Entertainment For Lively Minds
Paul Morley - again
Of all the thousands of journalists who've written for the weekly inkies and rock monthlies over the last 40 years, why is Paul Morley the only one who appears on nearly every music review and documentary programme on TV?
I do like him - he always has an opinion, he rarely says the obvious and he's got a pleasingly hangdog face. He can funny, interesting, ludicrous and pretentious.
But when he appeared on BBC 4's Easy Listening doc on Friday, I thought, come on - give someone else a go.
Yes, you occasionally see Charles Shaar Murray and Nick Kent, but why aren't Tony Parsons, David Quantick, Stuart Maconie or John Harris on these sort of shows any more? Why don't we hear from authors such as Simon Reynolds or Jon Savage? Or from distinctive writers such as Everett True or Ian Penman?
The other thing about Morley these days is that I'm not quite sure what he really likes. I know people can change as they grow older, but would the man who skewered Phil Collins in the NME in the 80s be really pontificating about easy listening now?
(By the way, his sister made a tremendous documentary about returning to Manchester. Does anyone know what this doc was called and if she's made anything else?)
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The Alcohol Years
was Carol Morley's film/doc from about 10 years ago. Great stuff, with a 'what the heck was I doing from 1982-87? Let's seek out people who knew me..' rationale. Pete Shelley, Vini Reilly and others all appeared. She also sang, briefly, in a combo called ToT.
"He always has an opinion"
I think you hit the nail on the head there.
What Paul Morley Likes
I think he quite likes Joy Division.
Actually, he has a great book called "Words And Music" where he talks about so many brilliant albums, under headings like "100 greatest albums of all time, listed in a funny order because I was asked for such a list by a local radio station in Wales".
He was
offering his thoughts on James Last recently in a docu about the german schmaltzmeister. Seeing him pop up I didn't know whether to admire him or worry for his sanity.
The nature of the beast is simply...
... being on the right peoples' speed-dials. I'd imagine Morley has made it known over the years to every relevant TV producer that he'll speak about any kind of music on TV at a moment's notice, and history shows he's super-articulate, gives good quote, doesn't look replulsive on-screen, and has a residual patina of cool which always helps... he may also work cheap, who knows?
(It should be mentioned that Messrs Hepworth & Ellen of this parish are also very much in this firmament.)
And I'd recommend Morley's "Ask: The Chatter Of Pop", a large format compilation of his interviews that's as good and infuriating as you'd expect.
I think he's a worthwhile contributor
and clearly so do programme makers, as he can talk authoritively for Britain and is there fore Good Value.