24 Hour Party People--Tony Wilson--Excellent Bio-Pic of Mr Manchester

Director Michael Winterbottom created a cinematic anomaly in 2002 with the film 24 Hour Party People. He managed to create a biographical movie that didn't suck. Though it purports to be a chronicle of the Manchester music scene from the early days of Punk Rock through the Madchester rave era, the reality is that it is about the late Tony Wilson, journalist, Cambridge grad, nightclub owner and impresario of Factory Records, a label that combined great music with equally great design. The movie is witty, hilarious, sad, ironic, at times ludicrously surreal. Wilson uses the tale of Icarus from Greek Mythology as an analogy for his boom to bust story.For the most part, 24 Hour Party People is everything a punk movie ought to be, though I do think it got bogged down a bit toward the conclusion. But then again, the same could be said about Good Fellas. I think it is definitely a must-see movie for music fans.

The funny thing is when I bought this DVD, I was put off by the cover.

It looked to me like they were touting this film as some sort of British version of the American "Spring Break" movie, but with ravers instead of drunken frat boys, at least judging by the cover. I get the impression that by placing a salacious design on the cover might enable them to cover their losses on this one in the States. I bet some people bought this on a whim and were unpleasantly surprised! My sentiments were the reverse.

At the center of the maelstrom is Steve Coogan, the actor who portrays Tony Wilson in this bio. I recall reading someplace that Wilson was not that pleased with Coogans performance and was full of criticisms. Coogan finally cleared the air and said to him, "Look, you're smarter than me, but remember, I'm funnier than you." (I paraphrase). Coogan is the heart and soul of this film, and gives a fantastic performance. There are so many great lines scattered throughout the film. One of the more hilarious moments during the film is in some of Coogan's chatter toward the conclusion of the film, where he modestly states that he is just a minor player in all this, and that the real story are the bands!! If you to go back and assess things, it is pretty clear that this movie is all about him, whether he is mugging his way through tedious human interest television spots, or pontificating on any number of subjects as a narrator. I enjoy how Winterbottom has Wilson in a present setting, talking about things that are going to happen like a punk rock fortune teller. While some accepted yarns are demolished, Winterbottom creates new piles of malarkey, which keeps the movie interesting. There was a quote about the Pistols show, if you have a choice between truth and fable, print the fable. I think that in some strange way a different, more revealing kind of truth can emerge that way.



One of the early classic scenes is a historic re-enactment of the famous Sex Pistols show in Manchester, where the punk fable gets deflated a bit. 42 people. So you probably were not there--maybe no one was. But the significant thing was, the people who did not wind up forming bands were in the minority that night. And many of those bands turned out to be pretty great!! Winterbottom actually spliced in concert footage of the Sex Pistols for this scene, but I can't help but be amused that most of the characters in the movie were portrayed by actors. It seems a bit surreal as if someone had a casting call to play me in a movie!

For instance:

Martin Hancock: Howard DeVoto
Andy Serkis (Gollum): Martin Hannett
Danny Cunningham: Shaun Ryder
Chris Coghill: Bez
Sean Harris: Ian Curtis
Dave Gorman: John the Postman
Raymond Waring: Vini Reilly
Simon Pegg: Mark Middles
Paddy Considine: Rob Gretton, manager New Order
Lennie James: Alan Erasmus, co founder of Hacienda

I wonder if they had a casting call and had dozens of Bezes dancing around in a studio trying out for the part!

Overall musically, the movie focuses mostly on Joy Division, New Order, and later Happy Mondays, though artists like A Certain Ratio and Durutti Column are not neglected. The interplay between producer Martin Hannett and Wilson is both humorous and terrifying as you will discover when you see the movie. The Joy Division period is both exhilarating and tragic--I think the staged live scenes were done quite well. I think after a while the movie moves away from its strengths and spends too much time panning across the crowds at the Hacienda and too little witty dialogue. There are some good bits with the Happy Mondays, especially when Wilson compares his lyrics to the poetry of Yeats, and his girlfriend responds by saying that everyone else think he's a fucking idiot. Sounds kind of like a drug allusion there. The Happy Monday's scene with the pigeons may not be to every ones taste however.

