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This Little Ziggy: Martin Newell
The long awaited memoirs by MARTIN NEWELL.
This wonderful 260 page A5 book contains the extraordinary memoirs of a celebrated poet and 'failed' rock star which tells how one boy grew up in the Sixties, survived a British Army upbringing, school, the Far East, South London and real trouble, only to go through the hell of being beaten, dabbling in drugs, overdosing, getting arrested, being busted, pop obsession and much, much more. Joining Plod, a seventies glam-rock band, became the steadying influence in a life spinning hopelessly out of control. Told with hugely generous dollops of smut, pathos and irrepressible humour, Martin Newell's entertaining adventures make for a fast-moving page-turner for anyone who has ever dreamed of being in a band.
'This Little Ziggy', a new autobiographical book charting Martin's formative years and his introduction to the band scene. "It's the best book I have ever read. And I have a library card" - John Cooper Clarke.
This wonderful 260 page A5 book contains the extraordinary memoirs of a celebrated poet and 'failed' rock star which tells how one boy grew up in the Sixties, survived a British Army upbringing, school, the Far East, South London and real trouble, only to go through the hell of being beaten, dabbling in drugs, overdosing, getting arrested, being busted, pop obsession and much, much more. Joining Plod, a seventies glam-rock band, became the steadying influence in a life spinning hopelessly out of control. Told with hugely generous dollops of smut, pathos and irrepressible humour, Martin Newell's entertaining adventures make for a fast-moving page-turner for anyone who has ever dreamed of being in a band.
'This Little Ziggy', a new autobiographical book charting Martin's formative years and his introduction to the band scene. "It's the best book I have ever read. And I have a library card" - John Cooper Clarke.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
270 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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121 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 7, 2019
A terrific memoir by Martin Newell, the greatest living Englishman. This wonderful 260 page book describes Martin's life from childhood to the mid-1970s, and the end of his Colchester glam rock band Plod.
Who is Martin Newell you may be asking? He is a musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, poet, author, gardener, and all round good guy.
His "career" from when this book ends to the present day probably warrants another book. It includes making music as Gypp, The Brotherhood of Lizards, The Stray Trolleys, Cleaners From Venus, and as a solo artist, in addition to his poetry, and all on his own terms. Anyway I digress, back to This Little Ziggy...
Martin Newell was born in 1953, the child of a British Army family, who moved around extensively and included stints in Hertfordshire, Hampshire, London, Cyprus, Dundee, Chester, Singapore, Malaya and Essex This made for an interesting childhood and some incident-packed teenage years, many people go a bit off the rails as a teenager but Martin's experience really is something else: drugs, overdoses, arrests, busts, bikers, violence, sex, indeed it wasn't until he joined Plod, the aforementioned Colchester glam rock band, that things started to settle down, and as he ruefully observes, there's not many people who get into a rock n roll band to settle down and get away from drugs.
This Little Ziggy is compelling, full of great anecdotes, interesting social history and some hard earned wisdom. It perfectly captures the 1960s and 1970s, and the highs and lows of life in a band. In short, it's splendid and you should read it. I don't keep many books but this is a keeper - and I am already looking forward to a re-read in a year or two.
As he states at the end of this book, in the music industry, where lack of success is not necessarily the same thing as failure, he and his Colchester glam rock band Plod had done alright really. Too right.
4/5
Who is Martin Newell you may be asking? He is a musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, poet, author, gardener, and all round good guy.
His "career" from when this book ends to the present day probably warrants another book. It includes making music as Gypp, The Brotherhood of Lizards, The Stray Trolleys, Cleaners From Venus, and as a solo artist, in addition to his poetry, and all on his own terms. Anyway I digress, back to This Little Ziggy...
Martin Newell was born in 1953, the child of a British Army family, who moved around extensively and included stints in Hertfordshire, Hampshire, London, Cyprus, Dundee, Chester, Singapore, Malaya and Essex This made for an interesting childhood and some incident-packed teenage years, many people go a bit off the rails as a teenager but Martin's experience really is something else: drugs, overdoses, arrests, busts, bikers, violence, sex, indeed it wasn't until he joined Plod, the aforementioned Colchester glam rock band, that things started to settle down, and as he ruefully observes, there's not many people who get into a rock n roll band to settle down and get away from drugs.
This Little Ziggy is compelling, full of great anecdotes, interesting social history and some hard earned wisdom. It perfectly captures the 1960s and 1970s, and the highs and lows of life in a band. In short, it's splendid and you should read it. I don't keep many books but this is a keeper - and I am already looking forward to a re-read in a year or two.
As he states at the end of this book, in the music industry, where lack of success is not necessarily the same thing as failure, he and his Colchester glam rock band Plod had done alright really. Too right.
4/5
September 4, 2016
I really loved this. Newell has a very warm, funny, and frank voice, and he paints a vivid picture of the hippie/drug culture of the late 60s, transitioning into the glam rock 70s. I've been enjoying memoirs lately, especially the way that each person's life is like a fingerprint, made up of a unique combination of experiences. In Newell's case, he not only nearly made it as a glam rock star, but also: spent time in Singapore as an army brat; worked as a dishwasher, postman, and other menial jobs; took a lot of drugs; and faced violent reactions to his appearance from members other British subcultures.
Newell also mentions lots of great music, much of which is not well-known in the US. I made a playlist to accompany this book: https://open.spotify.com/user/kristen...
Newell also mentions lots of great music, much of which is not well-known in the US. I made a playlist to accompany this book: https://open.spotify.com/user/kristen...
April 14, 2009
Very gripping and funny. Not certain how the author is still alive after massive drug consumption, but thank goodness he is.
