With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Music reviews, gig reviews, fun trivia and extra added random stuff!

‘An Anarchy Of Demons’ – Charlie Harper October 11, 2025

Filed under: Book,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 8:36 pm
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Punk icon Charlie Harper published a long awaited autobiography last month on Earth Island Books. The rather excellent foreword is by Lars Frederiksen (of Rancid), and the cover art is by Steve Dann. It details his long and colourful life against a supremely well put together social history of the UK music scene and the formation and development of punk rock. Even if you are not a UK Subs fan, but simply a music fan or punk fan you will love this book. Charlie regularly fires both barrels and rarely pulls his punches this memoir is often brutally honest. The details of so many UK Subs gigs are included. If there is anything missing it is perhaps more information about the UK Subs songs and how they were created, maybe he has saved that for another book.

Charlie is not a music historian but he knows his own story intimately and all the many things that were happening around him. The birth of rock ‘n’ roll, the sixties, the rise of punk (and its continued development) are all stars of the book. There are some wonderful vignettes, I particularly loved the piece on Rod Stewart giving Charlie a harmonica lesson in a London club in the sixties. Harper gives a fantastic and at times forensic insight into the UK Subs history. Studio stories, gig tales, highs and sometimes rather deep lows. The carousel of UK Subs members is extensively detailed. Charlie’s early life and memories of Britain’s cultural history starting at the tail end of World War Two help to explain to a small degree how punk came to be. I believe that Charlie being older than many of his punk peers makes him more authentic, he really does “mean it, man!”

The book includes many previously unseen photographs from Charlie’s life. This adds even more authenticity, which enhances the volume perfectly. There is no definitive or strict timeline to the UK Subs gigs that are covered, but for me this adds to the charm of the book. It stands at just shy of 480 pages, although mostly doesn’t feel too long. This is helped by having some really short chapters, there are nearly 140. Some might say it could be edited a little more, but then it wouldn’t capture the ragged edges of punk, the UK Subs and Charlie nearly so well. Treat yourself to this tale of a life well lived!

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‘Your Band Is A War Machine’ – Andy Watson August 21, 2025

Filed under: Book,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 7:51 pm
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At the end of last year I reviewed Andy Watson’s book ‘Total Cover Band Domination’ which is in effect a manual about the best way to build, manage and make your covers band more successful. His new book ‘Your Band Is A War Machine’ takes things to the next level. If the earlier book was a GCSE level tome the new one definitely sits at A Level. As regular readers know, I am not a musician and have never been in a band, but I have always been passionate about music and probably always will be. I have met plenty of musicians who have spent time in covers bands and while they all have different levels of commitment and passion there cannot be many with the same level of passion for his covers band that Andy Watson has.

The advice in the new book is even more practical than the first, in particular the element of getting paid and negotiating gigs and contracts. I also love some of the heckles he has experienced and the advice given as to how to handle different types of heckler. My favourite quote from that part is the heckler riposte “Who ordered the Screaming Bellend with extra bitterness“. There are some obvious bits of advice, like being polite to all venue staff. It seems simple but I am sure there are a few bands that are a bit up themselves and think they are better than other people. Andy gets it and gives you the lowdown on how to behave to build the best relationship with other people.

Andy writes with clarity, confidence, passion and he does it all in an easy to understand conversational manner. This book seems to add more detail than the previous one when talking about keeping the band together, not just through rehearsals but debriefing, band socials and agreeing a fair share of income based on effort and input. i was a mobile DJ for more than thirty years (now retired) and some of this advice even resonated with me too. Particularly agreeing and confirming a fee and ensuring that you get paid on time. Along perhaps with making sure you refresh your playlists regularly so that you never stop having something fresh to hit the crowd with.

If you are in a covers or tribute band (or even a non covers or tribute band) investing just a few quid in this book will be prove to be very much worth your while. You can get the e-book for £6, the paperback for £15 and the hardback for £22. The easiest way to get your copy is via the yourwarmachine.com website, just click here to zoom straight there and tell Andy I sent you!

