Allan Jones (born 1951 or 1952) is a British music journalist and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

. Following university, Jones took a job in the stockroom of Hatchards on Piccadilly. While he was there he applied for a writing job at the music weekly ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' with a letter that concluded, "''Melody Maker'' needs a bullet up its arse. I’m the gun – pull the trigger." He joined the staff in 1974 and became

ten years later. After he wrote a scathing review of

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

's '' The Wall'' show at Earls Court Exhibition Centre he was described on stage by

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

as a "stupid shit". During Jones's tenure as editor ''Melody Maker'' provided early publicity for bands ranging from The Stone Roses to

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

. One of his most significant early decisions was to resist the publisher's instruction to put Kajagoogoo on the cover, choosing instead The Smiths. In 1997 Jones left ''Melody Maker'' to become foud and edit ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'', a monthly magazine covering music and films. He was still editor as of 2022. ''Uncut'' won Consumer Specialist Magazine of the Year and International Consumer Magazine of the Year PPA Awards in 2003, and Consumer Specialist Magazine of the Year in 2004.Magazines 2004
PPA Awards Jones was a fan of Jethro Tull and

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

in their early incarnations, but, as he explained in ''Uncut'' in 2011, he lost interest in both bands as they embraced the excesses of progressive rock: "It didn't take punk to turn me off bands like Jethro Tull and Yes, who in their earlier incarnations I liked. They did it themselves with the wholly pompous music they started making when they began to take themselves too seriously. That did it for me and it had nothing to do with Year Zero, Johnny Rotten or Sid Vicious."

References

External links

Jones's Blog (UNCUT Magazine)
1950s births Living people British music journalists Melody Maker writers Welsh journalists {{UK-journalist-stub