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Babylon Confessions #5
Pop Babylon
How do you make it as a pop star? Why does one boy band make it big and another disappear off the pages of the magazines altogether? Why do girls cost more than boys? And who should you sleep with to get to number one?
Packed with scandal and intrigue, Pop Babylon takes you to the dark heart of one of the world's most wicked and secretive industries. It's a world where money talks, bullshit walks and drugs are a way of life. And where talent isn't always at the top of the list of priorities...
Tracking a year in the making of a brand-new boy band, Pop Babylon is pure, unadulterated reading pleasure - stuffed with stories about pop's most demanding divas, which jocks do shock and just how long you can chop a line of cocaine. Disgraceful, revelatory and great down-and-dirty fun, it's essential reading for anyone who wants to know what it really takes nowadays to be top of the pops.
Packed with scandal and intrigue, Pop Babylon takes you to the dark heart of one of the world's most wicked and secretive industries. It's a world where money talks, bullshit walks and drugs are a way of life. And where talent isn't always at the top of the list of priorities...
Tracking a year in the making of a brand-new boy band, Pop Babylon is pure, unadulterated reading pleasure - stuffed with stories about pop's most demanding divas, which jocks do shock and just how long you can chop a line of cocaine. Disgraceful, revelatory and great down-and-dirty fun, it's essential reading for anyone who wants to know what it really takes nowadays to be top of the pops.
- GenresNonfictionMusicModern
310 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
13 people are currently reading
231 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
January 20, 2023
Ultimately pure pop fiction.. But very readable and entertaining at that level. Tells the story of a fading pop agent creating a boy-band out of nothing and their rise to success, entwined with supposedly (as they are now in print) true stories (rom 'anonymous' sources) of the excesses of real pop stars behind the scenes over the years, from James Brown, Bros and Annie Lennox through to the likes of Rihanna, Madonna, Jay-Z and Amy Winehouse.
The huge personal takeaway about this book for me, was the way it can truly be seen as disposable as the modern pop industry it critiques, as I read it (a different edition) as recently as 2020, and didn't recall at all whilst reading it again this time; saying that, I still think this was a good fun read. 5 out of 12, Two Star read.
2022 read; 2020 read
The huge personal takeaway about this book for me, was the way it can truly be seen as disposable as the modern pop industry it critiques, as I read it (a different edition) as recently as 2020, and didn't recall at all whilst reading it again this time; saying that, I still think this was a good fun read. 5 out of 12, Two Star read.
2022 read; 2020 read
May 23, 2009
Nothing new, and I love that this is filed under non-fiction at my local library. True scandalous tales and statistics from the music industry fictionalised as a year in the life of a manufactured boy-band. I think she'd be better off writing these as actual non-fiction exposes, because the fictional prose is crappy.
May 6, 2015
Sometimes a 5-star book is a well-written, spellbinding story, sometimes its a quick, fast read of a subject that leaves you with your mouth open. Wow, could this sort of shit really be true? Its so phenomenally out of my sphere of experience that I can't wait to turn the page to see what is the next step on the road to fame (and its great that the book names names).
December 13, 2016
I have read most of the Babylon series now and they are written pretty much in the same formular but different themes. This one was written from the point of view of a manager putting together a boy band. There is a lot of name dropping which I'm sure went down well with the actual people! And it's also full of the 'I remember when...' stories. The way that the money is divided from album and ticket sales was an eye opener, you really have to be very successful to come out with anything. I think this is a book that may not well age well due the bands/singers mentione, however it was a light entertaing read.
April 6, 2024
This book has some strong words in its content, but I laughed loud at some moments :-D . I read it for good mood. I think everyone should judge the book alone, because may appear a different feelings and thoughts about it. Despite dirty words at some points, it is an easy to read. I read it in two days, and I have it in my home library to cheer me up
Read
December 29, 2017For me I think this series has outstayed it's welcome. Stuck it out to page 58 & could stand no more. Most interesting thing about it was a Spanish (I think) menu I found hidden between the pages, not that I speak Spanish.....
January 1, 2012
Pop Babylon is another book in the Babylon series that includes ‘real-life’ experiences from hotels, hospitals, aeroplanes, resorts and now the world of pop. These books are light reading and somewhat hit and miss for me. I loved Hotel and Hospital, but not Beach as much. Why do I keep reading them? Well, for two reasons: they’re easy to pick up and put down when I’m working extra long hours and I’m nosy – I want to know what’s really going on. Plus, these books have been in abundance recently at $5 sales. Pop was one of these purchases.
