It has to be said that you'd need to be drugged up beyond salvation to stand even the slightest chance of appreciating the wank that NME deems worthy of coverage at the moment... Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Bent Halo on Fri Mar 30 10:48:05 BST 2001:

"This award goes to the people who can read the NME from cover to cover, alright?"

Mark E. Smith, Brats 1998.

Having just read through a stack of 1980s issues I can confirm it has taken a *massive* slump since Andrew Collins et al bowed out. If Stevie Chick or any one of those sods currently filling the pages with that less-words-more-pix-and-sarcasm style could achieve anything as good as 'Culture Vulture' I would be gobsmacked.

*sound of gauntlet thudding* Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By TJ on Fri Mar 30 11:21:41 BST 2001:

Even aside from the quality of the writing (which is awful), there is a fundamental problem with the actual ethos behind the publication. It seems that these days, music takes a back seat while 'issues' take precedence, even if the issues in question are a) largely fabricated and over-inflated and b) hardly topics of hot debate anyway (legalise cannabis? Yeah, fuck off back to 1966 then). This is all a cynical method of trying to attract those elusive 'more readers', when the grand irony is that if they actually covered music more - and maybe put a few bands, say Starsailor or Ladytron - who people are getting excited about at the moment on the cover - then readership would probably increase.

If I want to read something political, I'll buy a political publication. If the day should ever come when I actually require a 'lifestyle' magazine for any reason, then I'll buy "Loaded" (and probably spend hours looking at the Rachel Stevens photoshoot before I got round to reading the lifestyle articles). NME should not lose sight of the fact that it is supposed to be, first and foremost, about music.

*thud of gau... oh hang on, we've done that, haven't we?* Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Samuel K B Amphong-Sinister' on Fri Mar 30 12:32:29 BST 2001:

Monty Smith, Ian Penman, Danny Baker (Actually an incredibly funny writer in his day, especially his single reviews when he just took the piss), Julie Burchill, Tony Parsons(Im serious!), Charles Shaar Murray, Mat Snow............Them were the days. Gone forever, of course. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'helpful onlooker' on Fri Mar 30 13:05:47 BST 2001:

>'Since our teenager special was published in our last issue, drug use has dominated the week's news...'
>
>Right. So we're supposed to make some kind of "connection" here are we? I see.

In fairness to NME on that point, the exact quote is "Teenage drug use dominated the media last week following NME's youth survey and the arrest of three members of S Club 7 for cannabis possession." I think the expected interpretation might be that both are examples of drug news in the media and not that the first is linked to the second.

That said, it would be reasonable for a reader to draw the conclusion you've come to, and therefore the first two paragraphs could have been rewritten to avoid this. Which, up until recently, I would have done... Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Anonymous' on Fri Mar 30 13:20:47 BST 2001:

But they did do a lot of "issues" issues in the 80s - teenage suicide, etc.

Stephen Dalton's still there - surprising he didn't get a Guardian Arts job years ago. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Mike4SOTCAA on Fri Mar 30 13:32:42 BST 2001:

But that sentence is deliberately phrased so that we infer a connection. That's what's annoying about it.

They've always done this, though. A few years back they interviewed Louise Wener from Sleeper (then famous for having "views")and asked her if she thought the BNP should be allowed party political broadcasts on television. She said 'Um, yes, probably...I mean, I think they're scum, but when you look at it, freedom of speech...' etc or somesuch nonedescript opinion. The following week, however, their news page ran a story about how the Anti Nazi League had 'reacted in anger' to her 'naive' comments. What was insulting was that the ANL had, of course, only done so because the NME had rung them up in the first place ('What do you think of Louise's comments?' 'What comments?' 'Erm, she said the BNP should be allowed on TV' 'Well, that's terrible, obviously...' 'OK, can we print that?'). Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By '"a purist"' on Fri Mar 30 14:59:31 BST 2001:

I preferred NME when it was on Radio 4... Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Bean Is A Carrot on Fri Mar 30 15:27:26 BST 2001:

>I preferred NME when it was on Radio 4...

Smartarse. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Stuart Smith' on Sun Apr 1 20:22:54 BST 2001:

>"It has to be said that you'd need to be drugged up beyond salvation to stand even the slightest chance of appreciating the wank that NME deems worthy of coverage at the moment... "

Yep, it's utter toss at the moment. It seems to have dive-bombed just in the last couple of weeks, since it had it's redesign. The teenagers issue was a joke - oooh they're all pissed-up on booze and crack. Except, presumably, the ones who buy Westlife and HearSay CDs and get straight 'A's.

Why do we have to put up with coverage of mindless nu-metal? Why are we being told Destiny's Child are any good?

I'd dearly love to stop buying it, but it's handy for knowing what LPs are out on Monday. And it occasionally reviews worthwhile albums, like Nick Cave this week. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Paul Kelly' on Sun Apr 1 22:48:09 BST 2001:

I would definately agree that the NME has regressed to the pathetic "issues" front cover cop-out that they employed so regularly in the 80s, when they also had bugger all to write about.

What particularly gripes me is that when the NME ran the infamously shit "Youth Suicide" cover in the 80s, a far more deserving Lawrence from Felt was interviewed across the centre pages. The words "piss-up" and "brewery" spring to mind.

Having said that, the NME's championing of tripe such as Terris and Starsailor, bands who no-one REALLY likes, relies more on their commercial potential or ability to offer promises of "changing the world". (Yeah right). At the same time, a truly, truly excellent band like Hefner are given modest praise but are criticised for being rendolent of David Gedge and not pandering to the "sonic tractors" of Godspeed! You Black Emporer (see also the "sonic cathedrals" of moribund early 90s shoegazers and hope a similar fate in is store for Sigur Ros).

But maybe that's just me with my arses and elbows inserted correctly...(natch).

Paul Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Peter O' on Sun Apr 1 23:33:22 BST 2001:

They're shitting themselves because they are now the only title in what used to be a fairly well established category. Going back a decade, you had the look-alike Sounds. Also Melody Maker, which was (hard to believe) the more pretentious version. Then Select came along, as a monthly glossy version.

