Rip It Up And Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984

Posted on April 19, 2005 by Chris Mitchell

Back in the late 1980s when British music journalism was at its zenith, there were some outstanding writers for Melody Maker and NME. Steve Sutherland, Simon Price and Simon Reynolds all spring to mind. Mr Reynolds has subsequently gone on the write some cracking books on end-of-the-century music (Blissed Out, Energy Flash). He's at it again with Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 which is published by Faber this month. I haven't read it yet but I'd imagine it's worth investigating. There's also an event going on in London to support the book's launch:

"Join Simon Reynolds for a postpunk panel discussion featuring Howard Devoto, Paul Morley, Gina Birch and Richard Boon

April 27 at 8:30 at The Boogaloo, 312 Archway Road, Highgate, London N6. Tube: Highgate (Northern Line). Free admission. More information (directions, etc) at theboogaloo.org"

You might also want to check out Brian Dillon's great piece for Spike on the music journalism of Lester Bangs and Paul Morley