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.

Whatever Happened to Lord Wakering? Talking Slade, McCartney, Our Price, and more with Daryl Easlea

Posted on December 15, 2023 by writewyattuk

Catching up with fellow author and freelance writer Daryl Easlea recently, we got the mutual backslapping out of the way fairly quickly, complimenting each other on our recent Slade publications. It’s not just about being complimentary though, preferring the term … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged 'N Betweens, Ambrose Slade, Chic, Chris Charlesworth, Chris O'Donnell, Chris Selby, Daryl Easlea, Dave Hill, David Kemp, Don Powell, Futura, George Tremlett, Helen O'Hara, How Does It Feel, Jim lea, Keele, Kube Radio, Leigh-on-Sea, Louder than Words, Merry Xmas Everybody, Michelle Hickman, Noddy Holder, Off the Ground, Omnibus Press, Our Price, Paul McCartney, Record Collector, Rik Gunnell, Slade, Slade in Flame, slady, Smoke Fairies, Sparks, Steeleye Span, Steve Gregory, Steve Megson, The Beatles, The Fall, Thin Lizzy, Whatever Happened to Slade?, Wild! Wild! Wild!, Wreckless Eric | 1 Comment

Celebrating Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’, 50 years on

Posted on December 8, 2023 by writewyattuk

I was barely six years old when ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ became Slade’s third single of 1973 to go straight in at the top of the UK charts. But I have vague memories from around then, and the Radio Times listings … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Andy Strickland, Cathy Cassidy, Daevid Goral Barker, Dave Hill, Don Powell, guildford, Hammersmith Odeon, JC Carroll, Jim lea, Johnnie Walker, Merry Xmas Everybody, Noddy Holder, Pete Keeley, Record Mirror, Slade, Spenwood books, Suzi Quatro, Sweet, The Beatles, The Jam, Top of the Pops, Wild! Wild! Wild! A People’s History of Slade, Wizzard | Leave a comment

Santa Bail Me Out – spreading festive cheer with Skep Wax Records’ Swansea Sound and Heavenly

Posted on December 7, 2023 by writewyattuk

Those fiendish folk with the hummable, dance-around punk and indiepop song catalogue at Skep Wax Records are up to their festive tricks again right now, adding plenty more goodies for you to put in your basket – online or real, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Amelia Fletcher, Atta Girl, Bob Collins, Cathy Rogers, Catrin Saran James, Heavenly, Hue williams, Ian Button, P.U.N.K. Girl, Rob Pursey, Santa Bail Me out, Skep Wax, Swansea Sound, The Decline and Fall of Heavenly | Leave a comment

Milltown Brothers / Greenheart – Lancaster, Kanteena

Posted on November 28, 2023 by writewyattuk

‘There’s a lighthouse on the harbour blowing kisses to the moon; There’s an aircraft flying over, and I swear it feels like June. There’s a cool breeze blowing down, and she says she’s feeling fine. This is my time!’ My … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Apple Green, Burnley, Colne, Greenheart, James Fraser, Kanteena, Lancaster, Long Road, Lowry, Matt Nelson, Milltown Brothers, Neil Young, Slinky, Stockholm, Which Way Should I Jump | Leave a comment

Bass Notes: Life and Times on the Road with Stone Foundation – back in conversation with Neil Sheasby

Posted on November 24, 2023 by writewyattuk

Neil Sheasby was at home in Atherstone when I caught up with him earlier this week, having a breather between live commitments with Stone Foundation, the Midlands soul band he co-founded with namesake Neil Jones a quarter of a century … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music, Uncategorized | Tagged Atherstone, Bass Notes, Boys Dreaming Soul, Camden, Coventry, glasgow, Haircut 100, Horace Panter, Islnigton Assembly Hall, Japan, John Bradbury, Kevin Armstrong, Neil Sheasby, Nuneaton Queen's Hall, Outside Looking In, Paolo Hewitt, Paul Hanlon, paul weller, Stone Foundation, Terry Hall, The Specials, Wendy May | Leave a comment

Vinny Peculiar / Common Hall / John Denton – Castle Hotel, Manchester

Posted on November 18, 2023 by writewyattuk

A return to Manchester’s Northern Quarter, and somehow my first visit to the Castle Hotel, and something of a showcase for three happening singer-songwriters at different stages in their… well, I’ll say careers, because they all deserve them. It’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music, Uncategorized | Tagged Alan Wilkes, Castle Hotel, Common Hall robert williams, How I Learned to Love the Freaks, John Denton, Johnny Marr, Manchester, Northern Quarter, Salford, The Height, The Smiths, Vinny Peculiar, Worcestershire | Leave a comment

‘He paints with light!’ Talking Slade with influential rock ‘n’ roll photographer Gered Mankowitz

Posted on November 17, 2023 by writewyattuk

In which Malcolm Wyatt publishes further excerpts from Wild! Wild! Wild! A People’s History of Slade, in this case the full-length version of his late April 2023 feature/interview with esteemed South East Cornwall-based photographer Gered Mankowitz In Gered Mankowitz: Rock … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Andy Scott, Bilston, Chas Chandler, Dave Hill, Don Powell, Gered Mankowitz, Jim lea, Jimi Hendrix, Kenneth Williams, Noddy Holder, photography, Rock and Roll Photography, Rolling Stones, Slade, Slade in Flame, Suzi Quatro, The Beatles, The Monkees, Tony Hancock, Wild! Wild! Wild! A People’s History of Slade, wolverhampton | Leave a comment

Going Full Circle with The Sweet – back in touch with Andy Scott

Posted on November 14, 2023 by writewyattuk

The Sweet are all set to go Full Circle, the 1970s glam-rock hitmakers all set for a 13-date December UK tour. Guitarist/vocalist cum national treasure and glam rock royalty, Andy Scott, the golden thread linking the band’s past to present … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Andy Scott, Bahamas, Blockbuster, Brian Connolly, Co-Co, Don Powell, Elastic Band, Fox on the Run, Frome, Full Circle, Level Headed, Love Is like Oxygen, Mick Tucker, Mike Chapman, Mud, Nicky Chinn, Phil Wainman, Slade, Suzi Quatro, Sweet, The Elastic Band, Wrexham | Leave a comment

Sunbirds – Preston, The Continental

Posted on November 13, 2023 by writewyattuk

Three and a quarter years after I first discussed Sunbirds with co-frontman Dave Hemingway (linked here), on the build-up to the release of debut long player, Cool to be Kind, I finally got to catch them live. And it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged A Life Worth Living, A Little Time, Build, Chris Offen, Cool To Be Kind, Dave Hemingway, Laura Wilcockson, Marc Parnell, Phil Barton, Phil Chapman, Preston, Sunbirds, The Beautiful South, The Continental, The Housemartins, The South | Leave a comment

From Stanhope Place to Richfield Avenue: Ambrose Slade: Beginnings and Slade: Alive! At Reading – the WriteWyattUK review

Posted on November 8, 2023 by writewyattuk

It’s odd to think there were merely 11 and a quarter years between the release of Beginnings, the debut LP from the classic fourpiece that became Slade, and the band’s show-stealing 1980 Reading Festival performance, credited with relaunching their career … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Alive! At Reading, Ambrose Slade, Beginnings, BMG, Dave Hill, Don Powell, Fontana, Jack Baverstock, Jeff Lynne, Jim lea, Justin Hayward, Noddy Holder, Reading Festival, Slade, Steppenwolf, The Beatles, The Moody Blues, The Who | 2 Comments