Oxford-educated, Gales listed author.
Judge Dread (The 1970s cockney reggae answer to Eminem) Michael Jackson (1958-2009) (The myth of pop’s greatest legend) Michael Jackson’s swansong: ‘This is It’ (2009) ‘Gangsta Rap’, Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekend, BBC2 (New Orleans rap and the glamorization of violence) Continue Reading …
A couple of days ago I awoke early to hear the shock news that Michael Jackson had died of a heart attack at the age of 50. The Sun’s headline that day – “JACKO DEAD” – caught the ambiguities of Continue Reading …
Opening his 1953 novel The Go-Between, Leslie Poles Hartley famously wrote, “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” Hartley’s dictum evokes the historian as traveller. He or she takes on the privileged role of both explorer Continue Reading …
‘I Don’t Deny History’ (Considers historians as ideological agents) Walter Benjamin’s ‘Paris, Capital of the Nineteenth Century’ (1939) (A good example of history as critical commentary) Public Image Limited – Manchester Academy, 19th December 2009 (A rebel relives his history, Continue Reading …
Tears, Tiaras and Transsexuals (considers the performativity of male cross-dressing) Kraftwerk (men and machines make music) Florence + the Machine (dark and dreamy feminity at the Manchester Academy) The New York Dolls (aging trash metal legends play Liverpool’s O2 Academy) Continue Reading …
With its focus on the first transsexual beauty contest in Las Vegas, the documentary Tears, Tiaras and Transsexuals aired on Channel 4 last week (17th June) and it weighed in somewhere between a serious exploration of gender realignment and car Continue Reading …
Birmingham Music Archive and Birmingham Music Heritage Celebrity Culture (Andy Miah’s 2005 Scottish conference) Discogs (discographies) eBay (memorabila auctions) Experience Music Project Home of Metal (archive) IASPM 2005 (conference proceedings) MediaEd (educational documentaries online) MediaActive (special issue on celebrity) Open Continue Reading …
Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Clubbing Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore (clubbing documentary) Music IndustryGoogle v PRS over Youtube (March 2009) … please email me if this page requires updating.
The infamous Today interview of December 1976 needs no introduction: Sex Pistols interview with Bill Grundy Sex Pistols interview with Bill Grudy (with commentary by Steve Jones) Sid Vicious casually imploding on US public access TV, with Nancy taking over: Continue Reading …
‘Sharevari’ on the Scene show (the missing link between Kraftwerk, disco and Detroit techno) Vanilla Ice on the Arsenio Hall show … please email me if this page requires updating.