Sounds was the first to fold, ages ago, then Select a while back, and most recently Melody Maker. Sounds was just a pointless carbon copy (like 7-Up or Lee jeans), but Select and Melody Maker both went down the tubes for the same reason: they tried to appeal to drugged-addled festival goers in stupid hats. Unfortunately, such people can rarely read. Now the NME is going the same way.

Anyway, even if it was worth reading, why pay for it?

http://www.nme.com Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Unruly Butler on Mon Apr 2 01:40:21 BST 2001:

Sounds wasn't a carbon-copy of NME.

It was far more rockist, treating goth and death metal and old-hat hard rock with as much credence as The Wedding Present and The House of Love.

Ironic that its halfway house-ness (not a rock mag, not an indie rag) was what made Sounds the first to fold. Notice that the NME has decided to solve its problems by abandoning the pasty bedroom indie crowd and chasing the dreadlocked face-pierced fratboy rock ghastliness of Yank New Metal.

How long, then? Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'PJ' on Mon Apr 2 02:10:52 BST 2001:

By going on constantly about how good hip-hop is, while at the same time going on constantly about how good 'nu-metal' and Terris (who never stood a chance anyway after everthing that has appeared (not that i like them though. obviously)) are, NME has lost any identity, or fun. I'm tempted to stop buying it, but it's the best way to find when albums are released (usually, although recently, i'm not so sure...)

And why did they stop 'banging on', just to bring in something exactly the same but why a tabloid style editor title? Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Barney Sloane' on Mon Apr 2 10:34:51 BST 2001:

It's a shame. It probably sounds wanky to say it, but I think my sense of humour when I was at sixth form college owed more to NME's Thrills pages and Munnery's 'The Truth' column than anything else. (Bent Halo, do you know if any of the Alan Parker columns are posted anywhere on the web?) Also, "The Changing Face of...", "Bismillah.. yes, we will let that one go", classics all. I still read it every week (old habits die hard), but nothing in it has made me laugh (or, more significantly, made me go out and buy a record) for about eight years. And what was all that shit they printed last year (well after April Fool's Day) about Shaun Ryder joining the Beatles? Honestly. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Bent Halo on Mon Apr 2 10:36:39 BST 2001:

The latest April Fool was limp.

The Alan Parker columns are out there, though I've no idea if they're on-line. Corpses Towers holds a few in the dusty records room. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Barney' on Mon Apr 2 10:36:46 BST 2001:

Not to mention the pathetic attempts to create new 'scenes' every couple of weeks (New wave of New Wave, Queercore, Romo, and now the New Acoustic Movement). It's like Lester Bangs never fucking happened. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By TJ on Mon Apr 2 10:47:29 BST 2001:

New Wave Of New Wave actually *did* happen for a bit, before mutating into Britpop. On that occasion I feel they genuinely were just holding up a mirror to what was going on, and in fact it did seem to take them by surprise somewhat. One week they have Evan Dando on the front, the next there are nine or ten bands they suddenly have to start covering... Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Unruly Butler on Mon Apr 2 17:10:19 BST 2001:

Mmmm. Was listening to Kinky Machine only last week. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Kilgore Trout' on Mon Apr 2 18:44:51 BST 2001:

Kinky Machine turned into the equally useless Rialto, who were also dropped.

Velocette never got any coverage, grrr. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Andrew' on Tue Apr 3 18:31:14 BST 2001:

Don't like to blow my own trumpet (oh but I do) but it was I who commissioned Simon M to write his gem-like Alan Parker column for the NME (just before I left in disgust at the apointment of Steve Sutherland as new editor in late 1992), but even then I didn't wield sufficient executive power to actually get it printed every week - those who remember it will also recall that it was usually shoved at the bottom of a page towards ther back of the paper undcer the crossword, and if we needed the space for a "turn" (ie continued end of a feature which no-one would read), AP would be dropped. I think I got Simon to do an Edinburgh report too. Thems was the days. (After myself and Maconie and others departed, Surtherland used to mock our "era" as "people sitting around in smoking jackets making jokes about pop music" - what a terrible world that would be, eh?) I can't possibly comment on the paper's decline since I left as it would sound like sour grapes. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Anonymous' on Tue Apr 3 18:43:28 BST 2001:

Q was rubbish by the time you'd finished with it.

It was rubbish to start with, but that's not the point. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Andrew' on Tue Apr 3 18:50:41 BST 2001:

>Q was rubbish by the time you'd finished with it.
>
>It was rubbish to start with, but that's not the point.

More detail, you anonymous person. Not that I give a toss about the old mag any more.

Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Peter O' on Tue Apr 3 20:36:29 BST 2001:

>New Wave Of New Wave actually *did* happen for a bit, before mutating into Britpop. On that occasion I feel they genuinely were just holding up a mirror to what was going on, and in fact it did seem to take them by surprise somewhat. One week they have Evan Dando on the front, the next there are nine or ten bands they suddenly have to start covering...

In my best Smash-Hits-circa-1986 style:

1. Elastica
2. Menswear
3. Ummm...
4. That's it!

The worst of the worst of the worst crap "scenes" was without doubt Riot "Grrrl." The main ingredient needed for a "scene" is plenty to write about. Just don't try and enjoy listening to any of the records, oh dear me no. How boring and "muso"!

The best thing in Q magazine was Tom Hibbert's "Who does ... think he/she is?" interview column. You could buy a book of them at one point. And he used to write for Smash Hits in the mid 80's of course.
Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By TJ on Tue Apr 3 20:57:16 BST 2001:

>In my best Smash-Hits-circa-1986 style:
>
>1. Elastica
>2. Menswear
>3. Ummm...
>4. That's it!

4. These Animal Men
5. Sleeper
6. S*M*A*S*H
7. Echobelly
8. Supergrass

...and I could go on!

Admittedly not exactly the greatest line-up in the history of music ever (with a couple of very obvious exceptions who continue to be fantastic), but they all had their moments. And it DID happen, and did catch the music press almost unaware, and no amount of the trademark Peter O foot-stamping obscenities that I have come to admire you for will change that fact.

>The worst of the worst of the worst crap "scenes" was without doubt Riot "Grrrl." The main ingredient needed for a "scene" is plenty to write about. Just don't try and enjoy listening to any of the records, oh dear me no. How boring and "muso"!

Yes, but Riot Grrrrrl did give us Huggybear's 'Herjazz', for which it can easily be forgiven. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'radicalposture' on Tue Apr 3 21:30:33 BST 2001:

I always liked the fact that a few people shouted at each other during The Word qualified as front page news... "This is happening without your permission" - woo!

The split LP HB did with er... Bikini Kill(?) was pretty good.

Voodoo Queens? Possibly not Too Pure records' greatest moment.

It's saying something when even the Xmas NME specials ain't worth reading, no more the pub quiz with Cud and Thousand Yard Stare... bah! Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Peter O' on Tue Apr 3 22:19:48 BST 2001:

>>In my best Smash-Hits-circa-1986 style:
>>
>>1. Elastica
>>2. Menswear
>>3. Ummm...
>>4. That's it!
>
>4. These Animal Men
>5. Sleeper
>6. S*M*A*S*H
>7. Echobelly
>8. Supergrass
>
>...and I could go on!
>
>Admittedly not exactly the greatest line-up in the history of music ever (with a couple of very obvious exceptions who continue to be fantastic), but they all had their moments.

That's what I meant - a scene is typically one good band and a lot of cling-ons who dress similarly and go to the same pub, plus some completely unrelated good bands who get included by journalists trying to justify their theory. For my money, the good band in NWONW was Elastica. I saw them playing in a tiny club the week before 'Line Up' came out and it was fantastically exciting. And the award for excellent misfits goes to Supergrass.

"You've blackened our name. You should be ashamed!"

And then of course, there's the previously established band that jumps on the wagon. Step forward... Blur!

>Yes, but Riot Grrrrrl did give us Huggybear's 'Herjazz', for which it can easily be forgiven.

I think that was a fluke. It sounded like a speeded-up Fall record... (in a John Peel voice) which is, of course, no bad thing.
Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By TJ on Tue Apr 3 22:21:35 BST 2001:

>And then of course, there's the previously established band that jumps on the wagon. Step forward... Blur!

Not _quite_ bandwagon jumpers... they were playing 'Popscene' live in 1991...
Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Peter O' on Tue Apr 3 22:52:01 BST 2001:

And "Popscene"'s connection with NWONW is...? Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'paul twist' on Tue Apr 3 23:04:49 BST 2001:

Riot Grrrl wasn't really a scene though. The bands existed before the name, it was just an easy way of pigeonholing girl-punk bands. Many of them are still around - look to Sleater Kinney (ex-members of Heavens to Betsy) and the recently reformed Bratmobile (new CD out now on Lookout). So there.

On the subject of NWONW, when I was 15 I loved These Animal Men. I suspect I'd be less keen now. Maybe it's time to dig out that copy of Too Sussed... Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By TJ on Tue Apr 3 23:05:05 BST 2001:

>And "Popscene"'s connection with NWONW is...?

That it was a New Wave Of New Wave record before most of the other bands had even formed.

Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By TJ on Wed Apr 4 01:39:22 BST 2001:

>Maybe it's time to dig out that copy of Too Sussed...


I'm ahead of you there!

"She came home again, she was drunk and not my friend..."

Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'PJ' on Wed Apr 4 01:46:42 BST 2001:

Has everyone here got that record then? Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Unruly Butler on Wed Apr 4 09:40:21 BST 2001:

Riot Grrrl was an American movement first, the NME got excited about covering its UK offshoot. They chose Huggy Bear as figureheads, if anyone's interested, because retarded NME scribbler Everett True used to share their flat.

Huggy Bear's "Weaponry" album (after the hype had died down) was quite good though. Like Cornershop, they got good as soon as the inkies started ignoring them and they could concentrate on the music rather than reiterating their manifesto for bored journos.

And don't forget that the Spice Girl's "Girl Power" thing was just a popped-up version of Riot Grrrl, spayed and neutered, borrowing the language and rhetoric and dressing it in a push up bra.

(BTW, the female fans I knew at the time of Grrrl found it very empowering to go to "hardcore" style gigs where they genuinely felt safe and in control, and for that it shouldn't be sneered at.) Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Kilgore Trout' on Wed Apr 4 18:26:32 BST 2001:

"Riot Grrrl wasn't really a scene though. The bands existed before the name, it was just an easy way of pigeonholing girl-punk bands. Many of them are still around - look to Sleater Kinney (ex-members of Heavens to Betsy) and the recently reformed Bratmobile (new CD out now on Lookout). So there."

Bratmobile reforming? Huzzah!

The Bratmobile Peel Sessions album is brilliant, worth it just for the (30-second) lazy cover of "There's No Other Way" that beats the unnecessarily long original, and doesn't have the wanky guitar solo that the grrls rightly didn't bother to play. Brilliant stuff.

Shampoo did a "Girl Power" single & album a month or 2 before SG got started, in summer '96. I heard somewhere that Helen Love were the first band to ever use the phrase in a recorded lyric, but I have no idea if that's true. HL are a 1-idea band anyway. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Namecheck Pasolini ' on Thu Apr 5 12:15:27 BST 2001:

If Andrew Collins drops in on this thread again, can I just offer belated (by about 10 years)commiserations on you and your family not doing too well on "Telly Addicts". You must have been devastated. Even when you met Rod Stewart at the Q awards, I bet this tragic event was still playing on your mind. Oh, and can you confirm that Steve Sutherland sounds like Bill Oddie when he speaks? Happy 36th Birthday.

......."Her Jazz" sounded like Silverfish doing the Batman theme. Everett True looks like Jim Broadbent. And Batmobile were ace. I wonder what The Lunachicks are doing nowadays? Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Andrew' on Thu Apr 5 12:58:11 BST 2001:

>If Andrew Collins drops in on this thread again, can I just offer belated (by about 10 years)commiserations on you and your family not doing too well on "Telly Addicts".

We scraped through to the semis, mate. I was shit though. This one got me: who went from the Bangkok Hilton to the Hotel Du Lac? (Those fucking studio lights!)

