Once upon a Rock Star: Backstage Passes in the Heavy Metal Eighties - Big Hair, Bad Boys (And One Bad Girl) Paperback – April 27, 2012

Its a fun timr to vicatariously live the life of a groupie, who did all the things i wish i would have in my youth. Its a look back at a glorious time of rock and live music. Such a detailed description of the 80s scene, will never be the same. I enjoyed the energy and emotion that attached to my youth thru music. Yeah she did things that today would be so unsafe. Society has changed, and i miss general admission...fighting my way up to the stage front. Good memories, that sadly todays kids wont know of. Im jealous of her brave lifestye. Every page was fun to reaf and made me smile as i might've been her competition once or twice!

I don't really get how one girl managed to always get backstage, all the time. And meet so many rockers in hotel lounges (they hang out in lounges?). An interesting story and photos. She started hunting out rock stars at age 15. This young lady didn't appear to have a conscience over her actions. There is no warmth in the book, just the facts, and just more and more notches on bedposts. Still, it was fascinating to see what (or who) she was going to do next.

I really enjoyed this book for its lascivious flow. I'm a bit younger than Rita and loved many of the same bands. My first album was Billy Squier's "Don't Say No." I was a child when I saved my money for this masterpiece. She was the crazy, bad girl/big sis-type that I would have rather enjoyed tagging along beside. Rita is criticized for her 'ways' and "take no prisoner" approach to bedding rockers. I respect her honesty and see no double standard in her conquests. The redundant phrases she is criticized for do not deflect from the excitement and simple flow of this read. I was entertained from start to stop and loved her supplemental pictures. My only criticism is the somewhat abrupt ending the book took. These books are a weakness of mine and I look forward to reading others for utter pleasure and sheer entertainment. Xoxo and God bless Ms. Rita

Immersing myself into that world by reading the experiences of this woman, reminds me of how I had been but just not on the famous level. I was a local band groupie....how I wish I had had been part of the famous elite and been part of the muse brigade. Have always loved being part of the rock genre and this lady did it to the max!!I don't care what proper haughtiness arises within those who judge this as being against our womanhood or some other argument they have against this book, I absolutely loved it that she went out and followed her dream. I know what these women mean when they do it to be near the music, the artistry, the creativity, the men who are part of all of what we wish to meld ourselves with. It's all good and we ebb and flow with all of the process that goes with being with a famous rock star. It's heady and intoxicating and only those of us who have been part of it can understand it.

Not sure who edited this book, but it was like reading a bad essay by a 14 year old. Also NOT very factual. I was actually backstage at many of the shows she mentioned, and know many of the rock stars she claims to have slept with or propositioned by. NO WAY in hell did some of those things happen. She has a good imagination or no brain cells left, not sure which. Awful book. Read "Dirty Rocker Boys" if you were into this era. This chick is a name dropping whore. Big difference between a groupie and a chick that will sleep with anything that moves. Love how she bashed the guys in Ratt as being arrogant (since they weren't interested in her) but once they were drunk enough to sleep with her, she had no issue with dropping her drawers. Please. Big waste of money.

I wanted details on my favorite 80's rockers. However, now I just feel kind of grossed out. I don't admire her life. I am not jealous of her experiences. She was used and spit out by a ton of men for sex and mostly cocaine. Most of the men she had 1 night stands with were disgusting. She was so vain it's annoying. I don't mind vain people to an extent if they have something to be vain about, but Rita is a normal pretty girl, not the goddess she thought she was. The writing was terrible. I Hope this woman has gained some self-esteem by this time. She clearly had none in the 80's.

I was a rocker dude in my late teens/early 20’s in LA back in the late 80’s. Since I had lived the Rock n’ Roll lifestyle, there was lots to relate to in this book. Rita was not completely unlike the thousands of kids who left their boring hometowns behind to set their sights on the bright lights of Hollywood. Very few bands ever made it big. It was all about fantasy, hanging on the strip convinced that the world was theirs for the taking. In this universe far far away having a cool image, the ability to score with chicks was far more important than musical proficiency, songwriting skills, etc. Most eventually did the walk of shame out of Hollywood and back to the boredom they had tried to escape from. A place and time in space. The Strip was for tourists and short timers, but clubs like Scream downtown offered a place for those rockers who liked living on the edge and perhaps also had a brain. Tuff, Rough Cutt, … and the late to the party hair farmers Brunette. Lol. I hadn’t thought about any of these bands (I flash back to those ghastly full page ads these bands would take out in BAM) since forever. Rita did a pretty damn fine job on this book. I’m waiting for the next one to come out.

So I get the gist of what Rita is trying to portray. The sad part is it reads as if a small child wrote it. If you can overlook that then you can learn a lot of the dirty goings-on of a diehard groupie. I think it started off for the right reasons but turned into more of a game where she was keeping score. Heck no I'm not going to go by myself and wait outside a tour bus for the door to open. And am I the only one who thinks a lot of the rockers who took advantage of Rita's naive willingness were maybe pedophiles? Granted almost every rocker on the planet (especially then) was either drunk or high but good grief she was so young!

un peu cher pour le contenu et la qualité photographique/ pas de couleur

Book arrived earlier than expected. Loved the book. Could not put it down. It wasnt wrote great, but a fun mindless read.

I only got this because it was free, and I thought it might be interesting, but I couldn't have been more wrong.It's badly written, with no depth. You don't feel anything for this female (I won't say lady, because she is clearly not one).It's just 'I made a costume and looked really hot. Went to a gig, did drugs, and had sex with someone'. Doesn't seem to matter who she had sex with, if the main star wasn't interested, then she would work her way down the food chain until she found someone to do the deed.To be honest, I gave up halfway through because it was just the same thing, again and again. Maybe I should have carried on. Who knows, perhaps she saw the light and turned to religion before the end !Summary, don't bother. I'm sure there are other books of a similar nature that will be a better read.

I think her friend Cindy should have been the one who wrote the book. Sounds like she had more interesting and fun times than Rita did.

I don't know what I expected from this book, but I have to say I am kind of disappointed.It's not written very well and is really just a summary of 'I went to this concert and looked really hot, I rocked out, did some coke and had sex with this rockstar".Clearly the author is not a writer but felt she had a story to tell, and I commend her for that, but it's a shame that the publisher did not assist with editing to make it less repetitive.Some of the stories could have been really interesting but stopped before revealing too much. Was this to protect the rocker/manger/crew concerned? I don't know, but that's where it was lacking.Maybe Rita should have taken a leaf out of Bobbie Brown and Caroline Ryder book Dirty Rocker Boys. They named and shamed and told a much more put together story.Writing quality aside, I was torn while reading this book. On one hand I thought it was appalling how she could just throw her body at these rockers & be used by them. On the other, she did it all willingly and seemed happy with her lifestyle choice. Another part of me could relate. I too loved rock stars & would have loved to have met and maybe even slept with the odd few in my youth. What teenager doesn't have that dream?So if you love 80s rock and just want a quick read then you may enjoy this book but if you're hoping for any graphic descriptions on your favorite rock star then you will be disappointed.