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Sit Down! Listen to This!
Roger Eagle was a towering figure in British popular music. Uniquely his influence straddled the cultural divide separating Manchester and Liverpool. The task of unifying the musical talents of these two cultural hubs has proved beyond almost everyone. The sole exception is the subject of this book -- a man whose influence can still be felt today. In any scene there needs to be a personality capable of leading a generation towards a new sound and consequently new tastes and fashions. What is unusual about Roger Eagle is his formative role in the development of at least three and arguably four such music scenes that altered the course of music in Britain between the mid sixties and early nineties. From the Blues explosion of the mid sixties, via the birth of Northern Soul to the pioneering Beatles defying spirit of Merseyside's New Wave and the re-birth of Manchester music, close friend and former neighbour Bill Sykes charts Roger's continued influence on the music scenes in both cities and talks to some of the main figures who were inspired by him.
367 pages, Hardcover
First published July 2, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 7, 2023
Back in the very early 70's, there was a small gang of us who spent every evening we could trying to sneak into concerts in Liverpool without paying. We had a running war with Roger Eagle, that only abated when he gave us a job that allowed us to get in for free, in return for helping the roadies load and unload the vans. So all of those great concerts at the Stadium -- The Faces, David Bowie, Mott The Hoople, SAHB, Beefheart (multiple times), Chuck Berry, Lou Reed, Hawkwind and dozens of others -- I was there for them all.
When music turned to shit around 1973 or so, I stopped listening to regular music and started going to Wigan Casino and Blackpool Mecca. My thing was really the oldies room at Wigan -- Mr M's -- where they spent the night playing tracks Roger had broken ten years before at the Twisted Wheel.
Then in late 76, Roger booked the Sex Pistols to play at one of those terrible clubs on Dale Street -- was it the Pyramid? He let the crowd in through the back door. Sex Pistols played to a crowd of less than 100, and the support band was one of those Deaf School/Art School off-shoots -- Yachts or Albert Dock. Somebody like that. One of the not-quite-cool Kirklands bands of the day.
Despite the gig being shit, I got hooked on Roger's new club -- Erics. And saw bands like The Jam, The Clash, Sham 69, The Stranglers, Talking Heads playing support for the Ramones. Yes, I remember things like the Spitfire Boys first rehearsal in that old cop shop -- Bridewell Studios, was it? With Budgie on drums and Paul Rutherford angling for a singing slot. And yes, I remember hanging out with Wylie and McCulloch long before either were famous. I'm pretty sure they were both still at school at the time. I'm pretty sure I've still got the 7 inch of Better Scream that Wylie gave me after the first pressings had just arrived.
Roger Eagle pretty well shaped the majority of my early cultural life. He was what Tony Wilson might have been if Tony Wilson had been cool, rather than a try-hard Manc.
And I loved this book with all my heart and soul. It was a romp through my youth and reminded me of all manner of gigs that I'd long forgotten. Five fucking stars.
When music turned to shit around 1973 or so, I stopped listening to regular music and started going to Wigan Casino and Blackpool Mecca. My thing was really the oldies room at Wigan -- Mr M's -- where they spent the night playing tracks Roger had broken ten years before at the Twisted Wheel.
Then in late 76, Roger booked the Sex Pistols to play at one of those terrible clubs on Dale Street -- was it the Pyramid? He let the crowd in through the back door. Sex Pistols played to a crowd of less than 100, and the support band was one of those Deaf School/Art School off-shoots -- Yachts or Albert Dock. Somebody like that. One of the not-quite-cool Kirklands bands of the day.
Despite the gig being shit, I got hooked on Roger's new club -- Erics. And saw bands like The Jam, The Clash, Sham 69, The Stranglers, Talking Heads playing support for the Ramones. Yes, I remember things like the Spitfire Boys first rehearsal in that old cop shop -- Bridewell Studios, was it? With Budgie on drums and Paul Rutherford angling for a singing slot. And yes, I remember hanging out with Wylie and McCulloch long before either were famous. I'm pretty sure they were both still at school at the time. I'm pretty sure I've still got the 7 inch of Better Scream that Wylie gave me after the first pressings had just arrived.
Roger Eagle pretty well shaped the majority of my early cultural life. He was what Tony Wilson might have been if Tony Wilson had been cool, rather than a try-hard Manc.
And I loved this book with all my heart and soul. It was a romp through my youth and reminded me of all manner of gigs that I'd long forgotten. Five fucking stars.
February 14, 2020
Roger Eagle a true legend
Excellent tale of a man who dedicated his life to his passion for Music,not many can say we do a job we enjoy living in the rat race but bringing unheard of singers and bands into the public eye and educating us,we can only thank this wonderful person for sharing his vast knowledge and fantastic nose for the next big thing. Greatly missed the likes will never be seen again in modern times, Hopefully he's Rocking on
Excellent tale of a man who dedicated his life to his passion for Music,not many can say we do a job we enjoy living in the rat race but bringing unheard of singers and bands into the public eye and educating us,we can only thank this wonderful person for sharing his vast knowledge and fantastic nose for the next big thing. Greatly missed the likes will never be seen again in modern times, Hopefully he's Rocking on
August 5, 2016
Every time I log on to Goodreads it reminds me I'm still reading this. So I do another couple of pages and give up again. I really want to read it, but the books lack of structure really frustrates me.
So - this book is the bio of Roger Eagle, the legendary pop/rock/punk promoter in Liverpool and Manchester. A fascinating man and an interesting life. I met Roger Eagle a couple of times and liked him. And I loved Erics, his Liverpool venue that hosted just about anyone who was anyone in the 1980s, and many that were well-meaning no-hopers. My band (see 'well meaning no-hopers') played at Erics once - heavy metal in the time of punk - it wasn't pretty! So I really want to read the book but....
It is structured like a filmed biopic - he has about twenty or thirty interviews with people who knew Roger Eagle. As we progress through Roger's life, it cuts from one person to another and their reminiscences of the events - so it is roughly chronological. But it is not split into chapters / years / venues / bands or anything so prosaic. There are no contents, no index - as a reference work, it's useless. Even if you want to read about, say, his days promoting bands at the Liverpool Stadium you have to wade through it trying to put things in place to try and work out what year we're up to...
No, it's too much work. If you want to read from page 1 to the end, maybe with a notebook so you can try and guess the chronology, then please enjoy it. It's got loads of good stuff, but this reader has just given up.
So - this book is the bio of Roger Eagle, the legendary pop/rock/punk promoter in Liverpool and Manchester. A fascinating man and an interesting life. I met Roger Eagle a couple of times and liked him. And I loved Erics, his Liverpool venue that hosted just about anyone who was anyone in the 1980s, and many that were well-meaning no-hopers. My band (see 'well meaning no-hopers') played at Erics once - heavy metal in the time of punk - it wasn't pretty! So I really want to read the book but....
It is structured like a filmed biopic - he has about twenty or thirty interviews with people who knew Roger Eagle. As we progress through Roger's life, it cuts from one person to another and their reminiscences of the events - so it is roughly chronological. But it is not split into chapters / years / venues / bands or anything so prosaic. There are no contents, no index - as a reference work, it's useless. Even if you want to read about, say, his days promoting bands at the Liverpool Stadium you have to wade through it trying to put things in place to try and work out what year we're up to...
No, it's too much work. If you want to read from page 1 to the end, maybe with a notebook so you can try and guess the chronology, then please enjoy it. It's got loads of good stuff, but this reader has just given up.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews