View source for Bob Stanley (musician)

{{Short description|British musician}}{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{BLP sources|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| image           = Bob Stanley in Essex, taken in 2009 (cropped).jpg <!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people. Non-free and "fair use" images, e.g. promo photos, CD/DVD covers, posters, screen captures, etc., will be deleted - see [[WP:NONFREE]] -->
| landscape       =
| image_size      =
| name            = Bob Stanley
| caption         = Stanley in 2009
| birth_name      = Robert Andrew Shukman
| alias           =
| birth_date      = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1964|12|25}}
| death_date      =
| origin          = [[Horsham]], Sussex, England
| instrument      = Keyboards, programming, guitar
| genre           = [[Synthpop]], [[alternative dance]], [[trip hop]], [[indie pop]]
| occupation      = Musician, songwriter, journalist, DJ
| years_active    = 1990–present
| label           = [[Heavenly Records|Heavenly]]<br />[[Icerink Records|Icerink]]<br />[[EMI Disc]]
| associated_acts = [[Saint Etienne (band)|Saint Etienne]]
| website         = [http://www.bobstanley.co.uk/ Bob Stanley website]
}}
'''Bob Stanley''' (born '''Robert Andrew Shukman'''; 25 December 1964) is a British musician, journalist, author, and film producer. He is a member of the [[indie pop]] group [[Saint Etienne (band)|Saint Etienne]] and has had a parallel career as a [[music journalism|music journalist]] and author, writing for ''[[NME]]'', ''[[Melody Maker]]'', ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'', ''[[The Guardian]]'' and ''[[The Times]]'', as well as writing several books on music and football. His second publication, ''Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Modern Pop'', was published by [[Faber & Faber]] in 2013.  His third publication ''Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop Music: A History'' was published by Pegasus in 2022. He also has a career as a DJ and as a producer of [[record label]]s, and has collaborated on a series of films about London.
==Saint Etienne==
{{main|Saint Etienne (band)}}
Stanley is a member of the group [[Saint Etienne (band)|Saint Etienne]] for which he co-writes songs and produces. Live on stage, he normally plays keyboards.
==Writing==
===Journalism===
Stanley was educated at [[Whitgift School]] in [[Croydon]], [[London]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://whitgiftianassociation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/OW-NEWS-2013-14.pdf|title=OW News 2013-2014|website=Whitgiftianassociation.co.uk|access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref> After leaving school, Stanley worked in various record shops. While working at [[Virgin Records]] in [[Peterborough]] he met [[Andrew Midgley]] (with whom he would later create the group [[Cola Boy]]). The two produced a fanzine called ''Pop Avalanche'' in 1986. Stanley also wrote four issues of ''Caff'', a fanzine created with childhood friend [[Pete Wiggs]] (with whom he would later form Saint Etienne).
In 1987, Stanley sent an issue of ''Caff'' to [[James Brown (editor)|James Brown]], then live reviews editor for ''NME''. This led to Stanley's first commissioned work, a review of a [[Johnny Cash]] show in Peterborough. After two years he moved to ''Melody Maker'', where he wrote regularly until Saint Etienne became a full-time occupation in 1991.
Even as Saint Etienne dominated his career, Stanley continued to write occasionally for ''[[The Face (magazine)|The Face]]'' and ''Mojo'' in the 1990s. In the 2000s he has returned to journalism, writing about art and architecture as well as music. He contributes regularly to various publications including ''The Times'' and ''The Guardian.''
===Books===
Stanley has written two books that document the history of popular music. The 2013 book ''Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop'' examines the history of pop music from the publication of the first British pop chart in 1952 until the advent of [[iTunes]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stanley |first=Bob |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/855197679 |title=Yeah yeah yeah: the story of modern pop |date=2013 |publisher=Faber and Faber |isbn=978-0-571-28197-8 |location=London |oclc=855197679}}</ref> Its followup, the 2022 book ''Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop Music: A History,'' examines the history of popular music from the start of recorded music until the advent of rock and roll in the early 1950s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stanley |first=Bob |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Lets-Do-It/Bob-Stanley/9781639364633 |title=Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop Music: A History |date=2023-07-11 |publisher=Pegasus Books |isbn=978-1-63936-463-3 |language=en}}</ref> ''Let's Do It'' was originally titled ''Too Darn Hot''.<ref name="BBC" />
In 2007, with [[Paul Kelly (film maker)|Paul Kelly]], Stanley edited ''Match Day'', a book of football programme artwork.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Keating |first=Frank |date=2006-10-24 |title=Not so much a programme, more a way of life |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/oct/24/football.comment |access-date=2024-11-23 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
In 2023, Stanley published ''Bee Gees: Children of the World'', a biography of the [[Bee Gees]], with Nine Eight Books, an imprint of [[Bonnier Group|Bonnier Books]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Riddle |first=Alex |date=2023-03-07 |title=Nine Eight Books to publish Bob Stanley’s 'stylish and compelling' biography Bee Gees: Children of the World |url=https://www.bonnierbooks.co.uk/news-and-media/nine-eight-books-to-publish-bob-stanleys-stylish-and-compelling-biography-bee-gees-children-of-the-world/ |access-date=2024-11-23 |website=Bonnier Books |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Andrew |date=2023-06-20 |title=Bee Gees: Children of the World by Bob Stanley review – very high and mighty |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jun/20/bee-gees-children-of-the-world-by-bob-stanley-review-very-high-and-mighty |access-date=2024-11-23 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
Stanley was the winner of the 2017 Eccles [[British Library]] Writers in Residence Award,<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38827272|title=Bob Stanley on tracing the pre-history of pop music|work=BBC News|date=3 February 2017|access-date=12 March 2017}}</ref> which supported his research for ''Let's Do It'' using the Library's American collections.
