Book Review: Garage Sale Vinyl By Christopher Long with Bryan Dumas (Bibliozona Books)

By: Jesse Striewski

The moment I first heard author and longtime friend of the Rewind It Magazine extended family Christopher Long had a new book coming out all about the joys of collecting vinyl and the music contained within the grooves of many a great record, I knew I had to quickly get on board with this train.

Along with the help of Byran Dumas (as well as a foreword from the lovely Bella Perron of the band Plush), Long paints a perfect picture of what a lifetime of hunting for “a song” is like for a true collector that still has the drive to allow physical media to take precedence over any “download” or “stream.”

Even the very first record mentioned, Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic, holds a special place in my own heart, ironically being the first rock album I ever owned (albeit on cassette format rather vinyl), helping add to a personal level of nostalgia.

The only compliant? (if one can even call it that); I only wish the book was a bit longer to give readers a little more time to enjoy it. But who knows, perhaps we’ll even see a sequel book later on down the line in the near future (hint hint!).

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Album Review: DL Serios – Pecker (Ghoul Tone Records)

By: Jesse Striewski

Decades after originally fronting notorious underground south Florida punk outfit Dead Serios, lead vocalist DL Serios (a.k.a. band mastermind and artist extraordinaire Christopher Long) has emerged with his first solo record, Pecker. But was it worth the wait?

Based off its cover alone, Pecker is everything one might expect it to be; juvenile and ambitious, yet not to be taken too seriously. Lead off single/party anthem “Feeling Freakie” kicks things off on a high note, and features the adorable Katty Pleasant on co-vocals with a fun music video to go along with it. Other fast-paced Ramones-inspired numbers like “Piss Test” and my personal favorite, “Smile Sara, Smile,” are harmless little ditties worth cranking any time of the day.

But tracks like “Me-Me, No-No” and “Boom Chick a-Pop” are a bit too on the silly side to take all that serious. All in all, Pecker is eight straight-forward tracks that don’t pretend to be anything other than what they are, but it may just be a tad too far on the niche side to appeal to a much broader audience than it already has.

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Book Review: A Shot of Poison By Christopher Long (CG Publishing)

By: Jesse Striewski

This newly-released, slightly updated version of Christopher Long’s 2010 book chronicling his time spent as a working crew member for one of the most pivotal hard rock/glam bands to emerge from the ’80s Sunset Strip, Poison, is everything it’s title is cracked up to be.

Part memoir, part biography, Long explains in great detail how he originally landed his coveted position within the band’s ranks after years of friendship with bassist Bobby Dall, before becoming his “go-to” guy on tour. Long eventually lives out the ultimate music journalists’ dream a la Almost Famous, and it’s impossible not to relate many of the stories to my very own experiences over the years. Each new revealing tale leaves you yearning to get to the next page as quickly as possible.

I must admit, I didn’t catch the original edition of this book the first time around, but I’m definitely glad I was finally able to catch up on it. In a recent conversation, Long clarified the differences between the two editions to me; “The stories are generally the same, however the overall writing has been polished from top to bottom, and the entire 25-page closing chapter is all-new content.”

So whether or not you’re even a fan of the band Poison themselves per se, there should be something for everyone here who’s even had a remote interest in rock music. So put down the worries of every day life, and pick up A Shot of Poison for “Nothin’ but a Good Time!”

Rating: 4/5 Stars