‘Johnny Beatle’, early Blondie, Led Zeppelin’s plane and seven fabulous years at the Melody Maker

Rock journalism as an occupation is rapidly heading in the direction of the watch-mender or lamplighter so Chris Charlesworth’s account of life at the Melody Maker in the ‘70s is already starting to feel like an historic document. ‘Just Backdated’ covers a time when the rock press set the agenda, sold over half a million copies a week and was courted by attention-seeking musicians of every rank, a lost world remembered in this conversation with Mark Ellen which includes …

… the unwritten rules of ‘70s rock journalism and its limitless access.

… the “homesick and slightly lost” John Lennon when living with May Pang.

… life at Melody Maker’s Fleet Street office and staff writer Max Jones’s fling with Billie Holiday.

… touring with Led Zeppelin alongside the 17 year-old Cameron Crowe (part of the inspiration for Almost Famous).

… “Beatles to reform?” and other coverline staples.

… the night Frank Zappa was thrown off the Rainbow stage – ‘people thought he’d been killed’.

… the first British interview with Steely Dan.

… Debbie Harry when she was still in the Stillettos and the day Blondie asked him to manage them.

... why the Bay City Rollers at an airport was “the nearest thing to a nightmare while being awake”.

… his time as MM’s West and East Coast correspondent aka “the best job in the world”.

Order ‘Just Backdated’ here:

[jimquinn]

A very enjoyable interview I can't wait to read the book, as someone who bought the MM every issue from 1973.- 1979 .

[VonL]

Finding a copy of MM at the news agents in the Brooklyn, New York of 1970 was akin to the grail cup. Eventually with more frequent availability it supplanted my undergrad texts as the far more desirable object of study.

[charlesnolan]

Mark, Fantastic interview with Chris C.
There is a UK URL radio magazine archive which also has Several UK record magazine collections-
MM, NME, SOUNDS, Disc Magazine Record Mirror, Beat Instrumental, and yes even Smash hits!!

[Pete-Fisher]

Great to see Mr Charlesworth here talking about his excellent book, of which I was very lucky to get a review copy. I felt Mark Ellen interrupted him a little too often, rather than letting him talk, and didn't always acknowledge Chris's answers properly, eager to get on with his list of questions. Obviously not easy to do interviews solo rather than with David, but perhaps a little more respect for the older and more experienced journalist was due?

[harrybartok]

I'm 67 and I bought MM every week. It wrote about baby boomer music and we are dying off. My dad listened to big-band jazz but it died with his generation. I liked Floyd, Yes, Genesis, Crimson, Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Chick Corea, Mahavishnu, and Keith Jarrett. MM was the mag for me. NME was more of a comic and seemed more interested in a band's image than the music. MM introduced me to stuff that I still listen to. British radio was crap so I followed journalists like Steve Lake, Chris Welch and Richard Williams in MM to find out what I should be listening to next. It was an exciting time. John Peel played a lot of crap, and he seemed to have no idea what was good. I now live in the US and Rolling Stone in the 1970s was xenophobic. It preferred mellow music and hippie bands. The Byrds, The Band, The Doors, Dylan and Jackson Browne were among their favourites. It wasn't music that excited teens in the US or UK. Rolling Stone had to ditch their 1970s reviews for their later Album Guides. Their attitudes did not stand the test of time. Queen. AC/DC, Zeppelin. Rush, Yes, and Sabbath still have fans despite the critical bashing they used to receive.