Bad Wisdom
In an attempt to start reducing the sheer weight of books piled around my desk, I'm trying to get back into reading on a regular basis. It's odd how voracious of a reader I was as a child and how little interest I have in it now. Kinda sad, too.
Anyway, the book in my bag right now is Bad Wisdom by Mark Manning and Bill Drummond. Manning's alter ego (who is in full bloom for Bad Wisdom) is/was Zodiac Mindwarp (of ZM and the Love Reaction, naturally, a one-off -- okay, so they did five records -- hyperbolic poke at rock musicians as the celestial magi of a new glam starfucker of a revolution) and Drummond is/was part of the seminal pop conspiracy organization, the KLF. Bad Wisdom is Fear and Loathing at the North Pole.
"This was the plan: we would take a holy and sacred picture of the King of Rock'n'Roll, Elvis Presley, to the very summit of the earth; once there, we would place it with sincere reverence amongst the chimerical shimmering palaces of ice and snow and then (accompanied by some weird Zen magic) we would light joss sticks, dance about making screechy kung-fu noises, get off our faces, and that would be it: Planet Earth saved. Simple.
"The divine Presleyesque vibes would slide down the myriad icy lines and dance across the scattered lattitudes, transmitting instant love, peace and global understanding. All war would cease; McDonald's hamburger bars would materialize in famine-stricken Third World countries, dispensing free McDonald's Cola and Big Macs to the starving millions; the Dalai Lama would be made President of the Federation of Free Earth and harmony and excellent karma would reign over our beleaguered planet. In our hearts, we knew this to be true."
Of course, they needed cash and drugs before they could leave the country...
In the process of bumping around the Internet after tracking down the link to the book at Creation Books' website, I discover that Zodiac Mindwarp is back with The Love Reaction. They're playing some gigs in England right now or very shortly in support of a new record. Which makes me happy. Manning had the right attitude (at least, this was the attitude on display in his and Drummond's writing) about rock music: disposable and transformative. A lot of Marilyn Manson's proto-glam/post-goth posing and Rob Zombie's Hillbilly Horror fascination shows up in Zodiac Mindwarp, though Manning sears it into your brain with a Hunter S. Thompson-esque style.
As for Drummond, there's some speculation that the U|Rockers are another KLF stunt. Last century, the KLF was going to rock us. This time around, they're catering to the sexual voyeur in each one of us. While rocking us.