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Powder
Keva McCluskey craves success. Other bands are making it big and now his worst enemy is on MTV. Without being recognised among the great songwriters of our time, Keva feels he cannot confront his horrific past. That's why he formed the Grams. James Love wants all the sex, cocaine and groupies that fame can bring him. That's why he joined the Grams. Guy de Burnet wants to sell records the ethical way. That's why he formed a record label which prizes morality as highly as platinum discs. When he signs the Grams, it can only end in tears.
512 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
10 people are currently reading
196 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Sampson
29 books46 followersKevin Sampson is the author of seven novels - Awaydays, Powder, Leisure, Outlaws, Clubland, Freshers and most recently, Stars are Stars - and a work of non-fiction, Extra Time. He lives and works in Liverpool.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
March 15, 2017
Mit "Powder" werden so manch romantische Träumereien wohl zerplatzen - denn die Aufstiegsgeschichte einer fiktiven, englischen Band in den Neunzigern ist alles andere als wunderschön und friedlich. Kevin Sampson bietet uns nämlich einen sehr akkuraten Einblick in das Musikbusiness, zumindest eine Momentaufnahme aus der Zeit, als mit Platten und Bands noch tonnenweise Geld gemacht wurde. Es wird seitenweise gestritten, gefeiert, gef*ckt und vor allem getrunken.
The Grams schaffen als Gruppe mit ihrer Musik zwar den Nerv der Zeit zu treffen, doch der Alltag als berühmte Rock-Band ist kein einfacher. Vor allem, wenn der grösste Feind die eigenen Egos sind. Und somit verlieren sich die Charaktere immer mehr in einem Strudel aus Gier und Orientierungslosigkeit. Was leider auch etwas auf den Roman zutrifft - den selten konnte mich das Werk wirklich packen. Viele Figuren und ständig wechselnde Szenen verhindern einen guten Fluss, Kevin Sampson hätte das Buch wohl um einiges kürzen können. Unterhaltsam ist "Powder" aber, besonders für jemanden, der gerne über Bands und Musik liest.
The Grams schaffen als Gruppe mit ihrer Musik zwar den Nerv der Zeit zu treffen, doch der Alltag als berühmte Rock-Band ist kein einfacher. Vor allem, wenn der grösste Feind die eigenen Egos sind. Und somit verlieren sich die Charaktere immer mehr in einem Strudel aus Gier und Orientierungslosigkeit. Was leider auch etwas auf den Roman zutrifft - den selten konnte mich das Werk wirklich packen. Viele Figuren und ständig wechselnde Szenen verhindern einen guten Fluss, Kevin Sampson hätte das Buch wohl um einiges kürzen können. Unterhaltsam ist "Powder" aber, besonders für jemanden, der gerne über Bands und Musik liest.
April 21, 2008
I'm not sure if I read this now that I would give the same but then I was engrossed.
November 14, 2012
I hate saying something sucks. Someone worked really hard to make this. It was bad and I don't recommend it.
June 22, 2023
This book was written by the manager of 90s indie band The Farm and Kevin Sampson provides a great insight into the music business as we dive headlong into the rise and fall of The Grams. The plot is pretty unremarkable as it follows the arc of pretty much every real life story of successful bands. We see the joy give way to despair as egos spiral out of control with easy access to sex, booze and drugs. It's hardly earth-shattering stuff but you don't really care as you get swept up in the band's adventures. I read it in just a few days and found it hugely enjoyable, with Sampson writing in a lively and funny way.
His experiences as a manager add weight to the book as you get a real understanding of how PR companies and record executives suck all the joy out of music when dollar signs flash in front of their eyes.
The manager of The Grams, known as The Wheeze, is easily the most rounded and entertaining of the characters and it would be interesting to discover how much of Sampson's own personality has gone into his creation .
His experiences as a manager add weight to the book as you get a real understanding of how PR companies and record executives suck all the joy out of music when dollar signs flash in front of their eyes.
The manager of The Grams, known as The Wheeze, is easily the most rounded and entertaining of the characters and it would be interesting to discover how much of Sampson's own personality has gone into his creation .
December 20, 2024
The real strength of Powder is in its depictions of the music industry and inter-band relationships. For those parts of the novel, it is gripping, well researched and really creates a believable world of characters that you really enjoy being in the company with. What lets Powder down, unfortunately, and I could have quite easily given it three stars because of it, are the endless scenes of sex that add nothing to the story, and just become repetitive and dull. I get that a book about the music industry is going to somewhat focus on it, but over the course of 500 pages it just feels unnecessary and tedious. On balance it's worth a read, especially for anyone who has even a passing interest in the music industry.
