Читать книгу A Multitude of Sins: Golden Brown, The Stranglers and Strange Little Girls - Hugh Cornwell - Страница 5

It occurred to me that it might be an idea to welcome you to this book. Although it’s an autobiography, I’ve tried to avoid a strict chronological order, basically to introduce some elements of surprise. I’ve also tried to keep it pretty much as a stream of consciousness, as that’s the way we think when we’re going about our lives. Events have popped up in my memory in a completely haphazard way, and I’ve tried to convey that while I’ve been writing. I started to write the book in my head, but I first put pen to paper in southern Spain a couple of years ago, when I wrote the opening chapter just to see how it would turn out.

Any Stranglers fan will probably want to cut to the quick, thinking that there can’t be anything worth reading that can remotely compare to that period of my life. However, there was a ‘Before’ and there most definitely is an ‘After’. But if you want to find out about the formation of the band, then the chapter ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Part 2’ is probably what you’re looking for. Chapter 1, ‘Leave me alone’, deals with my leaving the band. ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Part 1’ deals with school, university and my first trip to Sweden. If you want the riots, then go to ‘Rest Of The World’. If you want to hear about how I lost my virginity then go to ‘Sex’. If you want to find out about my band Johnny Sox and bank robberies in Sweden then go to ‘Let me tell you about Sweden’. ‘Drugs’ will tell you how I happened to end up in Pentonville for five weeks. ‘Standing Room Only’ tells you what I’ve been up to recently amongst other things. The other chapter titles speak for themselves.

I’d like to say something about the nature of memory while we’re not on the subject. One of my favourite books is called My Last Breath by the Spanish film-maker Luis Buñuel, which is his attempt at an autobiography. At the beginning, he tells a little story about how his memory plays tricks on him. He recalls finding a photograph from a friend’s wedding in the Twenties, and is surprised to see someone in the picture whom he didn’t expect to have attended the event. He telephones the bridegroom to ask about the presence of the guest, to be told that he himself was the one who didn’t attend the wedding. This amazes him, as he can remember a lot of things about it even though it transpired he wasn’t actually there. He must have heard so many stories from his friends who were there that his mind had appropriated the experience. I looked up the story to refresh my memory of it, only to find it completely different from what I had remembered. I rest my case.

So you may wonder how much of this is true. Well, as far as my memory serves me, it all is. Looking at it, I realize I couldn’t have made up better fiction if I’d tried. It’s precisely because it’s true that it has been so easy to write, as I haven’t had to scratch my head looking for any plot and character development. But it has been very different from the writing of songs that I’ve been involved in for the last thirty years, and harder too, because when you write a song, you’ve got the music to guide you. But I’ve really enjoyed the experience, even though my brain is now feeling a bit frazzled. I’m sure there’s a lot of things I haven’t been able to remember, but all the meat is here. One thing to bear in mind is that the truth depends upon where you’re standing at the time, and I totally understand it if another person disagrees with anything I’ve written.

One thing that may come as a surprise is the fact that I’ve been allowed to write this myself, without a ghost writer. Obviously HarperCollins wanted to live dangerously, and I’m very glad they did. Martin Roach has been a fantastic help as an editor, being such a seasoned writer himself. He has guided me through a lot of structural and grammatical errors, and has always been there with enthusiasm and encouragement whenever I’ve needed it. So without his input this book would definitely not have existed. I have to add that David Buckley’s biography of The Stranglers, No Mercy, has been very useful to refer to, as his chronicling is superb, even though my input to that book was very small. I’ve explained how a few key Stranglers’ songs came into existence and what they’re about, but for the full story about every song then I can recommend my previous book, The Stranglers: Song By Song which I put together with my friend Jim Drury.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Hans Wärmling, the fifth Strangler. It was he who acted as my mentor when I was in Sweden the second time, and encouraged me to play electric guitar, to sing, and to write songs. I am sure things wouldn’t have turned out quite the same way if I’d never met him. He was a very nice man, and acted as a fine example of hard work and dedication for me in those early days when I wasn’t sure where my destiny lay.

Hugh Cornwell

Cádiz, Spain, June 2004.