UNITED KINGDOM: MURRAY LACHLAN YOUNG SIGNS A MILLION POUND DEAL WITH EMI RECORDS IN THE FIRST DEAL OF ITS KIND

Record ID: 336665

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: MURRAY LACHLAN YOUNG SIGNS A MILLION POUND DEAL WITH EMI RECORDS IN THE FIRST DEAL OF ITS KIND
  • Date: 11th September 1997
  • Summary: COVER OF POETRY BOOK
  • Embargoed: 26th September 1997 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND AND EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVACY0TJWDX8LIEUACT6J21NEA4O
  • Story Text: Murray Lachlan Young, the poet who recently signed an unprecedented million-pound (sterling) deal with EMI records, is poised to take on the international market.

    His album, "Vice and Verse" has already been released in the United Kingdom to mixed reviews.Lachlan Young describes his own work as "cautionary-tale based, narrative satirical verse with modern or contemporary references." The blend of Lachlan Young's verse with musical accompaniment won him slots on MTV aimed at the youth market, whilst the traditional world of poetry has been divided in its opinions.

    Lachlan Young's work satirises the world of celebrity parties, supermodels, drug-taking and pretentious art.His wit seems to have struck home - he admits to having received hate mail whilst performing at the Edinburgh festival recently.

    On the other hand, he has received pornographic poems from both men and women and he is starting to understand what it is like to be chased by fans.

    Lachlan Young was born in Washington DC to an English mother and Scottish father, but he was brought up in England.

    His talent showed itself at a very early age.He wrote his first poem when he was four years old, comparing the different personalities of his sweets.

    At the age of twenty, he embarked on an extended coast-to-coast trip of North America, which fuelled his inspiration to write poetry.He studied Media Performance at university and when he graduated he moved to London.

    He plunged into the life of a rakish poet, experiencing every aspect of London society and finding inspiration for his satire.

    "I found myself intimidated by a lot of situations and circumstances which I didn't understand and much of this work is me, making sense of it and saying 'OK I understand it now, I'm not going to be intimidated'." Lachlan Young has now become a part of the world from which he draws his subject matter.He has toured with the band My Life Story, and received good reviews for his performances supporting The Pet Shop Boys at London's Savoy Theatre earlier this year.

    He appeals to music lovers and poetry fans alike.

    "We're having to create a new market....racking this thing in a record shop, where do you put it? In Spoken Word where nobody can see it or do you put it in Rock'n'Roll?" This thorny issue will now baffle record shop managers all over the world when "Vice and Verse" is released internationally on September 22.

    Lachlan Young has also been commissioned to write a piece for a new film, to be directed by Ridley Scott's son Jake.The movie's working title is "The Company" and Lachlan Young plays a gallows troubadour at a public hanging.

    There are plans to translate Lachlan Young's poetry into at least ten different languages but the imagery of celebrity life will be familiar everywhere.
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