Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE BEST ROCK N ROLL BIOGRAPHY EVER WRITTEN, 7 Dec 2001
Tom Doyle's book about Billy Mackenzie is the greatest rock n roll story ever told. Except that it's not really about rock n roll. It's got nothing to do with sex and drugs or throwing TVs out of hotel windows. Billy's biography is a hugely funny, strangely innocent, ultimately tragic family story.He was the handsome, charismatic, mischievous frontman of 80s Scottish pop band The Associates. Looking like a cross between Johnny Depp and Mickey Rourke, Mackenzie had a voice that could scale three octaves and still burst a microphone with its power. Not surprisingly, everybody - including Warner Records - thought Billy would go on to become a global mega-star. And s a young man, he did really, really wanted to be a pop star and he loved music. But, most of all, he loved his family... he loved his whippets... and he loved a laugh. Mackenzie was an unusual guy, with an irrepressible sense of humour. He was a
charmer from a tough, 'rag-and-bone trade' background. And he'd been an athlete at
school. So, he could handle himself in a business deal, or indeed a punch-up. The one story most people know about Mackenzie is how he was eventually 'let go' by
Warners. They'd invested a fortune in him. He'd given them a few hits, given the A&R
man assigned to look after him a nervous breakdown, pulled heaps of scams, stunts and
gags on them. And though he never owned up, he had probably pinched the master
tapes to one of his own albums - which are still missing. And even when Warners finally had had enough, they still liked him. So they took him to
lunch to tell him the bad news: he was being 'dropped'. As they were leaving Billy said to
Max Hole, their A&R man: 'Don't look so sad Max." And Max asked "Will you be alright?"
And Mackenzie replied "Yeah. But, do you think I could get a cab home on the company
account?" And Max agreed. So, Billy took the company cab home... to Scotland - 600
miles away.
Buy this book. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll click on Amazon and buy the music.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL; THE CHEEK OF THE DEVIL, 3 Sep 2001
Tom Doyle's book about Billy Mackenzie is the greatest rock n roll story ever told. Except that it's not really about rock n roll. It's got nothing to do with sex and drugs or throwing TVs out of hotel windows. Billy's biography is a hugely funny, strangely innocent, ultimately tragic family story.He was the handsome, charismatic, mischievous frontman of 80s Scottish pop band The Associates. Looking like a cross between Johnny Depp and Mickey Rourke, Mackenzie had a voice that could scale three octaves and still burst a microphone with its power. Not surprisingly, everybody - including Warner Records - thought Billy would go on to become a global mega-star. And as a young man, he did really, really wanted to be a pop star and he loved music. But, most of all, he loved his family... he loved his whippets... and he loved a laugh. Mackenzie was an unusual guy, with an irrepressible sense of humour. He was a charmer from a tough, 'rag-and-bone trade' background. And he'd been an athlete at school. So, he could handle himself in a business deal, or indeed a punch-up. The one story most people know about Mackenzie is how he was eventually 'let go' by Warners. They'd invested a fortune in him. He'd given them a few hits, given the A&R man assigned to look after him a nervous breakdown, pulled heaps of scams, stunts and gags on them. And though he never owned up, he had probably pinched the master tapes to one of his own albums - which are still missing. And even when Warners finally had had enough, they still liked him. So they took him to lunch to tell him the bad news: he was being 'dropped'. As they were leaving Billy said to Max Hole, their A&R man: 'Don't look so sad Max." And Max asked "Will you be alright?" And Mackenzie replied "Yeah. But, do you think I could get a cab home on the company account?" And Max agreed. So, Billy took the company cab home... to Scotland - 600 miles away. Buy this book. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll click on Amazon and buy the music.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Rhythm Divine, 30 Aug 2004
There has been much purple prose written about the music of Billy Mackenzie and the Associates - about his operatic voice, his cheeky demeanour, his insatiable lust for life...but most of it came after his untimely death. By the time he died Billy was forgotten by the mainstream music press...but some of us remembered him, willing him back into the charts where he belonged.Tom Doyle's book is a masterclass in how music biographies should be written - Billy is in turn funny and frustrating, inspiring and infuriating.Tales of excess and largesse reveal a complicated man driven by fame but endlessly pulling away from it.Record company indifference and the clamour for commercial success contribute to him being marginalised at the fringes of the music biz but in the end Billy was master of his own destiny and perhaps the most telling passage comes when he's engaged in conversation with a former bandmate Steve Knight telling him how everybody is prophesising big things for him ''But I'm not gonna do it, I'm just gonna throw it all away''. Read this book , buy yourself a copy of Sulk and remember him.
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