Steven Wells

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Steven Wells (* 1960 in Swindon ; † June 24, 2009 in Philadelphia ) was a British music journalist and author who lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA) until his death . He is best known for his provocative and non-conformist way of writing about music in media such as the New Musical Express (NME) and Playlouder.com.

biography

Born in Swindon, England in 1960, Wells moved his family north to Bradford in 1968 . He finished his school career at a public school and then worked in a factory and as a bus coordinator. At this time he came into contact with the radical art punk band The Mekons from Leeds . In 1984 he began to appear as a punk poet and stand-up comedian in the opening act of various northern English punk bands such as The Fall , The Mekons or Gang of Four and worked under the stage names "Seething Wells", "Swells" or "Susan Williams" with colleagues like Attila The Stockbroker, Swift Nick and Porky The Poet . Since he also wore clothes in the last role, he received fan mail from Kathy Acker , who saw him as a like-minded radical author.

He later moved to London and began writing for the NME, initially under the name Susan Williams. Under this identity, he mainly dealt with the socialist soul and punk band The Redskins as well as American hardcore punk bands such as Black Flag and the Butthole Surfers . Later he concentrated on British bands in the field of thrash metal , hardcore punk and heavy metal , including Extreme Noise Terror , Napalm Death and other bands. He also represented pop artists such as Daphne and Celeste as successors to the punk aesthetic. In the 1990s he also wrote texts for various comedy projects (for example for shows such as The Day Today ) as well as journalistic texts outside the music field.

In 1992 he and Nick Klein founded GobTV, a studio for the production of music videos. GobTV videos were made famous for their extreme images, short cuts and quick changes, political statements and humor. For example, GobTV produced videos for The Wildhearts , Manic Street Preachers and Skunk Anansie and the team was one of the UK's top directors in 1994 and 1995. The partnership ended in 1996, but the influence of GobTV videos continued for about 10 years.

In 1999, Wells founded Attack! Books . His debut novel Tits Out Teenage Terror Totty followed shortly after it was founded. The book he illustrated, Punk: The Stories Behind the Songs , was published in 2004. In 2009 he contributed a story to the Love Hotel City anthology.

In addition to working as a music journalist and writer, he has also worked as a sports columnist for The Guardian , FourFourTwo , 90 Minutes, the Quietus Music website, and the Philadelphia Weekly, and has written several unpublished books. In June 2006, he wrote about his lymph cancer treatment in the Philadelphia Weekly . He died of the disease on June 24, 2009.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Steven Wells: the brilliant NME writer with no real interest in music . The Guardian. June 25, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  2. ↑ Wikipedia kills legendary journalist . In: The Register , June 25, 2009. 
  3. ↑ Steven Wells , Punk: Loud, Young and Snotty - The Stories Behind the Songs (Stories Behind Every Song) . Thunder's Mouth Press ,, ISBN 1-56025-573-0 .
  4. ↑ Andrew Stevens : Love Hotel City . Future Fiction London ,, ISBN 0-615-26034-9 .
  5. ↑ Steven Wells: The English Patient . In: Philadelphia Weekly , June 21, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2007. " A man gets lost in the Philadelphia health system " 
  6. ↑ " Steven Wells Says Goodbye ". Philadelphia Weekly, June 25, 2009.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wells, Steven
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Seething Wells, Swells Susan Williams
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British music journalist and author
DATE OF BIRTH 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Swindon , UK
DATE OF DEATH June 24, 2009
Place of death Philadelphia