A Voice From The Wings: From Dingwalls To The Clash by Barry 'DJ Scratchy' Myers

Scratchy at Clerkenwell Festival August 2026 - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

Back in September 2024 I interviewed DJ Scratchy (Barry Myers) for a special Retrosonic Podcast episode to coincide with the publication of his limited-edition photobook “Road-Eyes 20-20 Double Vision: Photo Tales with The Clash & The Mescaleros”. This was released mainly for his DJ tour of Japan and appearance at the Fuji Rock Festival and featured Japanese translations of the various comments and annotations accompanying the photos. During our chat, he mentioned he was working on his memoirs, and the good news is that finally the first volume has just been published by TangentBooks under the title “A Voice from the Wings: From Dingwalls to The Clash”. We saw Scratchy at the recent Clerkenwell Festival, where he gave an interesting talk and Q&A session about the book and it was good timing as I had just finished reading it the day before. What I must say from the start is this is not just another biography of The Clash, it’s very much Scratchy’s own unique story that takes us on a fascinating musical journey from his time in Ents and radio at Warwick University to his first professional work as a DJ at legendary London venues such as the Speakeasy, Lyceum and Dingwalls and his time on the road with The Clash.

Scratchy at The 100 Club, London - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

His superb descriptions of the music scene at the time, the various promoters and of course, those legendary and sadly often long-since gone concert halls, are highly evocative, putting you right bang in the heart of the action. Scratchy was there at the centre of London’s Punk Rock explosion and he discusses the impact of first seeing the Ramones and his part in the band’s iconic 1977 New Years Eve show at the Rainbow in London, which resulted in the classic “It’s Alive” live album. When he DJ’d for The Clash at their 1978 Music Machine gigs, his selection caught the ear of Joe Strummer, and this resulted in the band inviting him along as their Tour DJ. Joe dubbed him ‘Scratchy’ and it’s a name that's stuck to this day. The Clash's Roadie, The Baker, called him a “sonic alchemist” which is apt, as to this day, Scratchy specialises in creating a vibe and building an atmosphere at a show rather than just playing a load of records to a room (or field) full of people or pressing the play button on a random playlist, there’s a big difference. 

Scratchy at Clerkenwell Festival - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

I think Scratchy's selection of roots music such as Rockabilly, Reggae, Soul and raw R&B, along with the best Punk sounds of the times, surely must have had some sort of influence on the eclectic sound of The Clash’s “London Calling” album, it can’t have been a coincidence. It was this prime position as a trusted member of the Clash team that enabled him to capture so many superb candid photos, stories and memories that include his brief appearance in the Clash’s “Rude Boy” movie in the scenes filmed at the 1978 Rock Against Racism carnival in Victoria Park. Throughout the book, Scratchy keeps a discreet distance from the band, there’s no salacious gossip about the various members, and he doesn’t really go into depth about their personalities or his personal relationship with each of them. However, he doesn’t shy away from the on-the-road shenanigans, usually involving Topper, but generally speaking he is hanging out with the Baker and Clash Tour Manager, Johnny Green along with various roadies, van drivers and local promoters and often getting stuck in on the frontlines. It’s like a tour diary just from another perspective, as he discusses life on the road, the travelling, hotels and pranks that are played to alleviate the inevitable bouts of boredom. Scratchy captures this perfectly, as good as any band member or music biographer ever has. 

What also shines through is Scratchy’s enthusiasm and passion for music of all genres, he’s always seeking out what’s new and interesting in the cities he visits and he talks with glowing praise of some of the great support acts he saw along the way with The Clash, including those on his favourite bill, Bo Diddley and The Cramps. And there’s more, he touches on his own musical endeavours as bassist with The Snivelling Shits and the pages positively glow with energy and passion when he describes his travels around America and his love affair with New York. The book is dedicated to Johnny Green who of course wrote perhaps the definite Clash on the road book “A Riot of Our Own” and who inspired Scratchy to write his memoirs. He starts and closes the book with affectionate and touching eulogies to his great friend and mentor, who sadly passed away before the book was finished. I must also mention just how beautifully presented the book is and what a great job Tangent have done. There are full colour inner sleeves, a cord book-marker and it’s packed full of photos and various pages of Scratchy’s memorabilia including backstage passes, postcards, badges and reproductions of posters from various gigs that he has DJ’d at. In the back pages you can find various playlists and recommended songs to listen to while you enjoy the book. 

Scratchy at What's Cookin' London - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

Scratchy will be releasing part two of his memoirs concentrating on his time with Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros and I’m sure the story will not end there. He is still very active with his Scratchy Sounds radio show on Totally Wired Radio and DJing for various Retro Man Blog favourites such as Oh! Gunquit, The Courettes and King Salami & The Cumberland 3. Not to mention his appearances at London’s premiere local community festivals in Somerstown and Clerkenwell every summer and regular tours of his beloved Japan. I’m sure it won’t be too long before we get news of a volume 3 of the Scratchy memoirs and I certainly look forward to that. You can order the book from all the usual retailers but can also contact Scratchy via his Scratchy Sounds website here for signed copies which come with a free postcard while stocks last.

Retrosonic Podcast · DJ Scratchy Sounds: Photo Tales with The Clash & Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros

Don’t forget to check out our thoroughly entertaining Retrosonic Podcast special episode where I chat to Scratchy about his fascinating life in music and photography – you can subscribe for free at Soundcloud, iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. All photos copyright Retroman Blog except CD cover.

John Robb "Punk Rock Ruined My Life: And Other Stories" Book Launch & Gaye Advert Interview at Jacksons Lane Art Centre Highgate, 3rd June 2026

We attended a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the excellent Jacksons Lane Arts Centre in the company of John Robb, the acclaimed music journalist, TV presenter, author, frontman of The Membranes and Goldblade and of course, a cultural ambassador for Blackpool. John was on tour promoting his new autobiography "Punk Rock Ruined My Life: And Other Stories". It was a night of two halves - the first section featured John delivering an impressive one-man blast through his early years, clutching the mic stand as if he was fronting one of his bands. Then after the interval, John introduced special guest Gaye Black, or Gaye Advert as she was once known in her time as the iconic bassist with The Adverts, to discuss her life in Music and Art. In fact, this format runs throughout the intensive nationwide tour, with John's 'solo' talk followed by a Q&A session with various musical pals depending on the show's location, these included such luminaries as Stuart Braithwaite from Mogwai, Pauline Murray from Penetration, Holly from The Lovely Eggs, Steve & Paul Hanley from The Fall and Dave Rowntree from Blur.

John discussed his early life, growing up in Blackpool and how he felt it was such an uncool place that it meant he didn't have to worry about trying to be 'cool'. He talks about discovering music from a very early age and he was particularly taken by "Yellow Submarine" although he preferred the Pinky & Perky version rather than the Beatles original and admits he thought The Wombles were cool. He fell in love with Glam Rock, especially David Bowie and as an avid reader of the music press he found out about Punk Rock. In a bid to look Punk, John started buying clothes in local Oxfam shops, borrowing his Dad's string vest and piercing his ears using a compass and piece of cork. He nails what it was like growing up in the 70's, throwing in some nostalgic comments on those radioactive orange three-bar electric heaters and the state of English cuisine, where the only use of olive oil was when your Mum soaked a piece of cotton wool in it to stick in your ear when you had earache. It's these hilarious vignettes that have many of us laughing and sighing in recognition. 

 

Those shared generational experiences don't happen so much in modern life, and an example of this was Top of The Pops, where the whole nation was glued to the TV on a Thursday evening. John talks about forming The Membranes - taking the Punk motto of you don't need to be able to play music to form a band to a new level. He explains how The Membranes became cool in America and how Dinosaur Jr filmed the video to "Freak Scene" in his garden. Unfortunately, one hour just wasn't enough so we only get to the part where he takes his first steps into music journalism contributing to magazines such as Sounds and Zig Zag. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the book to continue on the journey and hopefully I'll find out if Punk Rock did ruin John's life or indeed, save it.

