13/10/2020 Melody Maker - Wikipedia

Melody Maker
Melody Maker was a British weekly music magazine, one of the
world's earliest music weeklies, and—according to its publisher Melody Maker
IPC Media—the earliest.[2] It was founded in 1926, largely as a
magazine for dance band musicians,[3] by Leicester-born
composer, publisher Lawrence Wright; the first editor was Edgar
Jackson.[4][5] In 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival"[2]
(and IPC Media sister publication) New Musical Express.

Frequency Weekly
Contents First issue January 1926[1]

1950s–1960s Final December 2000

issue
1970s
Company IPC Media
1980s
Country United Kingdom
1990s
Based in London, England
Bands using MM adverts
Language English
See also
ISSN 0025-9012 (https://ww
References
w.worldcat.org/search?
External links fq=x0:jrnl&q=n2:0025-
9012)

1950s–1960s
Originally the Melody Maker (MM) concentrated on jazz, 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 launched
its own weekly singles chart (a top 20) on 7 April 1956,[6] and an LPs
charts in November 1958, two years after the Record Mirror had
published the first UK Albums Chart.[7] From 1964, the paper led its
rival publications in terms of approaching music and musicians as a
subject for serious study rather than merely entertainment. Staff
reporters such as Chris Welch and Ray Coleman applied a perspective
previously reserved for jazz artists to the rise of American-influenced
local rock and pop groups, anticipating the advent of music criticism.[8]
Melody Maker (7
On 6 March 1965, MM called for the Beatles to be honoured by the September 1968 issue)
British state. This duly happened on 12 June that year, when all four
members of the group (Harrison,[9] Lennon, McCartney,[10] and
Starr[11]) were appointed as members of the Order of the British Empire. By the late 1960s, MM had
recovered, targeting an older market than the teen-orientated 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.

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A 1968 Melody Maker poll named John Peel best radio DJ, attention which John Walters said may
have helped Peel keep his job despite concerns at BBC Radio 1 about his style and record selection.[12]

Starting from the mid-60s, critics such as Welch, Richard Williams, Michael Watts 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, Pink Floyd and Henry Cow.

1970s
By the early 1970s, Melody Maker was considered "the musos' journal" and associated with
progressive rock. However, Melody Maker also reported on teenybopper pop sensations like the
Osmonds, the Jackson 5, and David Cassidy. The music weekly also gave early and sympathetic
coverage to glam rock. Richard Williams wrote the first pieces about Roxy Music, while Roy
Hollingworth wrote the first article celebrating New York Dolls in proto-punk terms while serving as
the Melody Maker's New York correspondent. In January 1972, Michael "Mick" Watts, a prominent
writer for the paper,[13] wrote a profile of David Bowie that almost singlehandedly ignited the singer's
dormant career.[14] During the interview Bowie said, "I'm gay, and always have been, even when I was
David Jones."[15] "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."[16] During his tenure at the paper, Watts also
toured with and interviewed artists including Syd Barrett, Waylon Jennings, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan
and Bruce Springsteen.

Caroline Coon was headhunted by Melody Maker editor Ray Coleman in the mid-1970s and promptly
made it her mission to get women musicians taken seriously. Between 1974 and 1976, she interviewed
Maggie Bell, Joan Armatrading, Lynsey de Paul, and Twiggy. She then went on to make it her mission
to promote punk rock.[17]

In 1978, Richard Williams returned – after a stint working at Island Records – to the paper as the new
editor and attempted to take Melody Maker in a new direction, influenced by what Paul Morley and
Ian Penman were doing at NME. He recruited Jon Savage (formerly of Sounds), Chris Bohn and Mary
Harron to provide intellectual coverage of post-punk bands like Gang of Four, Pere Ubu and Joy
Division and of new wave in general. Vivien Goldman, previously at NME and Sounds, gave the paper
much improved coverage of reggae and soul music, restoring the superior coverage of those genres
that the paper had in the early 1970s. Despite this promise of a new direction for the paper, internal
tension developed, principally between Williams and 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.

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 Tull 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, a staff
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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 (as Chris Bohn was now calling himself), and the rise of
Andrew Collins and Stuart Maconie, who pushed NME in a more Melody Maker redesigned
populist direction. as MM

1990s
While MM continued to devote most space to rock and indie music
(notably Everett True's coverage of the emerging grunge scene in
Seattle), it covered house, hip hop, post-rock, rave and trip hop. 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 and Taylor Parkes 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.