Some Babylon books cover a day or a week; this book covers a year in the making of a boy band. A year is an exceptionally long time in pop music, and there are downfalls as well as rampaging success – this book covers it all. The story is told in the first person by an ailing music manager, who decides to get a boy band together to make wads of cash. There’s a lot of science that goes into the creation of a boy band – choosing the right mix of boys (get some that are good looking, some that can sing), the right song (target different populations) and the right kind of promotion (use social media and tour the schools). It’s really interesting, especially the concept of ‘dead mikes’ for some members – i.e. don’t let the audience hear them sing.
The dialogue is somewhat unnatural at times, as characters tell those who are supposedly ‘in the know’ about tour riders, roadies, groupies and backstage tales. However, it does benefit the reader and gives us some alleged tales about Take That, East 17 and Westlife to name a few. Tales about percentages and royalties for the managers, companies etc is also an eye opening experience. The ending is a bit sudden but I can’t think of where else the story could have gone. Overall, it’s not fine literature but a quite interesting tale in the behind the scenes creation of music – sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, warts and all.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Some Babylon books cover a day or a week; this book covers a year in the making of a boy band. A year is an exceptionally long time in pop music, and there are downfalls as well as rampaging success – this book covers it all. The story is told in the first person by an ailing music manager, who decides to get a boy band together to make wads of cash. There’s a lot of science that goes into the creation of a boy band – choosing the right mix of boys (get some that are good looking, some that can sing), the right song (target different populations) and the right kind of promotion (use social media and tour the schools). It’s really interesting, especially the concept of ‘dead mikes’ for some members – i.e. don’t let the audience hear them sing.
The dialogue is somewhat unnatural at times, as characters tell those who are supposedly ‘in the know’ about tour riders, roadies, groupies and backstage tales. However, it does benefit the reader and gives us some alleged tales about Take That, East 17 and Westlife to name a few. Tales about percentages and royalties for the managers, companies etc is also an eye opening experience. The ending is a bit sudden but I can’t think of where else the story could have gone. Overall, it’s not fine literature but a quite interesting tale in the behind the scenes creation of music – sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, warts and all.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
October 3, 2014
Once there was a time when one bloke met another bloke on the train, carrying some blues records under the arm, and, with the help of some other unemployed friends a successful rock band was born, although rock was often the last thing on their mind. "I hope they don’t think we’re a rock’n roll outfit", said Mick Jagger when he announced the very first Marquee outing of his little rhythm and blues band in Jazz News. If you would like to know, it was on Thursday, July 12, 1962 and the lineup was: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Elmo Lewis, Dick Taylor, Ian ‘Stu’ Stewart and Mike Avery.
Boy meets boy, it’s the story of many Sixties groups and even the proto-Floyd used to have blues afternoon sessions at Syd Barrett’s place in Cambridge (his mother furnished the lemonade and cookies).
Nowadays it’s different in the music industry. If a manager wants to make a quick buck, he doesn’t wait anymore for a band to knock on his door, but he creates the band himself. It's much easier that way and the victims are ready to sign whatever that is presented to them (see also X-Faxtor and Pop Idol).
This is what the protagonist of the book does (if he has got a name I have already forgotten it) to keep on leading the good life he has had up till now. The popular indie band he manages gives him the sack – once famous all other managing bureaus and record companies are drooling over them - and the other artists he owns all fail to get their songs in the charts.
A friend from the music industry advises him to invest in a boys band. Boys bands are big business and give less hassle than girls bands who are ‘twice the trouble and half the cash’. A while later Band Of Five is born. The band consist of two good-looking boys who can sing and 3 ‘passengers’ whose only task it is to dance a bit and to mime in front of disconnected microphones (although they are not aware of that). We are learned that there is safety in numbers for a boysband and that the perfect number is five. 'Because if one member leaves you’re still on the safe side.'
To turn the downtown thugs into popstars The One Agency hires different specialists who teach the lads to dance and sing, writers are needed to pen some songs, an engineer is hired to record the demos, others will (re)mix the album and finally a promotor has to organise a tour. There will be a first small tour in and around schools (and some gay night clubs) to make the brand name known and then a full UK tour to cash in on their first number one hit.