Please check out John Robb's web-site here for details on the remaining Tour dates and updates on all his many and varied projects. You can order "Punk Rock Ruined My Life" here. 

Gaye Black will be curating an Art Exhibition and appearing at the "50 Years of Punk" event at the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket which runs from 9th-14th June. For more information on her Art please check out her web-site here. You can also still download or stream our special Retrosonic Podcast with Gaye, where she discusses her life in music and art and plays some of her favourite records for us.

Retrosonic Podcast · Gaye (Advert) Black, Artist & Former Bassist with The Adverts

Paul Gorman "London Calling: The Clash In The Capital" A New Map of the Band's London Landmarks

We went along to the Showroom Gallery to see author, music journalist and cultural commentator, Paul Gorman discussing his excellent new annotated map "London Calling: The Clash In The Capital" at a launch party hosted by the gallery owner Andrew Renton. Situated just off the Edgware Road in the heart of "Clash country", a stone's throw from the Westway, it's the perfect location for the pair to cover just a few of the 130 landmarks relating to The Clash that are featured in the map. Some of these included the nearby Joe Strummer Subway where one of Mick Jones' early Rock & Roll Public Library exhibitions was held and the DHSS office on Praed Street close to Paddington Station where Mick worked during the height of the IRA's mainland bombing campaign, a stint that inspired the line "I won't open a letter bomb for you" in the classic "Career Opportunities". Also on Praed Street was the basement where the pre-Punk London SS held auditions that saw various luminaries try their luck for a place in the line-up including Tony James, Mick, Rat Scabies, Terry Chimes and Brian James. The London SS never actually got to play a gig but the various budding musicians did go on to form bands such as The Damned, Chelsea, Generation X, The Boys and of course The Clash. There's the story of Joe Strummer in the queue to collect his dole money at the Lisson Grove Labour Exchange noticing two guys furtively looking at him. He thinks they are going to beat him up but it was just Paul Simonon and Mick Jones plucking up the courage to go and talk to Joe after seeing his band The 101'ers with the intention of inviting him to join their band. 

Paul and Andrew discussed the proliferation of abandoned and derelict buildings in the area at the time, many of which had still not been renovated after the war. This enabled students, artists and musicians to squat in these often large houses and this active scene spawned Joe's Pub Rock band The 101'ers, named after their squat at 101 Walterton Road. Joe also shared a squat with Sex Pistols roadie John Tiberi in nearby Daventry Street which now boasts an English Heritage Blue Plaque. The pair also talk about the gentrification of London, with areas such as Notting Hill which used to be run down, now only being affordable to millionaires. Some more locations included Mick's Gran's 18th floor flat in the high-rise Wilmcote House where Mick would look down from the balcony onto the lights and traffic of the Westway below. This would inspire the line "up and down the Westway, in and out the lights, what a great traffic system - it's so bright" in "London's Burning". Of course there are more iconic locations covered in the map such as the Hammersmith Palais where Joe and Don Letts attended a tension-filled Reggae all-nighter which was to lead to one of The Clash's best moments, "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais". There's the Camden Stables Market, home of the band's "rehearsal rehearsals" practice space and site of the infamous pigeon shooting escapade. Of course, there's also legendary venues such as the 100 Club on Oxford Circus and the Roxy Club on Covent Garden's Neal Street where the band made some of their earliest appearances. That's just a few of the locations covered in this superb, comprehensive round-up of London places that featured in The Clash's history. On our way back to Paddington station we made a quick stop at Paul Simonon's local, The Royal Exchange, which must boast one of the coolest pub signs around.

"London Calling: The Clash In The Capital" is designed by Scott Sugiuchi, who has also worked on album cover art for one of our favourite bands The Woggles, and comes with a postcard and London Calling stencil. It's published by Herb Lester Associates and is another addition to their fantastic collection of music-related maps that include London guides on David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols and Malcolm McLaren, all written by Paul Gorman. Then there are guides on The Velvet Underground and CBGB's era Punk in New York, Serge Gainsbourg in Paris and 1960's Los Angeles. You can order directly from Herb Lester here. Author Paul Gorman has written books on legendary Pop boutique Granny Takes A Trip, The Face magazine and biographies of Malcolm McLaren, Goldie, Barney Bubbles and Boy George and you can find out more information by visiting his Instagram site here.

