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Tenement Kid
- Narrated by: Bobby Gillespie
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
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Summary
Born into a working-class Glaswegian family in the summer of 1961, TENEMENT KID begins in the district of Springburn, soon to be evacuated in Edward Heath's brutal slum clearances. Leaving school at 16 and going to work as a printers' apprentice, Bobby's rock n roll epiphany arrives like a bolt of lightning shining from Phil Lynott's mirrored pickguard at his first gig at the Apollo in Glasgow. Filled with 'the holy spirit of rock n roll' his destiny is sealed with the arrival of the Sex Pistols and punk rock which to Bobby, represents an iconoclastic vision of class rebellion and would ultimately lead to him becoming an artist initially in the Jesus and Mary Chain then Primal Scream.
Building like a breakbeat crescendo to the Summer of Love, Boys Own parties, and the fateful meeting with Andrew Weatherall in an East Sussex field, as the '80s bleed into the '90s and a new kind of electronic soul music starts to pulse through the nation's consciousness, TENEMENT KID closes with the release of Screamadelica, the album often credited with 'starting the '90s'. A book filled with the joy and wonder of a rock n roll apostle who would radically reshape the future sounds of fin de siècle British pop, Bobby Gillespie's memoir cuts a righteous path through a decade lost to Thatcherism and saved by acid house.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic reviews
'Gillespie is rock and roll's Oliver Twist. A punk rock fairytale, razor sharp on class struggle, music, style, and a singular view of the world resulting in one of the world's great bands. Couldn't put down' Courtney Love
What listeners say about Tenement Kid
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- David L. Hamilton
- 21-02-22
Glad he doesn't sing like he narrates
Didn't get past chapter one without feeling suicidal at the narration and the story line.
Not for me thanks, rather than chuck myself in the Clyde, I'm away tae get ma rocks aff!
Stick to singing and performing, the Rev IM Jolly has got nothing on you.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Graeme Hunter
- 20-02-22
Awful narration
The narration is just awful. What a long drawn out boring, boring, boring voice.
I can understand that he has to slow down his Glasgow accent so folk from elsewhere can understand him (I have the same accent) but OH MY GOD! This guy could put drying paint to sleep!
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5 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-02-22
Narration challenging
Bobby's narration is hard work. Not sure I'll make it to the end. It's a decent biog but I would recommend reading it rather than listening.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Pen Name
- 26-01-23
Interesting. Loved the narration.
Reviewers have complained about the narration. I loved it, and Gillespie's voice defiinitely gets stronger, more confident and more nuanced as the book progresses.
Loved the story he tells where he finds that a song he's written is too high for him to actually sing at the recording session, but is unaware that you can change key, until a session player points it out to him. Beautiful.
And who doesn't miss the times when you could turn up and play a live gig to a packed venue on an instrument you'd never even touched before, no rehearsal. Those were the days.
And it's always nice to know exactly what Bobby Gillespie was wearing, and when..!
I really recommend this audio book, the narration is captivating and the story and anecdotes will interest any music/pop-rock culture nut, Primal Scream fan or otherwise.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Steve
- 23-01-23
More like Dreamadelica!
Great story, well told in Bobs laconic drawl.
Love this book, love the Scream, love the JAMC.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Diarmuid Cunningham
- 04-01-23
A warped view on society
This isn’t a music autobiography. If you like 5 hours of someone talking about the clothes they wore and a really misinformed view of the world, go for it!
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1 person found this helpful
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- amanda casley
- 23-11-22
Great listen
Really enjoyed this book after a shaky start. I found the deliverance very slow and hard to listen to. Once I adjusted the speed I got into it and thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked all the little touches, talking about the fashion and influences which made me wish I'd got into Primal Scream earlier. Good insights in JAMC too.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Stunnin1966
- 14-11-22
Passionate and real.
loved it passionate politically and musically. brilliant glad I bought the audio too hear from the man himself
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jayne McKeown
- 08-10-22
a rockstar a socialist
great album and tale of a guy destined to get there in the end
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1 person found this helpful
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- C.L.MARTIN
- 06-02-22
Message from a raver
If you are one of the lucky people who lived the party life and grew up on this amazing music then you’ll have so much to relate to….. a truly brilliant listen. They guy is a legend and you learn so much more about the man/band behind the music. The struggles, the insane nights you can picture happening to yourself back in the day and the feelings that we all felt in that era.
Gives you the shivers/butterflies in your stomach at times 😉
So so good…….
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1 person found this helpful