It was 1988, a very good year to be a rock and roller. Alvin Gibbs, former bass player for late 70's proto-street punkers UK Subs, was quietly slumming it in LA with obscure macho rockers Broken Glass, when he got a phone call from his old drinking buddy, Hanoi Rocks head honcho and die hard sleaze warrior Andy McCoy. Andy had just scored a dream gig as lead axe slinger for Iggy Pop on his 'Instinct' tour, and he was calling to ask if Alvin wanted to grab his bass and join the campaign. Well, yeah, Alvin did.

I think I still have the t-shirt from that tour- probably doesn't fit anymore, and nobody wears them with the sleeves cut off these days anyway, but it screams "Raw Fucking Power" in big red letters on the back, and it was true. Andy McCoy, Steve Jones, and Iggy Pop all on the same stage, blasting out a fiery, biker metal rendition of "Your Pretty Face is Going To Hell" is one for the books, indeed. And it wasn't just the stage that was all lit up- it seemed like the whole city was super charged that night just for having Iggy in it's vicinity. Me, I remember scoring some righteous teenage Vietnamese punk rock chick head in the car on the way over, as well as a handful of mescaline while waiting in line to piss after Jane's Addiction's startling opening set. The aging burnout in front of me noticed my New York Dolls shirt, and swore he remembered me from a Stones Fillmore show in '68. I wasn't even born yet in '68, but what the hell. Alvin's memories of those days are just as good, and he does an righteous job of piecing together a story that's got to be fuzzy from volume, drink, miles, and years, using his original diaries and the wisdom of age to tell it.

Although Iggy is ostensibly the star of the show, it's Andy McCoy who gets all the best lines. Finnish glam god Andy has always loped around in a comfortable purgatory between the post-addiction smoky cool of Keef , and the suicidal drug monster bridge burning of Johnny Thunders, and in Neighborhood Threat, he provides much of the rock and roll antics. Besides being late and too drunk for almost every show, he managed, among other minor indiscretions, to get his Japanese publicity rep hooked on heroin, and got knocked out by one of the Everly brothers for barging into his room unannounced for a little unsolicited hero worship. Even when he gave Alvin bad drugs before a gig, resulting in a terrifying set of wild hallucinations, the affable Mr. Gibbs forgives him, shrugging it off as typical road madness.

Iggy himself, although still given the hero worship treatment from Alvin, doesn't get away so easily. He comes off less as a rock God than a cranky brat most of the time, with a predilection for breaking things when he doesn't get his way. Unhappy with the accommodations at a Brazilian hotel, he starts smashing tables in a rage, much to the delight of the paparazzi hanging around. In England, on the set of a TV show, he objects to the pyrotechnics and destroys the set. But obviously, Iggy does as he pleases, and the rock rolls on.

Neighborhood Threat is a great way to get right up there on the sweaty stage with Iggy Pop without getting clocked in the head by his flying mic stand. It's a breezy read- you can finish it on one subway ride- but it's packed with great stories and a genuine love for rock and roll and all the high weirdness that comes with it.