Archive for June, 2009

“As an NME writer, he was obsessed with class war, masturbation, dogs, cancer, Jello Biafra and the multiple use of the exclamation mark.”

Whilst the rest of the world grieves over the demise of yet another 80′s pop star, spare a few moments to pay your respects to Steven “Swells” Wells, one of the greatest music journalists on the planet, who died of cancer on Tuesday. During the 80s and 90s Swells was the NME’s funniest writer – he swore, spat and shouted his words, picked fights with the high and mighty in the music industry whilst waxing lyrical over music that no-one else had heard or cared for.

Even after he left the NME his vitriol never left him, his articles for the Guardian and the Philadelphia Weekly showed that whether he tackled a pompous musician or great American institution, his use of the written word would always leave you smiling – to say he had a way with words would be an understatement.

He thought that guitarists were stupid and that Morrisey was a c**t. RIP Swells.