I was given ‘Rolling Stones 69’ by Patrick Humphries in February and having enjoyed the book, I sent an email to Patrick to acknowledge his absorbing work. He kindly replied and we met up today at the Half Moon in Herne Hill and discovered we shared an in-depth knowledge of British music and musicians. This made for a very entertaining afternoon, especially as we joined after a while by the equally interesting pair of Lon Goddard and his partner Claire.
Patrick first became a professional freelance writer in 1976 for the NME before moving on to become a Melody Maker staff writer from 1980 to 1982. He has now spent over forty years as a music freelance with the Evening Standard, The Guardian, The Observer, Heat, The Times, Mojo and Record Collector amongst others.
He has also garnered an enviable reputation as an author of music biographies, including official releases on Fairport Convention, Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen.
Oregon-based Lon Goddard has also forged a landmark career. Initially as a staff layout assistant and caricature artist with Record Mirror in the 1960s and then as a writer and illustrator for Cream and Beat Instrumental at the end of the decade. In 1972 he became Chief Press Officer for CBS Records before being head-hunted by Melody Maker editor Ray Coleman to become editor of sister IPC publication Disc Weekly. In 1976, he left to become head of Press for Phonogram Records.
The 1980s saw Lon become full-time illustrator with art agents Andrew Archer Associates, before moving to Folio art agents of Holborn and remaining there as an artist/illustrator until 1987. He also co-wrote paperbacks Movie Brainbusters and TV Brainbusters with Patrick Humphries for Pete Townshend’s Zomba Books. In addition, Lon wrote and illustrated for Melody Maker, Time Out, The Guardian, Financial Times and others, often under the pseudonym ‘Doghouse Riley.’
My thanks to Patrick, Lon and Claire. Hope to see you all again soon!
