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DEKE LEONARD
Pick from the following titles for more information:
 RHINOS, WINOS & LUNATICS
MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN BED
Orders are now invited for
RHINOS, WINOS & LUNATICS
The Legend of Man a rock’n’roll band
By Deke Leonard
Extent: 176pp, 15.4 X 23.3 cm
ISBN: 1-900711-09-1
Price: £11.99
First issued in 1996, Rhinos, Winos & Lunatics has gained a reputation as one of the legendary on the road rock’n’roll travelogues. It tells the story of eight years in the life of a rock band – Man, Wales' most durable musical exports.
Man have made 18 albums and undergone as many line-up changes, involving four drummers, four keyboard players, four guitarists and five bass players. Guitarist Deke Leonard 'has attempted to escape on numerous occasions but has always been recaptured'.
He writes with wit, verve and panache of the 1968-76 period, the post-'Sgt Pepper' years when rock music expanded its frontiers as never before. The result is a book that tells the story of an era, not just a band.
Deke Leonard’s ‘prequel’, Maybe I Should’ve Stayed In Bed, was published in 2000 to rave reviews. Its success has stimulated interest in Rhinos, which has been out of print for several years. This ‘remixed’ edition includes a new cover and double the number of photos of the original.
What they said about ‘Rhinos, Winos & Lunatics’:
‘I picked this book and simply tore through its pages in an evening and an afternoon. The reason? ‘Rhinos, Winos & Lunatics’ is the funniest book of the rock genre I’ve yet to read. A must for all of you, Manfans or not’. - Facelift
‘Deke Leonard’s ‘Rhinos, Winos & Lunatics’ is wonderful. The definitive insider’s account, its also written delightfully, with a stoned cynical lyricism that makes turning the page an absolute pleasure. Top Stuff’. - Making Music
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MAYBE I SHOULD’VE STAYED IN BED
The Flip Side Of The Rock’n’Roll Dream
By Deke Leonard
Extent: 240pgs
ISBN: 1-900711-09-5
Price: £12.99
The 1960s music scene with wit…and a distinctively Welsh slant.
Illustrated with to high quality eight-page archive photo sections.
Maybe I Should’ve Stayed In Bed? charts the early years of guitarist Roger ‘Deke’ Leonard, a founder member of legendary Welsh rock band Man in 1968. Initially a reluctant performer, encounters with Gene Vincent and Johnny Kidd awoke his ambitions to become a rock’n’roll star, though an early band was banned from Welsh venues for being ‘too sexy’. The provincial press held Deke’s troupe ‘responsible for the moral decay so evident in 1960s society’, while the Daily Mirror called them ‘the biggest freak-out to hit South Wales!’
The rock’n’roll dream seemed there for the taking, so they broke up, scattering to the four corners of Swansea before re-grouping more successfully as Man. But that’s another story, as told in Leonard’s first book Rhinos, Winos & Lunatics! (also published by Northdown) which sold 2,000 copies by word of mouth, thanks to huge critical acclaim.
Written with a humour rarely seen in rock biographies, it is a fascinating social commentary on Wales in the 1960s as the seeds of today’s success – Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia etc – were sown.
As well as continuing his musical career, Deke Leonard has written for magazines such as Vox and Hi-Fi Choice. His first book Rhinos, Winos & Lunatics! ranks alongside Ian Hunter’s epic Diary Of A Rock’n’Roll Star as the definitive ‘on-the-road’ read.
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