Wild Thing: The Backstage, on the Road, in the Studio, Off the Charts: Memoirs of Ian Copeland

Full of harrowing adventures and wild misadventures, this extraordinary autobiographical memoir by one of the most influential rock music agents is an inspirational tale for success-seekers in any field. Copeland was born in 1949 in Syria, where his Alabama-born father was the CIA station chief in Damascus and his Scottish ex-spy mother a noted archeologist. Growing up in Cairo, Beirut and London, he rebelled against his largely absent father (who helped orchestrate coups that brought Egypt's Gamal Adbel Nasser and Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to power) and against an insular world of privilege. He joined a motorcycle gang, ran away from home and returned. In 1967, he joined the U.S. Army. A sergeant at 19, he tripped once on LSD while fighting the Vietcong. Moving to the U.S. in 1970, he became a hippie and joined antiwar protests with other Vietnam veterans. Influenced by his younger brother Stewart, a songwriter/drummer/agent who formed The Police with Sting, and older brother Miles, owner of IRS Records, Copeland eventually formed his own agency, Frontier Booking International (FBI), signing on tour a stellar array of clients that included R.E.M., Joan Jett, The Police, XTC, the B-52s, the Ramones, the Cure, the Sex Pistols and the Go-Go's, among other bands. Copeland helped launch reggae by booking UB40, Peter Tosh and Black Uhuru, and he signed on Christian rockers such as Amy Grant. Offering a front-row seat to the birth of new wave and punk, his savvy, deadpan narrative is also a moving record of self-discovery. Author tour. (Oct.)