Blondie

4to. Gilt lettered red cloth boards. Slightly warped. Copiously illustrated throughout. Sticker ghost to head of f.f.e. In pictorial dust jacket, a little rubbed to spine and with a few short closed tears to edges. Light foxing to reverse. *** Music critic Lester Bangs (December 14, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an early supporter of the band Blondie, writing a rave review of their first album when most others thought they were a waste of time. His support had cooled a bit when, at the height of Blondie’s fame, he wrote this short biography. His book on Blondie is a classic of the kind of rock journalism that he birthed. Cynical and self-referential, but also refreshing and with an important focus on style and original thought. Lester Bangs died of an accidental drugs overdose in 1982, at the age of 33, but his influence on rock criticism has been massive. Having said all this, the main attraction of this book is the photography: you could flick through it for ages without ever reading a single word. *** Scarce in hardback. (Two hard back versions exist: one in pictorial boards, issued without dust jacket; and this version, in red boards with a dust jacket.)