I Know This Much: From Soho to Spandau
Описание книги
I Know This Much – by Gary Kemp, Spandau Ballet's prime mover – is simply the freshest, most exciting and best-written memoir to arrive for years.Gary's story begins in North London, where the Kemp family rented a home with no bathrooms and chickens in the yard. After a couple of failed attempts to kill his brother Martin, his parents gave him a guitar for Christmas.From schoolyard battles between the Bowie Boys and the Prog Rockers to Mrs Kemp's firm insistence on net curtains, from acting for the Children's Film Foundation to manning a fruit and veg stall on Saturdays, Gary brilliantly evokes an upbringing full of love, creativity and optimism.As the Thatcher years begin, Gary's account of the outrageous London club scene centred around the Blitz and Billy's is just sizzling. Out of this glamorous mayhem of kilt-wearing mascara'd peacocks would emerge Spandau Ballet – the band that would define the era, and hold high the victorious standard of the New Romantics.Gary's thrilling journey with Spandau Ballet would see them record worldwide hits such as True, Gold and Through the Barricades, play the biggest stadiums in the world, and take to the stage in togas when their luggage gets lost in flight. Stallions, supermodels and dwarves would be hired for video shoots, and through it all, Gary records the wonderful friendships, and the slowly-building tensions that would eventually see five old friends facing each other in court.I Know This Much tells the story of Spandau Ballet, but it's far more than a book about being in a band. Whether it's meeting Ronnie Kray before filming The Krays, sketching out the fashions and subcultures of the day, or hanging out with Princess Diana, this book offers a story on every page. And all the more so because it's all written – brilliantly – by Gary himself.
Оглавление
Gary Kemp. I Know This Much: From Soho to Spandau
I Know This Much
Gary Kemp
COPYRIGHT
CONTENTS
LONDON, 27 JANUARY 1999
CHAPTER ONE WAKEY WAKEY!
CHAPTER TWO HOME-MADE
CHAPTER THREE WE ARE THE BOYS AND GIRLS
CHAPTER FOUR WATERLOO SUNRISE
CHAPTER FIVE TWENTY-FOUR FRAMES A SECOND
CHAPTER SIX FAGS AND BEER
CHAPTER SEVEN FOLLOWING THE DURM
CHAPTER EIGHT REVOLT INTO STYLE
CHAPTER NINE A CRASH COURSE FOR THE RAVERS
CHAPTER TEN THE JOURNEY BEGINS
CHAPTER ELEVEN SOUL BOYS OF THE WESTERN WORLD
CHAPTER TWELEVE REMAKE/REMODEL
CHAPTER THIRTEEN LEAVING HOME
CHAPTER FOURTEEN A BULLET FROM DISCO DANNY
CHAPTER FIFTEEN EMBRACING THE ENEMY
CHAPTER SIXTEEN STARMEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN BARRICADES
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN FALLING
CHAPTER NINETEEN BEING RONNIE
CHAPTER TWENTY A BIGGER SPLASH
LONDON, 30 APRIL 1999
INTO HISTORY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Отрывок из книги
From Soho to Spandau
And suddenly, there I am.
.....
During this process of thinking and writing about my past I suppose I’ve envisaged myself as a slightly smaller version of who I am today, albeit younger, obviously. But as I rewind and play again, the boy I see here is not the one I’ve had in my mind; he’s fresher, with no great experience or aspirations; he’s not seeing this moment through any nostalgic haze or wry cynicism, and hasn’t even thought about playing in a band yet. He comes from a different world to the man watching him now.
I suddenly feel a sadness, a pathetic desire to speak to him, and, with a deep sense of loss, realise that I miss him; because he no longer exists.
.....