cover image Rock Wives: The Hard Lives and Good Times of the Wives, Girlfriends, and Groupies of Rock and Roll

Rock Wives: The Hard Lives and Good Times of the Wives, Girlfriends, and Groupies of Rock and Roll

Victoria Balfour. Beech Tree Paperback Book, $12.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-688-04386-5

Any woman who ever envied the wife of a rock star should read this book to see how lucky she is to have escaped a life described in the following way by the wife of Meat Loaf: ""I saw a lot of women that constantly cried . . . had terrible fights . . . calling the hotel and couldn't find their husbands.'' Several women interviewed were incredibly sheltered by their men; two, including the girlfriend of Jimi Hendrix, maintain that they were ignorant of their lovers' drug use. Most of these women claim to have been abused verbally and physically, left at home while their husbands toured, and they deny the existence of groupies: during the interviews, most dismissed the question. The one bright spot is Dave Wolff, the boyfriend and manager of Cyndi Lauper, the only man interviewed. Wolff and Lauper stand out in the book by showing respect for each other. Photos not seen by PW. January