I'm Not with the Band: A Writer's Life Lost in Music

I remember when she wrote For The NME and was always impressed with her style. Now S Paterson has written a memoir about her life as a writer. For those like me who read The NME between let us say 1986 and now, This is quite an interesting book because We get Much insight behind The scenes of many interviews we read such as The ones with Prince or Madonna. We get to read about her start at smash hits magazines after Which she moved over to The NME. The interesting thing with the journal is that despite its editorial discontinuity the level of writing was always very high. She Did contribute to that but with a very limited background. We get to see her rise to fame in The NME along with bouts of drug taking (expected) Until her resignation from The magazine just before its downfall. For those interested in understanding How music writing Works, it is interesting since We get an insight into The life of one of The better writers on The NME Staff. One might have Wanted some more gossip about The magazine itself But, oh well... it is already very good.

honest but fun text. good and sensible writer. quietly tells the story of the downfall of outspoken cultural icons and how pop culture today is too afraid of sales and chart numbers to be the leaders of The Revolution.good companion through the first days of broken ankle, especially when she writes about her own bone breaking misfortunes...recommended for true music fans/fanatics

Good journalists are natural storytellers; no unnecessary page-filling rubbish, startling metaphors, and an ability to put you, 'viewers' at the heart of the action. True rebels, journalists or musos, never had the foresight to get rich so, please, buy this book and maybe our Sylv will be a bit more financially secure in her dotage. I loved it and if you are into the music of those times, and everything that went with it, you will too.

I can recommend this tour of the UK music scene!

A good read. Personable and funny but heartfelt and Indepth.

So, perhaps its just me but ..... I wanted to like this book, I was excited to read it when i bought it as it held the promise of a good story with some music names that i care about and many those that I dont, but then I began reading and it kinda went downhill from there. Sorry I tried, and I dont like leaving bad reviews so I will just say again maybe its just me...

I miss the Inkies.My teenage years revolved around the weekly music papers, they were an integral part of my life and I read, particularly Melody Maker, from cover to cover without fail. Journalism was on my list of potential careers and, fascinating and as exciting as I thought it might be, Sylvia's recollections paint a picture of extreme highs and crushing, almost unimaginable lows. I admired these scribes, this is exactly the kind of book I wanted to read and I have loved every single word. A must for anyone who lived through the 'glory year's of the printed music press.

I found this book to be an enjoyable read. It follows music journalist Sylvia Patterson throughout her life with the main focus being on her years working for Smash Hits, NME, Glamour and her freelance work. It is packed full of first-hand anecdotes covering the 1980's to the early 2000's. On the face of it it's a book about the world of music but there is an underlying theme where Sylvia attempts to find the answer to the meaning of life. In addition to this because it follows a career of over 30 years in music journalism it becomes an examination of how the music world has changed over the years, how the way in which the public consume music has changed with the rise of the internet and streaming and how the popstars themselves have changed in the face of the celebrity obsessed culture that exists today. In my opinion this elevates the book from being a bland book featuring anecdote after anecdote and gives it more substance.Almost every chapter centres around a different band or artist with each providing an interesting insight in to their world from the perspective of an outsider looking in. Some of the bands and artists included are Prince, New Order, Britney Spears, Noel and Liam Gallagher, U2, The Manic Street Preachers, Westlife, Eminem, Cypress Hill and many more. Without giving anything away some of the anecdotes are funny, some of them are shocking and some of them are just strange.A few of the chapters that I enjoyed the most were the ones covering the Britpop era, it is/was portrayed by many as a time of happy music where indie artists and the UK in general were thriving but this book shows the dark underbelly of this scene. I also enjoyed the chapter on Westlife and the chapter on U2. I thought Westlife showed themselves to be graceful, intelligent, savvy professionals in the face of Sylvia's sometimes mean questioning and I guess that time has proven them to have the last laugh as 20 years on their career is still going strong. As for U2, like many others I had always subscribed to the media-forced view that Bono is a virtue signalling annoyant, this book has changed my opinion on him, during the chapter on U2 he showed himself to be up for a laugh, aware of himself and the way he is perceived in the media.Initially I felt that the writing style didn't flow that well (think Smash Hits) but I soon got in to it and loved the hint of Smash Hits nostalgia I got from the writing.It should be noted that whilst this book focuses 90% on the music industry, Sylvia does at times open up and talk about her life outside it with particular focus on her miscarriages and her relationship with her alcoholic mother and how this affected her life outside of her career, she writes with such sensitivity on these topics that I think most readers will find themselves shedding a tear.It is a really good book, it manages to be funny, emotional and shocking. I'd recommend it to anyone with any interest in music.

Sylvia Patterson made her name in journalism working for the iconic, Eighties pop magazine, Smash Hits. It is hard to explain just how important Smash Hits was in shaping a generation of music loving kids in the Eighties, but it was everything. It clearly was to Patterson, who has extremely fond memories of working there, which have never quite been topped by anything she has done in the following years, despite the fact that she has written for some much weightier, far more edgy publications and the fact that she has interviewed many of the best known names in popular music in her time.The glittering interviews, which are recreated in their entirety in places, the glamorous parties, the travel, the reckless partying and abandon which make up her professional life are undercut here by the damage of her upbringing and the insecurity of her financial and home life as an adult. There is a constant sense here that the lights will dim and the scenery will be pulled away and all that will be left is a bewildered, lonely person. The pathos and the glamour work in counterpoint with each other and make this a compelling read although I did spend a lot of time worrying about Patterson and wanting to send her a warm blanket and a hearty meal.

Well, this was great. Sylvia has a very engaging writing style which brought back warm memories of my Smash Hits days. It was very illuminating about celebrities and the issues of fame, but equally Sylvia’s own life was fascinating and eventful and showed that the journalistic life is fun but no bed of roses . I read this in a day and ended up wishing their was more...maybe in a few years time! I have to admit that I am somewhat biased. As a 12 year old my Mum suggested writing to Sylvia to cheer me up as I had to have to have 4 teeth extracted at the dentist. I felt miserable and certainly didn’t want to mingle. I didn’t expect anything back but Sylvia wrote to me a personal letter and even sent some Smash Hits memorabilia. Just like you refer to ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, you will sometimes never know the impact that a little kindness and thoughtfulness can have.

If you loved Smash Hits back in the day, you may well love to see the catchphrases and oh-so-quirky style resurrected, eulogised and replicated at interminable length by the author. If not, you are left with an extremely tiresome set of annoying writing affectations as the author writes, extremely repetitively about how great life was because she and her friends got drunk and smoked and took drugs and had wacky japes and met musicians who were great because they got drunk and smoked and took drugs and did I mention all the wacky japes that were had because everyone was so wacky because everyone was drunk and smoked and took drugs?The whole think is just endlessly annoying, and leaves the lasting impression that rather than the author being surrounded by a set of infinitely amusing characters that were so so witty and so wild and fun, that actally pretty much everyone in the book was an obnoxious egomaniac that you will rather leave town than associate with.It takes a lot for me to abandon a book, but after 30% of this one I'd had enough.But... I eventually did come back to it, and in fairness, it does get somewhat better later. It's still not good, but it's not as awful as the first third.