Here's Paul Gorman discussing the map with David Hepworth and Mark Ellen for their excellent "A Word In Your Ear" Podcast.

Picture This: A Public Image - Punk, New Wave & 2-Tone in L.A. 1978-80 - Exhibition and Book featuring the photos of Spike Waltzer

We went down to Brighton to catch the last day of the excellent exhibition of Garageland promoter Spike Waltzer's music photography at Gallery 40. Originally from Brooklyn in New York, Spike moved to L.A. in 1975 where he studied photography and got snapped up by a photo agency, ending up working as a paparazzo. His direction was to change after a neighbour introduced him to Punk via The Clash's "Give 'em Enough Rope" album in 1978 and he was hooked. He started going to gigs at now legendary Hollywood venues such as the Whisky A Go Go, Roxy and The Starwood, seeing early shows by local bands such as X, Fear and The Go-Go's alongside other touring acts like Blondie and The Cramps. Spike also captured lots of British and Irish bands touring the States often for the first time, and he has some superb onstage and candid offstage photos of The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, The Clash, Public Image Ltd, The Specials, The Selecter and Madness. Spike's photos of these bands are superb, really capturing the excitement of the live scene in L.A. at the time and it's great to see so many previously unseen pics of some of my favourite acts.

Spike has collated the best of his photos in a brillant book "Picture This: A Public Image" which is well worth getting hold of. Please note that the exhibition has now closed but the good news is, due to the demand, they will be back at Gallery 40 from December 9th-13th, ideal for picking up some Xmas presents for those friends and family members with good taste in music and photography! There are plans for more showings in London, Manchester and hopefully more locations will be added in due course. In the meantime, the book, postcards and prints (framed or unframed) are still available to order, so for more information you can message Spike at the Garageland Facebook page here or email to jasebick at gmail.com

Gaye Advert's Punk Memorabilia - A New Publication by Gaye and Leonor Faber-Jonker

Leonor Faber-Jonker of SAGO Press will release a collaborative publication along with Gaye Black in August. Titled "Gaye Advert's Punk Memorabilia" it collates twelve items from Gaye's own personal collection of memorabilia and looks at the stories behind each object. With photographs by Eric Waring and designed by Maud Van Rossum and Riso printed, the limited edition publication comes in two versions with some superb extras included. I spoke to Leonor and Gaye about this great project so please read on for the background behind it...

Leonor, how did you discover The Adverts and when did you first meet Gaye?

Leonor: I met Gaye at Rebellion Festival, I think it was in 2006 maybe. I was a big fan of The Adverts, when I was 14 I got my first Punk compilation CD and The Adverts were on there and it was one of the tracks that stood out. I didn't even have a computer at that age and then when I got a computer I started looking up things about The Adverts and I noticed Gaye of course and I thought she looked so cool so I kind of modelled my look on this one grainy picture I had of her, so yeah I was really a big fan.

So when you first met Gaye you didn't have any idea of doing a book or anything like that?

L: I must have been nineteen and I was still working out, finding out what I wanted to do and stuff so it was just more like being starstruck. Then I started organising gigs around that same time, I organised a couple of gigs for TV Smith in the Netherlands, and then I saw Gaye.

So that's similar to me, I also got to know Gaye through promoting TV Smith gigs, where were you putting on your shows?

L: In the Hague at a bar that was run by people who before they ran a squat and when that shut down they opened this very nice little bar with a stage called De Vinger. I put on a couple of shows there for TV Smith but also John Cooper-Clarke which is really wild as he's playing really big venues now. Of course I got talking to Gaye and she was just really sweet, I also bought some of her artwork, I think I bought two or three.

So, when did you get to the point of deciding on doing this project, how did you come up with the idea?

