Almost as fab was the paper New Musical Express. The best writing around was there every week, courtesy of Tony Tyler, Brian Case, Charles Shaar Murray, Nick Kent and the late, great Ian MacDonald. From around 1972, when Nick Logan became Editor, the NME was the hippest music journal around. I remember first buying it that year when the flexi disc featuring highlights of the Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street was given away, but it was the Autumn of the following year when it became a weekly delight for me.
The singles and album reviews were just brilliant at times. Those that especially stood out were Ian MacDonald's...His insightful and intelligent thoughts and feelings were almost as enjoyable as the songs themselves. Pretzel Logic by Steely Dan, Kimono My House by Sparks and On the Beach by Neil Young showed shrewd and eclectic judgements on his behalf. Later reviews of Young Americans and Low by Bowie were even better.
Along with these, Charles Shaar Murray's "gonzo" writings and Nick Kent's musings on Nick Drake and Brian Wilson added to the quality, as did Tony Benyon's anarchic cartoons of "The Lone Groover". Come 1976, and the paper got carried away with Punk and many of the writers moved on to be replaced by Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill. Both were highly opinionated, but their arrival coincided with beginning of the journal's long slow decline. Danny Baker arrived a little later and for a few years his reviews and features became the best things about the paper; his love of Disco and Soul being just what was needed.
However, by the end of the decade the magic had mostly gone. The advent of the Thatcher government brought about a more political stance at the expense of humour. Paul Morley produced many passionate reviews and articles (especially about Joy Division), but they were a little too earnest for yours truly. Maybe the music had changed, maybe I was just getting older...Whatever, in the words of the immortal Samuel K Amphong..."Where is Beatles Band?"
