Jeff Apter
Författare till Never Enough: The Story of The Cure
Om författaren
Jeff Apter is an Australian-based music writer, who has been reporting on popular culture for the past 15 years
Verk av Jeff Apter
Taggad
Allmänna fakta
- Kön
- male
- Nationalitet
- Australia
- Land (för karta)
- Australia
- Bostadsorter
- Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
- Yrken
- journalist
biographer
Medlemmar
Recensioner
Never Enough: The Story of The Cure av Jeff Apter
By the time I got to the end of the first chapter, I realized this was going to be a horrible read. I was wrong. The rest of the book was quite enjoyable. If you can make it through the first chapter, it's an interesting read while trying to be fair about any inter-band differences. It isn't "Robert Smith is a god" like I was afraid it would be. I liked it.
Until a few years ago, I actually held an unhealthy amount of disdain for this band (and Andy Gibb). I, like much of the world, couldn't get past the disco years, and saw them only in that light.
Then, something interesting happened. My best friend, his wife, and my wife all wanted to go see a Bee Gees tribute band. I grumbled and swore, and ultimately acquiesced. I even went so far as to tell my best friend that I would enjoy only one song, Nights on Broadway which, for some reason I absolutely loved (much like I still despise ABBA, but can't help cranking Knowing Me, Knowing You if it comes on).
To prepare for the night out, I thought I should at least familiarize myself with some Bee Gees tunes, and built a playlist that was career-spanning.
And damned if I didn't end up playing the hell out of it.
Since then, I've come to appreciate the Bee Gees (and Andy), and play them quite often. So I figured I'd dive into a biography of the band. (Which is an overly long and roundabout way of letting you know how I came to read this...sorry for the boring history lesson).
As band biographies go, this one is perfectly adequate, without diving too deeply into the more salacious aspects of the four brothers' lives. It accomplishes what a music biography should, chronicling the lives of the members, their interactions, break ups and make ups, their ups and their downs, and the genesis of many of their biggest songs. Really, that's all you can ask from a biography, right?
However from the summary on the back of the book, that the four Gibb brothers were constantly beset by tragedy? Well, no, that just makes a great logline and is good use of a song title from their repertoire.
Personally, I would have went with How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, but that's just me.
The Gibbs don't necessarily seem to suffer an inordinate number of tragedies through their lives. In fact, they seem to live fairly charmed lives, seemingly finding work whenever they needed it, a champion in Robert Stigwood to get them on the charts, decent initial success, great rebirth in the mid-70s, a new direction in writing and production in the 80s, and chart success once again in the late 80s, early 90s.
Yes, there was drug addiction, alcoholism, and death along the way (Andy barely into his 30s, Maurice in his early 50s, and Robin in his 60s), but there's not a lot of long-standing musical groups that don't face that. There's the inevitable break ups and make ups (Robin seemed particularly emotional in this regard).
Really the biggest tragedy is the fact that the sole surviving Gibb brother, Barry, was on the outs with every single one of his brothers just before they died, which is a shitty way to say goodbye to three brothers.
For all of that, however, this is a decent chronicle of their lives.… (mer)
Then, something interesting happened. My best friend, his wife, and my wife all wanted to go see a Bee Gees tribute band. I grumbled and swore, and ultimately acquiesced. I even went so far as to tell my best friend that I would enjoy only one song, Nights on Broadway which, for some reason I absolutely loved (much like I still despise ABBA, but can't help cranking Knowing Me, Knowing You if it comes on).
To prepare for the night out, I thought I should at least familiarize myself with some Bee Gees tunes, and built a playlist that was career-spanning.
And damned if I didn't end up playing the hell out of it.
Since then, I've come to appreciate the Bee Gees (and Andy), and play them quite often. So I figured I'd dive into a biography of the band. (Which is an overly long and roundabout way of letting you know how I came to read this...sorry for the boring history lesson).
As band biographies go, this one is perfectly adequate, without diving too deeply into the more salacious aspects of the four brothers' lives. It accomplishes what a music biography should, chronicling the lives of the members, their interactions, break ups and make ups, their ups and their downs, and the genesis of many of their biggest songs. Really, that's all you can ask from a biography, right?
However from the summary on the back of the book, that the four Gibb brothers were constantly beset by tragedy? Well, no, that just makes a great logline and is good use of a song title from their repertoire.
Personally, I would have went with How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, but that's just me.
The Gibbs don't necessarily seem to suffer an inordinate number of tragedies through their lives. In fact, they seem to live fairly charmed lives, seemingly finding work whenever they needed it, a champion in Robert Stigwood to get them on the charts, decent initial success, great rebirth in the mid-70s, a new direction in writing and production in the 80s, and chart success once again in the late 80s, early 90s.
Yes, there was drug addiction, alcoholism, and death along the way (Andy barely into his 30s, Maurice in his early 50s, and Robin in his 60s), but there's not a lot of long-standing musical groups that don't face that. There's the inevitable break ups and make ups (Robin seemed particularly emotional in this regard).
Really the biggest tragedy is the fact that the sole surviving Gibb brother, Barry, was on the outs with every single one of his brothers just before they died, which is a shitty way to say goodbye to three brothers.
For all of that, however, this is a decent chronicle of their lives.… (mer)
I already knew the story of the band, but I found this book quite enjoyable. If you don't know anything about the band or just know them as that silly disco group, make sure you have some hankies nearby. The last section focuses on their post-disco careers, but more or less on the heart wrenching tale of their younger brother Andy and the effect it had on them. Maurice and Robin's death and Barry continuing on without them, but keeping their spirits alive, is sure to bring a tear to your eye.
1 
HShannon | 1 annan recension | Aug 17, 2018 |
HShannon | 1 annan recension | Aug 17, 2018 | Du skulle kanske också gilla
Associerade författare
Statistik
- Verk
- 30
- Medlemmar
- 335
- Popularitet
- #71,019
- Betyg
- 3.4
- Recensioner
- 3
- ISBN
- 114
- Språk
- 6