A smart, scathing look at the most hell-bent performers of our time: Here are profiles of everyone you'd expect (and a few you wouldn't)-Brian Wilson, Miles Davis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Sid Vicious, and Kurt Cobain. "Kent matters because he wrote about rock better than anyone before or since." -Tony Parsons, The Daily Telegraph
The Dark Stuff
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"A literary greatest hits…A fascinating, rip-roaring examination…Depressing, uplifting, heartbreaking and hilarious, this should be required reading." -- Philadelphia Weekly, 05/24/06
"Kent matters because he wrote about rock better than anyone before or since." -- Tony Parsons, The Daily Telegraph
"No writer was closer to punk...Shows Kent's wider fascination with fragile psyches [and] fearsome egos." -- Blender, October 2006
"Kent matters because he wrote about rock better than anyone before or since." -- Tony Parsons, The Daily Telegraph
"No writer was closer to punk...Shows Kent's wider fascination with fragile psyches [and] fearsome egos." -- Blender, October 2006
About the Author
Nick Kent has written for New Musical Express, Spin, and Details and played with the Sex Pistols and the Subterraneans. He lives in England.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Dark Stuff was first published in Britain in 1994 and always available in the USA since its 1996 publication. In the UK the book had been out-of-print for eight years until the 2007 edition appeared. Compiled from 1970s interviews for the New Musical Express plus 1980s magazine articles, this new edition includes the essays Sly Stone's Evil Ways & Phil Spector's Long Fall From Grace, a portrait of French pop icon Serge Gainsbourg, a recent interview with Iggy Pop and a concluding essay titled Self-destruction in Rock and Elsewhere. All in all twenty-two of the most talented and self-destructive artists in rock history are profiled.
Kent was the New Musical Express's star attraction in the 1970s at a time when the publication was selling 300,000 copies per week. It was at the forefront of reporting on the punk explosion, punk personalities, the style and its offshoots. The NME's influential position gave Kent unique opportunities as a rock writer. Kent may be older & wiser but there's something to be said for the energy and enthusiasm of youth, since the recent stuff amongst the new additions is less gripping than the original writings from the 70s and 80s for NME and magazines like The Face, Arena and Spin.
The value of each chapter is directly proportional to the communication skills of those interviewed: that is why the Guns 'N' Roses piece is a complete waste of time and paper and shouldn't even have been included, whilst I loved the Roy Orbison interview although I've never really been into his music. I found the Brian Wilson piece too long and disagree with the author's assessment of the Rolling Stones after the 1960s. Kent seems to think that Jagger and Richards produced their best music in the late 60s and early 70s because they were tormented by the 'wild women' Anita Pallenberg and Marianne Faithfull.
There's a thought-provoking chapter on the ill-fated Brian Jones (Tortured Narcissus) that discusses his contribution to The Stones, his decline and death. Kent's view of Kurt Cobain is a bit harsh and the non-interview with Roky Erickson rather pointless. Kent's 1988 portrait of Serge Gainsbourg is sad and pathetic but he concludes it by graciously praising the French singer's musical legacy. I loved the pieces on Jerry Lee Lewis, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello and Miles Davis and in my opinion the book's crowning glory is the chapter titled Neil Young and the Haphazard Highway that leads to Unconditional Love. Young's care and concern for his disabled child impress more than a thousand stories of excess and substance abuse.
Most of these rock stars thought that they were exempt from the law of cause & effect, with the predictable disastrous consequences. What amazes me is how some of these artists managed to consistently produce sublime music while they were abusing themselves physically and mentally to such a gruesome degree. I suppose that is one of the messages of this book: no matter how low down you are, you can always pull yourself together again. It certainly demonstrates the ability of the soul and the body to restore themselves.
This is great rock writing, on a par with the work of Lester Bangs. The stylistic difference is that Kent's writing is character-based & analytical: looking at musicians in the context of what they're doing and how they're living in order to analyze how this context influences them. Bangs on the other hand wrote from a more intimate, personal perspective, an angle that describes the effect the music had on him, often in stream-of-consciousness prose.
Other classics of rock writing that I recommend are James Young's Nico, Songs They Never Play on the Radio, alternatively titled Nico: The Last Bohemian, Clinton Heylin's From the Velvets to the Voidoids: The Birth of American Punk Rock, Gerri Hirshey's Nowhere To Run: The Story of Soul Music, Let It Blurt by Jim DeRogatis, Scars of Sweet Paradise by Alice Echols, Memories, Dreams and Reflections by Marianne Faithfull, Lipstick Traces by Greil Marcus and Angry Women in Rock by Andrea Juno.
Kent was the New Musical Express's star attraction in the 1970s at a time when the publication was selling 300,000 copies per week. It was at the forefront of reporting on the punk explosion, punk personalities, the style and its offshoots. The NME's influential position gave Kent unique opportunities as a rock writer. Kent may be older & wiser but there's something to be said for the energy and enthusiasm of youth, since the recent stuff amongst the new additions is less gripping than the original writings from the 70s and 80s for NME and magazines like The Face, Arena and Spin.
The value of each chapter is directly proportional to the communication skills of those interviewed: that is why the Guns 'N' Roses piece is a complete waste of time and paper and shouldn't even have been included, whilst I loved the Roy Orbison interview although I've never really been into his music. I found the Brian Wilson piece too long and disagree with the author's assessment of the Rolling Stones after the 1960s. Kent seems to think that Jagger and Richards produced their best music in the late 60s and early 70s because they were tormented by the 'wild women' Anita Pallenberg and Marianne Faithfull.
