Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys.: Viv Albertine

I saw the Slits on the White Riot tour and again on their own tour. But I knew they would be something as soon as I saw a photo. Just as I had with the Pistols and the Clash. Punk was like that. You either recognised it and went for it or you came along later when it was safe. 16 and stuck in Yorkshire, gay and knowing I was an outsider because of that the Slits sent a message to me as powerfully as the Pistols. You can be exactly who you wish to be. Right now. Albertine humorously lists the key punk sections at the beginning of the book as well as an honest declaration of why she thinks people write autobiographies and why she wrote this. It set the tone for the book and had me grinning from the off. Didn't put the book down after that unless I absolutely had to. Yes, the account of the punk period is fascinating. Good to hear from someone who was at the epicentre about the energy and the personalities now that the cliches, tired tall tales and empty chest beating is what we are usually presented with. However, the book does not slump once the Slits are out of the picture. She continues to write about rediscovering herself in the aftermath, through marriage and fought for motherhood into the rekindling of her clearly creative spirit latterly. All the while the prose is considered and the sentiments frank. If only more people were so honest about themselves. There is a counterfeit honesty that many writers of autobiographies use to hide in plain sight. For someone who admits to doubt and insecurity Albertine hides from nothing. A valuable, precious book that I really do think everyone would benefit from reading, particularly as we are now entrenched in a culture of manufactured reality. Cut remains to me one of the best records made. This book too is essential.

I was never into punk and don't know most of the bands and musicians Viv writes about, but I still found this a really good read. The short chapters, a punchy style with a nice balance of action and reflection, and above all her extraordinary frankness meant that I raced through this book in no time. Clothes, clothes, clothes: Amazingly, Viv always seems to remember exactly what she was wearing at any moment in her life, and doesn't hesitate to describe it - but normally only briefly in passing, so it doesn't bore you. You do get to understand that expressing herself through clothes is hugely important to her, and how punk is about the look as much as the sound. BTW I calculate that she's had over 30 years' wear from her favourite red Vivienne Westwood boots! Music, music, music: There are a great number of names mentioned which will mean a lot more to veterans of the punk rock scene of the 1970s than they did to me. But many of them quickly turn into real people on the page, like characters in a novel. Most of the others did not detain me, but one or two prompted me to check out their music. If you're at all interested in hearing new sounds, I'm sure you'll want to do the same. Viv's musical journey (starting from not being able to sing in tune, read music, or play guitar) is quite instructive - she tells you how she blunders her way determinedly through (no wonder her neigbours complain!) and only in later life does she take a more conventional approach to musicianship. Boys, boys, boys: Viv is desperately trying to find her true self through clothes and music, and, you feel, through boys too. That means real relationships as well as a lot of casual sex (for want of a better term), and quite heart-rending honesty about how she tries, or doesn't try hard enough, to make the relationships work. The second half of the book is mainly about one 'boy': an anatomy of a marriage complicated by gynaecological difficulties and serious illness. Her father is a constant disappointment, whereas her mother and her daughter are the true anchors in her life. If that sounds like 'women's stuff' I would still urge other blokes to read it! Kindle edition niggles: 1. Nuggets of hindsight and explanatory notes on people and places - the equivalent of footnotes - appear within the narrative in italics. This is a great idea and would work really well, except that italics are also used to show what is going through Viv's mind in certain situations. These two different uses of italics should have been differentiated - e.g by using square brackets for the 'footnotes'. 2. The tiny, lo-res, black & white illustrations don't do justice to the subject-matter, whether faces or clothes. Viv shows us one way to write a brilliant memoir - keep the story moving forward, don't tiptoe around the subject, don't hold anything back!

A must read for fans of Punk - this well written, entertaining account by Viv Albertine, a member of the iconic girl punk band The Slits perfectly captures the mood and feel of the time. Part music biography, part fashion biography, part snapshot of the punk era, Albertine describes her relationship with other punk icons such as Johnny Rotten, Vivienne Westwood and of course the other members of the Slits and their struggle to make it in a male dominated industry. As you would expect for the time there are some shocking accounts of the sexism she faced including violence and threats of rape. The book runs out of steam it bit towards the end when she describes her life as a middle England housewife with an Aga and Jaeger dresses (a far cry from her Westwood designed wardrobe!) but for the whole this was a very interesting life story.

Really well-written, moving, and often confronting, a brilliant read. A great insight into the experiences of a brave, creative force,

Punk Musicのど真ん中にいた著者。20代でそのシーンを代表する女性グループとなりあがるが、急遽解散。その後母に、そして周りとの、男性との、自分との葛藤。飾り気無く凄く率直に細かく書かれていて、とても入りやすい。かなり壮絶な人生だが、その人生の軸となる部分での疑問や悩みは誰とでも共通する。素晴らしい本。

Libro meraviglioso, crudo, diretto. Non vuole raccontarti una storia, ma un pensiero, uno stato mentale, un modo di essere di crederci. Lei, Viv Albertine è favolosa, non cerca di piacerti, lei è quello che è e per me è grandissima.

Libro muy ameno y muy entretenido. Los aficionados al rock lo disfrutarán más.

In the non-stop stream of celebrity autobiographies available, Viv Albertine’s Clothes, Clothes, Clothes, Music, Music, Music, Boys, Boys, Boys is in a class by itself. Eschewing the standard form of chronicling events in long, wistful chapters of excess, Albertine goes for short entries of brilliance. The woman knows how to write, crafting observant and blunt bits of streetwise prose to describe the many mini-moments that make up this great book. The gangs all here; sex, drugs, rock and roll, but that’s only a part of it. After the days of punk ,The Slits, and notoriety had faded, Albertine tackled the next stage of her life, one in which she tried to have something approaching normalcy, only to find herself beset by a host of physical maladies which left her an empty and depressed shell of the renegade she once was. It’s in this second half of the book that the reader is jettisoned from appreciative fan to empathetic confidant, a powerful transformation to be certain. Throughout her tale, the author is relentlessly, brutally, and heartbreakingly honest. It’s easily the most intimate autobiography I’ve read, one in which the reader isn’t just consuming the sterile recounting of actions, but rather becoming enmeshed in a spellbinding, painful, and wry confessional. It’s essentially linear, but has some disjointed chapters that seem to have no purpose save to give you one more anecdote or life observation. I can best compare it to a long conversation with someone wherein the drinks or drugs flow, the talk rambles, and nobody is bored. Hers is a story as unique as she, but it’s her ability to unflinchingly express the raw innermost thoughts she was experiencing during those moments that make this book so special, so personal, and so endearing. The book is an easy read, told in two parts, mirroring the two very different eras of her life. By the end of the book, I had fallen so utterly and completely in love with this woman, that she’s ruined every other woman forever. Beneath the stunningly beautiful woman is an intelligent, thoughtful, courageous, and utterly absorbing person who I wish I had the privilege of truly calling my friend. This book will have to suffice.