Jumpin' In The Fire: A Life In Rock'n'Roll - Softcover

Tyla, Sean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0956642004 ISBN 13: 9780956642004

Publisher: Soundcheck Books LLP, 2010

Synopsis

There are plenty of books about 1970s excess - of chauffeur-driven limos, soulless stadiums and endless supplies of cocaine. For Tyla, though, it was mainly unreliable tour vans, smoky pubs and amphetamine sulphate, plus occasional glimpses of the Promised Land to keep him going. This is a fascinating autobiography of the highs and lows of a musician's life in the 1970s.

Starting with his entry into the music business in 1970 as a jobbing songwriter for Lionel Bart, the book covers ace pub rockers Ducks Deluxe, The Tyla Gang and a solo career which earned him a gold disc in Germany. Le Monde dubbed him 'Un nouveau Christ' - Tyla was huge in mainland Europe.

There are marvellous anecdotes about childhood friend and Stiff Records stable mate Nick Lowe, Michael Nesmith, AC/DC and even Clint Eastwood. It also covers Tyla's uncanny ability to pass on the main chance - he turned down an offer to join Motorhead and declined to produce the Sex Pistols. Doh!

Tyla has reformed Ducks Deluxe and the Tyla Gang, as well as starting a new band called The Trouble Boys with ex-Rockpile guitarist Billy Bremner and is touring and recording.

About this title

About the Author:

Sean Tyla formed Ducks Deluxe in 1972, then the Tyla Gang in 1976. The single Styrofoam was only the second record to be released on Stiff Records. In 1979 he signed a $250,000 five-album deal with Polydor International and had his first solo Top Ten single in Germany, which went gold. He quit the music scene in 1985 working as a car salesman, pig farmer and cricket coach for Major Ronald Ferguson! He returned to music with the aptly titled Back in the Saddle in 2008 to rave reviews; his first album since 1983. He has reformed both Ducks Deluxe and the Tyla Gang and is recording and touring,

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Sean?'

'Fred.' It was three on the morning.

'We have a problem.' Fred was still in New York. I had been back in the UK for a month since the video screening.

'What kind of problem?'

Apparently, I had been to see a musical play called Breakfast In Marin in San Francisco the previous year and now the authors of that work were suing me for plagiarism.

It would seem that the opening verse of my song described the opening scene of their play. The play itself was a hit and

been nominated for various awards but the people involved had been made aware that I was getting huge airplay,especially in the Bay Area of the West Coast and were screaming 'ripoff'.

For their part, Polydor decided to shelve the whole project indefinitely without even hearing my side of the story. They never have. For a few weeks in 1979, I was the blueeyed

boy, but as soon as the words lawsuit are mentioned in the same sentence as your name you are out in the cold.

Cantrell didn't fight my corner, either; he was way out of his depth. I felt there was more to this than just corporate paranoia, but for now I was royally fucked!

I remember there being posters for the play everywhere in San Francisco when I was there in 1978 and I freely admit I thought it a good title for a song. I was free to use that - you can't copyright a title. The evidence that I had

seen the show came solely from an acquaintance of the producers who said he had seen me drinking in the bar of the theatre on the opening night of the play.

I certainly didn't recall such an incident and was intrigued to know how this person could have possibly known it was me. It had been my first trip to America. I had been in the area a week at the time of the alleged sighting

and had spent every night at my hotel in Berkeley apart from a trip to Chinatown for a meal followed by a bar crawl and a late-night interview at KSAN radio station.

Fred said the decision was final. Polydor US wouldn't budge but we were free to offer the album to any Polydor affiliate outside the US. The New York decision was the kiss

of death; no-one was interested. My dreams lay in tatters. I would have to consider my future very carefully.I couldn't go

through this again.

About this edition

• Publisher: Soundcheck Books LLP
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0956642004
• ISBN 13: 9780956642004
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208