The unluckiest wannabe pop-star in the world? Not quite. Lawrence has got a back catalogue that’s well regarded and still available to purchase, he’s the subject of a very good documentary, countless articles and this book - i.e. more than enough for posterity to judge him, and, who knows, crown him King of White Indie. Finally ruling over those pesky pretenders Jarvis, Morrissey, Billy Childish and David (Comet Gain) Christian. Most people would be glad of the attention and acclaim but for Lawrence this has never been quite enough as he’s always had a desperate yearning to be a genuine old fashioned pop-star - you know the kind I mean, the kind who throws his designer jockey shorts away after one wear, has a super-model in every port and blows his nose on fifty quid notes. In Street-Level Superstar, Will Hodgkinson stalks and walks with “Glum Brum” Lawrence for a year to find out how all this effort not becoming a pop-star has affected him (not well). Which gives Hodgkinson plenty of scope to try and fill in the gaps of the Lawrence story and figure out the man behind the enigma. Where did he come from? How did he become the person he is? And what pushed him into the current labyrinth where being a pop-star is all that matters? There’s plenty for Lawrence fans to get their false teeth into in this great book as, seemingly, there’s little that’s off limits (not telling - read the book). And let’s give a big hand to the dogged and hugely patient Will Hodgkinson who survived a year with Lawrence and returned with this superbly written, touching and ingeniously organised book. Which, by its end, led me to the conclusion that I didn’t particularly ‘like’ Lawrence but, bloody hell, I sure did admire his pig-headed determination, profoundly odd world-view and ear for a great tune. As Will Hodgkinson puts it, “The world was one way and Lawrence was another and that, I couldn’t help but suspect, was how it was and how it would always be”. And, let’s not forget, anyone who can make the best album of the Britpop era, Back in Denim, at the very least deserves half a pot of gold at the end of pop’s rainbow

Street-Level Superstar (A Year with Lawrence) – Will Hodgkinson – publ. by Nine Eight Books £22.00

Steven Long