Anoint My Head - How I Failed to Make it as a Britpop Indie-Rockstar (PART 3 of 4): Anoint My Head, #3

By Andy Macleod

THIS IS PART 3 OF 4 OF THE SERIALIZED VERSION.  FULL EBOOK ALSO AVAILABLE. 

 

'Super-evocative, Proustian and a wonderful walk down memory lane.' Mark Bowen Wichita Recordings

 

˜All the fun of youthful dreams and the poignancy of disappointment - plus a remarkable A-list cameo. Magnificent.' Phil Harrison Time Out / Guardian

 

It's 1992 and Horace dreams of becoming a rockstar with his band the Pointy Birds. The only problem is that his day-job (mis)filing vinyl in a Soho record store is stealing all his time and energy, plus rival bands like Suede, Blur, Pulp and Radiohead are moving on to bigger and better things.  But then someone called Ricky offers his services as a band manager and at last the dream can start.

 

In part three, Horace has graduated from college and the band is ready to rock, but without a student grant how he is going to pay the rent?  A full-time job is not an option. Maybe a foray into stand-up comedy can bring in some bacon and help the band too.

 

Anoint My Head is the tale of a band who didn't become rich, or famous but had a manager who did. It is also the story of a musical era, and documents the rise of some of the biggest British Britpop bands of the nineties, plus a comedian who went on to write quite a successful sitcom about a paper merchants in Slough.

 

A coming-of-age story about pursuing your dreams and what happens when reality gets in the way. Perfect for fans of Caitlin Moran, Nicky Hornby & Ricky Gervais.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andy Macleod
• Release date: Nov 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781838271923

Andy Macleod

Andy Macleod is a music promoter, a cold-water swimming enthusiast/bore, a Spurs fan and a dad. When no one is looking he likes to write. Anoint My Head - How I failed to make it as a Brit pop indie-rockstar is his first book. It took him 6 years to write but was in gestation for 50. He lives in London with his wife, two kids and a cat. He would like a dog.

Book preview

Andy Macleod

Anoint My Head - PART 3

How I Failed to Make it as a Britpop Indie Rockstar

First published by Pointy Books 2020

Copyright © 2020 by Andy Macleod

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

Andy Macleod asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

This memoir is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

First edition

ISBN: 978-1-8382719-2-3

This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

Find out more at reedsy.com

Publisher Logo

For the birds…

Contents

FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD

I. PART THREE

1. De-studentisation

2. Silent Comedians

3. The Chuckle Club

4. Fork

5. Ernie’s

Newsletter

About the Author

FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD

The Pointy Birds - ‘Razor Blades & Lightning’

I hope you enjoyed parts one and two.

Before we continue with the story, yet another exclusive offer!

If you click on the link below and subscribe to the email newsletter, not only will an email land in your inbox twice a month adding value to your life with fun and interesting stuff*, but you will receive a free MP3 of yet another lost Pointy Birds classic. ‘Razor Blades & Lightning’ clocks in at 2minutes 45 seconds and is not available anywhere else in the world. Yet. Enjoy!

Sign up and send me ‘Razor Blades & Lightning’ MP3

*Unsubscribe anytime.

Anyway, on with part three…

I

Part Three

1

De-studentisation

AUTUMN 1991

Reality bites as post-college life begins but inspired by trip to Edinburgh fringe embark on a complementary career move.

Flush with success from The Shelley Arms, Dave and I travelled up to Edinburgh to hang out at The Fringe Festival. It had a special place in our hearts. As kids, we drove the 400 miles up to Edinburgh each year for our summer holidays to spend two weeks seeing two sets of grandparents (and spend quality time dressing up their dogs). Our visit always coincided with the festival and the main event of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. If it was your misfortune to have tickets, an evening performance could feel like it went on for a lifetime. Watching kilted soldiers parading military hardware to the sound of bagpipes for hours on end induced eye-watering levels of boredom that caused physical pain. If this is what the royal family had to endure, they could keep their crown jewels - they deserved them.

But something else was going on in the city. As kids, our grandad had told us about this underground movement called The Fringe. It was all very hush-hush. Not something you spoke about openly in public. The Fringe was not officially part of the festival but an ‘alternative’ festival that took place in the pubs and clubs featuring comedians, theatre, exhibitions, performance art - no kilts, no machine guns, no bagpipes. And then one year, when we were old enough to get the bus into the centre of town by ourselves, Grandad handed us a copy of The Fringe program, a guide to all the different events that were happening. He gave us some pocket money and with a twinkle in his eye encouraged us to choose a show. He was too old to go himself, but he was curious and wanted us to report back. He could live The Fringe vicariously through us. We flicked through the pages to see hundreds of different performances taking place, spoilt for choice. Every year The Fringe