I'm Not with the Band: A Writer's Life Lost in Music

I loved Sylvia Patterson's memoir, I was attracted rather superficially to the cover and the title.Apart from her descriptions of music and the culture of the 90s, which are described with energy and insight, Sylvia's narrative is bound together by a formidable strength of character. I think that's why this book has stayed with me where other journo/culture memoirs haven't. Patterson's experiences are perhaps not unusual for someone in her industry at the time, but her sincerity, her character and her pain and are unique to her a beautifully evoked. I'm amazed at what she has achieved, the pathos of her mother and father coupled with her humour really moved me. I think Patterson would do well to publish more creative nonfiction or fiction.

I remember when she wrote For The NME and was always impressed with her style. Now S Paterson has written a memoir about her life as a writer. For those like me who read The NME between let us say 1986 and now, This is quite an interesting book because We get Much insight behind The scenes of many interviews we read such as The ones with Prince or Madonna. We get to read about her start at smash hits magazines after Which she moved over to The NME. The interesting thing with the journal is that despite its editorial discontinuity the level of writing was always very high. She Did contribute to that but with a very limited background. We get to see her rise to fame in The NME along with bouts of drug taking (expected) Until her resignation from The magazine just before its downfall. For those interested in understanding How music writing Works, it is interesting since We get an insight into The life of one of The better writers on The NME Staff. One might have Wanted some more gossip about The magazine itself But, oh well... it is already very good.

Hello, mini blogger here, parp,parp. Once upon a time, back in old school uk, London to be specific your lordship. Due to my own reckless circumstances and finding myself kipping on my sisters floor in south London i urgently needed to find a room,not a home,a room,(i mean what are we thinking!) So i either anwsered an ad or placed one in Loot or similar (for 'creative types') in that pre internet era.Before i could whistle i realised i was standing on the front door step of a small terrace house in Fulham,Stephendale road as i recall,my memory fumbling to serve me.Being the introverted artist type i had thrown myself on the roulette wheel and into the risky embrace of strangers,a young woman opened the door and i was shown through into a tiny lounge of shoe box dimensions,chairs and couch pressed against the walls.Plonked on said couch was a blonde haired woman who resembled a psychedelic persian cat.This was Sylvia,a young scots lass who was free lancing as a pop writer and two friendly Irish girls who were into graphics/fashion.Anyway took the room,not sure what they saw in me,cheap rent compared to the horrors of the present day.Being a couple of years older i kept mostly to my self in my own upstairs fridge sized bedroom world,working as a mini cab driver and on my own artwork.From upstairs i could often here Sylvia holding court down stairs in mini rave central and thinking erm,well, oh crikey what have i let my self in for! ,although this was not all the time, i remember the girls as being quite hard working,bills had to be paid.This was around 1988-9.Eventually i moved on,needing more room to paint in.Fond memories.This book talks about,in the later chapters the looming housing crisis,it was bad then and worse now.Reading this i was shocked to see that Sylvia had moved about eighteen times and realised i had moved a good sixteen to seventeen times...is this normal? (although perhaps a more stable profession might have helped,but we cannot all work in Sainsburys) can people even find anywhere to move to now? This is a very funny and at times depressing book and also a little too padded out with past interviews.But the change from the light hearted pop fun of the 'Smash Hits' decade,the celebratory brit pop era and on to the cynical branding and suffocating pc world of the twenty first century (the bohemian and artistic London of the 70s to the late 90s now gone for good thanks to insanely high rents) is humourous and well told from the off with good old old school journalistic jousting thrown in for good measure,combined with lamenting at the control freakery and paranoia of present day 'interviews'.Very touching also when describing her mothers alcoholism,any one with similar experiences will understand.Funny japes with the Happy Mondays in Jamaica,the sad decline and fall of the NME (Miami),Jimmy and Robert any one?,Beyonces cleavage,Oasis and more,brilliant read when you are in the right mood,its one of those books you can delve into on any chapter and read.Enough of my waffle,recommended,a kaliedascope of a story that needed telling,just remember...please do not feed the trolls!

I found this book to be an enjoyable read. It follows music journalist Sylvia Patterson throughout her life with the main focus being on her years working for Smash Hits, NME, Glamour and her freelance work. It is packed full of first-hand anecdotes covering the 1980's to the early 2000's. On the face of it it's a book about the world of music but there is an underlying theme where Sylvia attempts to find the answer to the meaning of life. In addition to this because it follows a career of over 30 years in music journalism it becomes an examination of how the music world has changed over the years, how the way in which the public consume music has changed with the rise of the internet and streaming and how the popstars themselves have changed in the face of the celebrity obsessed culture that exists today. In my opinion this elevates the book from being a bland book featuring anecdote after anecdote and gives it more substance.Almost every chapter centres around a different band or artist with each providing an interesting insight in to their world from the perspective of an outsider looking in. Some of the bands and artists included are Prince, New Order, Britney Spears, Noel and Liam Gallagher, U2, The Manic Street Preachers, Westlife, Eminem, Cypress Hill and many more. Without giving anything away some of the anecdotes are funny, some of them are shocking and some of them are just strange.A few of the chapters that I enjoyed the most were the ones covering the Britpop era, it is/was portrayed by many as a time of happy music where indie artists and the UK in general were thriving but this book shows the dark underbelly of this scene. I also enjoyed the chapter on Westlife and the chapter on U2. I thought Westlife showed themselves to be graceful, intelligent, savvy professionals in the face of Sylvia's sometimes mean questioning and I guess that time has proven them to have the last laugh as 20 years on their career is still going strong. As for U2, like many others I had always subscribed to the media-forced view that Bono is a virtue signalling annoyant, this book has changed my opinion on him, during the chapter on U2 he showed himself to be up for a laugh, aware of himself and the way he is perceived in the media.Initially I felt that the writing style didn't flow that well (think Smash Hits) but I soon got in to it and loved the hint of Smash Hits nostalgia I got from the writing.It should be noted that whilst this book focuses 90% on the music industry, Sylvia does at times open up and talk about her life outside it with particular focus on her miscarriages and her relationship with her alcoholic mother and how this affected her life outside of her career, she writes with such sensitivity on these topics that I think most readers will find themselves shedding a tear.It is a really good book, it manages to be funny, emotional and shocking. I'd recommend it to anyone with any interest in music.

honest but fun text. good and sensible writer. quietly tells the story of the downfall of outspoken cultural icons and how pop culture today is too afraid of sales and chart numbers to be the leaders of The Revolution.good companion through the first days of broken ankle, especially when she writes about her own bone breaking misfortunes...recommended for true music fans/fanatics