NME

:See United States Department of Defense for the National Military Establishment.

History

The paper began in 1952 after the Musical Express was bought by London music promoter Maurice Kinn and relaunched as the NME. It was initially published in a non-glossy, tabloid format. Later the same year, taking its cue from the US Billboard Magazine, it created the UK Singles Chart. The first of these was, in contrast to more recent charts, a top twelve.

Related Topics:
1952 - Tabloid - Billboard Magazine

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It grew up alongside rock music and was for many years the rival to the far older Melody Maker. Upon the demise of Melody Maker in 2000, several of its writers and features moved to the NME.

Related Topics:
Rock music - Melody Maker - 2000

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By the early 1970s the NME had lost ground to the Melody Maker as its coverage of music had failed to keep pace with the development of rock music. In early 1972, with the paper on the verge of closure by its owners IPC (who had bought the paper from Kinn in 1963), Alan Smith was made editor and the paper's coverage changed radically from an uncritical and rather showbiz-oriented paper to something that was smarter, hipper, cynical and funnier than any mainstream British music paper had ever been (an approach influenced mainly by writers such as Tom Wolfe and Lester Bangs). In order to achieve this, Smith raided the underground press for its best writers, such as Charles Shaar Murray and Nick Kent, and recruited other writers such as Tony Tyler and Ian MacDonald. By the time Smith handed the editor's chair to Nick Logan in mid-1973, the paper's circulation was well on the way to overtaking the Melody Makers.

Related Topics:
1970s - Melody Maker - Rock music - 1972 - IPC - Tom Wolfe - Lester Bangs - Underground press - Charles Shaar Murray - Nick Kent - Ian MacDonald - Nick Logan - 1973

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During the mid 1970s the NME famously advertised for a "hip young gunslinger" to join their editorial staff. This resulted in the recruitment of Tony Parsons, who along with Julie Burchill - recruited around the same time - went on to champion a new musical trend that became known as punk rock, giving coverage to rising bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and clubs such as The Roxy in London's Neal Street.

Related Topics:
1970s - Tony Parsons - Julie Burchill - Punk rock - Sex Pistols - The Clash - The Roxy - London - Neal Street

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In 1978 Logan moved on, and his deputy Neil Spencer was made editor. One of his earliest tasks was to oversee a redesign of the paper by Barney Bubbles, which included the logo still used on the paper's masthead today (this made its first appearance towards the end of 1978). Spencer's time as editor also coincided with the emergence of post-punk acts such as Joy Division and Gang_of_Four. This development was reflected in the writing of Ian Penman and Paul Morley, whose intense postmodernist prose probably baffled as much as it informed and educated its readers. With hindsight, the paper's direction started to get confused around this time, and probably reflected the fact that pop music at the start of the 1980s was diverging in different directions (e.g. the new pop of acts such as ABC and Haircut 100, and the New Romantic movement). Also, the line of criticism started to become more ideological - for instance, the term rockism is thought to have originated in the paper's pages.

Related Topics:
Barney Bubbles - Joy Division - Gang_of_Four - Ian Penman - Paul Morley - Postmodernist - 1980s - Haircut 100 - New Romantic - Rockism

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Despite the championing of influential band The Smiths, at a time when both mainstream media and the charts were immune to their charms during the mid 1980s, NME hit a rough patch and was in danger of closing. During this period (now under the editorship of Ian Pye, who replaced Spencer in 1985), they were split between those who wanted to write about Hip hop, a genre that was relatively new to the UK, and those who wanted to stick to rock music. Sales were lower when photos of Hip hop artists appeared on the front. The paper wrote about topics other than music: one issue - apparently the lowest selling issue ever - had a cover article that tackled youth suicide.

Related Topics:
The Smiths - 1980s - Hip hop - Youth suicide

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The NME responded to the Thatcher era by promoting socialism through the Red Wedge fronted by Billy Bragg. A week before the 1987 election the paper featured an interview with the leader of the Labour Party, Neil Kinnock and his photo on the cover. The NME was rudderless at this time with staff pulling simultaneously in a number of directions. It was haemoraging readers who, ironically, were deserting NME in favour of Nick Logan's two creations The Face and Smash Hits. This was brought to a head when the paper was about to publish a copy of the Dead Kennedys' Penis Landscape poster, then a subject of an obscenity lawsuit in the US. Three senior editorial staff were sacked, including Pye, and Media Editor, Stuart Cosgrove. Alan Lewis, something of a magazine genius in the Nick Logan mould, was brought in to rescue the paper mirroring Alan Smith's amazing revival a decade and a half before.

Related Topics:
Thatcher - Socialism - Red Wedge - Billy Bragg - 1987 election - Labour Party - Neil Kinnock - Nick Logan - The Face - Smash Hits - Dead Kennedys - Stuart Cosgrove - Alan Lewis - Alan Smith

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In the nature of important new popular music, NME thrives in an atmosphere where ex-readers resent the new music it is covering, accusing the paper of 'selling out'. The paper was in high health in time for just such a movement: Madchester. This proved to be a hugely successful 'golden age' for the paper. Once again in the mid 1990s the paper soared to heights with the championing of the key Britpop bands Oasis, Blur and Pulp . It suffered during the late 1990s and early 2000s as the British indie music scene languished and tastes turned elsewhere.

Related Topics:
Selling out - Madchester - 1990s - Britpop - Oasis - Blur - Pulp - 2000s

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Following the closure of the Melody Maker in 2000, many speculated the NME would be next. However, under the editorship of Conor McNicholas the paper found a new niche, featuring bands such as Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, Muse, The Libertines, Franz Ferdinand, Scissor Sisters and most recently Arctic Monkeys. In 2003 the magazine became the biggest selling music weekly in the UK, a position that it still holds.

Related Topics:
Melody Maker - 2000 - Conor McNicholas - Bloc Party - Kaiser Chiefs - Muse - The Libertines - Franz Ferdinand - Scissor Sisters - Arctic Monkeys - 2003

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Since the 1970s, the NME has also provided 'coverdiscs', records, tapes and CDs, given away for free attached to the cover. See NME compilations for more information.

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