Where Have All The Pop
Stars Gone? Volumes 1 + 2
By Marti Smiley Childs and Jeff March
Published by Edit Pros
ISBN: 978-1-937317-00-3
Ever wondered what happened to your
favourite pop stars from when you were a teenager? Well, the authors of these two volumes are on
a mission to help you out!
The first volume features five American
acts, The Association, The Kingston Trio, Chris Montez, The Spiral Starecase,
and Bobby Vee plus two British combos, Herman’s Hermits and The Zombies. Between them, they accumulated seven number 1 hits in the US charts and and many
of them are still performing to this day, though many in a somewhat altered
state! Their stories are told as a unit,
detailing their careers and then individual members are given their own section
with a more personal slant on their lives and achievements. Not all band members are included - it is as
if only the chosen ones are included in the latter section, obviously some did
not care to get themselves involved, or had fallen out with whoever provided
the overall information.
In volume two, the bands included are The
Buckinghams, The Grass Roots, The Moody Blues,
plus the duo Sam and Dave, and solo artists Donnie Brooks, Bobby
Goldsboro and Ray Stevens. Other than
the Moody Blues, who came from Britain, all of the acts were American. The format of this book is the same as the
first, again with glaring omissions, most notably with the biographies of the
Moody Blues, as the life stories of only two of the seven 'permanent' musicians
involved are told in detail.
I was eager to read these books to find out
what happened to some of the groups and singers who played my kind of music in
the 60s and 70s, but overall, I was disappointed. Good idea, shame about the result.