My favorite line was when Coogan turns to the audience and states "Don't judge me, I was just being post-modern, before it was fashionable." Of course some people prefer fart jokes, but if you listen carefully to Tony Wilson's wild digressions and shout outs to the audience you will really laugh like I did.

Flowers Dance Through My Thoughts--Brazil Classics 1: Beleza Tropical

Beleza Tropical was my gateway record into the fabulous world of Brazilian music. All I knew about Brazilian music prior to this was The Girl From Ipanema. But I heard some hype about this record and I imagined that if David Byrne thought highly enough of this music to put out compilations on his own Luaka Bop label, there must be something significant to it. I bought the record and was pretty unimpressed at first. I was a fan of the Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, Husker Du. This album seemed a little mellow for my tastes, sounding a little loungy to my overamplified eardrums. And I'm American and the music is in another language. Ultimately, I came back to this record more than once and then developed a deep appreciation of the subtle charms expressed here. Sometimes my favorite records don't make an immediately positive impression, but in general those are the one that wind up broadening my outlook. There are other compilations in Byrne's Brazil Classics, but this one, the first has a sentimental spot in my heart.

In some ways it seems kind of silly to tout this record---it's like trying to explain to people why they should listen to The Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell or Bob Dylan. The artist represented on this compilation are superstars, political activists, and national icons in Brazil. This is definitely no Brazilian Nuggets collection. But from my historical perspective, before this record came out I would have been clueless as to where to start hearing Brazilian music. Aside from Reggae music, the concept of "World Music" was in its infancy, and the musical taste makers of America decided that this sort of music was not saleable, even in small numbers. So as a readily available sampler that was getting at least a little bit of hype, this was really my best option at the time. And for me this album was an opportunity to dip my toe in the balmy waters of Tropicalia. Turns out, Brazil has an amazing musical tradition, replete with songwriters of the highest calibre of which this collection merely scratches the rim of the Caipirinha. But if you are unfamiliar with theTropicalia musical movement, this would be a pretty good place to start. I played this for my niece back when she was about four, and I remember that even she liked it.

The Tropicalia movement began in the 60's in Brazil, and it seems to parallel in some ways many of the student-based movements going on in the world in that era. This cultural movement was part of a reaction to the military coup d'etat of 1964 and the subsequent military dictatorship. The artists of the movement sought freedom of expression, incorporating music from areas throughout Brazil with jazz, rock and roll, or whatever found their fancy. This movement was perceived by the government as a political threat, and artists such as Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso were briefly jailed and ultimately forced into exile. Other more unfortunate artists were subjected to torture or incarceration in psychiatric institutions. Despite the hardship, this era produced an amazing creative cornucopia that sets a shining example for new generations of aspiring musicians, and not just Brazilians.

Beleza Tropical starts out with the great Jorge Ben, and soccer tune Ponta de Lanca Africano (Umbabarauma), the funkiest song on this collection. Most of the songs here are pop ballads done with subtle nuanced vocals and understated rhythmic complexity. Anyone hearing this music will find a healthy respect and appreciation for the Portuguese--it is such a beautifully poetic and sexy language, you don't have to know what these artists are saying to be thrilled. Passionate yet languidly sophisticated, smooth, yet rootsy sounding, it is music that transcends any language barriers.

