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.

Notes From a Cornish Shed – Another Shedload by Pete Cross – a writewyattuk review

Posted on December 1, 2017 by writewyattuk

Trepiddle’s Finest is back, and it’s like he’s never been away. Perhaps that’s because he hasn’t, but that’s not the point. Pete Cross has a new collection of scribblings out, and now it’s December I’ll throw in my first festive … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure & Travel, Books Films, TV & Radio, Comedy & Theatre | Tagged Backalong, Cornwall, Cornwall Today, doc Martin, Notes From A Cornish Shed, Pete Cross, Poldark | Leave a comment

Still Holding The Flame – The Roland Gift interview

Posted on November 30, 2017 by writewyattuk

It was an appreciation of the soulful voice of Otis Redding that helped inspire Roland Gift to seek out a life as a performer. The Birmingham-born singer and actor was only six when Redding was killed in a plane crash … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Andy Cox, Brakes, Christine Keeler, David Steele, Fine Young Cannibals, Good Thing, Hull, Johnny Come Home, Johnny Edgecombe, Profumo Affair, Roland Gift, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, Saxa, Scandal, She Drives Me Crazy, The Beat, The Clash, The Raw and the Cooked | 1 Comment

The Quo must go on – back in conversation with Francis Rossi

Posted on November 23, 2017 by writewyattuk

I wasn’t quite sure how to start my conversation with Francis Rossi, wondering at what point it would be right to bring up the subject of Rick Parfitt’s passing, 11 months ago. I shouldn’t have worried though, the effervescent Londoner … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Alan Lancaster, Andy Bown, Bryan Adams, Francis Rossi, Hoghton Tower, John 'Rhino' Edwards, John Coghlan, Leon Cave, Richie Malone, Rick Parfitt, Rockin' All Over the World, Status Quo, The Strawbs, The Wanderer | 1 Comment

The best of Friends with Shalamar – the Howard Hewett interview

Posted on November 16, 2017 by writewyattuk

Howard Hewett had only been in the UK a couple of days when I called, and was alternating between press calls and rehearsals with fellow stalwart Jeffrey Daniel and more recent Shalamar addition Carolyn Griffey. But if my interviewee had … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged A Night to Remember, Akron, Carolyn Griffey, Carrie Lucas, Dick Griffey, Friends, Howard Hewett, Jeffrey Daniel, Jody Watley, Leon Sylvers, Los Angeles, Maverick's Flat, Michael Jackson, Shalamar, SOLAR, Soul Train, There It Is | 1 Comment

The Undertones / Roughneck Riot – Warrington Parr Hall

Posted on November 14, 2017 by writewyattuk

“Any day of the week’s when Saturday comes” And when it entails a night in the company of The Undertones, it’s always going to be special. What’s more, this time it involved a new venue for me, five and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Comedy & Theatre, Music | Tagged Billy Doherty, Damian O'Neill, Dexy's, Hypnotised, John O'Neill, Mickey Bradley, My Perfect Cousin, Paul McLoone, Roughneck Riot, Teenage Kicks, The Undertones, Warrington, Warrington Parr Hall, When Saturday Comes | 1 Comment

Clean Bandit / Starley – Manchester Academy

Posted on November 10, 2017 by writewyattuk

It’s official – there’s still life in pop music, 65 years to the week Al Martino topped the first official UK charts, judging by this winning Manchester tour finale. Granted, I can’t imagine Martino’s Here In My Heart or fellow … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged ACM Gospel Choir, Cambridge, Clean Bandit, Grace Chatto, I Miss You, Jack Patterson, Jess Glynne, Kirsten Joy, Love Ssega, Luke Patterson, Manchester, New Eyes, Rather Be, Rockabye, Starley, Stephanie Benedetti, The Voice, Yasmin Green | 1 Comment

Still pickin’ up Good Vibrations – talking The Undertones with Mickey Bradley

Posted on November 9, 2017 by writewyattuk

Devising questions for the following feature/interview, I thought it was high time I caught up online with The Mickey Bradley Record Show, in which The Undertones’ bass player treats listeners to a two-hour weekly stroll through a vinyl wonderland of his … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged 1977, Billy Doherty, Buzzcocks, Damian O'Neill, Derry, Feargal Sharkey, John O'Neill, John Peel, Louder than Words, Mickey Bradley, Paul McLoone, Penetration, Radio Foyle, Radio Ulster, The Casbah, The Clash, The Undertones, Tom Robinson, Top of the Pops, Trevor Horn, Warrington | 4 Comments

Wolf Alice, back through the Looking Glass – the Ellie Rowsell interview

Posted on November 1, 2017 by writewyattuk

Ellie Rowsell sounded croaky when she answered the phone. Whether it was down to an early start, testing those vocal cords at rehearsals with her band, Wolf Alice, in East London, or standard rock’n’roll lifestyle fare, I’m not certain. Either … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged alt-J, Bands 4 Refugees, Ellie Rowsell, Glastonbury, Joel Amey, Joff Oddie, Jools Holland, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Michael Winterbottom, My Love Is Cool, Theo Ellis, Tom Elmhirst, Visions of a Life, Wolf Alice, Yuk Foo | 2 Comments

Blancmange / Transfigure – Darwen Library Theatre

Posted on October 27, 2017 by writewyattuk

“Here comes a love song … there goes the banister!” Time moves on, and some of us aren’t getting any younger (says a bloke who turned 50 two days after this special happening), with none of us beyond nostalgia, not … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Comedy & Theatre, Music | Tagged Blancmange, Darwen, David Rhodes, Don't Tell Me, Fader, lancashire, Library Theatre, Living on the Ceiling, Neil Arthur, Oogoo Maia, The Day Before You Came, Transfigure, Unfurnished Rooms | 2 Comments

Juplicity: strong, warm, wild and free – the Phill Jupitus interview

Posted on October 26, 2017 by writewyattuk

It was ‘early doors’ and stand-up comic/actor/performance poet/cartoonist/radio presenter/TV stalwart (perm any two from six there) Phill Jupitus was in Leeds, preparing to head to his next gig, 230 miles south in Tunbridge Wells. But he was at least set … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Comedy & Theatre, Music | Tagged Attila the Stockbroker, BBC Radio 6 Music, Billy Bragg, Blockheads, Chorley Little Theatre, Chris Rock, Eddie Izzard, Edinburgh, Essex, Kirsty MacColl, Leeds City Varieties, Madness, Mickey Hutton, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Noel Fielding, paul weller, Phill Jupitus, Porky the Poet, Red Wedge, Richmond Georgian Theatre Royal, Sean Hughes, Stewart Lee, The Housemartins, West Ham United | 7 Comments