Justin Sheedy's Blog - Posts Tagged "1980s"

Justin Sheedy was delighted to see his latest book, “MEMOIRS OF A GO-GO DANCER”, launched on the eve of Christmas 2014 & now being read & loved by book-lovers everywhere. Its maiden 5-Star Amazon review begins & ends thus: "100% Unputdownable... I cannot recommend this book highly enough." - Yasmine Wick Kopita, Texas.

Sheedy’s 4th book, “Memoirs of a Go-Go Dancer” is the long-awaited sequel to his first, “Goodbye Crackernight” (2009), Sheedy’s warmly-received comic memoir of growing up in 1970s Australia when a child’s proudest possession was not a smart phone but a second-hand bike.

“Memoirs of a Go-Go Dancer” is Sheedy's portrait of teenage in the 1980s: of manic adolescence under the threat of nuclear destruction and ‘the Grim Reaper’, a time of ‘Perfect Match’, of hideous 1980s fashions and much, much more. A true portrait of the era, Sheedy’s story features his own experience of the iconic events that shaped the decade such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. He captures the spirit of his 1980s personal hero figures such as Clive James and Bob Hawke including Hawke’s great ‘America’s Cup moment’. Political, social and cultural issues of the 1980s are richly covered and, yes, as readers of “Memoirs of a Go-Go Dancer” will discover, 19-year-old Justin Sheedy turned out to have a rare talent indeed…

MEMOIRS OF A GO-GO DANCER. Justin Sheedy’s first job out of school was a symbol of his rebellion against the 1980s – a decade so lame it cried out for any other. Crackernight, the annual fireworks festival of his childhood, was gone. So was childhood. Justin’s teenage would be a search for new fireworks. He would find them. In his legendary schoolteachers, in questioning his elders, in playing rock and roll, in marching against nuclear madness, and in that scariest of all things known to Man: GIRLS. And all that was before he became a Go-Go Dancer! Then the fun really started…

MEMOIRS OF A GO-GO DANCER is freshly available via bookstores everywhere (if not on shelves so soon since its launch then orderable-in across the counter), also via Amazon & all leading online book retailers in paperback & ebook formats.

MOMENTS OF COMEDIC BRILLIANCE – FOR ANYONE WHO IS YOUNG AT HEART
Review by Suzy Lee, Sydney, Australia.

“Memoirs of a Go-Go Dancer” by Justin Sheedy is an autobiography written as a light-hearted yet intelligent account of the author’s adolescent years in the 1980s in Sydney, Australia. Sequel to Justin’s childhood story, “Goodbye Crackernight”, “Memoirs of a Go-Go Dancer” has something for the teenager in all of us! Justin writes with clarity and unique metaphor, providing the reader with moments of comedic brilliance. A sense of warm nostalgia is never far away.

Justin takes us on a candid and intimate journey through his education and his creative and exciting extracurricular endeavours, also his relationships with family, teachers, close friends and early romantic liaisons, always told with integrity, respect and sensitivity. Justin’s eloquent description of his beautiful and loving mother, for example, is heart-warming.

Justin shares many wonderful anecdotes: from his role as a singer in Sydney bands, Go-Go dancing in Melbourne with beautiful girls, his hitch hiking adventures, roller skating as a means of transportation and presenting a radio program. All of this is set on a backdrop of iconic places distinctive to 1980s Australia such as “The Oxford Tavern”, Newtown, and “The Groove Tube Cafe” in Melbourne. The scene is set to the soundtrack of the likes of then Sydney band “The Psychotic Turnbuckles” and Justin’s own band, “The Voodoo Rockets”.

The tumultuous world of the teenage Justin involves many triumphs, disappointments, joy and the occasional heartbreak, with Justin always reflecting with intelligence and that marvellous wisdom of hindsight.

Growing up as a teenager in 1980s Sydney myself, I could relate easily to many aspects of Justin’s story and am happy to say that I loved reading this book. By the final chapter, I felt as though Justin and I were old friends. I recommend this book to anyone who is young at heart.

Heartfelt cheers to Suzy Lee, a most excellent lady – Justin Sheedy

ALL REVIEWS OF “MEMOIRS OF A GO-GO DANCER” HERE... http://crackernight.com/reviews-of-ju...

EVERY PAGE A CAUSE TO CHUCKLE AND SMILE AND LAUGH AND CRY

Review by Andrew Landström, Sweden

From page one of Justin’s book “Memoirs of a Go-Go Dancer” I was swept away by a time machine rollercoaster that took me back to an age past re-discovered. It seemed as if I had lived in parallel universe to Justin, yet on the other side of earth, simultaneously, going through versions of the same kind of events. I have to admit that I myself was not a nostalgic of too much music from the past, but was swept up into the synth-pop era of the ’80s.



