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Paper Cuts: How I Destroyed the British Music Press and Other Misadventures
'A great writer' 'A music journalist of integrity' 'There's only one Ted Kessler!'
Paul Weller Billy Childish Liam Gallagher
Paper Cuts is the inside story of the slow death of the British music press. But it's also a love letter to it, the tale of how music magazines saved one man's life. Ted Kessler left home and school around his seventeenth birthday, determined 'to be someone who listened to music professionally'. Paper Cuts tells how Kessler found redemption through music and writing and takes us on a journey alongside the stars he interviewed and the work-place dramas he navigated as a senior staffer at NME through the boom-time '90s and on to the monthly Q in 2004, where he worked for sixteen years before it folded with him at its helm as editor in 2020.
We travel in time alongside musical heroes Paul Weller, Kevin Rowland, Mark E Smith, and to Cuba twice, first with Shaun Ryder and Bez, then with Manic Street Preachers. We spend long, mad nights out with Oasis and The Strokes, quality time with Jeff Buckley and Florence Welch, and watch Radiohead deliver cold revenge upon Kessler in public. A story about love and death, about what it's like when a music writer shacks up with a conflict of interest, and what happens when your younger brother starts appearing on the cover of the magazines you work for, this is the memoir of "a delinquent doofus" whose life was both rescued and defined by music magazines.
Paul Weller Billy Childish Liam Gallagher
Paper Cuts is the inside story of the slow death of the British music press. But it's also a love letter to it, the tale of how music magazines saved one man's life. Ted Kessler left home and school around his seventeenth birthday, determined 'to be someone who listened to music professionally'. Paper Cuts tells how Kessler found redemption through music and writing and takes us on a journey alongside the stars he interviewed and the work-place dramas he navigated as a senior staffer at NME through the boom-time '90s and on to the monthly Q in 2004, where he worked for sixteen years before it folded with him at its helm as editor in 2020.
We travel in time alongside musical heroes Paul Weller, Kevin Rowland, Mark E Smith, and to Cuba twice, first with Shaun Ryder and Bez, then with Manic Street Preachers. We spend long, mad nights out with Oasis and The Strokes, quality time with Jeff Buckley and Florence Welch, and watch Radiohead deliver cold revenge upon Kessler in public. A story about love and death, about what it's like when a music writer shacks up with a conflict of interest, and what happens when your younger brother starts appearing on the cover of the magazines you work for, this is the memoir of "a delinquent doofus" whose life was both rescued and defined by music magazines.
314 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 21, 2022
34 people are currently reading
361 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
August 17, 2022
Could only be improved with an accompanying CD. Not a playlist; a CD.
April 13, 2023
Ted Kessler has written a love letter to both music and writing in his inspiring, laugh-out-loud, anecdotal, and moving autobiography. I'd just come off the back of James Brown's rather brilliant life story, "Animal House," and, gawd bless algorithms, this was recommended by some AI somewhere that will eventually take all our jobs and destroy the planet.
However, in this case the AI was spot on, as this eclipses James' book. Different lives, different guys I suppose.
Kessler's life is page-turning (I'm sure he wouldn't describe it as such, though) even without the music angle, but with it, this book is a must-read for anyone who grew up in the '80s and '90s and wants to go on a vicarious ride into the mad heart of the music business. Ted was also there as bean counters and BS merchants destroyed the much-loved Q magazine, and his descriptions of the corporate profit-chasing blindness that led to Q's demise should make you as angry as he was.
The final chapter is perhaps the best, however, and really should be given as a lesson in schools on how to get into writing (to cut to the chase; do what you love, but said so much better). This chapter alone really should be a compulsory course for anyone wishing to write. Then there is the final paragraph. Oh, that final paragraph; it brought tears to my wife and I's eyes, and is right up there with the final paragraph of Shawn Levy's sublime 60s analysis, "Ready Steady Go." Ted, I hope you read this review, because I want you to know you've written one of the best autobiographies I have ever read. Please keep writing. I know you will.
However, in this case the AI was spot on, as this eclipses James' book. Different lives, different guys I suppose.
