Author:David Hepworth
When Paul McCartney took to the stage at the climax of Live Aid in 1985 he was portrayed as the elder statesman of rock. He was 43 years old. When he headlined at Glastonbury in 2022 he was 80. He was joined on stage by Bruce Springsteen, 72, and Dave Grohl, a mere whippersnapper at 53. The Rolling Stones have just concluded yet another money spinning tour, David Gilmour and Jon Anderson, both 78, are about to release new albums, the list goes on and on. This book consequently explores the question of why rock stars never retire. In his usual inimitable pithy style, the author examines a number of big names and the various motivations that keep them going, often financial of course, in an era when the income generated by live performances has far outstripped that from record sales, and an affluent audience is on hand to pay sky high ticket prices for perhaps one last chance to see and hear the music of their youth that rekindles so many magical memories – and of course as the years move on the anticipation and the spectacle gets ever bigger. This is in many ways an era without precedent – Dylan collects a Nobel Prize, Jagger and Elton pick up knighthoods, and the brand names of The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Who and the like become ever more valuable. After his diversion into writing the official history of Abbey Road a couple of years ago, Hepworth is back to the more familiar style of his previous books, with the short punchy chapters highlighting a sharp eye for detail, while his trademark ability to mock subjects he so clearly loves with his dry sense of humour is never too far away. I really enjoyed reading this book, which has that cunning ability to make you want to read just one more chapter when you were about to put the light out, and it’s apparent that the author, like the rock stars he writes about, has no imminent plans to retire!
Length of Read:Medium
Might appeal to people who enjoyed…
Hepworth’s previous books, all of which are well worth reading, and his past writing in the likes of Q, Mojo and of course The Word.
One thing you’ve learned
For those within striking distance of the capital, Waterstones at Piccadilly will host a live edition of the Word In Your Ear podcast, featuring Mark Ellen interviewing the author, on September 3rd.
Curses heading down the next day for Joe Boyd in conversation with Brian Eno I could have made a couple of days of it.
I checked, it’s sold out.
Too late anyway train and hotel booked. If I’d known at the same time as booking the JB/BE (also sold out) then I could’ve done.
With vast swathes of actual pop music, to all intents and purposes, free, and no record shops to buy the stuff that isn’t, I now spend far more (still not that much) on reading about pop music, so this will almost certainly be snapped up on a day-trip to St. Ives or the like… and probably read the same day.
I think he pretty much summed up the whole premise of this publication in another of his orange books when he said something like:
“I put it to you that if you were offered millions of pounds to do your job, and to be adored unconditionally every night doing it, you’d keep doing it too!”
Quite like DH, but he does churn them out.
This looks like one of his better ones so will probably get.
Have you got his 70s comp, @deramdaze? It’s rather good.
Nope. I’ve got the oranges in hardback, apart from ‘1971’, not avoided because of the ludicrous premise, but simply that I’ll get it in hardback to go with the others.
The other one of his pearls of wisdom – “I was 15 at the best time to be 15” – I also disagree with. Paul McCartney was 15 at the best time to be 15.
But I like him (he was slagging off Kurt Cobain and Nirvana on the radio the other day, what’s to disagree with there? Go Dave!), and I’ll definitely treat myself to this.
It’s been said before and I’m sure it will be said again the nest time to be 15 is the year you yourself were 15 (Sept 1970 to Sept 1971 in my case.
Spot on with that date range.
I was just a week or two behind you reaching the Golden Year.
Like DD I have all DH’s orange books in hardback but I thought the last 2 were a bit lacking in direction. I found Abbey Road really hard going, but the premise of the new one does sound interesting. A Dodgers pre-order.
I pick them up for 99p for the Kindle.
I found the early part of the Abbey Road book interesting, but it tailed off towards the end for sure.
Yep, it could no longer carry that weight.
arf! v.g.
How long does it take the editor to take out all of the “you know what I mean” from the audio book readings?
Marginally longer than extracting every time he says ‘whereas nowadays’ I’d aver.
Ps. I generally like his books and his views can be insightful and thought provoking (given his experience in a number of fields). Don’t always agree and sometimes find myself exasperated with the occasional factual errors (podcast) from one so certain of his own opinions. But that’s part of the fun, in the main. I can be an opinionated twat at times.
Looking forward to reading it.
I’ve liked all his books including Abbey Road. Setting aside the content or the opinions, he is I think a very good writer.
I think he is a great writer. I prefer listening to Ellen but far prefer reading Hepworth. Of course, for the full Word in Your Ear experience they should just print some Mark Ellen text straight over the top of Hepworth’s, and vice versa.
I can’t actually read his books without hearing his voice…it’s like having the audiobook!
One of the best things about DH and his better books is his mastery of the far from easy art of turning out prose that is very, very easy to read
As I said I buy the books for 99p, I generally like him and still listen to the podcast, but I find them a bit difficult to get through. His style not really for me I think.
I’m almost expecting a book entitled ‘Why People Keep Buying My Books Knowing They’ll Disagree With My (Correct) Opinions’.
Hehehe
He should really bring out a compilation of his many Theories.
Shush!
Don’t give him any ideas.
I find his books a bit slight. It’s almost as if they’re intended for those who know less than us. Which is odd considering we ought to be the market. It’s something of a patronising approach. That’s how he is though. He’s there to tell you how it is. Other books give me so much more.
This. ⬆️
I feel The Afterword appears to be moving slowly but steadily toward the ‘acceptance’ stage of grief after we lost the magazine.
As a latecomer to the magazine, and having grown up outside the UK, where Hepworth was far more of a cultural fixture, I was often bemused by the raw outpourings of anger aimed at Heppo whenever he was the subject of an OP, often referring to him with a diminutive nickname, some refusing to mention his name at all.
“Bargaining” seemed to happen privately, with “Depression” being indistinguishable from the site some Friday or Saturday nights in the southern hemisphere.
Well done, all! 🙂
I’m glad you said this, the weird attitude towards David makes me uncomfortable to say the least. He’s no more opinionated than anyone else here.
If opinions are indeed like arseholes, DH’s only serious rival would surely be Kim Kardashian
Or Ian McNabb
Or Ian McNobb as he is now known around here. Sadly.
Affectionately, in my case. He is someone whose music I have loved ever since the first Icicle Works album, but he should never have gone near Twitter or Facebook. We don’t need to know, Ian…!
See also Andy Partridge and probably loads of others.
It’s possible to call someone a nob, whilst still recognising the thing that made you love them originally. Plus Ian is a Scouser, who make affectionate insults into an art form.
@leffe-gin
I agree broadly. Love the Icies, (Still hoping for a full reformation one day…r.i.p Roy Corkhill by the way) and a lot of his solo stuff but he is an arse on social media. Covid denier for one.
Oh… shit. I didn’t know about Roy. That is horrible news.
It is. Played on Permanent Damage which has a couple of classics on it. Only just found out he was the bassist with Black…Wonderful life etc
Yep, he played on the best two Black albums, then the final Icicle Works LP (which was an solo album in all but name) and the first two McNobb solo LPs. And a couple of more recent ones.
A local record shop posted a picture of the Numb EP with “RIP Roy” on their FB feed, until I pointed out that Chris Layhe played on that.
I wonder if DH’s sales will suffer due to his failing to name his book “I hope I get old before I pass” in acknowledgement of more mimsy individuals’ reluctance to use the dreaded “D” word