Congratulations: Songwriter To The Stars

by Bill Martin

This book follows the Stories Behind the Songs written by Bill Martin beginning with his upbringing in Govan Glasgow and going to school with a young Alex Ferguson before finding Tin Pan Alley and writing Number One hits for Sandie Shaw, Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley, The Bay City Rollers and many more.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

Bill Martin (born 1956) is a professor of Philosophy at DePaul University whose academic work concerns Derrida, Sartre, Marxist theory, Aesthetics, and critiques of Richard Rorty. Martin has also written on progressive rock bands including Yes

Reviews

[Julian Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with bon mots about the record industry, littered with cultural references and jam-packed with humorous anecdotes and delicious asides about famous people – this is a tale which has something for everyone.

Reading this was also a delightful surprise, as I had never heard of the author (but the songs he penned are legendary).

Quixotically written, this is the kind of autobiography you could delve into at any point and find some nourishing morsels of an entertaining life, lived to the full.

Great fun.

[Ric Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read, well written although it isn’t mentioned that someone else wrote a lot of it based on Bill’s reminiscences.

While there is much included regarding Bill Martin’s successes (and several minor failures) some serious stuff had been left out, either out of choice or for legal reasons.

Still a good book on an era that’s long gone and the like of which will never be repeated.