Peter Doggett (born 30 June 1957) is an English
music journalist
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 w ...
, author and magazine editor. He began his career in music journalism in 1980,
when he joined the London-based magazine ''
Record Collector
''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide.
History The early years
The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...
''. He subsequently served as the editor there from 1982 to 1999,
after which he continued in the role of managing editor. He has also contributed regularly to magazines such as ''
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
* ' ...
'', ''
Q'' and ''
GQ''.
Doggett has written extensively about the music and legacy of
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
. In the 2001 edition of
Barry Miles
Barry Miles (born 21 February 1943) is an English author known for his participation in and writing on the subjects of the 1960s London underground and counterculture. He is the author of numerous books and his work has also regularly appeare ...
' ''The Beatles Diary'', he supplied commentary on each of the band's official releases (later compiled in his and Patrick Humphries' 2010 book ''The Beatles: The Music and the Myth''). In 2003, he was part of a team of specialist writers and critics – along with
Mark Lewisohn
Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps. ,
Ian MacDonald
Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was a British music critic and author, best known for both ''Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed techniques from a ...
,
John Harris,
David Fricke
David Fricke is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years. I ...
, Miles and others – who authored the three-part ''Mojo: Special Limited Edition'' series on the Beatles.
In 2009, his book ''
You Never Give Me Your Money: The Battle for the Soul of The Beatles'' was published in the UK by
The Bodley Head
The Bodley Head is an English publishing house, founded in 1887 and existing as an independent entity until the 1970s. The name was used as an imprint of Random House Children's Books from 1987 to 2008. In April 2008, it was revived as an adul ...
.
The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' described it as "remarkable" and included the work in its list of the ten best books of the year.
According to Beatles historian Erin Torkelson Weber, ''You Never Give Me Your Money'' is "one of the most influential books in all Beatles
historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
".
Among Doggett's other titles, ''Are You Ready for the Country'' (2000) documents the advent of the
country rock
Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...
genre. His book on rock music's role in
1960s countercultural ideology, ''There's a Riot Going On'', was published by
Canongate
The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. It began ...
in 2007 and was voted "Best Book of the Year" by ''Mojo''s readers.
His more recent books include ''The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s'' (2011) and ''Electric Shock: From the Gramophone to the iPhone: 125 Years of Pop Music'' (2015). Doggett's book on
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
's later years at the
Dakota
Dakota may refer to:
* Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux
** Dakota language, their language
Dakota may also refer to:
Places United States
* Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community
* Dakota, Illinois, a town
* Dakota, Minnesota, ...
building in New York, titled ''Prisoner of Love: Inside the Dakota with John Lennon'', was due to be published in April 2021 by independent publisher Jawbone Press. To the confusion of the Beatles and Lennon fan community, the book was cancelled shortly before its publication date.
Doggett also works as a consultant for auctioneers of music memorabilia, specialising in the authentication of manuscripts and recordings. He has written CD
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desce ...
and otherwise assisted in reissue campaigns of works by
the Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
,
the Hollies
The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke (singer), Allan Clarke and Graham ...
and
Tom Jones.
In the
2010 UK General Election
The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom unde ...
, he stood as the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
's candidate for the seat of
Fareham in Hampshire, the same town in which he grew up.
He lives in London with his partner Rachel Baylis, an artist.
The couple have two daughters, Catrin and Becca Mascall.
Published works
* ''Lou Reed: Growing Up in Public'' (Omnibus Press, 1995)
* ''Classic Rock Albums: Abbey Road / Let It Be: The Beatles'' (Schirmer, 1998)
* ''Are You Ready for the Country: Elvis, Dylan, Parsons and the Roots of Country Rock'' (Penguin, 2000)
* (with Sarah Hodgson) ''Christie's Rock & Pop Memorabilia'' (Billboard Books, 2003)
* ''The Art and Music of John Lennon'' (Omnibus Press, 2005)
* ''There's a Riot Going On: Revolutionaries, Rock Stars, and the Rise and Fall of '60s Counter-Culture'' (Canongate, 2007)
* ''
You Never Give Me Your Money: The Battle for the Soul of The Beatles'' (The Bodley Head, 2009)
* (with Patrick Humphries) ''The Beatles: The Music and the Myth'' (Omnibus Press, 2010)
* ''The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s'' (The Bodley Head, 2011)
* (as Rufus Lodge) ''F**k: An Irreverent History of the F-Word'' (The Friday Project, 2013)
* ''Electric Shock: From the Gramophone to the iPhone: 125 Years of Pop Music'' (The Bodley Head, 2015)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doggett, Peter
Living people
English music journalists
English magazine editors
Place of birth missing (living people)
1957 births