Garry Bushell

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Garry Bushell
Bushell in 2014
Bushell in 2014
Born (1955-05-13) 13 May 1955 (age 68)
Woolwich, London, England
OccupationMusician, music journalist, author, political activist, television presenter
Subject
  • Music
  • television
Years active1973–present
Children5

Garry Bushell (born 13 May 1955) is an English newspaper

Sunday Express
.

Early life and music career

The son of a fireman, Bushell attended Charlton Manor School and

London College of Printing
simultaneously.

Pink Tent evolved into 1977 punk band the Gonads, who have also described themselves

bouncer brutality) and "Jobs Not Jails" (a critique of the Margaret Thatcher government's policies).[citation needed
]

Lars Frederiksen, guitarist and vocalist for the punk rock band Rancid, with journalist Garry Bushell

Other Bushell musical projects have included the bands Prole, Orgasm Guerrillas, the Ska-Nads and Lord Waistrel & the Cosh Boys. Prole was a socialist punk band that also included Steve Kent, the original guitarist of the Oi! band the Business. Bushell managed the Blood and Cockney Rejects, getting them their EMI deal. He also got Twisted Sister signed in the UK to Secret Records.[3] He compiled the first four Oi! compilation albums and contributed songs to later collections.

Journalism and writing

In 1973, at the age of 18, Bushell joined the

The Skids' EP Strength Through Joy and that he had been unaware of the Nazi connotations. He also denied knowing the identity of the skinhead on the album's cover until it was exposed by the Daily Mail two months later. The original cover model had been Carlton Leach. The same year, Bushell wrote the book Dance Craze – the 2-Tone story, and in 1984, he wrote the Iron Maiden
biography Running Free.

His scathing reviews of the early punk incarnation of Adam and the Ants led to him being name-checked, along with veteran NME writer Nick Kent, in the band's song "Press Darlings", containing the line "If passion ends in fashion, Bushell is the best dressed man in town."[6] On the studio version, immediately after this line, lead singer Adam Ant can be heard muttering "You can say that again, the scruffy sod!"[6] Bushell also attracted the attentions of Crass who responded to his criticisms with the song "Hurry Up Garry" and the Notsensibles who released the song "Garry Bushell's Band Of The Week".

Bushell moved to Fleet Street in 1985, working for The Sun, Evening Standard and the Daily Mirror. He went back to The Sun to write its "Bizarre" column and to be the showbusiness editor. In 1991, he briefly became assistant editor of the Daily Star, where he wrote a current affairs column called "Walk Tall With Bushell", as well as his TV column. Three months later, he quit and returned to The Sun.

In 1994, Bushell was named critic of the year at the UK Press Awards.[7] In the mid-1990s, Bushell hosted the TV programme Bushell on the Box, commenting on the week's TV programmes. The show included rants, interviews, star guests and comedy sketches. It ran for 50 episodes and was number one on ITV's Night Network.[clarification needed] The following year, Bushell became resident critic on Jonathan Ross's ITV series The Big Big Talent Show. He also hosted Garry Bushell Reveals All for Granada Men & Motors. He has appeared on a wide range of other shows, including Celebrity Squares, Noel's House Party, Drop! The Celebrity, Newsnight and This Morning.[citation needed] In 2001, he was resident TV critic of The Big Breakfast.

In 2001, Bushell's

John Blake admitted Bushell had no knowledge of the serialisation deal. After he was dismissed, he started legal proceedings against The Sun who settled out of court.[citation needed
]

In 2002, Bushell published the book King of Telly: The Best of Bushell on the Box, containing highlights of his column. He has since published two more Harry Tyler novels, Two-Faced and Facedown. A fourth is due out in 2021.

After The Sun, Bushell wrote for

The People until 18 February 2007 when he left to work on books and screenplays. He announced his resignation as a TV critic, stating that he was becoming depressed at the state of British television.[8] In 2005, Bushell co-wrote Cockney Reject, the autobiography of Jeff "Stinky" Turner (née Geggus) of punk band Cockney Rejects
, and penned a film script for Join the Rejects – Get Yourself Killed, an abortive feature film project on the band which was replaced by a documentary film, East End Babylon.

Garry Bushell with singer and actress Patti Boulaye

Bushell has published his own autobiography, Bushell on the Rampage, a book attacking the BBC soap opera EastEnders called 1001 Reasons EastEnders is Pony, and a book on UK youth subcultures called Hoolies. He has also co-written the autobiography of Cockney comic Jimmy Jones, Now This is a Very True Story, published in 2011 and a new expanded version of Dance Craze, about 2-Tone, which is subtitled 'Rude Boys on the Road'. In May 2007, Bushell's column returned to the Daily Star Sunday.

