This Is The Song In The Shape Of A City

Funnily enough, like Simon Sweeping The Nation, I also watched Pop: What Is It Good For? recently (at about 1am this morning, as I couldn't sleep). Simon's right in that it was a very, very condensed and brief version of Words And Music (definitely an acquired taste, but it's one of my favourite books about music), and that the best bit was when Richard X turned the tables on Morley somewhat.

Firstly: I never really thought Richard X would look like that. I'm not quite sure what I was thinking, but erm, not that, certainly.

Secondly: it's actually something I've noticed about Paul Morley in the last couple of years. We know all about how he was intertwined with Factory Records, with Joy Division and the new world of New Order. We know about the Morley/Penman axis which ruled the early 80s. And we know about his current 'commentator for hire' phase, taking wonderful pot-shots at Robert Elms on I Love The 80s and generally winding John Harris up on Newsnight Review. But we almost never hear about the ZTT-era version of Morley.

I have a few ideas as to why (some personal, some surrounding how the idea of ZTT went a bit sour when they sued Frankie Goes To Hollywood/Holly Johnson), but it is curious how there's this big period that he doesn't talk about much, a period where he was co-running a record label that had one of the UK's biggest chart acts on its books. You would think, for a pop commentator, that would be an interesting period to document. So it was nice to hear a little about his time at ZTT and The Art of Noise.

But where was Cathy Dennis?

currently playing: Saint Etienne – Absolute Beginners
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