Kessler's life is page-turning (I'm sure he wouldn't describe it as such, though) even without the music angle, but with it, this book is a must-read for anyone who grew up in the '80s and '90s and wants to go on a vicarious ride into the mad heart of the music business. Ted was also there as bean counters and BS merchants destroyed the much-loved Q magazine, and his descriptions of the corporate profit-chasing blindness that led to Q's demise should make you as angry as he was.
The final chapter is perhaps the best, however, and really should be given as a lesson in schools on how to get into writing (to cut to the chase; do what you love, but said so much better). This chapter alone really should be a compulsory course for anyone wishing to write. Then there is the final paragraph. Oh, that final paragraph; it brought tears to my wife and I's eyes, and is right up there with the final paragraph of Shawn Levy's sublime 60s analysis, "Ready Steady Go." Ted, I hope you read this review, because I want you to know you've written one of the best autobiographies I have ever read. Please keep writing. I know you will.
August 7, 2022
A witty, touching and beautiful tribute to print journalism and music of all sounds, shapes and sizes. My upbringing couldn’t have been more different from Kessler's, but the way he writes makes it feel like you're living it all with him.
September 18, 2022
Anyone who grew up on a diet of NME, Select and Q will love this
June 2, 2025
Reminded me why I first fell in love with music and made me realise how much I yearn for the long gone days of print music publications.
January 5, 2026
I couldn’t have read this at a better time
November 25, 2022
This is a tremendous autobiography and set of anecdotes. There are laugh out loud sections such as his encounters with Mark E Smith and experiences at Q Magazine. I also love the way he conveys the sheer excitement and importance of new music and new bands. I enjoyed his positive end to the book (having described how the UK music press no longer really exists) and love the optimism that some new music press might emerge to rival the NME etc of yesteryear. It's a lovely thought...
January 8, 2024
gobbled this up pretty quickly, what a warm voice and some hilarious stories - he even managed to make the dense business-related stuff pretty interesting to read. the real muse is music. go ted kessler!!
May 22, 2023
This book is a love letter to the music magazines that we have lost in the past decade with particular focus on NME magazine, an ode to what we as the readers have lost and a personal story of how music journalism saved Ted Kessler's life path. I have no recollection of where I first spotted this book, I feel it may have been in my recommendations based upon books I have previously read but I'm really glad that I read it, I had no prior experience of Ted's writing or work before reading this but it was a great read. The book is focused on the UK's music press primarily NME and Q magazine but with plenty of discussion of others such as Mojo and Select. Ted's career in music journalism started in the mid 1980's through to the mid 2000's so the book charts the medium from its peak through to its nearing demise. I found the last section describing how to navigate the current broadband centred music world inspirational and hopefully will result in some people attempting to recreate and redesign the world of music journalism for todays modern world.
Whilst the predominant theme of the book is the ins and outs of the music publishing industry there are plenty of charming anecdotes such as when Ted was attempting to write the biography of Kevin Rowland of Dexy's Midnight Runners only for it to be pulled at the last minute or his tales of attempting to interview the Happy Mondays in Cuba but being unable to find Bez before the flight or interviewing Mark E Smith with his cutting dry wit. Despite not being familiar with Ted before reading this book I enjoyed his background stories of growing up in London before moving to France and how the school system worked and his struggles to settle in before moving back to London at 16 and doing various entry-level jobs.
It was also nice to hear anecdotes and references to music journalists that I was aware of prior to reading, people that you feel you know through their writing but in reality you do not. It was eye-opening to read about how ruthless music journalism can be, of how there is no stability in the job even for writers on the payroll and how it appears your job is only safe a day at a time and always at the behest of a new editor making radical changes which could mean the end of your job. Additionally I wrongly thought music journalism was historically a lucrative career but from reading this book I discovered that was far from the truth and instead the opportunity for experiences make up for the lack of financial remuneration.
I liked the writing style, I don't feel it would have been any better if I'd known of Ted's work beforehand, the subject matter had the potential to be dry and dull but it never felt that way and Ted has a way of drawing the interesting out of the mundane. Highly recommended to any one who loves music or has fond memories of the music publications.
