just finished reading I'm not with the band

I finished Sylvia Patterson's "I'm not with the band". A sprited account of Sylvia's time in the music business, writing mainly for the once epic Smash Hits.

Although I was more an earnest Melody Maker reader, even then we knew that the fun was taking place across in the rollicking Smash Hits offices.

There was a kind of madness to the way that pop music was treated, far removed from 2017's acquired earnest burbling of the beige wannabes on Cowell's sociopathic talent shows, such that Patterson's world is another planet.

The book describes the immensely well-connected Sylvia larking her way through encounters with just about everyone from the 80's and 90's pop scene.

Whether it's Beyonce, Prince, Morrissey or Madonna, she'll have tales to tell. Of Noel Gallagher in the living room of her flat whilst she was somewhat inconvenienced upstairs. The subsequent 3am departure to Gary Barlow's house.

It was pretty simple too, separating the pop stars with an attitude from the ones that were just plain boring.

There's also a many a positive spin to the tabloid elements. Instead of everything being negative and about put-downs, there's far more positive craziness.

Sylvia's story telling is far more about the people and their attitudes rather than the music. This provides its own layering which I suspect many modern day wannabe slebs probably wouldn't know how to handle.

The best bits of the book show the random and spontaneous nature of the people she worked around. A word springs to mind that is largely missing from much of 2017 pop.

Carefree.