Let It Rock (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Let It Rock was a monthly British music magazine which featured lengthy critical articles, record reviews, and features covering a wide spectrum of popular music, including soul
, reggae
, and blues
. Between October 1972 and December 1975, 35 issues of the magazine were published in London. Dave Laing was the founding editor of the magazine, and John Pidgeon took over as editor in October 1973. The reviews editor was Simon Frith
, and Charlie Gillett
was consultant editor. Other contributors included John Peel
, Lester Bangs
, Michael Gray
, and the soul music column was written by Pete Wingfield
. The magazine struggled to achieve consistent sales of 20,000 and closed down due to market forces. Music writers David Hepworth
and Barney Hoskyns
have called Let It Rock influential, and suggested that it was the precursor of such music publications as Q magazine
and Mojo
.
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
. Between October 1972 and December 1975, 35 issues of the magazine were published in London. Dave Laing was the founding editor of the magazine, and John Pidgeon took over as editor in October 1973. The reviews editor was Simon Frith
Simon Frith
Simon Frith is a British sociologist, and former rock critic, who specializes in popular music culture. He is currently Tovey Chair of Music at University of Edinburgh.-Background:...
, and Charlie Gillett
Charlie Gillett
Charlie Gillett , was a British radio presenter, musicologist and writer, mainly on rock and roll and other forms of popular music...
was consultant editor. Other contributors included John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
, Lester Bangs
Lester Bangs
Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock 'n' roll criticism....
, Michael Gray
Michael Gray (author)
Michael Gray is a British author who has written extensively about popular music.Gray grew up on Merseyside, attended Birkenhead School, and read History and English Literature at the University of York. Gray subsequently lived and worked in North Devon, Birmingham, West Malvern, London and North...
, and the soul music column was written by Pete Wingfield
Pete Wingfield
Pete Wingfield is an English record producer, keyboard player, songwriter, singer and music journalist.-Career:...
. The magazine struggled to achieve consistent sales of 20,000 and closed down due to market forces. Music writers David Hepworth
David Hepworth
David Hepworth is a journalist and music writer responsible for the launch of many British magazines.Born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, Hepworth attended the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield and Trent Park College of Education, Barnet...
and Barney Hoskyns
Barney Hoskyns
Barney Hoskyns is a British music critic and editor of the online music journalism archive Rock's Backpages.Hoskyns graduated from Oxford with a First Class degree in English. He began writing about music for Melody Maker and New Musical Express, quitting his job as staff writer at NME to research...
have called Let It Rock influential, and suggested that it was the precursor of such music publications as Q magazine
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
and Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
.