English writer and journalist
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Dear Readers,I got what I needed Going for a Burton (that's an English RAF term from WWII, like we're going off to die). I'm at the press conference for the biggest show the Design Museum has ever hosted, with 32,000 tickets sold in advance. Much as I'm falling out of love with absorbing myself in the worlds of other people, I ask this most powerful man (who has maintained his independence through an autonomous style that stems from a wonderfully 20th-century cardboard clunkiness) a single question. I extend the invitation to enter his temple and listen to the wisdom of this master world-builder, the creator of Wednesday on Netflix, Mars Attacks!, Edward Scissorhands, and a canon of identity-inspiring creations, by pressing PLAY on the little film I've made reporting on the experience above.He talks about techniques and emphasises that it's all about mastering these in whatever art we choose to deliver. The first rule of witchcraft is to keep a tidy house, but how we define "tidy" is up to us. Living in other people's worlds has been a habit of mine. Art activates, allowing me to find myself sitting opposite Tim Burton who is exceptionally rare. He is unique. He is special. A mega-talented embodiment of the gothic who articulates his critical mind in these onscreen dramas of G-pop's [general population/consumers] relationship with home duties in the sanitised Americana of 50s suburbia. Burton's drawing descends from growing up in the suburban “Horrorwood” of California's Burbank where he took an unpretentious revenge upon the superficial. I grew up in the suburbs too.“Burbank made me want to make monster movies.” I get it.There he sent his work into art competitions, which led him to be fast-tracked on a sponsorship into the Walt Disney-founded CalArts school where he was enabled to explore his interior world, with confidence, as an obsessional artist. This is his legacy.“Each [film] leaves it's emotional scars.”Engaging with his work is like stepping into alternative, often scary, magical kingdoms. Speaking to Maria McLintock, the curator as she guides us around the show (a true privilege of being a war-torn member of culture press) her Vivienne Westwood skeleton earring swings with the same charm as her knowledge and integrity. “It's about 60%” of what's been seen in the World of Tim Burton shows which have shown everywhere from New York's MOMA to Lafayette Art and Design Center in Shanghai over the past 10 years.How does it differ to the Labyrinth shows I've seen advertised for Madrid? She's dying to see them: “They're more immersive,” says the former RIBA editor, whose knowledge of architecture creates the perfect ‘housing' for a tunnel of Allison in Wonderland to walk through. “People keep on saying this is immersive. It's not, it's more of document.”Whether Burton is a higher-res Edward Gore or an all-new Edgar Allan Poe, a tripped-out Goethe, or a Nick Cave of the Movies, it doesn't matter in a graveyard. These characters haunt us with their sublimity, ultimately embodying rebellion. Goths are eternal because death is eternal (as far as we know), and death carries powerful imagery: headstones, spiders, skulls. It's perfect that he pairs with Alexander McQueen, as proper goths canonise the act of not being mainstream cool. They embrace the coffin-cold fact that we're all going to die, but they do it on their own terms.Whether gaming is replacing movies or any art form or media is taking over is irrelevant, this is the show which views Burton as an all-seeing artist. This is why the big screen has allowed him to become an unusually family-friendly weirdo, defying the odds. His drawings of characters trap us in the simplicity of fairy tales, where children find solace in extremes. Although this show demonstrates versatility, this is a filmaker exploring the boundaries of victimhood, blurring the internal and external. The peripeteia of turning our wounds into badges of shame, then into medals of honour. It voices a universal truth. Do we walk through the broken vessels that smash to the ground around us, attacked and reacting? We can engage, ignore, sweep our house, or become injured. We all inhabit the houses of others, seeking answers from what has been missing, the art is to feel full of self (not full of oneself) and content in that rather than shamed or unworthy.Yet, what we allow into our systems (or whatever is present) shapes our journeys. Be it unfiltered water, chemically-sprayed coffee, or the myths of others. I was married to a director, so can tell you they are the gods of their creations, little would get finished without them. We enter the temples of other people through literature, music, gaming, and we choose alt Heavens and Underworlds, immersing ourselves in Utopian fantasies where impossible romanticism reigns. But what we create, we can only create ourselves. Sure we collaborate, as is discussed in the film above. Yet I am here to make an inquiry. I seek escape through the ‘Burtonesque' existential monochrome, mirroring a cartoon fear of darkness as a companion in the ironic danse macabre to the inevitable: death. I am here because the Burtonesque beats black like my coffee and heart. The gothic lifeblood channels life as an outsider. Yet I wish to belong. The dilemma of being a true rebel yet accepted by those we perceive to be “inside” requires a humble acknowledgment of our shared flaws as we walk towards the grave.There is no dumbing down or fading out the "black jeans on the beach of life" joke of being here one minute and gone the next. We choose to enjoy the ride, striking a Beetlejuice meets Robert Smith hero's pose against the paradox of beauty standards which true rebels are able to defy. (I am sure Cathi Unsworth and John Robb's goth books say much of this, with far more detail.)Burton discusses ‘the system' that tells us we aren't allowed to operate. What do you do? For me, seeking magic in others is a quest to find it within myself. In my worst of times I have had no protection against this. Hail the new witchery, the return to paganism, the need to understand and create order using more ancient traditions than this era of madness where we can see injustice in rising fundamentalism against females (I'm talking about Trump and the decline of western civilisation, mirrored in Jack Nicholson's presidential performance in Mars Attacks! as we forward-march toward a dumbed-down spectacle the Salem-esque dumbed-down fear states of 'merica) but it's so basic we can only