Stuart Maconie's Autobiography

that having been said i'm loath to have a go at maconie because we probably would get on if our paths ever crossed. he knows his northern soul, he knows his stockhausen, and yes i know he's on every i love top ten five minutes ago programme, but i don't mind him. along with bob stanley, he's someone i'd like to meet.

Collins is on 6Music, and I don't mind him so much. Horses for courses.

I received a copy of this about two months ago, and thought it would be interesting to see what he had to say about NME when I was working there. The only time women were mentioned was to say that those in the office were thin and intimidating (this and other examples of 'institutionalised' sexism make this a RIVETTING read). My thin, intimidating former editor called 'round for a doobie and she found the part where he said he made up live reviews (something she'd always suspected) and may just kick him in bollocks when she sees him. Most of the book is a 'hilarious' take on how four or five very mediocre jobbing hacks managed to parlay not very obvious talents into middlebrow success by giving each other jobs in circle-jerk stylee. And yes, it's so bad I left it on a tube train on the way to a gig.

I fear very much that Jake, my editor friend at Ebury is responsible for greenlighting this and books by A Collins and David Bennun. I can't imagine any of these selling out even part of a 10,000 print run.

Marcello, it was Naked City. And you might well like SM purely because he sounds like an anime chipmunk on Wigan helium, but his MOR blokeyness is awful considering he's got some good taste. But I can't remember if it was him, Quantick or Brown who asked me what 'zeitgeist' meant when it appeared in a review I turned in.

Second series, brought J.Vaughan on as 'co-presenter'. each time he was 'co' on screen, you could see him visually pushig caitlin off the screen/behind him. Bad bad bad.

I just read it (Maconie's not Andrew Collins' autobiog.) - I liked it a hell of a lot.

The NME part is only one small element of the story and it doesn't have the air of self-congratulation that some people up-thread were fearing.

Just don't mention DFS 'cos it is not him doing the voiceovers...

I just finished reading it too, and I also enjoyed it. I don't understand all the animosity here, it's just a book.

four years ago chap.

I sort of liked it, but he kept promising stories that he didn't deliver.

Sure, you'd think it'd have tons of NME stories, but I actually thought it didn't have enough.

"Pies and Prej" however, well it's pitched at me really. It's better.

Yes, sorry to be 4 years late - I know you Guardian/Observer fahionistas will have moved onto something more topical :)

Yes - "Pies and Prejudice" I liked a lot too. Some discrete recyling of anecdotes from his autobiography in places - but it made me want to visit some of the places he talks about.

He's miles better than Bill Bryson now.

did maconie really make a "well post80s hip hop is quite obviously worthless so lets not even bother discussing it because everyone knows this is fact, right?" comment on that pointless 'best decade of music ever' series?

I find the Radcliffe & Maconie Radio 2 evening show deeply frustrating. Two people who clearly have interesting and varied tastes in music playing bogstandard R2 fodder, often chosen by the audience, with whom they make blokey chat, and whose tastes they claim to share.

It's a long way from Out on Blue Six. Although I still seem to end up listening most nights.