Chloe Govan - Maroon 5: Shooting For the Stars

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EISBN: 978-1-78323-003-7

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W HICH Hollywood stereotype is more accurate? quizzed one interviewer audaciously. Everyones gay or everyones on cocaine?

Adam Levine smiled wryly in the face of this archetypically forthright American line of interrogation, barely missing a beat before retorting, with equally good humour, Both. Everyones gay and everyones on cocaine. He was talking about his hometown of Brentwood, the suburb of Los Angeles that had given birth to Maroon 5.

(In contrast, its British namesake, in the county of Essex, is home to no one more noteworthy than the cast of reality show The Only Way Is Essex a national laughing stock for their excessive application of neon-orange fake tan.)

Brentwood, USA, boasted a prolific number of A-listers crammed into one zip code and, courtesy of the world-famous Californian climate, none of them needed to top up their naturally sun-kissed glows. Representing the film world, there was Ben Affleck, Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Duhamel and his wife, Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas. Then of course there was the iconic Marilyn Monroe, who had lived and died in Brentwood, and Nicole Brown-Simpson, whose gory murder made headlines after she and her friend Ron Goldman were found stabbed to death outside her condo on Bundy Drive. Her ex-husband, OJ Simpson, was charged with her murder but acquitted in a criminal trial, thanks to a defence team that included his friend Robert Kardashian a man whose children would, in the true spirit of LA, later become reality TV stars.

Yet another famous Brentwood resident was Arnold Schwarzenegger the actor, bodybuilder and politician latterly known to the celebrity gossip crowd for refusing a sniffling, borderline hysterical Paris Hiltons plea, in his capacity of Governor of California, to rescue her from an unjust jail sentence for a driving offence. In LA County, even Paris, a walking man-magnet, could fail to charm her way out of trouble perhaps due to the competition. Put simply, every other impeccably manicured girl in this upmarket suburb seemed equally irresistible; Gisele Bundchen, the worlds best paid supermodel in her prime, had made millions while based in this corner of the city of dreams.

The worlds most eminent actors, singers, models, businessmen and businesswomen along with a heady mixture of socialites and professional partiers all made Brentwood their home for good reason. It offered all the glamour of the showbiz industry and the fast-paced excitement of the city without the less desirable grit, poverty and gang warfare of downtown LA. It was also at a different latitude, offering a cool respite from the suffocating heat of a Californian summers day. Its invigorating ocean breezes made locals feel as though they were on permanent vacation.

Even more irresistibly, the scent of obscene wealth wafted through the air, putting Londons Knightsbridge or New Yorks Manhattan to shame no zip code was better designed to impress. Eye-wateringly expensive condos saluted the skyline, with two bedrooms sometimes setting back their buyer over $5 million. Penthouse suites boasted gleaming marble floors, winding spiral staircases, full-length windows, huge open-air balconies, high-end art plastered across the walls and the biggest selling point of all unobstructed ocean views. From this vantage point, only sea separated the hilltop homeowner from a mass of glittering skyscrapers in the city below. Fortunes were made and lost there, but Brentwood was a welcome retreat from that world a lush, green, palm-studded oasis of calm. As Adam Levine would proudly enquire, why would any West Coast resident want to be elsewhere?

Adams uncle, TV producer and writer Peter Noah, was one of those whod long ago succumbed to Brentwoods charms. Perhaps conspicuous success had been hard-wired into the familys DNA, as the highlight of Peters career was a senior production role on political drama The West Wing, winner of 29 industry awards. Audaciously set in the White House, it was famed for its daringly pointed fictional portrayal of real-life political controversies as such, it was a political statement in itself. Parodying events such as homophobia scandals, terrorism, relations with the Middle East and the infamous Monica Lewinsky affair that shamed Bill Clinton, one of the shows biggest successes was its ability to pack a political punch whilst simultaneously dodging the censors.

Meanwhile, Peters brother, Timothy Noah, broke into a similarly creative career as a journalist and author. Basing himself in Washington, the USAs political heart, he became an activist for the poor and dispossessed while writing for The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Slate and New Republic, to name but a few. He also penned The Great Divergence: Americas Growing Inequality Crisis And What We Can Do About It, in which he raged that the top one per cent of earners in the USA collected almost 20 per cent of the nations income. A passionate Democrat, he argued that university tuition fees were spiralling out of control in a sorely unregulated market, depriving some talented students of a first-class education. He criticised Americans for their tendency to buy cut-price goods produced overseas, benefiting China and India while the home production market haemorrhaged jobs. The nations immigration policy also went under the microscope, as he challenged the influx of low-skilled migrants and the competition it created for low-paid jobs. Timothy also advocated higher taxes for the wealthy, an increase in the minimum wage and a greater role for labour unions, his socialist leanings presenting a stark contrast to his privileged upbringing. His views also naturally invited some opposition; while all well-meaning citizens agreed that poverty was an unwanted burden, they were sharply divided as to causes and cures. The arguments raged on, but Timothy knew he had a definite ally in fellow current affairs journalist Marjorie Williams the woman hed first met at Harvard University, who became his wife.

Together, she and Timothy were A-list voyeurs of high-powered politics, discreetly scribbling their observations into notepads to be unveiled in the media later. Their line of work offered a sought-after pass into the world of US politics, with all its adrenalin-fuelled drama and subterfuge. Marjories best-selling memoirs,