Glory Days

I have just finished reading Glory Days: From gumboots to platforms, by Dr Glam, aka Ian Chapman. I'm interviewing Dr Glam, er, Ian, this Wednesday for the Write On Radio show, so read the book by way of preparation.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Glory Days. I imagined it would be a whole lot of rambling from an admittedly interesting person on the seventies. What I read was a whole lot more, a whoooole lot more.

Sure, Ian tells of his experiences in the heady seventies, which he saw through as a teenager obsessed with glam rock and extremely fond of David Bowie, but this book delivers so much more than one person's fond memories. Ian describes the seventies in New Zealand, from its music, movies, politics, and cars to its fashion, food, hair and television, and does so in a very entertaining way. But it is the snapshots stories by his invited guests which make this into a memorable book. There are tales and explanations from the likes of Sharon O'Neill, Chris Knox, Tui Flower, The Christchurch Wizard, John Minto, Marilyn Waring, Roi Colbert and Suzanne Lynch, to name a few, recounting their memories of the era, and their place in it.

I really enjoyed this nostalgia trip back to the seventies, conjuring up memories of my orange Raleigh Twenty bicycle, and coveting my big sister's orange flared jump suit and platform heels, but this book also filled in a lot of the background this then primary school aged kid was oblivious to.

Glory Days is entertaining reading, and a reminder of a far more interesting age.