Author(s): Barry Miles

Biography & Memoir

In this title, writer and eminence grise Barry Miles revives the reputation of the seventies.

In The Seventies tells the story of London and New York during the decade that is often written off as one long hangover after the exuberance of the sixties. Miles remembers a fascinating period in which many of the hippie dreams became realities, and others came back in shiny new clothes at the advent of the punk revolution. Beginning with Allen Ginsberg's hippie commune in upstate New York and moving on to his time cataloguing William Burroughs' archives in London, Miles remembers the decade that began with David Bowie in drag and ended with Grace Jones naked at Studio 54. Writing for NME, he reported on both the CBGBs scene and was the first to review and interview The Clash, The Ramones, Talking Heads and Patti Smith. Engaging and idealistic, In the Seventies is a memoir that challenges modern perceptions of the decade with great anecdotes featuring an extraordinary cast of characters, from Allen Ginsberg to Richard Hell, Leonard Cohen to Brian Eno.