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Growing Out of It

Machinations Before Madness

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Growing Out of It

By: Lee Thompson, Ian Snowball, Martin Freeman - foreword
Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
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About this listen

Whether flying across a screen or lighting up the stage, Madness's wild, energetic sax player has always been hard to miss.

For Lee "Kix" Thompson, life is about having fun - even when times are tough. Growing Out of It is the tale of one "nutty boy" not really growing out of it at all. From getting up to no good as a teenager to his many musical (mis)adventures in the 1970s, Lee's memoir of his formative years captures his enduring love for his north London stomping ground, where he first met the other members of Madness.

This is a story of growing up in a certain time and place when anything felt possible, even a bunch of north London lads forming a ska revival band - and becoming one of Britain's best-loved groups.

©2021 Omnibus Press (P)2021 Tantor Entertainment & Celebrities Celebrity England
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it's hard to pick your favourite member of Madness but one saxophone playing short arse embodies the name of the band more than the other.
You can't help liking the fella, he's great on stage and a brilliant song writer.
I really like the way this book was put together, instead of telling you what other people said about him, those people actually contribute their own thoughts throughout the book.
I prefer audio books to be read by the author, this one isn't, hence the dropped point for performance. It was well read though & this rating isn't suggesting the audio performance was bad.
I loved the book, I wish I could read it for the first time again, then again, I'm starting to forget stuff in my old age anyway, so I can probably read it again next year.

I'll promise you a gift

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Do you ever feel a book could go on another five hours. ? Well that’s what I felt about this one. Good book but more about him growing up than in madness. Would still recommend

Lee

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I loved this. My late partner was a huge Madness fan and therefore I got to hear more of their songs than when I was young just hearing the ones on the radio. I always liked the songs when I heard them and they stood out, even a young kid. But when I got to hear them when older and the whole albums as well as seeing them live (as well as Crunch), I had more appreciation for them. I was watching a random YouTube Crunch video and always thought Lee to be an interesting character, so I got his audiobook and wasn’t disappointed. It’s nice to hear the story behind the man and the music but also bringing back that sense of (seemingly) simpler times of the 70’s/80’s when I was kid so made me nostalgic. I hope there’s a second book.

Great story and narration

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