THE MUSIC IN MY HEAD by Mark Hudson

Finished Tu 5/28/13

My post on Good Reads-

This is one of my favorite novels, not so much that it's beautifully written, but the fact that it masterfully celebrates 'style' over 'storyline'. Mark Hudson's vivid and immoderate descriptions are so feverishly gushing and hyperbolic that the 'purple prose' brilliantly highlights and underscores the shallow and superficial nature of his lead character. Andrew 'Litch' Litchfield is a washed up, very minor figure in the music industry who, a couple of decades earlier, inadvertently stumbled upon the music of West African bandleader, Sajar Jopp, and was able to garner him some much needed international recognition. In a masterful and unceasing exhibition of self-delusion, Litch has always blindly maintained that it was his uncanny appreciation and understanding of all that is great in popular music that allowed him to pluck Sajar Jopp from obscurity, yet the fact of the matter is that it was probably just chance.  The book provides a delightfully detailed description of a man who loves music, but distances himself from the music itself, and actually is just more enthralled with the 'idea' of great pop music. Litch Litchfield is a man who is driven by his own very misconstrued notions about himself and his relationship to nearly everything, and he is undoubtedly my most favorite 'unreliable narrator' that I have ever come across.

If you are an avid collector of music or a fan of the sounds of West Africa, or auditorily addicted to nearly any genre of music, this might be the book for you. The overpowering allure and intensity of the love for any kind of popular music seems to come from the same place, and if you share that frenzied view, you'll have no trouble recognizing Litchfield's diabolically distorted 'take' on the nature of True Pop.  And, this novel also has a soundtrack (THE MUSIC IN MY HEAD-various artists) by the same name and serves as an excellent introduction to the real musicians on the 70's and 80's African Pop Scene. Hudson uses pseudonyms for most of his characters, and Sajar Jopp is modeled rather closely on Fela Kuti or King Sunny Ade. And, Litch Litchfield might be any one of a myriad of fanzine and magazine writers, borderline musical producers, and self-deluded 'movers and shakers' who are hypnotically drawn to the Music Biz.



novel that comes with its own soundtrack cd

Andrew 'Litch' Litchfield   Sarah 'Her' She'

Sajar Jopp

Tekrur (country)

N'Galam (city)

Confuses the music for what it represents. Wouldn't buy a record unless the act of passing on it would cause a lifetime of self recrimination.

The last twenty pages covers Litch's personal life.

Fevered, gushing, hyperbolic