I probably came back to Beleza Tropical after I saw Portastatic (Mac from Superchunk/Merge Records' side project) at the Mercury Lounge. Right now I can't recall who he opened for, but I remember that he performed Baby by Gal Costa (not on this album), and related that he actually was so smitten by Brazilian music that he had recently put out an Ep of Brazilian covers. Seeing him perform Baby on stage, while not in any way comparable to Gal Costa, opened my eyes and ears a bit. Maybe it took seeing live performance for me to get it, but I did! Shortly after I grabbed a cheap compilation of Gal's music and off I went. Gal performs on this album Sonho Meu with Maria Bethania. I've already reviewed in this blog the terrific album by Arto Lindsay and Peter Scherer's group Ambitious Lovers called Greed. An amazing hybrid of Punk, Funk, Brazil, Skronk, and Pop. Probably my very first intro to Brazilian music, not counting The Girl from Ipanema. Arto wrote the liner notes here, and for all you hesitators, be advised that the lyrics are also printed, in Brazilian and translated into English.

On this compilation you get to hear the great Lo Borges singing the piano pounding Equatorial. Caetano Veloso shines brightly on the sweet whimsical acoustic O Leaozinho "Little Lion". Chico Buarque is represented here by the sad acoustic ballad Calice, and the bouncy Cacada. Gilberto Gil sings the sweet So Quero Um Xodo on here, another favorite of mine with lots of accordion present. Milton Nascimento performs Anima here, a simply beautiful song. The thing about Beleza Tropical is the artists make it sound all so easy, but the reality is that this music has a lot going on within requiring top notch musical chops. The songs breathe, they have a lightness to them that I think would be hard to master.



One name I had not heard before I got this collection was Nazare Pereira and he comports himself well on Maculele, an instant party classic. You hear another side of Jorge Ben on the gritty acoustic folk of Fio Maravilha. Great stuff. Another great tune here is Um Canto de Afoxe Para O Blaco do Ile (Ile Aye) by Caetano Veloso. The album ends with on a sublime note with Caetano's Terra with great lyrics.



David Byrne is an artist who keeps his ears open, and he felt so strongly about this music that he wanted people to hear this great music that so many of us in the US were blissfully ignorant. And of course he is smart; he knew, like any dealer with his salt, that if people got a little taste, they would be back for more, itching to feed their new found addiction. Once this music gets under your skin, the worldview becomes a little different. And of course there were other volumes to this series--Brazil Classics Volumes 2 O Samba and 3 Foro Etc I highly recommend, just a shade below Volume 1, and that is probably mostly my own sentimentality showing.



So what are you waiting for? For mere pennies you can pick this baby up! If you don't ever get to to hear this music you will be missing out on something very special.

All You Kids in Cardboard City, I Hope You're Having Fun...Martin Newell--The Greatest Living Englishman

Up in the misty minarets

Just picked up a copy of Martin Newell's The Greatest Living Englishman. I guess it's about time, after all, it only came out in 1993. But it is a terrifically good work of art, in the vein of what many before me have said; its reminiscent of Robyn Hitchcock, Syd Barrett, The Kinks, Fairfield Convention, XTC. If you enjoy those guys, you will have found a new kindred artist. It might be fairer to say that Newell has a foot in the Victorian Age, and another in our contemporary time. Which really means is that he has a historical background to being English, which is interesting to me because he brings something to the table that a band from Wichita or Sao Paolo would not bring; a sense of place, a context. It also helps that he really knows how to put a song together. Perhaps his comportment on this album as a 19th century top-hatted Dickensian character leads people to consider him to be an eccentric, but all I really focus on are the great songs and arrangements here. Lesser artists would kill to have a greatest hits collection this accomplished.



Originally helming the group The Cleaners From Venus, and performing in the Brotherhood of Lizards, The Greatest Living Englishman is Newell's first non-cassette solo release. Andy Partridge of XTC produced and engineered this album, and also played drums, and Captain Sensible has a cameo guitar solo on Green Gold Girl of the Summer. Probably my favorite song on here is She Rings the Changes, which sounds like a janglepop harmony overloaded classic from the 60's. I often wonder why current oldies radio stations stick to the script and don't play Robyn Hitchcock or Nick Drake--if it wasn't on hyper rotation 20 years ago you won't hear a peep. I know people have strong attachments to the music they listened to when they were young. I'm equally guilty of that. I hear great music like this and I wish there were more John Peels around. But I don't know, maybe great DJ's like that are only reborn again like the Dali Lama, with music fans forced to play "Teenage Kicks" to babies, searching for some recognition.

