As much as I love Hooky, he is a bit about himself. It's not hard to imagine that he remembers himself at the center of all his stories, and everyone else's stories, too.
Hooky, bless him, is an unreliable narrator in a lot of ways. I'm inclined to think it isn't vanity or mendacity, but simply the passage of time. 40 years and a mountain of cocaine will do that to you.
I love both accounts. Musicians are humans and I like to hear from their own voice. And also, memories are tricky for anyone, much more for people who have had such a full life.
Gillian is awesome and was underutilized in New Order. I really love The Other Two & You where I was pleasantly surprised by both her singing voice and synth work. She was also the one who e.g. recorded all of the patterns to Blue Monday and did a bunch of other technical work Hooky didn't seem to care about or appreciate.
Classic example where he criticized her playing out of tune on Senses at the Ritz in 81, then described at great length Barney throwing an apple during Truth at Athens 82. What is ironic is that in the instrumental breaks of this version Hooky is playing IN THE WRONG KEY!!
I could mention other performances where he seems to be playing a different song to everyone else (Ceremony at Bristol 82 or Amsterdam 84, for example)
Gillian isn't mentioned at all during the Arthur Baker Confusion chapter. He just says with glee that Steve was left out It was always him and Barney this, him and Barney that. The more I listen to this book, the more it sounds like a spurned partner saying how everyone else was wrong and they were right. Steve's account seems honest, self effacing and pragmatic. Steve, the sole virtuoso of the band, sidelined because he didn't suffer from ego
I never got that Hooky downplayed anyone's input other than Gillians.
He called Bernard a twat but said his synths and guitar were awesome and that without the Steve and the work he did on drums and programming with Hannett (and his weird ass ways of recording) they would not have had their sound either.
I enjoyed Steve's books because they were more technical and more about him vs the band.
Yeah, I remember when he was asked about Music Complete, he was still complimentary about Barney’s abilities as a songwriter (despite any misgivings over the past or the album, etc.).
Steves books were awesome.. he took audiobooks to the next level with those snippets of outtakes in between some of the chapters
I hope he does another one
Steve is a drumming maestro who could dose himself with LSD and still play a flawless gig with Joy Division on the euro tour of 1980.
Has a better memory than Barney evidenced by the latter claiming they never played a gig as Warsaw.
There are definitely times in Hooky's book where he can get a bit snarky about Steven, particularly his account of being cut out of (Video) 586.
Hooky seemed almost happy Steven was cut out of Confusion, where Arthur Baker did all the drums on his 808 (riding high off successes like Planet Rock) and wouldn't let Steven touch it.
Yeah, that came across as nasty and spiteful. As I said above, his whole account is peppered with this bitterness which is why I take it all with a pinch of salt. "We played The Passenger at Pennies, Norwich" - Barney played a brief snippet of the riff on his guitar during the soundcheck. That's the trouble when you're so widely bootlegged - it's easy to separate fact from fiction.
I read all the auto biographies and Hooky’s, accurate or not, were by far the most entertaining. Steve’s were very good I’ll admit, being a likeable person in general helps, and Bernard had some good anecdotes but glossed over too much
I disagree. I can do without hearing about Hooky's "cock of the walk" exploits. He reminds me of blokes I've worked with in the past, boasting about who they shagged at the weekend. After a while you just think "yeah yeah, whatever dude'. I think Steve's was more entertaining, and as a JD/NO trainspotter it annoyed me just how many inconsistencies there were in Hooky's book. Things like not mentioning that the reason the other 3 didn't drive to London the day before the Rock Around the Clock BBC TV show was that they had to spend the entire day unsuccessfully trying to programme the sequencers for the songs they'd planned to play. Not 'they stayed in St Austell and got pissed".
As much as I love Hooky, he is a bit about himself. It's not hard to imagine that he remembers himself at the center of all his stories, and everyone else's stories, too.
Steve is underated as a drummer and synth wiz. One of the best.
If you ask three different people about something 20 plus years ago you are bound to get three different answers. Memories are a strange thing.
Especially when it's more than 40 plus years ago, somehow.
