Category: Book Reviews
Andrew Wild ‘A Mirror Of Dreams – The Progressive Rock Revival 1981 To 1983’ (Kingmaker Publishing)
By the end of the 1970s, many would have you believe that the punk revolution had killed off the ‘dinosaur’ of progressive rock. That was certainly not the case, as the start of the ’80s saw a new revolution of progressive and proud bands lurking in the shadows and ready to pounce, a movement often dubbed ‘neo-progressive’. This new book charts the early years of that movement in quite some detail.
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Dave Dawson ‘Pop Idle – 30 Years On The Road As A Professional Singer’ (Good Day Books)
Long term Über readers may recall reviews we have run in the past of books such as ‘Dear Mr. Kershaw’, ‘Dear Mr. Pop Star’ and ‘Grammar Free In The UK’ by a certain OAP Mr. D. Philpott, compiling hundreds of letters, with replies, sent to various rock, punk and pop musicians, chastising them for lyrical misdemeanours. Those books have proved very popular, but now, with ‘Pop Idle – 30 Years On The Road As A Professional Singer’, the man behind the facade of D. Philpott finally comes out of the closet to reveal his real identity, and his real life, in another highly entertaining read. His name is Dave Dawson, and he has spent 30 years of that life as a professional singer ‘on the bottom rung of the showbiz ladder’.
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‘The Greatest Band That Ever Wasn’t’ – Barrett Martin (Sunyata Books)
The Screaming Trees were at the very heart of the Seattle music scene of the late 80’s/early 90’s that produced the grunge phenomenon of that period. Bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden loved and admired them, but somehow The Screaming Trees missed out on the same kind of worldwide commercial success that those bands enjoyed. Barrett Martin was the drummer in the Screaming trees from 1991 until their demise in 2000. ‘The Greatest Band That Ever Wasn’t’ tells his story of those years, and goes a long way to explaining just why that major league success eluded them.
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BOOK REVIEW: ‘Looking For A Kiss’ – Richard Cabut (PC-Press)
Originally published in 2020, ‘Looking For A Kiss’, Richard Cabut’s dark tale of drug and sex-fuelled twisted times in the post-punk early 80’s has already gained a fearsome reputation and numerous plaudits. Now it’s re-issued in expanded form with new text, photos and artwork to enhance the narrative plus some additional non-fiction pieces to tie the whole thing together.
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‘Punks Listen’ – Niall McGuirk and Michael Murphy (Hope Publications)
Being lovers of music, we all like a good natter about our favourite records, right? Well that’s just what this new book, ‘Punks Listen’, is all about. It’s basically tons of musicians and music industry associated people talking about their favourite records and is a great insight into people’s influences and musical loves. And what’s more it’s all for a very good cause, designed to raise funds for the Red Cross Ukraine Refugee appeal.
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‘1-2 Cut Your Hair – The Story of Johnny Moped’ – Simon Williams (Damaged Goods Books)
One of the best kept secrets of the early days of ÜK punk is Croydon’s misfits Johnny Moped – the man, the band, the punk myth, the none-hit-wonder, the absent singer, the comeback (and back, and back again) king. Both Chrissie Hynde and Ray Burns (aka Captain Sensible) featured in their ranks at one point, and they counted one Lemmy Kilmister among their gang of ardent admirers.
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BOOK REVIEW: ‘London’s Lost Music Venues 2’ by Paul Talling (Damaged Goods Books)
Back in 2020, Damaged Goods Books published the first volume of ‘London’s Lost Music Venues’, London historian Paul Talling’s fascinating journey through time compiling well over a hundred lost London music venues. Being published during the initial lockdown, it was a timely reminder of what music fans had already lost at a time when those venues we still had faced a very uncertain future. Now Talling is back with the second volume, this time focusing primarily on the larger venues that have been lost in the mists of time, whether decades ago or more recently, plus a fair few more smaller venues that didn’t make it into the first volume.
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‘Grammar Free In the U.K. – The Lockdown Letters’ – D&D Philpott (Self-Published)
Following on from 2015’s ‘Dear Mr. Kershaw: A Pensioner Writes’ and 2018’s ‘Dear Mr. Pop Star’, bonkers compendiums of letters supposedly written by a disgruntled pensioner to various pop and rock stars, berating them for lyrical mishaps or song title inaccuracies, along with their genuine replies, comes a third instalment, ‘Grammar Free In the U.K. – The Lockdown Letters’. This time said disgruntled pensioner Derek Philpott with his son Dave don safety pins and bondage trousers to focus their frustrations purely on punk bands.
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‘Life After Lloyd: A Rock ’n’ Roll Tale’ – Mick Geggus (Cadiz Music)
A fair few years back now, Cockney Rejects front man Jeff Turner released a book, ‘Cockney Reject’, to much acclaim. Now it’s the turn of his brother Mick Geggus, guitarist and co-founder of the band. But don’t expect a rehash of Turner’s book: this one is a different beast and largely deals with more recent times, as Jim R explains…
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