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Paul Morley (born 26 March 1957 in Stockport, Cheshire) is an English journalist, who wrote for the New Musical Express from 1977 to 1983, during one of its most successful and relatively notorious periods, and has since written for a wide range of publications. He pioneered a distinctive style of post-punk, post-modernist music writing which drew on the New Journalism of Tom Wolfe, the gonzo style of Hunter S Thompson, the cultural theories of Roland Barthes and the adventurous rock writing of Lester Bangs. While his style divided the NME readership of the time (an early, confrontational interview with Jerry Garcia was judged to have lost the paper several thousand regular readers),^{[citation needed]} he is recognised as an influence on almost every significant British music writer to have emerged since.^{[attribution needed]} British Alternative band The Cure played a version of their song 'Grinding Halt' with new lyrics parodying Morley's writing style after an unfavourable review of their debut album Three Imaginary Boys. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File links Paulmorley. ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year (86th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... Stockport is a large town in the north west of England. ... For other uses, see Cheshire (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a weekly magazine about popular music published in the UK. It is unlike many other popular music magazines due to its intended focus on guitar-based music and indie rock bands, instead of mainstream pop acts. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Post punk generally refers to the particularly fertile and creative period following the initial punk rock explosion. During the first wave of punk, roughly spanning 1976-1983, bands such as The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones and The Damned began to challenge the current styles and conventions of rock... Postmodernism (sometimes abbreviated pomo) is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism. ... New Journalism was the name given to a style of 1960s and 1970s news writing and journalism which used literary techniques deemed unconventional at the time. ... Tom Wolfe gives a speech at the White House. ... Hunter S. Thompson Hunter Stockton Thompson (born Louisville, Kentucky July 18, 1937) is an American journalist and author. ... Roland Barthes Roland Barthes (November 12, 1915 – March 25, 1980) (pronounced ) was a French literary critic, literary and social theorist, philosopher, and semiotician. ... Lester Bangs during an interview Leslie Conway Bangs (December 14, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist, author and musician. ... Jerome John Jerry the Bulldog Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician, songwriter, and artist best known for being the lead guitarist and vocalist of the psychedelic rock band the Grateful Dead. ... This article is about the band. ... Three Imaginary Boys is English rock band The Cures debut album. ...

Morley first came to wider attention with a brief appearance in the video for ABC's "The Look of Love" (in which he mimes the words "what's that?" in a call-and-response routine with singer Martin Fry), but he achieved genuine notoriety as co-founder, with Trevor Horn, of ZTT Records, and electronic group Art of Noise. Morley is also credited with steering the marketing and promotion of the phenomenal early success of ZTT's biggest act, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Although it has never been confirmed, it is generally accepted that it was Morley who authored the provocative slogans on the band's T-shirts (e.g. "Frankie Say Arm The Unemployed", "Frankie Say War! Hide Yourself"), which became a fashion phenomenon in 1984, and are almost as well remembered as the band's music. ABC is an English New Romantic band that charted eleven Top 40 singles between 1981 and 1990. ... Martin Fry (born 9 March 1958, in Manchester) is the lead singer of the band ABC. Just The Two Of Us Martin Fry appeared in the BBC Television programme Just The Two Of Us in February 2006. ... Trevor Charles Horn, born July 15, 1949 in Durham, England, is a British pop music record producer, songwriter and musician. ... ZTT Records is a record label founded in 1983 by NME journalist Paul Morley, record producer Trevor Horn, producer/engineer Gary Langan and businesswoman Jill Sinclair. ... Art of Noise Edited twelve inch single featured the iconic Art of Noise mask Art of Noise was an avant-garde synthpop group formed in 1983 by producer Trevor Horn, music journalist Paul Morley, and session musicians/studio hands Anne Dudley, J.J. Jeczalik, and Gary Langan. ... Frankie Goes to Hollywood (FGTH) was a UK New wave band that was popular in early 1980s. ...

He was the first presenter of BBC Two's The Late Show, and has appeared as a music pundit on a number of other programmes. For the shortlived Channel 4 arts strand Without Walls he wrote and presented a documentary on boredom. For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 2. ... The Late Show (1989–1995) was a British television arts magazine programme broadcast on BBC Two weeknights at 11. ... This article is about the British television station. ...

He is the author of Words and Music: the history of pop in the shape of a city The book is an authoritative, scholarly and highly idiosyncratic journey through the history of pop; it seeks to trace the connection between Alvin Lucier's experimental audio recording, "I am sitting in a room" and Kylie Minogue's "Can't get you out of my head". A synthetic Kylie features as the central character of the book. The book was later turned into the hour-long epic musical track "Raiding the 20th Century" by DJ Food, which features Morley reading from his book and speculating on the cultural significance of the mashup amidst the sounds of those very mashups. His other books include Ask: The Chatter of Pop (a collection of his music journalism) and Nothing, a biographical book reflecting on his father's suicide and that of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, and unhappy parts of his teenage life such as the time he spent at Stockport Grammar School. Alvin Lucier (born May 14, 1931) is an American composer of experimental music and sound installations that explore acoustic phenomena and auditory perception. ... I am sitting in a room (1970) is one of composer Alvin Luciers best known works, featuring Lucier recording himself narrating a text, and then playing the recording back into the room, re-recording it. ... Kylie Ann Minogue (IPA: [1]) (born May 28, 1968) is a Brit and Grammy award-winning Australian pop singer-songwriter and occasional actress. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... This article is about the band. ... Ian Kevin Curtis (July 15, 1956 – May 18, 1980) was the vocalist and lyricist of the band Joy Division, which he helped form in 1977 in Manchester, England. ... Stockport Grammar School (SGS) is a co-educational independent school in Stockport, England, founded in 1487 by the 1482 Lord Mayor of London Sir Edmond Shaa. ...

Morley has teamed up with The Auteurs' James Banbury to form the band Infantjoy and in 2005 released an Album entitled 'Where The Night Goes' on Sony BMG. A new album, With, featuring collaborations with Tunng, Isan and Populous amongst others, is released in October 2006 on Morley and Banbury's own label ServiceAV. The Auteurs were a vehicle for the songwriting talents of Luke Haines (guitar, piano and vocals). ... Bertelsmann is a transnational media corporation founded in 1835, based in G tersloh, Germany. ... Tunng are an experimental folk band from the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see Isan (disambiguation). ...

He was married to Claudia Brücken with whom he has a daughter. Claudia Brücken (born 7 December 1963, in Berching, Germany) is a German singer who fronted the synthpop groups, Propaganda and Act. ...

References

• Paul Morley: Words and Music: a history of pop in the shape of a city. Bloomsbury, 2003. ISBN 0-7475-5778-0

External links

• Morley and Banbury's virtual record label
• Infantjoy official homepage
• Paul Morley on John Peel
• An extended review/meditation on Paul Morley's book 'Nothing'. [1]
• spikemagazine.com on Paul Morley
• Raiding The 20th Century featuring Paul Morley and a cast of thousands
• Zang Tuum Tumb and all that
• Paul Morley Interview 1999