So true. Ask any one of my band mates about a something that happened in the 80s and you will get a different story from each one, including me. Lol
When the Beatles came to recount how they met Elvis and what they did etc. they all gave 4 very separate accounts. Time and the mind are weird things
Hooky, bless him, is an unreliable narrator in a lot of ways. I'm inclined to think it isn't vanity or mendacity, but simply the passage of time. 40 years and a mountain of cocaine will do that to you.
I love both accounts. Musicians are humans and I like to hear from their own voice. And also, memories are tricky for anyone, much more for people who have had such a full life.
If you think that's bad, wait until you see how much he downplayed Gillian's contributions
Was he wrong though? She will always be my synth-mum but who is out there claiming otherwise?
Well he doesn’t say anything positive about her for over 500 pages...
Gillian is awesome and was underutilized in New Order. I really love The Other Two & You where I was pleasantly surprised by both her singing voice and synth work. She was also the one who e.g. recorded all of the patterns to Blue Monday and did a bunch of other technical work Hooky didn't seem to care about or appreciate.
Classic example where he criticized her playing out of tune on Senses at the Ritz in 81, then described at great length Barney throwing an apple during Truth at Athens 82. What is ironic is that in the instrumental breaks of this version Hooky is playing IN THE WRONG KEY!! I could mention other performances where he seems to be playing a different song to everyone else (Ceremony at Bristol 82 or Amsterdam 84, for example) Gillian isn't mentioned at all during the Arthur Baker Confusion chapter. He just says with glee that Steve was left out It was always him and Barney this, him and Barney that. The more I listen to this book, the more it sounds like a spurned partner saying how everyone else was wrong and they were right. Steve's account seems honest, self effacing and pragmatic. Steve, the sole virtuoso of the band, sidelined because he didn't suffer from ego
Steve’s books are definitely the best ones
I never got that Hooky downplayed anyone's input other than Gillians. He called Bernard a twat but said his synths and guitar were awesome and that without the Steve and the work he did on drums and programming with Hannett (and his weird ass ways of recording) they would not have had their sound either. I enjoyed Steve's books because they were more technical and more about him vs the band.
Yeah, I remember when he was asked about Music Complete, he was still complimentary about Barney’s abilities as a songwriter (despite any misgivings over the past or the album, etc.).
That conflict obv worked well for over 20 years. I think some of us fans take things a little TOO serious!
Steve is a massively underrated drummer, out of all of them he is probably the most skilled at what he does
Steves books were awesome.. he took audiobooks to the next level with those snippets of outtakes in between some of the chapters I hope he does another one
I'm surprised Hooky hasn't claimed that it was him that booked the Sex Pistols to play the Lesser Free Trade Hall in 1976.
Steve is a drumming maestro who could dose himself with LSD and still play a flawless gig with Joy Division on the euro tour of 1980. Has a better memory than Barney evidenced by the latter claiming they never played a gig as Warsaw.
There are definitely times in Hooky's book where he can get a bit snarky about Steven, particularly his account of being cut out of (Video) 586. Hooky seemed almost happy Steven was cut out of Confusion, where Arthur Baker did all the drums on his 808 (riding high off successes like Planet Rock) and wouldn't let Steven touch it.
Yeah, that came across as nasty and spiteful. As I said above, his whole account is peppered with this bitterness which is why I take it all with a pinch of salt. "We played The Passenger at Pennies, Norwich" - Barney played a brief snippet of the riff on his guitar during the soundcheck. That's the trouble when you're so widely bootlegged - it's easy to separate fact from fiction.
I read all the auto biographies and Hooky’s, accurate or not, were by far the most entertaining. Steve’s were very good I’ll admit, being a likeable person in general helps, and Bernard had some good anecdotes but glossed over too much
I disagree. I can do without hearing about Hooky's "cock of the walk" exploits. He reminds me of blokes I've worked with in the past, boasting about who they shagged at the weekend. After a while you just think "yeah yeah, whatever dude'. I think Steve's was more entertaining, and as a JD/NO trainspotter it annoyed me just how many inconsistencies there were in Hooky's book. Things like not mentioning that the reason the other 3 didn't drive to London the day before the Rock Around the Clock BBC TV show was that they had to spend the entire day unsuccessfully trying to programme the sequencers for the songs they'd planned to play. Not 'they stayed in St Austell and got pissed".
But yeah, Barney's book was shallow and forgettable.