They will talk about their new album, or their upcoming tour, the Grammys, the Brit Awards – so it’s fairly ephemeral,” says Duerden. He has written widely on the arts, family and health, and is the author of two novels, a memoir on fatherhood, and other non-fiction works. If you’re a musician whose career is on the slide, the advice “Exit Stage Left” provides on how to survive such a downward trajectory could probably be summarised as: keep away from heroin, employ an accountant who isn’t going to screw you over and run off with your career earnings, and have the foresight to have got on the property ladder in the South-East of England by the mid-1990s.

Featuring brand new interviews with the likes of: Bob Geldof, Shaun Ryder, Robbie Williams, Roisin Murphy, Stewart Copeland, Billy Bragg, Wendy James, Alex Kapranos, Joan Armatrading, Leo Sayer, Gary Lightbody, Lisa Maffia, Tim Booth, Bill Drummond, Rufus Wainwright, David Gray, and Justin Hawkins. I work in the music industry and found this a fascinating read, making me look at new music through a different lens. David Quantick ‘Duerden finds fascinating layers of humanity, pathos, humour and wisdom in equal measure. All of which makes EXIT STAGE LEFT a fascinating, laugh-out-loud funny and often shocking look at what happens when the brightest of stars fall down to earth.I found it really interesting to see how a pop star, someone whose wildest dreams came true, navigates all of that. Many still feel the need to create and do so for themselves, while many have found themselves burnt out by their experiences and seek enlightenment elsewhere while others still find themselves back to the 9-to-grind life and find their purpose in other avenues. If you love reading about interesting people and music, and have eclectic music tastes, you’ll really enjoy this too. I found this quite repetitive and dull which was a shame as I thought the subject matter was very interesting. Conversely, an artist whose name has long since disappeared from headlines might still be making music, perhaps even the best of their career, and amassing new fans away from the spotlight.

It was this type of thing that really spoke to me and helped me identify how we relate the capitalist side of the business with our own worth.Spending my formative years in the dizzying plastic reality of my own stint of pop stardom left me wholly ill-equipped to navigate the real world afterwards. It is sad the the music industry is such a churn, but they knew what they signed up for, and if they are surprised at what happened then they are naive or idiots. These are tales of heroin addiction, bankruptcy, depression, divorce—but also of optimism, a genuine love of the craft, humility and hope. Certainly no shockers here but it scratched an itch I didn't know I had; wondering about the whereabouts of some of the artists that filled my youth. A former primetime television personality, his outdated style has seen him relegated to the scrapheap.

Read more about the condition New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. This is a book for lovers of music, for children of the 80's and 90s, and for readers who are fascinated by bright stars that fade. In the ‘70s, music journalists got to go on tour with bands for six weeks, so of course, they came back with a fascinating story to tell in Rolling Stone magazine,” he explains. The other thing that helped was looking up a quick video or two once I knew who the chapter was about.

There are bands who accepted that their moment in the sun was fleeting, or see fame as a by-product of a hobby that got out of hand.

p>The data controller is Headline Publishing Group Limited. The closest the book comes to any kind of conclusion is that nobody ever entirely leaves music behind, not forever, which I'm not so sure about; Mark Hollis, say, gave the impression that even if he hadn't died far too young, he was finished, and I suspect there's a selection bias in who was up for chatting to someone writing a music book.Some ex-stars still seem pretentious and over-the-top, but there’s a genuine warmth running through the stories. Highly recommend this if you've ever been obsessed with being on the other side of the counter or stood adoringly waiting for your favourite band to hit the stage at the height of their fame. These include Wendy James, Robbie Williams, Bob Geldof, Shaun Ryder, Robbie Williams, Roisin Murphy, Stewart Copeland, Billy Bragg, Alex Kapranos, Joan Armatrading, Leo Sayer, Gary Lightbody, Lisa Maffia, Tim Booth, Bill Drummond, Rufus Wainwright, David Gray, Lloyd Cole and Justin Hawkins. But, for the most part, I enjoyed reading these untold stories, titbits, occasional rants (LOL Bob Geldof), wisdom and general bizarre-ness (props to the author for patiently transcribing Sananda Maitreya’s aka Terence Trent D’arby’s absolute pseudo-waffle).