>Oh, and can you confirm that Steve Sutherland sounds like Bill Oddie when he speaks?

Never thought about it before, but yes. I resigned a perfectly well-paid job because of him (Sutho, not Oddie.)

Who are you, with your pseudonym? Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Namecheck Pasolini ' on Thu Apr 5 13:03:38 BST 2001:

Actually, Im Ben Sinister! What larks! Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Peter O' on Thu Apr 5 14:05:33 BST 2001:

>Riot Grrrl was an American movement first, the NME got excited about covering its UK offshoot. They chose Huggy Bear as figureheads, if anyone's interested, because retarded NME scribbler Everett True used to share their flat.

That was Melody Maker. Everett True was their resident middle-aged self-publicist, widely hated by all bands at the time. Well, Miki from Lush and some others I heard talking about him at gigs. He'd probably get an erection reading that now.

But that story perfectly illustrates what I mean by scenes.

TJ, the point is, "Popscene" was retrospectively converted into the prototype of NWONW after the scene had been invented. When it was actually released, it fitted quite obviously into Damon Allbran's obsession with the Kinks. It even had trumpets on it. It was "You Really Got Me." The actual link between Blur and NWONW is that bird from Elastica. Blur are basically a blend of Barret-era Pink Floyd (particularly his singing voice) and Ray Davies. I'm not having a go at Blur, I think they're excellent, particularly "The Great Escape" which is massively underrated. But Damon definitely plays the "scene" game for all he's worth. In his time, he's copied the Stone Roses, My Bloody Valentine, Oasis and Radiohead. He's only at his best when he's copying what he really loves (Kinks and Syd Barrett.)
Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By TJ on Thu Apr 5 14:51:10 BST 2001:

>TJ, the point is, "Popscene" was retrospectively converted into the prototype of NWONW after the scene had been invented. When it was actually released, it fitted quite obviously into Damon Allbran's obsession with the Kinks. It even had trumpets on it. It was "You Really Got Me."

Can't agree with that at all sorry. More like a fusion of Can, The Buzzcocks and Memphis-era Rolling Stones. In fact, I can't detect much Kinks-ness in it at all. And I don't quite follow this "trumpets=Kinks" line of thought. None of their 'influential' singles featured brass of any sort, and in fact the only Kinks tracks I can think of where trumpets feature prominently are on that lousy 'live in the studio' album with the MIke Cotton Sound.

> The actual link between Blur and NWONW is that bird from Elastica. Blur are basically a blend of Barret-era Pink Floyd (particularly his singing voice) and Ray Davies.

And Bowie, The Sex Pistols, Magazine, Wire, Gary Numan, Can, Neu!, XTC, Nick Drake, Scott Walker, Pavement, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Madness, Folk Implosion... Blur's influences are, quite simply, vastly wider ranging (and far better assimilated) than those of certain other bands who get away with ripping off one band outright...

> I'm not having a go at Blur, I think they're excellent, particularly "The Great Escape" which is massively underrated. But Damon definitely plays the "scene" game for all he's worth. In his time, he's copied the Stone Roses, My Bloody Valentine, Oasis and Radiohead. He's only at his best when he's copying what he really loves (Kinks and Syd Barrett.)

Fair enough Peter O, and I _know_ it's only your opinion, but it is a) a sweeping one and b) something of a contradiction. You seem to be veering between saying Blur jumped the bandwagon of NWONW, and then saying they had nothing to do with it whatsoever.

No offence intended (and I'm sure none taken), but if I'm going to have a good verbal ruck about Blur, I do like to know exactly what I'm arguing about... Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'paul twist' on Thu Apr 5 18:38:52 BST 2001:

I wonder what The Lunachicks are doing nowadays?

Still around, on Go Kart Records. They toured the UK earlier this year (or it might have been late last year) and they appeared in the film Terror Firmer which was on Channel 4 recently. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Kilgore Trout' on Thu Apr 5 18:40:10 BST 2001:

"No offence intended (and I'm sure none taken), but if I'm going to have a good verbal ruck about Blur, I do like to know exactly what I'm arguing about..."

Why wasn't "Never Clever" released?

Other news: judging from his review of the the most overpaid pub band's latest album (Stereophonics), Steve Sutherland's mid-life crisis seems to be continuing into its 4th year... Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By TJ on Thu Apr 5 18:44:08 BST 2001:

>Why wasn't "Never Clever" released?

Because after 'Popscene' bombed, the record label halted work on the intended accompanying album, and ordered Blur to write some new songs. It did later show up as a b-side, though. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Peter O' on Thu Apr 5 18:45:06 BST 2001:

But that would make it too easy. The ins and outs of Blur aren't really what I'm guffing on about. All I'm saying is that "scenes" are mainly weak theories fitted onto a lot of foolishness by journalists in a long-defunct niche weekly "Rock news" publication genre.

What are Can like? Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'PJ' on Thu Apr 5 21:29:24 BST 2001:

""scenes" are mainly weak theories"

The NME are appalling when it comes to creating stupid little scenes - New Acoustic Movement - what's that all about?
Ha. I'm also having fun looking through relatively old NME and the fronts covers in particular - "Terris - the band of 2000".
It just makes you want to shout "stop giving us bands we don't want!". Yeah, but listen to the soul. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Justin on Fri Apr 6 15:05:21 BST 2001:

And this week's non-story is? REM dismiss Eminem as "prepackaged". (The subtext being "Men as old as your dads* are slagging off our current hero (well, sort of)! Why not write in and inaccurately say they've recorded nothing good since Automatic For The People?")


*Though not as old as Sutherland, I suspect. I think he's about 45. Andrew? Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'PJ' on Fri Apr 6 20:45:32 BST 2001:

Did you see that bloke from the NME on watchdog? ho ho... Stickin' up for the kids yeah! Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'helpful onlooker' on Fri Apr 6 20:59:13 BST 2001:

>And this week's non-story is? REM dismiss Eminem as "prepackaged". (The subtext being "Men as old as your dads* are slagging off our current hero (well, sort of)! Why not write in and inaccurately say they've recorded nothing good since Automatic For The People?")
>
>*Though not as old as Sutherland, I suspect. I think he's about 45. Andrew?