Whilst the predominant theme of the book is the ins and outs of the music publishing industry there are plenty of charming anecdotes such as when Ted was attempting to write the biography of Kevin Rowland of Dexy's Midnight Runners only for it to be pulled at the last minute or his tales of attempting to interview the Happy Mondays in Cuba but being unable to find Bez before the flight or interviewing Mark E Smith with his cutting dry wit. Despite not being familiar with Ted before reading this book I enjoyed his background stories of growing up in London before moving to France and how the school system worked and his struggles to settle in before moving back to London at 16 and doing various entry-level jobs.
It was also nice to hear anecdotes and references to music journalists that I was aware of prior to reading, people that you feel you know through their writing but in reality you do not. It was eye-opening to read about how ruthless music journalism can be, of how there is no stability in the job even for writers on the payroll and how it appears your job is only safe a day at a time and always at the behest of a new editor making radical changes which could mean the end of your job. Additionally I wrongly thought music journalism was historically a lucrative career but from reading this book I discovered that was far from the truth and instead the opportunity for experiences make up for the lack of financial remuneration.
I liked the writing style, I don't feel it would have been any better if I'd known of Ted's work beforehand, the subject matter had the potential to be dry and dull but it never felt that way and Ted has a way of drawing the interesting out of the mundane. Highly recommended to any one who loves music or has fond memories of the music publications.
January 23, 2023
For some reason Ted Kessler's name had not impinged on my consciousness despite being an obsessive NME reader in my youth and having a phase of reading Q Magazine, both publications Ted spent quite a bit of time working for.
Ted came to both after the glory years and witnessed the demise of both. That's what this splendid book is primarily about - the slow decline and death of most of the UK music press.
If you're interested in this stuff, or have fond memories of reading these publications, then you’ll also doubtless enjoy this highly entertaining book.
Ted had an interesting childhood and adult life too, which adds depth to the plethora of interesting music related stories, and the inside track of the collapse of Q Magazine.
4/5
'A great writer'
Paul Weller
'A music journalist of integrity'
Billy Childish
'There's only one Ted Kessler!'
Liam Gallagher
PAPER CUTS is the inside story of the slow death of the British music press. But it's also a love letter to it, the tale of how music magazines saved one man's life. Ted Kessler left home and school around his seventeenth birthday, determined 'to be someone who listened to music professionally'. That dream appeared forlorn when he was later arrested for theft behind the counter of the record shop he managed during acid house's long hot summer of love. Paper Cuts tells how Kessler found redemption through music and writing and takes us on a journey alongside the stars he interviewed and the work-place dramas he navigated as a senior staffer at NME through the boom-time '90s and on to the monthly Q in 2004, where he worked for sixteen years before it folded with him at its helm as editor in 2020.
We travel in time alongside musical heroes Paul Weller, Kevin Rowland, Mark E Smith, and to Cuba twice, first with Shaun Ryder and Bez, then with Manic Street Preachers. We spend long, mad nights out with Oasis and The Strokes, quality time with Jeff Buckley and Florence Welch, and watch Radiohead deliver cold revenge upon Kessler in public. A story about love and death, about what it's like when a music writer shacks up with a conflict of interest, and what happens when your younger brother starts appearing on the cover of the magazines you work for, this is the memoir of "a delinquent doofus" whose life was both rescued and defined by music magazines.
Ted came to both after the glory years and witnessed the demise of both. That's what this splendid book is primarily about - the slow decline and death of most of the UK music press.
If you're interested in this stuff, or have fond memories of reading these publications, then you’ll also doubtless enjoy this highly entertaining book.
Ted had an interesting childhood and adult life too, which adds depth to the plethora of interesting music related stories, and the inside track of the collapse of Q Magazine.
4/5
'A great writer'
Paul Weller
'A music journalist of integrity'
Billy Childish
'There's only one Ted Kessler!'
