When teenage guitar prodigy Keith Gear shares a stage with Jimi Hendrix in mid 60s Soho he forms a bond with his hero and embarks on a journey that will take him a long way from his South London roots. Reluctantly thrust into the spotlight with his band Dominion, he plays the fame game briefly and finds it wanting.
With Jimi he enjoys acid trips in London, jam sessions in New York and reflective evenings in Morocco. In the decades that follow he experiences cult fame as a solo artist and sees a close friend become an unlikely star on the alternative comedy scene. By the 1990s a psychopathic celebrity killer is on the loose and the ageing and battle-worn Gear is largely forgotten. In the midst of all this a chance encounter at the Avalonia festival opens up unexpected pathways for Gear’s future.
With dark humour Rob Chapman creates an elaborate mosaic that gradually reveals the outsiders and uncompromising spirits who roam the fringes of popular culture.
Dusk Music costs £8.99 and was published in April 2008.
ISBN: 978-1-873226-95-7
‘Chapman's success lies in ensuring the minutiae of Gear's life, both professional and personal, are meticulously presented. He instils discographies, live events, music rags, radio stations and fellow musicians with a life and enthusiasm that helps plot a convincing course alongside a skewed reality anchored by some of music's biggest names.’
* * * Ross Bennett, Mojo June 2008
Photo: Miles Dell
Rob Chapman is well known for his features and articles about popular music and has been a regular contributor to Mojo, Uncut and The Times, as well as a broadcaster with the BBC national network. He is the author of Album Covers from the Vinyl Junkyard and Selling the Sixties: The Pirates and Pop Music Radio, which was included in the Guardian’s top ten music books of the year in 1992.
He was singer and lyricist with the Bristol-based post-punk band Glaxo Babies. John Peel was a keen supporter of the band and two compilations of their output, Dreams Interrupted and The Porlock Factor, have recently been released. Chapman is currently a senior lecturer in music journalism at the University of Huddersfield. He lives in Manchester and is working on a biography of the late Syd Barrett.
 |
 |
 |
Web site design by Cornwell Internet. Page last updated on 26th September 2012.
Flambard Press Ltd is a non-commercial, not-for-profit limited company registered in England and Wales. Registered number: 05983763.
Registered office: Stable Cottage, East Fourstones, Hexham, Northumberland NE47 5DX.