L: Well, I'm really interested in how objects carry a meaning so that's something I do a lot of research on and I'm very interested in family heirlooms or souvenirs. Also how objects change meaning over time 'cos if you carry it with you through your life then it will change, it will signify different things for different moments, so that's kind of the background. Then I have this publishing company SAGO Press and with that I want to make books that are based on archives and I also focus on female artists and musicians from the Punk era or the Post-Punk era of the 80's and started with Truus de Groot who was a Post-Punk pioneer in the Netherlands who went to New York when she was very young. So, it kind of went very naturally 'cos I was thinking for a while as I was organising gigs before and I'd stopped doing that I wanted to offer a platform again to other people or collaborate in a DIY way again. I was thinking maybe a magazine, maybe this or maybe that, and then I came across these photos by Truus de Groot and then I realised this would make a perfect book. Anyway, so I had this publishing house and then of course I thought of Gaye who I'd stayed in touch with as she also came to the HOK Gallery in the Hague and I wrote an essay for her exhibition she had there. I thought it would just be great to make a booklet together and we were just sitting talking, Eric was there too and it just came together and I think Eric might have said, what about the memorabilia objects, so yeah, it just happened.

Eric Waring is the photographer who took the majority of the photos in the book, it's lucky that Gaye has kept most of her memorabilia and prized possessions.

L: Yeah, in a very sort of conscious way and what she kept, she kept it carefully, or even not carefully like with the leather jacket she just put in the garden when it was finally returned by somebody who stole it after decades. She had this leather jacket that she was always wearing in all those iconic photographs and it was stolen from a dressing room in Ireland and she didn't see it for decades and then suddenly it was posted back anonymously. So, she just had this jacket but it was really mouldy and horrible when she got it back so she put it in the garden and it became a home for spiders, but even then it's a caring way to interact with an object.

It's amazing that she got it back, so you've chosen twelve items, how did you start off?

L: The starting point was Gaye's memorabilia collages because she made this series of digital collages and the objects are all in there so that was the starting point, but then Eric had to re-photograph them for the book as the images were not so suitable for printing.

Gaye's left the music world and she's now an Artist and she does use a lot of her memorabilia in her artwork which is really effective isn't it.

L: Yeah, there are a lot of personal mementoes also from before and after the Punk era, all her artworks are filled with personal significant little things.

So the booklet itself is beautifully produced, I'm really happy as I've got to actually look at it finally, and Gaye is writing about the background to each item with some great photos by Eric. You've also included some postcards, you've got a reproduction of the rat sticker that was on her bass and you've even got a reproduction of the fantastic The Damned and The Adverts advert on newspaper, it's almost like it's come out of Sounds in 1976. That's 'The Damned can now play three chords The Adverts can play one, hear all four of them' and then you've got all the tour dates and that's the famous picture of Gaye and Dave Vanian which I'm sure will be familiar to many people. So you get these nice little extras which I think makes it a little bit special and you've done two versions of the booklet, you've got this version that I've got here and then you've got one in a deluxe special edition.

L: Yeah the special edition, I mean the regular version is quite special as it is, if I may say so myself! So the main extras are the poster and three postcards and the rat sticker, I had to cut out 300 rats so I hope you guys appreciate it! It's Riso printed which is quite a special technique and comes in a limited edition of 150 copies in total and numbers 1-25 are the special editions and they come with a signed A4 print of one of Gaye's memorabilia collages, a very nice print.

I won't give everything away on what's in the booklet, people will have to buy it to find out, but some of the more interesting items featured include Iggy Pop's dog collar and a Ramones baseball bat which are quite bizarre, and there's a battered tour suitcase along with other various bits and pieces which I won't give away yet but it's nice to hear the stories behind them. When I got this copy I thought, 'oh wow this must be the deluxe edition' but there's all the extras that come with the standard version too so it's very good value. So, the book will be available from August, you're going to be at the Rebellion Festival in August, will you be there over the whole weekend?

L: I will be yeah, Gaye will have a stall and I'm just a hanger-on, then there's a Q&A session where we're officially presenting it.  

So if you're at Rebellion from August 7th-10th you can pick up a copy or you can order the book from here. Leonor, you said you're getting orders from all over the place already.

