonhead different is that it gives you the full picture and focus on the “real world” of Charlie’s harrowing day at work on the assembly line with Mass Rehab clients. I remember being dragged out of bed at 7am after playing a concert until 3am, dragging my tired body to work, and falling asleep in the break room with my ears still ringing. And in every workplace there is a Lisa… the sweet, beautiful woman who seems to come from a different and better world. And we all know guys like Charlie’s brother-in-law, who lewdly wants to hear all about Charlie’s alleged sexual exploits. There’s so much more – I definitely recommend this book to anyone who’s ever had a dream worth working for.