I am the latest subject in the One Great Reader series published by Oakland CA’s Book/Shop.
In the interview by Wes Del Val I talk about the importance of books, particularly second-hand books, in my life.
Above is a selection of reading material mentioned in the chat plucked from the shelves, ranging from Myths & Legends given to me by an older sister when I was eight in the 1960s to Tabitha Lasley’s incredible Sea State published this year.
Read my One Great Reader chat with Wes here.
Specially selected posts from this blog’s archive are now featuring on Flashbak, the digital resource featuring images and stories from the past.
Continue reading Specially selected posts from the blog archive now appearing on Flashbak
It’s flattering to receive praise from a tastemaker of the standing of Gary Warnett, who has posted on his Gwarizm blog about my recent cult magazine chat with SHOWStudio editor Lou Stoppard for her Print project.
I highly recommend John Pidgeon’s blog; Pidgeon is another of those unpindownable figures in the cultural landscape. His considerable talents have been expressed from music journalism and magazine publishing through roadie-ing for The Faces and composing songs with their recently departed and already much missed keyboard maestro Ian McLagan to commissioning stunning design work from Barney Bubbles and producing BBC documentaries and radio comedy (and in the process promoting the talents behind hit series such as Dead Ringers, Little Britain and The Mighty Boosh).
Continue reading Highly recommended: The unpindownable John Pidgeon’s blog
Well done to vintage collector/dealer Sharon of Sweet Jane’s Pop Boutique blog for spotting this wowser on a Facebook group: a 1971 article in teen fashion and music magazine Jackie about the game-changing fashion outlet Paradise Garage run by Trevor Myles at 430 King’s Road.
Paradise Garage is important because it was the first shop in Britain to import and sell used denim in a meaningful way. Using the astounding environment created by Electric Colour Company, faded and worn denim, sometimes appliqued or patched, was stocked alongside an acutely compiled selection of soon-to-be-familiar dead-stock: Hawaiian shirts, baseball and souvenir jackets, Osh Kosh B’Gosh dungarees, bumper boots, cheongsams and so on.
Myles opened Paradise Garage in May 1971 as a reaction to the Pop Art flash he had engineered at Mr Freedom with his ex-partner Tommy Roberts. In the Jackie article he makes a point about fashion and environmental sustainability of pertinence today:
“There’s so much pollution in the world that we thought you should use the gear you already have – not buy something just because it’s fashionable. By throwing the old lot away you only add to the pollution problem. So that’s why we’re using it all up.”
Also interviewed and photographed is shop manager Bradley Mendelson, the New Yorker whose November 1971 encounter with Malcolm McLaren while Myles was absent overseas resulted in the establishment of Let It Rock at the same address.
The publication date of the issue of Jackie – December 4, 1971 – is poignant; by the time the feature appeared Paradise Garage was gone and McLaren and others, including his art-school student friend Patrick Casey and Vivienne Westwood, had taken over the outlet and were refurbishing it to match Mclaren’s radical British take on 50s retromania.
Read the Sweet Jane’s Pop Boutique blog here.
Rifling through her memories of Pippa Brooks and Max Karie’s Soho boutique Shop (which later mutated into The World According To… and then shifted base to Shop At Maison Bertaux), fashion blogger Susie Bubble has nice things to say about me and my work and includes in her selection of images the cover of the first edition of The Look.
This featured Libby Peder’s photograph of Pippa and James Dearlove, her musical collaborator in Posh, All About Eve Babitz and Shopgirl.
It was as Shopgirl that Pippa and James played the launch party, which was held across the road from Shop at the club Astral and featured DJ sets by others in the book, including Jeff Dexter, Count Indigo, Dan Donovan + Don Letts and Jay Strongman.
Read about that eventful night on THE LOOK blog.
Read Susie Bubble’s post Shopped-Out here.
I got to know Pippa through Shop and Posh, who I saw live a few times in the 90s. Sadly I missed this performance at Wembley Stadium on the same bill as Bon Jovi (is it me or is Pippa absolutely bricking it when she leans down to take a slug of water?):
I was flattered to be invited to contribute this playlist to Tim Broun’s great blog Stupefaction:
01. Cocoa Song from Moon Over The Alley OST
02. I Start Counting – Basil Kirchin
03. Say You Don’t Mind – Colin Blunstone
04. Cut The World – Antony & The Johnsons
05. Burundi Black (Part 2) – Burundi Stephenson Black
06. Bo Diddley – Bo Diddley
07. Boogie Children – John Fred & the Playboys
08. Jump Sturdy – Dr John
09. Natty Dread Taking Over – Culture
10. Love A We Deal With – Big Youth
11. Train To Rhodesia – Big Youth
12. Sadness Is A Blessing – Lykke Li
13. The Lights Of Tucson – Jim Campbell
14. Coz I Luv U – Slade
15. High – Ssion
16. Inside Out – Odyssey
17. Genesis – Grimes
18. Baby’s On Fire – Die Antwoord
19. Sick Of Myself – Matthew Sweet
20. You Shouldn’t Do That – Hawkwind (full live version)
Stupefaction features a 15-track Spotify and 20-track video version here.
You may go direct to the Youtube version here.
Enjoy.
I’m interviewed by Andrew Bunney about the Tommy Roberts book on Japanese lifestyle/culture blog Honeyee – read here.
This is Andrew’s own honeyee blog.
Buy Mr Freedom – Tommy Roberts: British Design Hero here.