{"product_id":"rock-stars-stole-my-life-9781444775518","title":"Rock Stars Stole my Life","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e''The book is f***ing BRILLIANT! Just arrived NYC and wanked myself laughing. Literally tears. Irritated looks all around. What a great writer you are. It''s a classic. You absolutely got the whole shite early 70s thing down precisely as it was. Names, smells, sounds, looks, the food, drink, girls, boys! Mega! Well done.'' - Bob Geldof\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a sodden tent at a ''70s festival, the teenage Mark Ellen had a dream. He dreamt that music was a rich meadow of possibility, a liberating leap to a sparkling future, an industry of human happiness - and he wanted to be part of it. Thus began his 50-year love affair with rock and roll. From his time at the NME, Radio One, The Old Grey Whistle Test and Live aid, he has been at the molten core of pop''s evolution, and watched its key figures from a unique perspective. This funny and touching personal memoir maps out his eventful journey in rock and roll.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt tells stories and settles scores. It charts the peaks and disappointments. It fl\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFull of engaging asides and deft, sometimes unsparing pen-portraits, this autobiographical souffle ends with three passages of unexpectedly disturbing power, in which Ellen glimpses the fate of a form of entertainment that has lost the sense of purpose and proportion it possessed during the years when his own tastes were being formed...It is a tribute to Ellen's resilience that not even this sensory assault can erode the powers of humour and observation that make his book so enjoyable. * The Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eThere's a misty-eyed reverence for the past in Ellen's entertaining memoir of five decades  surrounded by music. * The Observer *\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThumbs Aloft!\u003cbr\u003e  For men of several generations, the most eagerly anticipated memoir of the year is Mark Ellen's \u003ci\u003eRock Stars Stole My Life!\u003c\/i\u003e and it doesn't disappoint. Subtitled 'A Big Bad Love Affair With Music', Ellen's book describes in beautifully crafted gambols his time working for the music press, from the \u003ci\u003eNME\u003c\/i\u003e in the Seventies right through to \u003ci\u003eThe Word\u003c\/i\u003e in the noughties, via \u003ci\u003eSmash Hits, Q, Mojo, Select \u003c\/i\u003eand all places in between.\u003cbr\u003e  Ellen has been at the coalface of rock hackdom for 40 years, yet unlike many of his contemporaries, he has always viewed his relationship with the music industry - and the preposterous entertainers it throws up - as a ridiculous pleasure rather than a burden. Ellen is not only one of the nicest men in the industry, he's also one of its funniest writers, and this books picks away at the hand that has fed him for all these years with such humour, and such delicacy, that it becomes impossible to put down. Here is a man who presented Live Aid, who presided over the most popular music magazine in the world, and who unwittingly became one of the last people to interview Michael Jackson in print. And it is never less than hilarious. This book will make you laugh, make you cry with joy, and send you scuttling over to what is left of your record collection to look for an Elvis Costello album you probably have not played since it was released\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e -- Dylan Jones * GQ *\u003cbr\u003eSo Ellen's book is a riotous, wildly enthusiastic look back over a constantly changing industry and the larger-than-life characters who have dominated it. As the image of today's stars becomes ever more tightly controlled, Ellen's experiences make him one of the few who can pull back the curtain to expose the smoke and mirrors of this most glamorous, exciting and tawdry of industries. * Express *\u003cbr\u003eHilariously indiscreet * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eThe must read book * Red *\u003cbr\u003eHang on to the shirt-tails of this book and it leads you right the way through --breathlessly. It's terrific! -- Danny Baker\u003cbr\u003eRiotous, entrancing and wildly enthusiastic. Exposes the smoke and mirrors of this most glamorous and tawdry of industries. * Sunday Express *\u003cbr\u003eHectic, quietly perceptive and in a writing style best described as Acid Wodehouse. * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003eThe unteachable in pursuit of the unquotable. Knowingly ridiculous and very funny. * Independent on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003eImmensely readable. A series of golden ages witnessed first-hand. * The Observer *\u003cbr\u003eA cultural history of music fandom in a period of fascinating flux. * MOJO *\u003cbr\u003eMark Ellen: the man with the best job ever! * Elle *\u003cbr\u003eA fantastic read -- Simon Mayo * BBC Radio 2 *\u003cbr\u003eEllen not only has a tremendous eye for the glorious absurdity of the music industry, but a treasure chest of funny and occasionally touching anecdotes . . . he balances a fan's enthusiasm with sparkling reverence . . . \u003ci\u003eRock Stars Stole My Life!\u003c\/i\u003e Is an upbeat and immensely readable account of a joyous addiction. * Mail on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003eThe collection of people who cross Ellen's path - Blair, old housemate Anton Corbijn, Ellen's girlfriend Anji Hunter, Neil Tennant (who worked on Smash Hits), John Peel, Geldof - is enough to keep you turning the page. Having such a funny, charming guide doesn't hurt either. * The Independent *\u003cbr\u003e(a) wry, funny book * The Sun *\u003cbr\u003eMark Ellen had us laughing all the way through. * Stylist *\u003cbr\u003eYour book is a joy. -- Jeremy Vine * BBC Radio 2 Arts Show *\u003cbr\u003eThe book is f***ing BRILLIANT! Just arrived NYC and wanked myself laughing. Literally tears. Irritated looks all around. What a great writer you are. It's a classic. You absolutely got the whole shite early 70s thing down precisely as it was. Names, smells, sounds, looks, the food, drink, girls, boys! Mega! Well done. -- Bob Geldof\u003cbr\u003eMade me laugh out loud. -- Adam Boulton * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRock Stars Stole My Life\u003c\/i\u003e reminds us that [pop music] can also be joyously ridiculous...Ellen relates a blessed life...with playful wit and indefatigable good humour. * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eThis year's most breezily entertaining pop memoir.... Ellen sails through pop history with an infectious joie de vivre that sends laughter tumbling from every page. * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003eentertaining... describes his past encounters with comic candour. * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eThere's a misty-eyed reverence for the past in Ellen's entertaining memoir of five decades  surrounded by music. -- Ben East * The Observer *","brand":"Hodder \u0026 Stoughton","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48867078635863,"sku":"9781444775518","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781444775518.jpg?v=1722281569","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/rock-stars-stole-my-life-9781444775518","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}