Your book spans 10 years of rock, but the peak in many ways feels like 1988, which – and correct me if I’m crushing it – do you declare was the best year ever in rock music?
Well, this was mine melody maker Colleague David Stubbs said, and we both agreed. But he came up with the clever idea of presenting it as a throwdown for older journalists. He said something like, “People will say rock is tired, don’t listen. They’re old, tired, and worse, embarrassed by the work they do.” A lot of the older rock writers had left rock and a younger group were saying, “Hip-hop and house music are where they are, rock music is dead.”
We loved hip-hop and we were really into acid house and techno. But we said, “No, there’s all this amazing stuff coming out of the rock underground.” The Pixies and Sonic Youth made great albums. My Bloody Valentine, Spacemen 3, Butthole Surfers, The Young Gods. There was a lot of fermentation. Quite interesting industrial music. Even metal went through this resurgence with groups like Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer and all this thrash metal. We put out a year-end issue with a Panorama pull-out supplement that had a page on each of these areas. I mean, it’s not a claim if you compare historically…
Yes, what do you think now?
It was a really good year, but there have been others. 1979, the peak of post-punk. The mid-60s are crazy. I think you could definitely make a case (for 1988), but it was a reflection of our ego, enthusiasm and self-belief. It was also like a pitch to readers: “Come on, be excited.” ‘Cause the worst thing for young people is to feel like they’ve lost everything, you know?
Yes, in 1988 you were basically my age, 25 years old.
Yes. I probably lived a life similar to yours because it was largely free of responsibility. I saw my family, but it wasn’t on my mind much, and I was living week-to-week, writing about music, feeling on top of the world. Actually, the next year I wrote my first book, so it was itYou know? I achieved all my ambitions. I had a job at the best music newspaper; I was fed up with writing together with a group of friends. Sometimes we wrote really collaborative thinkpieces and throwdowns. It was a very exciting time. I mentioned in the book that I had forgotten to take out my vacation time. I mean, it didn’t feel like a job. Apart from the ordeal of staying up all night to write the story…
Are any of those nights unique?
Because your body temperature drops, I remember one time I actually had to go to bed because I was shivering and lay there unconscious for about 40 minutes, and then pulled myself up and started again. They blur together, but they are strangely like long dark nights of the soul. I’ll eat biscuits and drink coffee to keep me going. There was always that feeling of, “What if I can’t accomplish this?” And then you pulled victory from the jaws of defeat, and you felt as high as a kite when you came to work with your story, which you had to physically bring to the office on paper.
Whenever I do a frantic all-nighter and file it away immediately, I look back and it’s bullshit.
Yes, and there was no opportunity to edit, get feedback, or change your mind. I won’t see the physical copy again until it comes out next week. There’s a lot of potential for shoddy work, and if I had more time there are probably a few things I would change. But yes, no, it was an adrenaline rush.
