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Grebo!
- The Loud & Lousy Story of Gaye Bykers on Acid and Crazyhead
- Narrated by: Keith Cruden
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
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Summary
West Midlands 1980s, home to heavy metal. Black Sabbath and Judas Priest are household names, but over the smoking chimneys and factory yards, something new and equally ugly forms....
"Grebo" was a media-constructed music genre that even today sends a shudder down the spines of discerning music fans and critics.
A homegrown proto-grunge - counterpart to the likes of Butthole Surfers, Mudhoney, early Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden in the US - grebo was a British phenomenon that drew on an eclectic range of influences, from punk, '60s garage, and psychedelia, through to '70s heavy rock and thrash metal. It foreshadowed rave culture and was steeped in class politics.
Gaye Bykers on Acid and Crazyhead hailed from Leicester. They were not the first bands to be labeled grebo, but they were the most unashamedly unkempt and came to be considered its greatest exponents. They were “a burst of dirty thunder”, and almost no one liked them.
Based on interviews with band members, friends, fans, and roadies, this audiobook is an uncompromising history of an overlooked music scene. Rich Deakin charts its course via the changing fortunes of the Bykers and Crazyhead, taking us on the booze-filled tour buses, behind the dodgy deals, and onto the international stage and back again (with a pit stop for a rock movie that swallows lots of money).
Their careers were short, but the two bands managed to shake up the UK indie scene and along the way became Britain’s unlikely ambassadors of rock following the collapse of Soviet Russia.
Strap yourself in for a rocket ride of an audiobook. This is Grebo! - the complete loud and lousy story!
What listeners say about Grebo!
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- C N S MATTHEWS
- 28-02-22
A thoroughly enjoyable listen!! It is are you?
Having read the ‘Grebo!’ paperback, written by Rich Deakin, this audio book was my obvious next choice. Read by Keith Cruden, the narration is set at a steady pace, clear throughout and a good choice of speaker.
Primarily, the book focuses on Gaye Bykers on Acid and Crazyhead in roughly equal amounts with smatterings of contemporary noise rock bands, The Janitors, Bomb party, Pop will Eat Itself among others.
What I really enjoyed about this book is the amount of detail in it. Back in the day I was a keen Gaye Bykers fan, from the 1987 Glastonbury gig onwards, I saw the Bykers over 20 times.
Before the Internet age, it was often hard work to find where bands would be playing if you liked the alternative stuff. I was gutted to read the Bykers played Holloway college in Egham in 1989. As I was living in the area at the time, somehow, I missed the gig. Duhh!!
The book details some of the scathing reviews from the music press of live performances of the Bykers which never reflected how awesome and intense the band were live. Over 30 years has passed since the hazy, late 80’s Grebo Acid Daze and this book does a fine job at capturing that period of time. Highly recommended!!
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