Where the good take on the Cloth
And the fallen join the Game

This album is full of gems, from the traditional folk of Home Counties Boy, the Kurt Weillish cabaret thumbnail slice of English life A Street Called Prospect. I was probably moved to post some thoughts on this album because as of this past Friday it is the Christmas season. We said our Thankgivings on Thursday--now its time to get the credit cards out. The eighth song on this collection is Bangle-y Christmas in Suburbia, and its one of the best original Christmas songs you could own. Every musician seems to have a Christmas album at some point, but most of these records wind up being throw away exercises, trading sales on their popularity. But a song like this, like Vibeke Saugestad's Christmas ep is a veritable needle in a bland vanilla haystack.



Another superb tune is Jangling Man, which is a beautiful criticism of injustice and poverty.

They're breaking glass and burning buildings
In the early greenhouse sun
The powers-that-be will blame extremists
And I may well be one
And all you kids in Cardboard City
I hope you're having fun
And all you voters everywhere
Will remember what you've done
Remember what you've done.


Great use of upper and lower case piano riffing on this tune. After The Hurricane is a string filled delight--the arrangement seems almost like a predecessor to XTC's Apple Venus recordings. The Greatest Living Englishman, the album's title track is another excellent track here, which no doubt effectively removed him from Sting's Christmas Card list. The Green Gold Girl of Summer is a lovely mildly psychedelic ballad with lots of cello. Straight to You Boy is a bitterly jazzy blues tune, with typically brilliant lyrics, referring to a beautiful woman as a perfumed stairwell, and a reckless engine, sparking madly. This is the real stuff.

So summing it all up, The Greatest Living Englishman is a fantastic album that probably most people are unaware of. Bearing in mind that I also believe Big Black's Atomizer or Primal Scream's Xtrmnatr or Foetus's albums are fantastic, so let me qualify my statement my adding that an album like this is has a more universal quality--an intelligent tuneful album that you could play in front of your granny. Martin Newell in addition to his musical career is also an author, poet, and journalist, having a regular column in the East Anglican Daily Times. He has written a memoir entitled This Little Ziggy, and a good number of poetry collections, including a best of published by Jardine Press. A number of Newell's albums have been released on the Cherry Red label, including Wayward Genius, which includes, solo, Brotherhood of Lizards, and Cleaners From Venus tracks. Definitely an artist worth your perusal. Basic economics dictates that incentives create positive outcomes, so if you want artists like this creating music, they need our support. A little Martin Newell would be a wonderful stocking stuffer for a music fan or anglophile you love!

Getting Even Olderer--Tally Ho!--Flying Nun's Greatest Bits--Happy 30th!

"Roger slings the hits"

So New Zealand's Flying Nun Records is 30 years old this year and is once more helmed by its original founding father, Roger Shepard. If you are paying attention to things, it seems as though they are sorting out their back catalogue and re releasing some superb music that has been out of print for many years. They also have been selling some pretty cool looking nostalgic T-Shirts on their website. So many great bands put out music on this label, like The Chills, Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, The Clean, Straitjacket Fits, Able Tasmans, The Bats, Pin Group, Bailter Space/Gordons, Tall Dwarfs, Verlaines, Cakekitchen, Look Blue Go Purple, The 3D's, Dead C, Sneaky Feeling and so on and so forth. Here's hoping that some great new artists will have their music released sooner than later.



