Category: Books

Baxter Dury: Chaise Longue

Much is made of Baxter Dury’s famous father, but as he recounts his turbulent and, at times, frankly alarming childhood, it’s very much a tale of two parents, siblings, friends and the wildest collection of babysitters you might care to imagine.

As an author, his writing style is not unlike his songwriting, a dry and wry glance at the realities of the things that make or break you, no candy coating in sight. His early memories of Chiswick School sound like lyrics from an unreleased track, you can almost hear him vocalising about the teacher with ‘a frightening moustache and a fixed expression of contempt’, and his friend Patrick ‘the ultimate pathological kid’ though out of his depth when taken home to meet Baxter’s dad. To be fair to Patrick, you don’t generally find your mate’s parent sitting on a church pew on a balcony overlooking the Thames with a ‘six-foot-seven malodorous giant’ fondly known as the Sulphate Strangler.

Baxter’s mum, Betty, is as much a part of the story as the infamous Ian, both studied art and were taught by Peter Blake, their creativity later manifesting in different ways through painting, music and acting. It’s perhaps not surprising then that he would grow up to find himself in that same industry sector. What’s more surprising is that he made it through the endless scrapes and misadventures along the way in one piece to tell the tale.

While there’s no romanticism in his storytelling, it manages to recreate and reminisce about what feels like a long forgotten era where kids were largely left to their own devices and somehow developed a natural instinct for survival. Admittedly, most of us didn’t collect cowpats to throw at cars or end up in hospital having taken advantage of the copious amounts of drugs lying around the house, but then most of us weren’t left in the care of the Strangler and his fine culinary array of amphetamines and Special Brew.

The recollections flicker across time, their content at times both hilarious and poignant. I’ve always felt that his music has the power to make you laugh or cry, and often you don’t see the switch coming. With disarming openness, his memoir does the same. It’s a rollercoaster of a read, the sometime darkened lows pushed aside by the literal and figurative highs. We can only be grateful that he came to no harm after accidentally setting the Swatch shop alight with the volatile mix of a carelessly discarded joint and a bottle of white spirit, as in spite of (or perhaps because of) everything that’s gone before, the world of words and music is a better place for having Baxter Dury in its midst.

A no-holds-barred, confrontational and ultimately charming social documentary, this will doubtless be up there amongst the books of the year.

Chaise Longue is published by Little, Brown Book Group this Thursday 5th August 2021

Get the latest from Baxter Dury here

Review by Siobhan

3rd August 2021

Will Sergeant: Bunnyman 

Highly respected amongst his peers, much imitated amongst his successors, it’s easy to imagine that Will Sergeant was born with a natural gift for playing the guitar. His stories of early battles with broken strings and a super lack of confidence in his musical abilities should give hope to anyone starting out, his anecdotes of life before the Bunnymen, at times stark and far from glamorous, an insight into the realities of growing up without the privilege many artists have to hand today.

From the outset, it’s apparent that Sergeant is bringing two things to his memoir. One, an extraordinary memory for detail and two, a brutally honest representation of that detail. With no complaints or consideration that it was anything other than the norm, he talks of his father’s control of the household with candour, managing to breathe some humour into the tales of an ‘angry loveless family life’, a home that he nonetheless remained in with almost dismissive stoicism, and where he and Ian McCulloch later had their first session to ‘mess about with guitars, see what happens’.

Sergeant’s discovery of music and its impact on him is beautifully documented throughout, and begins from an early age… ‘Summer 1963. I am four years old. The Beatles are some way through their bid for world domination. On our radio, they belt out ‘Please Please Me’. My sister Carole is in the house, singing along to the transistor radio, or ‘tranny’. Other than nursery rhymes, this is my first memory of popular music.’

As the years creep by, he compiles a covetous list of gigs attended and bands seen. From early Status Quo to Joy Division, via Bowie, Devo and X-Ray Spex, the descriptions of the sweaty clubs and sense of belonging on finding like-minded friends will bring nostalgia for many.

His accounts of record shops, fashions and youth subcultures are equally on point and will paint a picture for anyone who remembers the eras he writes about. He describes the 70s’ skinhead and mod troupes impeccably, noting, ‘Skins would storm through the metal fence opening at the top of the road, looking for fish, chips and trouble’, while the scooter boys appeared in ‘a flotilla of chrome lamped and decked out scooters, whiplash aerials flexing and flicking tiger tails‘.

Bunnyman takes us through to the formation, debut gigs and early success of Echo and the Bunnymen, as Sergeant, McCulloch and Les Pattinson form a perhaps unlikely trio with a highly volatile drum machine making up the fourth member of the band, until a human drummer can be avoided no longer and Pete de Freitas joins to complete the group. Record releases, label signings and the honour of a Peel Session take things up a serious level as the band stake their place as an important piece of the burgeoning Liverpool scene. 

It’s a story with much more to tell. Whether Will Sergeant will return with a sequel or leave the rest to be told through the myth and memory of fans and the music press remains to be seen. Either way, this is a compelling walk through a hugely exciting and influential period in music, join him for a veritable trip down Villiers Terrace and back again in time for the dancing horses.