In 1993, they gave a French rock band called Darlin' a negative review
calling them "a daft punky thrash". Darlin' eventually became the Melody Maker (21 August
electronic music duo Daft Punk. 1993)

Australian journalist Andrew Mueller joined MM in 1990 and became

Reviews Editor between 1991 and 1993, eventually declining to become Features Editor and leaving
the magazine in 1993. He then went on to join NME under his former boss Steve Sutherland (who had
left MM in 1992).[18]

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 by Mark Sutherland, formerly of NME
and Smash Hits, who thus "fulfilled [his] boyhood dream"[19] and stayed on to edit the magazine for
three years. Many long-standing writers left, often moving to Uncut, with Simon Price departing
allegedly because he objected to an edict that coverage of Oasis should be positive. Its sales, which had
already been substantially lower than those of the NME, entered a serious decline.

In 1999, MM relaunched as a glossy magazine, but the magazine closed the following year, merging
into IPC Media's other music magazine, NME, which took on some of its journalists and music
reviewers.

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Bands using MM adverts

Advertisements in Melody Maker helped assemble the line-ups of a number of major bands,
including:

Jet Black met Hugh Cornwell (then of the band Johnny Sox) after reading an advertisement in
Melody Maker, and the two helped form The Stranglers in 1974.[20]
Bill Bruford placed an ad in 1968 that was answered by Jon Anderson and Chris Squire to form
the founding line-up of Yes.[21]
Killing Joke singer Jaz Coleman and drummer Paul Ferguson placed an advertisement in Melody
Maker in 1978, which attracted guitarist Geordie Walker and bassist Youth.[22]
Rick Davies, backed financially by Dutch millionaire Stanley August Miesegaes, formed
Supertramp, the "band of his dreams" in 1969.[23]
Deep Purple found the then-unknown David Coverdale in 1973.[24]
Depeche Mode placed an ad in 1981 and found Alan Wilder.[25]
Vince Clarke of Erasure found Andy Bell in 1985.[26]
The original members of Suede recruited guitarist Bernard Butler in 1989.[27]
Steve Hackett put an ad in MM that was answered by Genesis in 1970.[28]
Annie Haslam of Renaissance responded to an ad in MM and was invited for audition and
became the lead vocal in 1970.
Wang Chung got its start when Jack Hues met Nick Feldman after answering Feldman's ad for a
musician in 1977.[29]
Noel Redding, the bassist of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, auditioned for The Animals after
responding to an ad. Eventually the bassist of The Animals, Chas Chandler, introduced him to
Jimi Hendrix.
Mike Barson of Madness tried to replace Suggs when he wasn't turning up to band practice as he
was bunking off to attend Chelsea football matches[30]
Limahl teamed up with band 'Art Nouveau' and formed Kajagoogoo from an advert he placed in
MM.[31]
The Cure posted an ad, answered by Jason Toop Cooper, who has been The Cure drummer
since 1995.
The Electric Light Orchestra posted an ad for a violinist in 1973, and recruited Mik Kaminski.
Duran Duran found original guitarist Andy Taylor in an advert seeking a "live wire" guitarist.

See also
Sounds (founded 1970 by ex-MM employees)

References
1. Moore, Hilary (2007). Inside British Jazz: Crossing Borders of Race, Nation and Class. Ashgate
Publishing. p. 26. ISBN 978-0754657446.
2. "ENTERTAINMENT | Melody Maker to merge with NME" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainmen
t/1070699.stm). BBC News. 15 December 2000. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
3. Herbert, Trevor (2000). The British Brass Band : A Musical and Social History. Oxford University.
p. 105. ISBN 0191590126.
4. Whitcomb, Ian (2013). After the Ball: Pop Music from Rag to Rock. Faber & Faber.
5. Powell, Neil (2000). The Language of Jazz. Taylor & Francis. p. 85.

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6. Lindberg, Ulf; Guomundsson, Gestur; Michelsen, Morten; Weisethaunet, Hans (2005). Rock
Criticism from the Beginning: Amusers, Bruisers, and Cool-Headed Cruisers. New York, NY: Peter
Lang. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-8204-7490-8.
7. [1] (https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/musicclub/album_chart_50s.shtml) Archived (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20080323022954/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/musicclub/album_chart_50s.shtml) 23
March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
8. Lindberg, Ulf; Guomundsson, Gestur; Michelsen, Morten; Weisethaunet, Hans (2005). Rock
Criticism from the Beginning: Amusers, Bruisers, and Cool-Headed Cruisers. New York, NY: Peter
Lang. p. 85, 88, 89–91. ISBN 978-0-8204-7490-8.
9. "No. 43667" (https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/43667/supplement/5487). The London
Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1965. p. 5487.
10. "No. 43667" (https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/43667/supplement/5488). The London
Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1965. p. 5488.
11. "No. 43667" (https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/43667/supplement/5489). The London
Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1965. p. 5489.
12. "Radio 1 – Keeping It Peel – John Peel Day" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/johnpeelday/
2005/6music/). BBC. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
13. "Interview: Out of His Pen: The Words of Richard Williams" (http://rockcriticsarchives.com/intervie
ws/richardwilliams/01.html). Out of His Pen. 2002. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
14. Spitz, Marc (27 October 2009). Bowie: A Biography (https://archive.org/details/bowiebiography00s
pit). Crown Publishing Group. p. 180 (https://archive.org/details/bowiebiography00spit/page/180).
ISBN 978-0-307-46239-8.
15. Jones, Randy; Bego, Mark (September 1976). Interview: David Bowie (https://books.google.com/?
id=7S0OOeKFR3gC&pg=PA56). Macho Man. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-275-99962-9. Retrieved
5 July 2010.
16. "Interview: Cha...cha...cha...changes: A journey with Aladdin" (http://www.5years.com/mm12may7
3.htm). Melody Maker. 12 May 1973. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
17. "Writing women back into punk – The F-Word" (https://www.thefword.org.uk/2010/03/women_in_p
unk_w/). Thefword.org.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
18. Andrew, Mueller. It's too late to die young now : misadventures in rock-n-roll. Sydney, N.S.W.
ISBN 9781742612294. OCLC 840129189 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/840129189).
19. "BBC Radio 6 Music – 6 Music News – Clips" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/music_week/
biog_mark.shtml). Bbc.co.uk. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
20. Cosmos, Tiger (2013). "The Stranglers Biography" (http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/16
08002835/The-Stranglers.html). Musicianguide.com. Net Industries. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
21. [2] (http://www.billbruford.com/timeline/1968.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2008082
1131204/http://www.billbruford.com/timeline/1968.html) 21 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
22. Needs, Kris. "Killing Joke - interview". ZigZag. September 1980
23. [3] (https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/criticallist/must_have_supertramp.shtml) Archived (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20070614063654/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/criticallist/must_hav
e_supertramp.shtml) 14 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
24. "Tees Features" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/tees/weareteesside/halloffame/davidcoverdale.shtml).
BBC. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
25. "The Official Recoil Website" (http://www.recoil.co.uk/). Recoil.co.uk. 17 October 2013. Retrieved
11 August 2014.
26. "Lincolnshire – Stage" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire/stage/erasure.shtml). BBC. Retrieved
11 August 2014.
27. "Music – 7 Ages of Rock – Suede" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/sevenages/artists/suede/). BBC.
Retrieved 11 August 2014.

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28. Banks, Tony; Collins, Phil; Gabriel, Peter; Rutherford, Mike; Hackett, Steve (18 September 2007).
Genesis: Chapter and Verse (https://books.google.com/?id=mYSyx40JaiYC&pg=PA97&lpg=PA97
&dq=steve+hackett+puts+ad+in+melody+maker#v=onepage&q=steve+hackett+puts+ad+in+melo
dy+maker&f=false). Macmillan. ISBN 9780312379568. Retrieved 11 October 2017 – via Google
Books.
29. "Wang Chung" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150605001949/http://www.wangchung.com/bio/197
5-1979.shtml). Wang Chung. Archived from the original (http://www.wangchung.com/bio/1975-197
9.shtml) on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
30. Saunders, William (2010). Jimi Hendrix: London (https://books.google.com/?id=d2DmBpRYplMC&
pg=PA17). Roaring Forties Press. pp. 17–19. ISBN 978-0-9843165-1-9. Retrieved 30 December
2011.
31. "history" (http://www.kajagoogoo.com/history/history_01.html). kajagoogoo. Retrieved 11 August
2014.

External links
"Melody Makers: You Should Have Been There (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=YgtIeX05Ju4)", a feature-length documentary about the magazine

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