February 19, 2025
I started this book absolutely brimming full of hope for a story about 'the music game' told from the perspective of someone who knows it best (Kevin Sampson as manager of The Farm) which, this book does tell some absolute corkers throughout, making the book funny, engaging and at times bittersweet. I did just feel like it dragged on a little too much at times and there were an awful lot of characters introduced which felt unnecessary and made the story a little confusing. Perhaps it just could have been shortened, or perhaps being aware of the structure of the book before starting (no chapters, just flitting between timelines in each paragraph). I loved the book, but it takes a lot of focus and patience to enjoy it as much as you want to.
January 12, 2019
haven't read all of Kevins books but up to now this is my favourite by far, maybe because of the music conection. Kevin was the manager of the Farm and i hoped that some of this book was between the lines of real and fiction, great book about a rock band smashing the world.
March 12, 2015
Eddy loaned me this number some time back that threw my reading list off course a bit. (Some time ago, because I am a painstakingly slow reader, and would only read on weekend mornings over a cup of tea). I suppose, it was because back then I was talking to him about potential offers in managing certain local bands, when it inspired him to pull this old one off his shelves for me to read.
A novel from the late 90s, Powder revolves around an up and coming fictional band from Liverpool, The Grams, consisting of band members lead vocalist Keva McCluskey, star-powered guitarist Hector Lovett, or more famously known as James Love, and the seemingly tag-along bassist Beano, and drummer, Tony Snow.
It speaks of the band’s rise to fame. From that period before everything goes into motion, that phase that aches to want to be famous already after years of hardwork, the teeth gritting competition with their arch nemesis Sensira, who seemed to have chanced upon fame so effortlessly. We all know how that feels, giving your all into something you’re passionate about, yet someone else seems to beat you to it in reaping the rewards, as if without lifting a finger.
To that crucial moment before all hell breaks loose – in a good way, for a band. It is like handling a malnutrition baby born before its time. Every move you make then is important, because it sets your band out on how you want to be perceived by the public. The magazines you decide to be in, which magazine to prioritise because of its readership or its impact they have on the music industry, and in what kind of formats – a front cover feature, or a mere writeup, or a puny review. Which media you decide to be heard in – the all-or-nothing big guns of the mainstream, or the slow-but-eventual rise via the indie stations, and which record stores to hit it hot and when to hit them best. Not to mention, which song you choose to be the debut single, and how you would go about with the music video that would leave an everlasting impact, long after your band’s name has gone to the shits. And which venues to go for on tour, the big bang arenas and risk a loose crowd, or a lesser known cabaret hall packed to the brim, with the band feeding off the fans’ energy.
I suppose it has something to do with me being a writer, but the most interesting bit for me was when they decide if they should accept a potentially useful exclusive front cover story on Mojo Magazine. The battle between the press publicist manager Todd, and publicist Hannah, and how each has their own years of experience and point of views for argument on whether or not to take the offer. Accepting it would be obvious. It’s an exclusive, it’s a front cover, which budding band wouldn’t want that? But that would also mean closing doors for a lot more music magazines out there, most especially Britain’s hottest and still music magazine, NME. It may seem glamorous at that point, but you might risk the chance of many more cover opportunities in the future.
Whilst the local magazine industry does not run as such that bands have to decide on such priorities, it still amazed me, when I read it, how something seemingly so fickle can be of such importance for a band about to hit stardom. One can only imagine how muddy the future for the band would look back then, not knowing which path holds the key to a clean eventual success.
Powder shows for a band how not to get in over your head at the beginning, and throughout really, and just saying ‘yes’ to everything that falls on your lap. Under the management of Wheezer Finlay, a.k.a The Wheeze, he knows where the line is, and he knows how to balance them well. How to walk away from a front cover, though the offer seems everything in their right mind appealing, and how to walk off from an important gig, when the people there don’t deem you worthy enough to even be there. He knows The Grams’ worth, and he dangles them on a string above the public, not low enough to sell themselves short, yet high enough so to have everyone craving for them left, right and centre.
Like every music-related story goes, Powder has the usual elements of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Thrown in the mix is the impending doom of time, mostly to do with the lead vocalist Keva McCluskey. Well aware that his clock is ticking away, Keva decided it was all or nothing for The Grams. Fuelled by some sort of a quarter-life crisis, he put all his faith in this giant leap, in hopes that it will help him find meaning in life again, but thread the dangerous expectation he puts in it, that it all may somehow blow up in his face, despite the heart and soul he invested in it.
