Alan Edwards book launch & talk at Dimbola

About

Alan Edwards, the godfather of British music PR, who has worked with artists such as David Bowie, the Spice Girls, the Rolling Stones, the Stranglers, Prince and Amy Winehouse, is to give a talk at Dimbola on June 18th to launch his book 'I Was There – Dispatches from a Life in Rock and Roll'.

Alan's company The Outside Organisation are PR for John Giddings' artists, including The Corrs, who will be here for the Isle of Wight Festival that weekend, and John has said he will attend. Sponsored by Mermaid Gin, the evening will begin with welcoming drinks at 6pm followed by a talk from Alan, moderated by Tom Stroud, and a book signing. (Paperback version of the book is available for £10.99)

In I Was There, Alan describes getting his break in the mid-'70s as a scruffy, stoned 20-year-old just back from the hippie trail; his encounter with London's thriving punk scene, which inspired him to set up his own PR company; broadening his horizons as his work with the likes of Blondie takes him to the US and beyond; and his move into the world of pop with the Spice Girls during the tabloid-crazed '90s.

At the centre of this story sits the defining relationship of Edwards' career: his close, almost forty-year collaboration with David Bowie. He guides us through a series of vivid, funny, always insightful behind-the-scenes reports, whether he's playing a spontaneous game of football with Bob Marley, listening to Prince discuss the future of civilisation in a nightclub VIP area, or being used as a pawn in the power struggle between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Above all, we will be treated to Alan's' fascinating observations about the brilliant artists he has worked with and what makes them tick, as he looks back on his role in the last five decades of music and culture.

Tickets for the book launch are available from Dimbola on 01983 756814 at £8 to include free drinks from Mermaid Gin, and all profits go to the Julia Margaret Cameron Trust who run Dimbola Museum and Galleries for us to enjoy.

Quotes:
'Alan is such a wonderful storyteller' Debbie Harry

'If you love music, you should definitely read this book' Nihal Arthanayake, BBC Radio 5 Live

'Alan Edwards is a class act: observant, attentive, always in the right place at the right time. I Was There tells you how' Jon Savage

'A beautiful, warm, jaw-dropping, once-in-a-lifetime, lifting-the-stone guide to a secret world . . . I loved it' Tony Parsons

'Revelatory' Will Hodgkinson, The Times

'Gossipy, insightful and a whole lot of fun' Neil McCormick, Daily Telegraph

'An absorbing read . . . Raw, warm and packed with incident' Barbara Ellen, Observer