The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle by Michael Moorcock

Since Zelazny was getting stale I decided to return to one of my favorite writers of exciting fantasy and swords and sorcery, Michael Moorcock, famous for his Elric of Melnibone. Picking up this book, I didn't know exactly what it was about. I know Moorcock was in the band Hawkwind, and probably had something to say about the synergy of high fantasy and rock music. And maybe he did.

But this book is about the Sex Pistols, somehow related to their rockmuentary titled The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, which I've never seen. Not a lot in this book made sense to me. I didn't know who most of the characters are. But there's a definite fantasy element. All the great anarchistic thinkers of the past hang out in the afterlife, at the Hendrix cafe. There's some commentary on the new Anarchy rock, which by accident, almost makes anarchy really happen.

Moorcock gives us a little speculation on how the Sex Pistols came to be, and the motivations behind their advent. Managers needed a band of non-musicians who had no control over their act and their art. The business needed a new group. They didn't have to be good, just new. And the would-be rockers needed beer money. And it's the need of beer money that drives this wacky story in a world of 70's punk rock where anything can happen. But should you read it? Sure. It'd be nice to get a second take, because half the time I couldn't tell what was going on.