ESPEDAIR STREET was published in 1987.
“Two days ago, I decided to kill myself... last night I changed my mind and decided to stay alive. Everything that follows is... just to try and explain.”
Daniel Weir used to be an infamous rockstar. Maybe he still is.
At thirty-one he has been both a brilliant failure and a dull success. His friends all seem to be dead, fed up with him or just disgusted - and who can blame them? As he contemplates his life, Daniel realises he only has two problems: the past and the future. He knows how bad the past has been. But the future - well, the future is something else.
Iain on the ‘r’ word...“The only research I did [for Espedair St] rests on my bookshelves - I bought the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles, and the one on Hit Albums, and the book of You’ll Never Be Sixteen Again, the BBC programme. The rest was just all done from what seemed reasonable to me, from the layperson’s knowledge of rock music and pop.
“The book is mostly set in the early Seventies and the music and even the embarrassing lyrics work in it because they are of that time. I know all those tunes, and though I have no musical skills at all I can imagine every riff in my head.”
Back in 1995, actor and author John Gordon Sinclair said, “The novel turned out to be even better than I expected - there’s a character in it called Danny Weir who kind of reflects on his life in the rock business. He’s a slightly awkward, gawky guy from Glasgow who starts playing in a band and they become quite successful. It’s a kind of rock biopic. It’s a great story and the character really appeals. If they ever made a film of it, I’d quite like to play Danny Weir.”