Lonesome Cowboy Bill
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Nick Kent - Apathy For The Devil
Feb 23, 2010, 12:17
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Just read this on the Rough Trade website.......if ye interested in the man and his tales of rock n roll n debauchery.
Rough Trade East In-store - NICK KENT BOOK LAUNCH - Wednesday 3rd March, 7.00 pm03/03/2010
NO WRISTBAND NEEDED, JUST COME DOWN ON THE NIGHT
This promises to be a really special evening. NICK KENT will be reading, signing & answering your questions. Don't miss out!
'If Faber's contribution last year to the canon of rock journalism was Jon Savage's The England's Dreaming Tapes, then they have surpassed themselves this year with Apathy for the Devil.' Dylan Jones, The Independent
'The rock writer's rock writer, Kent lived out a decade anyone would envy. A vivid, unsentimental account sees the author befriend Iggy Pop, date Chrissie Hynde, become a short-lived Sex Pistol ... and develop a taste for excess that rivals his subjects. An extraordinary tale.' GQ
'Even if you have an ounce of rock 'n; roll in your body, you'll appreciate these you-couldn't-make-it-up tales of success, excess and burnout' John Longbottom, Rock Sound
'Nick Kent's wonderfully entertaining Seventies memoir Apathy for the Devil.' DJ Taylor, The Independent
"As an eyewitness account of the dangerous excesses of the 1970s rock scene, Apathy for the Devil is in a compulsively readable class of its own. ... The big point that emerges from his book, with chilling clarity, is that the 1970s - the 'me decade' - had little time for the concept of kindred spirits. Apathy for the Devil's other salient characteristic is the remarkable memory of its author, which was apparently undamaged by his descent into full-blown drug addiction by the decade's end. Almost every page contains an anecdotal gem. ... It's a miracle, frankly, that Kent survived to tell this tale, but as anybody who romps through Apathy for the Devil will agree, we're all lucky that he did." Robert Sandall, Sunday Times
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And so it was that - on December 31st 1969 - I found myself glumly ruminating on my destiny to date. I kept returning to its central dilemma: I had just turned eighteen and yet I had never even been kissed passionately by a lady. It was an ongoing bloody tragedy.
But then suddenly all changed - just as everyone was counting out the final seconds of the sixties and getting ready to welcome in 1970.....
Prepare to be deeply enveloped in all the beauty and damnation of the 1970s as Nick Kent's memoirs take us from his days as a college dropout to his adventures with The Rolling Stones, Lester Bangs, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, the Sex Pistols and Chrissie Hynde. As a young writer Nick Kent's first interviews included The Grateful Dead and Lou Reed, before he went on to establish the NME as the Mecca of serious music writing along with Ian MacDonald and Charles Shaar Murray. Yet following the unbounded hysteria of his early years Nick came to slip into worsening heroin use, mirroring the dark excesses of the decade itself.
Apathy for the Devil is the story of Nick Kent's success and burn out, from the extraordinary to the deeply personal, documenting a fascinating era in all its glory and grim reality.
Nick Kent lives in Paris with his wife and son. He regularly contributes to the Guardian, The Times, Mojo and GQ. In 2002 he was presented with the NME/Brats 'God Like Genius' award for his 30-year career as a rock writer.
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keith a
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Re: Nick Kent - Apathy For The Devil
Feb 23, 2010, 12:37
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His finest moment for me though was My Flamingo by The Subterraneans.
Great 45!
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Valve
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Re: Nick Kent - Apathy For The Devil
Feb 23, 2010, 14:38
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His finest moment for me was coming down the stairs at the Roundhouse with his bollocks hanging out of his leather strides, accompanied by a woman loosely dressed as a nurse who I took to be his carer rather than his squeeze.
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Valve
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Re: Nick Kent - Apathy For The Devil
Mar 03, 2010, 11:27
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The Dark Stuffy one is on Radcliffe & Maconie tonight Radio 2. Its just estate agents and the only people who can afford the houses they feature (footballers) on the telly so listen up.
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rojo
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Re: Nick Kent - Apathy For The Devil
Mar 03, 2010, 14:13
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He is just about to be on 6music now
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IanB
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Re: Nick Kent - Apathy For The Devil
Mar 03, 2010, 14:57
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keith a wrote: His finest moment for me though was My Flamingo by The Subterraneans.
Great 45!
Fantastic record. "Like a deaf mute in a phone booth". Genius line even if he did nick it off of Lou Reed.
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IanB
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Re: Nick Kent - Apathy For The Devil
Mar 03, 2010, 15:00
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He lists Yes' "Siberian Khatru" from Close to the Edge as one of his picks from the 70s so glad to see the years have not taken a toll on his critical faculties!
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Valve
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Re: Nick Kent - Apathy For The Devil
Mar 04, 2010, 10:41
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keith a wrote: His finest moment for me though was My Flamingo by The Subterraneans.
Great 45!
That got played last night, as you say Great 45, and as Nick said he'd defend it against most of what was going on at the time ie Boomtown Rats and Simple Minds.
The programme also appears to have featured a lookylikey suggestions competition in which Julian Cope has been hilariously compared with Camilla Parker Bowles!
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