While I am continuing to enjoy reading memoirs written by women in rock ‘n roll, I’ve also found myself expanding my subject matter to other areas of interest in the memoir field. As we hit the Top 10, I’ve chosen a pair of memoirs, one in the women in rock vein, the other focusing on a subject whose got several connections to my interest: comics, birds, and the fact that he’s gay.
#11 – Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper (2023)
With my recent renewed interest in birding, combined with my somewhat less recent interest in memoirs, Christian Cooper’s autobiography as a gay, black man who is both an avid birder, but also spent a stint working at Marvel Comics, seemed a perfect fit for me. And I did enjoy it. Cooper does a good job weaving the story of his upbringing by activist parents, the challenges of being a gay man as well as a black man, a behind-the-scenes look at the Marvel bullpen, and the not-so flattering look at racial strife in America (something he is also extremely well-known for personally) into an entertaining and compelling read. Oh yeah, he travels the world a bit too – so his experiences birding and searching for himself in Brazil, the Himalayas, and the Galapagos are chronicled as well.
However, as I continue to read more and more memoirs, unless they are exceptional, most come across as fairly self-involved and somewhat annoying at times. I suppose that seems like a silly thing to say, as they are autobiographies, and they are inherently people talking about themselves, but the best memoirs don’t come across that way, and while I enjoy this book, I did find it occasionally a bit too self-involved to make it great.
#10 – Book of Life by Deborah Conway (2023)
I’m a big fan of Deborah Conway’s music, for which I thank my Australian pen pal and the Internet, otherwise I would have heard very little of it, being largely unreleased in the U.S. Deborah got started in the 80’s in an Australian band called Do Re Mi, that achieved success after the release of their first single Man Overboard. I believe I first became aware of them at 1985’s Oz for Africa concert that was broadcast across the world. Deborah’s voice certainly stood our, and as her memoir reveals, she knows how to use her voice and her words in more ways than singing.
An outspoken person who followed up her career with Do Re Mi as a solo artist. Her solo career started strong, but hit some stumbles after her first couple of albums, and she and her husband, guitarist/song-writer Willy Zygier eventually went independent, releasing their albums on their own. Deborah also dabbled in acting, appearing on stage as Patsy Cline, and in Peter Greenaway’s film, PROSPERO’S BOOKS.
Because of how much I enjoy Deborah’s music, I was hoping to enjoy her memoir just as much. Sadly, this was not the case. While it kept my attention, and Deborah is certainly an interesting subject, it didn’t reach the heights of challenging moments that her music did. Still, It was entertaining, and I did learn about her very full life. And I realized that I didn’t own her most recent two albums, which i promptly remedied by purchasing them.
As we all age, I knew we would be losing some of my favorite performers in the coming years. Earlier this summer, it was hard to hear about Olivia Newton John’s death, but the loss of Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie in November hit me hard. She was my keyboard idol since the 70’s. She was a master pop songwriter. She was a superstar who preferred to stand out of the spotlight and just be one of the band. It was a dichotomy that underscored her talent and made her even more special. Christine is right up there with Kate Bush when it comes to my musical pantheon.
Her songs on that album were some of her best. Warm Ways, Over My Head, Say You Love Me and Sugar Daddy all made indelible impressions on me. I thrilled to her organ licks, and her rhythmic piano playing. The incredible harmonies that she spun with her bandmates, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were intoxicating. Rumours followed and Fleetwood Mac became one of the biggest bands in the world, selling more copies of an album than anyone before them. I went back and bought all of Fleetwood Mac’s earlier albums that featured Christine, starting with 1971’s Future Games, and through 1972’s Bare Trees, 1973’s Mystery to Me, and Penguin, and 1974’s Heroes are Hard to Find. Then came the rest of the catalog including 1979’s Tusk, 1980’s Live, 1982’s Mirage, 1987’s Tango in the Night, 1990’s Behind the Mask, 1995’s Time, 1997’s The Dance, as well as three solo albums, 1970’s The Legendary Christine Perfect, 1984’s Christine McVie, 2004’s In the Meantime, and an album with her bandmate Lindsey Buckingham in 2017 simply titled Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie. That was to be her last recorded music.
To honor Christine, I have compiled a ranked list of my favorite songs written by her. It was going to be a Top 40, but I couldn’t cut off there and ended up with my Top 46 Christine McVie songs. It’s not a comprehensive lists; there are many songs that didn’t make the cut, but it’s a great representation. Most are from her time with Fleetwood Mac, but her solo work is represented as well. Somewhat surprisingly, the top two songs were during Fleetwood Mac’s more obscure days, just before Lindsey and Stevie joined, helping to propel them into superstardom. In fact, both of the top two songs came from the Heroes Are Hard to Find album. Her first non-Fleetwood Mac song comes in at #15 from her self-titled solo album. 
#5 Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979) – I finally went back and read Octavia Butler’s first novel< Kindred and found a writer who was already fully formed, to create such an original and seminal work the first time out of the gate. Published in 1979 by a black woman; the first science fiction novel published by a black woman, and one that tackles the challenging and disturbing topic of slavery, and more, the complex, fraught relationship between master and slave, this novel is a revelation.
#4 Bedsit Disco Queen: How I Grew Up and Tried to Be a Pop Star by Tracey Thorn (2013) – I’ve always enjoyed the 80’s pop group Everything but the Girl. My interest in them ebbed and flowed depending on their output, but in many ways I think it followed their trajectory with the public — which makes sense the way lead singer, Tracey Thorn explains it in her first memoir, Bedsit Disco Queen. They started fairly strong, and quickly found a steadily climbing trajectory, before dipping sharply into mediocrity after a handful of albums. Their career could have gone a few ways, most easily dissolution, or inexplicably, a sudden sharp spike in quality and popularity, then, rather surprisingly, semi-retirement. It was during this semi-retirement in the 2000’s that Tracey Thorn turned her songwriting voice into a prose writing voice, to great success.
#9 Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album by Ken Caillat and Steven Steifeld (2012) – As we move into the Top 10, we’ve got a pair of musical books making the list. At #9, I continue my journey reading about the excessive hijinks of one of my favorite bands, Fleetwood Mac. Last year, my 
#10 The Healing Power of Singing: Raise Your Voice, Change Your Life by Emm Gryner (2021) – I’m not one for self-help books, nor did I think to myself, I need to read a book to help me with my singing voice, but I am an admirer of Emm Gryner the musician, so I thought it might be interesting to read her first book. It was more than interesting, it was entertaining, and illuminating, and has even gotten me singing again. Mainly around the house, but I’m ready for my next performance at the Chlotrudis Awards — an event that finds me singing with some other movie geeks every few years.
Only Happy could take such a grim topic, add some black humor, and turn it into a pop song. First I ever heard, and it’s still sticking with me.