Bunnyman is published by Little, Brown Book Group this Thursday 15th July 2021

You can join Will on Twitter for musings about music, scooters and cocker spaniels 

Review by Siobhan

13th July 2021

John Cooper Clarke: I Wanna Be Yours

The tale of a young lad from Salford whose colourful life took some dark turns, where diction beats addiction and the hero battles with the heroin… I Wanna Be Yours is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a compelling read with highs and lows aplenty, in every sense of the phrase.

From the outset, Clarke gifts us with indicators of where he learned and developed the dry satire with which he made his name. Advice from his dad (‘Never leave a bookie’s with a smile on your face’), the family dentist whose name was Frankenstein, and his leap from Rupert the Bear annuals to waxing lyrical about Dostoevsky all sound like they could slot straight into his repertoire.

His descriptions of his surroundings conjure up the mysticism of the world seen through a child’s eyes; the Italianante building that housed their apartment with the West Side Story style fire escape, the chemist on the ground floor (‘a wearer of cravats, a drencher of colognes’), being traumatised by Vivien Leigh on a trip to the cinema with his mum, all culminating in his contracting TB aged 8 and a resultant recuperation period in Rhyl. Allowed to wander free until it fell dark, he was drawn to the fairground, ‘It was a zone of full-on sensory overload: the food had too much flavour, the light was too bright, the music too loud, the smell of onions all-pervading; everything was drenched in sugar and colour’. Music became as important as books and a happy combination of the two would eventually catapult him into his always intended career of professional poet.

Live at the Charter Theatre, Preston Guildhall, 2019
© Gary M Hough at allthecoolbandsphotography

Taking his punk-poetry to the stage, Clarke’s initial break famously came from the unlikely corner of Bernard Manning and moved on to him playing gigs with The Pistols and The Fall amongst many others. He also name-checks lesser remembered bands with exemplary monikers like Ed Banger and the Nosebleeds, and his mention of Johnny Rotten having ‘the complexion of a compulsive blood donor’ is typically sharp. It’s easy to see how some of the larger than life characters he encountered along the way might later have morphed into Vince the ageing savage, Salome Maloney and Gaberdine Angus in verse.

But if anyone thought he would skip over the extraordinary range of narcotics that interloped his rise to fame, they would be sorely mistaken. There are no holds barred as he unfolds his progression through every kind of fix imaginable, gun-toting deals, failed attempts at rehab and several short-lived dalliances with death. It’s always honest, never glorified and frankly a wonder that he’s still with us.

Live at Ropetackle Centre, Shoreham, 2017
© Siobhan at 16 Beasley St Photography

Thankfully, his ongoing survival has allowed poetry to crossover to many who would otherwise have rejected its once exclusive status. He references the importance of his English teacher, Mr Malone, making the class read poems aloud and how it taught him that, ‘The main consideration is what a poem sounds like. If it doesn’t sound any good, it’s because it isn’t any good’, a premise that went on to create the most notable bard of our time.

They say that every picture tells a story. Clarke takes that concept and turns it on its head as, from start to finish throughout the book, the words paint pictures so vivid you can see the Salford streets and smell the hair pomade. Take a dip into the weird and wonderful world of Dr John Cooper Clarke, he’ll be there if you want him, ninety degrees in his shades.

I Wanna Be Yours is published by Picador on 15th October 2020 and a UK tour is planned for next year – details for both here

Words by Siobhan

12th October 2020

Tim Burgess: One, Two, Another

’Life’s a bag of Revels, I’m looking for the orange one’ (Polar Bear, 1995)

If you’ve seen Tim Burgess playing live, solo or with The Charlatans, you’ll know that it’s inevitably a happy experience. It looks like he loves what he does, like it’s still fresh, still surprising, and that’s infectious. It’s no secret that things haven’t always been plain sailing but his performing, and now writing, is approached with an honesty that is refreshing and endearing; if this was a tale of fiction you’d be rooting for the lead character to come out on top. As it is, it’s real life and the same applies.

With the release of his third book One, Two, Another this week, we get another opportunity to jump into his world and hear the stories behind the lyrics. Covering over 70 tracks spanning his career, each set of lyrics is followed by a personal annotation of their background, some funny, some sad, some a gift to the trivia collector, all painting pictures that together form a fascinating diary of the last 30 years. Having covered the autobiographical element in his first book Telling Stories, then delved into his love of vinyl and record shops in Vinyl Adventures, Tim takes us behind the scenes of the words that we’ve all come to know and love, citing influences from Bob Dylan to Wu-Tang Clan.

Tim recalls reading the printed song lyrics in Smash Hits (a ritual familiar to all those of us growing up before Google became a default) and the process of writing and hearing people’s reactions to the end product, saying, ‘My songs have recurring themes: love, loss and euphoria, and many are dreamt up as smiley, throwaway oysters. But I never know what the pearl is until the audience sing along with me.’

