There Goes the Neighborhood — My Interview with Ben Apatoff on His New ‘Body Count’ Book
I had the distinct pleasure of MCing an event on Tuesday at Book Soup on the Sunset Strip to celebrate the release of a new book on Ice T’s Body Count
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My friend Ben Apatoff just wrote a stellar book on the band Body Count for Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series. Apatoff, who also wrote a Metallica book for the series, interviewed the critical people for the project — notably Ice T, who created Body Count for his friend Ernie C, an incredible guitarist.
Among the dozens of people he interviewed were Ernie, Duff McKagan, Jello Biafra, and yours truly. I wrote The Ice Opinion with Ice T, the first important book of the rap era so it was like coming full circle. Book Soup, our host for the night, is hallowed ground for me. I went there on the first day The Ice Opinion was published and it was a moment.
It was not only an honor to be invited to host the event and interview Ben about the project, it was a nostalgic trip for me.
Most of the best stories from writers never make it into print, it’s in the process. So Ben and I share some of those stories.
Here is video of that interview captured on iphone by my friend Jesse, who just wrote her first political song inspired by the work of yours truly. It’s been an amazing week.
You can find Ben’s book here. Thank you to the RADICALIZED Truth Survives friends who showed up for the event, as well as members of the Bette Dangerous community.
More about Body Count by Ben Apatoff:
On Ice-T's 1991 classic O.G. Original Gangster, he introduced his all-Black hardcore band Body Count with lead guitarist Ernie C, bringing them on the first-ever Lollapalooza tour that summer. The next year, Body Count's self-titled debut album, rounded out by rhythm guitarist D-Roc the Executioner, bassist Mooseman, and drummer Beatmaster V, made them the most incendiary band in the world, confronting white supremacy and police brutality with pulverizing songs that shattered musical boundaries. Body Count's rage and shock humor sparked nationwide protests and boycotts, including death threats, censure from the federal government, a spot on the FBI National Threat list, and a denunciation by the President of the United States. The album was removed from stores and remains banned to this day, but decades later Body Count are performing to their biggest audiences and greatest acclaim, pulling off one of the most remarkable comebacks in punk or metal history.
Drawn from years of research and dozens of new interviews, this is the story of a band of high school friends who revolutionized modern music, brought explosive live performances, and raised questions America's lawmakers didn't want to answer, overcoming some of the country's most powerful forces to reshape the world's cultural conversation.
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