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RIP Swells



This makes me sad. I grew up reading his NME stuff in the early 90s and he was one of the reasons I wanted to be a music journalist, something I still haphazardly attempt even now 18 years later. Like most people, I certainly didn't always agree with what he said but he pretty much always entertained me.

I'll always remember one fabulous Nick Cave review involving a story of an unnamed rock star who hated brussel sprouts but loved anal sex. His girlfriend agreed to the latter if he would eat a pint of the former and he just couldn't do it. Swells' opinion of Nick Cave's voice was roughly similar. Like I say, I didn't always agree but he made me laugh.

Yowzer. The man used to really irritate me in the 80s/90s as he'd always review music that I liked and dismiss it as "twee bollocks". He was the music written word's equivalent of a shock jock. However don't wish that on him.

Yeah I always had issues with him. Mainly because I didn't really agree with his opinions on a lot of stuff and he had a very narrow view of what music should be. For Swells all music should be punk guitars, political anger and LOUD. If a band weren't somehow related to the Clash in some form then, sorry, you're going down in flames...

Still - there's no doubting his talent for grasp of the English language. He was very funny. And he also did an incredible piece in the aftermath of the Columbine Massacre and how Marilyn Manson et. al. were not to blame... He was a great writer but his talents passed me by due to his need to shock rather than inform. Fair enough...

Although it's interesting looking at how bland NME is now compared to when he was writing for them. Despite the fact I often put the paper down thinking he was a bit of a knob, at least he was entertaining. NME was good in the 90's. You had the decent writing of Kitty Empire, Stevie Chick, Sarah Dempster, Victoria Segal et. al. offset with his bile. Made it a good read on balance!

However the one thing I cannot mourn his passing for is his continued Morrissey bating and his incessant need to try and prove that he was a racist at whenever the moment arose. He should've dropped that shit a long time ago but instead EVERY moment he could he was slipping in some nonsense about Morrissey and racism... 6 YEARS after everyone stopped giving a shit about it! He went too far with that, much to the detriment of him as a respectable journalist if you ask me...

Still - he did well for himself. He entertained and, also... he WAS genuinely funny. Brooker-esque sometimes in his ability to form hilarious sentences. And plus he gave us all something to talk about which, really, is all that he set out to do. And he achieved that.

I wasn't a big fan of his but he's died too young of a horrible illness. Anyone who defies a lymphoma in such fashion, continues to produce work and succombs to it bravely and humbly deserves to be remembered well simply by virtue of that. A sad way to go...

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Tall, moustachioed alcoholic - plays firewood with a bow.

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Curmudgeonly Rock 'n' Roll time traveller from ye olden days

2nd verse same as the 1st...

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Tall, moustachioed alcoholic - plays firewood with a bow.

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Alas, not actually Gryff Rhys Jones...

"Little Jack Horner sitting on the corner
With no shoes and clothes
This aint funny, but he took his money
And sniffed it up his nose"

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If Ian Curtis had lived, and enjoyed the ale…

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RIP Swells.

Norman Strike wrote a tribute for Socialst Worker, over here if anyone want to read it - http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=18319

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Pressure Drop: http://www.pressuredrop.info