Reading - January 2025

Reach for the Stars by Michael Cragg (2023)

An interesting companion to the Boybands Forever mini-series on the BBC I watched last year, this tells the same stories and more, in more depth. However, the oral history format, consisting primarily of quotes from those who were there, makes this a disjointed read, without any real narrative flow. It also feels like a book aimed at people who already know the basic stories already, and are keen for more inside details - which it definitely provides - rather than someone wishing to learn about the "manufactured" pop groups of the late 90s and early 2000s. Nevertheless, it's an interesting book and a good reminder that there was a lot of good pop around then. Sadly, it's also a reminder that the men behind the acts - and they were nearly all men - were and are horrible, manipulative, exploitative arseholes. There isn't an artist in here that doesn't have some sort of regret or tale of unpleasant behaviour from the likes of Louis Walsh, Simon Callow or their ilk. The luckiest of them have come through the other side, but there are definitely some who were swallowed up and spat out with no thought of their welfare or future. So ultimately this was a bit depressing, particularly ending as it did on the whole Popstars/Pop Idol/X-Factor egregiousness, which in making a spectator sport of other people's misfortune and misfortune, marked a real low point in entertainment culture.

Classic Tracks by Richard Buskin (2012)

The premise here - technical interviews with the engineers on classic tracks, as opposed to hearing from the artists themselves - is really good, the pieces themselves interesting and the book nicely put together. But the book's large, coffee table format makes it a physically awkward read, and it took me a while (years, in fact) to finish it. What makes the whole thing more annoying is my discovery, literally a couple of weeks ago, that all the pieces in the book were originally published in Sound On Sound magazine (this isn't mentioned anywhere in the book) and are available for free on their website, along with nearly 100 others. Not recommended in book form, but highly recommended on the web site!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)

Having watched the TV and film adaptations this month, I couldn't not go back to the original, and I'm pleased I did - a perennial favourite of mine, and I suspect it always will be.