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LET'S GET ROWDY! Before I begin to tell you about Let's Get Rowdy!, let me say that this reviewer is not a fan of rock and roll. I was born in the same year as the main character in this book, and grew up with rock and roll, but I still do not like it. This book did nothing to change my mind. I am also not a fan of show business fiction where the sordid lives and debauchery of the fictional star is laid out in full detail. This book didn't change my opinion on that score either. However, the book is not without some merit. Let's Get Rowdy! is the story of fictional rock and roll star, William Charles Butterford from Dorcaster, England, who became the superstar singing sensation Billy Bud. The story begins with someone finding Bud floating face down in the swimming pool of the posh Beverly Hills Hotel. Rumors of a suicide attempt fly, as his girl friend, Karrie Landon, goes along in the ambulance that whisks Bud to the Beverly Hills Hospital. From there, the book flashes back to the birth of Billy Bud the only son of Agnes Louise and Charles Butterford. Born in 1948, Butterford was alive at the beginning of rock and roll, and he loved it. He got a job on the local railroad, which went to all the towns where the rock and roll bands played. One band, the Shoddy Boys, gave Billy a guitar and a chance to sing where they were playing. From the opening scream of "Let's get rowdy!" the timid son of Agnes Louise Butterford was transformed into a roaring lion. He came to the attention of American promoter Ralph Fazio and his friend and patsy, Wally Ramone. They signed him to a recording contract, and thus began his rise to unprecedented fame. In the process, they also stole him blind, enriching their fat selves to the point they needed sleazy Gary Hurowitz, crooked lawyer, to do a lot of creative booking to cover up their thefts. These three even stole from each other. Then came the big American Bad Guys tour. There was no limit to the greed of the three men there. The tour was making millions, but they managed to get most of it, leaving Bud with little or nothing to show for the exhaustion and hard work. These three are only the beginning of the disgusting characters that surround Billy Bud. It is hard to work up sympathy for a star with so few morals. The book is long and tedious in its boring bookkeeping spread sheets, and other details of orgies and the like that do nothing to move the story forward. But there is a kernel of gold here that, had the author focused on it, the book would be a real winner. That nugget is the love story of Billy Bud and Karrie Landon. Theirs was a warm, tender, lifelong love that would face anything as long as they were together. Had this been a story of their love, and the mystery of catching the thieves, it would have been worth reading. |