Of course if you are unfamiliar with these names, or only the most notable in the bunch, you will be happy to know that after all these years, Flying Nun has released a 2 Cd Greatest Hits collection. If you want to dip your toe into the waters of the Kiwi rock scene, this would be a very logical place to start. Sure they have put numerous samplers out in the past, and they put out a big fat 25th Anniversary Box set which is a work of art (which unfortunately did not include rarities or anything too far off the beaten path). I don't own the new collection, but the tracks lean toward the earlier years, but as it is an overview includes more recent bands like High Depency Unit, The Subliminals, and Phoenix Foundation. The recording includes the classic Randolph's Coming Home, by Shayne Carter and Peter Jefferies, one of my favorite songs, a grand, moving elegy to Wayne Elsey, who played with Shane in Bored Games, who died in a train accident. One of the great New Zealand songs. Buddy by Peter Gutteridge's band Snapper is another great tune that more people should get to know.



But I don't want to over-dwell on things here. Unless you want to whole hog and start picking up legendary records like The Chill's Submarine Bells, give this collection a spin. I was fortunate to have seen a cross section of these groups when they toured the US, and I assure you that as far the quality of this music is, nobody has any right to put baby in a corner. Check out this new compilation and discover why I've devoted so much blogspace to the Dunedin sound. Happy Thanksgiving!

250th Post!!!!----As Time Dances Faster--The Nils--Green Fields in Daylight---

The Nils are a band I came onto quite late. Today it baffles me that so many great Canadian bands of the era passed completely under my radar. However, I can't believe that if I had gotten a whiff, a semblance of hype thrown my way, that I would not have have given these bands a good listen when they first came out. Perhaps part of the problem was scene snobbery. Too often people were looking to London, New York and LA for the good stuff. But as we all know, great music can come from anywhere--the question is, is anyone really listening?

A perfect example was the excellent Montreal punk pop band The Nils, led by brothers Alex and Carlos Soria. It took a rave review in Big Takeover magazine of the CD compilation on Mag Wheel Records, Green Fields in Daylight in 1996, to get my attention. And what a collection of music this is! 29 Tracks! The Cd might be a bit tough to track down now, but quite available in MP3 format. It's exciting, energetic, youthful joyous, punk rock, in the style of contemporaries like The Replacements, Husker Du, but in their own distinctive torturedly tuneful style. Of great bands that are by all accounts criminally uncelebrated, these guys are at the top of the heap in my opinion. If you have never heard this band before, do yourself a favor....grab this music immediately. I felt like Indiana Jones when I first heard this music, like I uncovered some lost holy artifact from another era.

This collection covers pretty much everything they released aside from their only album, the eponymous album released by Rock Hotel, which is a pretty good record and worth owning also. But the recordings on Green Fields are raw and ready, including some live performance and covers, like Mary Ann with The Shaky Hands, and Tim Hardin's Red Balloon. They even do a short take on Men Without Hats with Pop Goes the World. I thought they were having a little fun at the expense of MWH, but it turns out that they were friends with the band. The lead singer even helped finance and produced their first Ep, Sell Out Young. And I do mean young; when this band started out Alex was only 12!

Like a lot of my very favorite albums, it's pretty much all great. But Scratches and Needles is one of my favorite songs ever. It gives me a rush like the rush when I listen to a raucous Mission of Burma tune.





But there is so much here, the fierce Give Me Time, the white hot When Love Puts on a Sad Face, or the energetic Bandito Callin'. Though I have a preference for Scratches and Needles, In Betweens might actually be the best thing on this disc. But now I am listening to the anthemic Fountains, and my opinion in the last sentence is in doubt....



Another secret classic is Daylight, the song from where this comp's title derived.

Let's pretend we were joyful
Like Green Fields in Daylight......

The Nils definitely made some powerful, powerful music. I often wished that there was more. Of course the Nils as we know it will never reform, because Alex took his own life in 2004. Tragedies like this seem to happen all too much with talented musicians. Last year however, The Title is the Secret Song was released, a collection of unreleased music by the band, a CD/DVD, available through the bands website. I don't have it yet, but if it is comparable to what I own by them, well, maybe it will be my Christmas present to myself. It seems that Carlos Soria is rehearsing with some people, so there will be some Nils shows occurring. Any appreciation these guys can get is sorely deserved. There is even a tribute album to the band out which includes tracks by Punchbuggy, Down By Law and the Stand GT.

