Jakko Jakszyk - 5.00pmv - In conversation with Nigel Barden

Jakko M. Jaksyzk (pronounced ‘Jack-Check’)  is an award-winning, world-renowned musician, best known for having been a member of Level 42, but most recently, for the past 13 years, lead singer and guitarist with progressive rock founding fathers King Crimson.

Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair? is, at first glance, a traditional rock’n’roll memoir, charting Jakko’s long and varied musical career, packed with eyebrow-raising and hilarious anecdotes about his encounters with everyone from Michael Jackson to Kate Bush and Gene Simmons, Uri Geller, Cliff Richard and the Dali Lama.  Dig a little deeper, however, and it soon becomes clear that this autobiography is much more than that.

Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair? is an almanac of entertaining tales from the mid-20th century rock’n’roll, theatre and alternative comedy trenches, all told with great wit and charm.

This is a book about origins, identity and who we become.   It tells the story of an abandoned child who became lost in dreams of becoming a musician and who, with determination, talent and a slice of luck, ended up working with their childhood heroes.  

It is a story about the fundamentals of who we are and the constant shift between nature and nurture. This autobiography charts how the harrowing war-time experiences of his adopted parents shaped the backdrop to Jakko’s formative years.  It’s also an account of his search for the truth about his real origins, a journey which took him through a maze of misdirection, red herrings and lies. Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair? is a tale about discovering, processing and making peace with who you are.

This is an autobiography about a musician’s life – but it’s unlike any other you may have read before.