Product Description

"I just can't help listening to music - and it doesn't really matter where, or in what circumstances". Martin Warminger - music obsessive - journeys through his personal history of rock and pop music. Accumulating an extensive collection of singles and albums, his love of popular music has resulted in profound effects on his life. "Listening to music is the best occupation there is." Sharing his remarkable knowledge and appreciation of the music industry, he recalls the highs and lows of favourite artists and bands - spanning more than fifty years. Can't quite remember who sang that song? Here's someone who's sure to know...a legacy of nostalgic memories to treasure - happy reminiscing!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #683778 in Books
• Published on: 2006-12-13
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 260 pages

About the Author
Martin Warminger was born in Epsom, Surrey but now resides in Hertfordshire with his wife and two children. Following a childhood spent in St Albans, he graduated from Reading University and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1980. Based in London, he has worked in the property profession for 30 years, first as a commercial property valuer and latterly as an IT consultant.

Customer Reviews

If you have any respect for music.... read this book!
Far from containing the rantings and preachings of a fanatical diciple of rock n pop, as the title could suggest, 'Memoirs of a Music Obsessive' is a cool calculated delivery of one mans acceptance of his afliction, supported by a true and vast knowledge. The author presents his book in such a 'matter of fact' guise, you frequently forget that he is indeed suffering and not in fact educating a class of 12 year olds with a subject that forms part of the national curriculum. The running theme is all about the author slowly revealing his torment through his detailed love of music, which has both brought pain and joy throughout all of his adulthood and most of his childhood years.

Memoirs is not really a book for the layman as I imagine it would be an entirely different read if one was not equipped with at least a trivial knowledge of those 'turns' which pounded the nations ears between 1970 and 1990.

Overall, if you can succesfully negotiate through the patches of quicksand that is the authors mania, this book represents a journey taken by many thousands of people, to differing degrees, over their formative years. If you have any respect for music, what it represents and its influence, this book will delight... and worry!

Note to the author: Are we going to get a chance to download your compositions?!

Music obsessives apply only
If you remember listening to John Peel or Tommy Vance late at night through the single earpiece of a Japanese transistor radio and are still unable to walk past an HMV store without spending a couple of hours trawling the `two for one' section for replacement copies of old Police, Iggy Pop, Stones etc vinyls, you'll probably enjoy this book.

The series of musical observations and thoughts, set against the back-drop of a humdrum suburban life, are relatively unstructured but, individually, they are informative and often amusing. The book is not for `casual listeners' (or probably those under the age of 40) and, as the title suggests, an element of music obsession is required for the reader not to skip some of the later chapters. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

good-natured, affectionate, view of music that matters
As someone whose musical history has been formed "across the pond" from this book's author, it's still easy to relate to the passion evident in his details. Even when the artists/bands differ from those whose tunes make up the soundtrack to my life, Martin Warminger explores an obsession that is truly universal. Those fortunate to have been bitten by the bug, especially during those years when popular music emerged as a vital cultural presence and force, will recognize their own love for music in the book's recollections. Written with charm, and, yes, obsessive detail, may this book not only stir fond memories, but, also, inspire countless hours of live and recorded music appreciation! (If you're a fan of the sax sound in Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street", you may be riled, but, that's the fun of it all, too.)