"POW! When UK Punk Went Pop, 1980-84. A Memoir" - author/book event with Tony Fletcher + Railcard and The Dear Boys live and unplugged + DJ Jaf Jervis

We’re delighted to present a unique evening in the company of author and musician Tony Fletcher, to mark the publication of his new book "POW! When UK Punk Went Pop, 1980-84. A Memoir”, which is out via Trouser Press on 18th August.

Fletcher wrote the definitive, hugely acclaimed biography of Keith Moon, “Dear Boy”, as well as “In the Midnight Hour: The Life and Soul of Wilson Pickett” and titles on Echo and the Bunnymen, R.E.M., The Smiths and others. “POW!” is the follow-up to 2013’s “Boy About Town” and is described as “the memoir of a precocious English teen in the early 1980s who published a music magazine, interviewed many of the era’s top artists, ran a record label, appeared on television, played in a band and found first love – all at the same time!”

Fletcher will be in conversation about the book and his life and times with fellow author and Sound Lounge patron Paul Sexton. In a packed evening, there’ll be live, unplugged sets from The Dear Boys (Tony’s own duo with Tony Page, who features heavily in the book) and dreampop “supergroup” Railcard, featuring Rachel Love (Dolly Mixture) and Ian Button (Papernut Cambridge, The Penrose Web, Death In Vegas) along with Peter Momtchiloff (Heavenly, Would-be-goods) and Allison Thomson (Oldfield Youth Club, Heist, Trashcan Sinatras). Both bands have new albums due in September.

Plus! in between it all, there’ll be cool vinyl spun by DJ Jaf Jervis from Out On The Floor, whose Northern Soul nights are such a popular fixture at the SL. Copies of “POW!”, signed by Tony, will also be available.

Tickets are Pay What You Can Afford, with a free-entry option and tiers from £5-£20. Doors 7pm.

“Tony Fletcher, one of the great post-punk inspirational writers and thinkers: his fanzine Jamming! inspired me to start Creation” - Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records

“Tony writes with the energy of the music he loves and knows. Forward motion: it’s the life he’s lived” – Johnny Marr