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"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."-Robert Forster
Robert Forster was a Go-Between, and now has an acclaimed solo career, but in recent times he has also established himself as one of the finest music critics in the business. In The 10 Rules of Rock and Roll, Robert Forster takes readers on a roller-coaster ride through popular music - from Bob Dylan, AC/DC and Nana Mouskouri through to Cat Power, Franz Ferdinand, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and … Delta Goodrem. Accompanying Forster's acclaimed writing for The Monthly are a short story about Normie Rowe and stunning new pieces in which he sets out the 10 Rules of Rock and Roll, ponders on 'The 10 Bands I Wish I'd Been In', reflects on the influence of The Velvet Underground, and gives a moving tribute his partner in The Go-Betweens, Grant McLennan.
Funny and illuminating, The 10 Rules of Rock and Roll shows a great critic at work.
About the author
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.
