I’ve met Jay Glennie about half a dozen times, mainly on visits to Upton Park. He’s a mate of my very good friend Kevin Bull, who I’ve known for about 30 years. I had a nice chat over a cuppa with Kev a couple of afternoons ago. Amid the usual wide span of conversation, Kev told me that Jay has brought out two very special limited edition books. I had no idea.
In 2016, he collaborated with Darryl Webber, to release ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the landmark British film by Nicolas Roeg, starring David Bowie. 1,000 copies have been published. The book is extensively researched, containing exclusive interviews with the cast, crew and others involved in the production, plus hundreds of photographs.
In 2018, Jay followed up by commemorating the 50th anniversary of Roeg’s ‘Performance’ (Mick Jagger) with a similar collaborative book. I love Roeg.
Not only fascinating work, but seemingly lucrative. The books can go for over £600 each, if the buyer likes the limited edition number of the individual copy. The target market is the many thousands of people in my generation who have ended up in a comfortable financial position, and were film buffs, or for whom Jagger and Bowie were icons.
It doesn’t stop there. Jay is working on another book for the 40th anniversary of the Deer Hunter. Talking on the phone to Robert de Niro, just as he talked to Mick Jagger, according to Kev.
You have to admire Jay’s vision. He always loved films, and apparently has thousands of DVDs. But he went the extra mile that most of us cannot envisage, by imagining an audience, working out a plan, and then getting to cash in by digging into something that rivets him. Impressive.
I first met Jay when he was a hairdresser. I could tell he did his own thing. He invented a board game. Listened to and followed his own ideas.
As Al Campbell would say: ‘Chapeau!’
