Rocky Horror books: the essentials

on Feb 5, 2012  

At some point it would be lovely to feature reviews of various Rocky books. I love books; I love Rocky. I don't, however, have the time to do that right now.

Here is a brief list of the books I find I use over and over as essential references.

* The Rocky Horror Picture Show Book, Bill Henkin. No surprise, and atrociously organized. I need to re-read this as I've gotten in touch with the author, Bill Henkin, and he's agreed to do an interview. Still the best photo anywhere of Frank's floorshow shoes, and a darn good resource for spacesuit photos, though Mick Rock has since reprinted some equally good ones in his calendars.
* ROCKY HORROR, Mick Rock. Still some photos here that you can't find anywhere else. Mick Rock is an iconic rock'n'roll photographer, and he had free access to the set. Details are crisp, clear, and there are some unusual and helpful angles (like the top of Magenta's head during a break in filming Lab Scene).
* The Rocky Horror Show Book, James Harding. Just as poorly organized as the RHPS Book, and probably for the same reason: it was a commodity, not a research project. Focuses rather a lot on the Hanley Rocky Horror Show, which is of historical interest as it was the first big UK tour.
* Rocky Horror: From Concept to Cult, Scott Michaels. Michaels got interviews with nearly everybody involved with the film, including most of the living Trannies. (He didn't get Tim, Susan, or Barry.)
* Cosmic Light, Jim Whittaker. I forget about this one sometimes; it got overshadowed by RH: From Concept to Cult. However, he got interviews with several of the behind-the-scenes folks, covers the Roxy extensively, and includes information on how the play came together that make this well worth referring to.

In addition, the nice-to-haves:

*Rocky Horror: As I Remember It, Rayner Bourton. He was there! May only be a nice-to-have as I'm not used to referring to it yet.
* Rocky Horror Show (piano music and chords). Some truly beautiful color photos of the Roxy.