Gutter Black

Book excerpt: An intimate, raw memoir by a founding member of one of NZ's iconic rock bands, Hello Sailor; a tale of creativity, misadventure, success and excess. It was like David and Goliath. Only Goliath wasn't about to be blown away, and David was stoned. Dave McArtney's description of Hello Sailor's campaign to conquer the American music scene is as funny as it is accurate. In this long-awaited memoir, completed just weeks before his untimely death, Dave gives the reader an access-all-areas pass to the life of a working rock'n'roll musician. From the band's earliest days at the notorious 'Mandrax Mansion' in 1970s Ponsonby, to becoming the biggest band in the land and then taking on the world, Gutter Black is a story of music, mateship (Mandrax) and a good deal of madness. It is also the memoir of a uniquely creative musician, who went on to further success with his band the Pink Flamingos, and a very personal story of love, family and facing one's own mortality. Complete with previously unpublished photographs and band memorabilia, Gutter Black is the definitive account of the man, the bands and the music that rocked a nation