An Occasional Series of Cultural (Re)Discovery. Part 2.

British-Born Culture That You Might Have Missed and That Matters to Me.

Street-Level Superstar: A Year With Lawrence by Will Hodgkinson.

Possibly the finest book about music of the decade.

This is an extraordinary, compelling, funny, sad book about a wannabe pop star who never quite makes it despite making loads of albums, being signed to some impressive record labels, and wanting success with a sort of desperation that few possess, but I suspect many understand. It is full of pathos and bathos and sadness, but it is ultimately a story that probably best reflects what so many people that yearn to be pop stars or successful artists feel; that, if only things had been a little different, then, well, success would have been theirs.

The author follows Lawrence (he only has one name) for a year, walking, talking, helping, supporting. They talk about his many bands, his manifold and deep eccentricities, his appalling diet, his addictions, his curious views of the world. Lawrence is a bona fide outsider. The author and his subject become friends, reluctantly at times, but clearly with deep mutual admiration. In some ways I think that this is what’s unusual, and indeed remarkable, about this book; you know that the author really means it, really feels passionate and connected to his subject.

I’ve been listening to Lawrence’s music a bit since reading this wonderful book. Felt were much feted in the 1980s, Denim equally so in the 1990s. My opinion is that most of their music is just not great, though there are some really interesting and unusual bits that stick with me, Primitive Painters being one such song. But that isn’t the point of this boo, really; Hodgkinson has identified and chronicled what really matters about Lawrence and his highly relatable story which is the absolute compulsion to create art, whatever life throws at you and, as such, this is far more interesting a book than one about someone who has ‘made it’.