Read this a few months ago (as I like biographies - though not a big reader, at best a book a year. I first became a fan of his music at some point in the 80s when visiting Red Rhino records in York (where Sydney Scarborough got most of their alternative music supplied from) on recommendation of one of the guys I was on talking terms when visiting / spending too much money on 'vinyl'. Followed his career with the Screening Trees, Queens of the stone age and solo stuff. If you like an uncomfortable and fascinating read of an individuals struggle with life and drug addiction wrote in a matter of fact way... Peter Hook of New Order wrote in the intro it was the type of biography he wished he could have written without being sued... His friendship and addiction with other Settle musicians is, just saddening. Ultimately and surprising for me is he was 'saved' by Courtney Love who paid a full year's rehab for him that saved his life. The official blurb about it. Mark Lanegan “SING BACKWARDS & WEEP" When Mark Lanegan first arrived in Seattle in the mid-1980s, he was just "an arrogant, self-loathing redneck waster seeking transformation through rock 'n' roll." Little did he know that within less than a decade, he would rise to fame as the front man of the Screaming Trees, then fall from grace as a low-level crack dealer and a homeless heroin addict, all the while watching some of his closest friends rocket to the forefront of popular music. In Sing Backwards and Weep, Lanegan takes readers back to the sinister, needle-ridden streets of Seattle, to an alternative music scene that was simultaneously bursting with creativity and dripping with drugs. He tracks the tumultuous rise and fall of the Screaming Trees, from a brawling, acid-rock bar band to world-famous festival favorites that scored a hit #5 single on Billboard's Alternative charts and landed a notorious performance on David Letterman, where Lanegan appeared sporting a fresh black eye from a brawl the night before. This book also dives into Lanegan's personal struggles with addiction, culminating in homelessness, petty crime, and the tragic deaths of his closest friends. From the back of the van to the front of the bar, from the hotel room to the emergency room, onstage, backstage, and everywhere in between, Sing Backwards and Weep reveals the abrasive underlining beneath one of the most romanticized decades in rock history-from a survivor who lived to tell the tale. Gritty, gripping, and unflinchingly raw, Sing Backwards and Weep is a book about more than just an extraordinary singer who watched his dreams catch fire and incinerate the ground beneath his feet. Instead, it's about a man who learned how to drag himself from the wreckage, dust off the ashes, and keep living and creating A Song he did with one or two of his friends who played guitar for him, on Marks first solo album before his friend did a version on unplugged.. Will get round to reading the follow up a some point...
When I listened it rang a bell. Then remembered this. Looking for the above came across the Nirvana unplugged version by them where they quoted it was from their favourite Leadbelly.
Just picked up a book about the Quebec campaign during the Seven Years War. Having visited Quebec City several times it is of particular interest. The title is Northern Armageddon - The Battle of the Plains of Abraham. The book covers the entire campaign, not just the deciding battle.
My new One.....Out Today....460 pages.....135,000 words Available on Amazon Taster........ The Hong Kong Brief London, April 2017 Chapter One The melodic sound of the busker’s guitar echoed against the low, tiled ceiling of the pedestrian walkway. The artist was serenading the swarm of commuters buzzing through the cross tunnels in Oxford Circus tube station. She sang… ‘But February made me shiver…With every paper I'd deliver…Bad news on the doorstep…’ Dave Moss, his head down, his thoughts elsewhere, didn’t register that she was singing the second stanza of ‘Bye-Bye Miss American Pie’ which just happened to be one of his favourite pieces of music. She had arranged it in a jaunty tempo that sounded more up-beat than the Don McLean original. But the words still recalled the memories of years gone and the tragic death of Buddy Holly and his music. Moss was aiming for the strip of light at the top of the stairs and some much-needed fresh air after the stale tainted humidity on the underground train. As he emerged into the opening at the summit he drew in a breath. The sharp, cold, icy breeze whipping along Regent Street caught him by surprise. He let out an audible ‘brrrr’, then shivered as the chill hit his senses. In response, he pulled the collar of his coat up and hunched his shoulders like a man who was about to be drenched by a bucketful of cold water. Despite the watery sunshine, London was still in the grip of the back end of a week-long cold snap that had left the early April days feeling more like the first week of January. The pavement was slippery under foot. He slipped his hands into the deep recess of the coat pockets and made a tight fist. The sounds of the city clamped around him and gave him an increased jolt of energy. After all, he was in the centre of one of the world’s truly great cities, for this part of central London, situated right in the middle of the bustling West End, was a busy backdrop of people going about their business.
Also recently read this big hardback that I got from the kids for Christmas, quite an interesting read... please log in to view this image
I've just finished reading Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada. It's about a couple who leave anti-Nazi postcards in wartime Berlin. It's loosely based on a true story. Well worth buying.
There's definitely something interesting about novels set in Berlin, the new international Booker prize winner Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, set in Berlin, is quickly getting to the top of my to be read pile.
Easily Disracted, by Steve Coogan, an autobiography. Comes across as a 'bit up himself' as Alan Partridge might say. Couldn't make out if it was intentional or just his way of expressing himself. Also didn't know he had a long term girlfriend in Hull and he used to drive here from Manchester every week end to see her. A good read nevertheless, very interesting how be broke into the entertainment business big time from a failed pub comedian to a voice over man on Spitting Image who no-one knew, then almost overnight he became a success. A lot of Alan Partridge in his DNA and the book lets you into the secret where the character came from. I enjoyed it. Good read, recommended.
Glasgow's Ice Cream Wars. I watched a BBC Scotland documentary about this a few years ago and it wasn't funny. The violence was right OTT. Arson attacks on peoples homes in the dead of night, intimidation, threats etc..etc...Nasty stuff.
Thanks for the nod. I haven't watched a film in years though and I don't have Amazon Prime or Netflix.
