Tag Archives: David Bowie

The Uncool Memoir Officially Announced!

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We are so pleased to finally be able to share Cameron’s latest bookt! Cameron had this quote for the Associated Press:

“I spent the last decade or so re-interviewing those early subjects like (David) Bowie and Fleetwood Mac, Joni Mitchell and Led Zeppelin,” Crowe told The Associated Press in a recent email. “The act of looking back on their younger selves brought out the same in me. The book split into two, the first one being a personal memoir. The second one will come out next year, with a lot of new interview material.”

Here’s the press release!

The Uncool, the long-awaited memoir by Cameron Crowe—one of America’s most iconic journalists and filmmakers—will be published by Avid Reader Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster on October 28, 2025.

Growing up in Southern California, Cameron Crowe was an unlikely rock and roll insider. Born in 1957 to parents who strictly banned the genre from their house, he defied the odds, diving headfirst into the music world. By age thirteen, he was already a music critic, and by the time he graduated high school at fifteen, Crowe was contributing to Rolling Stone, Creem magazine, the Los Angeles Times while touring with and interviewing legends like The Allman Brothers Band, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Elton John Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin.

Youth and humility are Crowe’s ticket into the Eagles’ dressing room in 1972, where Glenn Frey vows to keep the band together forever; to his first major interview with Kris Kristofferson; to witnessing Emmylou Harris’s road-tour audition for Gram Parsons; to earning the trust of icons like Gregg Allman, Neil Young  and Joni Mitchell who had sworn to never again speak to Rolling Stone. Such a magical odyssey doesn’t happen anymore—where a lucky teenage journalist might be waved through the door and find his crowd, fellow dreamers, music geeks, and lifelong community.  It’s a path that leads him to writing and directing some of the most beloved films of the past forty years, from Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Say Anything to Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky and Almost Famous.  His films often resonate with the music of the artists he first met as a journalist, from Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, to Tom Petty, Elton John, The Who and Pearl Jam.

The Uncool is a raw, honest exploration of family, ambition, love and music. With its vivid snapshots of a bygone era and its celebration of creativity, resilience, and connection, this memoir is an essential read for music lovers or anyone who dreamed of chasing their wildest dreams.  At the end of that roller-coaster journey of the heart, you might just find what you were looking for.  Your place in the world.

Cameron Crowe became Rolling Stone’s youngest ever contributor as a fifteen-year-old high school graduate, going on to profile the likes of Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Elton John, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and The Who.

(A companion book to The Uncool will be published by Avid Reader next year, a collection of Crowe’s essential interviews and newly conducted follow-up conversations with the artists —  Hamburgers for the Apocalypse:  The Music Journalism of Cameron Crowe.)

Crowe is also an acclaimed filmmaker who has written and directed films including Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Say Anything, Singles, Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky and Almost Famous (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay). He also wrote the definitive book on the work of writer-director Billy Wilder, Conversations with Wilder. Crowe is currently at work on a film based on Joni Mitchell’s life and music.  He has three children and lives in Southern California.

 

Contact:
David Kass
Senior Publicity Director
Avid Reader Press | Simon & Schuster

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Apr 17, 2025

David Bowie – Creem Magazine ’76

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Happy Friday. Here’s a new addition to the site today, Cameron’s interview with David Bowie from the May, 1976 issue of Creem magazine. We hope you like it.!

Space Face Changes The Station

David Bowie Pulls A Lazarus

Andy Kent is one of the most important freelance photographers in the music business. At 28, his well matched wardrobe, trimmed hair and full beard give the look of a successful young businessman. Which he is.

Yet, after six years of shooting almost every L.A. concert, Andy’s motivation has long since transcended fandom. It is now a job. He and his partner Neal usually flip coins over who has to shoot a local performance. The winner gets to stay home.

