The Soul Stylists
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The concept behind this book is very simple. The 'author' writes a short paragraph to make a point then supports it with a series of quotations from people he has dubbed 'The Soul Stylists'. These 'stylists' are in the main successful upper-middle class folk who have escaped their working class roots and comment on their more youthful times as cult members of one or other 'Mod' fashion. These people range from record producers, to magazine editors, to successful writers and lawyers. What they all have in common is the fact that they at one time belonged to one of the youth cults which embraced Black American Music. Paulo Hewitt's main thrust is that all this cults, Seudeheads, skinheads, smoothies, soulboys etc are not only united in their love of soul music, but are also just different manifestations of the same original 'Mod' culture. Paulo barely deserves the title of author, by the lazy way this book has been constructed. It is simple beyond belief, and would barely stretch the writing skills of a ten year old. By its very nature it is totally subjective to the views of the contributors. There is very little evidence of any research to either support or reject the propositions they make. I doubt if any of their reminiscences are out and out lies, but they are trawled from dim and distant memories and will therefore inevitably contain many inaccuracies. I also believe that the way these cult groups developed were subject to geographic location and therefore styles and fashions in one part of the country may well have been different to another. These regional differences make any overall history almost impossible to define. Personally I thought the book was littered with inaccuracies, but the descriptions given may well have been correct for different times and places. At £15.99 this book is not cheap and as far as I am concerned nowhere near worth the money. I believe it is true that these cult groups were the main motivating force which drove the popularity of Black Music in the UK, but I have made this point in a single sentence, and it hardly justifies the writing of a book. In the end this is as much about fashion as it is about soul music. Almost inevitably it deteriorates into tedious anecdotes about football match violence and glorifies the drug culture. This book has more to offer those rather tragic characters who cannot accept their youth is over and wish to revel in pitiful nostalgia than it does to soul fans. Many of the 'Soul Stylists' who contributed to this book are people who I have encountered to one degree or another and whose views and achievements I wholly respect. How they came to be involved in a project like this I'll never know. |
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Why Not visit the Authors other Website, 'The Alternative Blackpool Website' at http://www.localdial.com/users/jsyedu133/bpool This Site Last Updated 18/05/05
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