Tom Doyle: The Glamour Chase – The Maverick Life Of Billy MacKenzie (Bloomsbury)
Martin Aston, Q, September 1998
EVERY PICTURE tells a story. In this biography of the late singer Billy MacKenzie, there's a photo, circa 1971, of St. Michael's School's under-15s Football 11, posing in full kit, arms traditionally folded. Off to one side, for reasons unexplained, there's MacKenzie, in day clothes, hands on hips, with matching defiant grimace. Even this early, he was the outsider, a boy who possibly knew too much, but about whom we know too little.
Total word count of piece: 364
Best Databases: RBP is Runner-up in Best Niche category
Video: Johnny Marr talks about Rock's Backpages
RBP on Spotify: The Very Best of 40-year-old Virgin
RBP Album Club, June 13th: Miki Berenyi and Lucy O'Brien celebrate a Blondie classic
Essential Listening: Green Day grilled by Roy Trakin
RBP Album Club, July 11th: Nick Hornby and Nick Coleman celebrate Southside Johnny's debut
Essential Reading: Bud Scoppa's 1971 Byrds classic