Simon Price (born 25 September 1967) is a British

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 ...

and author. He is known for his weekly review section in ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published ...

'' and his book ''Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers)''.

Career

Writer

Price began his career on the ''Barry & District News'', where he wrote a music column from 1984–1986. In the 1990s, Price was a staff writer for the ''

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 ...

'' for nine years. From 2000-2013, Price wrote weekly review section in ''

'' newspaper. ''Everything'', a biography of

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

, was claimed by Caroline Sullivan in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in 1999 to be the "fastest selling rock book of all time". It was later listed by ''The Guardian'' in a Top Ten of books about rock. Ben Myers, who wrote ''Richard'', a novel about Manics guitarist

Richey Edwards Richard James Edwards (born 22 December 1967 – disappeared 1 February 1995), also known as Richey James or Richey Manic, was a Welsh musician who was the lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. He w ...

, called it "one of the most exhaustively researched and passionately written band biographies in existence". Price disowned a 2002 re-issue of the book following a dispute over edits by the publisher, who cut criticisms of the police search for

. Price won the ''Record of the Day'' Live Reviews: Writer of the Year awards in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

DJ and Club Promoter

Price was heavily involved with the

Romo Romantic Modernism, more commonly known as Romo, was a musical and nightclubbing movement, of glam/style pop lineage, in the UK circa 1995–1997, centred on the twin homes of Camden-based clubnight Club Skinny and its West End clone Arcadia ...

scene in the mid-1990s, about which he wrote extensively for ''Melody Maker'', co-promoted the Arcadia clubnight and acted as DJ and tour manager for the ''Fiddling While Romo Burns'' Romo package tour. In 2001, he co-created alternative "glam/rock/trash" nightclub "Stay Beautiful". Named after the Manic Street Preachers song, it drew heavily on the ethos and attitudes of the band. Having run for over 10 years in London the club relocated to Brighton in 2011, where it continued until 2016. Since 2017, Price has been is running an alternative 80's club called " Spellbound" in Brighton.

Other

Price has appeared on BBC radio and television stations as a pop expert. He is a recurring contributor to the "Chart Music" podcast, revisiting classic

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

episodes.

Personal

The son of a radio presenter, Price attended

Barry Comprehensive Barry Comprehensive School ( cy, Ysgol Gyfun y Barri) was a secondary school for boys aged 11–16, situated opposite Highlight Park in the town of Barry, in Wales. Bryn Hafren Comprehensive School was the partner girls' school that also prov ...

in Wales and studied French and philosophy at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. Alongside 54 other signatories, Price put his name to an open letter published in ''The Guardian'' on 15 September 2010, stating their opposition to

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

's state visit to the UK. He is also listed as a distinguished supporter of Humanists UK.

References

1967 births Living people British music critics Melody Maker writers Welsh journalists Alumni of University College London Romo {{UK-journalist-stub