L: Yeah from Australia and Mexico, I was really surprised, many orders from the United States, California it's quite surprising and then many from the Netherlands as well.

You've done some previous publications haven't you, including old fanzines and Dutch Punk and things like that as well.

L: Yeah, quite a few publications now, I started by writing a book about Dutch Punk that came out in 2012, and that was because I knew quite a lot about UK bands but I had no idea about what was going on in the Netherlands at that time so I became really curious what was here. Why do I know so many bands in the UK but what else was going on, so that was the starting points of my research. Then I also have quite a few other interests but I always come back to Punk and Post-Punk.

So do you think this idea you have here is something you could spread out to other musicians that you know?

L: I never like to do the same thing twice so I always want to reinvent myself or my work so the publications I've done with Sago now, so far one is photographs and snapshots taken in New York and then there's one coming out with drawings by Dirk Polak from the Dutch New Wave band Mecano. What I like is talking to underground musicians and artists, finding out what they have that has never seen the daylight, that people are not aware of, that's what I really like, digging that out. It's a private archive so what I like to do with my publications is that you have the feeling like you are actually visiting the person, you become a little bit closer to the person, it's biographical in the end.

We're now joined by Gaye and I was wondering how you both narrowed it down to 12 items?

L: Well, it started at Rebellion from the memorabilia collage artwork, there were ten of them, then the final selection was quite tricky actually.

Tell us about Iggy's dog collar Gaye...

Gaye: In 1977 The Adverts were asked to do the U.K. tour with Iggy and throughout the course of that he was always trying to give me items of his clothing, like that raincoat in that picture of him and Patti Smith but I said no, I don't have room for that, so he had this dog collar and he said "would you like that?" and I said OK.

How did you get hold of a Ramones baseball bat? 

G: It was the first time they played in London at the Roundhouse and at the end of the gig Joey came out from the side of the stage and he was giving out these promotional baseball bats and I had one. But I think most people probably couldn't be bothered to carry them home so they became really rare but I held on to it and I've had it ever since, it's not a full size baseball bat, it's there under the TV if you want to see it!

What about the battered old suitcase?

G: This is an old suitcase of my parents that they gave me when I moved to London that was living up in my attic room and it came with me when we went off on tour, 'cos it was the only thing I had. We didn't have rucksacks or things in those days, so I lived out of that for several years. The stickers, I'm a great one for sticking any stickers onto things, a random selection, that big Damned one on the front, that's from their first album I think, carefully unpeeled.

The suitcase is like one of your works of art, one of your collages in itself, you've got backstage passes, Motorhead stickers you've got the Damned one.

G: There's a couple of more contemporary ones too, like The Briefs, but that's quite an old Briefs one, that's probably vintage by now.

L: It's also kind of nice that you haven't kept it as a museum piece, it's just part of your life and still is.

G: Yeah, it was but it's kind of broken now so I can't use it anymore.

So what was it like for you going through looking at these items, was it interesting to drag up the back stories behind them?

G: Yes, I haven't kept all that many things but I had the idea for doing my memorabilia series at Rebellion in 2016 'cos that was their anniversary gig and they went down really well, so I've been doing variations on them. I don't have that many objects and Leonor is a great collector and object fan and she had this idea so she came round here and narrowed it down to what's in the book. 

Well it's great, it's a really unique way of looking at someone's musical life rather than a just a typical biography, list of dates or tour diary it's an unusual take 'cos of all the stories behind the items.

G: I very rarely get rid of anything, I value the things that have memories and if I do get rid of anything it's usually something that I've had more recently so the core things remain.

I don't want to give too much away, people will have to buy the book to find out what's inside. You'll be at Rebellion Festival doing a Q&A session and having your art on display and I guess the books will be on sale.

G: Yes, I'll be interviewed and Leonor will be doing a presentation during my interview and I'll be selling new art stuff in the adjoining room to the literary stage.

Thanks to Leonor and Gaye, as mentioned if you are at Rebellion Festival in Blackpool this year, you'll be able to pick up a copy directly and also check out Gaye's fantastic art. Otherwise, you can order from SAGO Press at this link, find out more about Leonor's projects at her web-site here and you can check out Gaye Black Art here.

