RaveThe Guardian[Hepworth] has come up with a neat, more purposeful framework for his colourful, richly marinated survey of the phenomenon of the rock star between the mid-1950s and mid-1990s: one chapter per year, with each chapter having as its focus one particular day when something significant or emblematic happened … After almost an adult lifetime of witnessing the music industry at close quarters, Hepworth is, in many ways, a dream author. Not only does he know his stuff, typified by his gratifyingly detailed analysis of how the arrival from California in 1959 of Leo Fender’s Stratocaster transformed the fortunes of Hank Marvin and the Shadows, but he is alert to broader social and cultural trends, as exemplified by his deft treatment of the MTV revolution of the early 1980s .At their best, Hepworth’s chapters yield something of the satisfaction of a sharply observed, neatly shaped short story.
