Overview

Rishi Sunak - this book is not for you. Keir Starmer - this book is not for you. The salt of the earth - this book is not for you. The worthy - this book is not for you. The middlebrow - this book is not for you. PE teachers - this book is not for you. Gatekeepers - this book is not for you. Gamekeepers - this book is not for you. The curators - this book is not for you. The list-makers - this book is not for you. This book is for the Freaks. Musician and author Luke Haines embarks on an odyssey through the ages, exploring how the 'freaks' infiltrated modern culture - and almost won the rock 'n' roll wars - only to lose to the rise of Cool Britannia and TV 'talent' shows that turned the strange and the outsiders into fodder for laughter. In this ultimate celebration of freakdom, Haines tells the story of pivotal freaks - including Johnnie Ray, Gene Vincent, Hank Marvin, Syd Barrett, the Incredible String Band and Big Youth - through the prism of rock 'n' roll and explains how freaks infiltrated wider culture through history in the form of the Cathars, the Ranters, Hells Angels and the Yippies. Part memoir, part manifesto, Freaks Out! is a righteous alternate history of rock 'n' roll.

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9781788709347

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Reviews

'Brilliant, provocative and hilarious. The only rock 'n' roll book you need to read this year, or any year.' -- David Peace 'Haines takes a dyspeptic approach to music history in Freaks Out. Dividing pop sheep from out-there GOATS with spite and guile, it's part SCUM manifesto, part insane hot or not list.' * Sunday Times * 'Haines is a genuinely funny nuisance, and he can write. Like all unabashedly opinionated curmudgeons with a sincere love of art and a healthy sense of acerbic humour, Haines is often right and often wrong, but he's almost always entertaining.' * Big Issue * 'An expert stylist, Haines acquits himself nicely to the various genres of writing, although it's never at the expense of his trademark humour. Make no mistake, Freaks Out! is one of the funniest rock books in recent times.' -- Penny Black Music

'An expert stylist, Haines acquits himself nicely to the various genres of writing, although it's never at the expense of his trademark humour. Make no mistake, Freaks Out! is one of the funniest rock books in recent times.' -- Penny Black Music

'Brilliant, provocative and hilarious. The only rock 'n' roll book you need to read this year, or any year.' -- David Peace 'Haines takes a dyspeptic approach to music history in Freaks Out. Dividing pop sheep from out-there GOATS with spite and guile, it's part SCUM manifesto, part insane hot or not list.' * Sunday Times * 'A waspish eccentric guide to rock n roll misfits from the 1950s to today.' -- The Telegraph 'A customary mixture of [Haines] hostility, panache and gags.4/5.' -- Record Collector 'Freaks Out is wickedly entertaining, it is the kind of manifesto we might all like to write, choosing heroes and villains that others may vehemently disagree with, but Haines' phrasing, justifications and the sheer out-there choices he makes make for a unique read.' -- Louder Than War 'Haines is a genuinely funny nuisance, and he can write. Like all unabashedly opinionated curmudgeons with a sincere love of art and a healthy sense of acerbic humour, Haines is often right and often wrong, but he's almost always entertaining.' * Big Issue * 'An expert stylist, Haines acquits himself nicely to the various genres of writing, although it's never at the expense of his trademark humour. Make no mistake, Freaks Out! is one of the funniest rock books in recent times.' -- Penny Black Music 'Acerbically entertaining but utterly sincere and, yes, righteous. 4/5.' -- Shindig 'Rip roaringly funny...there's so much to love within these pages.' -- Blitzed 'If The Lovin' Spoonful taught us anything, it's that it's difficult to try and tell a stranger about rock and roll. Luke Haines not only tries - he succeeds.' -- John Niven

'Brilliant, provocative and hilarious. The only rock 'n' roll book you need to read this year, or any year.' -- David Peace 'Haines takes a dyspeptic approach to music history in Freaks Out. Dividing pop sheep from out-there GOATS with spite and guile, it's part SCUM manifesto, part insane hot or not list.' * Sunday Times * 'Haines is a genuinely funny nuisance, and he can write. Like all unabashedly opinionated curmudgeons with a sincere love of art and a healthy sense of acerbic humour, Haines is often right and often wrong, but he's almost always entertaining.' * Big Issue * 'An expert stylist, Haines acquits himself nicely to the various genres of writing, although it's never at the expense of his trademark humour. Make no mistake, Freaks Out! is one of the funniest rock books in recent times.' -- Penny Black Music 'Acerbically entertaining but utterly sincere and, yes, righteous. 4/5.' -- Shindig 'Rip roaringly funny...there's so much to love within these pages.' -- Blitzed 'If The Lovin' Spoonful taught us anything, it's that it's difficult to try and tell a stranger about rock and roll. Luke Haines not only tries - he succeeds.' -- John Niven

Author Information

Luke Haines is a London-based writer, visual artist, singer-songwriter and founder member of the Auteurs and Black Box Recorder. A prolific artist, he has released nineteen albums in the twenty-first century, most recently his 2022 collaboration with REM's Peter Buck - All the Kids Are Super Bummed Out. He writes a regular monthly column for Record Collector and is the author of two critically acclaimed autobiographical books: Bad Vibes (2009) and Post Everything (2011).

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