Chris Salewicz ( ) is a journalist, broadcaster and novelist who lives in London. He was as a senior features writer for the ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' from 1975 to 1981, where under tutelage of editor Neil Spencer he and other journalists were said to have re-written the book on

music journalism Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. The period Chris spent at ''NME'' is regarded by some as a 'Golden Age of Music Journalism', where, fuelled by the punk rock explosion, the whole genre changed into a complex revolutionary socioeconomic critique rather than the fan club–style journalism of the previous decades. Along with other ''NME'' alumni (notably Tony Parsons and

Julie Burchill Julie Burchill (born 3 July 1959) is an English writer. Beginning as a staff writer at the ''New Musical Express'' at the age of 17, she has since contributed to newspapers such as ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''The Sunday Times'' and ''The Guardia ...

) of that period, Chris's work soon found its way into serious mainstream publications the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', the ''Independent'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', ''

Conde Nast Traveller Conde may refer to: Places United States * Conde, South Dakota, a city France * Condé-sur-l'Escaut (or simply 'Condé'), a commune Linguistic ''Conde'' is the Ibero-Romance form of "count" (Latin ''comitatus''). It may refer to: * Count ...

'', '' Q'', ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...

'' and '' Time Out''; he also wrote for '' The Face magazine''. Salewicz's time at the ''NME'' helped him forge a unique relationship and friendship with two men who would reshape music in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s:

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...

(of

the Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

) and

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

. His journeys with these two men—from

Trenchtown Trench Town (also Trenchtown) is a neighbourhood located in the parish of St. Andrew, part of which is in Kingston, the capital and largest city of Jamaica. In the 1960s, Trench Town was known as the Hollywood of Jamaica. Today Trench Town is t ...

Ghetto and Jamaican

Gun Court The Gun Court is the branch of the Jamaican judicial system that tries criminal cases involving firearms. The court was established by Parliament in 1974 to combat rising gun violence, and empowered to try suspects ''in camera'', without a jury ...

to Zimbabwean independence, and from Maida Vale Squat to

Groucho Club The Groucho Club is a private members' club formed in 1985 located on Dean Street in London's Soho. Its members are mostly drawn from the publishing, media, entertainment and arts industries. The club has rooms on several floors, including th ...

to the search for Garcia Lorca's bones in Andalucía—continued to redefine music journalism. As his subject's influence expanded beyond musical spheres, Salewicz's writing and subsequent books on Joe Strummer (''Redemption Song'') and Bob Marley (''The Untold Story'') would also expand beyond the music into what made Strummer and Marley political and cultural icons. In 1995, he and film director Don Letts moved to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

for two years to develop film ideas. Drawing on extensive research, Salewicz embarked on the writing of ''

Third World Cop ''Third World Cop'' is a 1999 Jamaican action crime film directed by Chris Browne and starring Paul Campbell. It was produced by Chris Blackwell of Island Jamaica Films. It became the highest-grossing Jamaican film. Plot After his partner is ...

'', the most successful film ever in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

when it was released in 1999. Salewicz is the author of fifteen books, including the acclaimed ''Rude Boy: Once Upon a Time in Jamaica''; ''Redemption Song: the Definitive Biography of Joe Strummer'',www.nytimes.com
/ref> which is an exhaustive, epic biography of the Clash frontman; and ''Bob Marley: The Untold Story''. He was the on-screen narrator in 2010's ', a documentary feature film—a cinematically released documentary in Poland—about how Polish rock and roll helped bring down

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. The same year, Salewicz went into

Tivoli Gardens Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli, is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klam ...

in Kingston to report on the " Dudus affair" for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''.

Notes

* ''The Guardian'' article on The Golden Age of Music Journalism *Kraków Post (Beats of Freedom) *''The New York Times'' *''Sabotage Times'' *Blogcritics *''The Wall Street Journal'' *''The Independent''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salewicz, Chris British male journalists British writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)