Friday Night Fever Steve Hill

Friday Night Fever: Inside the Cult of Half Man Half Biscuit by Steve Hill

Route Publishing

Out Now

Buy Here

Half Man Half Biscuit occupy a unique place in British culture. Existing largely outside the music business, this idiosyncratic Birkenhead band has flown under the radar for over four decades. Without embarking on anything that could realistically be described as a tour, they have nevertheless garnered an army of adoring followers. This is one fan’s story.

Although released back in June, I’d been holding back on Steve Hill’s Friday Night Fever. It’s a book I’d been looking forward to, preordering some months ago directly from Route, however, I wanted to savour it and not rush read to review, thus waiting for a well-earned holiday in the sun. What better to read on the sun-kissed beaches of Croatia than a book looking into the cult surrounding the four lads that shook the Wirral?

Whilst never being an obsessive, I have always enjoyed Half Man Half Biscuit’s releases as they’ve arrived over the years, first seeing them on Whistle Test in 1986 performing Trumpton Riots and All I Want for Christmas Is a Dukla Prague Away Kit then buying the debut EP soon after. What appealed to me about Friday Night Fever though wasn’t just the band element, but also the ‘fandom’. There are similarities (and cross over to a degree) with bands such as The Wedding Present and The Fall, with fans, in this case Biscuiteers, absolutely devoted and arranging their lives around their beloved (the band, not necessarily always their family). Whilst not a definitive band history, Hill does touch on elements in a non-chronological manner, with some of the key moments of the groups history, line-up changes, key personnel and snippets of interviews as and when required. Members of the band play make cameos in the story, Nigel Blackwell often appearing via email correspondence with the author, often swapping slightly cryptic football facts, or fleeting exchanges in pubs and pizza shops.

The premise of the book is Hill, following on from 2018’s The Card, Every Match Every Game and 2020’s Wall of Sport: My Descent Into Multiscreen Madness, where he has documented similar (niche?) projects, post pandemic, follows the legendary Half Man Half Biscuit over 25 gigs. Hill details the journey to the gigs, the meetings of like-minded fans, many of whom who we learn more of throughout such as Tony from Bury (who lives in Warwickshire), The King of Hi Vis and The Watford Gap. Hill provides an engaging insight into the pre-gig rituals, made all more interesting by his contemporarily found infamy in Biscuit circles following dalliances with The Guardian having written the piece, ‘And then a fan’s ashes were scattered on stage! My night out with Half Man Half Biscuit’s fanatical followers’ in 2022. In a similar way that Blackwell’s songs have referred to popular culture and utilise familiar ‘trad arr’ tunes since the earliest recordings, Hill displays his influences and encyclopaedic knowledge of the same throughout with anecdotes or payoffs that will make the reader smile or nod with approval, for example, ‘As for the monkey: current whereabouts unknown, probably gone to heaven.’

He recounts the gigs themselves, including full set lists and any post gig shenanigans… before often travelling to watch his beloved Chester City the following day. The inclusion of the set lists, could potentially get repetitive, however actually serve to remind you how many songs the band have recorded over the years (more than The Beatles apparently) and also demonstrates the bands willingness to regularly dip into their back catalogue, frequently mixing things up, and as Hill notes giving fan favourites an airing, often many years after the last appearance. It’s customary for the band to also throw on a cover version as the penultimate track of their lengthy performances. Artists such as Joy Division, Magazine, Camper Van Beethoven and Killing Joke amongst them… I must warn you that this may lead you to disappearing down a YouTube rabbit hole… although their version of Ceremony is worth a look…

Reading the book a couple of gigs, or chapters, at a time it allowed the opportunity to also evisit the bands back catalogue, mainly mirroring the albums the author mentioned he was listening to as he set off for various (busy little market) towns and cities…

Friday Night Fever is a great read, with a great accompanying soundtrack, and one that deserves to be high in rapidly approaching end of year ‘best of’ lists…

~

All words by Iain Key. See his author profile here or find him via his LinkTree