Alan Edwards - I Was There: Dispatches From A Life In Rock And Roll

  by Nick Dent-Robinson

published: 19 / 12 / 2024

intro

Alan Edwards’s career in music PR spanned the glory days of rock and pop, and his memoir is a great read, says Nick Dent-Robinson

‘I Was There: Dispatches from a Life in Rock and Roll’ is a memoir by Alan Edwards who is described by many as the godfather of modern music PR, and at the risk of spoiling the ending of this review, it is a great read! Since the 1970s, Alan's clients have included Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Blondie, Prince, Britney Spears, Bob Marley, Robbie Williams and Amy Winehouse, through to celebrities from outside music like Naomi Campbell and David Beckham. The book begins with Edwards outlining his first break in the mid-1970s when he was a scruffy, frequently-stoned 20 year-old just back from the hippy trail with vague ambitions to work as a journalist. His first encounters with London's up-coming and soon-to-be-thriving punk scene persuaded him to set up his own PR company. He quickly found success and broadened his horizons as his work with people like David Bowie and Blondie took him to the USA and far beyond. Gradually, Edwards brings the reader up to date through a series of vivid, funny and ever-insightful vignettes from behind the scenes. These include a spontaneous football game with Bob Marley, listening to Prince outlining the future of civilisation in a nightclub VIP area and finding himself a mere pawn in the mighty ongoing power struggle between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Inevitably, there are tales of debauchery and classic rock-star antics over the decades but far more interesting are Edwards' unique observations about many of the brilliant artists he has worked with - and what really makes them tick. The book is also a fascinating front-row view of the rise of PR as a major force in UK society - from the seven-figure media deal Edwards brokered for the Beckhams' wedding to the important and successful role of spin during Tony Blair’s New Labour government. Even as Alan Edwards becomes a hugely successful PR chief who plays a crucial background role in the lives and careers of some of the world's greatest stars, he is careful to retain a powerful sense of being an outsider (something that is equally important for any successful celeb-focussed journalist to do!). And he never forgets how lucky he has been to be able to look back on decades of music and culture and say, “I was there”. ‘I Was There....’ is so well-written, too, with charm and great humour, and Edwards is a master of intrigue as well as suspense. The his book is a thoroughly absorbing read. “I Was There: Dispatches from a Life in Rock and Roll” by Alan Edwards is published by Simon & Schuster at £25 in the UK

Play in YouTube:-