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    #26
    The NME

    Harry Truscott wrote:
    Originally posted by imp
    From an old fart's perspective - the abysmal Stone Roses cover reflects everything that went wrong. It's a stupid, contrived set-up in the name of a mediocre, meaningless pun that bears no scrutiny.
    It was based in the Pollock-style paintings John Squire was known for doing that featured on their artwork and his equipment, no?

    I can't say it's a classic and I wasn't a fan of the band or paper but "contrived...meaningless...bears no scrutiny" seems way off.
    I was never interested enough in the Stone Roses to care about what they did in their spare time, but your response offers me some measure of enlightenment. Still hate the cover, though.

    LL - thanks for that. Think I'll give it a miss and stick to perusing back issues from the 80s.

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      #27
      The NME

      Nesta Makhno wrote:
      A few weeks later there was the usual 'huge in America' article that every British indie band used to be allowed by right, in which they claimed that they'd walked into the record store and hundreds of girls were screaming and that they had responded by pointing to their cocks and saying 'suck these'
      Hahahaha. Oh man, that's probably my enduring memory of the NME in the 1990s, the 'band on tour in the states' story. Always with a bit about Fifth Avenue being brought to a standstill by excited crowds outside the place where Shed Seven or whatever were doing an acoustic in-store.
      Yep this ^

      I was fortunate enough to visit America several times in my late teens and was able to see through these world conquering tales.

      'American tour' = they played showcase gigs in LA, Chicago, Boston and NY.
      'Extensive North American tour' = they played Toronto, SF and Philadephia as well.
      'Huge on college radio' = played on a handful of stations that very few people listen to.
      'Huge on alternative radio' = the record company bought it onto a couple of playlists.
      'Huge buzz around the new single' = Rodney Bingenheimer (sp?) played it once.
      'Playing stadiums' = supporting someone in 5,000 seater venues.
      'Sold out gig in front of adoring fans' = Record company freebie, and everyone gets excited when it's free.

      All this stuff was so commonplace that when someone really did break through commercially (e.g. Radiohead, who weren't a huge band in the UK at the time), we didn't believe it.

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        #28
        The NME

        The NME was certainly at its best from a journalistic viewpoint when I was in the sixth form (1979-80), ie, when it looked like a newspaper. The classic 'Joy Division' issue, for example, was something to behold. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it throughout the eighties and into the nineties. (During 1986-87, I think I read both the NME and MM cover-to-cover every week.)

        As suggested by a few of these posts, both papers had a somewhat irritating tendency to over-hype - and often subsequently help 'kill off' new acts - but I was obsessed with music/gigs at the time, and liked to be kept informed, y'see. I think I only ever won the crossword once (ditto the RM), but I nailed a couple of big MM prize competitions, which tended to be marginally less taxing than the NME's.

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          #29
          The NME

          Looking back, the last really good piece I read in the NME came in September 1997, arguing that the reworked post-Diana Candle in the Wind marked a decisive turning point for the worst in British popular music. Which felt kind of overstated reading it at the time, but I think it kind of had a point. By John Mulvey, I think.

          I last picked up a copy while waiting for a delayed flight at LA airport in 2003, and I got through it in 20 minutes - fluffy and bland, and bereft of style and humour.

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            #30
            The NME

            Anyone else remember when Wagon Wheel cookies were as big as the package they came in, and not just sloughing around loosely inside?

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              #31
              The NME

              77-90 was my NME era.
              I finally got sick of the whole UK music press "next big thing" hype and the build em up to knock em down circle of death. "The Sound", "Living Colour", "James King & The Lone Wolves", "The Selecter", "Any Trouble" etc etc were never gonna be anything more than average. The MM and RM were as culpable as the NME in this. A freebie could buy more press goodwill than interest from paying customers. Shelby fuckin Lynn!!!

              I still cant get over the Pat Nevin cover furore. As if being a "serious music fan" and being a "serious football fan" had never been known.

              Ive not bought a weekly music paper for twenty years. I only buy a monthly if theres a long train journey to be got over. Although I almost snapped up an NME tonight because of this thread.

