First book on seminal 1980s bands Gaye Bykers On Acid and Crazyhead. Both bands endorse the book.
Based on interviews with band members, friends, fans, and roadies, this book is an uncompromising history of an overlooked music scene. Rich Deakin charts the course of grebo via the changing fortunes of Gaye Bykers on Acid and Crazyhead, taking us on the booze-filled tour buses, behind the dodgy deals and onto the international stage and back again. Their careers were short, but the two bands managed to shake up the UK indie scene and along the way became Britain's unlikely ambassadors of rock following the collapse of Soviet Russia.
“"...vidly captures the spirit of the times." -- Grahame Bent, Record Collector, [on the author's previous book]”
"...vidly captures the spirit of the times." --Grahame Bent, Record Collector, [on the author's previous book]
"Rich Deakin's engaging text leaves this catalogue of self-destruction bare... An exhilarating account... the fact that Deakin has managed to solicit key contributions from all the key players tells a story in itself." --Gerry Ranson, Rock 'N' Reel, [on the author's previous book]
"Sprawling, exhaustively researched and extremely engaging biography of the ever shifting n'er do well personnel of the bands variously known as The Social Deviants, then just The Deviants, and eventually The Pink Fairies." --Richard Metzger, Dangerous Minds, [on the author's previous book]
Born in Leicester, England, home of Englebert Humperdinck and Showaddywaddy, as well as Gaye Bykers On Acid and Crazyhead, Rich Deakin now lives in Cheltenham with his partner, Trudi, and two very noisy black cats. He has written for various music magazines, including Shindig!, Louder Than War, and is a regular contributor to Vive Le Rock! He insists he writes about music not from the standpoint of a failed musician but a talentless one. His previous book, Keep It Together! Cosmic Boogie With The Deviants And The Pink Fairies, was published by Headpress in 2008 to critical acclaim.
West Midlands 1980s, home to heavy metal. Black Sabbath and Judas Priest are household names, but over the smoking chimneys and factory yards something new and equally ugly forms 'Grebo' was a media constructed music genre that even today sends a shudder down the spines of discerning music fans and critics. A homegrown proto-grunge counterpart to the likes of Butthole Surfers, Mudhoney, early Nirvana, Alice In Chains, and Soundgarden grebo was a British phenomenon that drew on an eclectic range of influences, from punk, 60s garage and psychedelia, through to 70s heavy rock and thrash metal. It foreshadowed rave culture and was steeped in class politics. GAYE BYKERS ON ACID and CRAZYHEAD hailed from Leicester. They were not the first bands to be labelled grebo but they were the most unashamedly unkempt and came to be considered its greatest exponents. They were a burst of dirty thunder and almost no one liked them.Based on interviews with band members, friends, fans, and roadies, this book is an uncompromising history of an overlooked music scene. Rich Deakin charts its course via the changing fortunes of the Bykers and Crazyhead, taking us on the booze-filled tour buses, behind the dodgy deals and onto the international stage and back again (with a pitstop for a rock movie that swallows lots of money). Their careers were short, but the two bands managed to shake up the UK indie scene and along the way became Britain's unlikely ambassadors of rock following the collapse of Soviet Russia.Strap yourself in for a rocket ride of a book. This is GREBO! the complete loud and lousy story!
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