The peoples’ blog of Matt Hayward

Yes I’m a huge Bon Scott fan. No I’m not a big Brian Johnson fan. After reading this book though, there’s probably no one else in the world I’d rather have a beer with. In much the same vein as the Top Gear guys put out books of their newspaper columns, this book is short [...]

Er, frankly not what I expected. Here’s the breakdown:

2% about James May and the Jeremy Clarkson
5% childhood
5% getting to Top Gear
13% Top Gear pre-accident
75% ‘the accident’

Don’t get me wrong, of course I expected it to be about the accident. But much like the Walk the Line movie about Johnny Cash, I expected a big crescendo [...]

Not very often does a producer get a mention beyond the liner notes of an album. But somehow Phil Spector became a music legend. From mentoring Brian Wilson, to producing John Lennon, right up to the Ramones, he’s had one of the most enviable, albeit patchy careers in the music biz. Don’t go thinking [...]

Yes peeps yet another rock star bio to review. This phase I’m going through has lasted about 4 years now! In short, don’t hold your breath waiting for a Mick or Keef autobiography. Those guys will be taking their tales to the grave no question. But Ronnie is the ever chirpy, affirmable and lovable [...]

According to the Wikipedia, this book was compiled from something like 12,000 pages of notes from the Roth man himself. If that’s the case, the co author can take a bow. Because this book is a bit dated (1997) but it’s one of the best reads in rock history. In fact with the recent reunion, [...]

This book can be summarised in a few quick points: Axl Rose is a twat and never let a junkie tell you about his heroin habit. Don’t get me wrong. The Gunners truly the were the soundtrack to my adolescence and I think Slash rocks. Only I had no idea how big a smacker the [...]

I bought this book to read on the plane to Croatia. It’s probably perfectly suited to flying reading, but unless your plane has been delayed 3 hours don’t bother!
May’s quirky style means each rant, or chapter, is no longer than 5 pages [edit: not being in the UK, I didn't know these are reprints [...]

Seldom do cook books truly overwhelm, but I am in awe of this one. The Curry Bible is nothing short of brilliant. Not that it’s hard covered, or 800 pages (it’s probably 150 odd). It doesn’t need to be. If the house was burning down though, this would be the one cook book I’d take [...]

Review of a cracking good book Highway to Hell : The Life and Times of AC/DC Legend Bon Scott.

Not a bad book for SPEED readers! It would be even better if Lemmy remembered anything in depth about his career!