Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English
music journalist
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
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.
Biography
Murray grew up in
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
, Berkshire, England,
where he attended
Reading Grammar 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.
[
He then wrote for '' IT (International Times)'', before moving to the ''New Musical Express'' in 1972 for which he wrote until around 1986. He subsequently worked for a number of publications including '']Q magazine
''Q'' was a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series '' The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ...
'', ''Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
* Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* MOJO HD, an American television network
* ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film
* ' ...
'', ''MacUser
''MacUser'' was a monthly (formerly biweekly) computer magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. and licensed by Felden in the UK. It ceased publication in 2015.
In 1985 Felix Dennis’ Dennis Publishing, the creators of MacUser in the UK, l ...
'', ''New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...
'', '' Prospect'', ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', ''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'', ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'', ''Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'', and ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
''. He currently 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
*''David Bowie: An Illustrated Record'' (1981), with Roy Carr
Roy Carr (1945 – 1 July 2018) was an English music journalist, covering pop, rock and jazz. He joined the '' New Musical Express (NME)'' in the late 1960s, and edited ''NME'', '' Vox'' and '' Melody Maker'' magazines.
Biography
Born in Bla ...
,
*''Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix and Post-War Pop'' (1989), a musical biography of Jimi Hendrix, ; won the Ralph Gleason Music Book Award
*''Shots From The Hip'' (1991), , selected writings from his first two decades as a journalist
*''Blues on CD: The Essential Guide'' (1993),
*''Boogie Man: Adventures of John Lee Hooker in the American 20th Century'' (1999), a biography of John Lee Hooker, ; shortlisted for the Gleason award.
;Novels
*''The Hellhound Sample'' (2011),
Broadcasting
His broadcasting credits include:
*"The Seven Ages of Rock" (BBC2, 2007) as series consultant and interviewee
*"The South Bank Show" (ITV, 2006) Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dram ...
– interviewee
*"Inky Fingers: The NME Story" (BBC2, 2005) – interviewee
*"Dancing in the Street" (BBC2) – series consultant
*"Jazz From Hell: Frank Zappa" (BBC Radio 3) writer and presenter
*"Punk Jazz: Jaco Pastorius" (BBC R3) writer and presenter
*"The Life and Crimes of Lenny Bruce" (BBC R3) writer and presenter
Performance
Murray also sang and played guitar and harmonica as Blast Furnace in the band Blast Furnace and the Heatwaves and currently performs with London blues band Crosstown Lightnin'.[
]
References
External links
*
Professional biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Charles Shaar
1951 births
Living people
writers from Reading, Berkshire
English blues guitarists
English male guitarists
Rhythm and blues guitarists
English music journalists
English music critics
Labour Party (UK) people
NME writers
People educated at Reading School
Rock critics