Sour Mouth, Sweet Bottom: Lessons from a Dissolute Life

What does one do when one’s only objectives in life are to listen to music, eat with friends, get drunk, have sex, and just think? Become a rock manager, of course. Born in England in 1939, Napier-Bell left school at 17 to become a musician but soon made his mark as a songwriter. He co-wrote the lyrics for Dusty Springfield’s hit song “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me,” which led to rock-band management (for the Yardbirds, Wham!, Sinead O’Connor, and others) and eventually music production. Though he shares anecdotes about the bands and people he has met (Tina Turner finding a caterpillar in her au gratin, getting stoned with Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk), this is more about the ups and downs of Napier-Bell’s own rather (in his words) “dissolute life” and his travels around the world, fine food, sex, bankruptcies, and being gay in the UK in the mid-20th century. Napier-Bell demonstrates British flair, often funny and sometimes snarky. Now in his eighties, he’s been around the music business block a few times and seen it all.