Read along to The Rock Gods of Jackson, Tennessee with this epic playlist!
Comic writer Rafer Roberts (Grumble, Minecraft: Stories from the Overworld) shares some of the musical inspiration behind his newest action/adventure graphic novel, Rock Gods of Jackson, Tennessee. This epic saga taps into the nostalgia of teen angst and adolescence, rock and roll culture, and mutated pig monsters! Co-creators on this comic include artist Mike Norton (Grumble, Battlepug, Revival), colorist Allen Passalaqua (JSA, Batgirl and the Birds of Prey) and letterer CRANK! (Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters, Rick and Morty).
It’s 1989 and Marty Ward, Jackson, Tennessee’s number one juvenile delinquent, never wanted to join the Rock Gods. After all, who wants to play with nerds like Jonny, Lenny, and Doug? But after the high schoolers stumble into the gig of a lifetime–opening for local rock legend Tommi Tungstun–the four outcasts must put aside their differences and play together if they want to achieve their dreams of fame, freedom, and popularity. Standing in these future superstars’ way are: their parents, their teachers, a school full of jerks and bullies, a townful of bad bosses, sanctimonious preachers, corrupt politicians, each other, and a rampaging horde of mutated monsters tearing through Jackson and eating everything in their path.
Check out the playlist details below, and listen now on the Dark Horse Spotify channel!
The Rock Gods of Jackson, Tennessee can be ordered now and/or purchased at comic shops and bookstores. It is available on digital comics platforms as well. Amp up these epic tunes as you read along!
Playlist Intro by Rafer Roberts:
Comics take a long time to make and I have a short attention span, so every comic I write starts with a playlist. That playlist, played every time I sit down to work on that project, becomes like a hypnotic mantra pulling me into a consistent mental state to start working. It sounds way more pretentious than it is. It took a good long while to write The Rock Gods of Jackson, Tennessee, and even I have limits to how many times I can listen to the same song over and over. This playlist ballooned as I kept adding songs, but they’re all on there for a reason. Here’s some selected tracks and why they made the cut.
Rock Gods of Jackson, Tennessee – Listen on Spotify
“Wasted Years” — Iron Maiden
Finding the correct opening track is critical to the success of any writing project, especially since you’ll be listening to it A LOT. Wasted Years begins with a blistering guitar riff that never gets old and wakes up my brain like a heavy metal alarm clock. And, like all good songs, the lyrics seemed like they were written just for us:
“So understand / Don’t waste your time always searching for those wasted years / Face up, make your stand / And realize you’re living in the golden years.”
“Heavy Duty/Defenders of the Faith”— Judas Priest
If Wasted Years wakes me up, then Heavy Duty gets me to work. Singing along with the pure, unapologetic lyrics works like a daily affirmation, giving me the same unearned confidence as four high school kids who stumble unto the gig of a lifetime. Plus, “Rock Gods of Jackson, Tennessee” has the same syllable count as “We are defenders of the faith,” so you can change the lyrics if you want.
“I Think We’re Alone Now” — Tiffany; “Bust a Move” — Young MC
Moving away from the metal. The next few songs are for mental time-travel, so I can put on my headphones, close my eyes, and forget for a second that I’m not a kid anymore. For some folks, smell unlocks memories. For me, it’s music. Even though it’s a book about mutant pigs terrorizing a town, I didn’t want the kids to feel fake. I needed to remember what it actually felt like to be there then, the unvarnished pure emotional trash that only a song not heard since forever ago can dredge up. Not only were both of these songs INESCAPABLE the years they came out, and not only did I own both on cassingle, but I hadn’t heard either of them in decades. (Ask your parents about cassingles and make them feel old.)
“Trash” — New York Dolls
This felt like a song that Marty, The Rock Gods’ misunderstood juvenile delinquent guitarist, would’ve listened to… if he’d had actual musical taste. (Marty may like Winger, but I’m the one assembling this playlist.)
“The Jack” — AC/DC
A simple song that was easy to play, which meant it made it on my high school band’s set list. It’s the kind of song that The Rock Gods would play. One of the songs that most got on my nerves over time, to be honest. Maybe I should’ve gone with Big Balls.
