I Am the Warrior: My Crazy Life Writing the Hits and Rocking the MTV Eighties

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Knight learned of the legend’s abuse at the hands of Ike Turner while reading “I, Tina,” the memoir that became the basis for the biopic “What's Love Got to Do With It.” And Knight never discussed the abuse she endured at the hands of her own mother with Turner. Holly Knight’s self titled project is one of my all-time favorite albums so I was looking forward to hearing a bit about it. I was surprised to read that: “If I could find every copy and burn it to the ground I would”. Wow!

Holly Knight - Wikipedia

I continued following Holly through the years through "Raise Your Glasses" on KISS' Psycho Circus album and "You're the One" from Rev Theory. She's a master of melody and pop song structure. She's in my top 5 favorite songwriters. I just adore her talent and career. In 1980, Knight's first big break came when she played keyboards (uncredited) on Kiss' Unmasked album. [3] In the early 1980s, she helped form Spider (featuring Anton Fig of Late Show with David Letterman). Managed by Bill Aucoin ( Kiss and Billy Idol), they signed a recording contract with Dreamland Records, an RSO-distributed label. They released two albums: Spider (self-titled; 1980) and Between the Lines (1981). The one thing I'll disagree with her about is in regard to her solo CD. I was astounded to read how much she hated it, how much she couldn't see herself as a lead singer and how she wishes she could buy up every copy and destroy them. I loved the album. It was a gem of a find in my trip to Canada. "Baby Me," "Howling at the Moon," even "Sexy Boy" were fantastic pop songs. And I, for one, am glad she didn't give "Heart Don't Fail Me Now" to Darryl Hall. Tina Turner - " The Best"; " Better Be Good to Me"; " One of the Living"; "You Can't Stop Me Loving You"; " Be Tender with Me Baby"; "Ask Me How I Feel"; " Love Thing"; " In Your Wildest Dreams"; "Do Something"She wrote “Love Is a Battlefield” for Pat Benatar, “The Warrior” for Scandal featuring Patty Smyth and several Tina Turner classics, from "Better Be Good to Me" to "The Best." I was able to let go of some of the leftover crap from my childhood,” she said. “It was very cathartic."

I Am the Warrior: My Crazy Life Writing the Hits and Ro…

She's had as amazing of a life as I'd imagined. Her willingness to be so honest about her experiences, exploits and journey to legendary status was consumed in just a couple of days. I couldn't put it down. A lot of times, I sort of had to earn their trust,” she said. “So I would sneak into a corner and start to play Beethoven or something. People would listen and go, ‘Huh ... well, she can play.’” This memoir from one of the top songwriters of the 1980s details Holly Knight’s early life in New York, her connection with Blondie producer Mike Chapman, her brief membership in the group Spider, where she wrote “Better Be Good To Me,” and her reputation as a hitmaker. There are fond remembrances of her collaboration with Mike Chapman, meetings with Heart, Jon Bon Jovi, Rod Stewart, Steve Tyler of Aerosmith, and Paul Young, but she waxes the fondest of Kathy Valentine, Go-Gos bassist, and Tina Turner, who covered “Better Be Good To Me” and “The Best”—Bonnie Tyler sung it before her. The process of songwriting and the reactions to the finalized versions of the songs are of interest here. This is the story of a young girl with a dream and the story of the music scene of an iconic decade. Holly dedicates the book “to anyone who ever had a dream and was told ‘No’.” Better Be Good to Me" with Tina Turner (from Miami Vice episode "Give a Little, Take a Little") (1991)So I thought I would give it a shot," she said. "And as it turns out, it came very naturally to me, like it was oozing out of every pore.” A nice touch was the discography/musical chronology at the end of the book. It's a treasure trove of her songs, musical credits and lost demos from Holly's complete professional life. This biography of a living person relies too much on references to primary sources. Please help by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful.

Holly Knight (hardcover) : Target I Am The Warrior - By Holly Knight (hardcover) : Target

Full of sex and drugs and so much fun name-dropping, this is a breezy, readable look at an era that simultaneously seems distant and not that long ago. The name dropping isn't terribly gratuitous, in that there really were so many connections among people in the industry, and she clearly explains her relationships to them and each other. Her relationship to three members of KISS was of particular note! Spider - " Better Be Good to Me"; "New Romance (It's a Mystery)"; "Change"; "Everything Is Alright"; "Little Darlin"; "Go and Run"; "It Didn't Take Long"; "Can't Live This Way Anymore" I connected on a rather spiritual level with the content of this book, as Holly Knight entered into the music business I was entering my late teenage years. A time for me (like Holly) where the realities of life come into focus vs the perspective you held from years earlier. I considered myself one of the foremost authorities about Holly Knight's music but I was pleasantly surprised by all of the new information I learned about her personal life as well as the little details that inspired many of her most iconic songs. It was truly a fun read which is why I was able to finish the book in a couple of days. I was so sad when I finished it which is always a good sign of a great book.Holly joined a list of other trailblazing women by contributing her story to the 2017 book Because I Was a Girl: True Stories for Girls of All Ages, published by Henry Holt and Company.