Category: CQAF2024 Words

You’re invited to join writer John Patrick Higgins in conversation and reading from his new book ‘Teeth: An Oral History’

Teeth,like a weeping father at a wedding, give you away. Like St Peter, they will betray you three times: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Teeth are a memento mori, a sudden glimpse of the naked skull beneath the skin.

John Patrick Higgins has had bad teeth for as long as he can remember and you might expect him, being English, not to notice. But he has noticed, and he’s done something about it. This book recounts his journey from a mouthful of moist gravel to the Pole-star wattage of a Hollywood A-lister. But first comes the horror of “stabilisation”. The trenches dug into his gums. The water- boarding horror of the dentist’s chair. The deforestation of his bank account.

Will he survive the ordeal? And if he does—blinking into that bright new day—will there be anything to smile about? Teeth: An Oral History is a bitingly funny story, illustrated by the author, and featuring a glossary of useful terms, as most of his references pre-date the discovery of fluoride.”

Phil Manzanera, one of the UK’s best-known musicians and record producers, having shot to prominence in the early ‘70’s as the lead guitarist with the seminal band, Roxy Music, has written his memoir, titled ‘Revólución to Roxy’.

He joins us in conversation with Joe Nawaz to discuss his new book, his family history and musical adventures.

The book, with over 100  colour and black and white photographs, does, of course, cover Manzanera’s life and times with Roxy Music, David Gilmour and many of the luminaries of popular music, but it’s his startling family history, dating back to the expulsion of the Sephardic Jews from Spain in 1492, via the 1959 revolution in Cuba and the discovery of a Neapolitan Opera musician grandfather, that grips the reader every bit as the tales of being part of one of the UK’s greatest bands.

Phil commented on the reason for writing the book:  “I’ve written this memoir for my English and Colombian family, dear friends and music fans, who have followed my musical twists and turns for over half a century.  It’s a memoir that spans my 50’s childhood in Cuba, Hawaii and Venezuela, when everything seemed in the brightest technicolor, to monochrome but very cool ‘60’s London and the start of a music career that continues to enrich my life.
Roxy Music is an important part of the story but I hope the reader will find my family history every bit as fascinating as my music adventures:  I’m proud to be related to the most famous 17th century Sephardic Jewish pirate of the Caribbean, a British spy and an Italian opera musician.”

Books will be on sale from No Alibi’s after the talk.

Author Daniel Rachel joins us to talk about his new book 2 Tone: The Music, label and moment that shaped British Culture.

A SUNDAY TIMES MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
#2UNCUT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

In 1979, 2 Tone exploded into the national consciousness as records by The Specials, The Selecter, Madness, The Beat, and The Bodysnatchers burst onto the charts and a youth movement was born. 2 Tone was black and white: a multi-racial force of British and Caribbean island musicians singing about social issues, racism, class and gender struggles. It spoke of injustices in society and took fight against right wing extremism.

The music of 2 Tone was exuberant: white youth learning to dance to the infectious rhythm of ska and reggae; and crossed with a punk attitude to create an original hybrid.

The idea of 2 Tone was born in Coventry, masterminded by a middle-class art student raised in the church. Jerry Dammers had a vision of an English Motown. Borrowing £700, the label’s first record featured ‘Gangsters’ by The Specials’ backed by an instrumental track by the, as yet, unformed, Selecter. Within two months the single was at number six in the national charts.

Dammers signed Madness, The Beat and The Bodysnatchers as a glut of successive hits propelled 2 Tone onto Top of the Pops and into the hearts and minds of a generation. However, soon infighting amongst the bands and the pressures of running a label caused 2 Tone to bow to an inevitable weight of expectation and recrimination.

Still under the auspices of Jerry Dammers, 2 Tone entered in a new phase. Perhaps not as commercially successful as its 1979-1981 incarnation the label nevertheless continued to thrive for a further four years releasing a string of fresh signings and a stunning end-piece finale in ‘(Free) Nelson Mandela’.

Told in three parts, Too Much Too Young is the definitive story of a label that for a brief, bright burning moment, shaped British culture.

Marian Keyes is a phenomenon. The multimillion copy, internationally bestselling author of some of the most widely loved, genre-defying novels of the past thirty years – including Rachel’s Holiday, Anybody Out There and Grown Ups – has millions of devoted readers around the world.

My Favourite Mistake is her sixteenth novel. In addition to her fifteen previous novels, Marian has also written three collections of journalism, upon which popular BBC Radio 4 show Between Ourselves was based.

Marian co-hosts the hit podcast Now You’re Asking with actress Tara Flynn for BBC Sounds and Radio 4, now on its third series. In 2022, she was named the British Book Awards Author of the Year.  Marian lives in Dublin.

In today’s event, Marian will be interviewed on stage by her Now You’re Talking Co-host Tara Flynn.

Please note – Marian is unable to sign books at this event.