The "Almost Famous" issue of NME has him as having started at NME (ie Melody Maker) in 1980. He apparently has a degree in English literature as well, which would put him in his mid-forties or later.

With regard to the subtext, I must admit that personally I don't see it that way. I do think it's a non-story though.

Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Peter O' on Fri Apr 6 23:59:00 BST 2001:

On the other hand, someone has to protect us from THA MAN who puts all those wanky bollock men on Radio 2 such as David Gray. RIGHT ON! Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Peter O' on Fri Apr 6 23:59:02 BST 2001:

On the other hand, someone has to protect us from THA MAN who puts all those wanky bollock men on Radio 2 such as David Gray. RIGHT ON! Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Peter O' on Fri Apr 6 23:59:20 BST 2001:

PS. I'm a fire starter! Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Namecheck Pasolini' on Sat Apr 7 14:38:20 BST 2001:

Steve Sutherland is 45 this year. He became the editor of NME in 1992, after a lot of contrived Whizz-Kid v Chip-ite style rivalry betwixt NME and the Melody Maker (of which the Suthster had previously been a long-standing contributor, not sure if he ever got to be ed.). Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke royally ripped the piss out of him for this,and Andrew Collins resigned, mainly because he was scared of Sutho s big red-and-black pet snake. As Collster was leaving the NME office for the final time, a pre-balding David "Clark Kent" Quantick opened the door that Collster was just about to walk through. The door knob hit him in the eye and gave him yet another accidental shiner, much to the chagrin of his mum. Do you see what Ive done here?
......I wonder what Cath Carrols doing nowadays.....and Odd-Ball, for that matter. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Justin on Sat Apr 7 19:59:53 BST 2001:

Sutherland was the man who reviewed Vic Reeves' album "I Will Cure You" (Island, 1991) in the Melody Maker and kept referring to him as Prick Reeves! Hilarious! No wonder he hates any journalists who (ha!) try to be funny, eh? (Sadly for him, 95% of good British pop journos have been able to do jokes.)

Similarly, I remember reading Melody Maker in 86 just after EMI signed Sigue Sigue Sputnik for "£4m" (more like £80,000, apparently). Sutherland wrote the sort of pieces which were so ridiculously and laughably OTT that you could imagine him after the event saying, with a shrug, "Yeah, well, of course those bits weren't *meant* to be taken seriously". Twerp. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Peter O' on Sat Apr 7 21:18:37 BST 2001:

Ahhhh, so can we blame him for the travesty that was Transvision Vamp? Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Justin on Sun Apr 8 12:44:09 BST 2001:

>Ahhhh, so can we blame him for the travesty that was Transvision Vamp?

That was Chris Roberts' fault, though he's another suspect in the takes-himself-too-seriously camp.

Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Kilgore Trout' on Sun Apr 8 13:10:27 BST 2001:

"Similarly, I remember reading Melody Maker in 86 just after EMI signed Sigue Sigue Sputnik for "£4m" (more like £80,000, apparently). Sutherland wrote the sort of pieces which were so ridiculously and laughably OTT that you could imagine him after the event saying, with a shrug, "Yeah, well, of course those bits weren't *meant* to be taken seriously". Twerp."

And of course NME retaliated with Paul Morley's "Would you pay £4m for this crap?" analysis of SSS... Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Justin on Sun Apr 8 19:04:27 BST 2001:

>"Similarly, I remember reading Melody Maker in 86 just after EMI signed Sigue Sigue Sputnik for "£4m" (more like £80,000, apparently). Sutherland wrote the sort of pieces which were so ridiculously and laughably OTT that you could imagine him after the event saying, with a shrug, "Yeah, well, of course those bits weren't *meant* to be taken seriously". Twerp."
>
>And of course NME retaliated with Paul Morley's "Would you pay £4m for this crap?" analysis of SSS...

Point taken, but I don't think Morley is guilty of taking *himself* or pop too seriously. And at least he hasn't spent 20 years trying in vain to be where "ver kids" are at. Plus, Nothing is great.

(btw Morley on A Good Read, R4, 11pm)

Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Linder Out Of Ludus' on Mon Apr 9 12:04:52 BST 2001:

"Nothing is great"?
Do you have to be so cynical? I mean,really, the youth of today. I blame that Chris Moyles-you never used to get Mike Read acting the way he does.


(I know the title of the Morleybook. Look, somebody had to come out with this,OK?)
(The reply to the previous posting, not the book, I mean) Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Bent Halo on Mon Apr 9 14:45:03 BST 2001:

>pre-balding David "Clark Kent" Quantick

What on earth does that mean?! Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Namecheck Pasolini ' on Thu Apr 12 11:59:53 BST 2001:

....That there was a time when his hair wasnt thinning, and, what with his glasses and all, he looked a bit like Supermans alter ego.Happy to oblige. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Anonymous' on Fri Apr 13 10:44:54 BST 2001:

In the NME's 40th birthday issue (1992), Quantick claimed he'd got a job for writing a letter to them complaining about an article favourable to Bob Seger.

Stepehn Dalton also claimed to have got work from an Angst letter, whilst Andrew Collins put it down to some fanzine he'd done. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Andrew' on Sat Apr 14 11:12:54 BST 2001:

>In the NME's 40th birthday issue (1992), Quantick claimed he'd got a job for writing a letter to them complaining about an article favourable to Bob Seger.
>
>Stephen Dalton also claimed to have got work from an Angst letter, whilst Andrew Collins put it down to some fanzine he'd done.

True. (You see, dreams can come true!) One issue. Sold about 20 copies. Called 'This is This'. Had an article about water metaphor in Lloyd Cole's lyrics, one about Tony Hancock and a biting parody of Gerry Sadowitz's then-Time Out column.

Yes I have.

Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Bent Halo on Sat Apr 14 15:45:42 BST 2001:

I recently found a Level 42 review by Quantick, from one of his first issues in 1983. Joy itself. It will appear on SOTCAA soon.

Ish. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Andrew' on Sat Apr 14 16:23:13 BST 2001:

>I recently found a Level 42 review by Quantick, from one of his first issues in 1983. Joy itself. It will appear on SOTCAA soon.

Ah, but have you got the review of Jamie Wednesday (pre-Carter USM), in which Quanto coined the phrase "pop will eat itself", later adopted by the underrated Midlands beat group from the Midlands.

No, nor have I.

(Oh, and I will reply to your email.) Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Andrew' on Sat Apr 14 16:26:23 BST 2001:

I should note here, for the record and not in any way as a limp attempt at advance self-promotion, that myself, Stuart Maconie and David Quantick are planning a three-man assult on Edinburgh this year with an evening of rock anecdotes from the golden period of the NME 1987-1992. Talk about narrowcasting! (Further details to come.) Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Joe4SOTCAA on Sat Apr 14 16:33:55 BST 2001:

We were planning to plug it anyway! Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Mogwai on Sat Apr 14 18:22:49 BST 2001:

>myself, Stuart Maconie and David Quantick are planning a three-man assult on Edinburgh this year with an evening of rock anecdotes

Will you all be gazing somewhere over the audience's right shoulders and reminiscing about how actually it was all just risible and you never liked it anyway? Or will that just be one of you? Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Andrew' on Sun Apr 15 10:00:57 BST 2001:

>Will you all be gazing somewhere over the audience's right shoulders and reminiscing about how actually it was all just risible and you never liked it anyway? Or will that just be one of you?

I think we'll be saying it was all great, except for Lou Reed. Haven't actuially written it yet or anything - but then I don't suppose Cambridge Footlights have either and I bet they've thought of a title for the brochure.

Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Child of Destinny' on Tue Apr 17 00:11:33 BST 2001:

>
>Why do we have to put up with coverage of mindless nu-metal? Why are we being told Destiny's Child are any good?

At the moment Destiny's Child seem to be the only group able to combine success with producing songs of any quality whatsoever. Being a manufactured band they are anathema to those who perpetuate the 'rock snob' attitude displayed in your comment. While I am not against 'worthy' musicians like Nick Cave etc etc, I believe it is wrong to ignore pop acts when they finally do get it right. Like TLC a few years ago (although I'm unsure of their beginnings) Destiny's Child are continuing the Motown tradition of music that is both manufactured AND damn catchy. Listen without prejudice Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Unruly Butler on Tue Apr 17 01:02:50 BST 2001:

It's "Rock snob Why Don't You?"

Before they close it down, go to Napster and spend a night spooling off your favourite twelve Destiny's Child-style floorfillers from the last year (Kelis, MisTeeq, Jameliah, whatever), whichever ones you grudgingly grunted "s'OK, I suppose" to when it was playing in someone else's car.
Burn it to a CD and tell me you want to listen to anything else for the next week. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Mogwai on Wed Apr 18 00:10:12 BST 2001:

Kelis and Jill Scott rock. A lot of their R&B contemporaries are still bloody bland, though.

(The only thing that gives me solace is the thought that somewhere out there Chris Morris is probably listening to them all backwards trying to detect stanic messages.) Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Mogwai on Wed Apr 18 00:11:29 BST 2001:

And of course "satanic".

I think we all know where to look to find "stanic" messages... Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Don' on Wed Apr 18 02:24:43 BST 2001:

I remember Sutherland's particularly snidey review of Maconie's Blur book a while back - he couldn't deny that it was good (giving it 7/10) but felt the need to insert lots of personal abuse (something about his irritating writing style or something - this from S. Sutherland, the man whose writing style is possibly more irritating (not to mention patronising, arrogant and condescending) than anyone else's on the planet)
Forgive my ignorance but what was the nature of the feud betwixt Collins and Sutherland? Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Andrew' on Wed Apr 18 08:07:30 BST 2001:

>Forgive my ignorance but what was the nature of the feud betwixt Collins and Sutherland?

1992. Popular, rotund, football loving NME editor Danny Kelly leaves for pastures Q. Various NME staffers publicly apply for job - in name of continuity at what was a great time for the NME - Steve Lamacq, Stuart Maconie, Andrew Collins, Gavin Martin, James Brown and Brendan Fitzgerald (the people's choice, non-nonsense Antipodean Deputy Ed). None of whom even got the courtesy of a second interview - instead we were all shocked to find that MM deputy ed Steve Sutherland would be "crossing the floor" from Melody Maker to be our new boss - just weeks after a pathetic live review in MM which he wrote saying that Suede were all that MM stood for (grace, glamour, originality) and Kingmaker were all that NME stood for (lumpen, crappy stude rock). It was typical of his useless writing style and his imagined "feud" between the papers - both owned by IPC and one floor apart in the same building. We at NME did hate the MM, but mainly because they all crossed an NUJ picket line that very year, despite our pleading of solidarity. So we were going to be run by a scab who'd tried to turn NME vs MM into column inches for cheap effect. And we'd heard he was a tosser. Lamacq and Mary Anne Hobbs resigned at exactly the same time as the announcement. I resigned later that day, only to be talked back into working under Sutho for a few weeks, which I did - hated it, hated him, hated the atmopshere, and I eventually left. (Stuart followed a month or two later once Lamacq and I were installed at Select and could offer him a lifeline. James Brown stayed at IPC - they gave him carte blanche to start his own magazine - the rest is history.)

I don't hate Sutherland. I just think he's a fortysomething who pretends to be down with the kids. I hope I'm never like that.

Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Bent Halo on Wed Apr 18 10:07:22 BST 2001:

There has been a fair amount of Maconie bashing in Thrills recently, inevitably attacking his 'I Laugh At The 70s/80s' contributions.

Honestly, it's like dismissing everything Danny Baker ever wrote on the basis of 'Pets Win Prizes'.
Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Mogwai on Wed Apr 18 11:31:19 BST 2001:

And 'Win Lose Or Draw'. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Mogwai on Wed Apr 18 11:31:43 BST 2001:

And 'TFI Friday'. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Mogwai on Wed Apr 18 11:32:08 BST 2001:

And his football videos. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Mogwai on Wed Apr 18 11:32:27 BST 2001:

And his chat shows. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Bob Mills' on Wed Apr 18 12:03:52 BST 2001:

.....mind you, "Win, Lose or Draw " was actually quite good- "My sumptuos apartment, overlooking the rent". Cracked me up every time. Now you know whats wrong with the country. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Bent Halo on Wed Apr 18 13:17:27 BST 2001:

To the Maconie bashers,

I don’t really want to overwork the Maconie/Baker parallel but there is a clear line in that both are great critics who have compromised their reputation with either average or suspect work.

