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In Their Own Write: Adventures In The Music Press
An astute commentary on contemporary culture, spawning prodigious talents who have helped advance and destroy cultural trends.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
300 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 2, 2007
I love nothing more than an out of print book. This one is a super duper good one. It's the history of the music press in London. NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, and even THE FACE. A lot of good music writing were done in the English press - especially the works of Nick Kent. The punk era produced not only great music, but also fantastic music journalists. Do find and read!
January 12, 2024
I sought this out after being bowled over by Gorman’s recent book on the music press Totally Wired. This earlier effort on the same subject is an oral history whose cast of contributors includes (almost) everyone who was anyone in the history of pop writing. I was convinced that Totally Wired was the definitive book on this subject but I might have been wrong; perhaps this is.
It’s certainly compulsive reading for anyone who ever found the meaning of life in the inky pages of NME, Melody Maker or (insert name of favourite music paper here). Gorman obviously drew heavily on the interviews he conducted for this book when writing the later one as more than a few quotes were eerily familiar. A babel of frequently conflicting voices telling often gonzo tales from the Wild West days of rock and rock writing: punch ups in the review room, typewriters hurled through the office windows and, of course, Nick Kent’s pink underpants.
Even when this was published, in 2001, the days of a thriving rock press were fast receding into the past; Melody Maker had ceased publication the previous year leaving the NME as the last surviving weekly (its print edition finally folded in 2018). The final chapter offers lots of competing theories on the reasons for the death of the music press. Charles Shaar Murray suggests that there was a time when rock music mattered, or at least seemed to, and so produced deeply felt writing; as the music lost its cultural significance the potency of the writing declined along with it. This a terrific book about when the music seemed to matter.
It’s certainly compulsive reading for anyone who ever found the meaning of life in the inky pages of NME, Melody Maker or (insert name of favourite music paper here). Gorman obviously drew heavily on the interviews he conducted for this book when writing the later one as more than a few quotes were eerily familiar. A babel of frequently conflicting voices telling often gonzo tales from the Wild West days of rock and rock writing: punch ups in the review room, typewriters hurled through the office windows and, of course, Nick Kent’s pink underpants.
Even when this was published, in 2001, the days of a thriving rock press were fast receding into the past; Melody Maker had ceased publication the previous year leaving the NME as the last surviving weekly (its print edition finally folded in 2018). The final chapter offers lots of competing theories on the reasons for the death of the music press. Charles Shaar Murray suggests that there was a time when rock music mattered, or at least seemed to, and so produced deeply felt writing; as the music lost its cultural significance the potency of the writing declined along with it. This a terrific book about when the music seemed to matter.
May 22, 2024
I loved the UK music press as I was growing up and beyond (70s-90s) and so should have loved Paul Gorman's In Their Own Write: Adventures In The Music Press.
It's pretty good, especially, if like me, you were an avid reader and so know all the writers who have contributed to the vox pop format. The sections on the US press were of little interest but guess they were included to broaden the appeal. There's a fair amount of repetition and a surprising amount of back stabbing. These people still seem to carry around grudges and some were keen to put the boot into their former colleagues. Also some of the key players have not contributed which dilutes the overall scope. Far from essential but worth a read if you know the work of the individuals who contributed.
3/5
It's pretty good, especially, if like me, you were an avid reader and so know all the writers who have contributed to the vox pop format. The sections on the US press were of little interest but guess they were included to broaden the appeal. There's a fair amount of repetition and a surprising amount of back stabbing. These people still seem to carry around grudges and some were keen to put the boot into their former colleagues. Also some of the key players have not contributed which dilutes the overall scope. Far from essential but worth a read if you know the work of the individuals who contributed.
3/5
August 12, 2023
Recently updated to take in marginalised voices who are only hinted at in the 2001 version, this is a fun retread over the 1960s and 1970s boom in rock writing that went alongside the creative explosion of the genre. A lot of it comprises war stories and score-settling. In 2023, it is hard to remember a time when writing about music paid well, was read by hundreds of thousands and spawned a viable ecosystem.
