Stoned - Andrew Loog Oldham > Reviews > Pretentious...moi?

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Advantages:	an insight into the early days of rock and roll
Disadvantages:	wallows in the authors self promotion

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no

Full review

There are many moments in popular culture that it would be fascinating to be a fly on the wall too. These moments not only change the lives of the people present but also have repercussions that resonate throughout the whole world, the oft-cited Butterfly Effect. There is a moment in this book which documents such an event, a chance conversation in a London Pub that united a band and a manager that would take the music world by storm and open up a whole new genre to the British music consumer, but more of that later.

Andrew Loog Oldham grew up in post war England raised only by his mother at a time when single parents were frowned upon. His mothers struggle to give them both the lifestyle that she thought that they both deserved can be seen to have shaped the boys early attitude and made him into someone always looking for something more than he had. It also made him something of a rebel. These two factors, as well as developing a talent for self-promotion and an extreme charm and confidence, gave him the drive to become on of the big names in the fledgling world of rock and roll promotion. The early years are interesting, an outsider in the stoic world of the private school system set against the backdrop of the early years of rock and roll, Gene Vincent and the Shadows played a bigger part of those years than the curriculum. After school a wander around France, what is now called a gap year, introduced him to a few useful contacts, but it is back in London that the tale really gets going. After working in the fashion business, where his love of clothes carried him further than any formal training, he eventually set himself up as a music promoter, obtaining column space for his clients. And so back to the defining moment in cultural history. Peter Jones of Record Mirror, in an effort to let Oldham down gently for not giving his acts much coverage that week happened to let out a bit of a tip. One of the regular writers was enthusing about a small R'n'B band that were yet to release a record but Jones thought had some mileage in them. After following up the lead Oldham's world was about to change. In his words.

"There are no accidents, and Peter Jones was the conduit to my destiny. I was probably forty-eight hours ahead of the rest of the business in getting there. I met the Rollin' Stones and said "hello" to the rest of my life."

The influence and organisation that Oldham brought to the band, arguably, made them the biggest band in the world of their day. This was a time when The Stones where a dangerous bunch of outsiders, the opposite of the "nice" Beatles, their only rival. The book follows the path of Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll as Oldham and the band take on the world to establish themselves as one of the biggest acts on the planet. But be warned this is not a biography of the Rollin' Stones as the book concludes just as their career begins to take off. It's a look at the behind the scenes world of the early days of music promotion and the life of one of its most creative forces.

Potentially this book had the makings of something worthy. Andrew Loog Oldham has led a fascinating life, there's no denying that, but the style of the book lets itself down. It is set out as a series of interviews from the characters involved. Half the text, obviously, comes from Oldham himself, especially in the early years, the rest from the colleagues, friends and stars of the times. This makes for an overall lack of continuity, as there is no background story line to cement this altogether. Without this there is little opportunity to analyse and respond to the interviews and lets face it people's recollection of the past isn't always the most honest, either by design or just through poor recollection. It could have been an analysis of the times, a look at one mans path through the formative years of rock music, the rise of the band over the solo artist, the formation of the modern music industry itself. But its not. Unfortunately the book is happy to be an egotistical promotion of Oldham, which is hardly surprising considering that's how he made his living. In a slightly too sycophantic way the interviewees are all a bit eager to praise and Oldham comes out looking like some sort of choirboy and that is far from the truth.

It was not a book that I found easy to read for the constant breaks in the flow as one person cuts in to the next, and there's about two or three interviews per page on average. The continuity wavers and it's hard to remember just whose recollections you are listening too. I can only say that this is something that you could really enjoy if you have an association with the time and place and the people involved, as an outsider like myself (and most of the readers will fall into this category) I found myself lost in a world that was difficult to pin down. It's a brave attempt at trying to bring something new to the biography but it doesn't work, the pretentiousness rises to the top and becomes extremely off putting. So much promise, so little delivery.