Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies
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I understand why the Penny character insisted she had "retired." I felt the same way when the pubescent upstart groupies descended on the scene. "I remember reading about that in your first book," Cameron says. "The newer wave of groupies who had sharp teeth, and a 'GI Jills at war' thing going on. They didn't love the music as much as the spotlight and the trappings. And they were tough with each other."
Since I've been talking to groupies who are hanging out with bands right now, Cameron is curious, "Is there still the ethic of the blow job being safer than having actual intercourse sex?" I remember how differently Tina and Sarah felt about giving head and tell Cameron it still seems to be an individual choice. "One of them wouldn't give a blow job and the other one, that's all she'd do!"
In between my Almost Famous inquiries, Cameron and I have been reminiscing about old Hollywood friends, like the late Michele Myer who once said, "We know our limits-and there are none." We also speak fondly of our favorite male groupie, Rodney Bingenheimer.
When I ask if he liked the documentary Mayor of the Sunset Strip, Cameron shakes his head, "I never got Rodney's love of music in that film. I get it from your books. I get it from an Al Green documentary, just Al sitting in a studio with a guitar, telling stories. But in that solemn portrait of a lonely man being used by the girlfriend? Sure, it's true, but what about the joy? To me, Rodney's not somebody to be used to inspire sympathy. He's a hero for not trying to get money for all the bands he broke. He's a hero. He never took the stupid job and tried to capitalize on what he'd done. He did it out of true fandom. And that's the spirit of Penny Lane. She's not in a crumpled heap by the side of the road. She's more rock than the band, and that was always the point. There's a scene in the director's cut of Almost Famous where Billy Crudup talks about, `When you get a little bit of success, your career becomes about maintaining the lifestyle.' So many of those guys trail off into the world of lifestyle maintenance. And who's left knowing what it's truly about?"
I know the answer: "The girl on the side of the stage!" Cameron smiles, "Exactly. That girl. She is still there. And she'll always be there. I wanted the whole movie to be about that feeling, and the celebration of that feeling. The girl off to the side of the stage is the keeper of the flame."
"I need to see you face to face because I'm never as good as when you're there, and I can see myself the way you look at me."
-RUSSELL HAMMOND TO PENNY LANE IN ALMOST FAMOUS
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Miss Japan Beautiful and the King
The Happiest Broken Heart
Love at First Sight
The Elusive Miss James
Kicks
Hey Little Girl, You Wanna Come on the Bus?
Shock Treatment
Love in Her Eyes and Flowers in Her Hair
The Virgin Groupie
Absolute Beginners
There's Only One Way to Rock
Crazy, Crazy Nights
Slow Dazzle
Flesh for Fantasy
A Chat Regarding the Infamous G Word
Dangerous but Worth the Risk
Come as You Are
The Male Groupie
User Friendly
Miss You in a Heartbeat
In So Deep
Let Me Stand Next to Your Flower
Size Queen of the Stars
Almost Famous
Index