loveheart a reaction. We are frustratingly disabled to affect geopolitics as we drop our mouths in awe at the online superficiality of the post-Covid 2020s. It's akin to the Wellness Dilemma, where justice is offered as the responsibility of the individual rather than as a responsibility of community management. The Wellness Dilemma is a mirror on consumer rights operating in carelessness for anything other than profit. We are facing serious issues of climate change, wars and over-consumption, walking hand-in-hand with trauma as victimhood flexing in a drama ritual, where space is taken up by injured parties, average accidents competing against violence rites of stabbings parading beneath a lack of societal management of equity. Everyone deserves a voice, and the power to use it, but in what system? Armies of protein-rich gym babies train for a war of healthy positivity against a past generation who self-medicated beneath banners of smiley faces or war-hangovers and first-generation struggles. I sense this may be one of my last occasions where I need to confront the ghastly aesthetic of a world policed by beauty standards imposed by ‘beauty' companies in the free-market warzone of brands, houses, offices, and entertainment institutions built to annihilate our financial empowerment. Subtle demands to comply with regimes that layer us with artificial masks of botox and filler that protect us from emotional empathy and the risk of deeper connections. Look at Madonna. Look at Robert Smith. We are symbolic parodies of the flaws of illogical systems in poorly designed worlds, we are perfect in an imperfect world, where it's challenging to determine if these designs are intentional. In the end, does it matter? Culture is a natural defense system like hitting ouch on instant messaging, to receive an animal vid or guru-shared platitudes that feel (sleepy) hollow against the backdrop of authenticity solved in a world of Wednesday.Sure, we manage our houses, filling our wells with what serves us, our revenge is to take space. To be nourished physically and metaphysically is essential, but it's hard to compare these acts as great as the spectacle of the movies, the big screen paintings which allow us to escape. I vow to write more fiction (my most popular posts here). Navigating a landscape where choice is often intertwined with financial empowerment and cultures, we must invent our own, but when they're symbols of the slavery? O Lord, yes, I would like an electric Mercedes Benz. Manifest!We must remember we're in a perpetual negotiation with the structures that seek to confine us, but not relive the horror of living in a world of overconsumption. And forgive ourselves for what we cannot afford. Our power is how we boundary our responses to outer worlds that govern us. Sometimes that requires sitting in stagnant waters, plunging to the depths of our malnourished wells, and rediscovering our needs. For me, this journey has taken me to an Andalusian mountain, battling with my soul and demons to face the hermetic dawn. I still would like an electric Mercedes Benz. That's my reaction to the Trauma Scale which operates universally; male, female, trans, everyone is entitled to suffer. Whether it's rape on a refugee camp to the bullying on social media, or sharing micro-details of foodbank trauma as drama ritual of victimhood, where space is occupied by the injured and the injuring. How is there equality in these rubrics of competing for attention amid societal neglect? What we do with our injuries defines our agency, resilience, and leadership potential, applicable to all teams. We all engage with pain, and there's a comedic tragedy in empathy, but black and white as Burton's lens is, it does not patronise with guilt; instead, he explores these wounded vessels with a perception of agency and resilience. Like any creative act, we can criticise rather than celebrate (particularly under a Beschdel lens) but there's an intimacy which the exposure-driven antics of contemporary pop culture are born from. “If it inspires you, if it makes kids want to draw, then that's a thing.” Resilience is my new tidiness. I want to claim my power with the stories I tell myself, as I know it shapes our realities. We can become interdependent with the worlds which inspire us. This is the point in having successful figures, artists and ideas, rather than just pedestal creations as being better than us. Much of our system amplifies the celebrity culture born from movies, where the industrialisation of the Star Machine creates a Warhol-esque religion of gossip and behaviors, often driven by sociopathic tendencies, glorifying chaos. It's like any dogma, astrological or otherwise, there is unlikely a single code. How we navigate the complex matrix of media and art as information in this digital age is on us. The lines between success and worthiness blur in a quest for ethical sameness. Burton is an outstanding artist in world where secretly, the weird are celebrated, because the world has gone weird, governed by dull tech bros and cartoon boardrooms with no control on government. Has it ever been different? That is what makes fairy tales eternal and keeps the town criers' crying. The aspiration to conform, through patronage or substandard revolutionary rebelliousness, leads to feelings of low self-esteem and comparison, dragging us into voids of negative capability. If we harbour a damaging self-fulfilling lack of belief in our own houses, we merely assign our power to others. “Do it from your heart because you want it, not what it leads to.” This mantra speaks volumes. We have to own our own shadows, remember not relive, and know gossip or faux-concern of the Other, and what they do or think, rarely serves anyone, merely enabling averageness. We are in a tidal onslaught of individual ‘empowerment' being exploited to sell things to or from, we owe it to ourselves to heavily police what content/art/entertainment/news/information/people/other is worthy of our short lives. This duality can be a terrifying preoccupation, the management of self-control when most of life can appear to be beyond our control. We are forced to be consumers, indexed by popularity. We have all smiled whilst being f**ked. I'm not getting into a feminist critique here, the self-portraits drawing clowns (on napkins) is a get out of jail card, from this distance. The personal, whatever (although I did enjoy the trooping of the mystery front-rowers backstage after the Q&A, who were they?!). I vow to watch Sophie Koko's animations. There is so much to consume, to