Mick Middles Interview
Former writer for Sounds and successful music biographer, Mick Middles has written extensively on the Mancunian music scene. He has also contributed to a wide range of publications such as the Guardian, The Face and Classic Rock. His books include bios of The Fall, New Order, The Smiths, Manic Street Preachers and Stone Roses.
Can you give me a brief history of your writing career?
I guess it started in Manchester just after punk. Well, we had written a fanzine called Ghast Up during that period and it seemed to me that, other than Paul Morley, who was more interested in London, nobody was really covering the Manchester scene. I just started sending stuff to Sounds, which was simply a fantastic paper back then…incredibly flawed but much more open and honest than the NME. Sounds had a really wide spread of writers and would cover any music that the writer’s believed it. It had a passion. NME was distanced and not as good as it clearly thought it was.
I was incredibly lucky. Paul Morley had gone to London and there was wasn’t really anyone writing from Manchester. So when The Face started, I found myself writing for that, then lots of others. Even early Kerrang!. In the mid eighties it was for most national newspapers. The book thing began in 1986 with a tiny Omnibus book on The Smiths. Worked full time on the Manchester Evening News for about 10 years as well….phew! Have settled down a bit now.
How many books have you written?
I think about 19. Mostly on North West music but a few oddities – Viv Richards' autobiography, Les Dawson etc., thrown it. But mainly music.
Which of your books was the hardest to write?
The current one. Bloody nightmare. I think the hardest was probably The Fall, strangely enough. I had complete access but therein lay the problem. It still haunts me to this day, that book. Full of problems. I like that one but I still wish I hadn’t bothered.
How do you approach a book in terms of research, interviews and the actual writing stage?
That varies. Obviously it depends on the book. It’s important to give yourself enough time and, I admit, there have been times when I haven’t done this. You have to do it for yourself. Better to crash a deadline and finally produced something you really like than rush. That said, deadlines are a great way of making you get on with it.
The approach really does vary. Sometimes get as many interviews done as possible...elsewhere just follow a lie from the first one.
You’re known as chronicler of the Manchester/North West music scene. What is it about the area that fascinates you so much?
I suppose we have two of the ten greatest musical cities in the world in our area. Both Manchester and Liverpool are small enough to have a village atmosphere and that encourages scenes to grow. Especially with the huge influx of students. But it’s not just about that, is it. There is something tremendously resilient and inventive about the North West of England. Always has been, obviously. I am not suggesting that it’s the sons of toil or anything and, in truth it has broken down a bit. Manchester is a bit too big these days, with too much going on. I’m not a nostalgist though…we have to move on. There must be more to life that the Ting Tings and The Courteeners. But there is energy in Manchester and Liverpool – I live between the two – which continues.
As the Mancunian correspondent for Sounds during the seventies and eighties what are your fondest memories?
Having Joy Division play a full set just for me. That was pretty astonishing although no, I probably didn’t realise it at the time. But I had tastes that were a little wider than the average Mancunian. I loved Def Leppard at Belle Vue, for instance, before they had hit big. In contrast, I was a huge fan of Throbbing Gristle and would often travel to meet them. Extremes….AC/DC at the Electric Circus and PIL at The Factory. My favourite personal memories involve going down to the Sounds office in London. It was above Covent Garden tube station and always seemed so seedy and glamorous. Garry Bushell’s desk would have skinheads stood around. Geoff Barton’s would have Vardis or someone, stood there. It was glorious. Today music paper offices are like building society offices.
Which artist has given you the most difficult interview?
John Lydon, backstage at Sheffield City Hall. A complete arrogant wanker and, of course, I loved every minute. John McGeoch kept on apologising for him. Lydon’s intelligence was just utterly ferocious. Very inspiring. Still love him today, despite Country Life butter etc.
And the most enjoyable?
Paul Rodgers, strangely enough because his reputation isn’t that great. He was one of the most accommodating people I have ever met and spoke for three hours. His tales of early Free were amazing. Would live to write a book on Free. Truly.