Liam Gallagher
PAPER CUTS is the inside story of the slow death of the British music press. But it's also a love letter to it, the tale of how music magazines saved one man's life. Ted Kessler left home and school around his seventeenth birthday, determined 'to be someone who listened to music professionally'. That dream appeared forlorn when he was later arrested for theft behind the counter of the record shop he managed during acid house's long hot summer of love. Paper Cuts tells how Kessler found redemption through music and writing and takes us on a journey alongside the stars he interviewed and the work-place dramas he navigated as a senior staffer at NME through the boom-time '90s and on to the monthly Q in 2004, where he worked for sixteen years before it folded with him at its helm as editor in 2020.
We travel in time alongside musical heroes Paul Weller, Kevin Rowland, Mark E Smith, and to Cuba twice, first with Shaun Ryder and Bez, then with Manic Street Preachers. We spend long, mad nights out with Oasis and The Strokes, quality time with Jeff Buckley and Florence Welch, and watch Radiohead deliver cold revenge upon Kessler in public. A story about love and death, about what it's like when a music writer shacks up with a conflict of interest, and what happens when your younger brother starts appearing on the cover of the magazines you work for, this is the memoir of "a delinquent doofus" whose life was both rescued and defined by music magazines.
July 31, 2025
I do look back wistfully at the UK music press of the 1980s and 1990s and I don’t think we realised how good we had it at the time – both Melody Maker and The New Musical Express were huge influences on me, the writing was often unbelievably good and the tendency to pull no punches and not to be at the behest of publicists and bands is sadly less commonly reflected today.
Ted Kessler, an amiable presence who crops up now and then on BBC 6 Music’s Roundtable is at his best here when describing the winds that buffeted the music press throughout those years including his time at Qin the 2000s – a period which has rather oddly been relabelled the period of ‘indie sleaze’, a term nobody used at the time. He perhaps plays down the rise of the internet as the factor that killed off the music papers although that Q only gained a second wind when its editors realised that its audience was almost wholly a print one is a perceptive observation.
Instead, he charts the lowering of musical quality of the late 1990s (The Stereophonics, Travis, Coldplay) as the beginning of the end – Britpop, for all its faults, had characters you could put on the cover of a magazine. The book has some decent low level gossip and an interview with Pete Kember of Spaceman 3 in his bedroom is probably the highlight along with a great account of the early 1990s megadog/rave scene – that weird coupling of clubbing and hippiedom which did turn out some great tunes.
That said, 60 pages at the start where Kessler tells of his musical origins and growing up in France and elsewhere is of peremptory interest and there are other sections which could have been cut in favour of the core period the book deals with. He’s also very dismissive of Melody Maker which is just plan wrong given the writing talent on show there at the time. That two such similar magazines co-existed in such a small space is perhaps another reason why the whole thing came to an end.
Ted Kessler, an amiable presence who crops up now and then on BBC 6 Music’s Roundtable is at his best here when describing the winds that buffeted the music press throughout those years including his time at Qin the 2000s – a period which has rather oddly been relabelled the period of ‘indie sleaze’, a term nobody used at the time. He perhaps plays down the rise of the internet as the factor that killed off the music papers although that Q only gained a second wind when its editors realised that its audience was almost wholly a print one is a perceptive observation.
Instead, he charts the lowering of musical quality of the late 1990s (The Stereophonics, Travis, Coldplay) as the beginning of the end – Britpop, for all its faults, had characters you could put on the cover of a magazine. The book has some decent low level gossip and an interview with Pete Kember of Spaceman 3 in his bedroom is probably the highlight along with a great account of the early 1990s megadog/rave scene – that weird coupling of clubbing and hippiedom which did turn out some great tunes.
That said, 60 pages at the start where Kessler tells of his musical origins and growing up in France and elsewhere is of peremptory interest and there are other sections which could have been cut in favour of the core period the book deals with. He’s also very dismissive of Melody Maker which is just plan wrong given the writing talent on show there at the time. That two such similar magazines co-existed in such a small space is perhaps another reason why the whole thing came to an end.
