White Rabbit jumps for musician Norris' memoir

White Rabbit has jumped for Strange Things Are Happening by record producer and musician Richard Norris.

Publisher Lee Brackstone acquired world English language rights for Strange Things Are Happening from Natalie Galustian at Greyhound Literary. The book will be published on 25th April 2024 in hardback, trade paperback, audiobook and e-book, alongside a record store exclusive edition.

The synopsis says: "Leafy St Albans is an unlikely starting point for one of the great psychedelic/acid house musicians of his generation, but, like so many others who brought radical change to the counterculture, Richard Norris’ story starts in the suburbs.

"Strange Things Are Happening documents his journey from punk through the emerging DIY indie culture to producing the UK’s first acid house album, Jack the Tab [...] Richard Norris has been involved in almost every aspect of music and its business for many decades. This is an insider’s tale of inspiration and collaboration, working with some of the most iconic artists in music and beyond."

Norris said: "It’s been a blast travelling down the sonic rabbit hole I first dived headlong into as a teenager. There’s anecdotes and tall tales aplenty here – many strange things happened, and continue to do so – yet, first and foremost, I wanted to create and deliver an engaging piece of writing. A tribute to the power of creativity, collaboration, and community within music."

Brackstone added: "I have been a fan of Richard Norris’s work ever since I heard ‘Floatation’ in a chillout room at a dodgy rave in the north-east. This is the memoir of a true pop culture Zelig whose tentacles encompass punk, deep psych garage, and of course acid house and ambient, most notably his work with The Grid and Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve.

"But Richard is also an elegant memoirist with a heady story to tell and Strange Things Are Happening is a rich and funny document of a life spent making and evangelising about music from St Albans to Lewes, by way of pretty much every major event in British pop culture over the past 30 years."