Mick Mercer (born Bichael Bercer, 2 June 1957) is a journalist and author best known for his books, photos and reviews of the

goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, DIY ethic, do-it-yourself approach to r ...

scenes.

Life and work

Mercer is primarily a writer focused on the gothic scene and its music. He has also photographed bands from the punk era onwards. He published a monthly online magazine, ''The Mick'', for over ten years and now hosts a weekly live internet radio show, ''Mick Mercer Radio''. Mercer ran one of the first punk

fanzines A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

, ''Panache'', from 1976 to 1992. In 1978, he began writing for British music paper ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'', then freelanced for ''

ZigZag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

'' magazine, later becoming its editor until the magazine folded in 1986. During the 1980s, he wrote regularly for the British 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 ...

'', and edited ''Siren'' magazine in the 1990s. He has written five books on gothic music, and self-published over 100 books, available through his website. He occasionally publishes reviews of records, visible on his

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

pages. Mercer's ''Music to Die For'' compendium (2009) was described by ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quiet ...

'' as having "a far greater stylistic variety than the casual observer might imagine", and as being "stuffed full of the best and most artistic music the world has to offer". Mercer married in 2016, and appeared to have retired from the fanzine profession, but Panache will now be returning in free pdf format via his website and also as a self-published print entity.

Bibliography

* Mercer, Mick (1988). ''Gothic Rock Black Book''. Omnibus Press. * Mercer, Mick (1991). ''Gothic Rock: All You Ever Wanted to Know...but Were Too Gormless to Ask''. Pegasus Publishing. * Mercer, Mick (1997). ''Hex Files: The Goth Bible''. Overlook Press; 1 Amer ed edition. * Mercer, Mick (2002). ''21st Century Goth''. Reynolds & Hearn. * Mercer, Mick (2009). ''Music to Die For''. Cherry Red Books.

Discography

The second and third books spawned a series of CD compilations, with detailed sleeve notes provided by Mercer. * ''Gothic Rock'', (double CD) * ''Gothic Rock 2'', September 1995 (double CD) * ''Gothic Rock 3: Black on Black'', (double CD) * ''Hex Files—The Goth Bible Vol. 1'', 1997 (double CD) * ''Hex Files—The Goth Bible Vol. 2'', (double CD) * ''Hex Files—The Goth Bible Vol. 3'', 1998 (double CD)

Notes

External links

Official website- Official books on Kindle- Official photobooks for saleOfficial Mick Mercer prints for saleOfficial Mick Mercer Radio news
1958 births Living people British music journalists British writers {{UK-writer-stub