Product Description

Set against the backdrop of the mid-1970s, with Britain in crisis, this biography revisits the life and times of The Faces, and the rise and fall of one of the greatest British bands of all time. Born of the ashes of the legendary 60s band, the Small Faces, they were truly a people's band.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #327668 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

About the Author
Jim Melly is lecturer in pop culture and modern British culture at the University of North London. After acting as an advisor to the Irish Labour Party he moved into sports journalism in the mid-90s as editor of Inside Edge magazine. He has written for the New Statesman and has had his work included in two sport anthologies Nothing Sacred (1995) and Through The Covers (1996). He was also a minor pop star in his own right as lead singer in indie group My Jealous God.

Customer Reviews

Time, Gentlemen, Please.
I believe that the author, one Mr Melly, is an enthusiast rather than a writer. It shows.
I did just manage to finish the book, but it was only the thirst for information that kept me going through the seemingly endless, half-informed and mostly irrelevant social history of the UK that intrudes on the story of the band.
It is full of inaccuracies and inconsitancies both piffling ('Eckland' and 'Ekland' in subsequent sentences) and profoundly annoying (Rod is referred to as 'Rodney' a couple of times when even the author is aware that he is a 'Roderick').
There is no first-hand interview material and it feels cobbled-together by someone who has never had any dealings with its cast of characters whatsoever. There is a great book on The Faces waiting to be written. This is absolutely not it.

Last Orders Please - a view from the stalls
Buy this book! Whether by accident or design, Jim Melly's trawl through early 1970's sub-culture does so much more than map out the career of Rod and his accomplices. While describing the music of Rod and the Faces and detailing their antics, Melly cleverly evokes the era that shaped their lives, recalling power-cuts and three-day weeks, IRA bombings and terrace-culture. But it is in the interviews with everyday people who lived those times that Melly shows the true impact of The Faces' music and, in doing so, provides a vivid glimpse of a magical time.

Not bad, but not a straight music bio
Whilst I generally agree with the last reviewer, the book is quite readable and puts the story of the band in the context of the times. Maybe that's what makes it less than great - it can't decide whether it's a piece on social history or one of the greatest fun rock bands; and those two don't really mix. And by the way, Rod refers to himself as "Rodney" quite frequently.