‘The records we like can lead us back to the lives we once led…’
I got into the writing of music journalist David Hepworth after my wife bought me Uncommon People – Hepworth’s book about the rise and fall of the rock star – for my birthday. Since then, I’ve also read his book on the British Invasion (Overpaid, Oversexed and Over There) and now How the LP Saved Our Lives – Hepworth’s love letter to both the album as a concept and also specifically when produced as a record (as opposed to a cassette, CD or digital file). Hepworth’s fifth book is evangelical in his love for the LP and it’s impossible not to get swept up by his passion and enthusiasm…
Charting what Hepworth considers to be the golden age of the LP (the time between The Beatles releasing Sgt Pepper in 1967 to Michael Jackson’s Thriller dominating popular music in 1982), the Yorkshire writer devotes a chapter to each year in the odyssey of the LP, covering artists as influential and beloved as Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac and David Bowie. Mostly, it’s just a pleasure to hear someone with this much knowledge and passion for music idly rambling on about their favourite thing for a couple of hundred pages. The fact that Hepworth intersperses this with anecdotes from his own life – whether it be recounting his burgeoning love of the LP as a child or referencing interviews he has carried out with big pop stars. This adds a personal touch that ensures that How the LP Saved Our Lives never gets too anorak-y.
While I’ve found all of Hepworth’s books to be compelling and thoughtful and all the rest of it, this is the one that I have identified with most on an emotional level. In that respect, it serves as a compelling companion piece to something like High Fidelity. Essential reading for music fans.