Melody Maker
Encyclopedia
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media
, the world's oldest weekly music
newspaper
. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musician
s; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publication) New Musical Express.
, and had Max Jones, one of the leading British proselytizers for that music, on its staff for many years. It was slow to cover rock and roll
and lost ground to the New Musical Express (NME), which had begun in 1952. MM began its Melody Maker LP charts in November 1958, two years after the Record Mirror
published the first UK Albums Chart
.
On 6 March 1965, MM called for The Beatles
to be honoured
by the British state, which happened on 12 June that year when all four were made MBEs.
By the late 1960s, MM had recovered momentum, targeting an older market than the teen-oriented NME. MM had larger and more specialised advertising; soon-to-be well-known groups would advertise for musicians. It ran pages devoted to "minority" interests like folk
and jazz, as well as detailed reviews of musical instruments.
A 1968 Melody Maker poll named John Peel
best radio DJ, attention which John Walters revealed may have helped Peel keep his job despite concerns at BBC Radio 1
about Peel's style and record selection.
, Michael Watts, Chris Welch
and Steve Lake were among the first British journalists to write seriously about popular music, shedding an intellectual light on such artists as Steely Dan
, Cat Stevens
, Led Zeppelin
and Henry Cow
.
Melody Maker supported glam rock
and progressive rock
in the 1970s.
In 1978, Richard Williams returned again as editor attempting to take MM in a new direction influenced by what Paul Morley
and Ian Penman
were doing at NME and with Jon Savage
, Chris Bohn and Mary Harron
providing arty coverage of post-punk
and New Wave
while Vivien Goldman
who was previously at NME and Sounds, gave the paper much improved coverage of reggae
and soul music
, an area in which it had fallen short of its competitors.
Internal tension came to light, principally between Williams and Ray Coleman
, by this time editor-in-chief, who wanted the paper to stick to the more "conservative rock" music it had continued to support during the punk era. Coleman had been insistent that the paper should "look like The Daily Telegraph
" (renowned for its old-fashioned design), but Williams wanted the paper to look more contemporary. He commissioned an updated design, but this was rejected by Coleman.
It was during this period that Melody Maker was described as "the musos' journal," and that Michael "Mick" Watts emerged as a prominent writer for the paper. In January 1972, in a defining moment for rock journalism, Watts interviewed David Bowie
on the German film set of Just A Gigolo for Melody Maker. It was during this interview that Bowie claimed, "I'm gay, and always have been, even when I was David Jones." "OH YOU PRETTY THING" ran the headline, and swiftly became part of pop mythology. Bowie later attributed his success to this interview, stating that, "Yeah, it was Melody Maker that made me. It was that piece by Mick Watts." During his tenure at the paper, Watts also interviewed artists including Syd Barrett
, Waylon Jennings
, Pink Floyd
, and Bruce Springsteen
.
replacing features about Andy Warhol
, Gang of Four
and Factory Records
on the cover. Several journalists, such as Chris Bohn and Vivien Goldman, moved to NME, while Jon Savage joined the new magazine The Face
. Coleman left in 1981, the paper's design was updated, but sales and prestige were at a low ebb through the early 1980s, with NME dominant.
By 1983, the magazine had become more populist and pop-orientated, exemplified by its modish "MM" masthead, regular covers for the likes of Duran Duran
and its choice of Eurythmics
' Touch as the best album of the year. Things were to change, however. In February 1984, Allan Jones
and a staff writer on the paper since 1974, was appointed editor: defying instructions to put Kajagoogoo
on the cover, he led the magazine with an article on up-and-coming band The Smiths
.
In 1986, MM was invigorated by the arrival of a group of journalists, including Simon Reynolds
and David Stubbs
, who had run a music fanzine
called Monitor from the University of Oxford
, and Chris Roberts, from Sounds
, who established MM as more individualistic and intellectual. This was especially true after the hip-hop wars at NME, a schism between enthusiasts of progressive black music such as Public Enemy and Mantronix
and fans of traditional white rock - ended in a victory for the latter, the departure of writers such as Mark Sinker and Biba Kopf, and the rise of Andrew Collins
and Stuart Maconie
, who pushed NME in a more populist direction.
and indie music (notably Everett True
's coverage of the emerging grunge
scene in Seattle), it covered dance music
, hip hop
and post rock and electronica
. Two of the paper's writers, Push and Ben Turner, went on to launch IPC Media's monthly dance music magazine Muzik
. Even in the mid-1990s, when Britpop
brought a new generation of readers to the music press, it remained less populist than its rivals, with younger writers such as Simon Price
, Taylor Parkes
and Neil Kulkarni continuing the 1980s tradition of iconoclasm and opinionated criticism. The paper printed harsh criticism of Ocean Colour Scene
and Kula Shaker
, and allowed dissenting views on Oasis
and Blur
at a time when they were praised by the rest of the press.