And here is where Imogen Edwards-Jones and her anonymous co-author(s) kick in. Whenever the band or their managers meet a personality from the music industry that person will first spit a few pages with real saucy anecdotes from the music business before the story goes on. A lot of these anecdotes sound familiar like the alternative way in which Stevie Nicks used to snort cocaine. Others were new to me; I didn’t know that Axl Rose used to have a roadie to blow-dry his testicles (luckily, this was done backstage). And although Mötley Crüe is mentioned once it is not for Nikki Sixx’s egg burrito pastime. Perhaps that anecdote was a bit too unsavoury for the Babylon series.
Sex and drugs are omnipresent in the novel, and it absolutely shows that the industry, nor the agents, really care for their product. Powdering my nose has an entirely different meaning in music business and during an after-gig party some band members can be seen walking around with their ‘nostrils frosted white like a margarita glass’. When the manager does a feeble attempt to stop this self-destructing behaviour he gets the reply to ‘leave us kids alone’. That one Band Of Five member is legally underage is apparently no problem either; to make the boys look more manly there is a stack of socks to pop down the front of their trousers to give them ‘great big cocks’. The endless gigging, partying, snorting and shagging demand their toll as well, at a certain moment they all have to line up, pants down, to get a pinprick that’ll keep them going for the show.
Music business is swimming with sharks, says one agent to the other, the thing about it is that it's controlled by a bunch of middle-aged men who enjoy a lunch and a bottle of wine and have the flocking instinct of lemmings. It all turns around percentages and at the end ten pence worth of disc is selling for £10, which is a mark-up of ten thousand percent. In 1972 not all were aware of that. Clare Torry, who did the vocals on Pink Floyd’s Great Gig In the Sky, a track on (The) Dark Side Of The Moon that apparently sold over 35 million copies, received 30£ for her input (and rumours go this was a double fee as the recording took place on a Sunday). Even Alan Parsons, who engineered the album, worked for a flat fee and was still angry about that years later in a Dutch interview. (It took over 30 years for Torry, EMI and Pink Floyd to come to a settlement. In 2005 they all agreed and the song is now co-credited to her.)
Just when Band Of Five is starting to go strong the band breaks up due to the Yoko effect; the partner of the lead singer finds that one fifth of the band’s income is not enough and reveals to the 3 passengers that they are just cute faces without any (singing) talent. The breakup takes place at about the worst moment, although the band has existed for about a year they haven’t seen a single penny yet. Royalties will only roll in after the record company has made the financial balance and if there is any money left the managers will have to deduct their investments first, plus of course a 20% management fee. The future of the boys, if there is a future at all, will lie in occasional television appearances such as Dancing On Ice where ex-celebrities can cash in on previous successes.
Boy bands are over decides The One Agency, the future is female singer-songwriters from now on… and perhaps it is time to have Pop Babylon 2, the sequel then…
But is the novel well written? Well..., it is written and sometimes not even too bad. Edwards-Jones can punch nice one-liners around but doesn’t do it enough in my opinion. The story is a bit bleak and the several encounters between the band and the record people have only been inserted as a vehicle for the many anecdotes, but that is what the Babylon series is all about. The revealing secrets behind the music industry are not that shocking (not if you have been reading Q and Mojo for the past 20 years) and overall the novel has the impact of a fart in a wind tunnel (to quote one of the better ones). Or are you shocked to find out that Madonna wants 50% of the writing credits of a song before she agrees to put it on an album? I am not.
Easy to read. Easy to forget. Just like boy bands basically. And if you would try to start one yourself you don't even have to read the complete book, just consult The golden rules of Pop Babylon where most of the secrets are out in the open...
P.S. Mike Avery (see above) was a pseudonym for Brian Jones that didn't stick for long.
(Previously published on: http://atagong.com/archives/2009/07/e...°
Boy meets boy, it’s the story of many Sixties groups and even the proto-Floyd used to have blues afternoon sessions at Syd Barrett’s place in Cambridge (his mother furnished the lemonade and cookies).
Nowadays it’s different in the music industry. If a manager wants to make a quick buck, he doesn’t wait anymore for a band to knock on his door, but he creates the band himself. It's much easier that way and the victims are ready to sign whatever that is presented to them (see also X-Faxtor and Pop Idol).
