Clinton Heylin's biography of Bob Dylan (Behind the Shades) is now in its second edition and has been in print in Penguin for fifteen years. His history of early American punk, From the Velvets to the Voidoids, was shortlisted for the prestigious Ralph Eleason award in the States, and has just been reissued. Brought up in Manchester where as a teenager he saw many of the bands covered here. He now lives in Somerset.
Praise for Clinton Heylin:
Heylin is arguably the world's greatest rock biographer' Irish
Independent
'For an answer to the question of just exactly what kind of music
punk rock was, you'll have to resort to … From the Velvets to the
Voidoids' New York Times
Heylin 'sorts the conflicts and conflagrations with a critic's eye
and a fan's heart' Lenny Kaye
Praise for Clinton Heylin:
Heylin is arguably the world's greatest rock biographer' Irish
Independent
'For an answer to the question of just exactly what kind of music
punk rock was, you'll have to resort to … From the Velvets to the
Voidoids' New York Times
Heylin 'sorts the conflicts and conflagrations with a critic's eye
and a fan's heart' Lenny Kaye
When it comes to the heyday of punk rock in the mid to late 1970s, Heylin has put together a solid history, drawing upon interviews with many of the key players from the era. The focus on London bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash is unsurprising, but New York combos like the Ramones and Television also get their due, and even groups whose influence is less generally recognized, like Cleveland's Pere Ubu or Australia's Radio Birdman, receive well-rounded treatment. Heylin (From the Velvets to the Voidoids) is opinionated, but only rarely do his undisguised preferences disrupt the story. (One notable exception comes when he calls the death of Sid Vicious's girlfriend, Nancy, "justifiable homicide.") If he'd simply closed out his account with the suicide of Joy Division's Ian Curtis in 1980, Heylin would have perfectly captured the punk era. Instead, he spends another hundred pages building up to the death of Kurt Cobain, branded as a poser and a sellout. That the story so quickly works its way to Nirvana after such an in-depth exploration of the '70s underscores the tacked-on feeling of these final chapters. It's a shame, because the core material is strong enough that it didn't need to grasp at such ersatz "relevance." (Jan.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Praise for Clinton Heylin: Heylin is arguably the world's greatest
rock biographer' Irish Independent 'For an answer to the question
of just exactly what kind of music punk rock was, you'll have to
resort to ... From the Velvets to the Voidoids' New York Times
Heylin 'sorts the conflicts and conflagrations with a critic's eye
and a fan's heart' Lenny Kaye
Praise for Clinton Heylin: Heylin is arguably the world's greatest
rock biographer' Irish Independent 'For an answer to the question
of just exactly what kind of music punk rock was, you'll have to
resort to ... From the Velvets to the Voidoids' New York Times
Heylin 'sorts the conflicts and conflagrations with a critic's eye
and a fan's heart' Lenny Kaye
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