John Harris (critic)
John Rhys Harris (born 1969) is a British journalist, writer, and critic.
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Early life [edit]
Harris was raised in Wilmslow in north Cheshire by a university lecturer (nuclear engineering)[1] and a teacher, daughter of a nuclear research chemist. He became fixated by pop music at an early age.
He attended the comprehensive Wilmslow County High School (at the same time as Doves[2]), then went to Loreto College, Manchester, a Roman catholic sixth form college between the University of Manchester and Old Trafford.[3] He applied to study Modern History at Keble College, Oxford, but was rejected at the interview stage, and claimed that his membership of left-wing organisations had not won him many favours with such a traditional and conservative college. He spent three years studying PPE at The Queen's College, Oxford between 1989 and 1992.
Media career [edit]
In 1991, Harris joined Melody Maker. Between 1993 and the summer of 1995, Harris wrote for NME. And in 1995, Harris was named editor of Select magazine after a brief stint with Q.
In 1995, Harris resumed his career as a freelance writer, writing about pop music, politics, and a variety of other subjects. His articles have appeared in Q, Mojo, Rolling Stone, The Independent, the New Statesman, The Times, and The Guardian.
He believes Britpop was a shining moment for the UK's music industry, and possibly the end of an era, with (manufactured) music now deliberately catering for the lowest common denominator. He presented a BBC4 documentary on the musical movement, The Britpop Story.
In addition to writing, Harris often appears on television programmes concerned with late 80s/early 90s British pop music as well as being a regular pundit on BBC2's Newsnight Review.
Harris has written four books:
- The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock was published in May 2003, by Fourth Estate. The following year this was re-released as Britpop: Cool Britania and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock by Da Capo Press.
- So Now Who Do We Vote For? examined the 2005 UK general election.
- The Dark Side Of The Moon: The Making Of The Pink Floyd Masterpiece
- Hail! Hail! Rock'n'Roll: The Ultimate Guide to the Music, the Myths and the Madness was published in October 2009, by Sphere.
Personal life [edit]
He lives in Hay on Wye, Powys, near the Wales/England border and occasionally makes guest appearances on BBC Radio Wales.
References [edit]
External links [edit]
- Official Site
- So Now Who Do We Vote For? blog
- John Harris at Comment is Free (The Guardian)
- Newsnight Review
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