Harriet Vyner – författare

Acclaimed on first publication, Harriet Vyner s Groovy Bob is the cult biography of hedonistic gallery owner Robert Fraser and a dazzling evocation of 1960s culture and counter-culture. Taste-maker, heroin addict and promiscuous homosexual, Fraser astonished London with the artists he introduced: Andy Warhol, Peter Blake, Claes Oldenburg, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Told through the voices of those who knew him best Paul McCartney, Richard Hamilton, Mick Jagger, Bridget Riley, Keith Richards, Kenneth Anger, Malcolm McLaren and Vyner herself Groovy Bob is a brilliant biography and a searing portrait of the most exhilarating period in post-war British social history. This republication features a new afterword by the author and colour plates including works from the major exhibition A Strong Sweet Smell of Incense: A Portrait of Robert Fraser, curated by Vyner and Brian Clarke at Pace London, 2015.

Jools Holland has had a fascinating life. From playing on bomb sites as a boy in the East End, to skiving off school and then selling millions of records with Squeeze, the first twenty years of his life were eventful, chaotic and colourful. Then came The Tube with Paula Yates, the seminal live music programme that propelled him to fame. Over the following three decades, Jools succeeded in placing himself at the epicentre of a global community comprising just about anybody who is anybody in music. Through Later with Jools Holland, the longest-running music programme on television, he has given British TV debuts to countless now world famous bands. Packed with hilarious anecdotes written in Holland’s own inimitable style and laced with quirky insights and deliciously acute detail, this autobiography by one of Britain’s most gifted and debonaire musicians is not just for music fans, but for anyone who is looking for something several cuts above the conventional showbiz memoir.