A friend who is also in the music industry recommended “Pistonhead” to me and it was a revelation! I spent many years in the rock and roll trenches 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 band isn’t very successful: the book begins on a Thursday night at the Big Ditch Club, where the band has drawn an audience of 500 (heavy drinkers and a violent crowd). There’s a crisis: Jack “Rip” Taylor, the band’s lead singer, has disappeared, presumably to get some dope in the parking lot of those friendly Dust Twins dealers.
The crowd, the scaly manager making a fortune off a dead client, the smarmy concert promoter, the wacky tour crew, sleazy girlfriends, violence, sex and drugs, the Dust Twins (I knew those guys! ), the things that go through Charlie’s mind as he performs on stage; everything is here.
What makes Pistonhead different is that it gives you the full picture and pays attention to the “real world” of Charlie’s dizzying day 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 lecherously wants to hear all about Charlie’s alleged sexual exploits. There is so much more – I definitely recommend this book to anyone who has ever had a dream worth working towards.