Freaks Out!: Weirdos, Misfits and Deviants - The Rise and Fall of Righteous Rock 'n' Roll

Luke Haines' Freaks Out! A Manifesto for the Weird arrives with a bracingly exclusionary preamble: if you consider yourself a follower, salt of the earth, worthy, an ideologist, hedonist, bohemian, middlebrow, highbrow, dilettante, a 1970s middle school RE teacher, a member of the England football team, a litanist, gatekeeper, gamekeeper (or even a poacher!), or a curator – then this book, quite emphatically, is not for you. And while list-makers are similarly dismissed ("lists are for shoppers not rockers"), Haines makes it clear this isn't a list; it's a manifesto, and it's for the Freaks.

Musician and author Luke Haines embarks on a gloriously idiosyncratic odyssey through the ages, charting how the 'freaks' – the outsiders, the strange, the unconventional – managed to infiltrate modern culture and, for a fleeting moment, almost triumphed in the rock 'n' roll wars. He laments their eventual defeat, succumbing to the rise of Cool Britannia and the homogenising force of television 'talent' shows that commodified and ultimately ridiculed the very essence of freakdom.

In this passionate and unapologetic celebration of the wonderfully weird, Haines tells the stories of pivotal freaks through the lens of rock 'n' roll, shining a light on figures such as Johnnie Ray, Gene Vincent, Hank Marvin, the tragically brilliant Syd Barrett, the otherworldly Incredible String Band, and the pioneering Big Youth. Furthermore, Haines astutely connects these musical outliers to a broader historical lineage of freakdom, drawing parallels with groups like the Cathars, the Ranters, the Hells Angels, and the Yippies, demonstrating how the spirit of rebellion and otherness has manifested throughout history.

Part memoir, undoubtedly infused with Haines' own distinct brand of wry observation, and part outright manifesto, Freaks Out! is a righteous and compelling alternate history of rock 'n' roll. It's a rallying cry for the unconventional, a lament for a lost era of glorious oddity, and a fiercely intelligent and entertaining exploration of what it truly means to be a freak in a world that often demands conformity. If you've ever felt like an outsider, this book might just be for you, despite its initial warnings.