Dramatism aside, Powder holds the key to everything someone needs to know when it comes to anything to do with a band, be it a manager, a record label, a publicist, and even the band themselves. How whatever you can dream of, can come true with the right sort of people involved and what sort of people you associate yourself with. How whatever you can dream of, can come true in a blink of an eye, and how it can also fall apart, at another whisk of the eyelash.
A novel from the late 90s, Powder revolves around an up and coming fictional band from Liverpool, The Grams, consisting of band members lead vocalist Keva McCluskey, star-powered guitarist Hector Lovett, or more famously known as James Love, and the seemingly tag-along bassist Beano, and drummer, Tony Snow.
It speaks of the band’s rise to fame. From that period before everything goes into motion, that phase that aches to want to be famous already after years of hardwork, the teeth gritting competition with their arch nemesis Sensira, who seemed to have chanced upon fame so effortlessly. We all know how that feels, giving your all into something you’re passionate about, yet someone else seems to beat you to it in reaping the rewards, as if without lifting a finger.
To that crucial moment before all hell breaks loose – in a good way, for a band. It is like handling a malnutrition baby born before its time. Every move you make then is important, because it sets your band out on how you want to be perceived by the public. The magazines you decide to be in, which magazine to prioritise because of its readership or its impact they have on the music industry, and in what kind of formats – a front cover feature, or a mere writeup, or a puny review. Which media you decide to be heard in – the all-or-nothing big guns of the mainstream, or the slow-but-eventual rise via the indie stations, and which record stores to hit it hot and when to hit them best. Not to mention, which song you choose to be the debut single, and how you would go about with the music video that would leave an everlasting impact, long after your band’s name has gone to the shits. And which venues to go for on tour, the big bang arenas and risk a loose crowd, or a lesser known cabaret hall packed to the brim, with the band feeding off the fans’ energy.
I suppose it has something to do with me being a writer, but the most interesting bit for me was when they decide if they should accept a potentially useful exclusive front cover story on Mojo Magazine. The battle between the press publicist manager Todd, and publicist Hannah, and how each has their own years of experience and point of views for argument on whether or not to take the offer. Accepting it would be obvious. It’s an exclusive, it’s a front cover, which budding band wouldn’t want that? But that would also mean closing doors for a lot more music magazines out there, most especially Britain’s hottest and still music magazine, NME. It may seem glamorous at that point, but you might risk the chance of many more cover opportunities in the future.
Whilst the local magazine industry does not run as such that bands have to decide on such priorities, it still amazed me, when I read it, how something seemingly so fickle can be of such importance for a band about to hit stardom. One can only imagine how muddy the future for the band would look back then, not knowing which path holds the key to a clean eventual success.
Powder shows for a band how not to get in over your head at the beginning, and throughout really, and just saying ‘yes’ to everything that falls on your lap. Under the management of Wheezer Finlay, a.k.a The Wheeze, he knows where the line is, and he knows how to balance them well. How to walk away from a front cover, though the offer seems everything in their right mind appealing, and how to walk off from an important gig, when the people there don’t deem you worthy enough to even be there. He knows The Grams’ worth, and he dangles them on a string above the public, not low enough to sell themselves short, yet high enough so to have everyone craving for them left, right and centre.
Like every music-related story goes, Powder has the usual elements of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Thrown in the mix is the impending doom of time, mostly to do with the lead vocalist Keva McCluskey. Well aware that his clock is ticking away, Keva decided it was all or nothing for The Grams. Fuelled by some sort of a quarter-life crisis, he put all his faith in this giant leap, in hopes that it will help him find meaning in life again, but thread the dangerous expectation he puts in it, that it all may somehow blow up in his face, despite the heart and soul he invested in it.
Dramatism aside, Powder holds the key to everything someone needs to know when it comes to anything to do with a band, be it a manager, a record label, a publicist, and even the band themselves. How whatever you can dream of, can come true with the right sort of people involved and what sort of people you associate yourself with. How whatever you can dream of, can come true in a blink of an eye, and how it can also fall apart, at another whisk of the eyelash.
October 21, 2019
probably should be read as a book that squarely mocks it's characters and their cliche rock lifestyles. doesn't make the book any better but probably should be read that way anyway
September 10, 2021
Desperate, wannabe.