Don't forget our thoroughly entertaining Retrosonic Podcast interview special with Gaye is still available to listen to, stream or download, where she discusses her life in Music and Art. Gaye takes us on a musical journey from growing up in a small town in north Devon and discovering music for the first time to buying her first record. We then discover what lured her into Rock 'n' Roll and what inspired her to play the bass. There are tales of her experiences of moving to London, being right at the heart of the early Punk Rock explosion and of course her time with The Adverts. This leads onto the bands and the characters she met and toured with along the way such as Iggy Pop, Lemmy and The Damned. We also cover her DJ'ing and the inspirations on her own Art as well as her time curating Art Exhibitions and working on the artwork for record covers by U.K. Subs bassist Alvin Gibbs. The episode is sound-tracked by Gaye's personal selection of her favourite songs from The Adverts and some of Gaye's most inspirational musical moments including Black Sabbath, Rolling Stones, The Stranglers, The Damned, The Beatles, Mayhem, Motorhead, The Phobics, Mayhem, Turbonegro, Cyanide Pills, The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, Iggy Pop, The Stooges, A Place To Bury Strangers, U.K. Subs and the Fireball XL5 Theme...! 

Retrosonic Podcast · Gaye (Advert) Black, Artist & Former Bassist with The Adverts

Retro Man Blog & Retrosonic Podcast's Favourite Books of 2024

 

Here's a selection of twelve of our favourite books published this year, please click on the highlighted links throughout the feature below for more information.

1. "Street Level Superstar: A Year With Lawrence" by Will Hodgkinson

Jarvis Cocker interviews Author Will Hodgkinson and Lawrence (Felt, Denim, Go-Kart Mozart, Mozart Estate about the book at Foyles, London - Photo by Retro Man Blog

2. "Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story" by Daniel Rachel

Author Daniel Rachel (centre) with Pauline Black of The Selecter and Bedders of Madness at the book launch event, South Bank Centre London - Photo by Retro Man Blog

3. "A Taste of Ink, The Prisoners Sentenced By Their Fans" Edited by Elinor Crockford, Jeremy Stride, Thomas Buch & Michael Langer

Editors Jeremy Stride, Elinor Crockford, Michael Langer and Thomas Buch with their book before The Prioners reunion show at The Roundhouse - Photo by Retro Man Blog. You can check out a review of the gig and see more information on the book at our Retro Man Blog feature here.

4. "Forever Changes: The Authorised Biography of Arthur Lee and Love" by John Einarson

You can see our review with photos and videos of the Love Revisited with Johnny Echols "Forever Changes" gig at Shepherds Bush Empire here. Photo by Retro Man Blog

5. "Diminished Responsibility: My Life As a U.K. Sub and Other Strange Stories, Vol. 3" by Alvin Gibbs

Check out our review of "Diminished Responsibility Vol. 3 at Retro Man Blog here.

6. "In The Jingle Jangle Jungle: Keeping Time with The Brian Jonestown Massacre" by Joel Gion

7. "Sixteen Again: How Pete Shelley and Buzzcocks Changed Manchester Music (and Me)" by Paul Hanley

8. "Under A Rock: A Memoir" by Chris Stein of Blondie

9. "Folklore Rising: An Artist's Journey Through The British Ritual Year" by Ben Edge

Ben Edge at the screening of his documentary "Frontline Folklore" at the Garden Cinema, London - Photo by Retro Man Blog

10. "1967 - How I Got There and Why I Never Left" by Robyn Hitchcock

Robyn performing during the Q&A to promote "1967" at Foyles in London - Photo by Retro Man Blog

11. "Road Eyes 20:20 Vision, Photo Tales with The Clash & The Mescaleros" by Barry 'Scratchy Sounds' Myers

You can hear our Retrosonic Podcast special with Scratchy discussing the book and his time with The Clash and Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros below...

Retrosonic Podcast · DJ Scratchy Sounds: Photo Tales with The Clash & Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros

12. "Days In Europa" by Richard Jobson of The Skids