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‘The Closest Thing To Crazy’ – Mike Batt June 1, 2025

Filed under: Book,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 9:44 pm
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I love a good music related autobiography, but I love a great one even more. Mike Batt‘s autobiography, ‘The Closest Thing To Crazy – My Life Of Musical Adventures’, is out now in paperback and it is a truly great read. I put this up there with my favourite musical tale of life ‘Rod : The Autobiography’. Mike Batt has had a career full of stellar highs and Stygian lows and he has come through it all and continues to produce some great music. I am sure that many casual music fans will think of Mike as the bloke behind the Wombles incredible collection of hit songs. They would be right, however he has achieved so much more than that. He has worked with such a talented range of people in the rock and pop world, including David Essex, Art Garfunkel, Family, Roger Daltrey, Cliff Richard, Captain Sensible, Hawkwind, Olly Murs, Justin Hayward and the Kursaal Flyers.

His song writing credits would come close to filling a book in their own right. How about “Bright Eyes” (Art Garfunkel) and “A Winter’s Tale” (David Essex) for starters. He also produced one of my all time favourite singles, “Little Does She Know” by the Kursaal Flyers. But it doesn’t stop there he is a renowned classical conductor and composer who has worked with some of the world’s biggest and most respected orchestras. He has helped break Vanessa Mae and Katie Melua into the mainstream, effectively launching their careers.

He is the man who created a fabulous musical odyssey from Lewis Carroll’s nonsense long poem “The Hunting Of The Snark”. The recording of these songs from the 80s have stood the test of time perfectly, and if it wasn’t for the perhaps jealous bunch of bastards that call themselves theatre critics the stage musical version might well have been a huge success. For me what shines through in this book is Mike’s positivity, even in the face of adversity. Although he has faced some incredibly hard times dealing with the black dog of depression. Now in his eighth decade he is showing no signs of slowing down either.

As a teenager I felt that the Wombles songs just weren’t cool enough for me, but as I got older I realised that I probably wasn’t cool enough for the Wombles. Every Wombles hit has aged incredibly well in my opinion. Particularly “Remember You’re A Womble”. That one sits perfectly in any glam rock playlist from 73-74. I have listened to a massive range of Mike’s work while reading the book. The Wombles of course, but also ‘The Hunting Of The Snark’ and his solo work, I loved delving back into his early solo albums ‘Schizophonia’ (1977) and ‘Caravans’ (1979).

He is a man who once said no to the Queen and still received a very special honour from her. You will find more details of those escapades in the book! He has been a board member on the BPI, the PRS and the Ivors. The world of music is most definitely better off with people like Mike Batt in it. This book is testament to his grit, determination, creativity and talent.

I have followed some of Mike’s activities on social media and as in the book his sense of humour shines through there too. His profile description on Twitter is classy and amusing. “Artist/Singer/Songwriter/Producer/Composer/Director etc. I’ve conducted more orchestras than you can shake a stick at“. There are way too many wonderful anecdotes in the book to mention. But a couple of Womble ones spring to mind. His Mum hand made all the Wombles costumes and he and his wife once dressed as wombles to go to a party at Rod Stewart’s where they serenaded the guests with Christmas carols. Also the piece about not knowing how to do coke at another Rod Stewart party made me chuckle out loud.

If you read just one autobiography this year I strongly recommend that you make it Mike’s book ‘The Closest Thing To Crazy’. You will not regret it! It is an easy read and I finished it in two days, so I suppose Mike can add writer to his long list of credits now! You can order the book from Amazon, just click here! Also I had a wonderful chat with Mike about the book earlier today. The audio of that conversation will be appearing here very soon!

