Christopher Dawes (born 26 February 1961) is a British journalist and author. He works as a
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 ...
using the pseudonym Push.
As Push, he wrote for the weekly music paper ''
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 ...
'' for 10 years. He was also the editor of the seminal London music magazine ''
The Buzz'' from 1987 until its demise. He left Melody Maker in 1995 to become the founding editor of the clubbing magazine ''
Muzik
''Muzik'' was a British dance music magazine published by IPC Media from June 1995 to August 2003.
''Muzik'' was created by two former ''Melody Maker'' journalists, Push and Ben Turner. Push was the editor of ''Muzik'' from its launch until he ...
'', before becoming the editor of the male lifestyle title ''
Mondo'' in 1999. After several years as a book author, he returned to magazine publishing in 2012 as the editor of the specialist electronic music magazine ''
Electronic Sound
''Electronic Sound'' is the second studio album by English rock musician George Harrison. Released in May 1969, it was the last of two LPs issued on the Beatles' short-lived Zapple record label, a subsidiary of Apple Records that specialised in t ...
''.
Dawes was responsible for nurturing and guiding some of the brightest talent of the day, many of whom went on to further success in the music industry. He was one of the first UK music journalists to write about
acid house
Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthes ...
and during his time at Melody Maker he conducted early interviews with the likes of
Pulp,
Soul II Soul
Soul II Soul are a British musical collective formed in London in 1988. They are best known for their two major hits; 1989's UK number five and US number eleven " Keep On Movin'", and its follow-up, the UK number one and US number four " Back to ...
,
N.W.A,
Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Ya ...
,
De La Soul
De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternat ...
and
The Orb
The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 1 ...
. The very first interviews in the UK press with
The Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes ( Icelandic: Sykurmolarnir) were an Icelandic alternative rock band from Reykjavík formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. For most of their career, the band consisted of Björk Guðmundsdóttir (vocals, keyboards), Einar Örn Bene ...
,
Carter USM
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (also known as Carter USM or simply Carter) were an English indie rock band formed in 1987 by singer Jim "Jim Bob" Morrison and guitarist Les " Fruitbat" Carter. They made their name with a distinctive style ...
and
The Shamen
The Shamen ( ) were a Scottish psychedelic band, formed in 1985 in Aberdeen, who became a chart-topping British electronic dance music act by the early 1990s. The founding members were Colin Angus, Derek McKenzie and Keith McKenzie. Peter St ...
were published in The Buzz during his time as the editor.
Dawes's best known book is ''
Rat Scabies And The Holy Grail'', published in 2005 by Sceptre Books in the UK () and by Thunder's Mouth Press in the US (). It is a
gonzo-esque quest to find the
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracu ...
by
punk rock legend
Rat Scabies
Christopher John Millar (born 30 July 1955), known by his stage name Rat Scabies, is a musician best known as the drummer for English punk rock band the Damned.
Career
Millar was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. He played drums with Tor ...
, the one-time drummer of
The Damned, with whom Dawes strikes up a friendship when the two become neighbours in the London suburb of
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...
.
List of books
*''The Book Of E: All About Ecstasy'' (Omnibus, 2000, co-written with Mireille Silcott)
*''Pussy'' (Bantam, 2004, co-written with Steven Appleton, Mark Roland and Paul Thompson)
*''Bitch'' (Bantam, 2005, co-written with Steven Appleton, Mark Roland and Paul Thompson)
*''
Rat Scabies And The Holy Grail'' (Sceptre, 2005)
References
External links
Rat Scabies And The Holy GrailChristopher Dawes's websiteChristopher Dawes's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawes, Christopher
1961 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of East Anglia
British magazine editors
British music journalists
Melody Maker writers