Charles Shaar Murray

Last updated

Charles Shaar Murray
Born
Charles Maximillian Murray

(1951-06-27) 27 June 1951 (age 72)
Reading, Berkshire, England
Education Reading Grammar School
Occupation(s)Journalist, writer, broadcaster
Years active1970–present
Employer Guitarist

Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English music journalist and broadcaster. He has worked on the New Musical Express and many other magazines and newspapers, and has been interviewed for a number of television documentaries and reports on music. [1]

Contents

Biography

Murray grew up in Reading, Berkshire, England, [2] where he attended Reading School and learnt to play the harmonica and guitar. His first experience in journalism came in 1970, when he was one of a number of schoolchildren who responded to an invitation to edit the April issue of the satirical magazine Oz . He thus contributed to the notorious Schoolkids OZ issue and was involved in the consequent obscenity trial. [1] [2]

He then wrote for IT (International Times) , before moving to the New Musical Express in 1972 [3] [4] for which he wrote until around 1986. He subsequently worked for a number of publications including Q magazine , Mojo , MacUser , New Statesman , Prospect , The Guardian , The Observer , The Daily Telegraph , Vogue , and The Independent . He currently[ when? ] writes a monthly column about his lifelong love affair with guitars in Guitarist magazine.

Bibliography

In addition to his magazine work, Murray has written a number of books.

Non-fiction
Novels

Broadcasting

His broadcasting credits include:

Performance

Murray also sang and played guitar and harmonica as Blast Furnace in the band Blast Furnace and the Heatwaves and currently[ when? ] performs with London blues band Crosstown Lightnin'. [6] [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Charles Shaar Murray at rock's backpages library" . Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 "I was an Oz schoolkid". The Guardian. 2 August 2001. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  3. "A tale of two rock critics". The Guardian. 20 October 2000. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  4. "NME: Still rocking at 50". BBC. 24 February 2002. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  5. "Jazz from Hell". BBC Radio 3. 12 June 2004. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  6. Long, Pat (2012). The History of the NME: High Times and Low Lives at the World's Most Famous Music Magazine. Pavilion Books. ISBN   978-1-907554-77-3.