The Swinging Sixties! Read All About It!
Welcome to my website
Hello, I'm David Soulsby
I'm the author of Somewhere In The Distance, an off-beat take on the Sixties. Love them or loathe them, the 10 years that will for ever be known as Swinging, still have a powerful fascination for millions of people, many of them not even born when the decade ended.
My book is a work of fiction, but some autobiographical elements have inevitably found their way on to the written pages. And, if I'm being honest with myself, there is a love-hate relationship with the era that I cannot deny.
Dreams and Aspirations
Somewhere In The Distance tells the story of four close friends who come of age as rapid changes and dramatic events rage all around them. They each have their own distinct, differing views and outlooks on the world, but are tightly drawn together by a mutual love of the music of the times. This strong bond nurtures their dreams, hopes and aspirations for a better, more equal world, but darker, corrosive elements take their toll.
Youthful innocence eroded
The assassinations of President John F Kennedy and his brother Robert, the brutal slaying of Civil Rights campaigner Martin Luther King, and the traumas of the Vietnam War and the growing drugs culture, erode their youthful innocence, confidence and naive swagger.
Experiencing every human emotion, from humour to pathos, elation to sadness, excitement to disappointment, life-affirming highs and tear-stained lows, the quartet face ultimate heartbreak and shattering disillusionment.
Recalled in Flashbacks
I have set the novel in the last two years of the decade, when all that the Sixties had promised for the better was sadly already crumbling.
The earlier years are recalled in flashbacks that I hope capture the exhilarating but often painful process of growing up in such a turbulent time in history.
Let Me Know What You Think
If you do read the book, please let me know what you think of it — good or bad! As long as there's a reaction.
Also, what do you think of the Sixties music, and the decade in general? I'd love to hear your views and memories.
Leave your comments on my Guest Book or email me at: fourever@davesixties.freewebspace.com
Published by AuthorHouse
Available from AuthorHouse,
on Amazon,
from Waterstone's,
Barnes & Noble,
and all good bookshops
ISBN: 9781438989198
Cover illustration: Ian Stead
How The Book Came About
A Life Of Its Own
While on holiday on the Isle of Wight in 2004, my interest in finding out more about the island's 1968 and 1969 music festivals gave me the idea of writing a book about the experiences and reactions of those who attended the events. But it wasn't long before the project shot off in an entirely different direction - taking on a life of its own and transforming into a story about the whole of the Sixties and how they affected the four main characters I created.
To do this I called on my extensive experience and insight as a young journalist in east and north London in the Sixties to bring to life the events that helped change the world - for better or worse!
Passion For The Music
Writing the book also allowed me to indulge my passion for the music of the time - the raw excitement of the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, the Beach Boys, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, Ray Charles, The Who, The Kinks ... the list goes on and on. Also, the project reconnected me with many of the great rock 'n' roll pioneers - Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Roy Orbison, Johnny Kidd ... again the list is too lenghty to mention all of the great names that made rock 'n' roll so exciting.
It took five years to bring Somewhere In The Distance to fruition - not all smooth! There were many times when I nearly gave up, but I'm glad I didn't.
A Great 60's Website
If you're into the Sixties, there's a great website that desreves to be visited. It's The Offical 60's Site and it's jam-packed with info on everything Sixties from the marvellous music of the time to the social and cultural changes that marked the era.
There's just so much to see and hear. Log-on to http://the60sofficialsite.com
and I'm sure you'll go back and back again. Webmaster Carl Hoffman has done a wonderful job, the site truly deserving to be the biggest and best Sixties site on the web.
Teasers from the book...
...the atmosphere in the compact basement club is
congenial and lively, the beat boom, boom, booming,
as Stuart waits patiently in line at the refreshment bar,
half listening to the music, half watching the soundless
images on the small television screen on the wall behind
the counter.
‘That looks dramatic,' says Stuart, pointing to the
screen where a News Flash message appears. The woman
behind the counter turns up the sound.
‘...shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade
in Dallas,' informs the newscaster. ‘First reports say that
President Kennedy has been seriously wounded...'
‘Christ!' exclaims Stuart, turning away and making
his way back through the dancing crowd towards his
companions.
