Over the years Channel 3 (or CH3 as I like to refer to them) have been keeping things going right along with the bands they came up with like TSOL and The Adolescents. Their  landmark e.p. on Poshboy Records remains a classic and they appear on the second  Rodney On The Roq album and CD collection. They continue to tour all over the world and  when fans go to see them they know they are in for a great show and a fun evening.  Singer, songwriter, guitarist and original member Mike Magrann has written an interesting  book telling his life story growing up in Cerritos mixed with the adventures he had on a  summer tour with the band. Many rockers have written books over the years but Magrann’s  has a little more going for it as he goes back and forth between his upbringing with family  and friends and spilling the tea about being on tour. “I’ve been meaning to write a long form  piece for years, the covid lockdown kinda forced it on me!” Mike laughs. “I thought it would  be different to write it as a fictional novel with real characters and events involved, ya  know?” 

I was a little confused about what the author meant by “fictional novel with real  characters” but in the book he mentions that there was a spiral bound pad passed around  the van with notes from all the members. “I used the actual tour journal as the starting  point and framing device,” he explains. “I just might have used different episodes from  different tours and combined them into that one summer.” 

The stuff about growing up is interesting as Magrann pulls no punches and as a child from a  mixed marriage he mentions racism and how he sometimes didn’t deal with it as he maybe  should have when he was young. I am around the same age as Mike and a lot of the  episodes he reveals seem very familiar. Going to a friend’s house and listening to The  Monkees and then a few years later graduating to listening to “Violation” by Starz. Going to  rock concerts to see Aerosmith only to end up a few years later seeing bands up close at  clubs in Hollywood. And if you were in a touring band on the punk scene then Mike’s road  tales will be familiar as well. 

Mike tells some raucous tales, a lot of them involving drinking large amounts of cheap  beer, but thanks to a good memory of legendary times he manages to spin some excellent  yarns. All with the blessings of his bandmates. “I did get clearance from the 5 principal  characters who were in the van, and I didn’t think I needed to go into really dirty details to  paint a picture of those days,” he explains. “I just wanted to convey the feeling, the  excitement of the times.” 

I couldn’t finish this review without mentioning Mike’s “other half” in CH3 and that person  being his childhood chum and musical partner for decades Kimm Gardener. Kimm really  comes off like the commonsense guy of the band and every successful band needs one to  survive. In many ways this book is about their lasting friendship. “Funny, I have a pretty  clear memory of the places and people back then, even if I was blackout drunk a lot,” Mike  laughs. “But I thought it was more about the story of friendship and adventure than just  listing the facts, dates and gigs and all that.” This book is all that more.