Of course shows like ‘The Bottom Line’ and ‘Pets Win Prizes’ are inexcusable. Baker would be the first to say this. ‘Win, Lose Or Draw’ I never watched and, yes, ‘TFI Friday’ was to a large degree horrible, but note how much further it dropped when Baker left.

None of this robs him of the quality of his journalism. Not an ounce of it. His ‘Sniffin’ Glue’ work is great (buy the omnibus now!) and I’ve had the pleasure of reading most of his NME work in the recent past. On top of that his appearances in Q were always a highlight, whenever he graced it with his presence.

Search out tapes of his Radio 5 breakfast show ‘Morning Edition’ (Justin has been very kind in this department), or the Radio 1 show which ran between 1993 and 1996. His economy as a DJ is astounding, always aware of when he is about to overegg an item and incredibly well connected to his audience. As for his other radio work, his two editions of ‘Room 101’ are joy unconfined. I’m sure Justin and TJ can step in with examples a-plenty.

From my understanding, there does appear to be a vast gulf that opens up when an NME, or indeed any, critic moves into television. Baker has made a series of bad moves, but on the whole has always thrown himself into them with an attitude that shows a love of the medium and the audience, rather than just placing himself on an undeserved plateau. Davina MacColl is far more offensive because she merely thinks that she is talented, based on the wholly incorrect assumption that because she could form a sentence as an MTV presenter she can do anything and be everywhere. Baker has never been so vapid, and at least has had the dignity to step down as a TV performer and concentrate on writing.

As to Maconie, there is a huge list of great work. Andrew would be better skilled at explaining what happened after their gold run together, but even a cursory listen to his work on ‘Hit Parade’, ‘Mark Radcliffe’, ‘Evening Session’, ‘The Treatment’, ‘Mediumwave’ and his own shortlived ‘Album Show’ will demonstrate his capabilities as an engaging presenter and *highly* informed critic. Go further back to his scribblings for Q, NME (Thrills when it was funny) and more evidence reveals itself.

There then followed, in 1997, ‘Collins & Maconie’s Movie Club’ which lasted two or three series on ITV before being axed. I still remember the proud announcement of this show on the Mark Radcliffe programme by Andrew, hinting that all options were open to them. I’ve no idea what happened afterwards, other than the “we weren’t blonde” theory, but the cancellation did seem to rob Maconie of his main outlets. He’s soldiered on with radio work but once that direct line between ‘Evening Session’ and ‘Movie Club’ was broken, a loss was felt by anyone who had grown used to him as an integral part of Mark Radcliffe’s show – he was, and still is, one of those people you just *expect* to be great.

But here is the parallel. Maconie and Baker have both launched into TV inadvisedly; perhaps to eek out a living, or more likely to find their feet. Of course ‘100 Greatest Moments From TV Hell’ was a dog. I was mortified to discover Stuart had written Zoe Ball’s script, and I do agree with the thrust of almost everything in Joe and Mike’s article. But even they wouldn’t dismiss his work in toto. See below, in Mike’s thread for ‘Stuart Maconie’s Critical List’, a perfectly valid if line-toeing show which would brighten up any Saturday night.

A little story now, about ‘I Laugh at the 70s/80s’, as related to me by one of the contributors. He informed me that each vox pop simply involves the contributor being asked to sit in a chair, in front of a blue-screen and have a series of subjects barked at them – “Boys From The Blackstuff!”, “Network 7!”, etc – and they are then expected to come up with the goodies. If they have a carefully planned argument then they are buggered, and even if they manage to state their case it can easily be fiddled with in editing. One particular item damned a popular beat group of the period, with this unnamed contributor shocked to discover that all of his positive comments about the singer (a good friend) had been crudely edited. The series is dreadful: unimaginatively edited and appallingly researched by people who genuinely don’t give a fuck. Blame them instead. Maconie was the least of it.

This Stuart-bashing is just tiresome. To dismiss his every action in the present without even bothering to put it in context or rationalise *why* he is doing it, is deeply stupid, especially if it’s for the sake of a rather lame joke as has been the case for several months now on NOTBBC foraa. There *are* better targets out there.

Returning to the issue of NME’s current state, I can visualise omnibus editions of the writing of Baker, Maconie, Quantick, in the same way that Parsons and Savage have been rewarded in recent y Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Bent Halo on Wed Apr 18 13:18:19 BST 2001:

...Parsons and Savage have been rewarded in recent years (add to the list). They all have a quality which towers over the current writing staff on the ‘paper. Tell me that in twenty years time we’ll all be buying ‘The Complete Stevie Chick’ or ‘Johnny Cigarettes: The Collected Drinking Anecdotes’ and I’ll laugh, bitterly.

And Davina can fuck off.

BH
Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Mogwai on Wed Apr 18 13:28:42 BST 2001:

I agree that Danny Baker's radio shows were brilliant, and I'd be a happy man if he were back on air. Ditto Maconie on Radcliffe. And they're both good journalists. I think for me that's what makes their abysmal TV work all the more galling - you know they're better than that. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Bob Mills' on Wed Apr 18 13:32:53 BST 2001:

On one particular episode of "Win Lose Or Draw" (Im sorry, but its under-rated)one of the R-list celebs-Tommy Boyd,maybe - had to draw loads of things in quick succession, one of which was "The Pope". The celeb declined, to which Baker replied "You passed on The Pope-you AND Henry The Eighth...."
Baker has always been a funny man who made bad (but probably lucrative) career choices. Maybe the end finally came when he saw fit to become the stooge of Evans.... Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Peter O' on Wed Apr 18 16:26:51 BST 2001:

Johnny Cigarettes has written good and funny things in his time. I just thought that should be pointed out. I am not him though. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Kilgore Trout' on Wed Apr 18 18:14:24 BST 2001:

