(Recently came into two music autobiographies and a biography
courtesy of a literary CARE package from my father)
Graham “Suggs” McPherson,
primarily known as the lead singer of Madness, maintains a cheerful tone
throughout his autobiography THAT CLOSE.
He grew up poor in North London, the son of a single mother (he never
knew his father a heroin addict) who worked in a pub and sometimes sang, but
this is the story of someone who never let life get him down. Instead, we get a number of often very
hilarious stories of Suggs' childhood surrounded by teenage hooligans for whom
shoplifting is the way of purchasing goods and school is where you cause
trouble. Example: Suggs and his mates
would run their lighters under the doorknob of their classroom so if their
teacher was late when he would arrive he would burn his hand when opening the
door. There are also surprisingly humorous
stories of football hooliganism as Suggs and friends (Chelsea supporters) clash
with fans of rival teams.
Madness doesn’t appear until about
halfway into the book and Suggs doesn’t go much into band politics or musical
trivia other than the sources for some of his lyrics such as Baggy Trousers and
That Close the song that gave the book its title. This is Suggs story not Madness’s story
although Madness’s various reunions and their performances at the Olympics and
on the roof of Buckingham Palace during the Queen’s Jubilee are discussed. Suggs is not the type of guy to dish any
dirt. The most scandalous story here is
that a pre-success Elvis Costello took from but never paid a store owner who
sold fashionable shoes and clothes on credit.
But that says a lot about
Suggs, who enjoys a drink but doesn’t seem to have any substance abuse issues
and has been married to the same woman since the early 80’s and is the proud
father of two adult daughters. He is a
very stable guy and an amusing raconteur.
Another part of his book I enjoyed was his descriptions of his many trips
around Italy (where he and his family own a home).
I’ve always liked Madness because
of their positive, good times music. It
appears Suggs himself is a deeply positive guy and that makes his autobio a
rewarding read.
__________
The same perhaps cannot be
said about Morrissey. He is the acknowledged
king of misery so much so it’s become self-parody although really his solo work
is not as much in that vein . His
AUTOBIOGRAPHY is actually quite a good read and very entertaining despite being
wordy as hell and filled with allusions to English trivia that would sail over
the head of even the most devoted Anglophile.
Like Suggs, Morrissey spends considerable
time discussing his childhood as well as the Manchester neighbourhoods he grew
up in. His descriptions of psychopathic teachers
who torture children (there seem to be no good teachers) fits in with his
overall description of Manchester as a dull, gray, repressive place full of
barely controlled violence that occasionally gets out on a Friday night.
He discusses the various musical and literary and pop culture influences
that got him through adolescence. In particular,
I enjoyed his writing about the New York Dolls debut album which is a favourite
record of mine too.
Moz’s meeting Johnny Marr,
forming The Smiths with him, and their break-up is a fast paced whirl of dates
and places and singles. Much more time
is spent dissecting and criticising the legal judgement against him after he
was sued in the 90’s by the drummer Mike Joyce and the bassist Andy Rourke of The
Smiths claiming they’d been cheated on back royalties.
Morrissey, in general, has a
lot of axes to grind – Not just with Joyce and Rourke but with Marr (despite
his praise for Marr’s musical talents), the judge who decided against him,
Geoff Travis, head of Rough Trade (who Moz says never did anything to promote
The Smiths and was dismissive of their talents, not at all supportive), various
music publications especially the NME, various management and record executives,
Bryan Ferry (who he disses for liking veal and for writing a song with Marr
while he was still a Smith), Siouxse Sioux, David Letterman ( who keeps his
studio too cold), American airport security (who he said harassed him),
Margaret Thatcher, The list goes on and on.
In addition to the much
written about revelations that Moz has had relationships with both men and
women, some other interesting autobio tidbits – Moz loved the tv show LOST IN
SPACE as a child, Moz was Johnny Marr’s best man at his wedding, Moz and the
rest of The Smiths were pretty good friends with A-HA and attended one of their
concerts in the 80’s, A teenage Moz visiting an aunt in Denver, Colorado once
interviewed for a job at Target, The Smiths’ first manager Joe Moss attempted
to oust Moz as lead singer after the release of their debut album but instead
he was fired.
Overall, I felt Moz himself
was an unreliable narrator slanting everything to make him look somewhat the
victim. I dare say he did get an unfair
deal at particular points in his career but a number of his comments about his
own financial state contradict themselves and Moz is famous for being a.)
frugal b.) a savvy businessman.
However, I did enjoy the way
this book was written. Moz is a great
singer and one of my favorite lyricists and judging by AUTOBIOGRAPHY I think if
he chose to apply his writing to fiction, he could be a superb novelist too.
__________
Holly George Warren, the
author of the Alex Chilton biography A MAN CALLED DESTRUCTION, met Chilton a
few times in her life but her detailed knowledge of Chilton’s life filled with
exact dates of when things happened as well as the states of mind of those involved
is really incredible and makes this a very credible accounting of someone’s
life.
Chilton initial success as
front man for the Box Tops was part tribute to his natural music talent and natural
charisma and part sheer luck of being in the right place at the right
time. That places is/was Memphis and
like any good bio or autobio location is part of the story.
The details of the history of
Chilton family, his childhood, teenage years, and time with The Box Tops while
still a teenager are painstakingly chronicled.
The period that followed when
Chilton made the records he is most celebrated for with Big Star expands the
boundaries a bit to talk about influences, work habits, the process of
recording. Warren also gives Big Star
co-founder Chris Bell, who left after their debut record, his full deserved
credit.
The rest of the book shows
Chilton as a man who is largely responsible for his own obscurity despite the
triumph of Big Star’s music. His
substance abuse and infrequent solo recordings which are atonal, sloppy noise deliberately
made to confuse and irritate the audience kept him from following up Big Star
with a consistent, successful solo career.
The sense I had was of a man
who took it for granted having not had to work too hard for all the girls and
drugs that came his way (if not the money, Chilton was cheated financially throughout
his life and didn’t see any real cash for his music until the 1990’s). At one point in the early 80’s having moved to
New Orleans, Chilton worked as a dishwasher, a tree trimmer, and a cab driver.
I can appreciate the level of
detail in this story. I was rooting for
Chilton to get clean and sober and reach his deserved position in rock history
which he finally does. Also there is a
great story about Chilton meeting Charles Manson – No spoilers, you have to
read it for yourself.
