Paul Lester
Encyclopedia
Paul Lester is a British music journalist
, author and broadcaster from Elstree
, North London.
in the early 1990s, as well as City Limits, 20/20 (magazine), Sky Magazine
and The Jewish Chronicle
. During this time he covered grunge
, shoegazing
, and the Madchester
and Britpop
scenes, touring extensively with bands, both in the UK and abroad.
In 1993, Lester was made Features Editor of Melody Maker, and in 1997 left to help launch the monthly music and film magazine, Uncut
with Allan Jones
, where he stayed as Deputy Editor until 2006.
Lester has written over a dozen rock and pop biographies, has co-authored the Virgin Encyclopedia of Albums, and regularly appears on radio and TV as a music pundit. He has interviewed hundreds of musicians and actors, from Kylie to Janet Jackson
, and Mick Jagger
to Snoop Dogg
, and has written sleevenotes on everyone from Todd Rundgren
to Hall & Oates
, The Smiths
and The Sex Pistols.
In the TV show "TV Advert's Greatest Hits" he described Fatboy Slim's song "Right here, right now" as building to a neo-sporting crescendo - a phrase which has no real meaning.
He currently lives in Bushey
, Hertfordshire
, where he has been working since January 2007 as a freelance, contributing to many publications, including the Guardian
newspaper, (where he writes the 'New Band Of The Day' feature and does the daily 'Critics Picks'), The Sunday Times
, the Daily Express
, The Mail on Sunday
, The Daily Telegraph
, The Scotsman
, Q (magazine)
, GQ (magazine)
, Record Collector
and The Jewish Chronicle, where he writes a column about life as a divorced dad of three called 'Suddenly Single'.
In July 2011, he joined digital station Amazing Radio
to present a weekly show dedicated to new music. The programme continues to broadcast on Thursday afternoons between 1 and 3pm, on the national Digital One
network in the UK and online via amazingradio.co.uk and the UK RadioPlayer.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, author and broadcaster from Elstree
Elstree
Elstree is a village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire on the A5 road, about 10 miles north of London. In 2001, its population was 4,765, and forms part of the civil parish of Elstree and Borehamwood, originally known simply as Elstree....
, North London.
Career
He began his career as a freelance, writing for Melody MakerMelody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
in the early 1990s, as well as City Limits, 20/20 (magazine), Sky Magazine
Sky Magazine
Sky Magazine is the magazine distributed to subscribers of the BSkyB satellite service Sky Digital.- Availability :The magazine is available to subscribers of the Variety Pack or all packs of entertainment.- Content :...
and The Jewish Chronicle
The Jewish Chronicle
The Jewish Chronicle is a London-based Jewish newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world.-Publication data and readership figures:...
. During this time he covered grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
, shoegazing
Shoegazing
Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...
, and the Madchester
Madchester
Madchester was a music scene that developed in Manchester, England, towards the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The music that emerged from the scene mixed alternative rock, psychedelic rock and dance music...
and Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
scenes, touring extensively with bands, both in the UK and abroad.
In 1993, Lester was made Features Editor of Melody Maker, and in 1997 left to help launch the monthly music and film magazine, Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
with Allan Jones
Allan Jones (editor)
Allan Jones is a British music journalist and editor.Following graduation, Jones took a job in the stock room of Hatchards on Piccadilly. While there he applied for a writing opening at the rock weekly Melody Maker with a letter that concluded, "Melody Maker needs a bullet up its arse. I’m the gun...
, where he stayed as Deputy Editor until 2006.
Lester has written over a dozen rock and pop biographies, has co-authored the Virgin Encyclopedia of Albums, and regularly appears on radio and TV as a music pundit. He has interviewed hundreds of musicians and actors, from Kylie to Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...
, and Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
to Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, and has written sleevenotes on everyone from Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
to Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
, The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
and The Sex Pistols.
In the TV show "TV Advert's Greatest Hits" he described Fatboy Slim's song "Right here, right now" as building to a neo-sporting crescendo - a phrase which has no real meaning.
He currently lives in Bushey
Bushey
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. Bushey Heath is situated to the south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow.-History:...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, where he has been working since January 2007 as a freelance, contributing to many publications, including the Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper, (where he writes the 'New Band Of The Day' feature and does the daily 'Critics Picks'), The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
, The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday is a British conservative newspaper, currently published in a tabloid format. First published in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it became Britain's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper following the closing of The News of the World in July 2011...
, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, Q (magazine)
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
, GQ (magazine)
GQ (magazine)
GQ is a monthly men's magazine focusing on fashion, style, and culture for men, through articles on food, movies, fitness, sex, music, travel, sports, technology, and books...
, Record Collector
Record Collector
Record Collector is the United Kingdom's longest-running monthly music magazine. It distributes both within the UK and worldwide. It started in 1979.-The early years:...
and The Jewish Chronicle, where he writes a column about life as a divorced dad of three called 'Suddenly Single'.
In July 2011, he joined digital station Amazing Radio
Amazing Radio
Amazing Radio is a national radio station broadcasting on digital radio in the United Kingdom. The station plays new music from a number of music genres including pop, rock, indie, hip hop, electronica and jazz...
to present a weekly show dedicated to new music. The programme continues to broadcast on Thursday afternoons between 1 and 3pm, on the national Digital One
Digital One
Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covers more than 90% of the populationfrom a total of 137 transmitters...
network in the UK and online via amazingradio.co.uk and the UK RadioPlayer.
Books
- Oasis: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn, May 1995, ISBN 978-0-600-58761-3
- Blur: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Pyramid, May 1995, ISBN 978-0-600-58689-0
- Pulp: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn, Feb 1996, ISBN 978-0-600-58974-7
- Bjork: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn, Aug 1996, ISBN 978-0-600-59067-5
- Spice Girls: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn, Feb 1997, ISBN 978-0-600-59255-6
- Kula Shaker: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn, Mar 1997, ISBN 978-0-600-59270-9
- The Prodigy: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn, Nov 1997, ISBN 978-0-600-59511-3
- The Encyclopedia of Albums (co-authored with Chris Roberts) (Paperback). Dempsey Parr, 1998, ISBN 978-1-840-84031-5
- The Verve: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn. Jun 1998, ISBN 978-0-600-59592-2
- Robbie Williams: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn, Oct 1998, ISBN 978-0-600-59746-9
- Gang of Four: Damaged Gods (Paperback). Omnibus Press, Sep 2008, ISBN 978-1-847-72245-4
- Lowdown: The Story of Wire (Paperback). Omnibus Press, May 2009, ISBN 978-1-847-72710-7
- Pink: Split Personality (Paperback). Omnibus Press, November 2009, ISBN 978-1-849-38060-7