Lost in Music: The classic laugh-out-loud memoir
£9.60£10.40 (-8%)
‘In the Spring of 1989, shortly after my twenty-seventh birthday, as I stood in the sleet at a bus stop in Colchester, it dawned on me that I had probably, all things considered, failed in my mission to become Sting. At least, for the time being.’
Lost in Music is about growing up with pop music – about hearing it, buying it, loving it, and attempting to play it in public for money. A brilliant combination of the confessional and the unapologetic, this is a book for anyone who has ever treasured vinyl, or sung into a roll-on deodorant in front of the bedroom mirror and dreamed of playing Wembley.
Praise for Lost in Music
‘Very, very funny . . . Giles Smith is a wonderful writer’ Nick Hornby
‘A wonderfully funny pop-music memoir . . . You don’t have to know who Nik Kershaw is to laugh out loud at the chapter about him’ Sebastian Faulks, Spectator
‘One of the best books about music that you will ever read . . . It is impossible to read Lost in Music without laughing out loud’ Daily Telegraph
Read more
Additional information
| Publisher | Penguin (20 July 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 352 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1804940291 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1804940297 |
| Dimensions | 12.9 x 2.1 x 19.8 cm |
by KD
I’m not sure I see the side-splitting humour that some other reviewers have, but this is a happy trip down memory lane for those of us who’re generation X. It’s always great fun to read stories about those people who were, when we were younger, just faces in magazines and on Top of the Pops. Giles Smith’s voice is warm and approachable. His biographical style is somewhat non-linear, which adds interest – I’m sure it’s tempting to fall into an “and then this, and then that…” sort of pattern with a piece of work like this, and he avoids that trap. The list of songs at the back (which I promptly used to set up my own playlist) is a great listen. Overall, a worthwhile buy.
by Mr. Lien
If your around 50 and have been into music since you were a kid, get this book. Well written with some extremely funny parts. Had me laughing for ages. Highly recommended.
by Mr Mark Cobley
I found this book particular easy to read. If you aren’t into ‘Pop Music’ then I wouldn’t recommend. If you are, then this book is for you. I finished it in an afternoon, and Smith’s attention to detail will inevitably have me re-reading it again very soon!
A very good, and interesting read.
by Lord Emsworth
This is the second book I have read by a member of The Cleaners From Venus in the space of a few weeks. Following on from the excellent “This Little Ziggy” by Martin Newell, I was keen to read this book (which covers completely different territory).
It’s a very enjoyable read. A combination of personal memoir, the confessions of a pop music obsessive, and the diary of a failed pop star. I suspect it was inspired by Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch and adopts a similar style. As such Lost In Music would probably have had greater resonance when it was first published in 1995. The self-depracating confessional style which embraces various nerdy aspects of the obsessive’s world (e.g. the need to carefully define and catalogue) is now an over familiar and somewhat tired trope.
I was most interested in The Cleaners From Venus reminiscences. I suspect Giles Smith would have been amazed to learn that in 2014 there have recently been three lavish CD collections of the majority of the Cleaners’ back catalogue. It is a strange and surprising world indeed.
I have read some wonderful books about music in the last few months and, whilst this is enjoyable enough, it pales somewhat in comparison to, and to name just a few, Yeah Yeah Yeah by Bob Stanley, This Little Ziggy by Martin Newell, The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band Who Burned a Million Pounds by John Higgs, Glam! by Barney Hoskyns, and The Haçienda: How Not to Run a Club by Peter Hook.
3/5
by R. Slee
If you grew up loving music in the 70s then you will identify with a lot of the content of this book. Very well written.
by V. C. Willow
I found this book utterly disappointing, the promised humour absent or missing in action (I was never sure which option to choose), and the Author pretentious and annoying. However this is a very personal opinion and others may really enjoy this style and Giles Smith’s sense of humour. With reviews like `One of the best books about music that you will ever read . . . It is impossible to read Lost in Music without laughing out loud’ Daily Telegraph, It must have just been lost in publication for me, but I hope others won’t be put off just because I didn’t enjoy the book.
by ian
I bought this book years ago, but lost it!
I thought about some of the amusing tales and thought I’d buy it again.
It’s a book full of great anecdotes – if you’ve been in a band you’ll understand all of its nuances.
It can be read in a day….. give it a spin.
by Nicola G.
a curiosity buy