November 2, 2013
Dear Mr. Gorman,
There should be a warning label on this book somewhere, because I’m fairly certain the pages are coated with heroin. I was seriously addicted and just couldn’t put the book down, and by the final page I was experiencing some major withdrawal. This is not a dry historical account of writers dead and gone, but rather the astonishing collective story of those that navigated the early, chaotic waters of what later became the rock press, leaving us younger readers wishing we could’ve been part of that magic.
Thanks for writing this glorious book. When I discovered that In Their Own Write was an oral history of the music press with quotes from some of my favorite writers, musicians, and social commentators, including Robert Christgau, Caroline Coon, Iggy Pop, Nick Kent, Lester Bangs, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, and more, of course I was going to read it and then read it again. However, I had no idea that it would wholly reshape my thinking of what it was to be a writer during the golden-age of the pop and rock press.
From the 1950’s until the mid 1980’s, the unique, cultural phenomenon of the rock press was in its prime, and the mission of the rock journalist was to transcend traditional modes of popular music discourse, in order to produce something neither superficially mainstream or underground-elitist, but something that commentated on the ways different genres and subcultures interacted with one another, (Gorman, 2001).
Whether their work at surface-value was intended to shock, inform, or predict the ebb and flow of different cultural movements, above all else, the writing of rock critics blurred the arbitrary lines between what defined a fan of rock, R&B, pop, blues, hip-hop, and jazz. Magazines, like the esteemed NME, trailblazing Crawdaddy!, or even “corporate-cock sucking, but frankly unbeatable” Rolling Stone, offered writers a platform to cover subjects the music and culture seemed to espouse, (Gorman, 2001).
Captivating tales of drugs, drinking, sex, death, divorce, as well as a couple of fist-fights and a whole lot of Nick Kent’s pink underwear, are strewn throughout this wonderful, oral anthology. As editor of celebrated music periodicals, including Mojo and Music Week, Mr. Gorman, knowledge and passion for the profession are infused beautifully into In Their Own Write, highlighting the many boisterous voices of the early UK and US rock press (Gorman, 2009).
It is this quality of the book that I both agree with and adore, but it is also with this quality that my slight annoyance begins. As much as I loved reading quotes from the delightful array of wacky contributors, be it self-proclaimed wordsmith Greil Marcus, or the ever-cranky Richard Meltzer, I still wished there was more “in-between” writing to help link their ideas together.
In Fred Mills’ review, found in the music section of the Phoenix New Times, he too mentions this as the book’s “central flaw”. He argues that “the book is ultimately no more than a huge box of snapshots dumped onto the floor and then assembled into a more or less linear order”, (Mills, 2002). Although Mills may be a bit overly harsh, he does have a point.
Though it would have been nice to be able to connect all the ideas and themes in one neat little package , I am completely forgiving, because the vibrant anecdotes, outrageous opinions, and thought-provoking, intellectual commentaries are indeed what kept me hooked throughout, making- up for the lack of expository writing.
Writing about rock ‘n’ roll is difficult, because it is more than just music. Rock ‘n’ roll is a lifestyle, a way of thinking, and a culture brought forth by the guitar-forefathers of the 1950’s, transformed by Beatlemania, and solidified by the likes of Led Zeppelin, The Who, and other legends of the 1970’s. This is the very essence that In Their Own Write so marvelously captures.
Anyone with an interest in pop-culture, rock ‘n’ roll, or the music press should get a copy of In Their Own Write, as it offers one of the most indulgent looks into the heart of the rock press heyday. In the Sex Pistol’s hit, “Anarchy in the UK”, Johnny Rotten shrieks, “I use the NME. I use anarchy!” Rotten touches upon the central role of the rock press and the core of In Their Own Write: to provide an honest and often unmerciful glimpse at everything we love about boundary-breaking counter-culture and rock ‘n’ roll.
Thanks again for this amazing book, and feeding my addiction to all things rock music.
Your newest fan
There should be a warning label on this book somewhere, because I’m fairly certain the pages are coated with heroin. I was seriously addicted and just couldn’t put the book down, and by the final page I was experiencing some major withdrawal. This is not a dry historical account of writers dead and gone, but rather the astonishing collective story of those that navigated the early, chaotic waters of what later became the rock press, leaving us younger readers wishing we could’ve been part of that magic.
