Author biography -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Dedication page -- Contents -- My house, Brentford, west London Tuesday afternoon, during Countdown -- Step One -- Step Two -- Step Three -- Step Four -- Step Five -- Step Six -- Step Seven -- Step Eight -- Step Nine -- Step Ten -- Step Eleven -- Step Twelve -- Pledge Coda -- Conclusion -- The End -- Exit -- Organizational Contact Details -- Thank You
A witty and self-deprecating memoir about headbanging your way through growing up. Seb Hunter was a Heavy Metal fan and he's not proud. This is the story of his misguided 15-year Heavy Metal mission: from the first guitar (his dad's), to the first gig (conquering Winchester with his riffs), on through groupies and girlfriends and too many drugs to a faltering career in London, where outrageous egos, artistic differences and the dreaded arrival of Grunge (and a much needed haircut) kill the Heavy Metal dream. Along the way Seb imparts the important distinctions between Thrash Metal and Glam and casts his connoisseur's eye over the Metal guitar. You'll learn when to play a drum solo, the correct way to wear Spandex and exactly what to do when you're in the middle of a field at the Donington Festival and you desperately need a piss. Affectionate, irreverent, and very funny, Hell Bent For Leather is a moving story about growing up, of playing air guitar in your bedroom, of living with parental disapproval and of struggling with the laughter of your friends. It is a memoir about the glorious adolescent obsessions everybody has but no-one will admit to. Featuring music from: AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Kiss, W.A.S.P., Aerosmith The Scorpians and Guns 'n' Roses.
Once he'd reached his early thirties, Seb Hunter knew it was time to try to grow up - but that, of course, meant attempting to enjoy classical music. Pretending just wouldn't do. His musical tastes had always been catholic, but this was a step into the unknown - down beyond the glass partition and into the record-shop basement. It might as well be beyond the looking-glass; yet our intrepid hero reckons he's up to the task. And, not one to do things by halves, he embarks on a haphazard journey across Europe that takes in hallucinating nuns, a Yoda-like mentor, angry eunuchs, frustrated minstrels, trying really hard not to vomit at the opera in Rome, an assault on the Kremlin and several run-ins with his mother. But will Beethoven roll over? Will Nigel Kennedy return his calls? No. From chanting monks to music played with helicopters via twenty different varieties of Austrian sausage, it's a passionate, unlikely and very funny story. If you've ever wondered whether classical music is all it's made out to be, now you'll never have to listen to any in order to find out - just read this instead.