Author: Cherie Currie with Tony O'Neill
Genre: Memoir
Release Date: March 29, 2011
Summary: At the tender age of fifteen, groundbreaking lead singer Cherie Currie joined a group of talented girls—Joan Jett and Lita Ford on guitar, Jackie Fox on bass, and Sandy West on drums—who could rock like no one else.
Arriving on the Los Angeles music scene in 1975, The Runaways catapulted from playing small clubs to selling out major stadiums—headlining shows with opening acts like the Ramones, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, and Blondie while riding a wave of hit songs and platinum albums, and touring the world.
A shocking, funny, and touching re-creation of a bygone era of rock and roll that chronicles the Runaways' rise to fame and ultimate demise, Neon Angel is also an intensely personal account of Currie's struggles with drugs, sexual abuse, and violence in a decadent, high-pressure music scene—a world of uncontrolled excess where she and her unsupervised band mates had to grow up fast and experience things that no teenage girls should.
Thoughts: Several months ago I sat down to watch The Runaways (the movie) staring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. I ended up really enjoying it. Going in of course I knew about Joan Jett (I love her stuff) and I knew the song Cherry Bomb, but I didn't know much about the band itself or their history.
I was intrigued enough to picked up Cherie Currie's Neon Angel, the book the movie was based on. It's rare for me to read a memoir but I definitely wanted to learn more. I was absolutely enthralled with this book. Cherie's story is exciting, horrifying, inspirational and above all honest. It was shocking to see how much this girl/woman went through, especially at such a young age. Really it's a miracle she's alive today. Although it wasn't easy and took a few tries, she was able to drag herself out of the black hole she was in and land in a better place.
Score: 5 Stars
Author Website: http://www.cheriecurrie.com
Band Website: http://www.therunaways.com
Movie Website: http://runawaysmovie.com/
My husband and I both want to see Runaway but have been timid because not big fan of Stewart. As my husband said she is an expert and the bite lip and look timid school of acting..so as Joan Jett. I have myself been leery. I still want check it out though. Nice Review!
ReplyDeleteThanks Shannon!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big fan of Stewart either. But I will say I think her portrayal of Joan Jett is ten times better then Bella Swan. She just seemed more comfortable with playing Joan Jett.