john eden
male pale and stale
i dont know how he slipped through the cracks but it does go to show how poisonous and wasteful our class system is. how much talent and potential it squanders. how much richer our literature could be if we didnt write off a huge bite of the population.
I get what you are saying here but he didn't "slip through the cracks" - he went from being a docker (apparently?) to making a living off music and being critically acclaimed all over the shop.
Lots of other people who were as talented didn't do that.
I reckon it is far less likely that someone would make that jump today though, despite all the nonsense about the internet democratising things. And the idea of a 40 year career in alternative music now is unthinkable too...