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‘Why Britain Rocked’ – Elizabeth Sharkey March 9, 2025

Filed under: Book,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 9:09 pm
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Most people, particularly Americans, assume (or are absolutely certain) that rock and roll began as a distinct musical style in the United States during the mid-1950s. It drew heavily from rhythm and blues, blues, jump blues, boogie-woogie, up-tempo jazz, and swing music. Clearly some elements of its make up existed earlier in the 20th Century but it began its continued rise with the likes of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Fats Domino, among others. But what if that history was wrong, or didn’t go far enough? This is the premise of a wonderful new book from Elizabeth Sharkey. It is called ‘Why Britain Rocked – How Rock Became Roll and Took Over The World.’ She traces the history of rock music back to points hundreds of years earlier. The evidence she has uncovered suggests that rock music has its true roots in Scottish and Irish folk music and African music. Eventually the two styles and histories met in Appalachia as the Scots and Irish immigrants headed west and freed slaves of African descent made their way north to states that were more open the end of slavery. This history takes a journey that includes Henry VIII, the Celts, Bob Dylan, the Quakers, and Paul Robeson to mention just a fraction of the people and lives included.


Elizabeth is a music historian, author, columnist, and media commentator. The research she has undertaken for the book looks like it took years, and it looks incredibly thorough. As to why Elizabeth authored the book she said “Growing up, music was everything to me: my home, my thrill, my escape, and my understanding of the world. If you love certain songs or pieces of music to the very core of your soul – then you might, as I was, be curious to look a little deeper into just why, how, such magic came to be.” When I saw her in Pocklington as part of the book launch tour, she also said that her curiosity was piqued as to how British bands were able to take on “American” music so readily and so skilfully in the early sixties. She argues that this is highly likely because it was already in our musical DNA via generations of handed down songs.


The book covers a huge spectrum of the history from incredibly early folk music to modern pop and murder ballads. The latter are narrative songs that often explore themes of justice, revenge, and the consequences of violence. Often the songs protagonist is killed by another of the songs characters with revenge a regular motif. Usually, the murder might have arisen through a love gone wrong and jealousy. When I saw her speak, I was quite amused when Elizabeth suggested that in fact Benny Hill’s huge UK hit from 1971 “Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)” is a murder ballad. I believe that she is correct. It has two men vying for the love of one woman. One suitor kills the other and the murdered character comes back to haunt the living.


I can imagine that many Americans and music scholars might see the book as some kind of music blasphemy. But that would be just to protect their own entrenched positions. Having read the book I am convinced that Sharkey has an extraordinarily compelling argument and the more music I listen too the more I can hear the “forgotten” histories she writes about. The book is quite easy to read given that in some ways it leans towards academia. I love that she has added a brief playlist at the end of each chapter in the book. But even better than that she has created them all as extend playlists on Spotify. As a result, I have listened to songs that I haven’t listened to for years and some that I don’t believe that I have ever heard. I have embedded one of those playlists, my current favourite, below. Classic Rock magazine described the book as “a treasure trove of exploration, academic rigour and a welcome, bold attempt at re-framing the history of British pop music.” It would be hard not to agree with that summation. I would add that I believe that this book should be made compulsory reading for all music journalists and anyone studying rock music. I am also intrigued as to where Sharkey might go with her next book. Has she already begun researching for it? After reading ‘Why Britain Rocked’ I will definitely read whatever comes next from Elizabeth Sharkey! In the meantime if you would like to order a copy of ‘Why Britain Rocked’ just click here!

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‘Hope I Get Old Before I Die: Why Rock Stars Never Retire’ – David Hepworth March 3, 2025

Filed under: Book,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 8:45 pm
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David Hepworth is a talented, world class music journalist. He began his career in journalism writing for the NME and Sounds (two of the classic UK music “inkies”). He joined Smash Hits magazine in 1979, and having turned it around financially and made it profitable, became its editor. He was behind the launch of a number of very successful music related magazines including, two of my favourites, Q (1986) and Mojo (1993). He has written for the UK newspaper The Guardian. He was a presenter of the long running BBC music show The Old Grey Whistle Test. He has been on other TV productions too, more of that later. Hepworth has also written some great books about music and the social history associated with it. I have read many of them; ‘Never a Dull Moment: 1971 The Year That Rock Exploded’ (2016), ‘Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars 1955-1994’ (2017), ‘A Fabulous Creation: How the LP Saved Our Lives’ (2019), and ‘Overpaid, Oversexed and Over There: How a Few Skinny Brits with Bad Teeth Rocked America’ (2020)

