Bookworm: ‘I think we ought to leave Winston Churchill’s pubic history out of it’

WERE he still with us, Alex Harvey would have been 77 tomorrow. But the coolest Glasgow rock star of the Seventies and founder of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band died 30 years ago today, and will be remembered this weekend in a series of events at the People’s Palace, Glasgow.

Today marks the opening of an exhibition of SAHB costumes and photos and fans are invited to bring along their own memorabilia. Some of the band’s performances will be screened and at 11 o’clock a rowan tree will be planted in Glasgow Green in Alex Harvey’s memory. All the three surviving members of the band and Alex Harvey Junior will give a 15-minute talk from 1pm, and fans will get the chance to ask questions.

To mark the occasion, rock photographer Janet Macoska and Glasgow journalist Martin Kielty have produced a hardback photobook of Harvey. Macoska met Harvey when the band was touring America in 1974, at the height of their fame, and remained in touch after he left the band. “This is the book I have waited my whole life to do,” she says. “Alex Harvey gave me my first paying photography job and set me on the path of my career.”

Alex Harvey: Last of the Teenage Idols, is published by Noisewave at £45, a fitting tribute to a man whose philosophy of life - “Don’t make any bullets, don’t buy any bullets, don’t shoot any bullets – and don’t pish in the water supply” – still holds good today.

TOO MUCH INFORMATION

SUCH is our fascination with Winston Churchill that we want to read about every aspect of his life – indeed, one of Bookworm’s colleagues has penned a rather excellent book about Churchill’s love of cigars. But Barry Singer’s book Churchill Style, due out in May from Abrams Books, carried things too far.

The press release announcing its imminent publication claims that although Churchill has been analysed through every political and historical angle, this has never been done by looking at his style or his manner of living. “While the book contains a solid and entertaining timeline of his pubic history,” it continues, “it focuses on the more personal, non-work aspects of his day-to-day life.” Great man though Churchill was, I think we ought to leave his pubic history out of it.