Walk This Way by Geoff Edgers and Total F*cking Godhead by Corbin Reiff

Today's review will be of two musical biographies/narratives.  Two that might not go together in your brain, but definitely do in mine.

Music has always been an important part of my life.  Growing up, music was never not on.  From my Mom listening to smooth adult radio like Barry Manilow while she cooked or cleaned to my Dad blasting WPLR after a long day in the auto shop to me on my little first shelf system countering them with what we now call The 90s.  I didn't really have a genre--I'd listen to anything and still do.  Grunge, hip-hop/hip-pop, rap, pop, country, rock, didn't really matter as long as it spoke to me.  Same today.  

Aerosmith and Run-DMC's collaboration on "Walk This Way", bringing together legends of arena rock and up & coming rap stars, became an epic.  That silly video, when MTV made the hits, was one you waited for in the rotation.  That intro riff is recognizable from the first note.  You don't need the fancy new radios that tell you the song.  Everyone knows it from my Dad's generation to my son's.  

Chris Cornell's death impacted me in a way I can't really explain.  I was not a huge Soundgarden or Temple of the Dog fan, but just the same, "Black Hole Sun" and "Hunger Strike" were songs you turned up on Radio 104.  And one of those videos was an acid trip, the other haunting.  A few days after Cornell's death, we attended the Guns N Roses concert at Hershey.  They played "Black Hole Sun" without any intro or post commentary.  Just a tribute via Cornell's music.  It was so moving.  

So, I think you can see why I chose to read these back to back.  Walk This Way was given to me by Mr. Joe Winters (you might also have seen us dressed up as Run and Steven Tyler) and Total F*cking Godhead by Mr. Mark Consorte (who started teaching right about the time "Black.." was first on MTV).  And as an 80s baby who came of age in the 90s, music means everything. 

I'll be adding both of these to our collection when we return.  

All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W. and do not represent WHPS or WHHS.