create, but for me, the tensions in myself have been preventative from doing what I need to do for myself, so to hear this God speak, gives palpability to the distractions of explaining the issues of the day being explained as art versus industry, or how the rational coexists with the irrational, or progressive philosophies versus conservative risk aversion. Our biggest challenge is building our own capacity to prove our capability, to hold our own houses strong, and be as fabulous as Edward Scissorhands.Last day to enter Burton's World: April 21st 2025https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/the-world-of-tim-burtonMy news: I'm proud to support one of the stars in my life, Pete Astor, with his THE ATTENDANT project on 21st November. I love the music, with Paul Weller's bassist and Ian Button on keys, they're also joined by the voice of fine London talent, Sukie Smith. Pete was one of the first signings to Creation Records (Oasis, Primal Scream, Jesus & Mary Chain), and we last played together when Psychomachia was first published. It's a really early show. I'm on by 7, so come early. Tickets are limited and available here:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-attendant-tickets-1039379641487I'm excited to build on what I've been doing over the past year, and I won't keep you long. I will be using the date to complete the audiobook of Psychomachia, and will be releasing it exclusively to paying subscribers here. I share these words for free to all, in the hope to inspire.From the desk of Kirsty Allison is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. To hear more, visit kirstyallison.substack.com
Comenzamos la semana con Gustavo Iglesias que esta vez trae el libro ‘Temporada de brujas’ de Cathi Unsworth. Una obra que cuenta la historia de grupos como Joy Division, Siouxsie&The Banshees, The Crumpt o The Cure a través del género que los relaciona a todos: el “rock gótico”. A las 8 las noticias con nuestro analista de política internacional, Alejandro López, que nos explica la reciente escalada de violencia en Oriente Medio a raíz del ataque de Irán a Israel. Por último, terminamos con el grupo Venturi y su disco ‘Comida rápida’, que más que comida es un estilo de vida. Escuchar audio
Agradece a este podcast tantas horas de entretenimiento y disfruta de episodios exclusivos como éste. ¡Apóyale en iVoox! Estos días se anunciaba la publicación en nuestro país a través de la editorial Contra de ‘Temporada de Brujas, el libro del rock gótico' escrito por Cathi Unsworth. Una obra prologada por Ana Curra de Parálisis Permanente, en la que se pone foco en ese movimiento surgido en Inglaterra a finales de los 70 como escisión oscura del post-punk que nos trajo a artistas como Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, The Cure, Bauhaus, The Sisters of Mercy, Killing Joke, The Cult... En seguida se nos vinieron a la memoria los muchos grupos españoles en esas coordenadas que nacieron en nuestro país a principios de la década de los 80. La escena gótica nacional hoy tan reivindicada. En los dos próximos programas de Conexiones MZK vamos a recuperar el genial y difícilmente encontrable recopilatorio Sombras: Spanish Post-Punk + Dark Pop (1981-1986) que el sello Munster Records publicara en 2013. Un disco descatalogado, que no está en plataformas completo en el que se incluyen 42 bandas siniestras nacionales de aquél periodo. Ya no solo podrás hablar de referentes de la escena siniestra como Parálisis Permanente, Décima Víctima, Desechables, Agrimensor K. o los primeros Gabinete Caligari, aquí tienes una buena muestra de muchas otras bandas, la mayoría de ellas ya desaparecidas, que oscurecieron la escena de la época. Como decíamos dedicaremos dos programas a este Sombras: Spanish Post-Punk + Dark Pop (1981-1986) y aquí tienes la primera parte. Dirige Manuel Pinazo Suenan: Sombras: Spanish Post-Punk + Dark Pop (1981-1986) (1ª parte) Parálisis Permanente – Yo No Alaska Y Los Pegamoides – El Jardín Los Monaguillosh – Voces En La Jungla Neon Provos – Serás La Mas Guapa Alphaville – El Modelo De Pickman Derribos Arias – Vírgenes Sangrantes Claustrofobia – Sombras En La Alcoba El Último Sueño – No Debiste Asustarme Décima Víctima – El Signo De La Cruz Agrimensor K – Principio Y Fin Ultratruita – Sangre Y Arena Cámara – El Frío En Mis Manos Beirut, La Noche – Ella Se Hizo Monja Donación Agnelli – Asfixia Seres Vacíos – Recuerda Gabinete Caligari – Olor A Carne Quemada Los Coyotes – La Estacion Fantasma Desechables – La Oración La Fundación – Todo Pensado (Para No Durar) Los Iniciados – Sangre De Ángel Lavabos Iturriaga – Nichos Flácidos Lunes – ParanoiaEscucha este episodio completo y accede a todo el contenido exclusivo de Conexiones MZK. Descubre antes que nadie los nuevos episodios, y participa en la comunidad exclusiva de oyentes en https://go.ivoox.com/sq/286835
This Electronically Ours episode features prolific author Cathi Unsworth. Her latest book is an in-depth examination of the history of Goth music and culture, entitled Season of the Witch. Filled with passion, sex and the power of music, Season of the Witch is a superbly absorbing social history of the music, context and lasting legacy of goth, told with novelistic skill. Ladies and gentlemen - meet the fascinating Cathi Unsworth... If you can, please support the Electronically Yours podcast via my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/electronicallyours
It's the most wonderful time of the year! Yes, it's Hallowe'en, and you didn't think I'd let the greatest of all the days pass without something special for you? On this episode I'm speaking to the great Cathi Unsworth, journalist and novelist and specialist on all things dark and strange, and the author of the recently released Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth, published by the ever great Nine Eight Books. We talk about goth, but we talk about UFOs, demonic ghost dogs, and the Yorkshire Ripper too. I could talk to Cathi for hours. I will almost certainly have her back on the podcast at some point. Happy Hallowe'en! Twitter - @jamesjammcmahon Substack - https://spoook.substack.com YouTube - www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Vf_1E1Sza2GUyFNn2zFMA Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/jamesmcmahonmusicpod/
You can trust Lucy Clayton to take you to some dark places each Halloween but this year, we bring you the ultimate guide to Goth. Author Cathi Unsworth has written the definitive history of Goth and joins us to talk music, eyeliner and icons of this spookiest of genres. Links Follow @dressfancypodcast on Instagram Follow @mslucyclayton on Instagram Leave us a review Cathi Unsowrth Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth – Cathi's book Season of the Witch - song by Julie Driscoll
