I'm putting out two blogs dedicated to my best read and my best listen for this year....
First up is the book Chicken Town by J.A. Pollo who has written a fictionalised biography of his time spent in the Nottingham punk band Some Chicken around 1977. The band consisted of;
Ivor Badcock on Vocals, Terry Bull on Bass, Galway Kinnell on Drums Jess Chicken on Guitar and Vocals
Damaged Goods records re-issued their debut single New Religion which originally came out on the Raw Records label on the 11th November 1977. In the same year it reached number 16 on John Peel’s Festive 50. I desperately don't want to give away the plot but if being in a band, the punk rock scene, drinking beer and/or Nottingham in the 1970's sounds interesting, then you gotta pick this up. I also got the chance to interview the author J.A. Pollo;
I know that technically your book Chicken Town came out last year, but I've only just discovered it and wanted to ask what motivated you to write about your musical experiences from over 40 years ago?
For the last 25 years, I have worked in a profession where I have found myself asking the people I work with to generate their "timeline": an overview of what has happened in their lives. I realised that I had never created my own, so I started writing down short notes of things that had happened in my life: where I had worked, my relationships and other things connected to my life history. As I made the notes, a lot of thoughts and feelings came up from the time I was in Some Chicken, how that affected the people I was close to and how it affected me. Finally, I had made so many notes that it just turned into a novel. It was a therapeutic process for me.
Who has influenced you most in music and do you still follow the music scene?
Without giving away any spoilers, there are events in the book that turned me away from my single minded desire to make it as a punk musician. As part of the process, I really gave up listening to punk music and moved into something else. I do, still listen to contemporary music with most of it being "post Kraftwerk" in its style, so its almost all electronica.
Your book is my best read this year and it took me just two days to finish. Without giving away the plot can you explain the story?
Its great to hear that you were drawn in enough to read it in two days; its quite a tome. The note on the back of the book is probably the best that I was able to come up with. In addition, there is the relationship with my father and the messages that he gave me when I was a child, and how those messages stayed with me as an adult; with disastrous consequences.
Are you happy with the book?
Well, I'm sure that if I were to write it again I would have made it shorter. I also think that its "over punctuated": too descriptive in parts. I am happy with how I wanted to describe the boredom of playing gigs, being able to capture 1977, the characters and dialogue.
Where can folks get your book?
Sadly , it's only available on Amazon but you can get it on Kindle or paperback. I have tried to get local bookshops to sell it but, for various reasons, it's not worked out yet.
You can order Chicken Town from the following link;
You can hear Some Chicken on the following link;
Next up........My favourite listen this year, will be out soon......
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