A Book and a Chat with Nemo James

Derek Newark aka Nemo James is my guest on today’s “A Book and a Chat” on whitch he not only shared about his great book “Just a Few Seconds” but also some of his own songs.

Nemo, dreamt of becoming a professional musician from the first time he “picked up” a guitar following a talent content disaster, where he didn’t even get on the stage.
Thought of by his friends as being the person most likely to make the big time he turned professional but was continually side tracked by the need to earn a living from music. This included such of shoots as becoming a professional squash player.
As Nemo shared with us during the show, his journey took him all over the world from private gigs for the rich and famous to some of London’s roughest pubs where the guitar can be as much for defense as for playing.

He started in the late sixties when heavy rock was born, even turning down a chance to join some newly formed band called Genesis, through to the 1980’s and 90’s when discos and electronics decimated live music dance halls.

Even the name he chose was not without it story…

Why not use Nemo. That was your grandfather’s nickname.” Grandfather Nemo was a real character who died long before I was born. He basically “sold the family jewelry” and asked nothing more from life than anonymity and playing cards at whist drives. Nemo is Latin for “no one” so he always used that when signing on at whist drives. I loved the name, but was still stuck for a surname; when suddenly the name “James” came into my head, despite not knowing anyone called James, so there was no reason why I should have thought of it. Then a couple of weeks later my dad said out of the blue “Do you know your grandfather was one of 9 children and the eldest was called James … and he was poet.”

About “Just a Few Seconds”

Just A Few Seconds is a story of one man’s experience in the music business. It is an amusing and true story of a successful freelance musician whose gigs ranged from private parties to the very rich and famous to the roughest London pubs where playing the wrong song at the wrong time meant the difference between life and death. He takes more twists, turns and knocks than a mouse trapped in a pinball machine but the ending shows how the road to success can lead us down the strangest and most desolate of paths. If you are looking for the usual rock star memoirs full of sex drugs and rock and roll then this book is not for you, but if you are interested in a unique insight into the music business that reads like a thriller then this book won’t disappoint.

If the stories we heard on the show are just a sprinkling of what are in the book then I’m sure it’s a read many will enjoy.

So listen now and share an interesting and entertaining show as I spend thirty minutes sharing "A Book and a Chat with Nemo James".

Links to Songs:

A Woman Unknown

The Poet

Barry

Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Nemo James

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Nemo James"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Nemo James - Just a Few Seconds"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

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