But if you are interested in getting a hold of some great music, I unabashedly recommend this album. Green Fields in Daylight is a classic 80's post punk mother lode. This should be an ubiquitous part of any respectable music collection in the same way The Buzzcocks Singles Going Steady is. The fact that so few people know about this band is an abomination. Listening to this album really makes me really happy, and if I can get even a handful of more people on the Nils bandwagon I will be even happier!!! They were definitely one of the best bands of their era, so track this comp down in any format ASAP.

If You Can't Beat Em' In The Alley.....PUCK ROCK Volume 2...

All Killer, No Filler

Well as we all know, the basketball lock out is still happening, though the players union and the owners are negotiating away, attempting to salvage the 2011-2012 season. I was looking forward to see how the New York Knicks were going to do this season, but it is conceivable that once the Superbowl ends in February, Hockey will be the only game in town. Currently it is the only game for most days of the week, which does not bother me in the least. Watching is not as much fun as playing, not by a long shot, but I am perplexed why the sport isn't more popular in most of the US. It's exciting, fast moving, and pretty violent at times. What's an American not to like? I guess since its the national sport of Canada we can't seem embrace this pastime. Same reason bullfighting isn't going to replace the NBA anytime soon for us. But we simply can't compete--when Canadian children are born, they are fitted for skates as the umbilical cord is cut--it's an arms race we can't compete with. But if you watched Fareed Zakaria's GPS you probably know this already.

So, what better theme music is there for the battle for Lord Stanley's Cup than Johnny Hanson Presents Puck Rock Vol. 2!! Released back in 1999 on Joe Keithley's Sudden Death Records, a label that has done a great service in making a lot of essential Canadian punk rock readily available. I have already discussed Volume 1 in an earlier post, and like its predecessor, Volume 2 is a bit of a mixed bag, but still with a lot to recommend it. If the best of both volumes was on a single disc it would be a recording of ice melting awesomeness. But the best things here make it a worthwhile consumer for your favorite hockey punk. The album starts out pretty strong, then peters out with too much samey sounding aggro/hard core.

First of all the disc begins and closes with Hanson brothers. Some people would want to take their kids to see Smurfs on ice, but the Hansons are basically the Ramones on ice. Though I enjoy my hilarious Connecticut beer hockey compatriots The Zambonis, the Punk Hansons are the Kings in my opinion. Marvel at the their take on the D.O.A punk classic The Enemy, turning the tune into an all time great hockey song. They fittingly end the compilation with Ring Dem Bells, a Hanson original. "The sticks are up and the gloves are down, Grab your partner round and round". I think they have 3 studio discs and a live for all you completists out there.

The other hands down classic is D.O.A.'s turbocharged tribute to old-time hockey, Beat 'Em Bust 'Em.

Headbutting, eyegouging,
Impaling, decapitating
A broken arm and skull,
fracture, conquest & defeat,
A 5 minute major and a suspension,
a new team
and a hospital sheet.

Joe Keithley......he's like a Canadian Dylan Thomas. More hockey songs, please! It doesn't get better than this folks. One of the best sports songs ever.




The Swedish band The Bones make a nice punk pop contribution with Some Kinda Freaks. Euro-contenders. You High Sticked My Heart by the Dinks is also pretty good. As far as the harder edged songs go, The Red Wings tune The Commies, and Penalty Box by The Commies are decent, short and not so sweet. Royal Grand Prix's CCM is more overdriven punky pop.



Jon Ginoli's Pansy Division (see my post on his earlier band, The Outnumbered) make an appearance with their funny song about mullets, Ice Hockey Hair. I like the hard riff rocking 60's sound of JP5, where they declare their love of Gino Odjick. Sillier novelty songs like Hockey Night in Toronto by King Hokum & the King Bees, and The Stool Pigeons' DollyPartonesque Ballad of Cookie LaRue, are also pretty entertaining.

