BOOKS: Ian Moss 7” singles book trilogy

Back when you could purchase 7” singles from everywhere such as Woolworths, WH Smiths and even your local newsagent, the anticipation of the purchase, the “7 being placed in a paper bag, you then making the trip home on the bus and then flicking the on switch on your humming turntable where you would then either sit back and relax or pretend you were on The Tube flexing your best moves, either way, there is something that has been lost in this modern download age from these innocent days of yore.

This is where Ian Moss comes in. He has penciled 3 immediately eye-catching editions of 7’s singles that have had some sort of influence on him. He was one of only a few people to witness the first Sex Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester in June 1976. The first volume, My Life Through One Thousand 7″ Singles Volume 1 – 1970-79 with a foreword by 6 Music’ Marc Riley. As a lover of Manchester punk, his own band The Hamsters were of this same ilk. This is the kind of book if you are looking for tunes from someone who knows their stuff, this is for you. Not only does Ian go into much detail about each of the entries he adds in his own personal anecdotes with his brilliantly written wit, whilst also providing political and social aspects from the period.

Part 2 A Part Of No Tribe Volume 2 – 1980-89 with a foreword by Mick Middles is a companion to the first edition and carries on the intuition of the first volume. An exciting decade with the likes of George Michael, Michael Jackson and Madonna at the heartbeat of the charts worldwide, there were also political upheavals at the time like never before, the Berlin Wall, miners strikes and latter tales of Acid House. Reading these pages also reminds of the penny-pinching bedroom moments trying to record the singles from the Top 40 each Sunday, playing and pausing before the presenter would speak so you could listen to songs by Madness, The Cure, New Order and The Style Council with interruption and at the same time creating your own Now! series.

The final installment, Pre Millennium Shake Volume 3 1990 -99, embraces, as you would expect, Rap, shoegaze, Britpop, grunge amongst a multitude of sparce hit makers. There are little anecdotes the pull the reader in including where EMF got their name from, there are also plenty of great additions some not as you have expected from an educated Manchester musician of the stature of Moss, nevertheless the additions are welcome and certainly bring a sense of warmth and unexpected reminders of this period of All Saints and Utah Saints, the 3 volume series is both exhausting and exhilarating.

All 3 volumes can be ordered via the following link