ANDY BLADE (Cherry Red Books)
When the name Eater is mentioned, most people automatically think of their claim to fame, the fact that they were the youngest of the first wave of punk bands. 14 to be precise. This is a shame because it detracts from the fact that they were a pretty neat band, but it does provide for some interesting stories in this, guitarist Andy Blade’s autobiography. The book goes way beyond the Eater story, covers his pre punk youth right up to the present day and pulls no punches. We get the juice on family breakdowns, aversion to school, trying to combine a life of schoolboy by day and rock star by night, post punk musical adventures, exploits in Israel and Morocco, making friends, betrayal, life on the dole, drug experiments, stealing guitars and much more. Undoubtedly the punk stories will be what interests most, and there are plenty of them. We get the low down on what some of the movers and shakers were really like, uncompromising tales of bands like Slaughter and the Dogs, The Buzzcocks and Chelsea and hilarious tales of run ins with Johnny Rotten when Andy is caught in bed with the future Mrs Lydon. This book is probably doomed to be read by us oldies who remember and love Eater, but it deserves a far wider readership as Blade’s way with the English language makes it a treat to read and the defrocking of some of the punk heroes in here are down right hilarious. Just read it, you wont regret it.

CAROL CLERK (Omnibus Press)
Hawkwind, arguably the inventors of space rock, have been walking a tight rope between mainstream and underground since the dawn of the 70s, when dinosaurs ruled the charts. For almost four decades they have plodded on relentlessly with more line up changes than the Tory front bench. The only constant throughout has been the ‘captain of the ship’, Dave Brock. The book details the coming and going of all the various members, including members that have gone on to be far more famous than Hawkwind (Lemmy with Motorhead) and members that were bigger than Hawkwind before they joined the band (Ginger Baker of Cream fame). For a very brief period page three legend Samantha Fox performs with the band, but does not play as big a part as the extremely ‘chesty’, Stacia. Even Vera Lynne makes an appearance.

Hawkwind let it all hang out at the Windsor free festival in 1972

Some of the old members have stayed loyal to Brock while others have fallen out with him big time. Nik Turner’s relationship with Brock is fraught to say the least, with Turner seeing Hawkwind as a community belonging to all the members of the band and Brock seeing himself as the captain and dictates who and what goes. The friction between the two eventually ends up in court because Nik formed his own band with ex members called, suitably, xhawkwind (who still play now, all be it under the name Space Ritual).

As you would expect there are tales of sex, drugs and debauchery, run ins with the police, customs, the tax man and psychopathic fans. From the free spirited psychedelic days of the 60’s Ladbroke Grove scene, to recording in Brock’s own studio on his Devon farm; taking in the stardom that came with Silver Machine, free parties, benefits, festivals, Stone Henge, tours of America and monumental stage productions that would inspire Spinal Tap along the way. They have influenced scores of bands over the years and love ‘em or hate ‘em, today’s festival scene would not be what it is without them.

If you want to know anything about the band, it is in this book, without a doubt one of the most exhaustive biographies of a band ever written. Unfortunately, its comprehensiveness is its downfall. The falling out of the members results in lots of back biting, sniping, allegations and arguing over money and song credits can get tedious after a while. With 540 pages to wade through it can be hard work on times and would probably be more ‘entertaining’ if it were half as long. Its not the authors fault, she is only writing the truth and on times the band come across as a bunch of squabbling kids and whose heads you want to bang together. If it is such hard work, why read it? Well, amid the bickering there are some classic rock ‘n roll tales; it reveals stories that are unknown and it brings on a nostalgic grin when you remember events that you have attended. And lets face it, we have all been touched by the band at some point, either directly or indirectly, whether we know it or not.

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RACHEL TREZISE (Parthian) 2007
South Wales is currently awash with quality 21 st century metal(ish) bands, Lost Profits, Bullet For My Valentine, Funeral For A Friends etc, which makes it amazing that Midasuno remain unsigned. They are after all, equal to any of the above and one would think they would have labels camped outside their homes in Merthyr with contracts in their hands. On the face of it this book is a tale of being on the road with the band during their ‘Midsummer Murder Tour’ in 2005, but it is much more than that.

Midasuno, live @ Coal Exchange, Cardiff, 2007

The back cover claims that this is a ‘warts and all’ story; if this is true, their aint many warts. Rachel states that some things have been kept ‘off the record’ but we don’t think that has made too much of a difference. There are not tales of rock ‘n roll debauchery, there are no Sex Pistols punch ups, there are no tellys chucked out of the window ala Led Zeppelin, no mammoth drug taking sessions of the sort old time Welsh rockers Man indulged in; this is not the sort of adventure Hunter S Thompson, who is mentioned several times in the book, would have been involved in. In fact, compared to the youth, or even old age, of most of the Iguana posse these lads seem quite tame, although they do have thier moments. They wear eye make up, worry about Misfits shoelaces and go around in a van driven by the drummer’s dad. So what though, driving cars into swimming pools does not make you a better guitarist and drugs aint big or clever. They are ordinary valley boys trying to make themselves a name in the big bad world beyond the Severn Bridge and who can fault that. Having seen them live and heard the CDs, we can forgive them for not being hell raisers, in fact they deserve credit for not trying to be something they are not. No hotels are smashed up, no service stations ram raided, no 'Class A's' are snorted, but the boys do have a good time and it sounds a lot more fun than sitting in Merthyr Legion.

What makes this book stand out though is the fact that it is not just a tour rockumentary, it is the tour seen through the eyes of a young talented author cum rock journalist who bears her soul on every page. Unlike many books of this sort, Rachel takes a prominent role in the telling of the story, talking of her impending marriage, her other books, ‘proper jobs’ she has done, her childhood, trips to New York and how an author/journalist never switches off, constantly writing things in her head. Her use of the English language is a marvel to read, when we are taken into a club we feel we know what it is like without ever having been there, and when the band play at venues we are familiar with a knowing smile is generated recognising and agreeing with her diagnosis. Descriptions of taxi drivers and the lumpen proletariat of the valleys are both simplistic and spot on. We cannot think of anyone else that takes Motley Crue or Guns ‘n Roses seriously, but she manages to paint them with a romantic gloss that ALMOST makes us want to go out and buy something by them.

If anyone else had written this book, it may have been a waste of time but it will introduce the literary world to one of the finest rock bands in Wales and it will introduce hordes of unwashed youth to the joys of literature, and in the process may well inspire them to pick up a guitar or even write with proper words instead of text speak.

For review of Midasuno EP CLICK HERE

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