Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock 'n' Roll Group by Ian F. Svenonius

Author:Ian F. Svenonius
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: akashic books
Published: 2012-12-19T00:00:00+00:00

II. NECROPHILIA

Simultaneous to the music industry constructing the groupie archetype was the codification of the dead rock superstar. We are speaking here of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Eddie Cochran, Ritchie Valens, and so on.

Since rock’s management was intent on the hetero-orthodoxy of rock ’n’ roll’s sexual image, groupie-ism was a girls-only game. But just as the groupies were reacting to an unsatisfying feminine role as screaming spectator, the male rock ’n’ roll fan was also adrift and disgruntled. On witnessing the groupies’ easy entree into company he too longed to penetrate, he was growing resentful. Though he could contrive a fanzine interview or gush over the artists’ achievements, without the promise of erotic award, he was unable to hobnob with his heroes in any manner that approximated the intimacy that the groupies enjoyed. His female counterpart’s privilege enraged him, and he questioned her true appreciation of the artists she dallied with.

Boys (those who identified as “straight”) were unable to express their love for their favorite groups in any way that could be acknowledged or appreciated. These male fans, a considerable buying segment for the rock ’n’ roll genre, had to be placated lest they be lost forever. Therefore, the music industry connived the exploitation of the genre’s various dead stars in order to provide a channel for the expression of teenage intermasculine love. “Too fast to live, too young to die” was the official explanation for the untimely passing of these creatures, who were posthumously decided to be the best and the brightest of their breed.

For the groupie, there were live boys; for the men, there would be dead heroes. After all, the boy who mourns and honors the dead is transcending carnality—unlike his despised groupie competitor—and is expressing his depth and his authentic passion for the music.

This exploitation of dead stars became so pronounced that conspiracy theories arose about whether the industry had indeed murdered these subjects of the remorseful and worshipful death cults. Drug dealers, who often found themselves deeply ingratiated to the stars, sometimes ended up killing them with “death fixes” as well. Some pushers, such as the Rolling Stones’ hanger-on “Spanish Tony,” Owsley Stanley, Dr. Robert Freymann, and Sid Vicious’s supplier “Rockets Redglare,” became famous in their own right. Those who comprised this specialized sector of rock society were both “supergroupies” and the potential makers of dead rock stars. As such, they filled two essential rock industry roles.

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