Paul from Lewisham Branch
'Who'll be my role model, now that my role model is gone, gone? He ducked back down the alley with some roly-poly little bat-faced girl’ Paul Simon from 'You can call me Al' (1986)
In honour of International Men’s Day, and Movember here are a few magnificent men who have written terrific autobiographies.
They are all men who have meant a lot to me through various stages of my life. There’s a theme of me liking someone for their music, or personality, or drive and then – usually many years later – I find out in the memoir about what was really going on with them. I think they are impeccable role models in as much as they have clung-on to their dreams and focused on doing something their own way – often, it turns out, against unbelievable odds.
I think that all teenage boys should read all of these books – immediately.
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| Paul's Franenguy, please click picture to see in full size |
Boy George – Take It Like a Man
I clearly remember skipping out of WHSmith in Lewisham Shopping Centre with my cassette of ‘Kissing to be Clever’ the first album I bought. Boy George seemed so obviously different and interesting and funny. The music was great too – tremendous tunes in many different styles with George’s amazing voice. I joined their fan club ‘The Multicultural Club’ and treasured the little flexi-disc messages from the band members that I got sent. In this book ‘Take it Like a Man’ it feels like Boy George is finally able to talk freely about himself and what was happening in the band – things that he had been dying to say for years. I can’t help wondering what eleven-year-old me would have made of it all?
The Beastie Boys – Beastie Boys Book
I haven’t read this one yet but I’m really looking forward to it. It looks like a great and beautiful collage – like their music. When you think of how many artists have faded away you realise that The Beastie Boys had great energy and creativity over thirty years.
Paul McGrath – Back from the Brink
Wow. It’s a bit like the Boy George one in that this is someone who was loved by many of us fans but there was a lot going on that I had no idea about. A great footballer with a really deeply troubled life this is really honest scary stuff.
Roy Keane – The Second Half
Just an astounding person. He’s utterly single-minded and opinionated (often to the detriment of his job and life) and that really comes across. But it’s very funny too.
Bernard Sumner – Chapter and Verse
New Order were another of my favourites growing up. They were like the opposite of Culture Club in as much as they looked like perfectly ordinary people who just happened to produce this amazing music. That is not how it worked, of course – there was a lot of drive and determination behind it (he actually built his first synthesiser from scratch). I like his self-deprecating, witty style.
Charles Mingus – Beneath the Underdog
So there I was – this would have been mid-Nineties (after
Nirvana’s spectacular conclusion to rock music) - venturing through the
glass screens into the ‘Jazz and Folk’ sections. Getting into Duke
Ellington a bit. I had heard of this famous autobiography by the man who
played amazing bass on the first jazz cd I bought. I thought it would
give me an insight into the world of the jazz musician. Instead it
turned out to be this crazy, angry, sex dream. It’s authentic and
unbelievably intense.
Keith Richards – Life
Just the most amazing anecdotes from many years. Very funny especially about Mick Jagger. It’s amazing that he can remember it all and that he managed to fit in so many great songs and riffs between escapades. I listened to the library’s talking book, narrated by Johnny Depp and the man himself. Also has good shepherds’ pie tips.
Nile Rodgers – Le Freak
A really fascinating life if you are in any way interested in
popular music. He has been involved in nearly all of the great music
over the past fifty years – a star without being a really high-profile
celebrity. This gives him a unique insider’s perspective. He’s very
interesting about the termination of disco music and his relationship
with Madonna is fascinating.
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