Now he has a new book, ‘Hope I Get Old Before I Die: Why Rock Stars Never Retire’. This is a tome that describes rock music’s third act. This is the sense that rock and roll never died, as predicted in the fifties and early sixties, but neither did so many of the young people (mostly men) that played a part in rock’s continued longevity. Back in 1965 when a 21 year old Roger Daltrey sang a 20 year old Pete Townshend’s classic line, “I hope I die before I get old” in the Who’s biggest hit single in the 60s, “My Generation” who might have guessed that they would still be performing the song in the 21st century. Daltrey is now 81 and Townshend is 79. Hepworth was one of the anchor’s of the broadcast of Live Aid in 1985. Hepworth’s new book begins at Live Aid with the sight of Paul McCartney closing the British leg of the show. Macca was seen as the grand old man of rock. Back then he was just 43. Now, 25 years into the 21st century we have many rock stars that are way beyond pensionable age. This is definitely not something most of us imagined back in the 60s and 70s. As a result many rock stars have become a part of the establishment with many receiving knighthoods and other royal honours.

I have loved all the books by David Hepworth that I have read so far, especially this new one. I love his take on the world of music and his immense depth of knowledge of the subject. Many times I have pondered on the fact that rock stars are living to ripe old ages and still performing and producing new music. In some cases this music is the finest of their long careers. Will today’s younger rock stars last as long as the rock ‘n’ roll pension brigade? I suspect that they will and I think Mr. Hepworth believes the same. In fact he talks of the possibility of technology giving rock stars a kind of immortality. Take a look at Abba Voyage for example. If you love great music, great music writing and if you have ever pondered about how rock stars are getting so old you will love this book! Click on Diversion Books to find a place to buy it for yourself!

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‘Total Cover Band Domination’ – Andy Watson November 7, 2024

Filed under: Book,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 7:46 pm
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OK, I am not in a cover band, or any other kind of band. Hell, I don’t even play a musical instrument. But for many years I have been writing about music, and as a result I have met plenty of musicians, bands and solo artists including some that do or have performed in cover and tribute bands.

Andy Watson, author of a new book, ‘Total Cover Band Domination’ has been fronting a covers band for years so I reckon he knows his stuff. He has used his experience in putting together this great manual to help improve the chances of success for your covers or tribute band. Some of the advice might seem obvious; being polite and courteous for example. But in my own experience I find it surprising that there are still a number of people in the music industry that never seem to operate in a polite way.

Andy writes in a conversational and easy to read style and like some of the best text and management books ‘Total Cover Band Domination’ utilises white space really well. The book covers everything that you need to know as a covers or tribute band. From dealing with hecklers to insurance, via rehearsals and getting paid and so much more. I believe that there are plenty of lessons for bands in general here, not only covers and tribute bands. As a mobile DJ for more than thirty years (now retired) some of this advice resonated with me too. Particularly agreeing and confirming a fee and ensuring that you get paid on time.

Depending on where you are on your covers band journey you might not need to read this book from cover to cover. But Andy has designed it so that you can cherry pick the bits that matter to you. He has also included parts that relate to covers bands in Australia, Canada and the USA. I read this book while on holiday in Lanzarote and interestingly the hotel had a few musicians performing through the week, including an Abba covers duo called Abba Inferno. This was two talented singers (Grace and Georgia) singing to some well put together backing tracks, their dancing was spot on too. Anyway, maybe Abba Inferno could invest in Andy’s fine book, it might help them get to some bigger venues in the Canary Islands.

