"A compulsive read, part Oswald Spengler, part Spike Milligan, and very, very funny" (David Peace)
"'As acerbic and hilarious as you'd expect from a man who thought it completely reasonable to call a pop single "Unsolved Child Murder." Haines clearly relishes - and shines in - his role as the Ancient Mariner at the Britpop party.'" (John Niven, author of Kill Your Friends)
"A lavishly bitchy memoir packed with gripes, grievances and tall stories told at the expense of other more famous musicians...Haines has constructed a vivid literary persona for himself as the great, grumpy Nearly Man of 1990s rock...He pours endless scorn on his amiable peers, who bizarrely seem not to mind or even notice...Rock's misanthrope in excelsis." (Sunday Times)
"These recollections of a bitter former pop star could be mistaken for a great comic novel...Compelling...An entertaining read...Haines is as funny as he is grumpy...The formless unpredictable life of the minor rock musician, forever jetting about on unspecified "promotional" duties or being loaded on to a tour bus like cargo rather than talent, has rarely been captured so acutely...Bad Vibes, good book." (Independent on Sunday)
"Luke Haines was a delusional, cruel, pompous and arguably cloth-eared despot throughout the 90s. If he wasn't such a viciously funny writer, he'd have made an excellent music journalist...A beautifully acerbic and elegant portrayal of a committed misanthrope unleashing the titular bad vibes upon music business doofuses, from telling Chris Evans to fuck off to jumping off a 15-foot wall and breaking his ankles to get out of a European tour...What's not to love?" (Q Magazine (5 stars))
'As acerbic and hilarious as you'd expect from a man who thought it completely reasonable to call a pop single "unsolved Child Murder". Haines clearly relishes - and shines in - his role as the Ancient Mariner at the Britpop party.'
Review
`In this acidic counterweight to the story of the flag-waving pop elite documented in John Harris's Britpop romp THE LAST PARTY, Haines casts himself as the Britpop pariah, glaring through the window at the self-congratulatory oiks laughing inside ... There are enough punch-ups, bad drugs, mind games, self-sabotage, lunatic fans and bizarre self-surgery to make BAD VIBES occasionally read like NO ONE HERE GETS OUT ALIVE were it written about Philip Larkin rather than Jim Morrison ... This is an imperious and wincingly amusing memoir that's often so sharp it could take your eye out.'
Review
`As acerbic and hilarious as you'd expect from a man who thought it completely reasonable to call a pop single "Unsolved Child Murder." Haines clearly relishes - and shines in - his role as the Ancient Mariner at the Britpop party.'
`Hilariously bilious ... Haines is wonderfully frank about his sometimes ridiculous behaviour ... and hilariously evokes The Auteurs' slow unravelling.'
Book Description
A blackly comic memoir from inside the British music scene in the 90s, by singer songwriter and Auteurs front man Luke Haines
From the Back Cover
First, you fail. After four years of gigs no-one attends, songs no-one hears, perfected haircuts no-one sees, late 80s Camden - where Shane McGowan is lord of the manor, pubs close in the afternoons, and dance music rules - is no place for a cultured singer songwriter like Luke Haines to be. One too many heavy afternoons on the red wine and you hit the bottom. The only solution is to record a demo in you flat, form a new band, and think of a pretentious name...
From heady tours in the early days with Suede through Cool Britannia, success in France and failure in America, to the break up of the Auteurs, the death of Britpop and the birth of new projects Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder, Luke Haines has the inside line. In acerbic, hilarious prose he tells of gigs in France with Pulp and the Boo Radleys, of getting on with New Order but not with Elastica, gives a verdict on the Blur/Oasis scrap, and explains how it felt to lose the 1993 Mercury Music Prize by one vote (and spend the early hours of the next day in A&E). Plus the fights, the sackings, the press, and the drugs...
Bad Vibes is a scathing, blackly comic memoir of a legendary figure in the music world of the 90's who is variously heralded as the pioneer, the godfather, or the forgotten man of Britpop.
About the Author
Luke Haines learned guitar in the red light district of Portsmouth and subsequently formally studied music at the London College of Music. His band The Auteurs missed out on the 1992 Mercury Music Prize by one vote - since then he has fronted other acts including Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder.
![Luke Haines In...Setting The Dogs On The Post Punk Postman: Limited Edition Vinyl [VINYL]](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/714z1MKn4IL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
