Such an interesting memoir that really took me for an emotional rollercoaster. It reads sort of like lit fic so I enjoyed it a lot!

I don't think I'm the target audience for this book, I've never heard of Speedball Baby or Ali Smith. Still, this was an engaging memoir of the music scene in 1990s New York, and touring America and Europe. The recollections are of Smith's whole life, not solely the band. I think I would have appreciated this more either with more background knowledge included in the book or had I known about it already.

I was so interested in the prospect of this book, but unfortunately it didn’t connect with me. I felt like it assumed too much prior knowledge and I needed more context for some of these stories.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Ali Smith was the bassist for a punk band in the 90s called Speedball Baby. I went into this not knowing anything about Speedball Baby or Ali. I was excited to learn more about the punk scene in the 90s. It was really hard for me to get into this one. She tells this in a nonlinear way and it makes it feel like I am reading a brain dump of her life. It would get interested in a story and it would switch to something else.


She has a lot of great and important things to say, but this was a huge jumbled mess.

The Ballad of Speedball Baby by Ali Smith is the story of Ali Smith, who was a bass player for a band called Speedball Baby. It's told in a nonlinear way and Ali takes us along on the musical journey which begins with their first tour. We also go back into the author's childhood and see the kind of marriage the parents had, early relationships with boyfriends, how the band hot together etc. There are a lot of interesting anecdotes in the book and we can actually feel what the writer felt when these events were being experienced. The writing is easy to read and the words flow smoothly. It's accessible and well written and if you are a music lover, you can give this one a try. The author also talks about sexism in the music industry as well as society in general. Also there are lot of incidents in which racism and homophobia can be seen. There is also mention of sexual assault and abuse. And there are a lot of drugs. So trigger warnings for all of that. As far as my experience is concerned, I am not the biggest music fan. So i didn’t get a lot of references. In this one, i didn't like the non linear style of writing. It made it difficult to get into the book. I think this one is a case of 'it's not you, it's me'. Even though I didn't have a great experience, if something appeals to you then you should go for it.

I did not know who Speedball Baby was. I kind of picked this up on accident because I saw the name and thought it was an Ali Smith book (like Ali Smith who wrote the Seasons tetrology), but I really enjoyed the book (even though it was the wrong Ali Smith).
This book has a lot heart. Ali is funny and her vignettes of touring both America and Europe span a wide range from scary to sublime. I liked that this wasn't just a book filled with party/drug stories. I mean, of course there is some of that, but it isn't the focus. I found myself wishing I could see some of the photographs that Ali mentions taking. So basically you don't have to know anything about the band Speedball Baby to enjoy this memoir.

Thank you to Netgalley Blackstone Publishing for an ARC of this book for review.

y'all.... SO ... I have waited almost a month to write about this book. Maybe because I loved it so much, I had to actually read it twice. Yep. Truth.

BUY THIS BOOK!

In the 90s I was a producer for a music TV show of some notoriety. That sounds super pretentious. It is not. I had just returned from filmschool, and an attempt at getting into the biz and came back "home". My best friend was the Executive Producer on the show and I first started out as a camera person and then started to produce segments. It was a BLAST. From programming to segment production to interview segments with some really amazing rock stars... it was a blast.

So.

Imagine my complete surprise when this book came up in a search of available books to read in advance of publication. Speedball Baby wasn't a band I had ever heard of. Ever. And totally would have been a band we would have programmed. I am absolutely gobsmacked that this band, on a major label that we worked with, never pushed them more.

As the saying goes "they could have been contenders".

Ali Smith, the bassist wrote a phenomenal book. I read it entranced in maybe two sittings but defiantly in one weekend. I was transfixed with the tales of being on the road. Being in a band that should have gotten better shrift by their label. This is not a bitter story... but really one of redemption and guts. There are some things that aren't glamour-filled and some that are. There are somethings that aren't gritty but a lot that are. But girl .... this is a story of a time that bands were scooped up and promised a road out of obscurity but not really given proper due and how that effects the people involved.

