STEVE LAMACQ – Going Deaf for a Living

This wickedly funny memoir by music journalist (NME) and radio host (The Evening Sessions) Steve Lamacq feels destined to become one of the high literary points of the year for yours truly. “Going Deaf for a Living” details Lamacq’s upbringing and introduction to music and how he eventually turned into a journalist, radio host, and DJ. Steve was a huge part of the alternative music scene and his encounters and interviews and whatnot with Manic Street Preachers, Blur, and Oasis among others are the stuff of legend nowadays (especially the Oasis interview which made headlines in the UK papers).

The language is rich and Lamacq’s humorous and self-deprecating style of writing is superb. Even if grunge, Britpop, new wave, or punk/post-punk might not appeal to you, this is a hilarious book and Lamacq’s sense of humor, sarcasm, and (self-) irony will totally win you over. Its 233 exciting and entertaining pages will bring you closer to the artists and bands that Lamacq meets along the way and the actual music scene and milieu itself. Perhaps the most revealing and unique parts of the narrative are the ones reflecting on what went on behind the scenes at NME and the radio station, and I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in those aspects of this uplifting piece of literature. The anecdotes relating to his youth when he criss-crossed the country in order to attend shows and gigs are a treat as well, but I do wish that there was more of that stuff. “Going Deaf for a Living” is also admirably honest and wonderfully heart-warming, and to quote the last paragraph of its back cover, this is truly “a thrilling journey through the last great hurrah of the analogue music industry”.

Page by page, paragraph by paragraph, sentence by sentence, "Going Deaf for a Living" presents a captivating through the world of music journalism and radio. In many waits, it is deeply emotional, and one cannot help feeling inspired after having absorbed Lamacq’s memorable tale of just how important and fantastic music truly is and why it matters so much to us and eventually turns some of us into followers and devotees who live and breathe it. This 2019 paperback version deserves a place on your fall/winter reading list, so make sure you pick up a copy of it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Going-Deaf-Living-Steve-Lamacq/dp/1787601277