Book review: Scatman John biography

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(Book cover image: Iceberg Records AS, by Michael Von Gimbut, courtesy of Bloomsbury Publishing; Gig photo: Lee Newman)

STAMMA volunteer reviewer John Russell shares his thoughts on Scatman John: The remarkable story of the world's unlikeliest popstar by Gina Waggott. 

"I'm guh-guh-gonna ssssing for you. If I c-c-can," John Larkin, aka Scatman John, tells the thousands of Tokyo-based teenagers screaming his name. 

In her biography of the singer who found worldwide success with his song Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop), author Gina Waggott tells us how Scatman John came out nowhere to find fame late in life, and how singing about stammering inspired millions. 

We meet John Larkin at school, at the age of 12; the last place he wants to be. He waits anxiously for his name to be called, knowing he'll have to answer. When it is, he walks to the front of the classroom and tries several times to speak, without success only to return to his chair, distraught and tearful. 

He's an inquisitive boy with a sense of adventure, as well as a bit of a rebellious streak, often going to places he shouldn't. Craving the approval of his peers, John wanted 'to be somebody', which led him into fights at school and thieving from stores. More seriously, he was charged with involvement in arson, something which resulted in John being released from police custody because of his stammering. 

Waggott sheds light on the reasons behind John's troubled early life, from his fractious relationship with his father to the mistreatment from the nuns at his catholic school. His descent into drug and alcohol use, and hints of sexual abuse, is a challenging read as we begin to understand what John went through. 

Amid the drugs, alcohol and smoking binges, however, John proved to be a gifted jazz pianist and scat-singer — "grabbing and firing syllables like bullets" — the perfect outlet for his stammered voice. He played music whenever and wherever he could, sometimes when told not to, and was met with a positive response. A risk worth taking, some might say. 

John used his music to tell people that stammering needs to be embraced and not looked as a problem or a threat. That you can stammer, still communicate and be yourself.

The second half of the book sees his rise and continued rise under his new identity: Scatman John, as he collaborates with several musicians and producers who provided space and time for John, and helped bring him and his music to the masses. Everyone now wanted a piece of Scatman John! 

When he achieved international fame in 1994 at the age of 52, John had another agenda: to tell the world about stammering. He used his music to tell people that stammering needs to be embraced and not looked as a problem or a threat. That you can stammer, still communicate and be yourself. When a TV interviewer accused him of stammering to gain attention, it only helped to fuel the fire in Scatman John. 

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Gina & the Larkin family at her Los Angeles book launch

This part of the book is full of heart-warming and amusing anecdotes, such as John scat-singing a section of the Alcoholics Anonymous reference book. Then there's the teenage boy whose life was changed forever after hearing John's keynote address at a National Stuttering Project event. The story that got me, though, was that of a girl called Eloise who stammers and listened to her father's car radio to John talking about stammering. 

The story behind the book is equally as compelling. in the article she wrote for STAMMA, 'Sharing Scatman John's story with the world', Waggott explains how, in a bad place with her stammer, she wrote to Scatman John from her bedroom in the UK after hearing his empowering words. He responded and they struck up a friendship that lasted until his death in 1999, and subsequently, John's family granted Waggott access to his archives.  

This is an honest, eye-opening and engaging biography full of twists and turns, and highs and lows. It's the story of someone we might never have got to know had it not been for Gina. 

Scatman John: The remarkable story of the world's unlikeliest popstar by Gina Waggott is published by Bloomsbury and is out now to buy on all formats.

Thank you to John for reviewing this book for STAMMA.