Signed by Alex Paterson!

Publication Date: 28th May 2021
ISBN: 9781787602335
Extent: 352 pages
Format: Paperback

Always steered by Alex Paterson, The Orb were the mischief-making pioneers of the late 80s acid house revolution. Inventing “ambient house”, they took it to the top of the charts, before continuing its idiosyncratic flight path through subsequent decades, battling meteor storms en route.  

Babble On An' Ting, the first full account of Paterson’s life, written by long-time friend Kris Needs in close collaboration with Alex, reveals a frequently astonishing journey from traumatic childhood through punk, Killing Joke and KLF to starting The Orb in 1988, then the five decade roller coaster that followed. Moving, shocking, hilarious and inspiring, at the heart of this story lies a true survivor doggedly following their musical passion.

First-hand interviews include those with Youth, Andrew Weatherall, Primal Scream, Jah Wobble, Jimmy Cauty and a parade of friends, collaborators and starship mechanics.  

Author Bio

Kris Needs is a British author and music journalist. He started writing for seminal monthly magazine Zigzag in the 70s, becoming editor for five years while writing for NME and Sounds.

He relocated to New York in the 80s, then became a DJ-producer on his UK return in 1990, boosted by his long-time friendship with Alex Paterson. Along with writing for major music magazines, he has written several books, including George Clinton & The Cosmic Odyssey Of The P-Funk Empire and Dream Baby Dream: Suicide: A New York Story (also for Omnibus Press), and most recently his acclaimed memoir Just A Shot Away: 1969 Revisited.