Garry Bushell Interview

Garry Bushell is an experienced journalist, author, broadcaster, TV critic, columnist and rock manager. He was a writer for Sounds from ’78 to ’85 and has written one of the better books about Iron Maiden called Running Free; and recently he co-wrote the book Cockney Reject with Stinky Turner. He is also a novelist having written two acclaimed pulp novelsThe Face and Two-Faced. His website is www.garry-bushell.co.uk.

First of all, can you tell me about Twisted Sister and your connections with the band?

I heard about them when I was in New York in 1981 with Ross Halfin. He kept on about this local band who “look like women, talk like men and play like motherfuckers.” Twisted Sister. They weren’t signed to a record label so he wouldn’t go and see them (no guest list, no free beer/drugs etc.,) but I was intrigued enough to check them out. They were playing in some dive in West Chester County, the Detroit Club I think, and they were sensational. They looked like dockers in drag and sounded like Alice Cooper meets Priest in Bon Scott’s back garden and does unspeakable things to them with his python. The US record companies wouldn’t sign them, but I raved about them to Martin Hooker of Secret Records back in the UK. He flew out, signed them up, and they were away. Two years later they were on Atlantic in the States and I had a Platinum Disc on my wall.

You wrote for Sounds magazine from 1978-1985; what was that period like?

Intensely exciting. You could go out and see great bands every night, and so I did as often as possible. In ‘78, NME said punk was dead, but I was going out and seeing the Ruts, the Skids, the Members, the UK Subs…there was a whole scene out there that the music press wasn’t covering. I kept finding them. I gave the first ever reviews to bands as different as the Specials and U2. I witnessed the birth of 2-Tone, New Mod and Oi. I got swept along by the rush of the NWOBHM. I got to spend quality time with acts who were my heroes: Joe Strummer, Phil Lynott, Paul Weller. I was on the road with UFO, Motorhead, Maiden, Blondie…it was just a magnificent time; the best years of my life. Why did I quit? Because I didn’t want to turn in to a bog-standard rock hack poncing freebies and wearing a crap tour jacket. I thought if I got out other young hungry writers would come through. But if I hadn’t I might have got to interview Nirvana, Guns & Roses, Rancid, Oasis, Green Day and all the other exciting bands that came along after I’d quit.

During your years at Sounds who was your most memorable interviewee?

Maybe predictably, it was Ozzy, because he was naturally funny and he gave great copy. He was also completely unpredictable. He set fire to people, he pissed in pockets, he shaved off my eyebrow…he was a lunatic. You’ve gotta love him.

Having been active during the punk years, you also wrote a lot about the NWOBHM; what did you make of bands like Saxon and Diamond Head?

I didn’t really know Diamond Head, but I went on the road with Saxon and liked them as people, despite the tea drinking…Def Leppard, they were the ones. I was with them in the US on thePyromania tour and the stories from that will fill a chapter of a book. One day…if the cheques stop coming.

Tell me about your Iron Maiden bio Running Free; it’s become something of a classic.

Yeah. I did all the interviews for it in Florida, which was cool except Bruce nearly killed me by driving onto the freeway up the exit road and in to four lanes of traffic. It was my second bad driving experience with him, there was also a near crash in Dortmund on the autobahn when he stuck the Merc in reverse in the fast lane. How this nutter is now allowed to fly a plane full of passengers is frankly beyond me.
I loved Maiden, their energy, their passion, their songs, their humour, and I tried to infuse the book with it. It may have helped that I wrote it all in three weeks on a diet of sulphate, Stella and Chinese take-aways.

You’re known these days as a TV critic; what are your favourite shows?

Lately they’ve been mostly US shows I’m afraid. Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Simpsons, The Shield, The Wire, Larry Sanders, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Frasier, Family Guy, The West Wing…quality gear. Now I love Boston Legal and Entourage; there’s a gap in my world at the moment because they’re currently off air. Dexter is good too.

I’m a big fan of U.S. cop shows; why is it that us Brits just can’t compete with the Americans? Okay, Life On Mars was superb and long before that Cracker was also groundbreaking. But they’ve got The Wire, The Shield, Law & Order, etc., and we’ve got, The Bill…

I agree. The difference is the approach to commissioning. We think only in terms of soap and demographics. Most UK drama seems to be commissioned on a “this’ll-do-for-them” basis; look at Harley Street and Bonekickers, they’re unwatchable dross. The best US TV shows a commitment to excellence. They know if the scripts are right, the audience will come.

Tell me about your book Cockney Reject? You used to manage the band and now you’ve written a bio which is soon to be published in German via Iron Pages.

Jeff (Stinky Turner) came to me a few years ago and asked me to write it and I was delighted to. Firstly because my memory is crap, and this brought back a flood of vivid recollections; secondly because I always loved the band. In many ways they were terrible rogues who were the architects of their own misfortune, but they were also dynamite rock band underneath the bluster and they had hearts of gold. Their Mum loved ’em, gawd bless her.

What are your favourite rock books?

Probably The Dirt, Hammer of the Gods and Nik Coen’s Awopbopaloobop Aloopboombam.

Who are your favourite authors?

I grew up devouring Orwell, Steinbeck, Spike Milligan and Raymond Chandler, as well as the fine works of Stan Lee and other great Marvel and DC comic writers. These days, I’d go for Carl Hiaasen, James Crumley, P.J. O’Rourke and Joe Keenan.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Believe in yourself, tell the truth and don’t give up

Would you go back to writing about music?

Like a shot. When I met Lars Frederiksen for the first time a few years ago he asked me if I’d interview Rancid to “make it complete” as he’d grown up reading Sounds, and I’d love to because they are one of the most exciting bands around. So if you know anyone who’d want to publish it…
I still manage a couple of acts – Maninblack in New York and Leah McCaffrey; and I do an occasional podcast for Total Rock as a hobby and try and showcase exciting young bands who wouldn’t otherwise get heard like Krakatoa, the Veez and Censored. My favourite current bands are the Street Dogs, the Bouncing Souls, the Dropkick Murphys, the Briggs, Guns On The Roof, Flogging Molly and Everybody Out.

What do you think about the current state of rock journalism in the UK?

Don’t know, don’t see it often.

Can you tell me about your two novels The Face and Two-Faced? What’s the inspiration behind those books?

They were both based on a real undercover cop who is one of my best friends and the bravest, most honourable man I know. One day I will write the third part of the trilogy.

Anything else?

Yeah, the Gonads are still playing; watch out for the new album Live Free, Die Free any time soon.

 

Interview by Neil Daniels 2008