Alex Ogg
Alex Ogg is the author (with David Upshal) of The Hip Hop Years: A History of Rap, as well as Standing On The Edge (Radiohead) and Def Jam: The Radical Rise of Russell Simmons And Rick Rubin. In 2006 Alex published his new book about the punk years, No More Heroes, and in 2009 his exhaustive history Independence Days, a complete overview of UK independent record labels from 1976 to 1987, compiled from more than 150 interviews.
Alex has also written for several encyclopaedias, dozens of magazines, newspapers and websites, and compiled more than 100 album sleeve-notes.
25 articles
List of articles in the library
Review by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 6 April 2009
IF KATE BUSH was the most frequent comparison cited in reviews of Natasha Khan's 2006 debut album Fur And Gold, the debt is equally palpable ...
Eric B. & Rakim, Marley Marl: Marley Marl
Interview by Alex Ogg, unpublished, 1999
Marley Marl talks about his inadvertent "invention" of the drum sample and his involvement in the first Eric B and Rakim record. This was originally ...
Bow Wow Wow, Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols: Malcolm McLaren 1946-2010
Obituary by Alex Ogg, Rock's Backpages, 12 April 2010
MALCOLM MCLAREN, who died on April 8 aged 64 after a protracted battle with cancer, was punk's self-mythologised circus barker. His custodianship of the musical ...
Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine: Brixton Mortars (Snapper)
Sleeve notes by Alex Ogg, Snapper CD, February 2004
CARTER THE Unstoppable Sex Machine combined the talents of Fruitbat (Leslie Carter) and Jim Bob (erm, Jim Morrison), both well-versed in the vaguaries and disappointments ...
Echo & The Bunnymen: London, Astoria
Live Review by Alex Ogg, unpublished, 22 May 1999
IT’S A STRANGE TIME for a rock gig to take place – midday on the Saturday of the FA Cup final. The unusual hour is ...
John Foxx, Ultravox: John Foxx: The Quiet Man Speaks
Interview by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 7 November 2008
John Foxx is perhaps one of the UK's most undersung musicians. Here he talks to Alex Ogg about Ultravox!, synth pop and nearly being in ...
Haysi Fantayzee: Battle Hymns For Children Singing – The Best Of Haysi Fantayzee
Sleeve notes by Alex Ogg, Cherry Pop, 26 February 2007
HAYSI FANTAYZEE were formed in 1981 by a fashion photographer from Wigan, Kate Garner, and her boyfriend, Paul Caplin, late of EMI act Animal Magnet ...
Jello Biafra Of The Dead Kennedys Interview
Interview by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 20 August 2009
Biafra's back — and this time he's packing a "real" band. The former Dead Kennedys frontman is re-energised by fronting a new group, The Guantanamo ...
Lily Allen: It's Not Me, It's You (Regal Recordings)
Review by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 30 January 2009
LILY COPS A LOT OF STICK, doesn't she? A lot of people really don't like her. Especially rock hacks, I gather. ...
Lydia Lunch: My Life As A Work In Progress
Interview by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 7 October 2008
Alex Ogg sets the tape running and stands back in awed silence as New York no wave shit-kicker Lydia Lunch reflects on life as a ...
The Members: At The Chelsea Nightclub
Sleeve notes by Alex Ogg, Captain Oi Records, December 2005
THE MEMBERS were punk's misfits, a little too lacking in personality disorders and raw ego to sit comfortably with the punk firestarters, a little too ...
The Mo-dettes: The Story So Far (Cherry Red)
Sleeve notes by Alex Ogg, Cherry Red, December 2008
THE MO-DETTES first emerged towards the end of 1978, after guitarist Kate Korus (aka Katherine Corris, formerly of the Slits) and drummer June Miles-Kingston met ...
The Monochrome Set: The Lost Weekend
Sleeve notes by Alex Ogg, Cherry Red, February 2009
THE LOST Weekend was The Monochrome Set's first and only album for Warners subsidiary Blanco y Negro, following their exit from Cherry Red. Yet rather ...
Interview by Alex Ogg, Spiral Scratch, May 1991
NOT THAT any introduction is really necessary, but how about this: ...
The Psychedelic Furs: All Of This And Nothing: The Psychedelic Furs On Talk Talk Talk
Retrospective and Interview by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 20 October 2010
The Psychedelic Furs return to the UK in late October to play their second album, Talk Talk Talk, in its entirety. Alex Ogg spoke to ...
The Ramones: Gabba Gabba Hey: 25 Songs Mentioning Da Brudders Ramone
Guide by Alex Ogg, Rock's Backpages, May 2010
...
The Skids: A Wee Look Back At The Skids
Discography by Alex Ogg, Spiral Scratch, 9 April 1991
WITH AN ALBUM Jobson had forty odd minutes to indulge his Rupert Brooke fantasies, but singles saw The Skids stripped down to their basic, fiery ...
The Slits: A Thousand Nights Of Confusion
Comment by Zoë Street Howe, Alex Ogg, Rock's Backpages, June 2009
Zoë Street Howe's new biography of punk's original bad girls, The Slits, is released in July through Omnibus. Alex Ogg tried to find out more about ...
Spear Of Destiny: Grapes Of Wrath
Sleeve notes by Alex Ogg, Anagram, 2007
THE FOUNDATIONS of Spear Of Destiny can be traced back to 1978, when Kirk Brandon replaced bass player Jerry Isles in Devon punk band The ...
Interview by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 31 July 2009
FOUR DECADES after its release, the Young Marble Giants' Colossal Youth remains one of the independent/post-punk boom's most wondrous creations; lean, uncluttered yet emotionally stirring. ...
List of genre pieces
Mario Panciera: 45 Revolutions
Book Review by Alex Ogg, Rock's Backpages, 20 March 2009
DISCUSSING MUSICAL encyclopaedias recently reminded me of what is probably the ultimate reference work I have ever encountered: Mario Panciera's completely mind-boggling 45 Revolutions. I ...
Do It Yourself: The Story of Rough Trade (dir. Chris Wilson)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 10 March 2009
Quietus scribe Alex Ogg, who's currently writing a book on the history of the independent label, makes a brew and settles down in front of ...
Gimme Some Truth: Music reference works in the digital age
Comment by Alex Ogg, Rock's Backpages, October 2009
REMEMBER WHEN content was king? It was one of the enduring myths of the tech bubble alongside stratospheric growth projections, the paperless office, etc. But ...
Independent Thinker: An Interview with Charlie Gillett
Interview by Alex Ogg, unpublished, Fall 2008
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following is the full transcript from an interview with Charlie that took place towards the end of 2008 as research for my ...
Paul Edwards: How To Rap – The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC (Virgin)
Book Review by Alex Ogg, Rock's Backpages, 17 May 2010
"You want to be able to stand out from the others and just be distinct, period. A lot of shit sounds the same, so when ...
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