‘What? Shot? Is he dead?' asks Ronnie above the
raucous beat.
‘Don't know,' says Stuart. ‘Let's get back to the TV.'
He tells Chris and Ray the news, and a buzz of interest
is created close-by, the drama of the moment halting
dancers in mid-movement, curtailing conversations in
mid-sentence.
By now there's a small group concentrating on the
television report, straining above the cellar's hum to
hear the grim outcome, staring in stunned silence as the
dramatic scenario unfolds...
...‘I haven't told anyone this before, but I'd a really bad
time last year. Terrible nightmares about my parents'
deaths.'
‘Sorry to hear it.'
‘I'm OK now, but it was hell while it lasted. To be
honest, I was taking drugs and they were doing my head
in. Surely you must have noticed my behaviour?'
‘Well, you were sometimes acting odd, very aggressive
and morose at times. But I put that down as you just
being you,' chuckles Stuart.
‘What? Surly, selfish and awkward, eh?' Chris' eyes
sparkle beneath his bushy brows.
‘No. You know what I mean.'
‘Yeah. I know I wasn't a lot of fun to be with at times.
For that I apologise.' He takes a deep breath. Gives Stuart
a smile that says thanks for understanding, not passing
judgement.
‘In these nightmares I'd see the car crash and the
bodies of Mum and Dad twisted in the wreckage. I'd
always try to rescue them, but I'd never quite be able
to reach them. I'd wake up soaked in sweat, gasping for
air.'...
...the evening news announces that 21-year-old
Cochran died at around 4pm, sixteen hours after the
crash. His fiancee has back injuries, and Vincent has a
fractured collar bone. Both will recover.
Ray sits on the edge of his bed, staring at the wall.
Unable to fully comprehend why it's happening, he fi ghts
to prevent his eyes watering and his chest heaving. He's
dreading Mum or Dad coming in. Seeing him like this.
What will they say? Don't be so daft, crying over a dead
singer. Yes, that's what they'll say. They won't understand.
They'll think I'm a silly, empty-headed child.
Never met Cochran or seen him live, but it's like an
older brother or close friend has vanished from his world.
Sees him performing Twenty Flight Rock in the film Th e
Girl Can't Help It and is mesmerised by the slick, good-
looking guy who makes plucking a guitar look like the
sexiest thing on earth. Watching him on television earlier
in the year on Boy Meets Girl and later hearing him on
radio's Parade Of The Pops and Saturday Club are other
highlights that shine in his mind.
Cochran's music is exciting. Stirring. Brightens up
the greyness. The lyrics lodge in his brain and taste good
in the mouth when he sings them aloud in the sanctuary
of his room.
...‘I feel wonderful. I'm so happy' whispers Maureen,
snuggling up against Stuart, the contours of her body
deliciously soft and sensual against his.
The Holly look-alike whispers close to the mike, ‘Let
me hear you say the words I want to hear'.
‘I love you so much,' purrs Maureen.
‘Love you too. You sexy thing,' says Stuart.
Stuart surveys the shape of Maureen's lips, the curve
of her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes. Her hair has been
cut short and it emphasises the beauty of her face.
Tingling at the feel of her body, Stuart feels her
warm breath caressing his face. Her arms drape across his
shoulders and her lips. glossy and sparkling, tantalise and
tease. Both are switched on to the electricity of love...
...a young, well-built student, shirt-sleeves rolled
up above his elbows, his long, fair hair flapping across
his face as he runs towards the massive tank, raises the
wooden chair leg and lets out a high-pitched scream.
Quickening his stride, he feels his heart pounding.
Beads of sweat trickle down from his forehead and sting
his eyes.
A few more yards and he's beside the killing machine,
climbing on to its front and, using the long gun barrel,
climbing towards the turret where the soldier, the same
age as him, is waiting, his finger on the trigger of his
pistol.
The protestor lunges at the soldier, but before the
chair leg has even begun its downward arc two sharp
cracks fill the air, two bright crimson circles staining the
front of the student's white shirt as he thuds against the
metal and crashes to the ground in an ungainly heap, one
shoe torn from its foot, one arm bent grotesquely beneath
him, the other still tightly gripping the chair leg...
Copyright 2009 David Soulsby