There's a thought-provoking chapter on the ill-fated Brian Jones (Tortured Narcissus) that discusses his contribution to The Stones, his decline and death. Kent's view of Kurt Cobain is a bit harsh and the non-interview with Roky Erickson rather pointless. Kent's 1988 portrait of Serge Gainsbourg is sad and pathetic but he concludes it by graciously praising the French singer's musical legacy. I loved the pieces on Jerry Lee Lewis, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello and Miles Davis and in my opinion the book's crowning glory is the chapter titled Neil Young and the Haphazard Highway that leads to Unconditional Love. Young's care and concern for his disabled child impress more than a thousand stories of excess and substance abuse.
Most of these rock stars thought that they were exempt from the law of cause & effect, with the predictable disastrous consequences. What amazes me is how some of these artists managed to consistently produce sublime music while they were abusing themselves physically and mentally to such a gruesome degree. I suppose that is one of the messages of this book: no matter how low down you are, you can always pull yourself together again. It certainly demonstrates the ability of the soul and the body to restore themselves.
This is great rock writing, on a par with the work of Lester Bangs. The stylistic difference is that Kent's writing is character-based & analytical: looking at musicians in the context of what they're doing and how they're living in order to analyze how this context influences them. Bangs on the other hand wrote from a more intimate, personal perspective, an angle that describes the effect the music had on him, often in stream-of-consciousness prose.
Other classics of rock writing that I recommend are James Young's Nico, Songs They Never Play on the Radio, alternatively titled Nico: The Last Bohemian, Clinton Heylin's From the Velvets to the Voidoids: The Birth of American Punk Rock, Gerri Hirshey's Nowhere To Run: The Story of Soul Music, Let It Blurt by Jim DeRogatis, Scars of Sweet Paradise by Alice Echols, Memories, Dreams and Reflections by Marianne Faithfull, Lipstick Traces by Greil Marcus and Angry Women in Rock by Andrea Juno.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By wordnat
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
wow. i'm only halfway through this mindblowing thing but i gotta write a review full of slobbering praise RIGHT NOW. i knew i was in good hands when i finished the first piece on brian wilson, which is by far the best portrait of GeniusAbuse that i've had the pleasure to wade through. then, like a brilliant album, the hits just keep on a-comin': jerry lee lewis (scary), rocky erickson (pathetic), syd barrett (sad), brian jones (sad AND pathetic -- nice job, mr. jones!). harrowing, essential "stuff".
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By stoprobbers
Format:Paperback
A large part of the seemingly eternal appeal of rock music is the seamy underbelly of the movement itself. Kent is a master at exploring this underbelly, mainly (it seems) because he lived it himself. The man briefly toured with the Sex Pistols, befriended some of the most disturbed musicians of the 1970's, acquired and beat some serious drug addictions, and never lost an inch of his literary edge. The articles, essays and interviews in "The Dark Stuff" are compelling, exciting, repulsive and entertaining all at once. Kent knows who to write about: he chooses the pioneers, the masters and the mysteries. Some of the best music journalism of our time.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The greatest rock and roll writer?
This book is fantastic, perhaps the best book on rock and roll I've read. Nick Kent's articles exude a bad attitude and louche flair that truly evokes the spirits of the book's... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Michael Cohen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Writing
This is really excellent.
The book is a collections of Nick Kent's writings on Rock and Roll before the drug monster took over his life. Read more
The book is a collections of Nick Kent's writings on Rock and Roll before the drug monster took over his life. Read more
Published on January 17, 2011 by Paul Rooney
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Book on Rock, bar none.
Can't remember how I first found this book, but it has been my favorite ever since I picked it up. I was only buying extra copies on Amazon to give as gifts. Read more
Published on October 26, 2009 by B. Thompson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rolling Stone - When it was edgier
This book is a collection of stories and interviews of artists from the 60's all the way through the present (the updated edition). Read more
Published on December 27, 2006 by lachigirl
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant
Ok so he had a fascination wikth Keith Richards and sometimes tended to identify a bit too much with his heroes. Read more
Published on October 18, 2006 by Lovblad
5.0 out of 5 stars
like being there
very good,obviously some stories are more interesting than others.all around great reading for fans or non-fans. Read more
Published on June 25, 2002 by James Warner
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential
Nick Kent does not fall for the pretentious...spewed by many rock stars. His writing is intelligent passionate and best of all funny. Read more
Published on August 25, 2001 by David Dirks
4.0 out of 5 stars
The sad, glorious people behind the great music
A great book about the people populating planet rock music, with every chapter worth reading. The chapters I found most interesting were the ones about Neil Young, Roy Orbison and... Read more
Published on July 27, 2001 by jsiebrits@yahoo.com
4.0 out of 5 stars
SILVER LININGS AROUND THE DARKNESS
It is indeed the music that counts here, of the text as well as of the artists. It kicks off with Iggy Pop's fascinating foreword, followed by the equally absorbing preface dealing... Read more
Published on May 1, 2001 by Pieter Uys
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good stuff!
Kent takes the reader through a nightmare journey of rock musics sorid underbelly in this wonderful book. Read more
Published on February 5, 2001 by "nathanh77"
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