Bill Drummond and Jim Cauty (who many will know as the KLF, the JAMMs and the Timelords) once produced the now legendary book ‘The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way)’ back in 1988 It was a step-by-step guide to achieving a No. 1 single with no money or musical skills, and something the duo followed themselves to have huge success with the Timelords single “Doctorin’ the Tardis”. (A number 1 in the UK and New Zealand. If Cauty and Drummond pulled that off then I reckon Andy’s book will allow covers bands to achieve much higher levels of success. If you are in a covers or tribute band investing just a few quid (£19.95) in this book will be very much worthwhile.

Find out more about the book at ultimatesurvivalguides.com and to make it even easier for you click here to buy it directly from the site.

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‘Rebel Girl – My Life As A Feminist Punk’ – Kathleen Hanna August 24, 2024

Filed under: Book,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 2:16 pm
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I have described music autobiographies as brutally honest before, but I don’t think I have ever read one this fierce in its candour. At times it feels like Hanna is exposing all her open life wounds. She talks of abuse, rape, misogyny, confidence, and how Riotgrrrl came to be. She is very clear that Riotgrrrl was not perfect but it did open doors for many women and girls to think differently about life and playing music. The abuse she suffered including rape might have finished many people but she came out the other side much stronger. Obviously, she speaks a lot about her career in music with Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and the Julie Ruin. I have subsequently rediscovered much of that since reading the book and it has aged well. Kathleen Hanna is a hugely talented musician and the book shows her to be a wonderful human being who, unlike many of us, is aware of her flaws and turns them into strengths. Even the little anecdotes and trivia are interesting, particularly her not left for Kurt Cobain which said that “Kurt smells like teen spirit”. Whatever happened to that phrase? If you read no other autobiographies please read this one.

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‘Dark Luminosity: Memoirs of a Geezer, the expanded edition’ – Jah Wobble May 6, 2024

Filed under: Book,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 9:29 pm
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The original publication of Jah Wobble’s memoirs, ‘Confessions Of A Geezer’ was in 2009. Sadly that release passed me by. But I am pleased to say that Mr Wobble a.k.a. John Wardle has extensively updated his work and retitled the book ‘Dark Luminosity: Memoirs of a Geezer, the expanded edition’. It is a fascinating tale of the life of a true Geezer. Wobble speaks extensively of growing up in the melting pot of east London, football, family, friends, and of course, music. I believe he is 100% honest throughout, sometimes brutally so, particularly with respect to his alcohol addiction. There is a kind of classic diarist element in how the book flows, like maybe a 21st-century Samuel Pepys. It strikes me that Wobble is incredibly loyal to people that he cares about and that is highly apparent when speaking of his wife Zin Lan and his children, and Tyson his sadly departed beloved Staffie. He is not afraid to reveal his emotions, particularly about his first marriage and the loss of many close friends. He also shows a blinding loyalty, like many long-suffering football fans, to his team, Tottenham.

The mythology around the four Johns (Wardle, Lydon, Ritchie, and Grey) is nicely put to bed, particularly in the lead-up to Wardle’s music career kicking off with the advent of PiL. The first time I ever heard Wobble’s monumental bass sound was in the opening to the iconic debut single from Public Image Ltd, the almost eponymously named “Public Image”. Wobble’s bass line explodes at the start of the track and provides the perfect bed to Levene’s tasty guitar work and Lydon’s angry, sneering vocal. One thing that is abundantly clear is that Wobble was never content to stick with that post-punk sound that he is so good at, he has branched out into almost every style of music imaginable; jazz, techno, trance, folk, classical, spoken-word, and world music styles that include input from China, Africa, Thailand, and Europe to name just a few. He has many influences and has been lucky enough to work with a huge number of musicians that he has respected and admired. I have trawled across his prolific output while reading the book, and while sometimes quantity doesn’t mean quality, it certainly does with the Jah Wobble back catalogue.

