I Was There
Dispatches from a Life in Rock and Roll

Quotes

'Entertaining and philosophical . . . [Told with] diplomacy, wit and a well-honed instinct for storytelling . . . Offers a consistently informative guide to how the publicity business has changed over the decades'

'Hugely entertaining . . . Edwards brings out the wild, bizarre side of his working life and the book is littered with oddballs, from the egomaniac Robert Maxwell to the eccentric Prince . . . The strength of the book . . . are the quirky stories and reminiscences, few funnier than the one about Keith Moon and an office desk'

'Incredible'

'Deliciously candid . . . Extraordinary'

'A master of page-turning readability . . . an insider's view of operating inside the world of David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Paul McCartney and a gaggle of A+ listers'

‘A giddy, gleeful ride through five decades of working with some of the biggest names on the planet’

‘An entertaining, gossipy memoir . . . As publicist for several of the biggest artists of the age, Edwards had a ringside seat for all manner of cultural highlights . . . His book offers a fascinating glimpse into the tricks of the trade and why smart PR can deliver success'

'A fascinating alternative angle on the music scene, chronicling the birth of modern PR with plenty of behind the scenes access to acts he’s worked with over the years . . . With a cast of characters that runs the gamut from Hugh Cornwell to Hugo Chávez, I Was There is loaded with showbiz anecdotes with characters from his impressive rolodex of household names . . . Strongly recommended'

‘Alan wasn’t just there, he was everywhere, as immersed in the world of rock as any of the bold-face names he represented. From glam to punk, from Bowie to Jagger, from small clubs and sweaty pubs to stadiums and enormodomes, Alan saw it all… and wrote it all down. A brilliant book by a brilliant man’

‘Great publicists are born to the job, it's a calling that's ingrained from birth. Alan Edwards has worked for the world's biggest music stars – from Amy Winehouse and Bowie to the Spice Girls, the Sex Pistols and the Who. How he's remained balanced and sane amazes me. He's the best in the business … For anyone interested in the workings of the media and celebrity, from the 70s to today, this book is a must-read’