I loved the honesty. That takes guts. This book is gutty. That is my quote... this book is gutty. Shimmies with guts.

Speedball Baby, the band, is just odd enough to be awesome. I have added them as a favorite to my Spotify. I listen to them when I am looking to have a moment to dance around my kitchen and clean. I would have LOVED to have seen them live and program them on our show.

This is a book about the road, rock and roll and the power of art.

The book comes out in January 2024 and it's already on my "to buy" list because the book promises to be peppered with the photography of the author. I have snuck into her instagram and peeked at her portraiture and I am smitten, just like her writing.

In the book she writes about taking a photo at a dumpster. I COULD picture it in my head, just like the rest of what she wrote about. That is the best sign. I want to see that actual photos.

Nothing is spared to the reader's eye. That is such a good sign to me.

I have reread this book twice since I got it a month or so ago. I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss anything. Yep... it was that great to me.

I wanted to wait until the book was closer to publication date to post this because I didn't want it to get lost in the ether of the internet.


So here is my suggestion -

And here are the steps - trust me on this.

1) find a cozy spot with a cup of coffee, tea with whisky or whatever you want to warm you up when you set aside the time to read this book
2) open to the forward - it's by Exene Cervenka of X - if you know you know - and play a couple songs off Los Angeles. THEN... dance around where ever you are for a couple of songs... get your energy up because you are going for a ride.
3) open up your music player of choice and que up Speedball baby.
4) read the first couple of chapters in silence and then get ready to rock at chapter three. Crank it up because the energy of the music matches and is a great soundtrack to the rest of the book.

PS this is what I did on round two and it kicked ass just like this book does.

(note to the publisher - and maybe the author even ....)
Once I get the hardcover copy when it's published (I have ordered a couple of books for friends who will also love this book) I am going to post it to my instagram too... I really want to thank you and the author for this great book... one of my favorite reads in a long time.

I will post up about it again in January too. I may not have a big following but I will do my best. I would give it 10 stars if that was an option.

This memoir by Ali Smith is set in the New York City underground of music and musicians. It is told in the past and present and it wasn't as clear as I would like. The jumping around lost me sometimes but it does come back so just give it a little time,
Ali came from a toxic background and when she picks up the bass and begins to play for the Speedball Baby band her life takes off.
I enjoyed the details of the 90s music scene.

Fans of the grimy punk rock memoir will enjoy this autobiographical account by Ali Smith, bassist in 90s New York band Speedball Baby. We go on tour with the band and get an insight into the vagaries of the music industry and the ups and downs of life on the road, seeing the beauty of Smith's relationship with her bandmate and best friend as well as their struggles with their brilliant but chaotic lead singer. Smith does a great job of articulating the challenges she faces as a woman in a very male-dominated music scene, and also looks back over her early life. The memoir occasionally feels a little disjointed as we move from sections set in the past to the present day, and doesn't shy away from the occasional nihilistic punk cliche, but will still be an enjoyable read for folks who have enjoyed books like Kathleen Hanna's Rebel Girl and Kim Gordon's Girl In a Band.

meh... I was interested in "The Ballad of Speedball Baby" mostly from the cover, title & blurb, so really good marketing there. The music scene of that time (90's) is something that interests me, I remember it, so I accepted the auto-approved DRC. That said, it was kind of disappointing the way it was written or maybe edited?? 🤷🏻‍♀️. It just jumps around all over the place and I think that's not really a winning formula for this type of book, which is a shame, it could have had real promise. Maybe I was just not the right reader for it?? Anyway, my sincere thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for the complimentary DRC - opinions are very much mine.

I really tried to get into this one, but it never clicked. I don’t usually mind nonlinear books, but this one jumped from what was going on, to a memory of her past, back to what was happening, to some random writing, to a memory and then maybe back to what was happening. It was a major pain in the butt when I was interested in one thing and it jumped to five other things before taking me back to what I was interested in. Eventually, I stopped being interested.

I like Ali Smith and she has a lot of great and important things to say, but this was a huge jumbled mess.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Unfortunately, all opinions are my own.