Wardle is an absolute master of sarcasm, mild cynicism, and wit and seems to be someone who really enjoys his life and knows his place on this ball of rock we all inhabit. He also sounds like a master wind-up merchant! His take on his experience with the suits and the business side of the music industry should be essential reading for any aspiring musician. Having moved to my adopted city, York, in the cold and desolate north from West London back in 2007 I can relate to Wardle’s move to the North West of the UK from East London. It feels like a wrong move until you actually do it and then it really couldn’t be more right. It is hard to pick out particular moments that are great, it is just a great read all the way. I do love the expanded elements though, that kind of update after 14 years is really interesting. One thing I learned that I never knew was that his son Charlie once played for my adopted home city’s football team York City! He signed for them back in 2016. Wobble is definitely one of my generation, born less than 5 months before me, and perhaps that is why I love his music and this book so much! Is there anyone who plays bass like Jah Wobble? Probably not. Is there anyone who has written such a wonderful, all-encompassing memoir? Again, possibly not. If you love an autobiography or memoir with honesty, compassion, humour, fabulous tales, and social history and you love music then you will love ‘Dark Luminosity: Memoirs of a Geezer, the expanded edition’

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‘David Bowie, Enid Blyton and the sun machine’ – Nicholas Royle March 29, 2024

Filed under: Book,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 10:35 pm
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I haven’t actually counted for a while, but I believe that I own around 120 books about David Bowie. Thanks to Nicholas Royle I now own 121, or at least thereabouts. I was completely unaware that Royle’s book ‘David Bowie, Enid Blyton and the sun machine’ existed until I took a look at the schedule for the 2024 York Literature Festival and saw the title. As a Bowie fan, I therefore had to be there for Nicholas Royle’s session at York St. John University to talk about his new book on Tuesday 12th March. Royle, who is the Emeritus Professor (English) at Sussex University, opened the session by playing Bowie’s older song “Memory Of A Free Festival” as this was the song that provided part of the book title with its repeated refrain “The sun machine is coming down and we’re gonna have a party”. Then he read from the book. But the most interesting part was the interview with Nick by Dr. Sam Reese originally from Aotearoa New Zealand, and now a senior lecturer at the Centre for Writing at York St. John University. Reese asked some insightful questions about how the book came about and what it actually is. In essence, the book came about thanks to Covid, well at least that was probably the catalyst and it is largely a memoir, or is it? Anyway, that whole evening saw me buy the book and get Nick to sign my copy and now, while on holiday in Cornwall (I am not sure why I said that, is it even remotely relevant?) I have got around to reading it.

I think that my fear was that this would be a very academic and deep tome that I might find difficult to read. It is academic at times but Royle writes in a style that even a bloke with one English O Level from 1974 can read and devour easily. One of the first things that intrigued me was the title. How can you write about Blyton and Bowie in the same book? Sure they are both associated with Beckenham and were great artists in their own spheres. Well, what Royle focuses on is their ability to access the undermind or the subconscious mind or self. I think from this book it is clear that both Bowie and Blyton were able to work in their own undermind with natural and unknowing skill. The memoir thread of the book takes the reader through Royle’s personal experience of Covid and lockdowns and his reacquaintance with both Bowie who he kind of lost touch with in the 1980s, and Enid Blyton. The book is written as a series of “ghost lectures” from a university lecturer who has opted for voluntary severance. The lectures flow together beautifully and are all anchored with a specific piece of music or song. Mostly Bowie songs but also some classical pieces.

I have not read anything by Enid Blyton since I was in junior school, but I am encouraged to go back and reread some of my favourites. The Famous Five, which features strongly in Nicholas Royle’s book and my personal memories of loving the Secret Seven series. Some of the insights into Blyton are drawn from biographies and also her own autobiography and perhaps something that is personal to Nicholas Royle’s family. His paternal grandmother and artist and illustrator had an affair with Enid Blyton sometime in the 1920s. There are many things that I love about this book, perhaps the biggest thing is the continued discussion about what a sun machine is. Maybe a time machine, maybe a way that an idea dawns on an artist, or something that might be different for every artist. Do I have an undermind? I hope so. Can I access my undermind? I hope so. If you are a fan of David Bowie, Enid Blyton, or indeed sun machines you need to read this book. It is eye-opening. I loved it! And finally, I was going to put together a playlist of all the music used in the book, but someone on Spotify has already done that! Thank you tommymackay1959, click here to play it.

