Exit Stage Left: The curious afterlife of pop stars by Nick Duerden

Exit Stage Left: The curious afterlife of pop stars Reviews

• 
  Phillip R.

  Boring, thought I'd know who some of these artists are but I haven't heard of them, and it's waaaaayyyyy tooooo much detail about things that don't matter. Didn't finish. P**sed I spent money on this book
• 
  timos

  If you wasted your talent/opportunity on drugs, I don’t care much about your struggles. Got 3 or 4 stories in and called it enough. The other reviewer who called it boring was spot on. Nothing to learn, at least as far as I got. Reads like a typical 80’s NME article, too, ascribing genius where it doesn’t exist.
• 
  Graham Stanley

  Nick Duerden has written a fascinating exploration of what happens to most pop stars when the hits dry up. There are stories of disappointment, of reinvention, of success and of missed opportunities. A great read.
• 
  *TUDOR^QUEEN*

  3.5 Stars
  
  This was a book that addressed what famous musicians experience when that initial burst of fame peters out. How do they go on with their lives when they no longer can fill arena stadiums or sell a million albums? A chapter is devoted to each musical artist and contains their personal commentary, which makes it interesting. A small sampling of the many musicians covered were Stewart Copeland (drummer for the Police), Natalie Merchant (10,000 Maniacs), Dexys Midnight Runners (think 'Come on Eileen'), Suzanne Vega, Adam Ant, Snow Patrol, Leo Sayer, Joan Armatrading and Terence Trent D'Arby. There were quite a lot musical artists chronicled in this book which I had never heard of. Most of these musicians seem to be British centric and from genres I'm not interested in like punk/alternative. At first I read about them regardless just to see if the writing style was pleasant and if that could draw me in despite my ignorance. The writing and information was good, but after the 50% mark in the book I skimmed if I didn't know the artist.
  
  I was mostly touched by the Natalie Merchant chapter. After she had a child she prioritized being a Mom and has since donated her personal time and money in school programs to promote art and music. She even sews costumes for shows! She has a certain standard in recording and prefers to rent out a proper studio with an engineer, producer, etc. rather than record at home like many musicians now do. I also was intrigued by Police drummer Stewart Copeland who notoriously had both verbal and physical conflicts with lead singer Sting. He says Sting already had everything worked out musically in his mind and didn't welcome input from his fellow band members. Copeland has since found great satisfaction composing music for films.
  
  There was quite a lot to read in this book, and I think it was OK to skip over an artist you aren't particularly interested in. The author conducted many interviews with these artists. By covering their successful histories and the artist filling in how their lives have gone since, it certainly made a worthwhile read.
  
  Thank you to the publisher Hachette Book Group for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
• 
  Earl

  Exit Stage Left by Nick Duerden is an intriguing look at what happens after that peak of popularity for most pop stars. This is than the vacuous 'where are they now' shows and books, as interesting as many of them are. This looks from the artist's perspective at what happened and why, with some commentary from Duerden to contextualize and, sometimes, clarify.
  
  While this is not just quote after quote from his interviews, each chapter does use a mixture of quotes and paraphrasing to convey the story. I am than happy with this style since just putting the interviews down as they were would have been far less organized. In other words, I appreciate Duerden helping each artist form a cohesive whole to their narrative.
  
  While there were only a couple of artists I didn't recognize (by that I mean some combination of either the individual and/or the group) there were a lot I had forgotten about, even if their big hit still periodically played in my mind (think 'Pass the Dutchie'). There were some for whom their movement through that peak of stardom seemed from the outside to be an intentional journey.
  
  I found a way to get into each chapter, no matter how well I was familiar with the artist. Part of that is my natural tendency toward wanting to understand what others have experienced, and not only if I remember or was a fan of theirs. The other thing that helped was looking up a quick video or two once I knew who the chapter was about. That was both nostalgic for me and helped me visualize them at the time they were popular. The usual warnings apply, watch out for rabbit holes, I went on several trips that were fun but had nothing to do with the book.
  
  I would recommend this to readers who like to read about the artists that didn't have the lifelong pop careers that so few do but that didn't all crash and burn (though there are plenty of crashes). If you have always listened to a bit of everything and thus have forgotten a bit of everything, this will be a great opportunity to also take a nostalgia trip. Additionally, for those in the book who have continued in music but not necessarily for fame, you can find some examples of what they have been up to. Quite a bit of what I found was actually pretty good.
  
  Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
• 
  Peter Ryan

  From the great and the good bands to the less well known, Durden's pursuit of what happens to musicians after the initial rush of success fades is fascinating. The author covers a nice spread of genres and eras, and there will be something in here for everyone.
• 
  Johnners

  This is an interesting book and one, I think, perhaps is long overdue. It adds another layer to the outbreaks of 'where are they now' periodically trotted out by the mainstream media and there is a strange fascination in discovering that any hero or heroine of one's youth is now pulling pints, working in a large DIY store pointing people towards the plumbing section, has reinvented themselves as a yoga teacher or is still desperately trying to revive past glories.
  
  I enjoyed Durden's writing style, there were a few one liners that had be chuckling but, to be honest, after the first five chapters or so, it turned into a game of 'read the first paragraph and see if I can work out who he's writing about, before the name is revealed'.
  
  In fairness, I think he went for a few fairly low hanging fruit whose post peak fame stories are already reasonably well known (Tim Burgess, Bob Geldof, Don Maclean, Robbie Williams, etc). Another minor criticism is that, in lumping The Darkness in with 'hair metal', it's clear that Durden doesn't understand what either that band or that genre are about. But these are quibbles in the context of an enjoyable read.
  
  By the very nature of agreeing to be interviewed for this book, those who were clearly still crave public recognition of their musical talents, even if they've since moved on to other things. Given the sheer size and longevity of the popular music industry and the rapid turnover of both artists and trends, it's obvious that Durden has set himself up with a potential series of books here.
  
  For me, what would be a interesting future read would be stories from those who weren't necessarily the frontmen/women the less well known band members and side musicians who also experienced the heady hights of playing to huge crowds, being on TV shows and a sizeable amount of adulation, whose living and lifestyle evaporated along with their famous counterparts.
  
  And perhaps difficult for the author the stories of those who chose to walk away from the pop music industry, rather than it walking away from them.
• 
  Poshsmith

  Wanted something lite and fun for the hols and this hit the spot. Well written, researched and highlights challenges artists face when the spotlight fades. Found the Suzanne Vega and Robbie Williams anecdotes particularly enjoyable. If you appreciate pop culture and music industry asides you’ll love this.
• 
  Aled Pleming

  Very interesting book.
• 
  David

  Was looking forward to this book, even pre ordered! Which I never do. Firstly, is 98% UK based artists, almost no North American bands/singers. Not much depth to musicians background, details etc. Very repetitive premise for almost each artist, had a hit, band broke up, went to rehab, just didn't find overall that was well written or informative.no real bios and 0 pictorials. Sorry, just a disappointment.