FEATURE:
Different Tracks on the Same Side
IMAGE CREDIT: Quercus/@petepaphides
Pete Paphides, Broken Greek, and a Familiar Musical Passion
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IT is quite common for me to write…
PHOTO CREDIT: @sohoradio/@petepaphides
a feature of my own based on an interview or feature concerning a musician. It is not often I am moved and inspired by a music critic. That may seem like a slight, but it not a bad thing: most of my features relate to events concerning musicians and stuff revolving around the moving modern scene. I am publishing a piece next week that relates to Pop music and how some people are nostalgic and yearn for the warmth of past Pop, and how others prefer the variety and more experimental nature of modern Pop – and how the best blend is to keep hold of the past’s glory and keep an open heart and mind to the wave of modern music. I am not going to get into a discussion about modern Pop and whether it is as catchy and heartwarming as the older stuff (it isn’t), and whether the Pop market is weaker (it is not; it is just more eclectic) and if Pop needs a big boost of positivity in these hard times (there are a few acts bringing in sunshine – including Dua Lipa and The Orielles -, but we could do with more anthems, big choruses and a bit of a return to the past). It is a complex and subjective matter talking about modern Pop and its relationship with years past. I digress, though. I was struck by an interview concerning the music critic and broadcaster, Pete Paphides.
IN THIS PHOTO: Pete Paphides captured in 2007/PHOTO CREDIT: Chris McAndrew
Although Paphides and I have a few things in common – we both live in North London, we are both fantastic about music, and we are both music journalists/critics (although he is far superior) -, our experiences and childhoods are/were very different. Although Paphides is a tad older than me (well, fourteen years) and we would have been exposed to different albums when we were young, I was affected and inspired by the interview in The Times. Not only does his London home look idyllic and a space of creativity, love, and musical discussion – he is married to the journalist, author and writer, Caitlin Moran -, but I was enticed by what lingered beneath the record sleeve, as it were. On 5th March, one can purchase his book, Broken Greek. Not only has it received some great reviews and reactions so far; it is fascinating to hear about the impact music had on a young boy who would go on to make music his career; the very real link between discovery and that burning passion to follow music as a career. Here are some details regarding Broken Greek:
“Non-fiction publisher Katy Follain secured UK and Commonwealth rights from Jo Unwin at JULA for publication in spring 2020.
The book covers Paphides’ early childhood in Birmingham, the city where his parents had moved from Cyprus, charting how the writer found solace from his problems in pop music.
IN THIS PHOTO: ABBA
Its synopsis explains: “Shy and introverted, he stopped speaking from age four to seven, and found refuge instead in the bittersweet embrace of pop songs thanks to 'Top of the Pops' and 'Dial-A-Disc'. From Brotherhood of Man to UB40, from ABBA to The Police, music provided the safety net Pete needed to protect him from the tensions of his home life and to navigate his way around the challenges surrounding school, friendships and phobias such as visits to the barber, standing near tall buildings and Rod Hull & Emu. With every passing year, his guilty secret became more horrifyingly apparent to him: his parents were Greek but all the things that excited him were British.”
Follain admitted she pestered Paphides for 17 years to write a book ever since reading his Time Out columns. She said: “At last, I have been rewarded for my patience: Pete has written one of the most extraordinary childhood memoirs I have ever read, full of poignancy, humour and vivid detail, so much so that as the reader you are there in this lost kid’s head, feeling all the feels. Not only that, Pete can write about music like no one else can, and I cannot wait for others to experience what I did when I read his book. It has been worth the wait.”
Paphides, who is married to Caitlin Moran, started his career in music journalism at Melody Maker before going on to write for Time Out, the Guardian, Mojo, Q, Observer Music Monthly and the Times, where he spent five years as their chief rock critic. He has made several music documentaries for BBC Radio 4, contributes to BBC Four music documentaries and he also made a pilot for BBC 6 Music show "Vinyl Revival" which was later commissioned for two series.
IN THIS PHOTO: Paphides is married to the authour, screenwriter and journalist, Cailtin Moran
He said: “At the end of 2016, I started writing down an episode from my childhood without a clear idea of what it was for. Somehow it felt different to previous things I’d written about my early life. Upon a friend’s advice, I sent it to Jo Unwin at JULA and, to my delight, she offered to represent me. By the beginning of 2019, it had turned into a book. The plan had always been to send it to Katy first and I’m thrilled and relieved by her response”.
I will come to the aforementioned Times interview soon, but I would encourage people to buy Broken Greek, as it is as important as any memoir/autobiography from any musician. I think the industry puts a lot of focus on musicians and those at the forefront. Whilst it is important to learn about musicians’ beginnings and discover the sounds that shaped them, I think we should give more spotlight to music critics/journalists. In the interview with The Times, Robert Crampton reflected on his links with Paphides: “I’m five years older than Paphides. Because his obsession with pop music started so young, however, our reference points are almost identical. The thrill of Abba doing Waterloo at Eurovision”. I cannot claim to have had a similar upbringing to Paphides – who grew up above a chip shop in Birmingham; he is the son of Greek-Cypriot immigrants. Though now his life seems very happy and comfortable, his early life was very different and far from where it is at the moment.