Crime novelist Cathi Unsworth turned Goth in her teens in rural Norfolk fired by a cocktail of Dennis Wheatley, the Damned on the Peel show and the dark arts of the York Festival “Gothtopia” bill in 1984. She devoted long hours to trying to construct Robert Smith's “tarantula hair” and acquiring black lace garmentry. Something about its music and folklore chimed with a life marooned in the middle of an East Anglian beanfield pondering tales of Shuck, the fabled fire-eyed ghostly hound alleged to roam the neighbourhood at night. We talked to her about her marvellous ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth' for a live podcast recorded at London's 21Soho on 25 September, a very funny and wide-ranging exchange that included … … why Goth is like no other tribe: you never make a full recovery – or ever want to. … the part played in its family tree by Aleister Crowley, Aubrey Beardsley, the Brontes, Joy Division, Magazine, the Cramps, Jim Morrison and Bobby Gentry. … why Leeds became one of Goth's key spiritual centres. … the shocking spectacle of Dave Vanian in full Stygian rig in broad daylight. … “the three Goth Ians” - Astbury, Curtis, McCulloch. … the significance of Cabaret and A Clockwork Orange.... why Goths feel obliged to dress the part. … the romantic allure of Robert Smith against that of Nick Cave. … the curious link between Siouxsie and Margaret Thatcher. … and how Goth keeps finding new recruits. Order ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth' here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Season-Witch-Book-Cathi-Unsworth/dp/1788706242Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Crime novelist Cathi Unsworth turned Goth in her teens in rural Norfolk fired by a cocktail of Dennis Wheatley, the Damned on the Peel show and the dark arts of the York Festival “Gothtopia” bill in 1984. She devoted long hours to trying to construct Robert Smith's “tarantula hair” and acquiring black lace garmentry. Something about its music and folklore chimed with a life marooned in the middle of an East Anglian beanfield pondering tales of Shuck, the fabled fire-eyed ghostly hound alleged to roam the neighbourhood at night. We talked to her about her marvellous ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth' for a live podcast recorded at London's 21Soho on 25 September, a very funny and wide-ranging exchange that included … … why Goth is like no other tribe: you never make a full recovery – or ever want to. … the part played in its family tree by Aleister Crowley, Aubrey Beardsley, the Brontes, Joy Division, Magazine, the Cramps, Jim Morrison and Bobby Gentry. … why Leeds became one of Goth's key spiritual centres. … the shocking spectacle of Dave Vanian in full Stygian rig in broad daylight. … “the three Goth Ians” - Astbury, Curtis, McCulloch. … the significance of Cabaret and A Clockwork Orange.... why Goths feel obliged to dress the part. … the romantic allure of Robert Smith against that of Nick Cave. … the curious link between Siouxsie and Margaret Thatcher. … and how Goth keeps finding new recruits. Order ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth' here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Season-Witch-Book-Cathi-Unsworth/dp/1788706242Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Crime novelist Cathi Unsworth turned Goth in her teens in rural Norfolk fired by a cocktail of Dennis Wheatley, the Damned on the Peel show and the dark arts of the York Festival “Gothtopia” bill in 1984. She devoted long hours to trying to construct Robert Smith's “tarantula hair” and acquiring black lace garmentry. Something about its music and folklore chimed with a life marooned in the middle of an East Anglian beanfield pondering tales of Shuck, the fabled fire-eyed ghostly hound alleged to roam the neighbourhood at night. We talked to her about her marvellous ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth' for a live podcast recorded at London's 21Soho on 25 September, a very funny and wide-ranging exchange that included … … why Goth is like no other tribe: you never make a full recovery – or ever want to. … the part played in its family tree by Aleister Crowley, Aubrey Beardsley, the Brontes, Joy Division, Magazine, the Cramps, Jim Morrison and Bobby Gentry. … why Leeds became one of Goth's key spiritual centres. … the shocking spectacle of Dave Vanian in full Stygian rig in broad daylight. … “the three Goth Ians” - Astbury, Curtis, McCulloch. … the significance of Cabaret and A Clockwork Orange.... why Goths feel obliged to dress the part. … the romantic allure of Robert Smith against that of Nick Cave. … the curious link between Siouxsie and Margaret Thatcher. … and how Goth keeps finding new recruits. Order ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth' here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Season-Witch-Book-Cathi-Unsworth/dp/1788706242Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Cathi Unsworth discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Cathi Unsworth is a novelist, writer and editor who lives and works in London. She began her career on the legendary music weekly Sounds at the age of 19. Her novels include The Not Knowing, Weirdo and That Old Black Magic. She is currently teaching novel writing for Curtis Brown Creative's online platform. Her latest book is Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth. The magazine Fortean Times https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/magazine/letter-of-recommendation-fortean-times.html Discovering London's secrets by going for long walks https://www.london-walking-tours.co.uk/secret-london/introduction.htm The noir writer Derek Raymond https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/doors-closing-slowly-derek-raymonds-factory-novels/ The pop artist Pauline Boty https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/obituaries/pauline-boty-overlooked.html The publishers London Books https://www.london-books.co.uk/ The musician Tim Smith https://thequietus.com/articles/31719-tim-smith-cardiacs-strange-world This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm
Margaret Thatcher and Goth Culture It was the Age of Thatcher, and beyond the playgrounds of the red-braces wide boys and the Sloane Square privileged, it was grim. Unemployment was a weapon in the class war. The Yorkshire Ripper ran riot. Bitter industrial disputes divided communities, while the police was brutally remade into a national instrument to break the miners. And maybe you remember the pop music of the time: Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Madonna, Michael Jackson. Wham! But there was a more intense musical response to the wretchedness of the times, more intense and more appropriate. Punk had come to a sticky end, but it inspired a new generation … Continue reading →
Growing up in remote rural Norfolk, crime writer Cathi Unsworth had a Goth conversion, a condition from which, she happily admits, you never fully recover. And never want to. She discovered Dennis Wheatley's ‘To The Devil A Daughter', heard Siouxsie & the Banshees on the Peel Show and saw a picture of Robert Smith in a magazine which she stuck by her bedroom mirror to help her construct his spectacular dishevelment. She's just published ‘Season Of The Witch: the Book of Goth', a highly entertaining account of the dark side of rock starting out with the Brontes, Edgar Allan Poe and Aubrey Beardsley and heading, via Jim Morrison, Jacques Brel and Nico, to Joy Division, the Cure and the Sisters of Mercy. This is a very funny and self-mocking pod in which you'll find the following … … why Yorkshire is “Goth's Own Country”. … the secret ingredient in Mac McCulloch's vertical hair. … Nick Cave - “the Dark Lord of Goth Music” (©️ the Daily Mail) – at the Coronation. … Lee Hazlewood's advice to Nancy Sinatra when recording Goth staple These Boots Are Made For Walking. … “changing into fishnet tights in the bogs at school”, rival pop gangs, mooching about in graveyards and a mate “who used to sit up trees reading Dennis Wheatley and summoning Satan”. .. the joy of crimpers and backcombing. … “spreading the virus” at the Batcave. … the inventor of the term Goth and the key Gothmothers and Gothfathers. … local folklore about hellhounds in Norfolk. … her first gig, the York Rock Festival in 1984 featuring the Bunnymen, Sisters of Mercy, Spear of Destiny and the Redskins: “Gothtopia”! … “Beer Girls and Beer Boys” and why it was best to avoid them. … dark Satanic mills. … and the greatest Goth record ever made. Order ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth' here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Season-Witch-Book-Cathi-Unsworth/dp/1788706242Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Growing up in remote rural Norfolk, crime writer Cathi Unsworth had a Goth conversion, a condition from which, she happily admits, you never fully recover. And never want to. She discovered Dennis Wheatley's ‘To The Devil A Daughter', heard Siouxsie & the Banshees on the Peel Show and saw a picture of Robert Smith in a magazine which she stuck by her bedroom mirror to help her construct his spectacular dishevelment. She's just published ‘Season Of The Witch: the Book of Goth', a highly entertaining account of the dark side of rock starting out with the Brontes, Edgar Allan Poe and Aubrey Beardsley and heading, via Jim Morrison, Jacques Brel and Nico, to Joy Division, the Cure and the Sisters of Mercy. This is a very funny and self-mocking pod in which you'll find the following … … why Yorkshire is “Goth's Own Country”. … the secret ingredient in Mac McCulloch's vertical hair. … Nick Cave - “the Dark Lord of Goth Music” (©️ the Daily Mail) – at the Coronation. … Lee Hazlewood's advice to Nancy Sinatra when recording Goth staple These Boots Are Made For Walking. … “changing into fishnet tights in the bogs at school”, rival pop gangs, mooching about in graveyards and a mate “who used to sit up trees reading Dennis Wheatley and summoning Satan”. .. the joy of crimpers and backcombing. … “spreading the virus” at the Batcave. … the inventor of the term Goth and the key Gothmothers and Gothfathers. … local folklore about hellhounds in Norfolk. … her first gig, the York Rock Festival in 1984 featuring the Bunnymen, Sisters of Mercy, Spear of Destiny and the Redskins: “Gothtopia”! … “Beer Girls and Beer Boys” and why it was best to avoid them. … dark Satanic mills. … and the greatest Goth record ever made. Order ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth' here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Season-Witch-Book-Cathi-Unsworth/dp/1788706242Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Growing up in remote rural Norfolk, crime writer Cathi Unsworth had a Goth conversion, a condition from which, she happily admits, you never fully recover. And never want to. She discovered Dennis Wheatley's ‘To The Devil A Daughter', heard Siouxsie & the Banshees on the Peel Show and saw a picture of Robert Smith in a magazine which she stuck by her bedroom mirror to help her construct his spectacular dishevelment. She's just published ‘Season Of The Witch: the Book of Goth', a highly entertaining account of the dark side of rock starting out with the Brontes, Edgar Allan Poe and Aubrey Beardsley and heading, via Jim Morrison, Jacques Brel and Nico, to Joy Division, the Cure and the Sisters of Mercy. This is a very funny and self-mocking pod in which you'll find the following … … why Yorkshire is “Goth's Own Country”. … the secret ingredient in Mac McCulloch's vertical hair. … Nick Cave - “the Dark Lord of Goth Music” (©️ the Daily Mail) – at the Coronation. … Lee Hazlewood's advice to Nancy Sinatra when recording Goth staple These Boots Are Made For Walking. … “changing into fishnet tights in the bogs at school”, rival pop gangs, mooching about in graveyards and a mate “who used to sit up trees reading Dennis Wheatley and summoning Satan”. .. the joy of crimpers and backcombing. … “spreading the virus” at the Batcave. … the inventor of the term Goth and the key Gothmothers and Gothfathers. … local folklore about hellhounds in Norfolk. … her first gig, the York Rock Festival in 1984 featuring the Bunnymen, Sisters of Mercy, Spear of Destiny and the Redskins: “Gothtopia”! … “Beer Girls and Beer Boys” and why it was best to avoid them. … dark Satanic mills. … and the greatest Goth record ever made. Order ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth' here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Season-Witch-Book-Cathi-Unsworth/dp/1788706242Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Screenwriter Stuart Wright talks to author Cathi Unsworth about her new book SEASON OF THE WITCH: THE BOOK OF GOTH and "3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life"NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND (1961)GOODFELLAS (1990)SEASON