This is what the protagonist of the book does (if he has got a name I have already forgotten it) to keep on leading the good life he has had up till now. The popular indie band he manages gives him the sack – once famous all other managing bureaus and record companies are drooling over them - and the other artists he owns all fail to get their songs in the charts.
A friend from the music industry advises him to invest in a boys band. Boys bands are big business and give less hassle than girls bands who are ‘twice the trouble and half the cash’. A while later Band Of Five is born. The band consist of two good-looking boys who can sing and 3 ‘passengers’ whose only task it is to dance a bit and to mime in front of disconnected microphones (although they are not aware of that). We are learned that there is safety in numbers for a boysband and that the perfect number is five. 'Because if one member leaves you’re still on the safe side.'
To turn the downtown thugs into popstars The One Agency hires different specialists who teach the lads to dance and sing, writers are needed to pen some songs, an engineer is hired to record the demos, others will (re)mix the album and finally a promotor has to organise a tour. There will be a first small tour in and around schools (and some gay night clubs) to make the brand name known and then a full UK tour to cash in on their first number one hit.
And here is where Imogen Edwards-Jones and her anonymous co-author(s) kick in. Whenever the band or their managers meet a personality from the music industry that person will first spit a few pages with real saucy anecdotes from the music business before the story goes on. A lot of these anecdotes sound familiar like the alternative way in which Stevie Nicks used to snort cocaine. Others were new to me; I didn’t know that Axl Rose used to have a roadie to blow-dry his testicles (luckily, this was done backstage). And although Mötley Crüe is mentioned once it is not for Nikki Sixx’s egg burrito pastime. Perhaps that anecdote was a bit too unsavoury for the Babylon series.
Sex and drugs are omnipresent in the novel, and it absolutely shows that the industry, nor the agents, really care for their product. Powdering my nose has an entirely different meaning in music business and during an after-gig party some band members can be seen walking around with their ‘nostrils frosted white like a margarita glass’. When the manager does a feeble attempt to stop this self-destructing behaviour he gets the reply to ‘leave us kids alone’. That one Band Of Five member is legally underage is apparently no problem either; to make the boys look more manly there is a stack of socks to pop down the front of their trousers to give them ‘great big cocks’. The endless gigging, partying, snorting and shagging demand their toll as well, at a certain moment they all have to line up, pants down, to get a pinprick that’ll keep them going for the show.
Music business is swimming with sharks, says one agent to the other, the thing about it is that it's controlled by a bunch of middle-aged men who enjoy a lunch and a bottle of wine and have the flocking instinct of lemmings. It all turns around percentages and at the end ten pence worth of disc is selling for £10, which is a mark-up of ten thousand percent. In 1972 not all were aware of that. Clare Torry, who did the vocals on Pink Floyd’s Great Gig In the Sky, a track on (The) Dark Side Of The Moon that apparently sold over 35 million copies, received 30£ for her input (and rumours go this was a double fee as the recording took place on a Sunday). Even Alan Parsons, who engineered the album, worked for a flat fee and was still angry about that years later in a Dutch interview. (It took over 30 years for Torry, EMI and Pink Floyd to come to a settlement. In 2005 they all agreed and the song is now co-credited to her.)
Just when Band Of Five is starting to go strong the band breaks up due to the Yoko effect; the partner of the lead singer finds that one fifth of the band’s income is not enough and reveals to the 3 passengers that they are just cute faces without any (singing) talent. The breakup takes place at about the worst moment, although the band has existed for about a year they haven’t seen a single penny yet. Royalties will only roll in after the record company has made the financial balance and if there is any money left the managers will have to deduct their investments first, plus of course a 20% management fee. The future of the boys, if there is a future at all, will lie in occasional television appearances such as Dancing On Ice where ex-celebrities can cash in on previous successes.
Boy bands are over decides The One Agency, the future is female singer-songwriters from now on… and perhaps it is time to have Pop Babylon 2, the sequel then…
But is the novel well written? Well..., it is written and sometimes not even too bad. Edwards-Jones can punch nice one-liners around but doesn’t do it enough in my opinion. The story is a bit bleak and the several encounters between the band and the record people have only been inserted as a vehicle for the many anecdotes, but that is what the Babylon series is all about. The revealing secrets behind the music industry are not that shocking (not if you have been reading Q and Mojo for the past 20 years) and overall the novel has the impact of a fart in a wind tunnel (to quote one of the better ones). Or are you shocked to find out that Madonna wants 50% of the writing credits of a song before she agrees to put it on an album? I am not.
Easy to read. Easy to forget. Just like boy bands basically. And if you would try to start one yourself you don't even have to read the complete book, just consult The golden rules of Pop Babylon where most of the secrets are out in the open...
P.S. Mike Avery (see above) was a pseudonym for Brian Jones that didn't stick for long.
(Previously published on: http://atagong.com/archives/2009/07/e...°
November 6, 2017
Lots of fun, and a very easy read. It’s basically a pretty standard story about starting a band, with gossipy stories about bands and pop stars shoehorned in every couple of pages or so. Some are named - e.g. John Taylor from Duran Duran being so rich and out of it that he forgot that he'd bought two Deloreans - and some unnamed. It came out the same year as John Niven’s Kill Your Friends - read that instead.
December 28, 2018
As always an enjoyable book, full of spicy dirty little secrets from the music industry. My overall conclusion is that despite the fame it is not worth it. I pity the stars and wouldn't want to trade places with them what a horrible way to lose yourself literally inside this industry. Some fun facts are things like the perfect number for a band is 5 since it doesn't hurt the band when a member suddenly quits. Loads of fun for the reader not as much for the people participating.
November 11, 2021
The book, itself, is very easy to read but the 'Babylon style' is rather tired and overdone now; a simple plot used as a vehicle to shoe horn various salacious and industry insider tales into a book.
I very much doubt all the stories are true (in this and all the other Babylons) and there is no way to prove otherwise.
If you take it with a pinch of salt it can serve as a way to pass a couple of hours on a beach somewhere.
I very much doubt all the stories are true (in this and all the other Babylons) and there is no way to prove otherwise.
If you take it with a pinch of salt it can serve as a way to pass a couple of hours on a beach somewhere.
August 22, 2021
A wonderfully entertaining “tour de farce” mockumentary style in the year (almost) of the life of a boy band. With some hilarious tidbits of gossip, somewhat voyeuristic snapshots in the lives of our favourite stars and allegories of some very very bad behaviour in the world of Brit Pop and celebrity the book reads well for a snigger and face contorting laugh.
July 21, 2019
A guilty pleasure read. Kinda trashy, lots of goss, sometimes amusing, and generally entertaining. It’s very British and focuses on the machinations of boy bands in the UK music industry.
A good book to read if you need a break from anything too taxing.
A good book to read if you need a break from anything too taxing.
December 8, 2023
Well structured, peppered with industry insights and way too many name drops, names I had to look up. I'm not sure it perfectly captured the pop scene in 2008, but I feel like Anonymous was in his 60s at the time.
February 17, 2022
Het kon me niet genoeg boeien om het helemaal uit te lezen...
May 9, 2023
A little bit old-fashioned but showing the true of pop back stage.
The story of the pop group from the concept through the success till the brake up.
Too true to be true.
The story of the pop group from the concept through the success till the brake up.
Too true to be true.
November 5, 2023
snooze
April 24, 2015
I love the Babylon series. They're informative, funny, well-written, and always about areas that I know are going to have interesting stories. Pop Babylon is no exception, as you can well imagine the tales of celebrity-excess that are brought up within it's pages, as we follow the fictional (but based on real events told to the author by those in the business) year in the life of a band manager, as he tries to put together a new boy band to rise to the top of the charts.
Imogen Edwards-Jones has to be one of the best authors for getting me to pick up a book and then wondering where the hell the time has gone, as I always find myself completely glued to the text and desperate to know what real-life story is going to be re-told next. With Pop Babylon, she confirms a lot of what we expect to be true (the alcohol, the drugs, the groupies etc.) with a lot that we might not have realised about (what tricks you need to get your band to be signed) and breakdowns of the costs of working in the music business. Whilst I was mainly reading it to see just how shocking the stories of rock and pop excess were going to be, info about the breakdown of how profits are divided and shared amongst all relevant parties was both interesting and shocking when you learn just how little some pop stars actually earn for their work.
The Babylon series is so different from a regular non-fiction account as they really do read like stories themselves. I'm always eager to pick up another Babylon-account (I'm eyeing up Restaurant Babylon on the shelf as I type), and I'm forever putting them out on display in the library to encourage others to try.
You can't go wrong with something like this.
