Another music autobiography that was purchased, for the most part, on the back of reading some very favourable review, but also because I hoped to learn a great deal more about the Cocteau Twins.
The PR blurb for the book, which was published in September 2024, has been heavily used on the various websites from where it can be published, and I’m not going to buck the trend:-
“The page-turning memoir of Cocteau Twins’ Simon Raymonde, charting his life and legacy in music. As one-third of seminal band Cocteau Twins, Simon Raymonde helped to create some of the most beautiful and memorable albums of the ’80s and ’90s – music that continues to cast a spell over millions. This is the story of the band, in his words.
Beginning with Simon’s remarkable childhood and exploring his relationship with his father, Ivor Raymonde (the legendary producer, musician and arranger for acts such as the Walker Brothers and songwriter for artists including Dusty Springfield), the book will journey through the musician’s rise to prominence and his time with Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil.
It will also chart the successful career he has forged running his own label, Bella Union, for the past twenty-seven years, discovering and developing globally renowned artists like Beach House, Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty and John Grant.
And the narrative will lead us back to the present day, reflecting on Simon’s most recent experiences in the music industry – all while going deaf in one ear.
A must-read for music fans, this is the incredible tale of Simon’s life and legacy.”
It really is the case that the 368 pages of text contain some incredible tales, from all aspects of Simon’s life, with quite a few of them being genuinely jaw-dropping. I have, however, got to get something off my chest right away before getting into the meat of this review, namely that some of the stories/events/happenings feel as if they should be taken with a huge pinch of salt – I am particularly thinking of him attending a football match in Glasgow in the mid 80s and his night in a Las Vegas casino in 1991, along with the events over the next 24 hours as he made his way unaccompanied to the band’s next gig in Phoenix.
These, and a couple of other passages irritated me more than they should have, and put me in such a mood that I almost put the book to one side, vowing never to pick it up again. But I persisted, often returning a day or two later after in the meantime read some pages of another book that was on the beside table or spent my daylight hours listening to music or blogging, and am really grateful that I did, but not for the reasons I was anticipating.
The PR blurb is, as is often the case, a tad misleading as ‘In One Ear’ is not the story of the Cocteau Twins, and at no point does Simon ever claim it is meant to be. He is at pains to point out that he wasn’t involved in the formation of the band, and more than once reminds readers that, due to him being heavily involved with the work of This Mortal Coil, he wasn’t part of the recording of Victorialand, the Cocteau Twins’ fourth studio album, released in 1986. He is very discreet about a number of things, not willing to going into great detail about things which were pertinent only to Elizabeth Frazer and Robin Guthrie, but he reveals just enough about life in the studio, on tour and dealing with the various aspects of the record industry to make that part of the book a fast-flowing and entertaining read.
I kind of got bogged down a bit with much of the Bella Union story, mainly as it’s a label whose acts have never really been among my favourites. Over the years, I have paid attention to ‘end of year’ lists and gone out and bought CDs by the likes of Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty, Midlake and John Grant, only to find that they end up gathering dust up on the shelves after one or two listens. But I am clearly in a minority given that the label, founded in 1997 and initially intended as a vehicle for Cocteau Twins releases after the group’s unhappy time with Fontana, is very much still on the go all these years later, bringing a great deal of pleasure to millions of music fans all over the globe.
The book’s greatest strength, I feel, is when Simon veers away from the shenanigans of the music industry and writes about himself and his family, and in particular his relationship with his parents. There is a superb 40-page interlude in the second half of the book which is devoted to telling the story of his father, Ivor Raymonde, a famous musician, songwriter and arranger back in the 60s and 70s. I knew Ivor was famed for his work with Dusty Springfield, but had no idea he was involved in the work and successes of many others from the era, including Joe Meek, Scott Walker and Marty Wilde, among others. Ivor would pass away in 1990, at the young age of 63, and many years later his son would pay tribute by compiling and issuing two volumes of songs on Bella Union.
The closing chapters reintroduce his mother, who for the most part has been a peripheral figure in the book, with Simon admitting they were never close when he was growing up. It took until her later years for them to really form a happy relationship, and the most moving parts of the book come with his description of her final few months of life. This was another occasion when I had to put the book down, but not for the previously cited reasons.
As these types of books go, there aren’t too many examples of name-dropping within the actual text, but it is very clear that Simon has met an incredible number of people throughout his life to whom he is grateful. There is possibly the most-packed acknowledgements section at the end I’ve ever come across, which runs to four-and-a-half tightly spaced pages with what must be some 500 people mentioned, all of whom he says has at one time left a lasting impression on him, even if they had no idea why.
Overall impressions? A more than decent read, let down by what feels like the occasional flight of fantasy; but then again, very few, if any, autobiographies ever offer up a straightforward and totally truthful account of events, so I shouldn’t be too harsh.
mp3: Cocteau Twins – Frou-Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires
The closing track on Heaven or Las Vegas (1990), with the book revealing that Simon wrote the music the day after his dad’s funeral, having come into the studio early as he couldn’t sleep.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Hmmm, as Cocteau Twins are among all time favourite bands just by reading the title of this blog post I had decided to purchase the book. Then reading your review, I’m less sure…
Bella Union has, however I would say, released some great albums/artists like rather recently Miki Berenyi Trio, and acts like 2:54, Beach House, Lydia Ainsworth, I Break Horses (among others) – that I think would have potential of getting some love also in the Villain Towers