In August 2007, Bushell made a remark during a humorous exchange on the Talksport programme Football First implying that homosexuality was a perversion, leading the regulator Ofcom to find the segment in breach of standards for failing to justify offensive material by the context in which it was presented.[9][10]

Ofcom rejected talkSPORT's claims that the comments made had been "off the cuff", and talkSPORT issued a statement saying its staff had been "made aware" that what Bushell had said was "unacceptable".[9][11] Bushell later said that it was not homosexuality which he was referring to as a perversion, but the further lowering of the age of consent; and that his remarks were taken out of context. He has since left talkSPORT. In his 2009 book, The World According To..., Bushell says he made the remark to wind up another broadcaster.

In 2007, Bushell started presenting a monthly punk and ska podcast show on TotalRock, and the Heritage Foundation named Bushell "Critic of the Year". In 2009 he started an occasional punk and ska show called Rancid Sounds for Total Rock radio.[12]

Writing style

Bushell's columns are known for their

Viz, including a one-off comic strip titled Garry Bushell The Bear, about a homophobic, xenophobic brown bear.[13]

Responding to comments made by Bushell in the 25 November 1993 issue of The Sun ("Liberal permissiveness is eating the fabric of our society. You want video nasties peddling stomach-churning filth? You got 'em. Western values? Who needs 'em!"), John Martin's book Seduction of the Gullible: The Truth Behind the Video Nasty Scandal says: "[w]hen Bushell isn't blustering about decency and Western values, he can be found gloating and cracking jokes in his column over such incidents as the death of several transvestites in a sex cinema fire."[14]

Politics

Bushell started his political activism as a

St Patrick's Day is a holiday in Ireland.[citation needed
]

In the

UKIP.[17] He is not now a member of any political party.[citation needed
]

Elections contested

UK General elections

Date of election Constituency Party Votes %
2005
Greenwich & Woolwich
 English Democrats 1,216 3.4
2005
Staffordshire South
 English Democrats 643 2.5

Personal life

Bushell has five children – three with Carol Bushell (Julie, Danny and Rob) and two with Tania Bushell (Jenna and Ciara)– and lives in Sidcup, South East London.[citation needed]

Bibliography

Novels
  • The Face (2001)
  • Two-Faced (2004)
  • Face Down (2013)
  • All or Nothing (2019)
  • Hell Bent (2019)
Non-fiction
  • Running Free – The Authorised Biography of Iron Maiden (1984)
  • Twister Sister – The First Official Book (1985)
  • Diary of a Mad Man (with Mick Wall) (1985)
  • The Best of Garry's Goofs (1992)
  • Cockney Reject (with Jeff Turner) (2005)
  • The World According to Garry Bushell (2008)
  • Hoolies (2010)
  • Now This Is a Very True Story (2010)
  • Dance Craze – Rude Boys on the Road (2012)
  • Time for Action (2012)
  • 1001 Reasons EastEnders Is 'Pony' (2015)
  • Sounds of Glory (2016)
  • 1979: The Ska Revival (2019)
  • 1979: Time For Action, The Mod Revival (2019)

Discography

  • The Gonads: Live – The Official Bootleg (1984)
  • Live & Loud (1988)
  • Back and Barking (1999)
  • Schitz-Oi!-Phrenia (2001)
  • Old Boots, No Panties (2006)
  • Live Free, Die Free (2009)
  • Glorious Bastards (2010)
  • Greater Hits Volume One: Plums (2011)
  • Greater Hits Volume Two: The Mutt's Nuts (2012)
  • Built for Destruction (2013)
  • Greater Hits Volume Three: The Complete Cobblers (2015)
  • London Bawling (2016)
  • All the Loon Stompers (2017)
  • American Gonads (2018)

References

  1. ^ "The Official Online Press Kit!". Maninblack. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  2. ^ Eaton, Duncan (30 December 2006). "Hampshire town tipped to host statue for Benny Hill". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  3. ^ Twisted Sister – The Official Story – authorized biography
  4. ^ "Garry Bushell Interview". Peom.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  5. ^ "Oi! – The Truth by Garry Bushell". www.garry-bushell.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 July 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  6. ^ a b "Press Darlings". Antlady.nl. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  7. ^ www.garry-bushell.co.uk – Garry Bushell by Garry Johnson Archived 24 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Bushell on the Box". www.garry-bushell.co.uk. 3 September 1939. Archived from the original on 16 July 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  9. ^ a b "Talksport rapped over gay jibes". BBC News. 20 August 2007. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
  10. ^ Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin – Issue no. 91 Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, 20 August 2007
  11. ^ TalkSport rapped for homophobia, MediaGuardian.co.uk, 20 August 2007
  12. ^ The Independent (Deborah Ross). For Garry, England and St George: Interview – Garry Bushell, 25 June 2001
  13. ^ "Viz Comic". Viz.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  14. ISBN 0-9533261-8-7
    .
  15. ^ "www.garry-bushell.co.uk". Garry-bushell.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  16. ^ "Garry for Mayor". Garryformayor.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  17. ^ "Bushell joins UKIP party" Archived 7 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Garry Bushell.
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