OF THE WITCH: THE BOOK OF GOTH is out now and available in all good bookshops. Here's one - https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/cathi-unsworth/season-of-the-witch-the-book-of-goth"3 FILMS THAT HAVE IMPACTED EVERYTHING IN YOUR ADULT LIFE" is a podcast by screenwriter Stuart Wright that explores the transformative power of cinema. From emotional masterpieces to thought-provoking classics, each episode delves into the films that have had a profound impact on our personal growth and perspective. Through engaging storytelling, critical analysis, and cultural commentary, Stuart aims to uncover the lasting influence that movies have had on his guests. Please join him on an emotional journey through the world of film and discover how just three movies can change the direction of a life, cement memories you will never forget or sometimes change how you see the world."3 FILMS THAT IMPACTED EVERYTHING IN YOUR ADULT LIFE is about those films that made you fall in love with film. The guest selects their trio of movies and we talk for 5 minutes, against the clock. When the ALARM goes off for five minutes we move onto the next film.Please consider leaving a five-star review wherever you get your podcasts if you enjoyed this. It really helps the Britflicks Podcast grow and others to discover it.CreditsIntro/Outro music is Rocking The Stew by Tokyo Dragons (www.instagram.com/slomaxster/Podcast for www.britflicks.com. https://www.britflicks.com/britflicks-podcast/Written, produced and hosted by Stuart WrightSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/britflicks-com-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Cathi Unsworth – Season of the witch: The Book of Goth...with TRE's Giles Brown
Cathi Unsworth, journalist and author of Bad Penny Blues, as well as numerous other novels, speaks with artists and author Jenny Hval about her recent book Girls Against God. At once a time-travelling horror story and a fugue-like feminist manifesto, this is a singular, genre-warping new novel from the author of the acclaimed Paradise Rot. “It's 1992 and I'm the Gloomiest Child Queen.” Welcome to 1990s Norway. White picket fences run in neat rows and Christian conservatism runs deep. But as the Artist considers her past, her practice and her hatred, things start stirring themselves up around her. In a corner of Oslo, a coven of witches begins cooking up some curses. A time-travelling Edvard Munch arrives in town to join a black metal band, closely pursued by the teenaged subject of his painting Puberty, who has murder on her mind. Meanwhile, out deep in the forest, a group of school girls get very lost and things get very strange. Awful things happen in aspic. Jenny Hval's latest novel is a radical fusion of feminist theory and experimental horror, and a unique treatise on magic, gender and art. Hosted and produced by Sam Kelly; Mixed by Samantha Doyle; Soundtrack by Kristen Gallerneaux Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Cathi Unsworth, journalist and author of Bad Penny Blues, as well as numerous other novels, speaks with artists and author Jenny Hval about her recent book Girls Against God. At once a time-travelling horror story and a fugue-like feminist manifesto, this is a singular, genre-warping new novel from the author of the acclaimed Paradise Rot. “It's 1992 and I'm the Gloomiest Child Queen.” Welcome to 1990s Norway. White picket fences run in neat rows and Christian conservatism runs deep. But as the Artist considers her past, her practice and her hatred, things start stirring themselves up around her. In a corner of Oslo, a coven of witches begins cooking up some curses. A time-travelling Edvard Munch arrives in town to join a black metal band, closely pursued by the teenaged subject of his painting Puberty, who has murder on her mind. Meanwhile, out deep in the forest, a group of school girls get very lost and things get very strange. Awful things happen in aspic. Jenny Hval's latest novel is a radical fusion of feminist theory and experimental horror, and a unique treatise on magic, gender and art. Hosted and produced by Sam Kelly; Mixed by Samantha Doyle; Soundtrack by Kristen Gallerneaux Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies
Cathi Unsworth, journalist and author of Bad Penny Blues, as well as numerous other novels, speaks with artists and author Jenny Hval about her recent book Girls Against God. At once a time-travelling horror story and a fugue-like feminist manifesto, this is a singular, genre-warping new novel from the author of the acclaimed Paradise Rot. “It's 1992 and I'm the Gloomiest Child Queen.” Welcome to 1990s Norway. White picket fences run in neat rows and Christian conservatism runs deep. But as the Artist considers her past, her practice and her hatred, things start stirring themselves up around her. In a corner of Oslo, a coven of witches begins cooking up some curses. A time-travelling Edvard Munch arrives in town to join a black metal band, closely pursued by the teenaged subject of his painting Puberty, who has murder on her mind. Meanwhile, out deep in the forest, a group of school girls get very lost and things get very strange. Awful things happen in aspic. Jenny Hval's latest novel is a radical fusion of feminist theory and experimental horror, and a unique treatise on magic, gender and art. Hosted and produced by Sam Kelly; Mixed by Samantha Doyle; Soundtrack by Kristen Gallerneaux Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
Cathi Unsworth in conversation with David Eastaugh http://www.cathiunsworth.co.uk/ As Margaret Thatcher enters 10 Downing Street, a handful of bands born of punk - Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division and the Cure - find a way to distil the dissonance and darkness of the shifting decade into a new form of music. Pushing at the taboos the Sex Pistols had unlocked and dancing with the fetishistic, all will become global stars of goth. By the time Thatcher is cast out of office in 1990, the arrival of goth will have imprinted on the cultural landscape as much as the Iron Lady herself. Now, forty years since its inception, author Cathi Unsworth provides the first comprehensive overview of the music, context and lasting legacy of goth. This is the story of how goth was shaped by the politics of the era - from the miners' strikes and privatisation to the Troubles and AIDS - as well as how its rock 'n' roll outlaw imagery and innovative, atmospheric music cross-pollinated throughout Britain and internationally, speaking to a generation of alienated youths.
