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.

Public Service Broadcasting / Smoke Fairies – The Ritz, Manchester

Posted on May 1, 2015 by writewyattuk

It’s ironic that the night we decided to do without the car and took the train to Manchester, my better half and I were let down by public transport. Not so much Public Service Broadcasting as Replacement Bus Service, cheated … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged DEC Appeal, Everest, Gagarin, J Willgoose Esq, Jessica Davies, Katherine Blamire, Manchester, Nepal, Smoke Fairies, Sputnik, The Race for Space, The Ritz, Wild Winter | 4 Comments

University of the Nerd Age – the Talk Nerdy 2 Me feature

Posted on April 30, 2015 by writewyattuk

According to US young adult author John Green, of The Fault in our Stars fame, ‘Nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can’t-control-yourself love it’.* In fact, nerdiness is a state of mind for some, and you can include Lancashire … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio | Tagged Deborah Simms, Harris Museum & Art Gallery, JS Collyer, lancashire, Libraries, Preston, Talk Nerdy 2 Me, Talk Nerdy To Me, The Great British Sewing Bee, UCLan, Victoria Todd | Leave a comment

The Crumpsall Kid rides out – the Mike Harding interview

Posted on April 23, 2015 by writewyattuk

Veteran comic, folk singer-songwriter, author, broadcaster and playwright Mike Harding is set to visit 17 small theatres and arts clubs in May. From Keswick to Barnsley via Pocklington, Mike has a busy few weeks ahead of him, and it’s not … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Alvin Stardust, Billy Connolly, Chorley Little Theatre, folk, George Formby, Hamish Imlach, Jasper Carrott, Max Boyce, Mike Harding, Phil Cool, Rochdale Cowboy, Settle, The Adventures of the Crumpsall Kid, The Beatles, The Hollies | 11 Comments

Voicing an opinion – Paul McLoone on life with The Undertones

Posted on April 15, 2015 by writewyattuk

It was only supposed to be a one-off show, a November 1999 date to mark the opening of a new venue in their home city. There would be no Feargal Sharkey this time, he of the fantastically-distinctive warbling voice by then … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged Billy Doherty, Damian O'Neill, Derry, Feargal Sharkey, John O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Paul McLoone, Radio Foyle, That Petrol Emotion, The Carrellines, The Undertones, Today FM | 9 Comments

Cleaning up with Crissy Rock – from Liverpool to Peterlee, via Benidorm

Posted on April 9, 2015 by writewyattuk

Award-winning actress, stand-up comic and best-selling author Crissy Rock is in a Teeside tailback, and has clearly forgotten our 11am phone date. We go ahead anyway, while Crissy inches slowly along amid A19 amid traffic gridlock, ‘hands-free’ communication and backup satellite … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Comedy & Theatre | Tagged Benidorm, Blackpool, Crissy Rock, Dirty Dusting, Dolores Porretta Brown, I'm a Celebrity, John McArdle, Ken Loach, Leah Bell, Lee Brannigan, Liverpool, Oswaldtwistle, Peak Practice, Peterlee | 1 Comment

Time for Truth – the Rick Buckler interview

Posted on April 2, 2015 by writewyattuk

There have been insider accounts of the story of The Jam from various angles since Paul Weller called time on the band in late 1982. The first to made an impression on me – and I was barely 15 when … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Bruce Foxton, From The Jam, Ian Snowball, Neil Harris, paul weller, Rick Buckler, Russell Hastings, Steve Brookes, The Family Cat. The Brompton Mix, The Highliners, The Jam, Time UK, Woking | 7 Comments

Flying in the face of fashion – the Wayne Hemingway interview

Posted on March 27, 2015 by writewyattuk

This September, Vintage by the Sea returns to the Lancashire coast, aiming to build on last year’s successful event in Morecambe, one that attracted 40,000 visitors. The two-day festival will see the resort seafront and its landmark venues transformed, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Blackburn, Chichester, Fashion, Gerardine Hemingway, HemingwayDesign, lancashire, Morecambe, Red or Dead, Vintage by the Sea, Vintage Festival, Wayne Hemingway | 2 Comments

Albania to Southport, via Brighton – with Attila the Stockbroker

Posted on March 20, 2015 by writewyattuk

It’s been some journey for Attila the Stockbroker, who publishes his autobiography Arguments Yard later this year, with little to suggest he’s slowing down. This is the radical performance poet and musician who toured East Germany four times before the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Alzheimer's, Arguments Yard, Attila the Stockbroker, Barnstormer, Brighton & Hove Albion, Glastonwick, Hilaire Belloc, John Betjeman, John G. Sutton, John Peel, Ron Ellis, Southport, Sussex | 2 Comments

Picture the poet, greet the griot – the Benjamin Zephaniah interview

Posted on March 19, 2015 by writewyattuk

When I spoke to Benjamin Zephaniah earlier this week, he was between a BBC radio interview and two days lecturing at West London’s Brunel University. The Lincolnshire-based dub poet, author and activist was then heading back for another radio broadcast … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Comedy & Theatre, Music | Tagged Ali Gadema, Aston Villa, Beijing, Benjamin Zephaniah, Birmingham, Black History Month, Griot, Handsworth, Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Lincolnshire, Marcus Garvey, Mike Garry, Noam Chomsky, Preston, Spike Milligan, Terror Kid, The Wailers | 2 Comments

March on with The Stranglers – the Baz Warne interview

Posted on March 13, 2015 by writewyattuk

It’s not often a front-man is still regularly held up to scrutiny after 15 years with a band, but that’s how it often goes with Baz Warne. To put it mildly, The Stranglers’ founder member Hugh Cornwell was a hard … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged Baz Warne, Dave Greenfield, guildford, Hugh Cornwell, Jean-Jacques Burnel, Jet Black, Jim Macaulay, Joe Strummer, Manchester, Rezillos, Smalltown Heroes, Sunderland, The Membranes, The Stranglers, Toy Dolls | 5 Comments