October 8, 2022
There seems to be a recent glut of books by grizzled ex-music journos lamenting the demise of the U.K. music press. And who could blame them? In 2022, music journalism is not exactly a lucrative career path, so why not rattle off a memoir about the golden age of rock’n’roll excess, transatlantic flights to interview celebrities, and mouth-watering expense accounts.
In what is fast becoming almost a literary genre in itself, Ted Kessler’s “Paper Cuts” doesn’t quite match the heights of the best music-inkie-journo memoirs (which remains Sylvia Patterson’s “I’m Not With the Band”). But the “otherwise unemployable” Kessler is a likeable presence throughout “Paper Cuts”; self-aware and self-depreciating while refraining from peddling the lazy line that the 1990s music press was some kind of gilded age for literature (or, indeed, music).
Kessler relates some terrific industry anecdotes throughout “Paper Cuts”, and the interviews he has recounted here (Mark E. Smith, Shaun Ryder, Kevin Rowland) speak to a time when the term “larger than life” didn’t come close to capturing the charisma – and, occasionally, menace and danger – of the music scene’s leading characters. “Paper Cuts” is particularly astute on what it feels like to be working on a publication that has entered its death spiral (Kessler, the veteran of NME, Select, and Q magazines, being a repeat offender in that regard). Recommended reading for anybody who regrets the slow death of the once vibrant-music press.
In what is fast becoming almost a literary genre in itself, Ted Kessler’s “Paper Cuts” doesn’t quite match the heights of the best music-inkie-journo memoirs (which remains Sylvia Patterson’s “I’m Not With the Band”). But the “otherwise unemployable” Kessler is a likeable presence throughout “Paper Cuts”; self-aware and self-depreciating while refraining from peddling the lazy line that the 1990s music press was some kind of gilded age for literature (or, indeed, music).
Kessler relates some terrific industry anecdotes throughout “Paper Cuts”, and the interviews he has recounted here (Mark E. Smith, Shaun Ryder, Kevin Rowland) speak to a time when the term “larger than life” didn’t come close to capturing the charisma – and, occasionally, menace and danger – of the music scene’s leading characters. “Paper Cuts” is particularly astute on what it feels like to be working on a publication that has entered its death spiral (Kessler, the veteran of NME, Select, and Q magazines, being a repeat offender in that regard). Recommended reading for anybody who regrets the slow death of the once vibrant-music press.
April 27, 2025
Despite being the last editor of Q magazine before it folded, Ted Kessler describes himself as essentially being an NME writer - and even if he hadn't, his off-hand dismissal of Q as "smug, self-congratulatory, purposely fogey" would give him away. But I loved magazines like it and Word, and would say it was ironic, with a keen sense of the innate ridiculousness of much of the music industry. By contrast, the weekly inkies always had the breathless, over-excited feel of a bunch of teenagers seduced by the myths of rock 'n' roll and unable or unwilling to see past them, and Kessler sounds like he fit in exactly. The monthlies were clearly dying long before he arrived to oversee their last days and I'd ducked out years before. All of which is a long way of saying that I've never read or even come across Ted Kessler before, and in any case, I probably wouldn't have had much time for him. Which is my loss, because he's a really good writer, not just when he's being self-deprecatory about his younger self's misadventures, but about the music that's inspired him. This took me a solid day to read and was never less than entertaining and often insightful.
January 2, 2026
my favourite read of 2025!!! witty, fun, but still beautifully sincere. i looove music nonfiction and this ticked all the boxes for me. so refreshing to see the music world represented from a non-musician’s perspective, and also so fun to see how a kid living in between countries managed to stumble into a job at one of the world’s greatest music publications, rubbing shoulders with stars during the heyday of britpop and 2000s indie. bonus points for mentioning so many bands and artists that i love! so many wonderful anecdotes. i watched the manics live in cuba dvd the night before reading the chapter on the manics in cuba which was a lovely synchronicity!! so cool to see the same event represented through two different perspectives in two different mediums! i found this book at the perfect time in my life, i’m so glad i read it when i did
May 24, 2023
I was an avid Q reader, and I still recall them highlighting the White Stripes before they ever got press in the United States. This is a great book to learn about the ins and outs of music journalism in the UK during this century. Most print has disappeared and it was interesting to read about it from a person who was there and was involved. I thought it was great that he talked about his early life and how coming from a broken home and living in Paris caused him to be a bit of a delinquent but then he found his way to music journalism in a way that would not or could not happen today. To top it off, his younger brother is the lead guitarist and founder of the band Interpol.