The magazine retained its large classified ads section, and remained the first call for musicians wanting to form a band. Suede
formed through ads placed in the paper. MM also continued to publish reviews of musical equipment and readers' demo tapes
- though these often had little in common stylistically with the rest of the paper - ensuring sales to jobbing musicians who would otherwise have little interest in the music press.
In early 1997, Allan Jones left to edit Uncut
. He was replaced, somewhat controversially, by Mark Sutherland, formerly of NME and Smash Hits
, who "fulfilled his boyhood dream" by editing the magazine for three years. Many long-standing writers left, often moving to Uncut, with at least one writer, Simon Price
, departing because he objected to an edict that coverage of Oasis
should be positive. Its sales, which had been substantially lower than those of the NME, entered a serious decline.
In 1999, MM relaunched as a glossy magazine
, but the new design did not help. The magazine closed the next year and merged with IPC Media
's other music magazine, NME
, which took on some of its journalists and music reviewers.
IPC Media
IPC Media , a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Inc., is a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year.- Origins :...
, the world's oldest weekly music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publication) New Musical Express.
1950s–1960s
Originally the Melody Maker (MM) concentrated on jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and had Max Jones, one of the leading British proselytizers for that music, on its staff for many years. It was slow to cover rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and lost ground to the New Musical Express (NME), which had begun in 1952. MM began its Melody Maker LP charts in November 1958, two years after the Record Mirror
Record Mirror
Record Mirror was a British weekly pop music newspaper, founded by Isadore Green and featured, news articles, interviews, record charts, record reviews, concert reviews, letters from readers and photographs. The paper became respected by both mainstream pop music fans and serious record collectors...
published the first UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
.
On 6 March 1965, MM called for The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
to be honoured
British honours system
The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories...
by the British state, which happened on 12 June that year when all four were made MBEs.
By the late 1960s, MM had recovered momentum, targeting an older market than the teen-oriented NME. MM had larger and more specialised advertising; soon-to-be well-known groups would advertise for musicians. It ran pages devoted to "minority" interests like folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and jazz, as well as detailed reviews of musical instruments.
A 1968 Melody Maker poll named John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
best radio DJ, attention which John Walters revealed may have helped Peel keep his job despite concerns at BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
about Peel's style and record selection.
1970s
Critics such as Richard WilliamsRichard Williams (journalist)
Richard Williams is a British music and sports journalist.As a writer, then deputy editor, of the weekly rock magazine Melody Maker, he became an influential commentator on the rise of new forms of rock music at the end of the 1960s. Williams and MM, as it was known, helped to promote and...
, Michael Watts, Chris Welch
Chris Welch
Chris Welch is a music journalist, reviewer and critic with Melody Maker, famous during the 1960s and 1970s for reporting on the rise of such bands as The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Traffic, If, Cream and Jeff Beck. During that time he also reported on the UK jazz scene.- Career...
and Steve Lake were among the first British journalists to write seriously about popular music, shedding an intellectual light on such artists as Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
, Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
, Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
and Henry Cow
Henry Cow
Henry Cow were an English avant-rock group, founded at Cambridge University in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler and bassoonist/oboist Lindsay Cooper were important long-term members...
.
Melody Maker supported glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
and progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
in the 1970s.
In 1978, Richard Williams returned again as editor attempting to take MM in a new direction influenced by what Paul Morley
Paul Morley
Paul Morley is an English journalist, who wrote for the New Musical Express from 1977 to 1983, during one of its most successful periods, and has since written for a wide range of publications...
and Ian Penman
Ian Penman
Ian Penman is a British writer and, latterly, blogger. He began writing for the NME in the autumn of 1977, later contributing to various publications including Uncut, Arena, The Wire, The Face, The Guardian, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, Screen and German Vogue.Many of Penman's...
were doing at NME and with Jon Savage
Jon Savage
Jon Savage , real name Jonathon Sage, is a Cambridge-educated writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his award winning history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, England's Dreaming, published in 1991.-Career:...
, Chris Bohn and Mary Harron
Mary Harron
Mary Harron is a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter best known for her films I Shot Andy Warhol, American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page.-Overview:...
providing arty coverage of post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
and New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
while Vivien Goldman
Vivien Goldman
Vivien Goldman is a British journalist, writer and musician. She was born in London, the child of two German-Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. She studied English and American literature at the University of Warwick...
who was previously at NME and Sounds, gave the paper much improved coverage of reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, an area in which it had fallen short of its competitors.
