Bold As Love

[communi_kate]

 

What if England was ruled by rockstars….

…and they were actually good at it?

The Rock And Roll Reich: A Bold As Love FST

What if England was ruled by rockstars….

…and they were actually good at it?

That’s the central premise of Gwyneth Jones’s Bold As Love series; a five-book ‘trilogy’ set in an alternate England. The best summary I’ve ever read of the series (in the UK newspaper the Guardian) begins ’Imagine John Lennon met Mick Jagger around 1968, really hit it off, went through the collapse of modern civilisation together and changed from rockstars into genuine heroes? And came out the other side ruling England. And imagine they were both in love with the same girl.’

Only the ‘girl’ is Fiorinda, post-modern pop royalty with a strange natural talent that may or may not be brain damage. Mick and John are Ax and Sage; a West Country Jimi Hendrix and his nemesis, a pill-popping Grateful Dead enthusiast with a skull mask and a seriously hard-core live show. The genre is   alternate-nineties sc-fi fantasy rock epic, and the books all come with a playlist as long as your arm.  (http://www.boldaslove.co.uk/).

The premise is fantastic enough, but the real strength of the books lies in the utterly convincing relationship between the Triumvirate; Ax n’ Sage n’ Fiorinda. As it’s Threesome Month, I couldn’t resist.  

Ax’s Playlist:

The three headliners.

Jimi Hendrix: Bold As Love.

‘Axl Preston, lead guitarist from the Chosen Few. Axl, because your parents were big Stone Roses fans, isn’t that right, Ax?’

‘Guns’ n’ Roses’ said Ax sadly.

Thea Gilmore: Seen It All Before.

She’d slung her bedroll into the back with the kitchen and cooking supplies; she held an acoustic guitar in a battered case in her arms. She wasn’t talkative. He’d learned very little about her, except for these two signs and the name, Fiorinda.

The Grateful Dead: St Stephen.

‘Why don’t you put on Aoxomoxoa, Aoxomoxoa? You must have a copy. Very Crappest Dead album, against some tough fucking competition. Did he ever play that for you, Fiorinda?’

‘Yes, he did. Well, he put it on.’

‘What d’ you do?’

‘I howled like a dog.’

And Supporting Bands:

‘The media called them Ax Preston’s Chosen, but that was already the name of his other band, so they quickly became The Few’

The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Californication.

Aoxoxomoa  And The Heads.  Sage’s band.

‘Sage and his band had been wearing digital skulls for heads for years -a mark of deference to their late, great gurus The Grateful Dead (an oblique influence on the Heads’ actual music, which tended to vile noises and weird multimedia tricks)..’

Arcade Fire: Intervention.

Ax’s band, The Chosen.  A family affair, the lineup consists of Ax, his two brothers and his ex. 

 ‘You know, most people thought the Chosen broke up about five years ago, so it’s gonna be a big thrill, seeing you at Reading. I’m really gonna try and catch that.’

PJ Harvey: Big Exit.

DARK: Fiorinda’s band.

‘Rehearsal had never been the band’s forte. It only led to trouble.’

Sukhwinder Singh and Sapna Awasthi: Chaiyya Chaiyya.

DK the DJ.

..the party animal with his receding hair tied back in a ponytail, big sunken circles under his pretty eyes, far strayed from the dao of fun.

Marvin Gaye: Heard It Through The Grapevine.

Snake Eyes

Rob Nelson, of the PoMo band Snake Eyes, who shared it with his three fabulous girlfriends (aka the Eyes)

Lou Reed And The Velvet Underground: Walk On The Wild Side.

Roxane Smith and The Adjuvants.

‘Holy Fuck’ said a style-victim black youth with a crimson brush-cut and the face of a depraved cherub .’I think we’re through the first audition. But what did we audition for? Does anybody know?’

His companion tossed back shining brown Cavalier ringlets. ‘Oh. Oh. Pass the plutonium, Darius. We’re been sampled for destruction.’

Silly boys, thought Fiorinda.

’I know I had my particulars taken down.’ said an older, booming voice.

The Story

Having survived a Government-organised massacre, Ax emerges from the ensuing chaos as a true leader. The Triumvirate tackle a series of disasters, including a minor war with the Islamic Separatists in Yorkshire, and a hippie Pesident who turns out to be a murdering paedophile. In the background the whole of Europe is falling apart, in the foreground there are rock festivals, street-fighting; a rampage of “Green” destruction (led and moderated by Preston) leaving a trail of burned-out hypermarkets, wrecked fast food outlets, and vast expanses of napalmed intensive farming. Determined not to take over the government, Ax institutes free education to reclaim the illiterate children of the hippie hordes; the “Volunteer Initiative” that gets people cleaning hospital floors alongside the celebrities; and an ingenious system of “trading in surpluses”, to feed the newly destitute. Ax is aware that what he’s attempting would be impossible, were it not for the spectre of bloody anarchy on one hand, and on the other the glamour and the orgiastic release of the great “Crisis Management” concerts. But ‘people will do anything, no limit, if it’s seen to be normal, and the role-models say it's okay...’ If he can keep his Utopian programme going, somehow, just for a few years, something will survive. (adapted from Wikipedia)

The Decemberists: Culling Of The Fold.

‘This thing has turned truly hateful,’ murmured Felice. ‘As bad as it gets. I’m scared. I’m like, I’d leave the country, but it’s my country.’

James: Destiny Calling.

There were no other leaders left, or at least none willing to claim responsibility after massacre night. The wild rumpus couldn’t be stopped, not without a major escalation of violence and death, but what was more shocking, more disorientating, was that nobody seemed to want to stop it. The police, the government, they were going to stand by and let the thing burns itself out. So that’s what Ax was doing, or directing-the burning out of this energy.

Snake River Conspiracy: You And Your Friend.

‘Hey, Fiorinda. Are we through to the next level? What d’ you think?’

‘Maybe we are through to the next level.’

REM: Green Grow The Rushes.

‘We’ll get them cleaning toilets, replanting hedgerows, picking up litter, chatting to old ladies in geriatric wards. God knows there’s enough that needs doing. And they’ll love it.’

The Fron Male Voice Choir: Jerusalem.

…because of all the utter balderdash Sage had laid on the media folk over the years, the one about his granddad and the Methodist choir was perfectly true

Catatonia: Strange Glue.

…the three of them settled together, Ax with his head on her lap, Sage’s arms around them both. Wrong again, Ax thought. I was not perfectly happy, but now I am, and if I had the power this is where I would make time stop, this is where I’d stay forever.’

Author’s Note:

The book/s are terribly English, so I’m not expecting a big uptake on this one. Nevertheless, I’d be interested to hear from anybody that’s read and enjoyed them. They’re a great influence on my style of writing, if sometimes confusing at times. In order, they are: Bold As Love, Castles Made Of Sand, Midnight Lamp, Band Of Gypsys and Rainbow Bridge (anybody sensing a theme here?)

 

Megaupload: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8KVD3JUO