If there’s one thing history teaches us, it is that art forms that appeal to one generation will surely appeal to generations that follow. There should be no need for me to explain to my younger colleagues just who Copperpenny, Helix, and Major Hoople’s Boarding House were. No doubt all are as well known today as they were fifty years ago. (Although I’ll provide the links anyway, because I am just that considerate.)
SF authors of a certain vintage embraced this exuberant confidence in the long-term viability of their favourite musical genres. Take these five works, for example.
City Come A-Walkin’ by John Shirley (1980)
Stuart Cole’s nightclub, Club Anesthesia, is a stalwart redoubt for San Francisco’s chaotic counterculture, a refuge for rockers and other eccentrics who do not fit into conventional society. Keeping the club open is an ongoing struggle.
Cole worries about predatory mobsters and crooked city government. He does not worry about a living manifestation of the City…until the day that the City’s man-shaped avatar visits him. If Cole were prudent, he might wonder if the avatar had Stu’s best interests in mind when it proposes a partnership on a few cunning plans…but then, a sensible person wouldn’t be running Club Anesthesia.
The Armageddon Rag by George R. R. Martin (1983)
Disillusioned counterculture novelist Sandy Blair’s career has foundered. He finds a new role as amateur sleuth when his friend, rock promoter Jamie Lynch, is murdered.
The murder was a ritual murder. It may have been bad news for Jamie Lynch, but it’s good news for legendary rock group the Nazgûl. They broke up a decade ago. The day on which Lynch was murdered? It’s the tenth anniversary of the breakup. Post-murder, the band announce a reunion tour. It’s almost as though the whole affair was planned to revive the Nazgûl.
Blair finds that Lynch’s killer had a much darker goal in mind.
Wrack & Roll by Bradley Denton (1986)
In a world where World War II played out quite differently, post-war Americans celebrated imported German know-how and American engineering by dispatching rock superstar Bitch Alice to the Moon. Marooned by a fuel-pump failure, doomed Bitch Alice’s last words to her fans were “trash Dallas.” Fans listened, America’s space centre went up in flames and Anglo-Chinese dominance of space was assured.
A generation later, President Fitzgerald considers the superiority of the Anglo-Chinese alliance an affront. He has a grand plan to put America back on top again. Key to his bold vision is Bitch Alice’s illegitimate orphan, Lieza “The Bastard Child” Galilei. Lieza might be reluctant to do what he wants, but surely the president will have his way. After all, what can one puny musician do in the face of presidential might?
Little Heroes by Norman Spinrad (1987)
Muzik Inc has plans for aging rockstar Glorianna O’Toole. They’ll use her as the model for a computer-generated, algorithmically tweaked synthetic superstar, a robot. Needless to say, she’s not going to get any royalties—just a one-off fee.
Gloriana is sincerely devoted to rock and roll. She is sure that Muzik Inc’s robotic creation would be a soulless abomination. But Muzik is offering a Faustian sweetener: modern technology can restore the Crazy Old Lady of Rock and Roll to her former glory (vicariously). A tempting offer, but is it tempting enough to buy Glorianna’s soul?
War for the Oaks by Emma Bull (1987)
Minneapolis rock singer Eddi McCandry would no doubt say she is dealing with more than enough trauma. She has left her band and broken up with her boyfriend. Now she is being stalked by a mysterious figure. This was nowhere on her to-do list! However, fate has a way of handing people unexpected and unwelcome challenges.
Amongst Minneapolis’ new residents: the Fair Folk, who have brought their exuberant love of factions and mano-a-mano politics with them. Minneapolis will be the next battleground between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts; Eddi will be their most recent human draftee.
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There are a many rock-‘n-roll-adjacent works I could have mentioned. No doubt some of your favourites have been overlooked. Comments are, as ever, below.
In the words of fanfiction author Musty181, prolific book reviewer and perennial Darwin Award nominee James Davis Nicoll “looks like a default mii with glasses.” His work has appeared in Publishers Weekly and Romantic Times as well as on his own websites, James Nicoll Reviews (where he is assisted by editor Karen Lofstrom and web person Adrienne L. Travis) and the 2021 and 2022 Aurora Award finalist Young People Read Old SFF (where he is assisted by web person Adrienne L. Travis). He is a four-time finalist for the Best Fan Writer Hugo Award, and is surprisingly flammable.
