Sometimes I play a game in my head: name the five best American rock bands of the ’60s. My list goes: The Velvet Underground, The Byrds, The Beach Boys, The Doors, and then I stall on the fifth. Creedence? The Band — although they’re mostly Canadian. Simon and Garfunkel? Jefferson Airplane? The Lovin’ Spoonful? But I plump for The Monkees.
In The 10 Rules of Rock and Roll, Robert Forster takes readers on an exhilarating trip through the past and present of popular music — from Bob Dylan, AC/DC and Nana Mouskouri through to Cat Power, Franz Ferdinand and … Delta Goodrem.
To accompany Forster’s acclaimed writing for the Monthly, there are some stunning new pieces — ‘The 10 Rules’ and ‘The 10 Bands I Wish I’d Been In’ and an appreciation of Guy Clark — as well as a reflection on The Velvet Underground, a short story about Normie Rowe and a moving tribute to fellow Go-Between Grant McLennan.
Funny and illuminating, The 10 Rules of Rock and Roll shows a great critic at work.
Robert Forster was a founding member of The Go-Betweens. His most recent solo album is The Evangelist. The 10 Rules of Rock and Roll is his first book. His writing won the Pascall Prize for Critical Writing in 2006 and was featured in The Best American Music Writing 2007. He is the music critic for the Monthly.
