Author Archives: writewyattuk

About writewyattuk

This is the online home of author, writer and editor Malcolm Wyatt, who has books on The Jam, Slade and The Clash under his belt and many more writing projects on the go, as well as regularly uploading feature-interviews and reviews right here. These days he's living his best life with his better half in West Cornwall after their three decades together in Lancashire, this Surrey born and bred scribe initially heading north after five years of 500-mile round-trips on the back of a Turkish holiday romance in 1989. Extremely proud of his two grown-up daughters, he's also a foster carer and a dog lover, spending any spare time outside all that catching up with other family and friends, supporting Woking FC, planning adventures and travels, further discovering his adopted county, and seeing as much of this big old world as time allows. He can be contacted at thedayiwasthere@gmail.com and various social media online portals, mostly involving that @writewyattuk handle.

Dig your way back out with The Undertones – in conversation with Mickey Bradley

Posted on March 5, 2022 by writewyattuk

As The Undertones gear up for a run of rescheduled UK live dates this month and next, 46 years after their first shows and 22 years after reconvening with a new singer, I felt it was high time I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged BBC Radio Foyle, BBC Radio Ulster, Damian O'Neill, Derry, Dig What you Need, Dig Yourself Deep, Dimple Discs, Feargal Sharkey, Get What You Need, Hugh Cornwell, Hypnotised, JJ Burnel, John O'Neill, John Peel, Northern Ireland, Paul Tipler, Positive Touch, Roger Bechirian, Teenage Kicks, Terri Hooley, The Stranglers, The Undertones | 2 Comments

Altered Images / Scarlet – Manchester Academy 3

Posted on March 4, 2022 by writewyattuk

Four decades after Clare Grogan first came into my life, marking my 14th birthday with a personal greeting from north of the border (that week the first of the four their biggest hit spent in the UK top 10, with … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alan longdon, Altered Images, Bernard Butler, Bite, Clare Grogan, Happy Birthday, Manchester, Martin Johnston, Mascara Streakz, Pinky Blue, Rosie McClune, Stefanie Black, The Ting Tings | 1 Comment

Altered Images: songs sung blue, pink and with added Mascara Streakz – the Clare Grogan feature/interview

Posted on February 25, 2022 by writewyattuk

Early ‘80s new wave pioneers Altered Images are back, a number of headline shows about to commence, with a new album, Mascara Streakz, landing this summer. Formed in 1979 as teenagers inspired by the punk scene, this Glaswegian outfit – … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Altered Images, Bernard Butler, Bill Forsyth, Bill Paterson, Bite, Buzzcocks, Clare Grogan, Comfort and Joy, Cooking Vinyl, Gregory's Girl, Happy Birthday, John Gordon Sinclair, John Peel, Johnny McElhone, Martin Rushent, Mascara Streakz, Pinky Blue, Red Dwarf, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Stephen Lironi, Texas, The Bluebells, The Cure, The Human League, tony McDaid | 1 Comment

All hail the Lakeland echo sounders – talking Sea Power with Noble

Posted on February 18, 2022 by writewyattuk

I often wonder when talking to musicians deemed to have ‘made it’ how much of a part fate played in their success. There’s more often than not plenty of toil and heartache en route before that perceived rise to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Brighton, British Sea Power, Bury, Cumbria, Edinburgh Film Festival, Everything was Forever, Folly, From the Sea to the Land Beyond, Graham Sutton, John Betjeman, Kendal, King Creosote, Krankenhaus, Leeds, Man of Aran, Manchester, Martin Clunes, Martin Noble, Natland, Pet Shop Boys, Public Service Broadcasting, reading, Sea Power, Simon Armitage, The Magnetic North, Two Fingers, Yan Hamilton | Leave a comment

Up on the roof – scaling the heights with Brick Briscoe and the Skinny

Posted on February 15, 2022 by writewyattuk

When US singer-songwriter, filmmaker, TV and radio producer Brick Briscoe played a rooftop launch show for his latest LP in Indiana with his band last autumn, surely no one could have expected such a dramatic finale. His shows tend to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged (iloveyousomuch), Allen Clark III, Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana, Brett Mulzer, Brick Briscoe, Capitol Hill, Cory Folz, David Bowie, Evansville, Indiana, Los Angeles, Mick Jones, Mott the Hoople, REM, Television, The Mekons, The Song Show, vasovagal syncope | Leave a comment

The Members / Blow-Up – Preston, The Continental, Friday 4th February 2022

Posted on February 6, 2022 by writewyattuk

Two nights out in a row? What is this, 2019 or something? Well, daily figures suggest we’re far from over this damned virus, whatever those trying to save their political careers might try to spin. But there are positive signs … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bedsitland, Blackpool, Blow-Up, Chris Payne, JC Carroll, New English Blues, Nick Cash, Preston, Solitary Confinement, Surrey, Suzi Quatro, The Continental, The Members, The Sound of the Suburbs | Leave a comment

Suggs: What a King Cnut, A Life in the Realm of Madness – Warrington, Parr Hall, Thursday February 3rd, 2022

Posted on February 6, 2022 by writewyattuk

‘It read, ‘’We missed you,” Between the lines, it said, “We’ve waited for so long, But now it’s time to keep moving along.” We were that close to missing the start of Graham ‘Suggs’ McPherson’s Warrington show, but to quote … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Brian May, Camden Town, Graham McPherson, Keep Moving, Madness, Michael Caine, Suggs, Warrington, Warrington Parr Hall | Leave a comment

Small World, but you wouldn’t want to paint it – entering the sonic sphere of Metronomy with Joe Mount

Posted on February 3, 2022 by writewyattuk

It’s sign of the times that barely a fortnight after Metronomy shared feelgood second single, ‘Things Will Be Fine’, from their forthcoming seventh album, sole ever-present member Joe Mount – newly returned from Paris – had been forced to temporarily … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Because Music, Brighton, Coronavirus, Dana Margolin, Devon, Joe Mount, Kent, Lightning Seeds, Metronomy, Porridge Radio, Small World, The Cure, The English Riviera, the Velvet Underground, Things Will Be Fine, Totnes | Leave a comment

Looking beyond Yesterday – in conversation with Dana Gavanski

Posted on February 1, 2022 by writewyattuk

When talented singer-songwriter but self-confessed introvert Dana Gavanski lost her voice at a key stage of her fledgling career, it was a wonder that self-doubt didn’t conspire to sink her rise to indie fame.But like the Croatian sea organ heard … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alabaster DePlume, Aranđelovac, Canada, Cerys Matthews, Clementine March, Croatia, Dan Leavers, Dana Gavanski, Dimitrio Ntontis, Erland Cooper, Full Time Hobby, Ivor Cutler, Joni Mitchell, London, Marc Riley, Mike Lindsay, Montreal, Ron Sexsmith, sea organ, Serbia, Smoke Fairies, Total Refreshment Centre, Zadar | 1 Comment

Return to the Promised Land – talking Cast with John Power

Posted on January 20, 2022 by writewyattuk

John Power and his band, Cast, were backstage at the Academy in Liverpool before a sell-out show when I caught up with him, and it was clear that the adrenalin was up. “We always look forward to playing hometown shows. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged All Change, Cast, Iain Templeton, Jay Lewis, John Leckie, John Power, Keith O'Neill, Lee Mavers, Liam Tyson, Liverpool, Mother Nature Calls, Peter Wilkinson, Steve Lillywhite, The La's, Troubled Times | 1 Comment