'POWDER' by Kevin Sampson

Finished Mo 1/14/19

This is one of my old trade paperbacks. This is a signed copy and according to the flyleaf I bought this novel in Santa Monica, CA on Mo 11/4/02 at Midnight Special Books before an evening showing of 'Punch Drunk Love' at a theater down the street. I began the book the first time on the flight from LAX.

The book is about the rise and fall of a rock band- 'The Grams'- from Liverpool in the year 2000.

The title refers to the bands sophomore effort called, 'POWDER'.

Keva (Kee-va) McClusky- the moody, poetic lead singer. Prima Donna in the making. Skin Care and holistic health care. crafty enough to secure his publishing rights. David Bowie-like.

****Keva's arch rival is another band from Liverpool called Sensira. In the beginning this band was given a few opening slots by The Grams and they seemed to 'catch the wave of fame' before The Grams. Later this rivalry is exploited like The Beatles and The Stones. Helmet Horrocks is the name of the lead singer of Sensira and he's a real loser, just a poser. Didn't even really do drugs, but just acted like he did- until he really does get hooked on heroin. Keva believes that Sensira is a nothing band with no talent.

James Love- Brilliant lead guitarist, but in real-life a nerdy, farting, oaf. Prone to weight gain and wears a jokers hat. The band's heaviest user of drink and drugs. Keva's Johnny Marr.

Tony Snow- The band's bassist. He and the drummer are almost bit players. Snowy is a background character; just doing the job. The sidemen are like the drummer and bassist of The Smiths.

Beano- The drummer and also the sideman. He falls in love with a woman after the band has made it and wants to stay in his cottage with his lovely wife. When they must tour extensively within the first year to really make it to the next level, he puts his foot down. Keva says, fine...it's over.

Wheezer Findley- The groups manager. He has asthma and uses an inhaler but chain smokes at the same time. He's kind of a nerdy clod in the beginning- never swears, but after a few months at the reigns of power begins to develop his 'managerial shell'. Maybe the most successful of the group because he is saviest about looking out for his interests and when the whole thing goes down, his future might be the brightest.

At the final show Keva announces that this would be the last performance of the group. The band knew this was in the wind, but didn't know that 'now was the time and place'. Their last song is a cover of the Velvet Underground's 'Who Loves The Sun'.

I thought the book dragged a little in the first half. It seems like the 'making it' story was less interesting than the 'losing it' story. I learned a lot about how the  'big business' of managing and marketing a successful rock band actually works in the modern world.

From Google Books-

"Keva McCluskey craves success. Other bands are making it big and now his worst enemy is on MTV. Without being recognised among the great songwriters of our time, Keva feels he cannot confront his horrific past. That's why he formed the Grams.

James Love wants all the sex, cocaine and groupies that fame can bring him. That's why he joined the Grams.

Guy (Ghee) de Burnet wants to sell records the ethical way. That's why he formed a record label which prizes morality as highly as platinum discs. When he signs the Grams, it can only end in tears."

The author's page at wikipedia-

"Sampson began writing gig reviews for NME in the 80s, though was famously sacked by Editor Neil Spencer for reviewing a Sex Gang Children concert at a Liverpool club that had been burned down on the night the band had been due to appear. He went on to contribute regularly to The Face, Arena, i-D, Sounds, Jamming, The Observer and Time Out before joining Channel Four as an assistant editor for Youth Programmes.

He left C4 to set up Kinesis Films, a company that specialised in documentaries about subcultures (notably Sole of the Nation, a film about Dr. Martens boots, and Ibiza - A Short Film About Chilling). Sampson returned to Merseyside in 1990 to help long-time friend Peter Hooton set up Produce Records with partners Ian Croft, Wayne Chand, Barney Moores and Paul McKenna. Produce enjoyed a string of Top 40 hits in the early 1990s, including The Farm's "Groovy Train" and "All Together Now."

When The Farm broke up in 1994, Sampson dug out the manuscript to a novella he had sent to Penguin in 1982. Awaydays was based on what he saw during his youth, travelling to, and at, football grounds up and down the country. Inspired by Irvine Welsh's phenomenal debut Trainspotting, Sampson re-worked the novel, which was acquired by publisher Dan Franklin at Jonathan Cape. Awaydays was an immediate critical and commercial success on its release in 1998. Sampson's second novel, Powder, reflects some of his experiences of the music business with The Farm and Produce Records, and subsequent adventures in Ibiza, and working for Richard Branson's V2 Music.

Awaydays was adapted to film in 2009. He writes about his involvement in the Ibiza film A Short Film About Chilling in the Summer 2010 Umbrella Magazine's Issue 1 and a film version of Powder was released August 2011. Surveillance, a film from one of Sampson's original screenplays, was in competition at the Berlinale's "Panorama" section in 2008, and his forthcoming crime thriller Gangsterland is under option with Red Union Films.

In 2018, Sampson was hired to pen World Productions' new mini-series Anne, for ITV, which centers on Anne Williams' crusade for justice after the death of her son Kevin in the Hillsborough disaster of 1989