I’m also a realist and know that the ‘swinging sixties’ were not a reality for everyone and there’s hints of this throughout.

It was a time when younger generations were trying to break free from what was expected and, in the case of Utopia Avenue, were chasing their dreams despite being told constantly “to get a real job”. It’s a period in time that I find interesting, the idea that there was so much change happening across world, music played a role in that. I know some people absolutely hated them, accused them of being lazy and clumsy, they made me smile as did the characters reactions to these meetings let’s call a spade a spade, if I’d been plucked from obscurity and suddenly found myself at a party with David Bowie I too would say, “fucking hell, you’re David Bowie”. There’s cameos littered throughout, there’s David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Mama Cass, Syd Barret and John Lennon. The story charts their rise from seedy Soho clubs and ballrooms in Brighton to appearances on Top of the Pops and eventually America. The book’s set out in three parts – each an album – with each chapter told from the perspective of one of the characters, usually Dean, Elf and Jasper, perhaps that’s a comment on how drummers are (criminally) usually forgotten, what with being sat at the back of stage and all.

Griff is the only band member who isn’t dealing with a back catalogue of issues, he’s from Hull, blunt and steady.

It’s a kind of psychosis he’s dealt with since a teenager, as ‘knock knock’ threatens to return, Mitchell takes us in to Jasper’s mind and some bizarre, imagined worlds. He also suffers from aural hallucinations, something he’s called ‘knock knock’. Jasper is a guitar genius, he’s autistic, though that’s not said explicitly, he often doesn’t know what’s required of him in social situations and struggles to work out how people feel and how to react to that. She’s also experimenting with her sexuality and what it is to be a woman in an age where on the one hand you’re told there’s more opportunity while at the same time being reminded by older generations that there are still certain expectations. He’s still dealing with trauma from his childhood.Įlf is from a traditional middle-class background, she’s had her heart broken by her gobby Australian boyfriend, who she happened to be in an act with. Utopia Avenue are folksinger Elf Holloway, blues bassist Dean Moss, guitar virtuoso Jasper de Zoet and jazz drummer Griff Griffin – they’re brought together by manager Levon Frankland and create a unique sound, in fact “they might be the most curious British band you’ve never heard of”.ĭean is seen as the heartthrob, he’s a bit of a playboy, finds himself in trouble and is from a large working-class family (how his accent is written does get annoying as the book goes on).

Utopia avenue by david mitchell