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So Tell Me What You Want: My story of making it in the mad, bad and fab pop music industry
*One of Waterstones' Best Entertainment Books of the Year 2024*
1987. Armed with a Filofax, a brick of a mobile phone and steely determination, 20-year-old Nicki Chapman is walking through the seedy streets of Soho towards her first job in the music biz.
But how did Nicki go from being a looked-over assistant running promo packages over to BBC Radio 1 to a judge on Pop Idol with 15 million viewers tuning in for the nail-biting moment Will Young triumphed over Gareth Gates?
Everyone knows there were the kingmakers in the heady days of 90s British pop music, but this is a queen's side of the story; a down-to-earth, no-nonsense team player who fought to make it in an industry that was very much a man's world.
Empowering, entertaining and sprinkled with stardust, Nicki's inspirational behind-the-scenes story takes in the rocketing highs and heart-breaking lows of promoting, managing and touring with the Spice Girls, Amy Winehouse, David Bowie, Take That, Billie Piper, Phil Collins and S Club 7, all whilst confronting chauvinism and smashing through the career glass ceiling.
1987. Armed with a Filofax, a brick of a mobile phone and steely determination, 20-year-old Nicki Chapman is walking through the seedy streets of Soho towards her first job in the music biz.
But how did Nicki go from being a looked-over assistant running promo packages over to BBC Radio 1 to a judge on Pop Idol with 15 million viewers tuning in for the nail-biting moment Will Young triumphed over Gareth Gates?
Everyone knows there were the kingmakers in the heady days of 90s British pop music, but this is a queen's side of the story; a down-to-earth, no-nonsense team player who fought to make it in an industry that was very much a man's world.
Empowering, entertaining and sprinkled with stardust, Nicki's inspirational behind-the-scenes story takes in the rocketing highs and heart-breaking lows of promoting, managing and touring with the Spice Girls, Amy Winehouse, David Bowie, Take That, Billie Piper, Phil Collins and S Club 7, all whilst confronting chauvinism and smashing through the career glass ceiling.
- GenresNonfiction
288 pages, Hardcover
Published November 26, 2024
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 26, 2025
This was pretty interesting although in my opinion it felt more like a series of photos that were being described: "here is one moment, let me describe what is happening" rather than a cohesive account of her career.
I thought that it would have flowed better with some context to the events she covered, or even just her thoughts on some things - for example, I struggle to believe she had no opinions on Chris Evans proposing to Billy Piper when he was nearly 20 years older than her!
I thought that it would have flowed better with some context to the events she covered, or even just her thoughts on some things - for example, I struggle to believe she had no opinions on Chris Evans proposing to Billy Piper when he was nearly 20 years older than her!
Displaying 1 of 1 review