Reading - September 2017

Wrapped In Tinsel by Margaret O'Neill (2000)

A short novella really, and a fantasy in all respects, from the impossibly perfect country hospital setting and the eccentric but good-hearted locals, to the beautiful heroine and rugged hero. No danger or doubt here but the characters are nice enough to make you care, and I liked that it was set in England.

North Face Of Soho by Clive James (2006)

In this fourth instalment of autobiography, we finally reach a part of Clive James's life in which he is doing things we know about - writing TV criticism and appearing on TV. What strikes me now, as well as (as always) the economy and elegance of his writing, is how busy he was. In addition to what was effectively a full time job writing for The Observer, he wrote plays, poetry, travel articles and more besides. It emphasises something I think is often minimised in autobiographies: the sheer amount of effort required to have achieved what is celebrated. Less stated, but clear, is that this was at the expense of seeing his family, something he appears to regret but nevertheless felt necessary. Witty and wise, this is a superb read.

The Guitar Magazine (Vol 29 No 01)

The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson (1989)

Bryson's first travel book, and only his second overall, but already possessing his distinct voice and tone. Manifestly not a guide book or even a particularly useful way of finding places to go, just a highly personal journey. I'm not a fan of travelling at all really, or even books about travelling, but I do like Bill Bryson.

Lunarbaboon by Chris Grady (2014)

Still funny and sweet. Nice breakfast-time reading.

Flying Visits by Clive James (1984)

A collection of travel pieces written for The Observer between 1976 and 1983. Wonderfully, now available online in its entirety, including two whole additional pieces that are not in my copy. Given that it was 29p second-hand, it's still great value for money, as is any Clive James book. His pithy phrasing was clearly transferred directly to his TV show, as was the casual "foreigner-ism" (it seems too innocent to call it racism, although many would) that dates it more than anything else.

Lunarbaboon 2 by Chris Grady (2015)

Contains two of my favourite LB cartoons, "Hugging" and "Spoil". Oh, and "Winner". "Nature/Nuture" is funny too. As is "Aspire". Oh, they're all good!

Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson (1991)

Bill does Europe. Necessarily a bit more fragmented than The Lost Continent (which I have in the same volume), since it covers more countries, but funny and interesting.

This Is Pop by Ed Jones (1999)

Subtitled "The Life and Times of a Failed Rock Star" and purporting to show what life is like for the majority of bands who never make it, the irony is that The Tansads (shit name) got a lot further than most bands ever do: a record deal and three albums. Nevertheless the catalogue of disagreements, frustrations, annoyances, disappointments and very occasional highlights will be familiar to everyone who's been in a band. Actually my experiences in bands have been mostly positive, but it's only ever been a hobby for me. And I find it hard to believe that the highlights for Ed Jones were so few and far between as they appear to be here, otherwise why carry on for four years? Still, he clearly feels aggrieved, as the book was written as a combination of catharsis and revenge - primarily against The Tansads' band leader, who Jones regards as responsible for much of the failure - but he has enough self-awareness and intelligence to make it an amusing and enjoyable read.

Reading - August 2017

Soccernomics by Simon Kuper & Stefan Szymanski (2014)

An oddly interesting (even to a non fan) statistical analysis of various facets of what the authors insist on calling "soccer" (although, to be fair, this is the US edition), following the similar approach taken in baseball and described in Michael Lewis's Moneyball (which I now intend to read, despite having even less interest in or knowledge of baseball than I do of football). Also has the longest subtitle of any book I have read: Why England Loses, Why Spain, Germany, and Brazil Win, And Why The US, Japan, Australia - And Even Iraq - Are Destined To Become The Kings Of The World's Most Popular Sport. (spoiler: England lose because they're a relatively small country.)

The Guitar Magazine (Vol 28 No 12)

Bedlam by Christopher Brookmyre (2013)

For some reason I had it at the back of my head that I hadn't fully followed the plot of this, despite being, on third (or fourth) reading, pretty straightforward. Enjoyable stuff as always.

The Time Traveller's Guide To Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer (2012)

This second instalment in Mortimer's Time Traveller's series is as well-researched as the first and equally capable of setting the scene. Yet I found myself struggling to finish it. I think history's not really my thing. Nevertheless, I'm pleased I read it, since it is interesting to see how things have changed.

The Rough Guide To The Titanic by Greg Ward (2012)

The subject of the Titanic came up in conversation with B and so I felt like re-reading this.

White Picket Fences by Tara Taylor Quinn (2000)

A sweet (aren't they all?) romance, albeit with a few too many trailers to the next installment in the series, and a few too many soap-opera-like entanglements. But the main characters are engaging and the story satisfying.

Make Room For Daddy by Andrea Edwards (1990)

Comfort reading. Love conquers all. Awww.

Uncommon People: The Rise And Fall Of The Rock Stars by David Hepworth (2017)

David Hepworth is a superb writer of opinion pieces. His stock-in-trade is the long essay, whether it's for a quality daily, a publishing weekly or his own blog. Here he tackles a book length discussion of the state of the rock star by breaking it into individual pieces about various examples of the type (Lennon, Bowie, Dylan, Elton, etc), each illustrating a facet of the condition. The central contention - that the age of rock stars is over - feels like a sop to the need for publicity rather than a genuine point to be made. Meanwhile the structure of a chapter per year, required to allow Hepworth to write his trademark essays, is sometimes forced. So despite each chapter being a good example of his distinctive style and ideas, as a book it feels somewhat disjointed; a collection of articles rather than a cohesive whole.

Follow Me Home by Leona Karr (1998)

Stand-In Mum by Marie Ferrarella (1999)

Heiress Apparent by Kayla Daniel (1993)

Seduced In Seattle by Kristin Gabriel (2002)

There was a shelf of books to read on holiday, which was nice, but most were very unappealing, so I ended up bingeing on lightweight category romances (including Heiress Apparent, which I actually brought with me). They're easy to read and mostly nice enough, but they're short and in many cases written by people who don't write professionally (or, at least, not much), since some obvious mistakes are made, obvious even to me. In particular, viewpoint switching in the middle of sections - and sometimes mid-paragraph - is something I find extremely grating. Still, the book equivalent of all the doughnuts I ate over the week away - nice at the time but leaving a slight pall of regret.

Bad Boy by Olivia Goldsmith (2001)

A bit cliched with respect to how girls prefer bad boys, and the reverse Pygmalion thing is a bit obvious, but well written. Clearly intended to be a film although it didn't seem to become one.

Shock And Awe: Glam Rock And Its Legacy

Simon Reynolds
2016

This substantial book - almost 700 pages - was a very welcome surprise birthday present from my good friend and all-round Bowie nut Brian. It's nothing if not thorough in its coverage of the subject, covering the bands themselves and reaching out into all sorts of related areas to examine the wider impact glam rock had on the music that followed.

So, who was "glam"? The inside cover lists the artists covered. It's a short list - and of the twenty-six names, a quarter aren't glam at all, but formative influences, broadly concurrent acts or later ones. There's about half a dozen bands that could really be considered "glam" - and of these, David Bowie, whose name runs through the book as if it was a stick of rock, is arguably not glam anyway, and certainly not after about 1973.

There's plenty of material about the core glam bands - primarily the ChinniChap acts - and lots about the Bowie adoptees Mott The Hoople, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop. But despite the length of the book, I'm left with the impression that, actually, there wasn't much of an impact at all. Glam rock was a short-lived phenomenon in a small environment. In much the same way that punk was primarily a well-publicised but very localised movement, glam created a lot of media fuss for all the usual reasons - outrage, novelty - but surprisingly little output or lasting effect.

It's an interesting, if somewhat rambling, read, and I enjoyed it, but am left with the feeling that there's a shorter, more relevant book struggling to get out.

Reading - July 2017

The Guitar Magazine (Vol. 28 No. 11)

A slight rebrand (or rerebrand, since it's gone back to its original name) but no reset for volume or issue numbers.

Shock And Awe: Glam Rock And Its Legacy by Simon Reynolds (2016)

Long at half the length.

Reading - June 2017

Guitar & Bass (July 2017 / Vol 28 No 10)

The Week (3 June 2017 / Issue 1127)

The problem with the daily news media is that it's obsessed with what's happening right now, when in fact the real stories often takes days or even weeks to emerge. And the problem with daily newspapers is the same, plus that they are universally awful, full of acres of space-filler advertorials and unnecessary opinion pieces - and that's without mentioning the overt and appalling bias of nearly all of them, and their increasingly desperate delusions of relevance.

When I discovered The Week about six years ago, it seemed like the ideal answer - just the most important facts about the most important stories, each week. It's still the best news digest I've come across, but this is my last one. It's expensive for what it is - over £100 a year for a slim magazine each week - and it's not exactly a digest of the week's news; it's a digest of the week's news media. This means that alongside the actual news item, we get a summary of how it was reported, and as much space is given to the hot air produced by the rent-a-quote whores in rags like the Daily Mail or The Sun, as to more considered opinions in the Torygraph or the Grauniad.

Even in this compressed form, I'm tired of the predictable and tedious bias. I'd rather just have the facts. These days, I find myself skimming the BBC News site a couple of times a day; it's balanced (if you disagree, all you're really saying is you wish it was more weighted towards your opinion), well presented and informative. And free.

BBC Radio 6 Music's Alternative Jukebox (2014)

Presumably, "well compiled, written and designed" is too mainstream.

Memoirs Of A Fruitcake by Chris Evans (2010)

This second volume covers what what was probably Chris Evans' most notorious period in the public eye - from buying Virgin Radio, to taking over the Radio 2 breakfast show. He's obviously had some great times and some bad times, and worked hard and played hard. He skims over the bad times and the hard work, and gives us lots of vignettes about the good times and the play. Each chapter is short and easily digestible. Great fun, doesn't outstay its welcome and more than a little envy-inducing.

BBC Radio 6 Music's Alternative Jukebox

Lloyd Bradley (writer)
2014

Presumably, "well compiled, written and designed" is too mainstream

BBC 6 Music has been called a "dedicated alternative music station", although it prefers to describe its music policy as including the "cutting edge" and "ground-breaking" music of today and the past. Unfortunately, defining any of these terms is a bit like nailing jelly to a wall. Jeff Smith and James Stirling (respectively, Head of Music and Editor at 6 Music) give it a bash in the introduction by referring to an "alternative spirit", but this hardly improves our understanding.

The patchiness of the choices doesn't help us either. Giant mainstream hits rub shoulders with wilfully obscure world music. Obvious tracks that form the bedrock of today's "indie" mentality are overlooked in favour of below-par album tracks. It's all very odd.

For example, the only Velvet Underground track included is "Who Wants The Sun", a trite piece of pop whimsy from Loaded. Granted, that's an alternative to the usual VU classics, but not a very good one. If someone's coming to "alternative" music for the first time, they'll need to know about "Venus In Furs" and "I'm Waiting For My Man" - or, if you must, "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll". Listening to "Who Wants The Sun" won't give any insight into an alternative spirit, or into why VU are so revered.

There are a number of selections from 6 Music presenters but otherwise no mention is made of who chose these tracks. However, poor Lloyd Bradley was clearly then handed a giant playlist and given the daunting task of saying something meaningful about each one. Too many of the brief write-ups are ham-fisted and it seems clear that he was struggling; there's no NME cliche left on the shelf, or trite observation left unsaid.

So a patchy selection is then poorly served by what's written about them. To cap it all off, the design and layout of the book appears to have been done by sixth formers who have just discovered clip art. It's a bit tacky, a bit cheap and a lot unsuitable.

There are many tracks here I've not heard before and working my way through the playlist on Spotify is good fun. But the book is below par. Just listen to the songs.

Reading - May 2017

The Week (29 April 2017 / Issue 1122)

Guitarist (June 2017 / Issue 420)

I've been buying Guitarist since the mid-80s, apart from a break in the early 90s, and I've been a subscriber since the late 90s. I still have all of the issues - over 20 years worth of reviews, interviews and general guitar porn. I hate to think or calculate how much I've spent on the magazines. But this is my last one - I cancelled the subscription. I don't need two guitar-related titles a month, and Guitar & Bass is more interesting, varied and in-depth. I'm also going through the back issues prior to recycling them. It's kind of sad (possibly in both meanings).

Guitar & Bass (June 2017 / Vol 28 No 09)

The Week (6 May 2017 / Issue 1123)

It's Not What You Think by Chris Evans (2009)

I'm not a big fan of autobiographies (or biographies, for that matter), and one of the reasons is that too many of the subjects are long on their own magnificence and short on their sheer luck. Chris Evans' first volume is refreshingly different in this respect. Without selling himself short, he's quick to acknowledge how fortunate he's been - in his friends, his timing, and his talents. He's clearly worked hard and long to achieve what he has, and it hasn't been without sacrifices; he's a study in the truth of the maxim "the harder you work, the luckier you get". An enjoyable read, made more so for me by the fact that he clearly wrote it himself.

The Week (13 May 2017 / Issue 1124)

The Week (20 May 2017 / Issue 1125)

The Time Traveller's Guide To Medieval England by Ian Mortimer (2009)

This seems to me to be a genuinely innovative approach to history (not that I've investigated this extensively), and one that makes it a lot more accessible. There's an amazing amount of historical detail and research here, but by wrapping in the approximate form of a guide book, Mortimer has made it much easier to digest.

The Week (27 May 2017 / Issue 1126)