Thanks for writing this glorious book. When I discovered that In Their Own Write was an oral history of the music press with quotes from some of my favorite writers, musicians, and social commentators, including Robert Christgau, Caroline Coon, Iggy Pop, Nick Kent, Lester Bangs, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, and more, of course I was going to read it and then read it again. However, I had no idea that it would wholly reshape my thinking of what it was to be a writer during the golden-age of the pop and rock press.
From the 1950’s until the mid 1980’s, the unique, cultural phenomenon of the rock press was in its prime, and the mission of the rock journalist was to transcend traditional modes of popular music discourse, in order to produce something neither superficially mainstream or underground-elitist, but something that commentated on the ways different genres and subcultures interacted with one another, (Gorman, 2001).
Whether their work at surface-value was intended to shock, inform, or predict the ebb and flow of different cultural movements, above all else, the writing of rock critics blurred the arbitrary lines between what defined a fan of rock, R&B, pop, blues, hip-hop, and jazz. Magazines, like the esteemed NME, trailblazing Crawdaddy!, or even “corporate-cock sucking, but frankly unbeatable” Rolling Stone, offered writers a platform to cover subjects the music and culture seemed to espouse, (Gorman, 2001).
Captivating tales of drugs, drinking, sex, death, divorce, as well as a couple of fist-fights and a whole lot of Nick Kent’s pink underwear, are strewn throughout this wonderful, oral anthology. As editor of celebrated music periodicals, including Mojo and Music Week, Mr. Gorman, knowledge and passion for the profession are infused beautifully into In Their Own Write, highlighting the many boisterous voices of the early UK and US rock press (Gorman, 2009).
It is this quality of the book that I both agree with and adore, but it is also with this quality that my slight annoyance begins. As much as I loved reading quotes from the delightful array of wacky contributors, be it self-proclaimed wordsmith Greil Marcus, or the ever-cranky Richard Meltzer, I still wished there was more “in-between” writing to help link their ideas together.
In Fred Mills’ review, found in the music section of the Phoenix New Times, he too mentions this as the book’s “central flaw”. He argues that “the book is ultimately no more than a huge box of snapshots dumped onto the floor and then assembled into a more or less linear order”, (Mills, 2002). Although Mills may be a bit overly harsh, he does have a point.
Though it would have been nice to be able to connect all the ideas and themes in one neat little package , I am completely forgiving, because the vibrant anecdotes, outrageous opinions, and thought-provoking, intellectual commentaries are indeed what kept me hooked throughout, making- up for the lack of expository writing.
Writing about rock ‘n’ roll is difficult, because it is more than just music. Rock ‘n’ roll is a lifestyle, a way of thinking, and a culture brought forth by the guitar-forefathers of the 1950’s, transformed by Beatlemania, and solidified by the likes of Led Zeppelin, The Who, and other legends of the 1970’s. This is the very essence that In Their Own Write so marvelously captures.
Anyone with an interest in pop-culture, rock ‘n’ roll, or the music press should get a copy of In Their Own Write, as it offers one of the most indulgent looks into the heart of the rock press heyday. In the Sex Pistol’s hit, “Anarchy in the UK”, Johnny Rotten shrieks, “I use the NME. I use anarchy!” Rotten touches upon the central role of the rock press and the core of In Their Own Write: to provide an honest and often unmerciful glimpse at everything we love about boundary-breaking counter-culture and rock ‘n’ roll.
Thanks again for this amazing book, and feeding my addiction to all things rock music.
Your newest fan
October 31, 2010
Clearly the inner workings and gossip of music journalism appeal to me. This book starts out strong in plotting out the development of the mainstream American and British music press in the middle of the 20th century through oral histories. About a 100 pages in, however, it drags by asking the same people whether Lester Bangs or Robert Cristgau are geniuses while sidelining Ellen Willis. Also, the 2001 publishing date woefully predicts that Blender will be the industry's future. Does confirm that I'd want to be friends with Caroline Coon and Jon Savage. Gets an extra star for all the hate music journalists wage against "Almost Famous."
February 18, 2009
An oral history of rock journalism. Starts off pretty interesting, then it gets a bit tedious, since they keep talking to the same people, not moving on to the new gaurd, and they get more and more cranky and out of touch. That said, it was still enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews