LAWRENCE & WILL HODGKINSON

Presentation of the Spanish edition of 'Street-Level Superstar: A Year With Lawrence'

Lawrence is the archetypal pop star who never made it big, with his dreams of glory thwarted by bad luck over the past five decades, but also by a good dose of self-sabotage. At the age of sixty-one, he embarked on a new mission: to escape poverty, oblivion and the humiliation of being laughed at by children at the bus stop by composing a big hit.

In 1980, Lawrence formed Felt, a band that released ten albums and ten singles of precious pop before splitting up ten years later. Although it was a cult band that only enjoyed a brief moment of fame with the single “Primitive Painters”, its influence was undeniable and has continued to this day. In 1991, Lawrence reinvented himself with the electronic pop group Denim, marking a complete change of direction. In 1997, the group’s song “Summer Smash” was named Radio 1’s Single of the Week and was poised for major success. But the death of Princess Diana in a car accident in Paris led the record label to destroy all copies of the disc out of respect for her. For Lawrence, this was yet another failure, leading to severe depression, heroin addiction and eviction. But despite everything, he never gave up. 

In Street-Level Superstar, the journalist and best-selling author Will Hodgkinson paints a dazzling and moving portrait of this mad genius as he wanders the streets of London piecing together the remnants of his life—or what remains of it. Examples include when a pensioner mistakes him for an elderly woman, when he is forced to drag sacks of two-pence coins to the local bank, or when he wanders through the distant suburbs of the British capital in search of lyrical inspiration. As they walk together through rain-soaked streets, Hodgkinson recounts the tale of Britain’s most eccentric cult star, as a pressing question emerges: is it worth sacrificing everything—family, relationships, health and sanity—for art?

Will Hodgkinson is the author of several music books, including Guitar Man, Song Man, The Ballad of Britain and In Perfect Harmony. He is a regular contributor to The Guardian, Mojo and Vogue, and he presented the Sky Arts television series Songbook. Since 2010, he has headed the rock and pop section of The Times.

Kiko Amat (Sant Boi de Llobregat, 1971) is the author of the novels El día que me vaya no se lo diré a nadie (2003), Cosas que hacen BUM (2007), Rompepistas (2009), Eres el mejor, Cienfuegos (2012), Antes del huracán (2018), Revancha (2021) and Dick o la tristeza del sexo (2025), all published by Anagrama. He is also the author of three non-fiction books: Mil violines (2011), Chap chap (2015) and Los enemigos: O cómo sobrevivir al odio y aprovechar la enemistad (2022). He currently co-writes and co-hosts the podcast Pop y Muerte (Radio Primavera Sound).