Not long after he started at NME, Cigarettes did a series of articles called "Get A Life", which were his zany, sideways look at aspects of modern life. I often wondered if he was recycling old stand-up routines. Anyone know? Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Child of Destinny' on Wed Apr 18 19:01:22 BST 2001:

Exactly, MOST of them are crap. Some aren't. And no, I wouldn't want to listen to it for a week, but I would rather the charts were dominated by not-so-crap rather than completely crap bands. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Steven on Wed Apr 18 19:10:02 BST 2001:

"All them down there as well, they went to the CURDS man!" Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Justin on Wed Apr 18 20:08:09 BST 2001:

I have despaired at Maconie's involvement in I Love The 80s (and that Theakston interview in GQ a couple of months ago made me visibly cringe - I hope Maconie has now been offered better work than writing links for the next series of the execrable A Question Of Pop). But, quite apart from his sterling work for NME and Select down the years, his 1999 Blur biography was wonderful and frank, and his Northern Soul series for Radio 2 was highly enjoyable (for any doubters, think about this: it could have been Sean Rowley. Be grateful).

As for Baker, I am still not sure there's been a funnier piece in the music press in the last ten years than his "Two record collections" piece (Q, late 1991). Serious serious suggestion: anyone know who his agent is? I feel it's high time Baker's material for NME was rediscovered via an anthology. Apart from his tremendous Jacksons piece for the NME (1981) which appeared in the Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy (title?) compilation volume a few years book, none of it survives. Scandalous. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Justin on Wed Apr 18 20:44:11 BST 2001:

I forgot this bit in the above message: Bent Halo very kindly gave me a copy of a Radcliffe show from late 1996 with Peel sitting in as guest host. With a panel of Stewart Lee, Richard Herring and (yes) Stuart Maconie, it is zoo radio at its most entertaining and hilarious. Includes Peel's peerless "being nearly beaten up by two of The Goodies" anecdote.

BH also gave me a copy of the very last Baker show from R1. Equally marvellous. To all those who lost interest in Baker after "those" Daz/Mars adverts, or Pets Win Prizes: you have no idea what you missed out on. (TV Heroes, BBC1, 1993-94, for one thing. Not everything he did on telly was disappointing.)

Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Joe4SOTCAA on Wed Apr 18 21:27:12 BST 2001:

>Bent Halo very kindly gave me a copy of a Radcliffe show from late 1996 with Peel sitting in as guest host. With a panel of Stewart Lee, Richard Herring and (yes) Stuart Maconie, it is zoo radio at its most entertaining and hilarious. Includes Peel's peerless "being nearly beaten up by two of The Goodies" anecdote.

That was one of the most joyous bits of radio ever transmitted. "And I was saved from these marauding rampaging Goodies...by Robert Plant" Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By TJ on Wed Apr 18 22:18:44 BST 2001:

>That was one of the most joyous bits of radio ever transmitted. "And I was saved from these marauding rampaging Goodies...by Robert Plant"

Although I loved the show when Radcliffe was fronting it, I also used to love it when the guest presenters stood in, as they were all (without exception) ideally suited to the tone of the programme.

And, of course, there was the time when Lard stood in for an absent Mark Kermode to present 'Cult Film Corner'...


Hey, 93 posts! This is turning into the 'Best Local TV Programmes' of the SOTCAA forum. NIIIIIIIIIIIIICE! Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Jon on Thu Apr 19 08:28:39 BST 2001:

"And, of course, there was the time when Lard stood in for an absent Mark Kermode to present 'Cult Film Corner'..."

One of my favourite Mark&Lard moments was when Kermode (who I've never liked) was gassing on about the marvellous use of incidental music in, I think, "Midnight Cowboy", in particular some very poignant scene or other. To which Radcliffe said: "Yes... we've got that haunting music here..."... and then played some cheesy organ music.

Oh you had to be there... but I could never take Kermode seriously ever again after that moment. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Bent Halo on Thu Apr 19 11:59:56 BST 2001:

>That was one of the most joyous bits of radio ever transmitted. "And I was saved from these marauding rampaging Goodies...by Robert Plant"

RICH: "You were being attacked by Tim Brooke-Taylor and you needed ROBERT PLANT to help you?!"

(sound of entire room howling) Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By TJ on Thu Apr 19 14:02:21 BST 2001:

"...and of course, I'm not one to blow my own trumpet, but" [pa-pa-paaaaaaaa, papa-paaaa-paaaa-papa-paaaaaaaaaaaa] Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'radicalposture' on Fri Apr 20 23:36:47 BST 2001:

Weyhey, back to M&L again! Fits in nice with the Maconie stuff as Stuart filled in for the last week of the programme as I recall. I'm sure I've got on tape somewhere the phone call to Mister Collins from Lard dobbing Stuart in for working on the show, and suggesting he needs a new 'oppo'. An mp3 will follow if I find it.

And if Joe would like to bump up an mp3 of the aforementioned John Peel section I'd be forever grateful in a very special sort of way. :)

Just remembered (going back 2 weeks or so) that the Huggy Bear/Word incident was splashed all over the front of the Muddly Maker, rather than the NME. The ET connotations should have made me think. Sarah Cracknell once dissed him on a Radio1 St. Etienne concert, after a particularily scathing review of the wonderful "So Tough" LP.

He must still have been so bitter about Alan McGee melting down all his unsold copies of '73 In '83... Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Don Was' on Sat Apr 21 00:26:12 BST 2001:

He did indeed fill in the last week - last record played: To the End by Blur. Very poignant. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By Joe4SOTCAA on Sat Apr 21 01:29:58 BST 2001:

>And if Joe would like to bump up an mp3 of the aforementioned John Peel section I'd be forever grateful in a very special sort of way. :)

The show's on my list of encodement priorities. Bent - do you have the full broadcast there or will I have to edit 'Boys Are Wired Wrong' by Sten in from my white-label acetate?

I'll try and send a Real file of the Goodies anecdote down the line for Rob to stick up this weekend though. Subject: Re: NME disappearing up its own PR
Posted By 'Marc Riley ' on Sat Apr 21 12:32:16 BST 2001:

GET TO BED!