“Oingo Boingo” — Weird Science
Sometimes the songs on the playlist actually relate to the plot of the thing I’m writing. There’s definitely some “weird science” going on at the cosmetics factory just outside of Jackson!
“Walk Like an Egyptian” and “Hazy Shade of Winter” — The Bangles
More time travel songs. When’s the last time you listened to The Bangles? They’re even better than you remember.
“Russian Folk Themes” and “Ode to Joy” — Pete Seeger
This is an admittedly long playlist; made for the longest single comic I’ve ever written. Like eating plain crackers or sniffing coffee grounds, sometimes you need a good palate cleanser to snap yourself out of any ruts you find yourself in. They’re also both used in Raising Arizona, which is a movie worth keeping in mind while writing.
“Gonna Find You” — Operation Ivy; Beastie Boys, “Fight For Your Right”
Any jerk can throw a bunch of songs together, but when I make a playlist, I pay attention to my song transitions.
“18 and Life” — Skid Row
Because I couldn’t bring myself to put any Warrant on the playlist. (Cinderella’s “Shelter Me” is also on the playlist, but I actually like that song.)
“Peace Sells” — Megadeth; Bobby McFerrin, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”
High school for me was a lot of ramped up, unmedicated emotion. A lot of highs and a lot of lows. Also, one of the better song transitions on the playlist.
“Holy Diver” — Dio
Besides being one of the best and most covered metal songs of all time, this seemed like a song for Jonny Duncan, preacher’s kid and drummer for The Rock Gods. At the very least, it’s definitely something that his parents would’ve punished him for listening to. How many times have you and your friends tried to make sense of these lyrics? Good luck!
“Fast Car” — Tracy Chapman; Motley Crue, “Kickstart My Heart”
A sad lament about unfulfilled dreams and plans gone awry followed by a joyous cacophony celebrating immortality and the joy of following one’s bliss. Also, BY FAR, the best song transition on the entire playlist. These two very different songs placed one after another creates an unexpected and ultimately rejuvenating emotional journey… something that we aimed for with The Rock Gods of Jackson, Tennessee.
“Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” — Starship; “War Pigs” — Black Sabbath
The plans of mice and men… and Rock Gods. It might be the superstitious gremlin that lives inside me talking, but that Starship song always sounded like they were asking for something to go wrong. The Rock Gods, despite overcoming their early difficulties and learning to work together as a band, find themselves once again tested when a rampaging horde of mutant pigs attacks the town.
“Joan Crawford” — Blue Oyster Cult
If you want to be a real rock band, you need a goofy song about a dead celebrity somewhere in your catalogue. Bonus points if that celebrity rises from the grave to wreak havoc. Musically amazing and lyrically ridiculous, Joan Crawford is exactly the kind of stuff that Lenny (Rock Gods’ bass player) would force the rest of the band to listen to. The Rock Gods’ one original song, titled “Jackie Gleason (ate your mom)” was very much inspired by this.
“Hot for Teacher” — Van Halen
Every drummer thinks they can play this. They can’t.
“Captain Terrific” — Neil Merryweather
A relatively unknown guitar virtuoso who I’d never heard of until a few years ago, Neil Merryweather probably should have found more success; he should’ve become a rock god. This song’s narrator breaks into Captain Terrific’s dressing room, steals his golden costume and mask, and leaves his fans crying for more. Sometimes talent isn’t enough, sometimes tenacity doesn’t pay off. But the question remains, why are you making music to begin with? Why make comics? Is it for the fame and fortune? If so, good luck to you and let me know when you find some. Maybe it’s enough simply to find joy in the act of creation? Maybe fame is a prison that creates expectations and puts limits on expression and should be avoided at all costs? Maybe art and music is all that separates us from the rampaging mutant pigs of ignorance and greed. A fine musical conclusion to one of Rock Gods’ running themes.
“We Close Our Eyes” — Oingo Boingo; Dead Milkmen, “Life is Shit”
Whether Rock Gods has a happy ending or a cynical one is up to the reader’s own view of life. Is the future a place where we’ve banded together to solve humanity’s problems, or are we all gonna get eaten by pigs? These are the big questions that we ask in The Rock Gods of Jackson, Tennessee, and we do it with the same sincerity as these two songs.
