Penelope Ann Valentine (13 February 1943 – 9 January 2003) was a British music journalist, rock critic, and occasional television personality.

Biography

Penny Valentine was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, of Jewish and Italian ancestry. In 1959 she became a trainee reporter, first on the ''

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...

Post'', and in the early 1960s on ''Boyfriend'', a weekly magazine for teen girls. In 1964, she joined the staff of '' Disc'', a weekly pop music magazine (later ''Disc and Music Echo''), as a journalist and record reviewer, becoming for a time Britain's most influential reviewer of new pop singles. According to fellow journalist Richard Williams, "She was probably the first woman to write about pop music as though it really mattered." She loved

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

, and supported singers such as

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

and

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

before they became famous. In 1965 she also recorded the novelty single '' I Want To Kiss Ringo Goodbye'' which celebrates

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' drummer

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

. As a young woman, she also wrote articles for a variety of publications on the then-current "

Swinging London The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mu ...

" phenomenon.

Chris Welch Chris Welch (born 12 November 1941) is an English music journalist, critic, and author who is best known for his work from the late 1960s as a reporter for ''Melody Maker'', ''Musicians Only'', and ''Kerrang!''. He is the author of over 40 mu ...

commented that she "was part of a social whirl of receptions, parties and night-clubbing that made Swinging London such fun...The Beatles and Rolling Stones certainly preferred to be interviewed by the vivacious young lady from Disc magazine than by some spotty chap in a raincoat." She also made regular appearances on '' Juke Box Jury'' in the mid-1960s. In 1970 she left ''Disc'' to join a new magazine, '' Sounds'', and in 1973 was hired by her friend

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

to become the press officer for his record label,

The Rocket Record Company The Rocket Record Company was a record label founded by Elton John, along with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Steve Brown and others, in 1973 in music, 1973. The company was named after the hit song "Rocket Man (song), Rocket Man". The label was ...

. She also wrote for ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

'', and ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'', and in the 1970s for the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

rock magazine '' Creem''. After a period working in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, she returned to London in 1975 to help launch another new magazine, ''Street Life'', later joining ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

'' before leaving in 1980 to help found the more politically radical ''City Limits''. She became active in a number of bodies, including

Women in Media Women in media are individuals who participate in media. Media are the collective communication outlets or tools used to store and deliver information or data. The role of women in media revolves around the four axes of media: media freedom, med ...

and the National Union of Journalists. After gaining a BA in film studies and English, she then pursued a freelance career teaching and writing. With

Vicki Wickham Vicki Heather Wickham (born 1939) is an English talent manager, entertainment producer, and songwriter. Career Wickham was an assistant producer of the 1960s British television show ''Ready Steady Go!'', and was fashion consultant for the short ...

, she wrote a biography of

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 ...

entitled ''Dancing With Demons'' (2000). Valentine died at the age of 59 in 2003 after suffering from cancer for some time.

Bibliography

*With Vicki Wickham, ''Dancing with Demons: The Authorised Biography of Dusty Springfield'', Hodder & Stoughton, 2000,

References

External links

*Barbara Ellen
Review of ''Dancing with Demons''
"You don't have to say you love me", ''

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 ...

'', 3 September 2000.
Pop Chronicles Interviews #173 - Penny Valentine
*Richard Williams

''The Guardian'', 13 January 2003.
Penny Valentine's articles
on Rock's Back Pages. {{DEFAULTSORT:Valentine, Penny 1943 births 2003 deaths English music critics English music journalists English pop singers Melody Maker writers Journalists from London English Jews British women journalists Women writers about music 20th-century English singers