Samira Ahmed speaks to John Cook, Professor of Media at Glasgow Caledonian University about his discovery of a previously unknown early version of the seminal screenplay The Singing Detective by Dennis Potter. Samira is also joined in the studio by Ken Trodd, who co-produced The Singing Detective for television. Music writer Cathi Unsworth discusses her new book, Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth, which explores the enduring influence of Goth counterculture. And the artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien reflects on his major retrospective, What Freedom is to Me, at Tate Britain. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner
Photo by: Julian Ibbitson Cathi Unsworth is a renowned British author celebrated for her captivating crime novels and exceptional music journalism. Beginning her career as a writer for music magazines such as Sounds and Melody Maker, she later pivoted to crime fiction, publishing her first novel, The Not Knowing, in 2005. She has since written several acclaimed novels, including The Singer, Bad Penny Blues, Weirdo, and That Old Black Magic. Cathi's writing is admired for its vivid portrayal of London's criminal underworld, skillful weaving of music and popular culture into her stories, and attention to detail. Her most recent book, The Season of the Witch, explores how goth culture was shaped by the politics of its era. The book delves into how various societal issues like the miners' strikes, privatization, the Troubles, and AIDS, coalesced with innovative, atmospheric music, culminating in a sound that resonated with a generation of disenchanted youth, both within Britain and internationally. The US distributor can be for Cathi's new book can be found here.
Screenwriter Stuart Wright talks with novelist, writer and editor CATHI UNSWORTH about 5 Great Films that influenced the writing of her novel BAD PENNY BLUESBAD PENNY BLUES is out now from Strange Attractor http://strangeattractor.co.uk/shoppe/bad-penny-blues/The 5 Great Films that influenced the writing of this novel are:BEAT GIRL (1960) (aka WILD FOR KICKS) POP GOES THE EASEL (Ken Russell's 1962 Monitor film for BBC2 about the Pop Artists)THE L-SHAPED ROOM (1962)SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON (1964)THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE (1966)For more about Cathi Unsworth see http://www.cathiunsworth.co.uk/You can buy me a cup of coffee & support this independent podcast that I host and produce at https://app.redcircle.com/shows/ae030598-6b83-4001-8a29-5e5dd592ed26/sponsort Rate, review and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcastsCreditsIntro/Outro music is Rocking The Stew by Tokyo Dragons (www.instagram.com/slomaxster/)Podcast for www.britflicks.com. Written, produced and hosted by Stuart WrightSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/britflicks-com-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
durée : 00:02:57 - Les livres de France Bleu Maine - Le coup de cœur de votre librairie Fnac est Londres noir de Cathi Unsworth. Un guide urbain punk et alternatif, entre déviance et noirceur.
Cathi Unsworth chats to Paul Burke about her classic London novel BAD PENNY BLUES, (2009), just reissued by Strange Attractor Press. This new edition has a introduction on the importance of the novel by Greil Marcus and an illuminating afterword by Cathi.Cathi tells Paul about her fictional account of the Hammersmith nude murders; 8 women were brutally killed between 1959 and 1965. Corruption, incompetence, and lack of care meant the women the were stigmatised as prostitutes - these crimes were never solved. This is a victim centred novel that really speaks to the tragedy and trauma of these terrible events and then victims experience. In telling their story Cathi explores the lives, last moments and humanity of the women.Bad Penny Blues is also a portrayal of London in the early 1960s, the thriving and vibrant life of the city, from the art scene to the music scene - from jazz to pop and the dawning of the swinging sixties. Several of the fictional characters draw on real personalities for their inspiration - Pauline Boty, Rachman, Profumo, Joe Meek, Colin McInnes and celebrated spiritualist and charity worker Mrs Moyes. Cathi discusses her own struggles writing such a traumatic tale. We also hear about the factual accounts of the crime that she drew on, victim blaming and misogyny of the time and what it's like living in Ladbroke Grove, a great community, but discovering this troubled past. Cathi talks about her friendship with Cookie, (otherwise known as author Derek Raymond), a genuine one off.As an added treat there's a wonderfully atmospheric dramatic reading from the novel by Cathi taken from the Transmissions series which is available on her own website, it's acollaboration with electronic composer Pete Woodhead, (co-composer on Shaun of the Dead). https://www.cathiunsworth.co.uk/https://www.crimetime.co.uk/Paul Burke twitter @paulodaburkaAuthor photo credit: Julian Ibbotson Buy this book at:https://uk.bookshop.org/a/137/9781907222191
Deaf in one ear, shy, bisexual, sensitive - are these the reasons Johnnie Ray isn't worshipped as the Father of Rock and Roll? Katie, Tom and author Cathi Unsworth delve into the world of the man who gave way to Elvis, the Beatles, Morrissey. It's a journey which will take them from a small farm in Oregon to African-American clubs in Detroit, and finally to hidden corners in smokey clubs where London's 1950s subcultures could be found. Cathi's latest book Bad Penny Blues is out now: http://www.cathiunsworth.co.uk/ or https://www.facebook.com/cathiunsworthwriter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Cathi Unsworth, journalist and author of Bad Penny Blues, as well as numerous other novels, speaks with artists and author Jenny Hval about her recent book Girls Against God.
