Tim Burgess @ North

Tim Burgess, frontman of The Charlatans, solo artist, record label owner, and all round wonderful person was in Norwich’s North bar yesterday for the first date of his Vinyl Adventures from Istanbul to San Francisco book tour.

Burgess is best known for fronting psychedelic-rock Madchester scene band The Charlatans. The band have an impressive discography of 12 studio albums and several UK-charting singles, including The Only One I Know, How High and Love Is the Key. Burgess has also released two solo albums and on top of this is the curator of O Genesis record label founded in 2011. He also, importantly, has his own coffee brand – Tim Peaks Coffee.

But Monday was about the release of his’ second book. The first book, his autobiography Telling Stories was published in 2012. Tim Book Two (note the pun) is the follow up to his hugely successful memoir, describing his lifelong passion for vinyl and the shops that sell them. Instead of an autobiography, Vinyl Adventures from Istanbul to San Francisco takes an interesting journey whereby Tim goes on a quest to purchase records recommended by people close to him, offering an understanding into what makes them tick. Tim Book Two features an impressive assemblage of characters, from The Smiths’ Johnny Marr to Big John who Burgess explains is ‘always seen head-banging at the front of any gig in Bristol, even acoustics’ before continuing to explain how music is Big John’s way of communicating, how music breaks down his social-awkwardness, and how music just ‘gets him’. In his book, he replicates this for all his characters, explaining how music can give an indirect insight right into the heart of someone’s life.

North, the new sister to Frank’s Bar, located off Fye Bridge, was the location for the talk. We were led through the chilled-vibed bar to the quirky outside courtyard where the eager eyes of dozens of Burgess fans glimmered as they saw the man himself. Interviewed by Luke Turner (The Quietus magazine), Tim shyly read out loud a couple of passages from his book and explained his lifelong passion for record shops; he even gave a cheeky shout out to his favourite Norwich record shops – Soundclash and Circular Sound. Tim easily connected with the crowd, giving warm gazes and smiles - we all felt like his personal friends by the end of the evening.

Halfway through the talk, Burgess and Luke were joined by the industrial music duo Chris & Cosey (now performing as Carter Tutti), both previously members of Throbbing Gristle. Being close friends of Burgess, they gave their vinyl recommendations for Tim to hunt down and listen to from start to finish. Chris Carter chose ABBA Gold, which generated a giggle from the audience before he began to explain how ABBA’s music was simply uplifting like no other. Cosey Fanni Tutti recommended Love's Forever Changes and told the audience how the album came into her life at an important time, after she was thrown out of her family home when she was deeply in love, and how she liked to listen to the album stoned whilst the trumpets kept everything grounded.

At the end of the session, questions were asked from the audience. Various queries sparked interesting debates, including how music streaming may-or-may-not have ruined the music business, and how difficult it is for new bands to be heard nowadays with so much surrounding sound to get through to be exposed.

Overall, the evening was relaxed, warm and friendly, and left me feeling extremely inspired to hunt around Norwich’s record shops, discovering hidden gems and new bands. I’ll also definitely pay another visit to North in the near future.