Alternatives to Valium: How Punk Rock Saved a Shy Boy’s Life

'A few years ago, I asked Tom Petty how his songs had been influenced by his life. As a rule, songwriters aren’t keen on unpicking their work, and Petty was no exception. He didn’t want to get into specifics. ‘Life is so difficult,’ he said. ‘And easy. It’s just a chain of spontaneous events.' Alastair McKay grew up in the fading Scottish seaside town of North Berwick in the 1970s. The cinema and outdoor swimming pool were closing, there were boot boys in the park, and excitement was scarce. An exceptionally shy boy, Alastair found his voice through the punk explosion: the ethos that ‘anyone could do it’ prompted him to start writing, largely because it was easier than talking. He also sang in a band that was tipped by Sounds magazine to be ‘big in 1982’. It wasn’t. From these hesitant beginnings, he went on to an award-winning career in journalism that included meeting Iggy Pop at the Chateau Marmont, being led astray by Tilda Swinton, corresponding with Mark E. Smith and shooting the breeze with Dolly Parton.

About the Author :
Alastair McKay grew up in North Berwick, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. He has worked for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Black Book, Out, Blah Blah Blah and The Independent. He lives in London. 

Review :
'The interviews are wonderful, peek-behind-the-curtain deconstructions of the creaky edifice of celebrity… It’s all killer, no filler – and it is all, as McKay himself might say, very punk' 'McKay’s big-ticket stars rarely disappoint – his account of a fractious meeting with the Pogues’ Shane McGowan is enthrallingly awful – but his tales of trying to be punk rock in “a Status Quo town” may be more resonant still' 'So entertaining ... so lovely to revisit that era of punk in Edinburgh' 'Anyone who grew up in a small Scottish town at a time when music was a matter of life and death will find much to identify with' 'A hugely enjoyable read' 'Brims with energy, enthusiasm and effervescence… totally from the heart.' 'Alastair McKay reflects on the incredible legacy of Seventies music' 'Distils nostalgia so effectively that it doesn’t matter if you never shared any of it in the first place ... It’s great fun, and yet has a last chapter that is as powerfully elegiac and understated as anything I have read for ages. He’s a talented bugger, curse him, even if he can’t sing a note’ 'Bombastic when appropriate and pensive when required, McKay’s excellent prose carries the energy, opinion, and outgoingness that’s rarely expressed by the reserved personality he tells us of' 'Fans of Alastair McKay’s wry, thoughtful, precision-tooled writing… are in for a treat'