I left school at 18 with one A-level, good typing and shorthand speeds, and few ambitions beyond earning a decent salary. Two years earlier, my dad had suffered a stroke that left him partly paralysed and unable to return to his managerial job. All I could think about was financial independence. I knew I couldn’t rely on my parents to support me in that way. I’d worked hard for my … [Read more...] about Dear Alan, you changed my life. I hope I can be the Alan in someone else’s life
Sounds
Why 1981 was my Year for the Ages
We’ve all lived through those years in our lives – those golden, razzle-dazzle years when everything seems to come at us in an exhilarating, heady rush. I had one of those years 40 years ago: 1981. To understand why, let me take you back to 1980 and my appointment as a staff writer (under the pen name Betty Page) for Sounds in June of that year. Following that momentous event, I’d quickly … [Read more...] about Why 1981 was my Year for the Ages
How a photograph can hold the key to compelling content
'You go down, down past the Talk of the Town....' My heart is pumping. I'm excited but nervous. I'm going to watch the hottest band in London film their new video... in front of an invited audience – including me! You know that feeling you get when you know you're in THE place to be? That's how I'm feeling right now... 'You go down Greek Street then it's underground...' I know there are … [Read more...] about How a photograph can hold the key to compelling content
C30, C60, C90 – don’t go!
It's hard to imagine now but in the summer of 1980 what passed for disruptive technology came in a compact plastic box with a cardboard inner sleeve. Ah yes, the cassette - I remember it well. In my first year as a staff writer for the music paper Sounds, I was deluged by the little devils, as bands up and down the country sent me demo tapes after I did the first major published interviews … [Read more...] about C30, C60, C90 – don’t go!
Rest In Purple: My long-term love affair with Prince
It seems that these days the only time I feel inspired to write a blog is when a musical hero dies. I paid a personal tribute to Bowie earlier this year, but now I have lost Prince... In many ways he impacted me more directly than Bowie. This is what I wrote about him in my (still unpublished) memoir Hit Girl: My Bizarre Double Life in the Pop World of the Eighties: "In 1981, another unique … [Read more...] about Rest In Purple: My long-term love affair with Prince
A “spesh” time when I played fast and loose with the English language
When I was a music journalist back in the Eighties I thought nothing of casually mangling the English language. In those days it was "hip" to use in-jokes, amusing abbreviations, shorthand, wordplay and made-up words to create a vernacular of belonging for the readers. I wince when I read some of the reviews I wrote because the way in which I expressed myself was very much of its time and seems … [Read more...] about A “spesh” time when I played fast and loose with the English language