Description
Remind Me to Smile is the autobiography of Gary Numan fan, Martin Downham. Martin’s unique brand of observational humour is packed full of references to a time when Fine Fare, Betamax, Kenny Everett and Gary Numan were all at the height of their powers. Back in the dim and distant days of 1977 Martin Downham was turning into the archetypal, stroppy, know-it-all teenager angry for no good reason, rude, insolent, indolent, bone-idle and rebellious.
A lengthy spell of destructive adolescence beckoned but life had other plans. Martin s memoir is witty, irreverent, calamitous, heart-warming and packed full of cultural and pop music-related nostalgia for the 1970s and 80s. Fans of Gary Numan will identify with Martin s story, as the British electro-pop star looms over the book as an ever present and strangely reassuring spectre.
352 pages
Price £8.99
About the author:
Martin Downham was born in Tolworth, Surrey in sweet suburbia where, as a small child, he missed out on all the mania of the Swinging Sixties. Graduating out of High School, he started on a ragged career-path, including a stint at Guinness World Records where he met David Roberts, the managing editor of the Guinness Book of Hit Singles and Albums. Via a convoluted route, the pair later concocted a plan to publish a book of musical anecdotes about the ‘the song that changed your life’. Originally intended as an e-Book, featuring several artists, it finally saw print in October 2016 under the Hornet Books imprint as “Remind Me To Smile: The Life & Times of a Teenage Numanoid”. As you will have guessed, this focuses on Gary Numan and the impact his music had on him.