PHOTO CREDIT: @rexcuando/Unsplash
The reason for writing this feature – aside from pointing people in the direction of Paphides and his coming-of-age book – was to remark how Pop and music in general can change lives across language and cultural barriers:
“Perhaps this explains why the songs coming from the radio, and later the TV once he’d discovered Top of the Pops, had such a searing, lasting influence on him. “I was trying to find a way into things,” he remembers. “I was curious.” But he was also shy and reticent, reluctant to commit to one culture or another. He was far from being ashamed of his family heritage, but he witnessed his dad’s homesickness – on Sundays, his only day off, the older man would play Greek Cypriot folk music in the flat above the shop. “I felt suffocated slightly by that. It didn’t feel like a joyful thing. There was this disjuncture between the music and where we were. There was a sadness in the air.”
Paphides agrees that, back at the age of seven, he was looking – subconsciously – for a bridge into Britishness. He found it in music. “One impulse for writing the book was that, for those of us who have written about music our whole adult lives, things are different now. We can’t be gatekeepers any more. People used to get their pocket money or wages and open the music press to see what to buy. Now we’re in a ‘try before you buy’ world. People don’t respond to being told what to like, but rather to writing that articulates your relationship with the record. That seems more truthful. We don’t experience music in isolation.”
Another reason for writing Broken Greek was that Paphides wanted to honour the sacrifice of his mum and dad. Now 78 and 82 respectively, they still live in Birmingham, in Solihull rather than Acocks Green where he grew up. Aki works in fashion and lives in south London. The brothers are still extremely close. “It’s a hard thing to give up all your support systems and come to another country. It’s difficult for any marriage to survive that pressure. Theirs has”.
I am not saying British Pop music liberated Paphides and changed his life, but I am moved how a shy and introverted boy living in a different nation (he lived in Cyprus before moving to Britain) was drawn to British music. I love how, in The Times’ interview, we learn about Paphides’ top-fifty albums and his relationship with Caitlin Moran – a person (Paphides) who has a huge heart but, in reality, has come a very long way; the importance music has can be reflected in his 50,000+-album collection and his endless passion for artists new and old. If Paphides’ experiences and heritage is a world away from mine, I read The Times interview – and I have been struck by a lot of the feedback regarding Broken Greek – and found parallels and fascinating takeaways. In terms of my own shyness and introvert nature, music provided me a connection to my peers and people in general. If music now is more digitally-shared and not as communal as it was decades ago – I cannot imagine many children talking about new albums and singles in the playground like me and my friends did in the 1990s -, the way it can speak to people and change their lives is amazing!
For me, British Pop and Dance music helped me make sense of a tough period of my life – from primary school in, around, 1988 through to sixth-form college in 1999 – and made me feel less alone. Although I cannot directly identify with someone like Pete Paphides and his childhood, I was touched by how he talks about music and its power. I can identify with his passion and obsession with music, and how it helped a shy child (and young man) grow and learn. I have discussed my childhood and music before but, after learning more about Broken Greek, it has made me think about music and how it helped me. Paphides, in a way, found a voice/conversation through a variety of artists at a time when his home life was strained and he was feeling isolated – indeed, how the Pop scene and biggest albums of the 1970s would have given him strength and company at a time when life was very unsure and he was struggling with phobias and cultural identity questions. It is remarkable how music, especially Pop, can provide a dialect and friendship that can connect people from different walks of life. Not only did I avidly buy music and digest Pop and Dance (and other genres) so I could share them with friends; the struggles of school and growing up were quite harsh for someone who was (and still is) introverted, shy and anxious.
I learned to read fairly late into childhood, and I found a lot of subjects hard to grasp. Even though I have a degree and did well in the end, school and further education was a struggle, and I felt music provided a comfort blanket and sense of strength that I could not find anywhere else. If Pete Paphides had a sense of guilt regarding his love of British music (and European acts like ABBA), and how that contrasted with his childhood and the fact his parents were (and are) Greek, one cannot underestimate how important music was to him; how it provided belonging and fascination when he needed it most. I could write a larger feature regarding Pop music and how magical it is, but I was blown away by The Times’ interview and what we will learn in Broken Greek. I can, actually, see Broken Greek being turned into a comedy-drama/film – if it is not already in the works – maybe Paphides and his wife, Cailtin Moran, could write it together?! -, because it has that mix of the moving, humorous and familiar. I have never met Paphides before (and probably never will get that chance), but I was fascinated how music changed his life in such a radical way. When I write about my young life and how my musical tastes, I often wonder whether there are like-minded souls and whether anyone can really relate. I am really glad Paphides is settled and happy now, but I cannot get out of my mind the image of the young boy losing himself in music and wrestling with so many questions. His life and progress begs for film/T.V. adaptation – although he might want to keep his childhood and personal life personal -, and many people will be moved to tears when they read Broken Greek. Although his recollections and revelations are unique to him, there are so many people - generations and nations apart - who will feel connected to such an inspiring…
BROADCASTER and journalist.