Internal tension came to light, principally between Williams and Ray Coleman
Ray Coleman
Ray Coleman was a British author and former Editor-in-chief of Melody Maker known for biographies of The Beatles. Besides Melody Maker, Coleman was a participant with music magazines including Disc, Black Music, and Musicians Only, and a contributor to magazines such as Billboard...
, by this time editor-in-chief, who wanted the paper to stick to the more "conservative rock" music it had continued to support during the punk era. Coleman had been insistent that the paper should "look like The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
" (renowned for its old-fashioned design), but Williams wanted the paper to look more contemporary. He commissioned an updated design, but this was rejected by Coleman.
It was during this period that Melody Maker was described as "the musos' journal," and that Michael "Mick" Watts emerged as a prominent writer for the paper. In January 1972, in a defining moment for rock journalism, Watts interviewed David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
on the German film set of Just A Gigolo for Melody Maker. It was during this interview that Bowie claimed, "I'm gay, and always have been, even when I was David Jones." "OH YOU PRETTY THING" ran the headline, and swiftly became part of pop mythology. Bowie later attributed his success to this interview, stating that, "Yeah, it was Melody Maker that made me. It was that piece by Mick Watts." During his tenure at the paper, Watts also interviewed artists including Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
, Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
, Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
, and Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
.
1980s
In 1980, after a strike which had taken the paper (along with NME) out of publication for a period, Williams left MM. Coleman promoted Michael Oldfield from the design staff to day-to-day editor, and, for a while, took it back where it had been, with news of a line-up change in Jethro TullJethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
replacing features about Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, Gang of Four
Gang of Four (band)
Gang of Four are an English post-punk group from Leeds. Original personnel were singer Jon King, guitarist Andy Gill, bass guitarist Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham. They were fully active from 1977 to 1984, and then re-emerged twice in the 1990s with King and Gill...
and Factory Records
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
on the cover. Several journalists, such as Chris Bohn and Vivien Goldman, moved to NME, while Jon Savage joined the new magazine The Face
The Face (magazine)
The Face was a British music, fashion and culture monthly magazine started in May 1980 by Nick Logan.-1980s:Logan had previously created the teen pop magazine Smash Hits, and had been an editor at the New Musical Express in the 1970s before launching The Face in 1980.The magazine was influential in...
. Coleman left in 1981, the paper's design was updated, but sales and prestige were at a low ebb through the early 1980s, with NME dominant.
By 1983, the magazine had become more populist and pop-orientated, exemplified by its modish "MM" masthead, regular covers for the likes of Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
and its choice of Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
' Touch as the best album of the year. Things were to change, however. In February 1984, Allan Jones
Allan Jones (editor)
Allan Jones is a British music journalist and editor.Following graduation, Jones took a job in the stock room of Hatchards on Piccadilly. While there he applied for a writing opening at the rock weekly Melody Maker with a letter that concluded, "Melody Maker needs a bullet up its arse. I’m the gun...
and a staff writer on the paper since 1974, was appointed editor: defying instructions to put Kajagoogoo
Kajagoogoo
Kajagoogoo are a British pop band, best known for their hit single, "Too Shy", which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 5 on the U.S...
on the cover, he led the magazine with an article on up-and-coming band The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
.
In 1986, MM was invigorated by the arrival of a group of journalists, including Simon Reynolds
Simon Reynolds
Simon Reynolds is an English music critic who is well-known for his writings on electronic dance music and for coining the term "post-rock". Besides electronic dance music, Reynolds has written about a wide range of artists and musical genres, and has written books on post-punk and rock...
and David Stubbs
David Stubbs
David Stubbs is a British journalist. He was born on 13 September 1962 in London, but grew up in Leeds. As a student at Oxford University he was a close friend of Simon Reynolds; together they worked on an influential fanzine called Monitor before joining Melody Maker in 1986...
, who had run a music fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
called Monitor from the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, and Chris Roberts, from Sounds
Sounds (magazine)
Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...
, who established MM as more individualistic and intellectual. This was especially true after the hip-hop wars at NME, a schism between enthusiasts of progressive black music such as Public Enemy and Mantronix
Mantronix
Mantronix was an influential 1980s hip hop and electro funk music group founded by DJ Kurtis Mantronik , and rapper MC Tee...
and fans of traditional white rock - ended in a victory for the latter, the departure of writers such as Mark Sinker and Biba Kopf, and the rise of Andrew Collins
Andrew Collins (broadcaster)
Andrew Collins is the creator and writer of Radio 4 sitcom Mr Blue Sky. His TV writing work includes EastEnders and the sitcoms Grass and Not Going Out .-Personal life:Collins was a member of the Labour Party between the late 1980s and early 1990s, leaving after Labour's...
and Stuart Maconie
Stuart Maconie
Stuart Maconie is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC 6 Music, where he hosts an afternoon show five times a week , alongside Mark Radcliffe, called the Radcliffe...
, who pushed NME in a more populist direction.
1990s
While MM continued to devote most space to rockRock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and indie music (notably Everett True
Everett True
For the cartoon character, see The Outbursts of Everett True.Everett True is a British music journalist, who grew up in Chelmsford, Essex...
's coverage of the emerging grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
scene in Seattle), it covered dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
, hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
and post rock and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
. Two of the paper's writers, Push and Ben Turner, went on to launch IPC Media's monthly dance music magazine Muzik
Muzik
Muzik was a UK dance music magazine published by IPC Media from June 1995 to August 2003.Muzik was created by two former Melody Maker journalists, Push and Ben Turner. Push was the editor of Muzik from its launch until he left the magazine in 1998, at which point Turner took over as editor...
. Even in the mid-1990s, when Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
brought a new generation of readers to the music press, it remained less populist than its rivals, with younger writers such as Simon Price
Simon Price
Simon Price is a British music journalist and club promoter, born on 25 September 1967 in the Welsh town of Barry. He is now best known for his weekly review section in The Independent on Sunday and his book on Manic Street Preachers.-Career:...
, Taylor Parkes
Taylor Parkes
Taylor Parkes is a British journalist. He is best known for his music journalism which appeared in Melody Maker from 1993 to 1998, notable for a style which mixed dark humour, especially in bitterly critical pieces, with an intellectual tone, influenced by the likes of Simon Reynolds and Paul Morley...
and Neil Kulkarni continuing the 1980s tradition of iconoclasm and opinionated criticism. The paper printed harsh criticism of Ocean Colour Scene
Ocean Colour Scene
Ocean Colour Scene are an English Britpop band formed in Moseley, Birmingham in 1989. They have had five Top 10 albums and six Top 10 singles to date.-Early days :...
and Kula Shaker
Kula Shaker
Kula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band. Led by outspoken frontman Crispian Mills, the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop era of the late 1990s. The band enjoyed great commercial success in the UK between 1996 and 1999, notching up a number of Top 10 hits on the UK Singles...
, and allowed dissenting views on Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
and Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
at a time when they were praised by the rest of the press.
The magazine retained its large classified ads section, and remained the first call for musicians wanting to form a band. Suede
Suede (band)
Suede are an English alternative rock band from London, formed in 1989. The group's most prominent early line-up featured singer Brett Anderson, guitarist Bernard Butler, bass player Mat Osman and drummer Simon Gilbert. By 1992, Suede were hailed as "The Best New Band in Britain", and attracted...
formed through ads placed in the paper. MM also continued to publish reviews of musical equipment and readers' demo tapes
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
- though these often had little in common stylistically with the rest of the paper - ensuring sales to jobbing musicians who would otherwise have little interest in the music press.
In early 1997, Allan Jones left to edit Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
. He was replaced, somewhat controversially, by Mark Sutherland, formerly of NME and Smash Hits
Smash Hits
Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...
, who "fulfilled his boyhood dream" by editing the magazine for three years. Many long-standing writers left, often moving to Uncut, with at least one writer, Simon Price
Simon Price
Simon Price is a British music journalist and club promoter, born on 25 September 1967 in the Welsh town of Barry. He is now best known for his weekly review section in The Independent on Sunday and his book on Manic Street Preachers.-Career:...
, departing because he objected to an edict that coverage of Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
should be positive. Its sales, which had been substantially lower than those of the NME, entered a serious decline.
In 1999, MM relaunched as a glossy magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
, but the new design did not help. The magazine closed the next year and merged with IPC Media
IPC Media
IPC Media , a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Inc., is a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year.- Origins :...
's other music magazine, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, which took on some of its journalists and music reviewers.
Bands using MM adverts
Advertisements in Melody Maker helped assemble the lineups of a number of major bands, including:- Jet BlackJet BlackJet Black is an English drummer and founder member of punk rock / new wave band The Stranglers.-Early years:...
met Hugh Cornwell (then of the band Johnny Sox) after reading an advertisement in Melody Maker magazine. Cornwell joined Black in The StranglersThe StranglersThe Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
in 1974. - Bill BrufordBill BrufordWilliam Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
placed an ad in 1968 that was answered by Jon AndersonJon AndersonJon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...
and Chris SquireChris SquireChristopher Russell Edward "Chris" Squire , is an English musician, known as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the progressive rock group Yes. He is the only member of the group to appear on every album.-Before Yes:...
to form the founding lineup of YesYes (band)Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
. - Rick DaviesRick DaviesRick Davies is an English musician, best known as the founder and keyboardist of progressive rock band Supertramp...