November 3, 2023
I wouldn't say Ted Kessler was ever my favourite NME writer but this is a really good read. The life of a music obsessive who was lucky enough to work his way into writing about the music he loved. Sadly he was also present for the decline of the weekly music press as the heritage monthlies become the only game on the newsstands. I thought the epilogue was the best bit of the book - his love for NME before he started working there and how so much of what he read is fixed in his mind was highly relatable and his cry for new young writers to get out there and report on the fantastic new music that is around was heartfelt and impossible to disagree with
July 2, 2023
Enjoyable drag through the British music magazine business, from the perspective of one of its stalwarts. The first eight chapters could possibly have been two, and I'm not necessarily that into much of the music he's into, but that alone suggests this is a well written book, since I raced through it, enjoying each chapter more than the last. And oh for a welfare state that allows young people to take some (creative) risks of their own, rather than being plunged into the legacy consequences of state and institutional risk-taking.
July 30, 2024
Very enjoyable memoir starting with early '80s adolescence exiled in France which at times was heartbreaking through to working in UK music press, meeting the likes of Paul Weller and Kevin Rowland along the way, culminating in turning Q into a great mag.
In the epilogue about music journalism he gives a superb eulogy for the Neil Spencer era NME, the content and design of which set the standard for so many of us at the time.
Recommended, looking forward to reading his other books.
In the epilogue about music journalism he gives a superb eulogy for the Neil Spencer era NME, the content and design of which set the standard for so many of us at the time.
Recommended, looking forward to reading his other books.
January 20, 2025
I've read a number of music-related books recently and this one's good. It occasionally falls into gonzo let's-take-drugs journalism (dull) and there's also too much detail about the business of the music press from time to time. However, other than these two minor quibbles, it's a very enjoyable and entertaining read.
December 27, 2022
Well written and honest portrayal of life as a music journalist who after being brought up on the “inkies” in the eighties was a part of the growth and eventual demise in the nineties and 2000’s. The authors love for genuine music and outsiders doing there own thing rings through every page.
January 26, 2023
I loved everything about this book. An ode to the transformative, consuming, illogical, wild power of music.
The writing is sublime. After reading his prose for years in NME & Q, I always felt like Ted & I would get on.
Paper Cuts cements it.
The writing is sublime. After reading his prose for years in NME & Q, I always felt like Ted & I would get on.
Paper Cuts cements it.
March 9, 2025
Excellent book, so well written. Was an avid reader of the NME and Q back in the day, and Ted Kessler was one of my favourite contributers to those publications. This book combines Ted's life story as well as his various meetings with rock and pop stars down the years. Highly recommended.
November 2, 2025
A brilliant read
Raw, honest, sharp, self deprecating and clever.
This is a superb read that balances fairness and respect with a great deal of gritty and frank realism.
Very much enjoyed this.
Raw, honest, sharp, self deprecating and clever.
This is a superb read that balances fairness and respect with a great deal of gritty and frank realism.
Very much enjoyed this.
May 31, 2023
Coming of age/ workplace memoir and love letter to the inky music press, with lots of top anecdotes (Manics, Happy Mondays, Strokes, Noel G, Interpol, Kevin Rowland) and great writing.
November 3, 2023
A laugh out loud tribute to his illustrious past. Music journalism and finding his feet on this planet. Wonderful story.
December 2, 2023
Interesting account of the death of music journalism. I'm a bit older than Kessler so my NME time was mid seventies onwards
January 7, 2024
Interesting read into the downfall and final decline of the British Music press.
January 19, 2025
Insightful & amusing.
March 20, 2025
Lotta anecdotes but nothing on what I wanted about music writing
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews