By Isle of Wight Observer
The godfather of British music PR, who has worked with artists such as David Bowie, the Spice Girls, the Rolling Stones, the Stranglers, Prince and Amy Winehouse, is to give a talk at Dimbola, Freshwater Bay, on Wednesday, June 18, to launch his book ‘I Was There – Dispatches from a Life in Rock and Roll’.
In ‘I Was There’, Alan Edwards describes getting his break in the mid-’70s as a scruffy 20-year-old just back from the hippie trail and his encounter with London’s thriving punk scene, which inspired him to set up his own PR company.
Broadening his horizons, he worked with the likes of Blondie in the US followed by his move into the world of pop with the Spice Girls during the tabloid-crazed ’90s.
At the centre of this story sits the defining relationship of Edwards’ career: his close, almost 40-year collaboration with David Bowie.
Alan will guide his audience through a series of vivid, funny, behind-the-scenes reports, whether he’s playing a spontaneous game of football with Bob Marley, listening to Prince discuss the future of civilisation in a nightclub VIP area, or being used as a pawn in the power struggle between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
On the night he will be joined by IW Festival organiser, John Giddings with Alan’s talk moderated by Tom Stroud. It will be followed by a Q&A session and book signing.
Tickets for the launch are available from Dimbola on 756814 at £8 (£7 to Friends of Dimbola) to include free drinks from Mermaid Gin with all profits going to the Julia Margaret Cameron Trust who run Dimbola Museum and Gallery.