{"product_id":"boys-in-the-band","title":"Boys in the Band","description":"\u003cp\u003eI acquired my\nfirst guitar at the tender age of five. From that moment on, I knew that one day\nI would become a famous ‘pop star’. I even had the name of my band, ‘Phil Star\nand The Falling Stars’. But… childhood dreams don’t always come true; things\ndon’t always work out as planned.\nIn this lifelong search\nfor stardom, life has taken me along many routes,\nevery one enjoyable and each with\na mass of tales worth telling. However impossible some of\nthese tales may sound, I assure you that every single one of them is as true as\nI remember. Sometimes my chronology isn’t quite accurate; sometimes names and\nplaces have genuinely been forgotten and substituted, but they are all true.\nOne of the main reasons for committing this particular period in time to paper\nbefore any other is that \u003ci\u003emost \u003c\/i\u003eof the\nguys who feature still get together and re-tell the stories over a few pints,\nquite a few, actually. The tears of laughter that these retellings create, decades\nlater, plus the countless number\nof times that someone has said, ‘You ought to write\na book’, has inspired me to do just that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the age\nof thirteen I had been playing in a semi-professional band, turning ‘pro’\nalmost as soon as I left school. This particular episode takes place between\n1973 and 1979, mainly in the\nnorth-east of England. The\nshipbuilding had all but disappeared,\nbut from Newcastle in the north to Darlington in the south, this area had\nbecome the clubland entertainment capital\nof the world: There were more working\nmen’s clubs per square\nmile here than anywhere else on the planet. During this period\nI played with the two bands\nthat feature in the following stories, namely, ‘Trigger’ and ‘Childs Play’.\nBoth outfits were ‘cabaret’ bands, complete with pink catsuits, cleverly segued\nmedleys of Beach-Boys hits, some slightly more than risqué stage comedy and a healthy contempt for bingo, committees,\nconcert secretaries and anyone who didn’t think\nthat the band was wonderful.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe main\ncharacters are Tony Grant, drums and vocals; Paul Farnell, bass guitar and vocals;\nKeith Andrews, keyboards and vocals plus yours truly on guitar and vocals for\nChilds Play. ‘Liccul’ Geoff Hayward, guitar and vocals with Tony, Paul and me\nfor Trigger.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLink: https:\/\/youtu.be\/ylIgoHM6Noo\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hawkwood Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56281059033432,"sku":"9781068710377","price":16.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781068710377.jpg?v=1778304623","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/boys-in-the-band","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}