Exit Stage Left: The curious afterlife of pop stars
£9.00£10.40 (-13%)
**A SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN & TELEGRAPH MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022**
**INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE MONTH**
**GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY**
**FINANCIAL TIMES ‘BEST SUMMER BOOKS 2022’ PICK**
‘Incredibly moving.’ – Guardian
‘Entertaining.’ – Telegraph
‘Most books about pop stars focus on the way we turn average human beings into demi-gods. In writing a book about how they have to turn back into humans Nick Duerden has done both us and them a service.’ – David Hepworth
‘Funny, poignant and often inspirational.’ – Mat Osman
The desire for adulation is a light that never goes out. We live in a culture obsessed by the notion of fame – the heedless pursuit of it; the almost obligatory subsequent fallout. But what’s it like to actually achieve it, and what happens when fame abruptly passes, and shifts, as it does, onto someone else?
This is the point at which pop stars are at their most heroic, because they don’t give up. They keep on striving, keep making music, and refuse simply to ebb away. Some sustain themselves on the nostalgia circuit, others continue to beaver away in the studio, no longer Abbey Road, perhaps, so much as the garden shed. But all of them, in their own individual ways, still dare to dream.
Exit Stage Left features tales of drug addiction, bankruptcy, depression and divorce, but also of optimism, a genuine love of the craft, humility and hope. This is a candid, laugh-out-loud and occasionally shocking look at what happens when the brightest stars fall back down to earth.
‘Exit Stage Left is the book I’ve long wanted to read about the PTSD-like after-effects of pop stardom – and Nick Duerden is the perfect writer for the job. The pop star’s bittersweet lot is represented with flair and empathy.’ – Pete Paphides, author of Broken Greek
‘Exit Stage Left is a funny and poignant book, drawing on Duerden’s considerable experience as a journalist and interviewer . . . he understands what motivates this strange bunch of people.’ – Andy Miller, Spectator
‘Fame is the brightest candle, but in this brilliant collection of interviews, Nick Duerden answers the question: what does a candle do after it’s burned out?’ – David Quantick
‘Duerden finds fascinating layers of humanity, pathos, humour and wisdom in equal measure. A brilliant book, for artists and fans alike.’ – Frank Turner
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.
Read more
Additional information
| Publisher | Headline (10 Nov. 2022) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 384 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1472277783 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1472277787 |
| Dimensions | 12.9 x 3.2 x 19.8 cm |
by Ac Sammons
Interesting background to forgotten artists. Insight into life after fame.
by Peter Lee
This is a book about pop stars who fell from the limelight. Some may have had one hit single and then disappeared, whilst others may have made ill-judged career decisions and their popularity waned. It’s not a book of interview transcripts, and it’s nicely structured. I devoured the whole thing in a couple of days.
A few negative points. Some of the conversations are incredibly brief – an act is introduced, one question is put to them, and that’s that, the book moves on – and a few feel truncated, as though we’re just reading an extract from a conversation without it actually getting anywhere. The whole book actually doesn’t really go anywhere, or have any big revelations, and doesn’t come to any conclusions. When I hit the last page before the index I actually said “oh,” with a sense of “is that it?”
All in all though, I did thoroughly enjoy this book. A very enjoyable read if you’re a music fan.
by Steve Davies
Really interesting read about the lives of famous musicians after their peak moments of fame, and where they went next.
by M. REID
The ephemeral nature of fame is deftly addressed in this collection of profiles of musicians.
I found it insightful, nuanced, and full of pathos; and Duerden writes with a witty turn of phrase.
Anybody who has followed a pop musician’s career will appreciate the alarm and horror of the protagonists as the adulation fades – but most of the musicians are wiser for it.
It’s a great read for anybody middle-aged, frankly: anyone who has had a crack at something; succeeded; then lost; then found another way to succeed.
The profiles are thematically grouped, and my only criticism is that a few of the profiles dragged because I wasn’t particularly interested in them – or their music. However, I skipped them without any adverse consequences.
by Mr. R. J. Sims
A great read about the ‘other side’ of fame once the hits dry up and being a pop star is no longer tenable as the day job. A eclectic bunch of ‘has beens’ still trying to /or given up on past glories tell their own stories in a honest way with varying degrees of success with candour and humour. Most just get by with the royalties earned from their early days and still play the nostalgia circuit to keep them ticking over. A good read, although I felt this book only scratched the surface on our former idols.
by Johnners
This is an interesting book and one, I think, perhaps is long overdue. It adds another layer to the outbreaks of ‘where are they now’ periodically trotted out by the mainstream media and there is a strange fascination in discovering that any hero or heroine of one’s youth is now pulling pints, working in a large DIY store pointing people towards the plumbing section, has reinvented themselves as a yoga teacher or is still desperately trying to revive past glories.
I enjoyed Durden’s writing style, there were a few one-liners that had be chuckling but, to be honest, after the first five chapters or so, it turned into a game of ‘read the first paragraph and see if I can work out who he’s writing about, before the name is revealed’.
In fairness, I think he went for a few fairly low-hanging fruit whose post-peak fame stories are already reasonably well known (Tim Burgess, Bob Geldof, Don Maclean, Robbie Williams, etc). Another minor criticism is that, in lumping The Darkness in with ‘hair metal’, it’s clear that Durden doesn’t understand what either that band or that genre are about. But these are quibbles in the context of an enjoyable read.
By the very nature of agreeing to be interviewed for this book, those who were clearly still crave public recognition of their musical talents, even if they’ve since moved on to other things. Given the sheer size and longevity of the popular music industry and the rapid turnover of both artists and trends, it’s obvious that Durden has set himself up with a potential series of books here.
For me, what would be a more interesting future read would be more stories from those who weren’t necessarily the frontmen/women – the less well-known band members and side musicians who also experienced the heady hights of playing to huge crowds, being on TV shows and a sizeable amount of adulation, whose living and lifestyle evaporated along with their more famous counterparts.
And – perhaps more difficult for the author – the stories of those who chose to walk away from the pop music industry, rather than it walking away from them.
by Kenneth Barrett
This is a very well written book, for author Nick Duerden drives his narrative with an underlying humanity and humour that turns even the most gormless and the most egotistical burnt-out cases into individuals worthy of respect.
All kinds of former pop star are paraded here, for the author has performed a magnificent research job. There are the rueful, the resigned, the angry, the uncomprehending, and those who think they still can find a way back into the spotlight.
Many are immensely wealthy, many are totally skint, several are drug-addled, some have embraced a different career, some are still dragging themselves round the circuits, either because they need the money or because fame was a drug and they still crave their fix.
I’m from a generation before the names interviewed here, and have heard of only a few of them, but as an examination of fame and its after-effects, I found the book a fascinating read.
by Teflonphil
Both interesting and thought provoking. An easy read with chapters just long enough that you can dip in and out on a daily basis.