JUST the nine? The man born Clifford Price into a broken home in Walsall has fitted in an awful lot of living into his first 36 years.

From children's homes and petty crime, Goldie first made his name through graffiti art in Britain and the US, fell in love with music on the London club scene, and by a mixture of enthusiasm, blagging and mercurial talent, ended up taking the underground sound of drum'n'bass to the mainstream by making the acclaimed album Timeless.

There followed celebrity, volatile high-profile relationships (notably with Bjork and Naomi Campbell), drug addiction and personal demons to face. And somehow we get to today, where most people know the man with the gold teeth for playing villains in EastEnders and James Bond movies (or more disturbingly, for becoming mates with Les Dennis on Celebrity Big Brother) than for music.

Far from being the usual ghost-written PR puff, the style of Nine Lives fits the subject perfectly - energetic, direct, warts-and-all. It's a bit like being cornered on the Tube by a slightly disturbing man with gold teeth who insists on telling you his life story without drawing breath, only in a good way. The text is nicely intercut with commentary from those who were there at the time, notably unlikely pals Noel Gallagher and David Bowie.

Whatever Goldie does next - film-making and a return to music are in the pipeline - he's a captivating character, has had a remarkable life, and can certainly tell a gripping tale about it.

Updated: 09:36 Wednesday, September 03, 2003