What do we reckon about Bis then?

[Rev+]

I don't remember that. I can remember him defending Riot Grrl from its tedious detractors but not his sleaze.

I'm not doubting you though - it all seemed to be about him.

He wasn't that overtly sleazy from what I remember, apart from transparently wanting to bang Kim Deal[nb]But then again, etc.[/nb]but there was always the sense that he felt he had a bit of a chance with any female performer just by virtue of who he was, and his inflated opinion of who he was, and that tended to bleed into his writing.  It really was all about him:  he didn't think himself a critic or a journalist, he was always part of the scene and just sending reports from the frontlines.

There's a former member of this forum I'd compare him to, but it would be very unfair and potentially libelous.  There is a sliver of that character in there.  Just not that sliver, to be clear.

[Egyptian Feast]

Ah, I'd got my wires crossed. Ben Stud actually is Ben Marshall, who I've just discovered did a series of articles for Loaded where he re-enacted The Dice Man! Off beam in one respect, on the money in another...

Ahh, I didn't know Ben Marshall, whose articles or user recordings can be used to get rid of vermin like grey squirrels (according to MES), was a former Stud Brother.

[Kankurette]

Everett True was possibly the worst of them. His attitude towards females in bands was fucking deplorable, just a horrible sleazy bloke. He tried to get on his high horse when Riot Grrrl became popular but he'd already been slobbering over Courtney Love and championing bands just because he wanted to sleep with the singer for ages by then.

Again, I wish I could say I was surprised but I'm not. I don't recall him being gross about Catatonia or Cerys but there were reviews of other female musicians in MM that were a bit sus. Daniel Booth wrote a disgusting one about Garbage, calling Manson a fake and implying that she couldn't really be mentally ill because she hadn't killed herself like Richey Edwards.

True got a mention in a Bikini Kill song. One of the crap Tobi Vail ones.

[Wacky Homemade Badges]

Oh man. Music journalism of the 90s was deeply dodgy on mental illness in ways that I think simply wouldn't be tolerated today. They'd either use it in ableist abuse or valorise it as a mark of artistry and substance, which isn't really responsible when you're speaking to an audience of teenagers.

[Pauline Walnuts]

Daniel Booth wrote a disgusting one about Garbage, calling Manson a fake and implying that she couldn't really be mentally ill because she hadn't killed herself like Richey Edwards.

Of course she's fake, she's a bloomin' pop star! Fakes not the right word anyway, it's more showmanship.

Now Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson, you're all fakes, run to your mansions, Come around, we'll kick your asses!

[Kankurette]

The line in question was something like 'Shirley has problems with extreme self-loathing leading to self-injury. So did Richey. Shirley is still here, whining about it. Richey...isn't. Understand?' Like, sorry she's not mentally ill enough for you? Do you have to off yourself or carve your arm down to the bone to be mentally ill enough for MM standards? Does everyone have to act like Emilie sodding Autumn? I love the Manics but Richey wasn't some kind of hero because he turned his arm into a bloody chunk of meat. Then again, the music press like to turn drug addicts and alcoholics into heroes, unless they're women (Cerys Matthews excepted), so it's not surprising that someone who's severely mentally ill is seen as being cool and badass.

And yes, it was shockingly ableist. Tallulah Gosh getting called 'professional retards', a guitar being described as 'autistic', and so on.

[PaulTMA]

I think I'd blocked Daniel Booth out of my mind for at least 20 years, the only time I read MM regularly rather than once in a blue moon was during the particularly awful very late period before its demise.  It's coming back to me that he was one of the worst ever, what was his whole deal again?

[Kankurette]

Just basically slagging everyone off. I remember he was one of the 'ugh Cerys what are you doing hanging around with those Space cunts' crowd and came up with some bullshit line about Begin Again being danced to at Countdown's Christmas party. Like...what the fuck does that even mean.

Don't get me started on the Kittie reviews either. Including the gushing one about how they represented the Four Commands of Manicdom: Culture, Alienation, Boredom and Despair. Fuck off. I like Kittie, but no they don't.

[Pauline Walnuts]

The only reason I liked Melody Maker back in the day was the 'coat downs' they gave to some of the acts, so it's kinda hypocritical for me be to offended by them now. But hey, hypocrisy, the greatest luxury! Raise the double standards etc etc.


I mean like you'd never buy an album on their recommendation, that was always an exercise in futility. Buying on a good cover, and good band name was a lot more successful.

Although I did quite like the Disco Inferno references Neil Kulkarni would sneak into articles about Oasis or something.

[holyzombiejesus]

I bought loads of albums because of good reviews in MM, mostly US bands. Galaxie 500, Codeine, Slint, Mazzy Star - got them all because of MM. Maybe it was easier to trust the reviews of bands not based in London (pre-Nirvana era ET) as there wasn't that presumption that the group were just getting good press from their drinking buddies.

[Chriddof]

During the brief period when a recently-closed MM was part of the NME, in a kind of "Buster Including Monster Fun" deal which was forgotten about after about three weeks, a few of the MM contributors moved over briefly to the paper. There were three in total, I think - Stubbs (who later mentioned getting told off by Steven Wells on his first day at the NME offices for being "a fascist" or something), Neil (who unsurprisingly didn't hang around long), and Daniel Booth.

One week I remember coming across Booth's review of whatever the latest Stone Roses re-package was, and was startled to see him praising both the record and them as the sunkissed gods of baggy or whatever, with nary a mention of Kittie or how cool it was to be depressed. Years later I looked him up and he'd moved onto writing for those non-game computer magazines (the kind that have some breathless headline about Windows 11 or how it's possible to delete your browsing history), and he'd been doing it for at least a decade at that point. He was a full on company man, I think, who just saw what others were doing and did it himself but worse, and didn't care about any of it into the bargain.

[Hat FM]

mark beaumont was melody maker originally wasnt he?

[gilbertharding]

Years later I looked him up and he'd moved onto writing for those non-game computer magazines (the kind that have some breathless headline about Windows 11 or how it's possible to delete your browsing history), and he'd been doing it for at least a decade at that point.

Those magazines are amazing. How do they come up with features ideas? Who are they aimed at? I know the answer to that actually: Fathers in Law 15 years ago.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I've only listened to one Chart Music podcast, but I found one of the former MM blokes a bit annoying. Endless bitter ranting about the decline of the magazine and self aggrandising hindsight talk of how he would have done things differently and kept his finger on the pulse of the youth. Also, cockily misinterpreting points made by the woman he was co-hosting with.

Anyway, Bis. I was surprised to read that Eurodisco was released in 1998. I could have sworn up and down that it was '99.

[Kankurette]

Bugger me, I thought Eurodisco was released LATER than that! I don't know if any Mancs are reading this thread, but Eurodisco was a Killing Fantasy staple. I went a couple of times as my housemates in second year were mates with the DJs. Vic and Beck? They were twins.

I bought loads of albums because of good reviews in MM, mostly US bands. Galaxie 500, Codeine, Slint, Mazzy Star - got them all because of MM. Maybe it was easier to trust the reviews of bands not based in London (pre-Nirvana era ET) as there wasn't that presumption that the group were just getting good press from their drinking buddies.

There was one album I did buy on the strength of an MM review, and that was Kamikaze by Melys, a Welsh electronica/indie band. Luckily it was great and I ended up getting into their other stuff (and I FINALLY got to see them live a couple of years ago in Liverpool!)

Slint are great tbf. I'm not into post-rock but they're good to have on in the background when I'm working and they're good live.