Inspired by a recent event at Autograph ABP in London we talk about colourism and film. See links below. Celeste Bell and Zoë Howe, Dayglo!: The Creative Life of Poly Styrene (2019): https://www.waterstones.com/book/dayglo/celeste-bell/zoe-howe/9781785586163 Jordan Mooney and Cathi Unsworth, Defying Gravity: Jordan’s Story (2019): https://www.waterstones.com/book/defying-gravity/cathi-jordan/unsworth/9781785588365 Vivien Goldman, Revenge of the She-Punks: A Feminist Music History from Poly Styrene to Pussy Riot (2019): https://guardianbookshop.com/revenge-of-the-she-punks-9781477316542 Colourism and Photography, Past Event at Autograph (2 July 2019): https://autograph.org.uk/events/colourism-and-photography Nadia Latif, It’s lit! How film finally learned to light black skin, The Guardian online (21 September 2017): https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/21/its-lit-how-film-finally-learned-how-to-light-black-skin Lorna Roth, Looking at Shirley, the Ultimate Norm: Colour Balance, Image Technologies, and Cognitive Equity, Canadian Journal of Communication, Volume 34, Number 1 (2009): https://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/2196 Joan Dash, Daughters of the Dust (1991): https://player.bfi.org.uk/rentals/film/watch-daughters-of-the-dust-1991-online Angélica Dass, Humanae Project: https://www.angelicadass.com/humanae-project Broomberg & Chanarin, To photograph the details of a dark horse in low light (2012): http://www.broombergchanarin.com/#/to-photograph-a-dark-horse-in-low-light-1-1/ David Smith, 'Racism' of early colour photography explored in art exhibition, The Guardian online (25 January 2013): https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jan/25/racism-colour-photography-exhibition
In this week's episode, Mark Pringle and Barney Hoskyns are joined by special guest Cathi Unsworth to discuss collaborating with punk icon Jordan on the autobiographical Defying Gravity: Jordan's Story. They consider the latter's influence on the London punk scene, in which women found a voice and carved out a space for themselves they hadn't previously been afforded. A long piece she wrote about the '80s Goth scene leads Cathi to reminisce about her early days on Sounds and Melody Maker. Her interviews with the late Dick Dale and with Ozzy progeny Kelly Osbourne provide the basis for discussion of Pulp Fiction and The Osbournes. Discussion of the Cranberries and their late singer Dolores O'Riordan precedes a clip from the week's audio interview, with disgraced Bay City Rollers manager Tam Paton. From his bungalow inside a barbed-wire-walled garden, Paton complains that nobody sends him Christmas cards any more and explains why the Rollers broke up. Finally, Mark and Barney talk through their favourite pieces from the week's library additions, including a 1966 Rave magazine feature on drugs ("a drag on a drug is still a drag"), Paul Morley falling for all-female hard rockers Girlschool, and Richard C. Walls on the "total bust" that was Stevie Wonder's Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. Cathi Unsworth's new book Defying Gravity: Jordan's Story is available for pre-order now from Amazon. Find out more on Cathi's website, cathiunsworth.co.uk. Produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie Pieces discussed: History of '80s goth, Dick Dale, Kelly Osbourne, the Cranberries, Bay City Rollers manager Tam Paton, Drugs: Yes or No?, Sun Ra part 2, The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street, The Slits, Stevie Wonder, Girlschool, David Sylvian, Steve Harley, The Ink Spots, James Blunt and Dusty Springfield
Cathi Unsworth began a career in journalism at nineteen on the music weekly Sounds, and has since worked for music, arts, film and lifestyle journals. She is the author of five previous novels: Weirdo, The Not Knowing, The Singer, Bad Penny Blues and Without the Moon, and edited the award-winning compendium London Noir. Her latest novel is That Old Black Magic. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
I denne åttende podkastepisoden av Krimvakta snakker Terje Thorsen og Leif Ekle pent og inngående om den engelske krimforfatteren Cathi Unsworth og hennes forfatterskap. Debut i 2005, hennes sjette roman foreligger akkurat nå - That Good Old Magic.
The song crystallises a moment in time between the optimism of the Summer of Love and the darkness on the desert horizon. Cathi Unsworth explores its history. Credits: Boots Enterprises, Inc., 4AD, Columbia, Ever See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
John Leyton's 1961 "death disc" was born out of a séance and banned by the BBC but still reached Number 1. Cathi Unsworth tells the song's eerie tale and follows the trail of tears it left behind. Credit: Puzzle Productions/DMI; Goldenlane Records; Caribe Sound; EMI See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
School of Advanced Study Bloomsbury Festival 2013: Resurrecting Lost London Fictions In this special Bloomsbury-themed event, Andrew Whitehead, Ken Worpole, and Cathi Unsworth discuss the greatest forgotten authors, and forgotten novels, of this ...
School of Advanced Study Bloomsbury Festival 2013: Resurrecting Lost London Fictions In this special Bloomsbury-themed event, Andrew Whitehead, Ken Worpole, and Cathi Unsworth discuss the greatest forgotten authors, and forgotten novels, of this ...
With Mark Lawson, who reports from this year's Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. Ruth Rendell and Jeanette Winterson discuss their friendship, which began when Winterson was a house-sitter for Rendell in 1986. The writers also discuss crime plots, exercise regimes and mammoth book signing sessions. Kate Atkinson turned to crime-writing with Case Histories, which has become a TV series with Jason Isaacs playing private investigator Jackson Brodie. Atkinson reveals her reluctance to call herself a crime-writer and why she often comes up with titles before stories. For the second year running Denise Mina received the Novel of the Year award. But there were times when she feared her winning book wouldn't be published. Mina discusses rewriting her book in a weekend. Val McDermid, Erin Kelly, David Mark, Steve Mosby and Nicci French - husband and wife duo Nicci Gerrard and Sean French - discuss debut writers and JK Rowling's The Cuckoo's Calling, writers' block and tweeting, pure evil and taking inspiration from real life events. In front of an audience, Stuart MacBride, Catriona McPherson, Manda Scott and Cathi Unsworth reflect on how crime novels of the future could change, in the light of new technology and online developments. Producer Claire Bartleet.
London is a city of secrets, a shifting, seething mass of intrigue, venality and violence, in constant cultural flux. The perfect setting for crime fiction - but how does the modern writer decode this centuries' old conurbation?Cathi Unsworth investigates those authors who haunt certain...
Bishopsgate Institute Podcast: Nightmare City with Cathi Unsworth, China Mieville, Iain Sinclair and Andrew Whitehead. Recorded live at Bishopsgate Institute on 14 July 2011.