July 18, 2022
OK - I enjoyed the growing up in the late60s/early 70s stuff, particularly all the singles on the radio, as I'm a similar age. This bloke, a glam rock singer, gets through a prodigious amount of drugs and joins a rock band to escape them! The writing however began to drag me down, man. There's only so many times you want to hear the phrase 'Colchester's Finest'.
June 23, 2025
Newell, Martin - This Little Ziggy
“Music-biz success is comprised of five basic ingredients: right sound; right place; right time; right look and right age. The first four of these, you might have some influence upon, but talent often takes a long time to develop and the whole of that time, the clock is ticking away.” mn
The writer refers to these adventures as fiction, and I politely disagree. These essays are memoirs, recollections, perhaps tidied or distorted, jumbled or massaged. There is a ring of truth throughout. So, fiction? Not totally. (Note: I refer to my own essays as fables, but most are pretty accurate.)
Travel stories of a soldier’s son, across England, and also Singapore, back when travel was exotic.
Teenage kicks. The wrong crowd, drugs, acting out, drugs, baffling females, drugs. Police.
Followed by salvation. Joining a covers band, The Mighty Plod, Colchester’s finest.
This is the heart of an extremely entertaining read. Mistakes, pitfalls, perils for a struggling young band.
Newell possesses a droll sense of humor and a skeptical view of fame and the music business.
Hunt around, you might listen to their demo songs on a global video site.
“Music-biz success is comprised of five basic ingredients: right sound; right place; right time; right look and right age. The first four of these, you might have some influence upon, but talent often takes a long time to develop and the whole of that time, the clock is ticking away.” mn
The writer refers to these adventures as fiction, and I politely disagree. These essays are memoirs, recollections, perhaps tidied or distorted, jumbled or massaged. There is a ring of truth throughout. So, fiction? Not totally. (Note: I refer to my own essays as fables, but most are pretty accurate.)
Travel stories of a soldier’s son, across England, and also Singapore, back when travel was exotic.
Teenage kicks. The wrong crowd, drugs, acting out, drugs, baffling females, drugs. Police.
Followed by salvation. Joining a covers band, The Mighty Plod, Colchester’s finest.
This is the heart of an extremely entertaining read. Mistakes, pitfalls, perils for a struggling young band.
Newell possesses a droll sense of humor and a skeptical view of fame and the music business.
Hunt around, you might listen to their demo songs on a global video site.
August 5, 2014
I came to Martin Newell via the route of probably most of his American fans, and that is by the release of his Andy Partridge-enhanced first solo album The Greatest Living Englishman. All these years later, now owning three of his more-than-that albums, I was spurred by chapters he read aloud on Radio Autumn Attic to seek out his early-70s memoir This Little Ziggy.
This book doesn't disappoint so far as it goes. It covers most of his youth in brief, then concentrates on his musical career for roughly the latter half of the chapters. Newell's writing is (as would be expected by anyone who's been listening) breezy, smart, compelling and utterly enjoyable. The story is largely a strung-together collection of mostly amusing anecdotes, ranging from his strict upbringing and painful schooling to his moderate success with glam-rock outfit The Mighty Splod and all the up-and-coming rock fella shenanigans that tend to accompany such an endeavour. He is reasonably straight forward in his retellings, though will always opt for a joke over any genuinely embarrassing admission. That may be the book's greatest failing: this is an almost-made-it life as recounted between pub mates, not an earnest confessional of misspent youth and emotional turmoil (though there is plenty of these, just not offered in any way to suggest they actually had any effect on Newell beyond a persecution complex).
This is only my second British music-guy autobiography (the first being Suggs' That Close, a much greater disappointment), so perhaps this is just the nature of the beast: fun stories with no emotional substance. If that's the case, I think this will be my last...though This Little Ziggy does leave me with a hunger to learn about Newell's recorded-output years. So, maybe I'll give it one more shot when he does his next ten-year set.
This book doesn't disappoint so far as it goes. It covers most of his youth in brief, then concentrates on his musical career for roughly the latter half of the chapters. Newell's writing is (as would be expected by anyone who's been listening) breezy, smart, compelling and utterly enjoyable. The story is largely a strung-together collection of mostly amusing anecdotes, ranging from his strict upbringing and painful schooling to his moderate success with glam-rock outfit The Mighty Splod and all the up-and-coming rock fella shenanigans that tend to accompany such an endeavour. He is reasonably straight forward in his retellings, though will always opt for a joke over any genuinely embarrassing admission. That may be the book's greatest failing: this is an almost-made-it life as recounted between pub mates, not an earnest confessional of misspent youth and emotional turmoil (though there is plenty of these, just not offered in any way to suggest they actually had any effect on Newell beyond a persecution complex).
This is only my second British music-guy autobiography (the first being Suggs' That Close, a much greater disappointment), so perhaps this is just the nature of the beast: fun stories with no emotional substance. If that's the case, I think this will be my last...though This Little Ziggy does leave me with a hunger to learn about Newell's recorded-output years. So, maybe I'll give it one more shot when he does his next ten-year set.
November 26, 2015
Hilarious autobiography (well up to about 23) of possibly our greatest
(well funniest) living poet ..martin newell
Possibly the only man saved from drug addiction by JOINING a rock band
as its lead singer
Poignant funny and for someone like me who was a teenager in the 70s
totally resonant.
Anyone in their 50s with a sense of humour and a love of music will
love this
(well funniest) living poet ..martin newell
Possibly the only man saved from drug addiction by JOINING a rock band
as its lead singer
Poignant funny and for someone like me who was a teenager in the 70s
totally resonant.
Anyone in their 50s with a sense of humour and a love of music will
love this
July 27, 2022
Took me a long while despite Newell’s flair and humour. Somehow didn’t realise that This Little Ziggy doesn’t cover any of Cleaners From Venus, so was slightly disappointed, but will of course now read The Greatest Living Englishman!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews