Paul Gorman is…

1970s

On Malcolm McLaren’s reading list: Nik Cohn, Frederick’s Of Hollywood and Giorgio Morandi catalogues, Wilhelm Reich, Tom Wolfe and the folk art and magic studies which inspired fashion adventures with Vivienne Westwood

Just as the independent labels and self-published fanzines Paul Gorman chronicles built their own alternative economies outside the mainstream music industry, today's digital subcultures are experimenting with decentralised currencies that move value without banks or borders. Part of that wave has reached the world of sports and casino entertainment, where crypto-friendly wagering has found a particularly enthusiastic audience in Turkey under the name bitcoin bahis —a form of play that lets users stake and cash out with digital coins rather than conventional payment rails. Anyone tempted to try it should treat it strictly as entertainment, stake only money they can afford to lose, and first confirm the platform's licensing as well as the gambling rules in force in their own country.

A few years back I came across Malcolm McLaren’s annotated copy of Indian Rawhide, the anthropologist Mable Morrow’s study of the folk art produced by Native American tribes which inspired the late cultural iconoclast in the conceptualising with his partner Vivienne Westwood of their Spring/Summer 1982 fashion collection Savage. McLaren obtained a copy of Morrow’s […]

January 3, 2017

1970s

Eight Young Photographers: The poster

As a follow-up to my last post, here is the stunning poster for Eight Young Photographers, the third exhibition to be held at the Photographers Gallery (which opened at its original premises in central London’s Great Newport Street at the beginning of 1971). The image has been provided by Mark Trompeteler, who was one of the […]

December 10, 2016

1970s

Eight Young Photographers: David Parkinson’s mould-breaking contribution to the 1971 exhibition

Eight Young Photographers was the third exhibition to be held at the newly-opened Photographers Gallery at its original premises in Great Newport Street in London’s West End. The gallery opened in January 1971 with a group show entitled The Concerned Photographer featuring, among others, Robert Capa, and followed that by simultaneously staging three exhibits, including a display […]

November 22, 2016

1970s

Michael Joseph’s 1971 ‘orgy’ shoot: Journey from Fernet-Branca billboard ad – starring Judy Nylon, Gala Pinion, Brent Sherwood, David ‘Piggy’ Worth et al – to covers of 90s/00s funk compilations

In 1971 the great advertising director and photographer Michael Joseph was commissioned to shoot a billboard campaign for the Italian digestif Fernet-Branca.

November 13, 2016

1960s

Sayonara Martin Stone 1946 – 2016

Martin Stone hopped, pre-dawn, through the Cheshire street market, scavenging books. Winklepickers, tourniquet trousers, mildewed beret, bulging swagbag: Blind Pew impersonated by Max Wall. Cigarette grafted to trembling, prehensile fingers, he was an anthology of retro fashion. And in his wake there shimmered a vortex of gossip and, amazingly, goodwill… Iain Sinclair, The Independent, February […]

November 10, 2016

1970s

The Rebel Music man: Dave Hendley exhibition opens this week

I’m really looking forward to visiting the forthcoming exhibition of the photography of Dave Hendley, who died this summer. Hendley is best known for the photos he took of the Jamaican music scene in the 70s, but he holds a special place for me as the man responsible for one of my favourite compilations, the double-LP Rebel […]

November 8, 2016

2010s

Unflinching beauty: The work of Emma Hopkins in new exhibition FACE | TIME

Tonight sees the opening of a group show featuring the work of one of my favourite contemporary figurative artists, Emma Hopkins. Hopkins’ work unflinchingly considers the raw beauty of the human anatomy and physiognomy. As she says: “I paint people from the inside out.”

November 3, 2016

1980s

Revenge of the suburbs: David Bowie fans shine in doc about the 1983 Milton Keynes Bowl gigs

Fittingly Britain’s most surprising rock star has found his way to Britain’s newest and most surprising city, where high tech meets ecologic, where concrete meets conservation, where the silicon chip meets the fibreglass rod… Steve Taylor, South Of Watford, Summer 1983, London Weekend Television While putting the finishing touches to my forthcoming book about The Face […]

November 1, 2016

1970s

Jordan Mooney remembers David ‘Piggy’ Worth and Patrick Lichfield’s 50s photoshoot for The Beatles Rock ‘N’ Roll Music

“He was a man full of wit and charm who always had an eye for new and exciting things. His special characteristics were kindness and forethought” Jordan Mooney, 2016 Following my recent blogs on the life of the late fashion model David “Piggy” Worth, here is a gem: Sex and Seditionaries superstar Jordan Mooney recalls her […]

October 28, 2016

1950s

Reissued: The Look Of London – charting fashion x music in the greatest city in the world

I’m delighted to announce that my map The Look Of London – which teases out the intertwining of popular music and street style in our capital over five decades – has been reissued by groovy guide makers Herb Lester Associates.

October 21, 2016