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Book
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9783955752613
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$23.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 7/3/2026
Paperback, illustrated. 320-pages. The lyrical world of Dan Treacy's band, the Television Personalities, is a parallel universe, where flamboyant Sixties references collide with bleak kitchen sink dramas, where incisive social commentary rubs shoulders with raw anxiety and romance. Audiences encounter Syd Barrett and Salvador Dalí and David Hockney -- but you'll also face abusive husbands, profound loneliness, and depression. Entering this world is like taking a psychedelic holiday: you can never be sure if it will be hilarious or frightening. As constants these lyrics are captivating, entertaining, and aching beauty -- a quality that has maintained their global audience even years after their last proper record. If I Could Write Poetry, for the first time, gathers the lyrics to 100 of Treacy's essential songs. More than just a lyric collection, it features deeply personal takes, anecdotes, and appreciations from around 50 musicians, friends, and followers. The selection spans Treacy's career, from his sarcastic late '70s observations from his London Kings Road home (including the John Peel favorite, "Part Time Punks") to the painfully honest self-observations of the group's late period ("A Memory Is Better Than Nothing"). You'll find early TVPs-drummer and Hollywood actor Mark Sheppard labeling Treacy "a working class poet," Evan Dando (The Lemonheads) calling him "the funniest motherfucker I ever met," and Stuart Staples (Tindersticks) writing about how the TV Personalities provided the soundtrack to the grim early '80s UK. Told through a multitude of individual perspectives, these contributions accumulate into a fragmented history of Britain's unredeemed songwriting promise. Though lauded by Alan McGee, praised by MGMT, and acknowledged by Kurt Cobain, Daniel Treacy never received the widespread recognition he deserved. This book offers an unprecedented look into his genius, helping the reader to understand the unique artistry and tragic trajectory of one of pop's greatest cult heroes. The editor, Gregor Kessler, began writing about music in his late teens. After a twelve-year detour as an editor for the Financial Times (German edition), he now dedicates his spare time to writing. Any claim of professional neutrality regarding the Television Personalities is hard to maintain: he previously translated Benjamin Berton's band history, Dreamworld, and has been a devoted listener of TVPs records for nearly four decades.
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