
Foreground Music
A Life in Fifteen Gigs
Graham Duff(Author)
Strange Attractor Press
Published on 31. December 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
364 pages
978-1-907222-82-5 (ISBN)
Description
A chronicle of a lifetime's passion for gig-going, by one of British television's most respected writers."Foreground Music is an absolute gem. Charming, very funny and often achingly melancholy, Graham Duff's memoir is suffused with a genuine passion for live music and its (occasionally eccentric) power.
-Mark GatissThe result of a lifetime's passion for gig-going by one of British television's most respected writers, Foreground Music is at once enthusiastically detailed and tremendously illuminating-of both the concert moment and its place in popular culture. It is an engaging memoir of a life lived to the fullest, and a vivid, insightful, and humorous exploration of what music writing might be.Foreground Music describes music performances that range from a Cliff Richard gospel concert, attended by Duff at the age of ten, to the fourteen-year-old Duff's first rock show, where the Jam played so loudly he blacks out, to a Joy Division gig that erupted into a full-scale riot. Duff goes on pub crawls with Mark E. Smith of the Fall, convinces Paul Weller to undertake his first acting role, and attempts to interview Genesis P. Orridge of Throbbing Gristle while tripping on LSD.Foreground Music captures the energy and power of life-changing gigs, while tracing the evolution of forty years of musical movements and subcultures. But more than that, it's an honest, touching, and very funny story of friendship, love, creativity, and mortality, and a testimony to music's ability to inspire and heal. Illustrated with photographs and ephemera from the author's private collection.
-Mark GatissThe result of a lifetime's passion for gig-going by one of British television's most respected writers, Foreground Music is at once enthusiastically detailed and tremendously illuminating-of both the concert moment and its place in popular culture. It is an engaging memoir of a life lived to the fullest, and a vivid, insightful, and humorous exploration of what music writing might be.Foreground Music describes music performances that range from a Cliff Richard gospel concert, attended by Duff at the age of ten, to the fourteen-year-old Duff's first rock show, where the Jam played so loudly he blacks out, to a Joy Division gig that erupted into a full-scale riot. Duff goes on pub crawls with Mark E. Smith of the Fall, convinces Paul Weller to undertake his first acting role, and attempts to interview Genesis P. Orridge of Throbbing Gristle while tripping on LSD.Foreground Music captures the energy and power of life-changing gigs, while tracing the evolution of forty years of musical movements and subcultures. But more than that, it's an honest, touching, and very funny story of friendship, love, creativity, and mortality, and a testimony to music's ability to inspire and heal. Illustrated with photographs and ephemera from the author's private collection.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
US School Grade: College Graduate Student and over
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
20 b&w photos; 40 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 194 mm
Width: 137 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-907222-82-5 (9781907222825)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
12/2019
Strange Attractor Press
€19.49
Available for download