Book Review: "Let's Spend the Night Together"

I just finished reading all 384 pages of Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies. You know that feeling you get when you drive by a car wreck, or you spy an issue of People magazine at the dentist office? Like you know you would be wise to look away, but you are strangely compelled to take it all in? That's kind of how I felt while reading Pamela Des Barres' latest book. Fascinated, but a little dirty.


Did you know that there is not only controversy over the term groupie, but that a hierarchy exists within the groupie ranks? For instance, Bebe Buell (mother of Liv Tyler, fathered by Aerosmith's Steven Tyler) prefers to be called a "muse", because she feels that the title of groupie has been besmirched and sullied by those shameless hussies who will do anybody, including roadies, to get backstage or to be closer to their rock star objects of affection. (She has also written her autobiography.) Other younger groupies prefer the term "Band Aid", which was the name groupie Penny Lane (played by Kate Hudson) used in Cameron Crowe's film Almost Famous (based on his experiences as a rock journalist in the early '70s). So apparently the groupies who fancy themselves as courtesans or elegant escorts see themselves as higher on the food chain than the skanky "I'll-fuck-or-blow-anybody" sleazoids. Oh, and there is quite the varied assortment of all of these denizens of the dark in the 24 chapters of Let's Spend the Night Together.


My most interesting list? Tura Satana, aka "Miss Japan Beautiful", the burlesque dancer who says she taught Elvis not only to gyrate and kiss well, but also the delicate art of cunnilingus. She states that Elvis bought her a diamond engagment ring, which she wears today. Cynthia Plaster Caster has always fascinated me, and her chapter did not disappoint. (She has a great web site, by the way.) I did not know that Cassandra Peterson (aka Elvira, Mistress of the Dark) had been a teen Las Vegas showgirl and had been deflowered (badly) by Tom Jones. I would have liked to learned more about Gail Zappa and what was apparently a pretty unconventional marriage and family. (As a mother, I would love to ask her why she agreed to the off-the-wall names for their kids?) It was a bit shocking to realize how young some of these girls were when they started out as groupies, like 13, 14, 15 years old....not to mention how pedophilic some of the rockers were.


How has groupiedom changed over the last 40 years? To hear Pamela Des Barres and some of the other vintage groupies talk, years ago it was a more "innocent" time, when a cute young unknown girl could more easily access backstage, hotel rooms, and her idols. Nowadays, groupies tend to be more well-known models, actresses, singers, and other various and sundry "celebrities" (famous for having famous parents). Also, with more heightened security, it appears to be more difficult to get backstage, but apparently if you are sitting near the stage and flash your tits, you might have an edge.


Time to return my overdue book to the library. And take a shower.