Book: Wayne Hussey- ‘Salad Daze’

My Love affair with The Mission started on the 1st April 1988 when the band visited Poole Arts Centre (now the Lighthouse) while on tour supporting the Children album. Their impressive guitar sound was big and their songs had such a depth to them that I was hooked from the start. That night the enigmatic frontman Wayne Hussey, with a bottle of Blue Nun in his hand; he climbed the speaker stack and scared the life out of the security, thrilling all his fans in the process. Since then any chance I got I went off to see The Mission at a host of places all over the UK including Wembley Arena, Sheffield Poly Fan Club Shindig, Reading Festival, Carlisle Sands Centre and I even did the whole UK leg of the “Carved In Sand” where most nights the band were kind enough to put me on their guest list.

Over the years there have been some decent publications released including the “Names Are For Tombstones Baby” and the excellent “At War With The Gods” by fellow Mission fan Alex Danielle. This month we finally get our hands on a book written by Wayne Hussey himself called “Salad Daze”. It’s a book that goes right back to the very start of Wayne’s life, explaining that despite hardships he had a very happy childhood growing up within a Mormon family. The book has been thoroughly researched; as even those of us with the best memory cannot remember everything and especially as Wayne used a host of mind-enhancing chemicals, his memory at times must have had plenty of gaps. He has gained lots of information from family, friends and fellow bandmates to get the story as accurate as possible.

The most interesting parts of the book are the stories of Wayne’s first taste of stardom when he joined Pete Burn’s Dead Or Alive. The most anticipated part is about his time in the Sisters Of Mercy, and here is where all the rumours are put to bed about the relationship between Wayne and Andrew Eldritch. Andrew is clearly a difficult person to get on with, but during their time together they certainly forged unusual chemistry and made some amazing music together. Andrew even said to Wayne after a Sisters gig at Wembley Arena in 1990 (Long After Wayne Had Left) that Wayne was the best guitarist the Sisters ever had. The book is totally riveting and is difficult to put down and is packed with plenty of stories about self-indulgence and excess. Wayne has also compiled a Spotify playlist for each chapter, so you can listen to a personalised soundtrack to each one, adding a fantastic different dimension to your reading. At the end of the book it clearly states “END OF PART ONE”, I cannot wait for the sequel.

Wayne Hussey kicks off a solo ‘Salad Daze’ 16 date UK tour in August, with what’s expected to be an intimate affair of some of his best music from throughout his career, along with plenty of engaging banter about all manner of subjects; even his trip to Madrid to see his beloved Liverpool FC win the European Cup may just get a mention?!

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