The effortless journey that kept me going up and down and throwing me sideways made every page a cause to chuckle and smile and laugh and cry. Justin, you created a very effective mirror that made me look back at my own ’80s adventures with crystal clarity. For that I am not sure if I should thank you or give you an outright bollicking but… a joy to read regardless.

I have to add that it is not every book that I bother to read every single word between its cover. With this book I did and wished it would continue. Here’s to you Justin, hat’s off, eight gun salute and thank you.

Warmest thanks to Andrew Landström – Justin Sheedy

“MEMOIRS OF A GO-GO DANCER” NOW AVAILABLE IN KINDLE AND PAPERBACK AT AMAZON AND ORDERABLE VIA ALL GOOD BOOKSTORES ALONG WITH ALL JUSTIN SHEEDY’S BOOKS – IN AUSTRALIA VIA DYMOCKS, GLEEBOOKS, BERKELOUW BOOKS & YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE

Full Blog Post WITH PICS at Crackernight.com at the below link.
http://crackernight.com/2015/04/15/sw...

A TIMELESS BOOK FOR ALL AGES AND ALL NATIONALITIES

"Memoirs of a Go-Go Dancer" by Justin Sheedy – Review by Camille Party

Being French and having lived in Sydney for only a few years, I did not have the slightest idea what it would have been like to grow up in Australia. There again, being in my mid-twenties, I could only imagine what it would have been like in the 1980s…

"Memoirs of a Go-Go Dancer" by Justin Sheedy not only filled the gaps but also took me on a fascinating journey through time as though I had stepped into a time machine. Justin’s book in one hand and my iPhone in the other, I would listen to every song mentioned, down to watching the clip of "Sorry" by the Easybeats (A must watch if you haven’t seen it yet!).

Although the 1980s are considered as a cultural and historical blank, Justin surely makes them seem like exhilarating times, filled with romance and adventures. Imagine… People wrote letters and made audio tapes instead of sending e-mails and leaving voice mails. It was more common to catch the train from Sydney to Melbourne than to jump into a plane. And you could even hitch-hike safely and get a free ride with a bikie!

A lot has changed and even though I feel like high school has been over for an eternity, my teenage years are actually not that far away. I remember the feeling Justin describes: this feeling of immense freedom when you realise your whole life stretches in front of you, but that this immensity of possibilities might somehow swallow you…

"Memoirs of a Go-Go Dancer" is a timeless book for all ages and all nationalities. From laughter to tears, it will bring a smile to your face and a feeling of warm nostalgia to your heart. A real delight!

Full Blog post at Crackernight.com HERE...
http://crackernight.com/2015/06/16/a-...

Review by Karen Carpenter, Sydney, Australia.
The eighties was a difficult time to live in, let alone a time to launch on the journey of self discovery. Memoirs of a Go-Go Dancer, Justin Sheedy’s sequel to Goodbye Crackernight, reads more like a counselling session with the reader as the counsellor. Here, young Sheedy is exorcising his teenage demons, ready to open up the next chapter of his life. It is, for the most part, an unsettling read.

Don’t get me wrong. This is not a bad thing. Again, Sheedy has managed to effortlessly transport us in to his world. The world of the 1980s, an uncomfortable decade wedged in between the safe seventies and the naughty nineties. The author is once again in front of you, talking to you alone, yet rather than on a comfortable bike ride, it’s in a noisy, overpopulated student bar.

Teenage angst hits you full blast and for those of us who were teenagers in the eighties, the memories and feelings which are evoked throughout Memoirs of a Go-Go Dancer are bittersweet. I did find this book vaguely unsettling, but only in so much as, if I was a boy, this would certainly have been my life. The places mentioned, we could have crossed paths without even knowing it. A strangely familiar story, likes and dislikes, thoughts and feelings… all very familiar, but for me a fantastic read. As always an engaging, intelligent, funny, slightly self-effacing, warm and loving account of the more difficult years of late childhood and early adulthood. I would recommend this book to anyone, no matter where they grew up.

“GOODBYE CRACKRNIGHT” AND THE SEQUEL “MEMOIRS OF A GO-GO DANCER” NOW AVAILABLE IN KINDLE AND PAPERBACK AT AMAZON AND ORDERABLE VIA ALL GOOD BOOKSTORES ALONG WITH ALL JUSTIN SHEEDY’S BOOKS – IN AUSTRALIA VIA DYMOCKS, GLEEBOOKS, BERKELOUW BOOKS & YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE.
AMAZON LINK HERE...
http://www.amazon.com/Justin-Sheedy/e...
FULL BLOG CRACKERNIGHT.COM BLOG POST ON THIS REVIEW HERE.
http://crackernight.com/2015/07/06/a-...