It’s been two weeks since the beginning of David Bowie’s 1976 worldwide concert blitz, of which Andy Kent is official tour photographer. These days, he is a changed man. Gone is the apathy of someone who has seen a loud rock and roll band a few hundred times too many. Now Andy feverishly scans the radio for Bowie records. He speaks constantly of the man’s genius. He arrives at Bowie’s show hours before they begin. He helps the band choose their on-stage attire. He discusses and critiques the set every night with Bowie. Andy feels important. “I told David the other night,” he reports, “that I haven’t worked this hard in years. I really feed off his energy.”

Andy Kent is only one of a thirty-nine person entourage that is powered by the same blind devotion to David Bowie. It is not hard to become totally drawn in by the man – he has a special talent for making all those around him feel as if they are, indeed, most crucial to his vision. Yet, in the end, Bowie has them all on salary. Ever since his costly (millions were lost) split with ex-manager Tony De Fries, he manages and owns himself entirely.

This is Bowie’s first tour since that incident. Likewise, the current stage show is a virtual one-man tour de force. There are no sets, costumes, glitter or dancers. For the first time in years, it’s just David.

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Apr 17, 2015

Archives: Greatest Rock Movies Ever

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don'tlookback

Cameron shared his Greatest Rock Movies Ever with Premiere magazine back in March, 2004. With recent docs like The Swell Season and new films such as Inside Llewyn Davis coming out soon, it might be time to revisit, but let’s check it out.

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Nov 7, 2013

Journalism Archives: Mott the Hoople – All the Young Dudes

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alltheyoungdudes

Mott The Hoople – All the Young Dudes

Released in England several weeks ago and yet to be made available in the States is Mott The Hoople’s fourth album, All the Young Dudes, named after the incredible single of the same name.

Produced and arranged by David Bowie, All the Young Dudes fails to live up to the excitement of the title cut…a very English, very metal, very riske ode to homosexual rape. “I’ve been wanting to do this for years”, admits the aggressor, lead-singer Ian Hunter as the cut fades into either “Sucker” or a label depending upon whether it’s the single or the LP. Despite its overly decadent theme, “All the Young Dudes” is very simply the best single since “Take It Easy” graced the airwaves.

The album opens with the theme song of Bowie’s musical idol, Lou Reed (who, by the way, is letting David produce his next album), “Sweet Jane”. A quite limp delivery on Hunter’s part and a plodding accompaniment courtesy of the boys in the band provides for a soggy indication of what’s to come. The rest of the record follows fairly closely the impact (or lack of it) of the previous. The recording job is very  clinical and exacting, a habit which suits Bowie’s own style but reveals a major flaw in Mott The Hoople’s, who is best displayed in a somewhat reckless light.

But it’s a fun record. The material is lyrically dependant on tongue-in-cheek for its effect, and Bowie, in his production debut is impressively meticulous. Too bad that the intricate arranging and direction was utilized by a group who just can’t benefit from it.

Courtesy of the Door (aka San Diego Door) – Cameron Crowe –  November 4, 1972  – November 18, 1972

 

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Jan 20, 2013

Absolute Bowie

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bowiemic

David Bowie is celebrating his birthday today and we’ve decided to join him. Cameron and Bowie go back to the mid 70’s including an in-depth 1976 Playboy interview, a short RS article on his ’76 tour and his cover story in Rolling Stone. Most recently, Cameron contributed liner notes to the 25th anniversary re-release of Station to Station. Happy Birthday David!

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Jan 8, 2013

David Bowie: Station to Station – “A Masterpiece, Disguised as a Snapshot”

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Happy Friday everyone. As part of last year’s Station to Station deluxe re-release, Cameron provided liner notes to David Bowie’s 1976 landmark album. He recalls watching Bowie record part of the album in the studio and being on the road for the subsequent tour. It’s a short, but sweet look at the album and its endurance 30+ years later.

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May 20, 2011

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  • David Crosby: Remember My Name- Starz
  • Elizabethtown- FUBO
  • Say Anything...- Disney+, Hulu, AMC+
  • Vanilla Sky- Paramount+,Showtime
  • We Bought A Zoo- Disney+, Roku