I Am the Voice Left from Rehab

by James Freud

"I have performed for royalty, dined with Superman, stood on a stage before 100,000 people and graced the covers of magazines. I lived an enchanted lifestyle. I woke up one day to find it had all deserted me. I found myself lying broken, beaten, and bleeding upon the wreckage of my youth."  Achieving fame in the eighties with hits like "Barbados" and "Modern Girl," James Freud was voracious for everything and anything life had to offer. Vivacious and irrepressible, he hung out with Robert Smith and Siouxsie Sioux in London, he once hit Elvis Costello, toured with Kylie Minogue, stared down the barrel of Chopper Read's gun, and got drunk with Tommy Lee. But as alcohol and pills came to rule his life, the hits stopped coming. He briefly got sober, but by the time he was promoting the first part of his autobiography, I am the Voice left from Drinking , he had become a chronic and hopeless alcoholic. I Am the Voice Left From Rehab is the dark, gritty account of exactly what happened to James and his family next, chronicling his physical, mental, and spiritual demise as time and again he drove himself to the brink of death through booze and drugs, to the despair of his loyal wife and sons. For four years, he was repeatedly arrested, hospitalized and institutionalized, and attempted suicide several times before finally he called on his deepest reserves of willpower to try, one last time, to get clean and stay that way. This is the most brutally honest account of alcoholism you will ever read, by a man who even in his darkest days was so charismatic, funny and full of love that his family wouldn't leave him, a man who ultimately found the strength to turn his life around.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Edgarr Alien Pooh · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Freud was bass player and vocalist of the Australian band The Models. He also had a brief solo career and was involved with other bands before his breakout with The Models. The Models were a decently successful band, not big like AC/DC or INXS but definitely well known and loved.

I Am The Voice Left From Rehab is a secondary autobiography of James, following on from I Am The Voice Left From Drinking ( a line from The Models song Barbados) where James spoke of his struggles with booze and drugs, but it was the booze that was worst. While on the promotional circuit for the first book James continued his lie, and continued to drink heavily.

It should be said that James' wife, Sally, is an angel. She stood by her man through VERY tough decades, his lies and his failures. I cannot say I truly know how addiction changes a man but sadly I have to say that James was nothing more than a vain, pompous, deceitful prick.

I Am The Voice Left From Rehab was published in 2007. Three years later on October 27th 2010 The Models were inducted into the ARIA hall of fame. James made excuses not to attend, leaving it up to his Models co-vocalist, Sean Kelly. One week later James was found hanged in his Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia home. Can't say I know what addiction is like nor what it is like to take the final fatal step but I do know to hang yourself where you can be found by your loving wife and kids that have been desperately hoping for their Dad back is just truly selfish.

James never beat his addictions. The Models were a good band, James a great entertainer. But the true man was a deceiver and not someone I think I would have been able to admire. Don't read this book as a Models fan, rather read it at as a look into desperate alcoholism, and the sadness of those effected.

[Sharon Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Couldn't put this book down. Back in the day I had a bit of a crush on James (and indeed still have his 'Breaking Silence' album on CASSETTE somewhere packed away in a box, lol). Written in a blunt, matter of fact manner, this tells the story of Australian musician James Freud's battle with drugs and alcoholism. It's a fascinating read made all the more poignant by the fact that despite the positive way the book ends, 3 years after writing this, James took his own life.
You cannot read this without having some concerns about his boys going into the same industry as their father.

[ziggi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I confess to being a big fan of James in his heyday (I even have the t-shirt to prove it), but I was obviously naive to what was happening behind the scenes. We, the teenage audience of the time, weren’t meant to know what chaos the rock stars got up to. We only saw the polished persona, and in James' case, the confident swagger. I am trying to rack my brain now to see if I remember any signs of his trauma, but I guess I wasn’t looking for it.

I didn’t read the first installment and found out about this title when reading Molly's biography so I could only bring my memories of the time with me when I started reading. And I couldn’t put it down! This may have been the fastest book I’ve ever read. I was half way through all the stories of disasters and I remember thinking “when is this guy going to get some relief?”. I did seem to remember news stories from a few years back about his passing but by the end of the book, I had hoped that it was for non-alcohol related reasons. Sadly after doing some research I discovered that the demon came back to bite him once more.

But I’m conflicted about this book. I’m not sure how much is truth and how much is window dressing. When he talks about how he appeared on TV to promote the previous book completely smashed but expecting people to believe he wasn’t, did the same thing happen in the last quarter of this book? I believe his sobriety was genuine for many years but now my curiosity wants to know how he went from that positive place back to the darkness.

An enjoyable, engaging, but disturbing read.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent, brutally frank book. What James and Sally went through...

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tragic knowing he only lasted a few years after this. RIP James.

[Tim Trewartha · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3 and a half stars)

Second autobiography from Australian musician, James Freud, detailing his battles with addiction and how bad his life (and his families) had become in the early 2000s. I didn't enjoy this one as much as his first, but in light of the fact that Freud took his own life three years after this book came out, there is real sadness in this book. Freud writes well, and can be witty, self deprecating and bitchy all in the one paragraph. A real loss.

[Andrea Holder]

Exceptional.

[Fiona Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge Models fan from the 80s and 90s. James Freud was definitely my favourite but he and his band member and childhood best friend Sean Kelly, made the group and collaborated on so many great songs and albums. YouTube is filled with their clips and songs and interviews usually done when most of the band were hungover.

James wrote honestly about his struggles when he and Sean were kids playing instruments and writing songs. Along the way James was travelling overseas to try and make it big but he had housemates who convinced him to party harder.

I love that he didn't shy away from telling the stories in his words. He doesn't make excuses and takes full responsibility for everything that happened to him. He was sober for a while but losing close friends who also were struggling with the party scene made him lose his way. Well worth read along with the second one he wrote which details his rehab attempts. He was seriously broken but tried not to allow his wife and boys to suffer.

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't get this book out of my head. Friday will be one year since Freud died. I feel so terrible for his family. The lesson is quite clear. Get help for your addictions if you still have any. If you fall off the wagon, and people do, get help again. Don't give up. It's too cruel on those left behind. Go watch Barbados again and think of James' family and have another go at life.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much more honest and believable than the first book. Comes across much more pathetic and tragic than the wanker that was in "I am the voice left from drinking".