Entertainment For Lively Minds
It's the rock bookcast!
Mark Hodkinson has written The Last Mad Surge Of Youth which is the best novel about being in bands I've ever read. This week he's our guest in the podcast talking about how bands were formed in the years after punk, the inevitable power struggles that take place within the ranks of those bands, the effect that fame has on personality and above all what it takes to succeed.
Mark also runs Pomona, a book publishing company with the ethos of an indie label, from his home in Hebden Bridge. As well as his own titles Pomona have re-published books from venerable northern authors like Barry Hines, Ray Gosling and Hunter Davies and here he talks about the economics and practicalities of running a small independent publishing house in the era of Amazon. If you want to buy Mark's book, and you should, you can get it direct from Pomona here.
You can sign up to get the podcast every week here or stream it below.
Didn't realise
Harpo Marx was still around....but he looks dead chuffed with that book! :-)
Okay
Who had the theremin in the background? Woo-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.
Excellent podcast though.
Haven't heard it yet
But I'm guessing Mark is a Chameleons fan, judging from the book's title.
everyone
should be a Chameleons fan
reading lyrics to
reading lyrics to "Monkeyland" half way through the novel made me cry. Can't see Mark Burgess as JOhn Barret though ...
No access to this webcast although I would like to hear it
Can't find out how to listen to this - there is no link "below" and the main Word podcast is about recording studios. More advice on how to access please
Try the podcast page again
I've just updated it. Not sure why the player sometimes doesn't appear for some people - I think it's an occasional Divshare issue when there are multiple instances of the player on one page.
Still nothing....
...to click on.
Am I missing something?
never works for me either
just go to itunes and subscribe
If there is ever
any call for an Art Garfunkel n Tony Blackburn tribute act....
I'm glad I'm not the only one
who struggles with Will Self. I did once buy one of his books - a collection of essays, I think - but gave up after about three pages, having already come upon a dozen or more words that I had literally never encountered before in my life.
Great podcast, by the way (Steve)
"Richard Geefe"'s creation Myles Gedge may amuse then
Myles Gedge, novelist: 'From the moment Geefe arrived, his mouth crammed with lit cigarettes, one could tell that his syzygous mind was a condign prisoner of raging turmoil - a turmoil that carved his neurons and dendrites into afunctionate butter. He was pissed. Bleating. Zekkulous. But somehow, the charisma of his demons chop-charmed the women like bolassed rheas.'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/1999/jul/04/featuresreview.review6
Haven't heard the podcast
But I wonder if Pomona have experienced a sudden upsurge in interest in Ray Gosling's work?
Sure enough...
There was a copy in Waterstones in Manchester tucked away in a corner of the shop, I was sufficiently intrigued by the Pod to purchase it.
Interested to hear the publishers still employ reps to get their products into the shops, like record labels used to do.
There can't be much for these reps to do can there? I assumed Waterstones had central buyers..maybe not?
Reps
I would imagine Pomona are represented by some kind of sales operation that also does many other publishers.
Waterstones and WH Smiths and...
I'm sure they do, I meant in the sense that other than the Big 'W's there aren't that many outlets for these Reps to descend on are there?, I assumed all the ordering was done centrally but maybe not. Mark mentions on the pod the long lead time he needs to give the reps time to do their thing so they obviously do something.
You got me
Just listened on the way into work, and what a lovely listen. Scribbled 'Pomona' on my hand so I wouldn't forget and bought Mark's book from the website as soon as I got in front of the pc.
Yet again a splendid Word podcast. Amusing, thoughtful, charming.
Excellent webcast
I really enjoyed it - I had bought the book in January based on Mr H's recommendation and it is a great read. It really captures the time beautifully. I was interested to hear in the podcast how much revision the book took - it showed in the finished version, for sure, in the smoothness of the read and the attention to detail in names and context. I read quite a lot of "rock books", despite many of them being disappointing, sometimes beacuse there is a clanger where I'm thinking "No, that wasn't Prag Vec. They weren't at Leeds Art School. Do they mean Delta Five ?". I was in bands from 77 and it took me right back. While reading it, I dug out my battered Gang Of Four records and was listening again to early Cabaret Voltaire. Bands don't tend to have manifestos or worldviews now, do they ?
Sheer class
That was an utterly absorbing, fascinating and enjoyable hour.
Little known fact about Todmorden
is that it was birthplace of Keith Emerson ... though on checking I see
it has many more claims to fame
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Todmorden
I still do
that 'widows & orphans' thing, I'm sad to say most of my colleagues (they're all 10 years younger) don't and a few had never heard of it till I mentioned it
very enjoyable podcast
- as usual - sold two books to me too (I liked the description of Believe in the Sign as well). Thanks to David and Fraser.
For the non-fiction angle...
...this really is worth a few hours of your time:
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/all-these-little-pieces/5939858?pr...
Excellent Podcast
I really liked Mark's punk inspired DIY attitude, it certainly seems he is doing something he loves. As someone who was immersed in bands, fanzines, self-released singles and DIY cassette labels myself - I'm really intrigued to get the book.
I certainly agree that no fictional movie or book has ever captured the reality very well, except maybe Spinal Tap that is...
Looking forward
To reading this on the strength of the superb as ever podcast. Am currently enjoying Peter Hook's How Not to Run a Club, more entertaining trips down musical memory lane.
I'm just about to start that
I've heard great things
I heartily concur ...
... with all the love in the room for a) this particular podcast, b) Mark Hodkinson (good writer, nice bloke and admirable bearer of the indie torch), c) The Chameleons, and d) The Last Mad Surge, which I wrote about, when interviewing Mark, for Word magazine, in June 2009. Where were you then, Dave? "Someone recommended it to me at a party before Christmas ..."! Cuh.
great book
Bought the book on the strength of the podcast and (I'm on p 160) it's a great read. Going to check out other Pomona titles soon.