Book review: Maybe I’m Amazed

“Autism illuminates the way all our minds work – not least our relationship with music.”

I’ve got two things in common with author John Harris’s son James. We are both autistic, and music is a big part of our lives. Well, three things if you count the fact that we both dislike Captain Beefheart. As his father says, James has good taste in music.

There is more that we don’t have in common. We are a different gender, and a different generation. I don’t have a learning disability. And I don’t have an amazing musical talent either: James is a musical savant with perfect pitch.

The book is subtitled A Story of Love and Connection in Ten Songs. There’s a lot of love in the book (love between family members, love for music) and a lot of connection (also with family members and music).

Schrodinger’s retirement

 

I have wondered in the past about whether I am ready to retire. Now it’s starting to feel as if I don’t have a choice. 

Officially I am still working. I update my business website every month. I sometimes post about work-related things on my social media (although I’m more likely these days to be posting about books and music). And I still go on LinkedIn, although I hate it.

And one day last week I went on LinkedIn and in just a few minutes I saw an ex colleague who’s been out of work for six months and is desperate for a job, and three freelances advertising their “availability”.

I have “availability” too. In the past everyone was embarrassed to admit it, because there was a stigma about not being successful. But when it’s happening to everyone, it has to be said.

I’ve been freelance, this time round, for over 12 years and I’ve always assumed I could continue for as long as I wanted. But maybe that’s no longer true.

Atypical Girl playlist: part 1

You can't just read a book about music: you have to listen to it, too.

My memoir Atypical Girl is in four parts so I've just made four playlists to go with it. Here's number one: the (partial) soundtrack to my life from 1976 to 1980. I hope you enjoy it. 

Book review: Teenage Daydream

In March 1980, the NME carried a major cover feature about “Women in Rock”. Dolly Mixture were not interviewed or photographed but they did appear – cited as an example of what not to do. Their “cutesy” image wasn’t considered feminist.

In fact, as bassist Debsey Wykes’s memoir Teenage Daydream makes clear, the all-girl trio (Debsey, Rachel Bor and Hester Smith) were as authentic as any indie rockers. They looked young and naive because they were young and naive. After all, the three friends were only teenagers when they formed the band in 1978, and still in their early twenties when it stopped (they never officially broke up).

Old ladies to the front: in praise of unglamorous bands

Ruth Miller with the Unglamorous LP.

Years ago, when Twitter was a place where you  could find community, I came across an account called Punk Girl Diaries.  The two women behind it were punk fans and musicians Ruth Miller aka Vim Renault and Polly Hancock aka Lene Cortina. 

It turned out they did a website (no longer active) and an excellent fanzine, which I immediately subscribed to. And merch, too: I now have a Punk Girl Diaries T-shirt with the word “Typical” on the front.