Turned On: A Biography of Henry Rollins

ITEM CAME AS DESCRIBED, MY BROTHERIN LOLOVED IT :-)

This is an extremely well written book and Parker is obviously a fan of Black Flag and Rollins Band music. It is, therefore, with greater impact that the contradictions in Rollins life are described. Henry's middle class, decently educated albeit dysfunctional childhood, while skimmed over to a degree, is in stark contrast with the extreme, intense later personality. Also the early DC 'straightedge' punk edict of no drink and drugs which Henry is described as a chief exponent of is ditched when touring with Black Flag a couple of years later as he throws himself into almost continuos LSD usage. Many of these type of details are missing from anything in Rollins own written work (notably 'Get in the Van') but Parker has had access to almost all the key people around Rollins through the years inspite of Rollins trying to ensure that Parker is not given access to press and interviews he gives himself. Is this because he is nurturing his public persona and wants to hide some of these glaring contradictions in his life. The Flag frontman willing to degrade himself on the floor of gigs as punters abuse his body, the 'art' performances where Rollins and cohort Lydia Lunch systematically abuse members of their audince in a tiny room one by one and the non-communicative, obnoxious Rollins of the final Flag days, are all in stark contrast to the lovable, funny guy Hank of '90s spoken word tours. Has this change been wrought by a mere coming to terms with his true self and inner demons or is it simply a mellowing with age from a man willing to appear in crass Hollywood movies to further his publishing business? I have always admired the guy for his intense honesty but this book throws up a lot of contradictions in the Rollins psyche. I guess in that respect he's no different from the rest of us. Incidentally, as a UK punk fan of the late '70s its interesting to note that DC hardcore and Black Flags main punk influences and early days are from and against a UK backdrop where punk had been over for at least 2 years (only cartoon punk bands like UKSubs, Damned - both thanked in 'Get in the Van' - Sham69 and Exploited were left and all were considered a total joke at the time).

This biography is a must for Rollins and Black Flag fans. Based on interviews, the book is peppered with quotes. This is not a fawning fan's account, although Parker is a fan he tells the story straight and shows the often negative ugly side of Rollins, his insight into the man and the music scene surrounding him can border on profound. A lot of time and detail is spent on the Black Flag years and reveals the personalities of the other band members making this a great companion to "Get In The Van", [a collection of photographs and Rollin's journal entries of those years]. Surprises are revealed, like a brief period of heavy LSD use by the straight-edge Rollins. If you ever wondered what made Rollins the unique intense person he is, this book will answer a lot of questions. A worthy often brilliant account of the early hardcore scene and its most fascinating survivor.

This is a very interesting book. It's 3 am, and I just put it down. The author does a good job at describing what it was like back then.A couple of minor corrections: the "punk crash pad" that Black Flag stayed at, the TC household, did not stand for "totally connected". TC meant "The Connected" (that's where "The Rejected" of the movie Suburbia came from ). Also, the author makes it sound like there were no girls dancing in the pit. That's not true. There weren't very many, but we were there, and the guys slam dancing around us respected us and protected us.

... but only to get up and slip another Black Flag cd into the stereo. This is a barnstormingly passionate celebration of music, so visceral you feel you're in the scummy clubs being battered by the serious sounds. Some of the writing is great, some is ludicrously florid, most of it is both. I had a great time.

This is one of the better biographies that I've read. Parker has done a lot of research and interviews to reveal a lot of information on Rollins. I'm not a huge Rollins fan and don't know how much of this information was already known or not, but I can say that I have a much better understanding of Henry and what makes him tick after reading this book. My only complaint is that Parker is obviously a fan and that sometimes leads to more editorializing than I'd like in a biography.

James Parker's biography of Rollins is incredibly informative. We follow Henry's odyssey from DC to LA, and from the primal brutality of Black Flag to the more sophisticated dynamics of the spoken word scene. Rollins emerges as an intense and challenging man (though he does sometimes resemble David Lynch's comic-strip "The Angriest Dog in the World"). From the bloody stage to the bedside reading, this book's got it all --a must for any true Rollins fan. The best part: hearing about those salad days of punk, when it was a community, not a commodity.

I bought this book thinking I would get more insight into Henry Rollins, not just a history of the DC punk scene, followed by a detailed history of Black Flag. There is very little said in this book about Rollins that a fan doesn't already know from attending his spoken word shows. You get about 20-30 pages of the time period covering 1961 to 1980, then ~230 pages covering 1980-1986, with the chapter last of the book glossing over 1986-1998. I felt the book rambled along at times and I was tempted to toss it aside. I thought after reading the other reviews that this book was going to be so much better than it was. The bottom line: I would spend my money on another Rollins spoken word DVD instead of buying this book.

Writing a Biography about Henry Rollins is a weird challenge. After all, most of his diaries have been published, he speaks about his life and experince in his spoken word work, and the last 30 years he have been in the media spotlight.An independent take on Henry could be an exciting and important piece of work"Turned on" just dosen't quite make it.Don't get me wrong, there are several interesting stories here, from former teachers and band members, but apart from some LSD stories there is little new to learn if you've already read the mans work. This is clearly a "fans only" book, and most fans will already have read "Get in the van" and "Black coffee Blues" and heard several spoken shows, so they won't get much new info.If i had to choose, I'll pick "Get in the Van" any day.

The chapters detailing Rollins youth are excellent.The book slides towards the end but it is still essential reading for any Rollins fan.