Publisher's Synopsis
Portland musician Christopher L. Newman (July 11, 1953 - May 9, 2021) was one of the Pacific Northwest's most prolific songwriters. During his 50 year musical career, he wrote more than 1,000 original songs, recorded more than 400 of them, and had a discography of at least 86 musical recordings in various formats dating back to 1980, including 55 full length albums released on vinyl, CD, and cassette, as well as 7" vinyl singles, and songs on various artists' compilation albums, plus a hidden treasure trove of unreleased recordings that we're still discovering today. Chris released at least 20 solo albums under his name or bands named after him, such as the Chris Newman Deluxe Combo. Napalm Beach released 12 albums, tracks on two compilation albums, and one 7" single. Snow Bud and the Flower People alone released seven full-length albums and three 7" singles. There were also four albums by Boo Frog and two albums by the Divining Rods. Unfortunately, most of these recordings were released on small independent labels that have long since gone bankrupt or were self-released, so finding copies of some of them can require some real Sherlock Holmes detective work.
The Stooges had "No Fun," even though they lived in "The Fun House;" the New York Dolls had "Too Much Too Soon;" but Chris Newman simply had "Too Much Fun." This is the tale of a talented young artist and songwriter who gets alternately hyped, screwed, dropped or ignored by the music industry. In 1981 his band The Untouchables are hyped as The Next Big Thing in Seattle & Portland, only to get dropped by Double Tee Entertainment and see both their 1981 Tom Robinson album and 1982 Park Avenue E.P. aborted. In 1991 his band Napalm Beach had a hit album in Germany and were the talk of the German music press, but by 1992 they'd lost their record deal there. Next, his band Snow Bud and the Flower People become High Times magazine's flavor of the month in 1991. They sign with the Tim/Kerr label but their master tapes burn up in a 1993 studio fire, and the label closes in June 1999. Along the way Chris develops chronic addictions to pot, coke, and smack, and experiences periodic black outs from drinking too much liquor. He hits bottom when he winds up living homeless on the streets of San Francisco for five years, while his beloved young wife works in prostitution to support him. Finally in the 21st Century comes a miraculous rebirth, a resurrection. He spends the last 17 years of his life trying to recover his musical legacy while still creating a new album every six months, but the drug demons keep secretly haunting and tempting him back to his old reckless ways. Nonetheless, he's on the road to recovery when the double whammy of the Covid-19 pandemic and cancer bring down the final curtain. It's a gripping and compelling tale of music industry machinations, drug addiction, and how America's capitalist economic system treats it's creative artists. So, you wanna be a rock n' roll star? Read this and think again.
