I had a passing acquaintance with Melody Maker and NME in the early 1990s because my cooler indie and grunge associates were reading it on the college bus – commenting on it – and wearing Jesus Lizard t-shirts. And Teenage Fanclub and Nirvana t-shirts too.
Always remember passing references to Saint Etienne and Boo Radleys and the like.
So Mark Sinker’s book, which collates a series of lectures and discussions which took place in and around 2016, from those who wrote for named papers and much more, helped anchor those formative teen experiences in a much wider history of the music press.
Rough History of the Music Press
- 1926, Melody Maker comes into being, to cover the dance-band scene. Queen Elizabeth is born in this year.
- 1952, the New Musical Express rises from what Singer calls the ashes of the Accordion Times and Musical Express, and was a pioneer of the pop chart and enthusiastic for the new rock and roll music.
- 1968, Tony Elliot founds Timeout a one-sheet listings magazine
- 1975, Street Life was launched, and then folded a year later (see digital archive here).
Other Press and References
- Black Dwarf is mentioned, which you can find a digitalised archive of here.
- On the Poverty of Student Life: A Consideration of Its Economic, Political, Sexual, Psychological and Notably Intellectual Aspects and of a Few Ways to Cure it. Pamphlet published by students of the University of Strasbourg and the Situationist International (SI) in 1966.
Other Links