, backed financially by Dutch millionaire Stanley August Miesegaes, formed SupertrampSupertrampSupertramp are a British rock band formed in 1969 under the name Daddy before renaming to Supertramp in early 1970. Though their music was initially categorised as progressive rock, they have since incorporated a combination of traditional rock and art rock into their music...
, the "band of his dreams" in 1969. - Deep PurpleDeep PurpleDeep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
found the then-unknown David CoverdaleDavid CoverdaleDavid 'Jack' Coverdale is an English rock singer, most famous for his work with the his own hard rock band Whitesnake which achieved massive commercial success.-Early life:...
in 1973. - Depeche ModeDepeche ModeDepeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
placed an ad in 1981 and found Alan WilderAlan WilderAlan Charles Wilder is a British musician, formerly of Depeche Mode. His current musical project is called Recoil, started as a side project to Depeche Mode. When he left the latter in 1995, it became Wilder's primary project...
. - Vince ClarkeVince ClarkeVince Clarke is an English synthpop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been involved with a number of successful groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly and Erasure....
of ErasureErasureErasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...
found Andy BellAndy Bell (singer)Andrew Ivan "Andy" Bell is the lead singer of the English synthpop duo Erasure. He also has a solo career, with the albums Non-Stop and Electric Blue.-Early life:Andy Bell originates from the Dogsthorpe area in Peterborough...
in 1985. - The original members of SuedeSuede (band)Suede are an English alternative rock band from London, formed in 1989. The group's most prominent early line-up featured singer Brett Anderson, guitarist Bernard Butler, bass player Mat Osman and drummer Simon Gilbert. By 1992, Suede were hailed as "The Best New Band in Britain", and attracted...
recruited guitarist Bernard ButlerBernard ButlerBernard Joseph Butler is an English musician and record producer. He first emerged in the early Britpop era with Suede. He has been hailed by some critics as the greatest guitarist of his generation, as well as one of Britain's most original and influential guitarists...
in 1989. - Steve HackettSteve HackettStephen Richard Hackett is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He gained prominence as a member of the British progressive rock group Genesis, which he joined in 1970 and left in 1977 to pursue a solo career...
of GenesisGenesis (band)Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
put an ad in MM that was answered by the band frontman Peter GabrielPeter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
in 1970. - Wang ChungWang Chung (band)Wang Chung are an English New Wave musical group.The group found their greatest success in America, with five Top 40 hits in the US, all charting between 1983 and 1987, including "Dance Hall Days" , "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" and "Let's Go!" .-Pre-history: The Intellektuals and 57 Men :Jeremy...
got its start when Jack HuesJack HuesJack Hues is an English musician, who is best known for forming the 1980s British new wave band, Wang Chung...
met Nick FeldmanNick FeldmanNick Feldman is an English musician, who is best known for forming the popular 1980s British new wave band, Wang Chung. In addition to forming Wang Chung, Feldman also was a member of the duo, Promised Land, which featured Jon Moss from Culture Club, was a founding investor in Interactive Ideas...
after answering Feldman's ad for a musician in 1977. - Noel ReddingNoel ReddingNoel Redding was an English rock and roll guitarist best known as the bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Biography:...
, the bassist of The Jimi Hendrix ExperienceThe Jimi Hendrix ExperienceThe Jimi Hendrix Experience were an English-American psychedelic rock band that formed in London in October 1966. Comprising eponymous singer-songwriter and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until June 1969, in which...
, auditioned for The AnimalsThe AnimalsThe Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
after responding to an ad. Eventually the bassist of The Animals, Chas ChandlerChas ChandlerBryan James "Chas" Chandler was an English musician, record producer and manager of several successful music acts....
, introduced him to Jimi HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
. - LimahlLimahlChristopher Hamill better known by his stage name Limahl is an English pop singer. He rose to fame as the lead singer of the 1980s pop group Kajagoogoo, before embarking on a briefly successful solo career, which reached its peak with the 1984 hit "The NeverEnding Story", taken from the film of...
teamed up with band 'Art Nouveau' and formed KajagoogooKajagoogooKajagoogoo are a British pop band, best known for their hit single, "Too Shy", which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 5 on the U.S...
from an advert he placed in MM.