Probably the only other hockey classic is Blood on the Ice by The Riverdales, a side project of Screeching Weasel. More Ramones inspired puck rock glory.

Blood on the Ice
There's a puck flying at your head
Slammed into the boards and
you hit the deck

Get up and try to fight
but you're going down tonight
It's time to drop the gloves
Blood on the ice.

So, it's almost winter, so do yourself a favor; drop the gloves already and pick up some Puck Rock today, pencil neck.

Why Can't I...Be Like Any Other Guy? Hooleygan---Belfast's Punk Godfather Terri Hooley tells all (or at least some)

I just finished reading a fantastic book by the Belfast punk rock legend Terri Hooley (and Richard Sullivan), and I must admit it was a corker! Honestly, I started reading the book yesterday and already had finished it by this afternoon. If you are interested in Irish Rock music, or punk rock in general you need to read thisAnd his story is a great example of the DIY ethos in action..

Hard to Beat

We know him as the man behind Good Vibrations, the Belfast label that spawned the great Undertones, who brought them to the attention of John Peel, who played Teenage Kicks, and loved the song so much that he played it a second time on air, right after the first. I've discussed the amazing confluence of events in a prior post about the Undertones DVD. Hooley was a great promoter of local bands in Belfast--he saw that the rest of the UK viewed the area as a musical backwater, and he helped a lot of bands get heard through the release of singles on his label. Bands like Rudi, Protex, The Moondogs, Victim, Xdreamysts, and The Outcasts. From his earlier days in the folk scene, the hippie years of the 60's, and through the excitement of the punk rock explosion, he displayed a great love of good music and a deep healthy hatred of the music business.



The book is filled with great descriptions of the era, loaded with anecdote after anecdote. I don't really want to elaborate on them too much--I don't want to spoil the fun. Because Hooley by all accounts is a one of a kind guy, a fun loving mischievous guy who isn't afraid to speak his mind and stand up for his convictions. As you will find out in the book, he probably is not the greatest businessman. Owning a record store was almost a front for everything else he did. He was someone who got involved in music the arts, who DJed, ran record stores, a music label, managed bands, even did pirate radio. And this was happening in what was a pretty miserable place at the time. It seemed that punk music was one of the few outlets for young people that was able to bridge the sectarian gap. At least in the clubs...the long walk home at night was apparently an entirely different story.



In addition to Hooleys anecdotal reflections, you have short chapters in the book written by some of his friends, musicians and writers who have kind and amusing things to say about Belfast's Godfather of Punk.
On the back of the book there is a great quote from Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol. "a drunken lunatic, a lucid guru, a hilarious storyteller, a cuddly bear, and many more things besides." He even had a #1 hit on the charts with his rendition of Sonny Bono's "Laugh at Me". There are great descriptions of the club scenes of the day, like The Harp, and The Pound. The biography is loaded with pictures and promotional photos in addition to the many stories. Though I was most interested in learning about the Northern Irish Bands that recorded on Good Vibrations, I enjoyed reading about his encounters with Dylan, The Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Bob Marley, and Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy. My only wish would have been that it included a disc full of songs Good Vibrations catalog. But hey, I guess you can't have everything. Hopefully this vibrant punk scene will eventually be more accessible to the public some day soon.

But believe me, if you love music you will love this book. Hooley is a real charmer---somehow I feel like I'm reading this and being schmoozed by him, and he is accomplishing this from an ocean away. His story is definitely worth documenting though, and this year they are filming a biopic about this life entitled Good Vibrations, the Terri Hooley story.

A story that will make you laugh and cry--and think. As a fellow music lover your heart will beat a little faster with each and every page turn. His enthusiasm and zest for life is contagious.  More people could use such infection!