5/5
July 6, 2011
Ik kocht dit boek in een 2+1 aanbieding en dus had ik al een idee dat het niet zo heel veel soeps zou zijn. En ik kreeg gelijk. Je leest over een boyband en ziet hoe hun de popmuziek proberen te veroveren, best leuk hoor zo'n kijkje achter de schermen maar naar een tijdje wil je gewoon een echt verhaal en dit zit er helaas niet in... De karakters zijn eigenlijk ook een beetje dubieus en je weet gewoon niet wat je van ze moet denken. Na een tijd begint het gewoon te vervelen om te lezen, het is is dat ik de drang heb om een boek uit te lezen anders lag deze allang in de kast. Wat wel grappig is dat dit boek dan wel fictief mag zijn, er komen ook personen in het boek voor die absoluut niet fictief zijn en waardoor de schrijfster nu dus een boekje opendoet over deze beroemde personen, maar dat is ook het enige lichtpuntje.. Geen aanrader dit boek
August 22, 2014
Another fast, fast, fast pop read - I read this in two days on my commute. Imogen Edwards-Jones was on to a winner when she invented the Babylon series, in which she writes a fictionalised, insider's view of an industry that intrigues us, by interviewing a source or two. Pop Babylon's protagonist is fun: a pretty gross, lazy, immoral record industry manager who's creating a boy band to cash in on what is already a dying craze. The book itself feels a bit lazy, but there are some great, cynical moments, like pondering how many members your manufactured band should have:
"It's more difficult to split up the songs if you're a four, going down to a three. Having said that, the accountants prefer four because you can move them all around in one taxi."
"It's more difficult to split up the songs if you're a four, going down to a three. Having said that, the accountants prefer four because you can move them all around in one taxi."
February 4, 2013
Not the best of the "Babylon" series. I really enjoyed the air one, beach was so-so, this one is really quite tame.
I didn't like the main character at all. Cringeable cliched, horrible person I didn't enjoy reading about. The boy band was marginally better, would have preferred to read more about them, maybe with more detail to their personal lives and how "fame" was effecting them.
Some interesting tidbits about real life bands and their excesses. That part I found good. Really a true tell all might have been more enjoyable.
I didn't like the main character at all. Cringeable cliched, horrible person I didn't enjoy reading about. The boy band was marginally better, would have preferred to read more about them, maybe with more detail to their personal lives and how "fame" was effecting them.
Some interesting tidbits about real life bands and their excesses. That part I found good. Really a true tell all might have been more enjoyable.
July 17, 2009
Read this on a plane over a year ago. Despite the promises of insider insights this is just a novel of a year in the life of a band's manager. The band are idiots who have a great time (i.e. sex and drugs etc.) before resenting their manager, believing their own publicity etc. etc. An easy read, I had forgotten I had read it.
March 4, 2013
A bunch of anecdotes cobbled together into a cutesy book. Very quick and satisfying, feels like a long magazine article.
Good fast read for anyone slightly interested in the pop industry, especially manufactured bands. This would be better as a collection of "guess who don't sue" anecdotes, it is a bit thinly held together at times.
Good fast read for anyone slightly interested in the pop industry, especially manufactured bands. This would be better as a collection of "guess who don't sue" anecdotes, it is a bit thinly held together at times.
November 1, 2010
Pathetic. The plot is only used so the author could fill in with the bits and pieces of what famous people are like sometimes or how do they behave. Nothing that you didn't already know or couldn't assume just by reading daily newspapers or news sites.
k.
k.
July 5, 2011
I was really looking forward to this book, but I was a little disopointed by it. It was just full of lots of pop star "cliches" and the band were horrible. I did learn a few things, however it isn't the best book I have ever read.
March 24, 2013
I got half way through and all the name dropping and repeated wording just killed it for me. Its fun to start with but sort of teeters off. I got halfway through, whereas as air Babylon I got most of the way through. I like a funny book too but just not this one. . Same style same Author.
November 5, 2009
totally trashy but kind of fun. would have been more fun if i knew anything about various british boy bands. which i do not.
February 22, 2010
Not as good as Hotel Babylon, and if you're not up on your British pop stars and slang, then some of this book won't make any sense...
October 11, 2014
One of the weaker Babylon books. It was vaguely interesting. Anyone outside the UK may just struggle with the famous names mentioned, as a lot of them are UK based.
August 25, 2011
this could be your reference on how to manage a boyband
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews