IDOL of the B.E.A. - The Sneer's Familiar! Billy Idol signs in...

You know that face anywhere...the sneer that launched a million sales.

One of the longer lines at BEA (Book Expo America) on opening day was for Billy Idol. Stars always seem to trump the usual authors/suspects (R.L. Stine, Mary Higgins Clark, Carl Hiaasen).

Billy's autograph (on a sampler from the book...his "Dancing with Myself" comes out in October) required not only standing in line, but standing on an earlier line to get the limited edition "ticket."

All this was very amusing to Billy, who in keeping with the masturbatory nature of his book title (and hit single), gleefully rubbed one of the sampler-chapter copies of the book against his crotch. Sorry I wasn't quite quick enough to get that shot, but you do get an evocative glower in the photo on the left.

It'll be a busy Spring, Summer and Fall for the Idol with the bright white hair...he's touring starting in June, and working on the completion of a new album to be released concurrently with the book.

Didn't know Mr. Idol was the literary type? The autobiography promises to raise eyebrows even higher than Billy likes to raise his own. As he says, in all modesty regarding himself and his book: “I am hopelessly divided between the dark and the good, the rebel and the saint, the sex maniac and the monk, the poet and the priest, the demagogue and the populist. Pen to paper, I am putting it all down, every bit from the heart. I am going out on a limb here, so watch my back.”

Patti Dahlstrom: Jesus and a car crash with Paul Williams. That's "Emotion"

"Emotion" is the name of a hit song recorded by Helen Reddy and Shirley bassey. The lyrics are by Patti Dahlstrom, who issued four critically acclaimed albums and has had other songs covered by Bobbie Gentry, Anne Murray, Patti Austin and many more. Music fans still feel a lot of "Emotion" for Patti, who was active at a time when female vocalists sung high and "pretty." She received limited radio play because her voice was lower, earthier. She was a unique hybrid of Southern roots rock and sophisticated L.A. musicianship.

Most fans know she was a close friend of Jim Croce, who died in a plane crash. But not many know that Patti herself was almost killed in a car accident, and that's the lead subject of her eBook "Traveling with Jesus."

She was actually traveling with Paul Williams (the songwriter and actor), who was behind the wheel. The car had no seat belts and when the car skidded out of control, Patti was flung high in the air and landed with a sickening crack...and seemed hopelessly maimed. Williams rushed to her side. He called to her, but she was hearing another voice. Patti writes:

"As I looked at the amazing night sky, I was surrounded by loving beings, and The Voice began to comfort and instruct me. "Do not worry, I am healing you.” I felt at this moment totally safe, completely loved and accepted, and blissfully happy. I was enveloped in a love I’ve never felt on this Earth; it was a love beyond understanding, and yet I knew. I was exactly who and where I should be, no doubt, no fear, just love. "Tell the doctors to call Steve Zax in San Francisco, and to do exactly as he tells them. I am healing you," the Voice continued.

Far away, though by my side, I heard Paul crying, "Patti, an ambulance is on the way."
"Don't worry, Paul, God is healing me."
"Oh, God," he cried.
Then The Voice continued, "Your father will call you in a few days and tell you that the odds are 50,000 to 1 that the doctors can save the left side of your face. Do not listen to him, for I am healing you." I do not remember a time in my life when I have been happier than I was that night lying in the middle of Beverly Glen Canyon with half of my face being held on by a thread, cradled in my dear friend's hands...."

Dahlstrom admits that some skeptics will insist she was merely "hearing things," and that they don't believe any story of help from beyond, but that's the point of the book...a look at faith and the power of believing.

At the moment her tome is available in eBook form only via her website, pattidahlstrombooks.com. Apparently it may eventually be sold as a traditional paperback. Ebooks, especially self-published ones, not only are free from editorial interference, but can be any length and any price. Her book is about 13,000 words (the length of three good-sized short stories). There's no padding here; it's a fast, fascinating read.

Patti's four record albums, and her best known songs, are not big on religious references, so this book does cover different terrain for fans expecting a memoir about songwriting, romance or her anecdotes about her later career as a teacher and expatriate living for a while in England. Hopefully she'll cover those topics in future books. Patti demonstrated long ago that she was excellent with lyrics, and a unique vocalist as well, and now, no surprise at all, she's proven to be an engaging, skillful writer...who can stir up both intellectual curiosity and pure emotion.

PAUL STANLEY of KISS: Tell-All Due April 8th

The last of the original four members of KISS to write an autobiography, Paul Stanley figures the best has been saved for last.

He's not a fan of the books by Gene Simmons, Peter Criss or Ace Frehley:

"After reading some of (Gene's book) and having been present at much of what went on in that book, it just wasn't accurate so I didn't read it. In the case of Peter or Ace, there is a reason that defense attorneys don't put alcoholics or drug addicts on the witness stand."

Paul's "FACE THE MUSIC: A LIFE EXPOSED" will be out on April 8th. He has a lot of hype to live up to. After all, he says he's not a fan of most any rocker autobiography: "95 percent of the autobiographies by any of my contemporaries would be better suited on a roll of soft paper, so at least you could use it for something."