WINNER OF THE 2025 PENDERYN MUSIC BOOK PRIZE
Rough Trade Book of the Year
Uncut Book of the Year
Mojo Book of the Year
A Guardian Book of the Year
A Daily Mail Book of the Year
A Financial Times Book of the Year
A Resident Book of the Year
A Telegraph Book of the Year
A Daily Express Book of the Year
'Will has finally written his masterpiece. I'm glad I could be of assistance' LAWRENCE
Lawrence is the greatest pop star who never made it, his dreams of glory thwarted over the past five decades by bad luck and self-sabotage. At sixty-one, he set off on a new mission: to escape poverty, obscurity and the humiliation of kids at the bus stop laughing at him by writing a smash hit. But what is the cost of a dream?
In 1980, Lawrence formed Felt, releasing ten albums and ten singles in ten years. In 1991, he reinvented himself with novelty-pop outfit Denim. Signed to EMI, riding the wave of Britpop, in 1997, Denim's song 'Summer Smash' became Radio 1's Single of the Week and looked like a sure-fire hit. Then Princess Diana was killed in a car crash. All copies were melted down. Crushing depression, addiction and homelessness followed... but in the face of it all, Lawrence never gave up.
In Street-Level Superstar, bestselling author and journalist Will Hodgkinson follows Lawrence as he rebuilds his life. He gets mistaken for an old lady by an amorous pensioner, is reduced to dragging sacks of 2p coins to his local bank and wanders through London's distant suburbs in search of lyrical inspiration. As they walk together down rain-soaked streets, Will tells the story of Britain's most eccentric cult star. Will he write the greatest song the world has ever known before the year is out? And was it worth sacrificing everything - family, relationships, health, sanity - for art? Will Hodgkinson is author of the music books Guitar Man, Song Man, The Ballad of Britain and In Perfect Harmony. He is a regular contributor to the Guardian, Mojo and Vogue and presented the Sky Arts television series Songbook. Since 2010, he has been chief rock and pop critic for The Times. 'This book will make you laugh and cry - Lawrence is a monument to the power of Pop. The best and the worst of it. Essential reading' Jarvis Cocker
'Lawrence is the one true poet of austerity Britain and Will Hodgkinson's wonderful book captures the essence and strangeness of the man'
Bobby Gillespie
'There's success and there's failure but Lawrence's destiny was to be something uniquely in-between. A fascinating tale beautifully told' Brett Anderson
'Street-Level Superstar is a masterclass in self-sabotage from a connoisseur of 20th-century pop' Adelle Stripe
'Finally, Will has written his masterpiece. I'm glad I could be of service' Lawrence Lawrence is the greatest pop star who never made it, his dreams of glory thwarted over the past five decades by bad luck and self-sabotage. At sixty-one, he set off on a new mission: to escape poverty, obscurity and the humiliation of kids at the bus stop laughing at him by writing a smash hit. But what is the cost of a dream?
In 1980, Lawrence formed Felt, who released ten albums and ten singles in ten years before splitting up. In 1991, he reinvented himself with novelty-pop outfit Denim. Signed to EMI, riding the wave of Britpop, in 1997, Denim's song 'Summer Smash' became Radio 1's Single of the Week and looked like a sure-fire hit. Then Princess Diana was killed in a car crash. All copies were melted down. Crushing depression, addiction and homelessness followed... but in the face of it all, Lawrence never gave up.
In Street-Level Superstar, bestselling author and journalist Will Hodgkinson follows Lawrence as he rebuilds his life. He gets mistaken for an old lady by an amorous pensioner, is reduced to dragging sacks of 2p coins to his local bank and wanders through London's distant suburbs in search of lyrical inspiration. As they walk together down rain-soaked streets, Will tells the story of