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                #32
                The NME

                I don't think the 'Nevin' thing was so much 'first footballer as serious music fan' as it was 'first post-punk footballer'. Sure, it was just a gimmick, but not uninteresting for all that. (Didn't NME do something similar with Brian McClair a couple of years later?)

                I finally got sick of the whole UK music press "next big thing" hype and the build em up to knock em down circle of death. "The Sound", "Living Colour", "James King & The Lone Wolves", "The Selecter", "Any Trouble" etc etc were never gonna be anything more than average.
                Agree, but The Selecter seem an odd target given that they were a part of something bigger, something that genuinely was part of a cultural revolution. (I certainly recall the Any Trouble hype, and also that surrounding other short-lived bands like Raymonde.)

                I remember when NME tried to curry favour with the pop market, around 1999-2000 - it was all rather embarrassing. I think the last time I read even part of the paper was around a decade ago.

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                  #33
                  The NME

                  Irrelevant? I don't think so!



                  Poor as the concept is, the execution is even worse.

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                    #34
                    The NME

                    Looks very like The Face these days don't it? Just needs a feature article inside on how thick football hooligans are at the vanguard of uk music and fashion.

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                      #35
                      The NME

                      Has Paul Heaton got an album out at the moment?

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                        #36
                        The NME

                        The NME's greatest moments. Never heard of the journalist since.



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                          #37
                          The NME

                          WOM wrote: Wagon Wheel cookies
                          What the fuck? It's a good thing EIM hasn't read this, he'd be stood on your doorstep waving a Stanley knife around by now.

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                            #38
                            The NME

                            Please...that's how he arrives for dinner engagements.

                            What am I supposed to call 'em? Biscuits?

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                              #39
                              The NME

                              WOM wrote: Please...that's how he arrives for dinner engagements.

                              What am I supposed to call 'em? Biscuits?
                              Well, yes.

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                                #40
                                The NME

                                Wagon Wheels. Unless you're concerned that a lack of context might lead to your listener thinking you are attempting to eat a part of a cart.

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                                  #41
                                  The NME

                                  I wasn't sure they were that universally known.

                                  Also, the sarcastic jab that was buried in the question has apparently gone unnoticed.

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                                    #42
                                    The NME

                                    Are you doing that "We hate it when the British are right about things" thing?

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                                      #43
                                      The NME

                                      Because it was wrong.

                                      By every possible metric objective or subjective, sales, influence, quality of writing, quantity of writing, and quality of subject matter, the NME is demonstrably inferior to it's previous incarnations.

                                      Now, reasonable people can disagree over when it's peak was, and sure age will be a prime factor there.

                                      But sometimes things do get worse.

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                                        #44
                                        The NME

                                        Of course they do.

                                        It just seems that nobody remembers exactly when it was at its best, which it appears that it was right around when they started reading it (aged 14 or 15), and then it declined in lockstep with pop music becoming a less important part of your teenage years (as it would).

                                        I'm not saying that writing doesn't vary in quality. But to ignore the age / time of life bias seems willful.

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                                          #45
                                          The NME

                                          Not that I'm saying you're ignoring it.

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                                            #46
                                            The NME

                                            BEAK wrote:
                                            Originally posted by WOM
                                            Wagon Wheel cookies
                                            What the fuck? It's a good thing EIM hasn't read this, he'd be stood on your doorstep waving a Stanley knife around by now.
                                            Christ!

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                                              #47
                                              The NME

                                              Not available in Sweden, makes me sad.

                                              Wagon wheels, that is. The NME has been a crock of shite for the best part of 20 years - im amazed it didnt hit trouble earlier...

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                                                #48
                                                The NME

                                                I wonder how depressing your life must be if a wagon wheel was your taste for adventure.

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                                                  #49
                                                  The NME

                                                  The West wasn't won with an attitude like that.

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                                                    #50
                                                    The NME

                                                    I am so far behind on everything I read for pleasure that I didn't bother picking this up, but Pitchfork started a quarterly print magazine/journal. The first issue has a Simon Reynolds piece about NME. Did anyone read the piece?

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