I Was There cover art

I Was There

Dispatches from a Life in Rock and Roll

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

I Was There

By: Alan Edwards
Narrated by: Alan Edwards
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

 A TELEGRAPH AND LONDON STANDARD BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024

'Alan is such a wonderful storyteller' Debbie Harry

'If you love music, you should definitely read this book' Nihal Arthanayake, BBC Radio 5 Live

'Alan Edwards is a class act: observant, attentive, always in the right place at the right time. I Was There tells you how' Jon Savage

'A beautiful, warm, jaw-dropping, once-in-a-lifetime, lifting-the-stone guide to a secret world . . . I loved it' Tony Parsons

'Revelatory' Will Hodgkinson, The Times

'Gossipy, insightful and a whole lot of fun' Neil McCormick, Daily Telegraph

'An absorbing read . . . Raw, warm and packed with incident' Barbara Ellen, Observer

Alan Edwards, the godfather of British music PR, has worked with some of the most legendary artists of our time, from David Bowie to the Spice Girls via the Rolling Stones, the Stranglers, Prince and Amy Winehouse.

In I Was There, he describes getting his break in the mid-'70s as a scruffy, stoned 20-year-old just back from the hippie trail; his encounter with London's thriving punk scene, which inspired him to set up his own PR company; broadening his horizons as his work with the likes of Blondie takes him to the US and beyond; and his move into the world of pop with the Spice Girls during the tabloid-crazed '90s.

At the centre of this story sits the defining relationship of Edwards' career: his close, thirty-year collaboration with David Bowie. He guides us through a series of vivid, funny, always insightful behind-the-scenes reports, whether he's playing a spontaneous game of football with Bob Marley, listening to Prince discuss the future of civilisation in a nightclub VIP area, or being used as a pawn in the power struggle between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Above all, we're treated to Edwards' fascinating observations about the brilliant artists he has worked with and what makes them tick, as he looks back on his role in the last five decades of music and culture. Entertainment & Celebrities Music Funny Inspiring Sports

Critic reviews

'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' (Neil McCormick)
'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' (Martin Chilton)
'Incredible' (Sarah Tetteh)
'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' (John Aizlewood)
‘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’ (Dylan Jones)
‘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’ (Roger Daltrey)
‘A beautiful, warm, jaw-dropping, once-in-a-lifetime, lifting-the-stone guide to a secret world … Edwards is an endlessly charming and gently amused companion as he reveals the truth about that lost time when the music was an embarrassment of riches. I loved it. And if the music ever mattered a damn to you, then you will love it too’ (Tony Parsons)
‘The UK music industry from the 1970s to today. Alan was there and he has receipts. Frank, fascinating and funny’ (John Niven)
‘Alan is a master of intrigue and suspense . . . An absorbing read’ (Hugh Cornwell)
All stars
Most relevant
loved the insight into the world of rock and pop from a time when music meant more than just making money

great memoir and stories of the music scene

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So extraordinary the incredible life and stress load that alen has taken on in his life to constantly bubble up and be over 20 years the number one go to PR press and then management. I had a similar life journey in the Music business so it was fascinating hearing when our paws crossed all the details about the stars that characters their personalities and the way that they handle their care careers. Also, the astonishing childishness and egocentric paranoia that a lot of the stars had.
There wasn’t a single star really but alen hasn’t interacted with From punk to Clinton in the White House! With all that’s happened stress wise on alen’s plate I hope he now has put his feet up in his playing because if this was my life, I would’ve had a heart attack one now!!
What a legend alen hope to meet you one day ! Jon X crosse

Fascinating insight into the music business and stars

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’m a bit of a music nerd so was interested to hear some behind the scenes stories.

The book seemed like an honest account.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Genuinely brilliant book by a brilliant genuine bloke. He deserves everything that happened to him in what has been an amazing life!

Superb

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fascinating in every way. Being of similar age and being present from a much greater distance to the events Alan relates, this sharing book brings a sparkling new dimension to real life.

His very open insights show a man whose passion who navigated a succession of genres and the iconic people who brought them to life. Just interesting, engaging and the way things are. Even the lawyers have not stopped it from being a great listen.

Highly recommended.

Now I was there too

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews