Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne) - Journalism

Journalism

He has had a long parallel career as a music journalist writing for amongst others NME, Melody Maker, Mojo, The Guardian and The Times. After leaving school, Stanley worked in various record shops. While working at Virgin Records in Peterborough he met Andrew Midgley, who later fronted the 1991 side-project Cola Boy. Stanley and Midgley produced a fanzine called Pop Avalanche in 1986. They then produced their own fanzines; Stanley wrote four issues of Caff with childhood friend Pete Wiggs. In 1987 he sent one to James Brown, then live reviews editor for NME. This led to Stanley's first commissioned work, a review of a Johnny Cash show in Peterborough. After two years he moved to Melody Maker, where he wrote regularly until Saint Etienne became a full-time occupation in 1991. He wrote occasionally for The Face and Mojo in the 1990s. In the 2000s he has returned to journalism and contributes regularly to The Times and The Guardian. He has also written liner notes for many reissues, including box-sets by Joe Meek, Sandie Shaw and The Searchers. In 2007 with Paul Kelly he edited Match Day, a book of football programme artwork. He is currently working on his second book, due to be published in 2012.