by Warren Zanes
First published 2022
Tracy Santa grows up as a pre-adolescent naturist surrounded by friends who all play guitar far better than he ever will. His story begins in the late 1960s and follows him through the confused 1970s into the DIY music scene of the 1980s. Santa documents his journey around an eclectic garage rock band that earns three dollars per night split five ways, playing to empty bars in San Francisco's Tenderloin at 3am. He witnesses the origin story of Joe Doy, navigates weird scenes in underground venues, and gets completely ignored by the Go-Go's. His experiences include watching cartoons with Dee Dee Ramone and discovering unexpected connections between "Wooly Bully" and Caesar's Gallic Wars. While most rock biographies celebrate the chosen few who make it big, Santa's story represents everyone else who lived in and around the music but never quite got it right. His tale captures the simple pleasures and constant misunderstandings of marching out of step in rock's margins.
Genres: american-fiction, 20th-century, coming-of-age, music, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, found-family, underdog
Setting: San Francisco, Tenderloin
Period: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s
157 pages · Paperback · Rhyolite Press