There are many pearls in the catalogue and it’s great to read about everything from the trips across the States to the northern nightclub bouncers that all played a part in creating some of his best loved songs across the years. As you read the book you’ll want to dig out your records and fall into the safety net they offer, pulling in your personal nostalgia and memories of times past and loved ones lost and found to match his stories. There’s a lot of truth in the lines:
‘Here comes a soul saver
On your record player
Floating about in the dust’
(Here Comes a Soul Saver, 1995)

A past Record Store Day Ambassador, collaborator with his peers (he speaks in the book of achieving his ambition of working with Paul Weller on Spinning Out) and a constant champion of new artists, Tim’s more recent tracks and albums on his own and with The Charlatans play just as important a role in the story – and who knows what the future memories from these will be?

2017’s Plastic Machinery contemplates the feeling of being pulled into the political quicksand of the current climate:
’So, let’s just run
Even if only in our heads
Leave all of this behind
Unless we could stand still’
With his immediately recognisable guitar riffs featuring on the track, Johnny Marr comments, ‘Tim Burgess is a crusader and vinyl’s epic voyager. He knows why pop’s art, a culture and a cure. Learn and listen. He knows good things.’

Johnny’s right – clear your Sunday afternoon, dust down your turntable, grab a copy of the book and enjoy.

One, Two, Another is published by Little, Brown UK on Thursday 14th November 2019

Words by Siobhan

12th November 2019

Brett Anderson: Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn 

Taking a second plunge into the publishing world, Brett Anderson returns with his follow up memoir to its precursor Coal Black Mornings. Where his debut focused solely on the days before he was hurtled into the public eye as Suede became an improbable household name, Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn brings the next stage of the story, with a brutally honest look back at the band’s spiral to success and the pinnacles and pitfalls that inevitably came along for the ride.

Although he said this was the book he wouldn’t write, the opportunity for people to hear his own view rather the sensationalist click-bait of the headlines has brought about a change of heart. Brett describes reflecting on the period as akin to watching someone else living your life, noting that ‘it’s remarkable how hindsight can lend a clarity that at the time was beyond you’.

The book avoids the often touted glamorous tales of the music world as he talks of journeys supplemented with Silk Cut, Walkers crisps and Batiste dry shampoo. Something that is demonstrated often however is his love and respect for his bandmates past and present, whilst acknowledging the at times difficult relationships therein. The irony of recording Stay Together whilst the connection with Bernard Butler was starting to crumble is not lost; appearances on Top of the Pops and in puppet form on Spitting Image offer reminders of how Suede managed to break through to the mainstream despite, or perhaps because of, their insistence on doing things on their own terms.

© Phillip Williams 

For the music fan there are deep forays into the writing, production and performance of the songs. It is interesting to note the desire, even early on, for every musical footprint to be noteworthy, resulting in what he describes as ‘exiling classics to the wastelands of the flip side’ – the likes of My Insatiable One, He’s Dead and My Dark Star all allotted to what for most artists would be the lower echelon of the B-side. There is a clear understanding that whilst a flurry of hype will propel you into the public eye, it won’t hold your place if there is no substance to follow the fanfare.

The story can’t be told without addressing the demons of addiction that could so easily have dictated a much more desolate outcome. Again, there is no glamour or glitz attached to this period as Brett recalls ‘the substances becoming slowly harder, the evenings becoming slowly more humourless, the chances of escape from it all slowly less likely’. Thankfully there was an escape and there was enough strength in Suede as a collective to continue and move forward.

There are lighter notes throughout the book and times filled with humour and positivity. As a south coast dweller, it was lovely to hear mention of an early show at The Joiners Arms in Southampton, where Brett felt there was ‘a moment’ and recalls it as a pivotal point where the band and crowd were in the same headspace, feeling the same thing, the role of the audience so important in making everything worthwhile. (Happily, The Joiners hasn’t met the fate of many an independent venue and still exists to offer opportunities for smaller bands to play and build into something much bigger).

The book takes us to the break-up of the band in the highly anti-climactic setting backstage at The Graham Norton Show, a mark of success for some, the end of the road for Suede – in this innings at least.

© Pat Pope

With chapter names like Dogshit and Diamonds, Crouchenders and Anything can Happen in Life, Especially Nothing you know this will be no run of the mill music biography.

The leap from lyricist to author doesn’t always run smoothly but Brett has a natural skill for storytelling; he’s a compelling raconteur, a graphic scene-setter. The book offers a point of detailed reference for fans, and for any reader an insight into the disequilibrium of a band trying to make a dent on a music scene flooded with Britpop and imported rock ballads. If we didn’t know to some degree what happened next it might be a somewhat despondent ending. However, now that we’ve felt the aspirations fired by the Coal Black Mornings and spent disordered Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn, perhaps Brett will take us along on the next part of the journey and we can witness the evenings of Suede’s story in book number three…

Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn is published by Little, Brown UK tomorrow – 3rd October 2019

Photos with permission of the publisher and copyright of the photographer named

Words by Siobhan

2nd October 2019