Fried & Justified: Hits. Myths. Break Ups And Breakdowns In The Record Business 1978-98 Paperback Music Book by Mick Houghton 2019

A candid frontline account of an illustrious gonzo career as an independent music publicist during the post-punk heyday of the 80s and 90s, featuring an introduction by Bill Drummond and new cover artwork by Jimmy Cauty.

An entertaining memoir recalls twenty heady years at the centre of the British music business. ― Financial Times

Excellent . . . Remind[s] us that the best pop culture often comes together thanks to accidental, passionate heroes, standing out against the crowd in the most brilliant way. -- Jude Rogers ― New Statesman

As a publicist, Houghton found himself uniquely placed as both an insider and outsider, watching acts morph from bright young things to industry deities to burn-outs and back to being creative again. Such trajectories involved brilliance, stupidity, ambition, dysfunction, madness, love, hate, sex, alcohol, drugs, bust-ups - and gigantic egos. It's all here in gory backstage detail . . . Fried and Justified sheds light on a bygone industry that, although flawed, occasionally nurtured genuine misfit-creatives -- Barbara Ellen ― Observer

Houghton's unfussy affection for his charges makes it a celebration of life on the musical margins rather than a compendium of gossip . . . As parallel histories of the UK alternative scene go, this one leaves them all behind. -- Jim Wirth ― Uncut