Features

The Relix 40: Words and Music (40 Novels)

To mark the 40th year of Relix, we are going to run a series of Relix 40 lists in the magazine and online that cover a variety of topics (For more Relix 40 lists Click here). The January/February issue presents 40 non-fiction music books that we recommend. Here we present 40 novels with music themes that can help warm your winter nights. They appear in order of publication.

Harlan Ellison Spider Kiss (Originally published as Rockabilly ) (1961) One of the earliest rock novels tracks the life of Stag Preston (whose life mirrors Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis).

Don Delillo Great Jones Street (1973) Rock star Bucky Wunderlick hides out in an apartment on Great Jones Street in Manhattan.

Michael Ondaatje Coming Through Slaughter (1976) A fictional account of Buddy Bolden, the real-life New Orleans jazz coronet player and jazz progenitor.

Peter Guralnick Nighthawk Blues: A Novel (1980) Theodore Roosevelt Jefferson, an aging blues musician known as the Screaming Nighthawk, is rediscovered by a new generation.

Tom Carson Twisted Kicks (1982) Punk rocker Dan Lang returns home to Icarus, VA.

P. F. Kluge Eddie and The Cruisers (1980) Eddie died is a car crash before his band The Parkway Cruisers came into their own but 20 years later, public interest in the group surges.

George R. R. Martin The Armageddon Rag (1983) The murder of a rock promoter is entwined with that of the lead singer in the Nazgul.

James Howard Kunstler The Life of Byron Janes (1983) A reclusive rock star thought to be dead is living quietly in a New England town.

James Robert Baker Fuel Injected Dreams (1986) Record producer Dennis Contrelle, famous in the 1960s is now a recluse is his mansion, married to the lead singer from his best-known project.

Iain Banks Espedair Street (1987) A rock star of the 70s must find his way in the 80s.