Lunch with the Wild Frontiers - by Phill Savidge (Paperback)

About the Book

A hilarious and well-crafted memoir of music and excess from the PR legend who accidentally invented Britpop.

Book Synopsis

Phill Savidge is widely credited as being the main instigator of the Britpop music movement that swept the UK in the mid-1990s. Savidge was co-founder and head of legendary public relations company Savage & Best, the company that represented most of the artists associated with the scene, including Suede, Pulp, The Verve, Elastica, Kula Shaker, Spiritualized, Menswear, The Auteurs, and Black Box Recorder.

Savidge suggests that Britpop came about "by accident" because he refused to represent any American bands. He subsequently ended up with an extremely accessible, media-friendly roster that "lived 'round the corner" and included the most exciting press-worthy acts of the era. His unique experience at the epicentre of Britpop led to many intimate, not entirely self-congratulatory encounters with a who's who of popular culture -- including Brett Anderson, Damon Albarn, Roy Orbison, David Bowie, Joe Strummer, Lou Reed, Michael Barrymore, Richard Ashcroft, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Mick Jagger, George Lucas, Damien Hirst, and Dave Stewart, among others. But did he really Sellotape a cassette of Suede's Animal Nitrate single to a purple velvet cushion -- with a note that said "another great disappointment" -- and then bike it to the NME? And could he and Jarvis Cocker really have fallen out simply because a journalist thought he was more glamorous than the Pulp front man?

If you've ever wondered what it's like to represent Hirst, Cocker, and The Verve in the same decade, and then wake up in bed with Keith Allen in the Ritz in Paris -- courtesy of Mohammed Al Fayed -- then you should read this book. Imagine David Sedaris with a hangover and an expense account and you're halfway to appreciating the delinquent delights of Lunch With The Wild Frontiers.

Review Quotes

'A lively love-letter to a bygone era.'--The Guardian

'A 20th-century glitter-ball take on Machiavelli's The Prince.'--Glasgow Herald

'A read-in-one-sitting, eye-watering memoir.'--Q magazine

'A distinctive, rollicking, hugely-evocative memoir.'--We Are Cult

'Excellent . . . Remind[s] us that the best pop culture often comes together thanks to accidental, passionate heroes, standing out against the crowd in the most brilliant way.'--Jude Rogers, New Statesman

'If Savidge acts as if she could get away with anything, that's because she probably did. A rum old blast from a wonderfully ridiculous past while the fun lasts, liable to induce knowing chuckles of fond nostalgia and despair alike in the decade's fellow survivors.'--Record Collector

'Lunch with the Wild Frontiers is an exhilarating and hilarious expose of the scene, recounted in a gloriously gossipy style with a vibrancy that sees it begging to be adapted for the screen, an addictive read which lifts the lid on the stories that hit the headlines as well as a fair few that were deliberately concealed. By far the finest book on Britpop to date.'--Classic Pop, 5/5

'Jane Savidge has packed so many top anecdotes into her memoirs it'll feel like you were there.'--Daily Mirror

'This is the tale of the messy, exciting and truly invigorating whirl that created an unparalleled moment in British music. It's also a fascinating and funny step back in time to a world where demo cassettes and weekly music papers ruled Britain.'--Stylist magazine

'The hilarious and weighty story of the music industry before computers when everything was face to face . . . an in-depth biography of an electrifying era for British pop.'--Louder Than War

About the Author

Phill Savidge is a writer and publicist best known for being at the epicentre of the Britpop movement that exploded during the 1990s. During this vibrant and exciting period in British music history, Phill and his company, Savage & Best -- who represented Suede, Pulp, The Verve, Elastica, and almost every band associated with Britpop -- had the kind of fun that is now banned by the Proper Job Authorities. Phill has been obsessed with music and newspapers since childhood, and, all things considered, a career in music PR was probably the least upsetting option for all concerned. Lunch With The Wild Frontiers is his first book.