August 11, 2015
A fascinating time capsule. For me, living as I did at the time with an employee of Music Week magazine and conducting much of my socialising in and around Farringdon and Camden Town, it's a spot on evocation of the late nineties and the excess that followed in the wake of Britpop. Sampson's grasp of how the music industry works is uncanny and the book's best bits deal with the wheeler dealing of the whole shebang. He also does a good job in persuading us that the fictional band represented, the Grams, are really very good indeed despite suspicions that they may be akin to a Cast or Ocean Colour Scene.
But it's not on the level of previous music industry novels such as Iain Banks' Espedair Street or John Niven's scabrous Kill Your Friends . Lad Mag culture hasn't gone away - Top Gear and Channel's 5's Football League Tonight are evidence of that - the details provide a portrait of an era where some of the advances in sexual equality gained from the sixties and seventies were rolled back - a world where Chris Evans, Liam Gallagher and Jonathan Ross thrived. Sampson does take a dim view of such antics but revels in them nonetheless.
But it's not on the level of previous music industry novels such as Iain Banks' Espedair Street or John Niven's scabrous Kill Your Friends . Lad Mag culture hasn't gone away - Top Gear and Channel's 5's Football League Tonight are evidence of that - the details provide a portrait of an era where some of the advances in sexual equality gained from the sixties and seventies were rolled back - a world where Chris Evans, Liam Gallagher and Jonathan Ross thrived. Sampson does take a dim view of such antics but revels in them nonetheless.
October 21, 2010
A very readable foray into the world of the music industry, with the rise and fall of one group charted in a book that feels part documentary, part memoir and part work of fiction.
The characters are well painted, and of course adhere to stereotypes,as this is fiction we're dealing with.
I ended up thinking that Mr Sampson must have been in some VERY strange situations!
I've read plenty of rock bios, but none have the background and inside info that this novel has.
As the blurb says: one for every aspiring band to read, digest and ruminate on....
The characters are well painted, and of course adhere to stereotypes,as this is fiction we're dealing with.
I ended up thinking that Mr Sampson must have been in some VERY strange situations!
I've read plenty of rock bios, but none have the background and inside info that this novel has.
As the blurb says: one for every aspiring band to read, digest and ruminate on....
December 29, 2011
Loved this book.
The story can be a little difficulut to get into and the head jumps can be confusing but totally worth perserving. I originally gave this book 5 stars but downgraded it to 4 after I finished it. The ending was good but I felt the writer could have pushed it harder, although the implied subtlety was nice.
I would recommened this to most music fans and those who like contemporary work.
The story can be a little difficulut to get into and the head jumps can be confusing but totally worth perserving. I originally gave this book 5 stars but downgraded it to 4 after I finished it. The ending was good but I felt the writer could have pushed it harder, although the implied subtlety was nice.
I would recommened this to most music fans and those who like contemporary work.
August 31, 2015
A slow starter with an addictive central story that eventually fades into not much of anything.
The writing style was very frustrating at times but in the end it was definitely enjoyable, not sure I would read it again or recommend anyone else does.
The writing style was very frustrating at times but in the end it was definitely enjoyable, not sure I would read it again or recommend anyone else does.
April 26, 2007
fascinating for someone who knows marginally more about the subject matter than the music industry - and an easy but reasonable satisfying read.
July 23, 2007
I'm a sucker for this kind of smart writing about music and the music biz. I pictured the band Travis as the band in this book for some reason.
July 25, 2007
Its been a while since I read this, but I remember loving it. Its the story of a band from the beginning, going through to buckling under the pressure of success.
February 28, 2008
Too many characters, none sharply drawn enough to stand out, so they all sort of blend together in a big mess. Meh.
May 12, 2008
It's been years since I read this, but I really liked it at the time. Wonder if I'll feel the same way now?
July 18, 2008
Anyone who has ever been in or near a band will recognise something here.
September 12, 2011
took a while to get into this one but i really enjoyed it. all about the music biz. finished it a long time ago, might have a re-read!
April 8, 2012
Funny story which I could identify with through work.
March 28, 2015
Too slow, good but slow. Something lacked but can´t point my finger in it. Excelent ending though.
Read
July 20, 2015Wheezer Finlay is the unlikely hero of this tale of boom to bust for a group of Liverpool musicians, not as enjoyable as when I first read ut 15 years ago
September 6, 2016
Epic and hope to find time for a fair review too. :)
March 11, 2007
Undemanding romp through the music business. Fun and engaging, no great literary merit.
August 14, 2007
Starts off quite well then descends in to rubbish.
March 18, 2013
I couldn't even finish it.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews