Searching For Love: Courtney Love In Liverpool, 1982

by Dave Haslam

At the age of 17 – before Hole, before meeting Kurt Cobain – Courtney Love took a trip to Liverpool. She describes the months she spent in the city in 1982 as ‘one of the most important things of my existence’. In ‘Searching For Love’, the third book in his Art Decades series, Dave Haslam explores the stories she’s told of her stay, talks to people who remember her, and celebrates the Liverpool music scene that attracted and inspired her.



Courtney Love has said that Liverpool was a great place to learn how to be a rock star. But what do we learn about the young Courtney? That her days were filled with cider and LSD; that in Liverpool she lost her virginity while listening to ‘Isolation’ by Joy Division; that she hung out in Café Tabac, and Probe Records; wrote songs about porridge; feuded with Pete Burns; and drank Grand Marnier all the way to Manchester.

Genres: Nonfiction

61 pages, Paperback

Published March 2, 2020

About the author

Dave Haslam is an author and DJ. Originally from Moseley, Birmingham, he moved to Manchester in 1980, making his name as a DJ with 450 appearances at the Haçienda nightclub, including Thursday's Temperance club night in the late 1980s. In the 1990s he also hosted the weekly night Yellow at the Boardwalk nightclub in Manchester. His more recent DJ shows include clubs in Italy, USA, France, and Germany.

In the mid 1980s he founded the fanzine 'Debris' and went on to write for NME. His journalism has since appeared in The Times, The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The New Statesman and elsewhere. In 1999 he published Manchester, England, and, subsequently, Adventures on the Wheels of Steel, a book about the music and politics of the 1970s called Not Abba; the Real Story of the 1970s (reprinted as Young Hearts Run Free; the Real Story of the 1970s), a history of British nightclubs and music venues entitled 'Life After Dark', and his memoirs, 'Sonic Youth Slept On My Floor: Music, Manchester & More'.

His numerous other cultural interventions included creating an installation for the Berlin-based ‘Shrinking Cities’ exhibition; presenting a twenty minute talk on the North/South divide for BBC Radio 3; appearing on TV shows on BBC Two and on Channel 4, Granada TV, and Canal Plus (France). His 'Close Up' series of live interviews have attracted guest interviewees including Jonathan Franzen, Nile Rodgers and John Lydon.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 56 pocket-sized pages, writer and Manchester deejay Dave Haslam provides a moving sketch of the portrait of the artist as a young Courtney in Liverpool. Teen Courtney’s hungry tattered disarray matches that of the iconic rock city that in 1981, 82 was fomenting her music heroes, namely Julian Cope and Ian McCullough, who Haslam probes for their thoughts on the unruly American girl who careens across their paths, and who wants a swatch of rock star magic for herself. And will get it.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This little book is a mishmash of hearsay about Courtney Love, extremely brief interviews with those who met and knew her, and masses of Liverpool music trivia. The majority of the book was concerned with relaying information about the 80s music scene in Liverpool, which, at the author's own insistence, Love was only probably part of for five months. It's a scant idea on which to base even a book as short as this... and that's how it came across when reading it, unfortunately. Not a terrible book, but not for me, with my extremely poor knowledge of Liverpool and Manchester based rock bands of the 80s. But, then, it was given to me as a gift, so...

[Ewan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid work which closes the gap between Courtney Love and the likes of The Fall and Echo and the Bunnymen, but feels a bit static or weightless at times. Where Dave Haslam succeeds is in connecting all the dots but once connected, the broader picture is still unclear - the impact of the area on Love beyond musical inferences seems resoundingly absent. Getting in touch with all those former famous faces to wax off on the city they love is all well and good, but beyond an anecdote about Love losing her virginity, which Haslam goes a long way in disproving, there is little to the culture of The Beatles' stomping grounds beyond records and animosity.

[Paperback Polly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every second of this read ! a book littered with truth and adventure at every turn , what a woman and what a time to be alive , Liverpool truly is a special place with the most beautiful people

[Ipswichblade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book in Dave Haslam's series. Excellent bit of early 1980's history

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read exploring the short period Courtney Love called Liverpool home in the 80's.

[Trevor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing to see here - it’s cobbled together from existing biographies and features. Felt like reading a rushed Wikipedia entry

[Ben Pirrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice quick read, very good.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unknowingly much needed balloon pop to the myth of Love in a Liverpool and a strong reminder about what youth was like.

[Beth]

(Tried getting it via ILL 7/30/21 but got a rejection within HOURS.)

[Jayne Hand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely conversations with Bernie Connor

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned:
“Nancy Spungen-Fixated Heroin A-Hole’… I’m tempted to applaud a seventeen year old girl who can so effectively disturb an older man’s rock star ego”

Love, Cope, Burns - what a triumvirate that I would not expect to! Rather than a factual based book, this does read more like a bloke in the pub recounting stories and anecdotes from a time gone by… I wasn’t aware that Love had ever lived in Ireland and then Liverpool - fascinating and makes sense - is it a smear piece or a recounting from a genuine fan? Maybe it’s a bit of both without much more than hearsay behind it, but I enjoyed the gossipy nature

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoying this series of short books!