Book Talk, Picture Delivery And Recording

Yesterday evening I went to a book talk by Matt Worley, with Cathi Unsworth and Paul Morley also on the panel. They were promoting Matt's book, No Future which is being republished to coincide with the 50th anniversary of punk. There were a lot of 50- and 60-something white chaps in big black coats, with a smattering of women, including Liz Naylor, who Matt interviewed for the book. Liz is always wonderfully blunt and truthful, and she drew the conversation towards Manchester, where it was generally acknowledged that Richard Boon is the unsung hero of that city. It was an interesting panel of three writers, each of whom has a different approach to punk. Matt reminded us that he was six or seven at the time, and his major lightbulb moment came when he saw Adam and the Ants on Top of the Pops; Paul Morley recalled going to see The Sex Pistols in Wolverhampton on a specially-hired coach. Cathi, who has written extensively on the Goth subculture, talked about outsider groups and their…