Timothy Staines, longs to break into the world of pop music, with its promise of wealth, glamour and fame. Possessing little talent himself, he sets out to discover a raw group he can mould into a unit capable of lifting him to the high-life he has only seen from the fringes.
With his group, he finds himself in a new world of easy sex, teenage adoration, long journeys to one-night raves, gang fights, orgies. The path is never smooth, nor dull. Hope, frustration, animal passion, love, are his; while the three simple musicians under his control rely blindly on his guidance as they continue their girl-chasing and dreams of the Top Ten.
The young author of this novel originally published in 1968, who clearly knows the world about which he is writing, is concerned to show that not all groups have the success of the Beatles or The Rolling Stones. Failure is much more likely to be their lot. The 'Fancy Free' however is a good group?good enough for the recording contract that is given them. The story describes from the inside the hard faces and lip-service encountered behind the glamorous facade of pop, and how an all-time loser and novice at ruthlessness like Tim Staines is a mere child when enmeshed in the calculating machinery of the pop industry.