Members of The Rock Bottom Remainders, the rock band composed of bestselling authors, are answering questions on Reddit today.
Authors Stephen King, Scott Turow, Mitch Albom, Amy Tan and more are part of Hard Listening, a new book about the band.
One Reddit reader asked: “Since you all are writers, do you have a hard time choosing who is going to write the lyrics for your songs?” and received some funny responses.
Scott Turow replied: “We do not make up lyrics. We STEAL lyrics–i.e. for the most part we sign 60’s standards.”
Ridley Pearson responded:
Stephen made up lyrics — TEEN ANGEL — until a court order desist was placed upon us. Then Dave (who doesn’t make anything up) cajoled an audience into inserting a crowd shouted expletive whenever the publishing company’s name was mentioned (they who had filed for the court order). Dave would mention the company’s name and 2,000 people would shout _ _ _ _ _ _! Three shows later, the court order was dropped and Stephen was allowed to sing his crazy lyrics again.
Mitch Albom concluded: “We don’t make up lyrics, but we frequently forget them.”
Stephen King Catalog has a link to a now out-of-print video of a show where King sang “Teen Angel.” Check it out:
On May 25,1992, Stephen King, Dave Barry, Matt Groenig, and ten more best-selling authors took to the stage to perform rock ‘n roll classics for an audience from the literary community. This 40 minute program features 10 unforgettable performances, interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from this rare event. Stephen King sings “Teen Angel” and does a special reading of the unofficial Iyrics to “Louie, Louie” as you’ve never seen or heard them before! This video comes in a gatefold cover, with an introduction by Kathi Goldmark, who began this fun project (and who is one of the Remainderettes!)