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Silhouettes And Shadows – The Secret History Of David Bowie’s Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) – Adam Steiner August 23, 2023

Filed under: Book,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 3:26 pm
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Just over a year ago, I read and reviewed Adam Steiner’s intriguing, in-depth, and fabulous tome, ‘Into The Never – Nine Inch Nails And The Creation Of The Downward Spiral‘. It remains one of the best books examining a musician’s creative process and all the external influences that fed into that work. So obviously, as a massive Bowie fan, I was excited to hear that his next book would explore the creation of David Bowie’s ‘Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)’ album. That book is out in the USA and will be published in the UK in September 2023. In my head, I don’t recall ever seeing ‘Scary Monsters’ being the number one album in any online or magazine listings of Bowie’s greatest albums. To check that thought I did a little online research and discovered that it often featured at number 7, 8, 9, or 10 in most polls and listings. The exception to that was the Rough Trade blog from January 2022 where it hit the heady heights of number one!

Steiner writes in a really academic but very readable style and I love how he draws on the influences of Bowie’s experience and environment. This album was Bowie’s first real post-punk release, given that most people will see 1979’s ‘Lodger’ as the final part of the acclaimed Berlin Trilogy. ‘It’Scary Monsters’ was also an album that included Bowie’s first UK number-one single that wasn’t a rerelease. (“Space Oddity” went to number one after being reissued in 1975). This was also an album that came into the world just as Thatcher and Reagan were beginning the pomp of their right-wing takeover of the West. Was this album also the harbinger of the new romantics? Probably not, but as Steiner suggests, without Bowie there probably would not have been a new romantic movement, despite what a young Tony Hadley said, in the full flush of youthful arrogance. The major events in Bowie’s life following this album are also covered. In particular, his performance as John Merrick on Broadway in ‘The Elephant Man’ and the assassination of his friend John Lennon by Mark David Chapman.

Adam Steiner tackles the album one song at a time and covers each one with the same level of detail and enthusiasm rather than focusing on the most popular tracks. He includes some great insights and his thoughts have encouraged me to listen to the album with fresh ears. Given that I have heard the record so many times over the years that is no mean feat! I love the rather strange writing fragments that preceded each section which are often weird, often jarring, and all of them most definitely “turn and face the strange”. The book is seasoned nicely with comments and stories about the creation of the album from those who were there, including Tony Visconti and Robert Fripp to name just two. Steiner considers the primal scream aspects of Bowie’s vocal on “It’s No Game” which soars in an almost frightening style when set against the angular, industrial Fripp guitar tones.

Adam Steiner uses some odd, yet perfect reference points throughout. This includes the 1969 self-help book, “I’m OK—You’re OK” by Thomas Anthony Harris when discussing the lyrics to “Up The Hill Backwards”. He brings in the 1932 Tod Browning film “Freaks” when analysing the title track and adds parallels with Bowie’s 1980 Broadway performance in Elephant Man. The piece on John Lennon’s murderer is chilling but so in time with the dawn of the new decade. The description of how the music for “Ashes To Ashes” was created actually revealed something that I never knew before, and I am somewhat of a Bowie fanatic! I won’t tell you what I learned, you need to read the book. Obviously, Bowie fans will love this book, but if you’re not a fan do not be put off. It is a worthwhile read for all rock music fans and for anyone who likes a large dose of social history too! I don’t normally give a star rating, but if I did this would be a five stars out of five book.

It is out now in the US and will be out in the UK in September. Click here to order from Amazon in the US and here to order from Amazon UK. It is published by Rowman and Littlefield.

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