The Biography / Autobiography Thread

[Urban Hat€monger ?]

Don't think we have a thread for these yet.

Today I picked up this baby....

First, you fail.

After four years of gigs no one attends, songs no one hears, perfect haircuts no one sees ...London in the late eighties - where the pubs still close in the afternoon and dance music rules - is no place for an avant-garde songwriter like Luke Haines to be. Luke Haines, after all, has never been to a rave. One near-death experience later and there's nothing left to lose. With just a ruined piano and a couple of cardboard boxes, you record a demo in your flat, form a new band and give it a pretentious name.

Forget Blur/Oasis and Cool Britannia, none of that actually happened. This is the real story of English Rock in the nineties. Luke Haines has the inside line: from the teenage rampage of the early tours with Suede, mainstream success in France and failure in America, to the break-up of The Auteurs, the death of Britpop (the idiot runt-child of all music genres) and the birth of strange and frightening new projects Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder.

In scathing and worryingly funny prose, Haines presents the evidence: Pulp, Elastica, Iggy Pop, Kurt Cobain (and his hatred of mushrooms), and the dark studio magic of Steve Albini. Plus the sackings, the surreal self-medicating procedures, how to be a bad loser at the 1993 Mercury Music Prize, and what it's like to be attacked on stage by a vicious, drunken dwarf.

Bad Vibes is a pitch-black comic memoir from a legendary figure in the music world, variously described as pioneer, godfather or forgotten man of Britpop.

Can't wait to get started on this.

[James]

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

Don't think we have a thread for these yet.

Today I picked up this baby....

First, you fail.

After four years of gigs no one attends, songs no one hears, perfect haircuts no one sees ...London in the late eighties - where the pubs still close in the afternoon and dance music rules - is no place for an avant-garde songwriter like Luke Haines to be. Luke Haines, after all, has never been to a rave. One near-death experience later and there's nothing left to lose. With just a ruined piano and a couple of cardboard boxes, you record a demo in your flat, form a new band and give it a pretentious name.

Forget Blur/Oasis and Cool Britannia, none of that actually happened. This is the real story of English Rock in the nineties. Luke Haines has the inside line: from the teenage rampage of the early tours with Suede, mainstream success in France and failure in America, to the break-up of The Auteurs, the death of Britpop (the idiot runt-child of all music genres) and the birth of strange and frightening new projects Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder.

In scathing and worryingly funny prose, Haines presents the evidence: Pulp, Elastica, Iggy Pop, Kurt Cobain (and his hatred of mushrooms), and the dark studio magic of Steve Albini. Plus the sackings, the surreal self-medicating procedures, how to be a bad loser at the 1993 Mercury Music Prize, and what it's like to be attacked on stage by a vicious, drunken dwarf.

Bad Vibes is a pitch-black comic memoir from a legendary figure in the music world, variously described as pioneer, godfather or forgotten man of Britpop.

Can't wait to get started on this.

I need this. I really need this.

[333]

Read this when I was a freshman in high school. It gave me nightmares for months after. The murders were taken place in the area I live in now and some of the descriptions in this book is just absolutely shocking. Not one of my favorites, but definitely had a big effect on me.

[Bulldog]

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

All I've got is his Leeds Utd EP, which is really impressive stuff. I've been meaning to explore his discography a bit more, but it's just as staggeringly huge as you'd expect. Seems like that'll be great read there.

I'm not reading any biographies (auto or otherwise) at the minute, and haven't really got any planned for the near future either, so I'll just give a shout to my favourites...

^ My favourite footballer's book my a country mile. Apart from the man being one of the true greats of the game, his book here gives you a really vivid insight into what football was like before it effectively became a form of showbiz, ie before the £100 per week salary cap was removed, and before the first footballing celebrities like George Best, Rodney Marsh and so on came into the equation. Refreshingly modest for a professional athlete's autobiography as well, and definitely one people with even a passing interest in football should be on the lookout for.

^ And this is the best musical autobiography I've ever read, no doubt about it. One of the most scathingly honest and at points even inspirational books I've ever read.

[Urban Hat€monger ?]

I'm halfway through the Luke Haines one already and it's just as good as I expected.

This man hates EVERYBODY

John Lydon's book is great. I got it when it came out practically wore out my copy.

[Tea Supremacist]

Literally two pages into this so I don't know how it's gonna be but I have high hopes... Providing he doesn't go on about the Freedm Association or UKIP too much...

[GravitySlips]

The only two I think I've read are John Peel's and Lorenzo Amoruso's (ex rangers player)... quite the contrast in personalities, but there ye go.

[jackhammer]

Much loved actor and a man very proud of his working class roots. He was arrested and jailed in the early 70's for his part in the trade union movement in 70's England and neither bigs it up or regrets it too much.

Wrote by his wife who is now a psychiatrist. It's a tale of a dark past that he has barely talked about regarding the abuse he suffered as a child. Despite it's harrowing nature it's a life affirming read with the customary wit of the man.

The Carry on actor was a very odd but ultimately lonely figure who suffered from many afflictions and a heightened sense of disappointment to what could have been. I would have hated to meet the guy but it was a fascinating read.

The one time England and Arsenal football captain is refreshingly honest in admitting to being an alcoholic and some great tales such as turning up to training sessions with bin bags sellotaped to his body underneath his training shirt to sweat the beer out!