Pow!

Before authoring 11 books, including best-selling biographies of Who drummer Keith Moon, R.E.M. and the Smiths, Tony Fletcher was a teenage music magazine publisher in his native England. But, with a degree of industry that sounds absolutely exhausting, he also ran a record label, interviewed rock stars, led a band, promoted concerts, worked as an on-air TV interviewer — and still found time for romance. Fletcher chronicled the early days of his life and career in Boy About Town (2013) but had enough extraordinary experiences left over for this colorful and engaging memoir. 1980–'84 was an explosive time in British rock, as the disruptive energy of bands like the Clash and Sex Pistols gave way to more sophisticated and chart-friendly genres and bands. Fletcher was on the front lines, running a record label with Paul Weller of the Jam, attending many of the most important concerts and befriending some of the top acts, many of whom became MTV regulars: Madness, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Wham!, Echo & the Bunnymen, Killing Joke, Adam and the Ants, the Smiths and more. Then there's the time he interviewed Paul McCartney... This is a complicated coming-of-age story, the tale of a naïve young man in a cultural whirlwind who learns some hard lessons about business, journalism, love and sex – all the while trying to get his own band a record deal.