Thursday 25 June 2009

What a Swell Guy..

Steven Wells 1960-2009

Here’s some sad new Steven Wells of NME fame has died. As a teenage from a quiet corner of a quiet town Swells' writing every Wednesday was like bomb going off . Swells writing was a joy being both politically switched on and slightly foul mouthed, buzzing with ideas and opinions.

I always read his pieces even when it was about bands I didn’t care for; I even liked his work when he slagged off the bands I loved. His writing along with David Quantitck was full of fantastic crazed descriptions prefigures the likes of Charlie Brooker particularly in his easy access to his bile gland. But although his reviews where extreme they were always done with a smile and good joke. There was also a glee and joy in the use of words and the search for more and more arcane ways to describe the particular focus of his scorn.

I think his brand of partisanship is missing in pop music nowadays when everyone seems to like everything. Maybe it’s just us cold war kids who still enjoy some “black and white them and us” opinions. I’m sure the wishy washy likes of Keane and all the “The” bands wouldn’t have lasted two minutes if Swells had turned his torch on them. Oh and what was I thinking I forgot the most important bit he used to make me laugh out loud.

1 comment:

Cocktails said...

Really! I had no idea (you can guess what was clogging up the news late last week in Greece...). I liked reading Swells' rants against the man in the early 90s. He symbolised a very 80s Britain for me.

I hated his stuff for the Guardian though.