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.

Beyond the Dandelion Adventure – having words with Ajay Saggar and Marcus Parnell

Posted on September 22, 2016 by writewyattuk

This story starts with The Membranes, because without that Lancashire post-punk band a singer known as Fat Mark and a lanky Asian indie kid called Ajay might never have met. That initial meeting came sometime in the mid-‘80s amid an … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Action Records, Amsterdam, Blackpool, Blur, Cornershop, Dandelion Adventure, Deutsche Ashram, John Peel, John Robb, Kevin Shields, King Champion Sounds, Mark E Smith, My Bloody Valentine, Preston, The Bent Moustache, The Boo Radleys, The Continental, The Fall, The Membranes, The Stranglers, Thurston Moore, Tuff Life Boogie | 8 Comments

Waiting for The Vapors’ return – the Dave Fenton interview

Posted on September 15, 2016 by writewyattuk

I’m guessing that if you’re reading this, you remember The Vapors. I also realise that many of you will now have the song Turning Japanese lodged in your head, and a few of you will think that was the whole story. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Bruce Foxton, Dave Fenton, Ed Bazalgette, Howard Smith, Jimmie Jones, John Weller, Magnets, Michael Bowes, New Clear Days, paul weller, Shoot! Dispute, Steve Smith, The Jam, The Members, The Stranglers, The Vapors, Turning Japanese, Waiting for the Weekend | 30 Comments

Teenage Fanclub – Here (PeMa/Merge, 2016)

Posted on September 12, 2016 by writewyattuk

I’m not quite sure it was a good thing to come to this review on the back of penning my thoughts on the latest album from The Wedding Present. I love both bands, but they’ve taken radically different paths since … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged A Catholic Education, Dave McGowan, David Henderson, Francis MacDonald, Gerard Love, Here, Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, Shadows, Teenage Fanclub | 2 Comments

Going, Going … The Wedding Present (Scopitones, 2016)

Posted on September 9, 2016 by writewyattuk

A new Wedding Present album after a four-and-a-half year break, and we’re into uncharted territory again. It involves some journey too – a North American East-West road-trip (and a half) from Kittery to Santa Monica via various points, initially suggesting … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Broken Bow, Charles Layton, Cinerama, David Gedge, Going Going, Katharine Wallinger, Kittery, Philip Larkin, Samuel Beer-Pearce, Santa Monica, Seamonsters, Steve Fisk, Terry de Castro, The Wedding Present, Valentina, Watusi | 5 Comments

Introducing the Islandman – the Elliott Morris interview

Posted on September 8, 2016 by writewyattuk

There’s a song on The Waterboys’ 1990 album Room to Roam that appears particularly apt in describing the career journey of inventive guitarist and singer-songwriter Elliott Morris. In Islandman, Mike Scott cites England as his ‘spine, the backbone and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Bevan Morris, CALM, Carmarthenshire, Celtic Connections, Chris Bingham, Danny Kyle Award, Ed Sheeran, Elliott Morris, Islandman, John Martyn, Lincolnshire, Lisbee Stainton, Martin Carthy, Mike Harding, Mike Scott, Mull, Newton Faulkner, Orkney, Paul Carrack, Pledge Music, Pons Aelius, Scotland, Swindon, The Waterboys, Tom Robinson, Will Gompertz | 1 Comment

Fortune favours Lonely the Brave – the Mark Trotter interview

Posted on September 1, 2016 by writewyattuk

Two top-40 albums into their career, and with a fervent fan-base at home and overseas, Lonely the Brave are proving a major draw on the live circuit. Their debut album, The Day’s War, peaked at No.14 in the UK charts, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Andrew Bushen, Bad Rabbits, Cambridge, David Gilmour, David Jakes, Dust & Bones, Gavin Edgeley, Hassle Records, Kirk Douglas, Lonely are the Brave, Lonely the Brave, Mark Trotter, Mumford & Sons, Neighbourhood Festival, Pink Floyd, Ross Smithwick, Syd Barrett, Tall Ships, The Bible, The Day's War, the National, Things Will Matter, Zane Lowe | 1 Comment

Here’s where the story continues – tracking down Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake

Posted on August 25, 2016 by writewyattuk

From the moment I first heard those searing guitars on debut single Everything Flows, I was sold on Teenage Fanclub. And although I find it difficult to comprehend this, it’s now been a quarter of a century since their first … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Alan McGee, Bandwagonesque, Belle and Sebastian, BMX Bandits, Creation, Dave McGowan, David Henderson, Edwyn Collins, Francis MacDonald, Gerard Love, glasgow, Grand Prix, Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, Norman Blake, Ontario, Radiohead, Raymond McGinley, REM, Richard Branson, Rolling Stones, Sean Dickson, Teenage Fanclub, The Manor | 4 Comments

Looking back with the ultimate R’n’B survivor – the Wilko Johnson interview

Posted on August 18, 2016 by writewyattuk

I reckon Wilko Johnson forgot I was calling. Either that or he was just wrapped up in the book he was reading, Thomas Middleton’s early 17th century play, The Revenger’s Tragedy, enjoying time to himself back at home in Southend before … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged A Matter of Life and Death, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Blockheads, Cambridge, Canvey Island, Charlie Chyann, Chess, Colne, Dr Feelgood, Dylan Howe, Essex, Game of Thrones, Great British R'n'B Festival, Ian Dury, JJ Burnel, john Donne, Johnny Kidd, Julien Temple, lancashire, Norman Watt-Roy, rhythm and blues, Roger Daltrey, Rolling Stones, Southend, The Jam, The Pirates, The Seventh Seal, The Stranglers, The Who, Thomas Middleton, Wilko Johnson, Zoe Howe | 6 Comments

About the Young Idea – talking about The Jam with Nicky Weller

Posted on August 14, 2016 by writewyattuk

From the moment you turn right at the desk inside the Cunard Building’s The Jam – About the Young Idea exhibition and head down a mock London Underground tunnel lined with promo posters publicising the original records, you’re in for … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged About the Young Idea, All Mod Cons, Bruce Foxton, Cunard Building, John Weller, Liverpool, Nicky Weller, paul weller, Rick Buckler, Setting Sons, Somerset House, The Beatles, The Jam, Woking | 5 Comments

On the write wavelength – the Jenn Ashworth interview

Posted on August 4, 2016 by writewyattuk

Jenn Ashworth is part-way into a busy schedule of promotional visits, travelling to and from her North Lancashire base spreading the word about newly-published, critically-acclaimed novel Fell, a haunting, mysterious tale set on the edge of Morecambe Bay. Born in … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio | Tagged A Kind of Intimacy, Andrew Michael Hurley, Betty Trask Award, Bodleian Library, Cambridge, chorley, Cold Light, Curious Tales Publishing Collective, Ebb & Flo, Fell, Grange-over-Sands, Jenn Ashcroft, lancashire, Lancaster, Libraries, Melvin Burgess, Morecambe Bay, Newnham College, Preston, Shirley Jackson, The Friday Gospels, The Loney | 1 Comment