I Love Being Me – Jeff “Stinky” Turner Review Oct 26 ***

In case you didn’t know, Jeff “Stinky” Turner is the singer and face of the Cockney Rejects, the lovable Oi band behind the magical Flares & Slippers and Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2, and, for me, a song the equal of any punk tune: “I’m Not A Fool”. People talk about Eater being young, but Stinky was just 14 when he formed the band as lead singer and 15 when on Top Of The Pops.

This is his second volume, following the popular Cockney Reject, which, mind-bogglingly, has a foreword by Morrissey, who is a fan. It’s not a long book, at around 140 pages, but it’s entertaining, and Jeff’s engaging personality comes through in the writing by Guy Shankland.

The other thing I have to mention is the illustrations. There are loads of them, done in the style of Ralph Steadman’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas style by Tadeus Blower, and they are frickin’ brilliant. They capture the text perfectly, and every time I turned a page and saw one, I pissed myself laughing. A real bonus.

Stinky is East End through and through, from the boxing and Canning Town to his love of West Ham, his strict code of loyalty and pride, and his fierce anti-racist streak. He’s also unflinchingly honest, and the book does what it says on the tin: he explains everything that happened to him and the Rejects (and West Ham 😊).

It’s a depressing takeaway, but the key quote is “If you want loyalty, get a dog”, as band and family members all fall short. It’s part redemption story, part the mundane side of rock ’n’ roll: you’ve still got the performing bug some 50 years later, but it doesn’t pay enough to live on, and when you add in kids, divorce, jobs and personal problems, it’s simply life and survival.

It’s also another reminder of how bad the record business is (or was). The Cockney Rejects got nothing back from hit singles and albums and don’t own their music, while third parties buy and sell it like shares and release whatever they want. It’s a common theme for bands that found success, whether the Ruts, Skids or Penetration.

This is his side of why the Rejects are where they are now: like a football team made up of players from other bands (who seem to be in constant transfer), which is again common among the punk bands still surviving from the late seventies and early eighties. The Rejects are now Olga (Toy Dolls) on guitar, JJ Kaos (Last Resort, Anti-Nowhere League) on bass, and Ray Dust (The Business, Argy Bargy) on drums.

I can’t imagine anyone but Rejects fans being interested in this, and at a hefty £25 it’s not cheap, but if you end up with a copy, it won’t be a disappointing read.

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