What’s your opinion on modern music journalism compared to, say, the seventies with Sounds and Melody Maker?
I hate modern music journalism, I really do. Not the writers. I just find the magazines terribly dull…either that or cartoonlike. The NME is completely unreadable but, I guess, it should be to someone my age. Mojo bores me to death…as does Classic Rock. Terrible. Observer Music Monthly is just dross…it makes me physically sick reading it. All the personality has gone. Sounds and NME were crazy in the old days…but there was a real passion there. Some of the websites – The Quietus –
are much better.
Of all the gigs you have attended which ones do you remember the most?
Well, a couple of Joy Division gigs that were unworldly. PIL and Metallica at Download blew me away completely. Slayer too. By contrast I loved Cara Dillon at Parr Hall, last year and Echo and The Bunnymen in Liverpool in November 2008. Very special because of the location…so much better than the MEN Arena.
The first festival I attended was at Bickershaw…15 years old watching The Grateful Dead on a slag heap in Leigh smoking my first joint. Did it ever get better than that? New Order in New York, 1983 made me proud to be a Mancunian…and Ronnie Lane at The Roundhouse, circa 74.
What are your favourite music books?
Well have just finished Barney Hoskyns’ amazing book on Tom Waits. Looking back…Mick Farren’s Give The Anarchist A Cigarette is always a favourite. The Lester Bangs collection, for sure and, I would have to say, Johnny Rogan’s Morrissey and Marr Severed Alliance book completely raised the bar for me. It’s funny because I read music books all the time and it isn’t the artist that makes them great…you could have an amazing book on Bucks Fizz! I am fond of CP Lee’s Light The Night Dylan book, which tells the story of the famous Judas incident in Manchester. Danny Sugerman’s Doors book, No One Here Gets Out Alive was a classic….Charles Shaar Murray’s Hendrix book, Crosstown Traffic, Barry Miles book on Macca, Motley Crue’s The Dirt and the Slash autobiography was great too.
And your favourite music scribes?
There are so many. I always enjoyed Ian Penman in the NME. Fearlessly pretentious and very funny though not to the tastes of many. I did particularly enjoyed lot of the seventies Sounds writers such as Jane Suck, Giovanni Dadomo, Pete Silverton, and Dave McCullouch as well as the best NME writers of the seventies, Murray, Kent, Farren. Today it is completely different. I don’t think that people write for the same reasons today and it shows. I still read music reviews all the time but they are not so distinctive.
Do you have a literary agent? Does a music biographer need one?
No. I wouldn’t say so. I have had occasional agents but not bothered.
How difficult is it to get your ideas commissioned?
There is always an element of luck involved. Sometimes you have sure fire ideas and you really work up a good synopsis and nobody is remotely interested. Other times they are just snapping away. It always seems to be down the sales meetings…even if an editor is very keen; he/she has to get it beyond the sales people. Not easy. Try to link your idea with a specific artist. Generic books are near impossible to sell.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Stay true to yourself.
Who are your favourite artists?
Lou Reed
Leonard Cohen
Tom Waits
Richard and Linda Thompson
John Coltrane
Cara Dillon
Metallica
Velvet Underground
Stooges
Bob Dylan
The Hold Steady
Television
Strokes
Kate Rusby
John Martyn
Miles Davis
Paul Simon
Your 10 Desert Islands Discs?
A Love Supreme – John Coltrane
I’m Your Man – Leonard Cohen
Blood On The Tracks – Bob Dylan
Velvet Underground and Nico
The Hissing Of Summer Lawns – Joni Mitchell
American Beauty – The Grateful Dead
The Black Album – Metallica
I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight – Richard and Linda Thompson
Solid Air – John Martyn
Closer – Joy Division
Marquee Moon - Television
Harvest – Neil Young
Blue Valentine – Tom Waits
Interview by Neil Daniels 2008
