Mark Stanway: Close To The Mark

Keyboard player’s autobiography hits plenty of bum notes.

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In a career that includes cameos with Phil Lynott, Robert Plant and Bernie Marsden, among others, Magnum’s long-serving keyboard player has accumulated more than his fair share of road tales, many of which are related in this self-published autobiography.

Many, including those collected in the company of Ozzy Osbourne and UFO, are very funny. The book’s conversational tone works fine, although Stanway’s habit of placing inverted commas around song titles, band names, musicians, recording studios, breeds of fish and even tour managers is annoying; equally so is that sometimes he doesn’t, and the inconsistency grates.

These 134 pages are also littered with spelling errors. Having said that, the errors and inconsistencies don’t completely strangle Stanway’s ability to entertain.

Classic Rock 214: Stuff

Dave Ling

Dave Ling was a co-founder of Classic Rock magazine. His words have appeared in a variety of music publications, including RAW, Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Prog, Rock Candy, Fireworks and Sounds. Dave’s life was shaped in 1974 through the purchase of a copy of Sweet’s album ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’, along with early gig experiences from Status Quo, Rush, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Yes and Queen. As a lifelong season ticket holder of Crystal Palace FC, he is completely incapable of uttering the word ‘Br***ton’.