The Melody Makers

The oldest-established pop music newspaper in the world was founded as the house journal of London music publisher Lawrence Wright in 1926, but soon became an independent monthly aimed primarily at dance band musicians. After founding editor Edgar Wright (1895-1967) left in 1929 to manage Jack Hylton's band, MELODY MAKER increased its jazz coverage. Composer Spike Hughes took over as record reviewer, and the paper sponsored a 1933 concert tour by Duke Ellington. In that year, MELODY MAKER became a weekly with a newspaper format. Ray Sonin took over from P. Mathison Brooks as editor in 1940 and was succeeded in 1949 by Pat Brand. With Max Jones (b. 1917) as its top jazz writer, by 1955, MELODY MAKER was selling 97,000 copies. However, the hostility to rock ‘n’ roll of some columnists saw the paper lose ground to New Musical Express (founded 1952) and to the newly-launched RECORD MIRROR. In 1956, MELODY MAKER published its first Top 20 singles chart but it did not wholeheartedly embrace the new pop music until 1963. When Jack Hutton replaced Brand, the paper was redesigned and Chris Welch was hired as its first pop journalist. One of the most important sections of MELODY MAKER was its classified advertisements, notably the ‘musicians wanted’ section. Wishbone Ash and Camel were among the numerous British rock bands that found drummers or guitarists through the MELODY MAKER small advertisements.
With the addition of other, younger writers, MELODY MAKER provided full coverage of the progressive rock and folk scenes of the '60s, until it was hit in 1970 by the defection of Hutton and most of the staff to set up a rival weekly, SOUNDS. Under Hutton's deputy, Ray Coleman, however, MELODY MAKER had its most successful period in the early '70s, with sales reaching a peak of 200,000. Although most of the staff were hostile to punk, Caroline Coon was brought in to sing its praises. The '80s were a period of falling sales for the paper and all its weekly rivals, as new teenybopper papers led by SMASH HITS and monthlies for the older rock fan ( Q, VOX) siphoned off sections of its audience. Despite an injection of new writing talent, notably from MONITOR, a new wave fanzine based at Oxford University, MELODY MAKER turned inwards, writing about the latest indie rock bands in a style peppered with in-jokes. By 1991, SOUNDS and RECORD MIRROR had disappeared, while the NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS led the market, reviewing mainstream rock as well as independent label favourites. With sales of around 60,000, MELODY MAKER's future remains uncertain.