Bedsit Disco Queen.

Ah, another memoir by a female musician! 

This time it's Tracey Thorn who is best known as being one half of Everything But The Girl, a British jazz/pop duo who were immensely popular in the 1980's.

Like most English teenagers, Tracey was a huge fan of popular music from an early age but it was punk and it's do it yourself ethos that encouraged her to buy her first guitar and form her first all female band, The Marine Girls, who had a moderate amount of success.

On her first day at University she meets another musician, Ben Watt, who would become the other half of EBTG and her future husband.

Bedsit Disco Queen captures the essence of the lifestyle of English youth in the 1980's very well and details what it took to become a pop star in the days before Pop Idol/XFactor etc. 

Tracey's personal style and her musical acts are unpretentious and unassuming and I found it extremely interesting that she managed to combine being a successful pop star and a student at the same time.

Of course it's not all plain sailing, being in a band with your romantic partner doesn't always make for the best of times. The couple are both somewhat naive when it comes to promoting themselves and their products, but it is inspiring how they maintain their relationship and develop their respective careers.

Tracey comes across as being down to earth and genuine. Her writing style is very personal and easy to read but although I found her to be likeable and her tale to be interesting there was something (I'm not quite sure what) missing, no pun intended, from the book. 

It took me a while to get through this as it didn't draw me in and I kept putting it aside, I finished it thinking that it was just too long. I don't regret reading it, it's very interesting and I like the overview of  the '80's lifestyle, politics and music but maybe it is better suited for fans of Tracey and EBTG.