Paul Wellings

Paul Wellings was born and raised in the London Overspill suburbs in the sixties, the eldest son of a P.E teacher and school assistant. He has one brother. After starting his journalistic career on the regional press, Paul landed a prestigious freelance job on the pop press with the NME, thanks to his best man Tony Parsons. He was the first to write about the r'n'b soul scene and its links with the soccer casual movement. In the early ‘80s his group the Anti Social Workers released an LP, produced by the legendary reggae producer the Mad Professor (of Massive Attack fame), to rave reviews. The group supported reggae legend Peter Tosh (Bob Marley's partner) on tour. He has also worked on the showbiz pages of the Daily Mirror and London's Evening Standard.
Stop Press: His new book The Divine Comedians featuring the funniest quotes from radical stand-up comedy was published by The Progressive Press in June 2012.
Read Paul's article on famous film quotes
5 articles
List of articles in the library by date
Eastie Boys: Real Life in London's East End
Report by Paul Wellings, Evening Standard, The, 24 July 1987
IT IS A HOT day in Londons East End. Im sitting in my home of Stepney, sipping an ice-cool lager outside the infamous Blind ...
The Badder the Better: Soulboy Life in London
Report by Paul Wellings, Evening Standard, The, 31 March 1988
IN LONDON TOWN, theyre funking till theyre raw. From badland clubland theyve voted with their feet for black soul music. Pirate stations like ...
Book Excerpt by Paul Wellings, 'I'm a Journalist...Get Me Out of Here!', 2004
I BLUFFED my way into journalism and am still bluffing in the PR world. If the truth were told, most journalists are bluffers to some ...
The Rise and Rise of the Casual: Football and Music
Book Excerpt by Paul Wellings, 'Spend it Like Beckham', 2005
THE BEST FANZINES in the mid 80s were The End (from Liverpool, written by Pete Hooton, lead singer of The Farm, whose single Altogether Now ...
Make my day: the best (and worst) lines in the history of film
Essay by Paul Wellings, Independent, The, 20 October 2006
As in life, first impressions count in cinema. In Citizen Kane (1941), the opening word, Charles Foster Kane's dying utterance "Rosebud", holds the key (perhaps) ...
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