Nico: Songs They Never Play on the Radio (1992; upd. re-ed. 2013, new intro)

'A coolly literary masterpiece' - Greil Marcus, Esquire'Sad, funny, brilliant' - The Daily Telegraph'In classic fish-out-of-water fashion Young writes with wry amusement alongside a fair bit of affection for his icy boss' - The Times_______________Fully updated with a new introduction, this is the story of Nico, former model, film actress, singer with the Velvet Underground & darling of Andy Warhol's factory, when the world had all but forgotten her. In 1982 Nico was living in Manchester, interested mainly in feeding her heroin habit. Local promoter Alan Wise ('Dr Demetrius') hired musicians, rented a van & set off with the band on a tour of Italy. James Young played keyboards for Nico throughout this period. Over six years, until her death in 1988, Nico toured the world, encountering poets, artists, gangsters, losers & drifters. Fellow-spirits including John Cale, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso & John Cooper Clarke are among those who appear in this classic memoir of Nico 'the last bohemian'. James Young was born in Oldham. He has tried his hand at a number of careers, including working in a cotton mill and as a car park attendant. In the early 80s he abandoned a promising academic future at Oxford to become Nico's piano player, after which he wrote Nico, Songs They Never Play on the Radio - a biographical account of the eight years he spent with the doomed Warhol chanteuse. He lives in Oxford.'Stunning ... Nico is so HERE in this wonderful narrative; I recognized her right away. James Young was the keyboard player in Nico's very insane bande à part on the last tours of her life and is a spectacular writer; let him be your perfect witness from the nomadic court of the once & future goddess of the musical underground' - Danny Fields, friend of Nico, & manager of The Ramones, Iggy Pop & The Stooges _______________ 'A coolly literary masterpiece' - Greil Marcus, Esquire ' Sad, funny, brilliant' - The Daily Telegraph 'In classic fish-out-of-water fashion Young writes with wry amusement alongside a fair bit of affection for his icy boss' - The Times _______________ Fully updated with a new introduction, this is the story of Nico, former model, film actress, singer with the Velvet Underground and darling of Andy Warhol's factory, when the world had all but forgotten her. In 1982 Nico was living in Manchester, interested mainly in feeding her heroin habit. Local promoter Alan Wise ('Dr Demetrius') hired musicians, rented a van and set off with the band on a tour of Italy. James Young played keyboards for Nico throughout this period. Over six years, until her death in 1988, Nico toured the world, encountering poets, artists, gangsters, losers and drifters. Fellow-spirits including John Cale, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and John Cooper Clarke are among those who appear in this classic memoir of Nico 'the last bohemian'. _______________ 'Stunning ... Nico is so HERE in this wonderful narrative; I recognized her right away. James Young was the keyboard player in Nico's very insane bande à part on the last tours of her life and is a spectacular writer; let him be your perfect witness from the nomadic court of the once and future goddess of the musical underground' - Danny Fields, friend of Nico, and manager of The Ramones, Iggy Pop and The Stooges The story of Nico, former model, film actress, singer with the Velvet Underground and darling of Andy Warhol's factory. In 1982 Nico was living in Manchester, alone and interested only in feeding her heroin habit. Local promoter Dr Demetrius saw an opportunity, hired musicians to back her, rented a decrepit van and set off with Nico and the band on a disastrous tour of Italy. Over the next six years, until her death in 1988, Nico toured the world with assorted thrown-together bands. They made next to no money, appalled many of their audiences and occasionally, on the rare nights when the music worked, pleased a few. James Young played keyboards for Nico throughout those years. In this book, he records the never-ending antics of a picaresque circus of addicts, outsiders and misfits who travelled the world - East and Western Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan - encountering an equally bizarre and extraordinary mixture of people: poets, artists, gangsters, losers... Records the never-ending antics of a picaresque circus of addicts, outsiders and misfits who travelled the world encountering an equally bizarre and extraordinary mixture of people. John Cale, Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso are among those who appear in the ultimately tragic story of Nico, the last Bohemian. Originally published in 1992.