Sayonara Swells
He was Swells or Steven Wells or sometimes Susan Williams. In the latter role, he used to shout a lot about pop music on the Whistle Test. I think he was also in this role when I first saw him on stage at the Mean Fiddler, supporting The Redskins and saying unspeakable things about Laura Ashley.
He was from Bradford and he was politicised by punk rock and the social engineering of Margaret Thatcher. I worked with him at NME for around 10 years and he was generally great value, ranting about Morrissey, the Manics, Mute Records and the value of eating meat. He also made a series of videos and vented his stuff across a variety of platforms. Now I've just heard that the fellah has died of cancer. A quick search has revealed that he wrote a final column for the Philadelphia Weekly. It has some robust language so don't follow the link if that kind of thing bothers you.
Swells chose to be offensive as an alternative to moderation, politesse and reserve. He loved to bait liberals and rednecks. He enjoyed loud music and insolent people with guitars. They have lost a great chamption.
Comment number 1.
At 14:48 26th Jun 2009, MikeVonDoom wrote:Swells was definitely the last music journalist who was as interesting, and whose writing was as exciting, as the bands he was writing about (sometimes more so!). I didn't always agree with him, I doubt anyone did; but from directing the "Little Baby Nothing" video for the Manics, to constantly singing the praises of Napalm Death, I seriously doubt that British music journalism will see his like again. The current crop of NME journos seem as asinine and vapid as the current "indie" music bands.
I read a few of his online articles at PW, documenting his battle with cancer and the American health system, and the same spark of intelligence + bile was still there to the end.
Sod Michael Jackson, I know who I'll be mourning today.
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