==Film==
While recording the album ''[[Finisterre (Saint Etienne)|Finisterre]]'' in 2002, Stanley, Pete Wiggs and frequent collaborator [[Paul Kelly (film maker)|Paul Kelly]] made a film to accompany the record, also titled ''Finisterre'', which was described by ''[[The Observer]]'' as a "cinematic hymn to London".<ref>{{cite web|author=Sean O'Hagan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/oct/23/popandrock |title=St Etienne speak to Sean O'Hagan about their new film &#124; Film &#124; The Observer|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=23 October 2005 |access-date=5 June 2014}}</ref> It premiered at the [[Institute of Contemporary Arts]] in London and was screened around the world by [[one dot zero]].
In 2005, Saint Etienne and Kelly were invited by the [[Barbican Centre]] to create a film and music event, for which they made ''[[What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day]]'', a drama-documentary set in the [[Lower Lea Valley]], the site for the [[2012 Summer Olympics|2012 Olympic Games]]. In 2007, their third London film, ''[[This Is Tomorrow]]'', a history of the [[Southbank Centre]], premiered with a live performance, including a 60-piece orchestra, at the [[Royal Festival Hall]].
Kelly and Saint Etienne collaborated again on ''How We Used to Live'' (2014), which has been described as "a cherishable, woozy-hazy trawl of London from postwar days to yuppiedom".<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jun/05/how-we-used-to-live-review| title = How We Used to Live| author = McCahill, Mike| date = 5 June 2014| access-date = 21 August 2014|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>
Stanley has curated several film seasons for arts institutions including the Barbican, including Gonna Make You A Star (a series of pop documentaries) and Britain Learns to Rock (early British Rock'n'Roll movies).
In 2016, he was commissioned by [[14-18 NOW|14-18 Now]] as creative producer on a project to explore the impact of the First World War on the north-east of England. The resulting film and music commission, Asunder, featuring a film directed by artist-filmmaker Esther Johnson, co-produced and scripted by Stanley, and a soundtrack by [[Field Music]] and Warm Digits, premiered at the Sunderland Empire in July 2016 and later toured to the Barbican in London.
In 2017, as part of Hull 2017: [[UK City of Culture]]'s Mind on the Run season exploring the influence and legacy of jazz composer [[Basil Kirchin]], Stanley co-directed a short film, ''Abstractions of Holderness'', filmed in the isolated area of the east coast of England where Kirchin settled in the 1970s. [[Pete Wiggs]] composed the soundtrack, which was performed at the Mind on the Run concert by the BBC Concert Orchestra and various musicians who had collaborated with Kirchin in the past.
==Record labels==
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Stanley briefly ran a [[record label]] called [[Caff Records]], which released 17 7" singles, all limited to 500 copies, including early [[single (music)|singles]] by the [[Manic Street Preachers]] and [[Pulp (band)|Pulp]]. Between 1992 and 1994, Stanley and Saint Etienne bandmate [[Pete Wiggs]] ran the indie label [[Icerink Records]]; the most notable act to emerge from this endeavour was the girl-group [[Shampoo (band)|Shampoo]]. In 1996, Stanley ran EMIDisc, again alongside [[Pete Wiggs|Wiggs]], backed by EMI Director of A&R [[Tris Penna]]. The label was to be an EMI sub-label devoted to new talent. The label was short-lived, releasing albums by [[Kenickie]] and [[Denim (band)|Denim]]. Stanley and Wiggs also previously ran a CD imprint called Eclipse through [[Universal Music Group|Universal]]. Stanley started his own imprint, Croydon Municipal, via [[Cherry Red Records|Cherry Red]] in 2012, specialising in music from the mid-twentieth century.
==Record collecting==
Stanley is known for his large collection of vinyl records. When Saint Etienne are between projects, he DJs, playing generally 1960s and 1970s pop music and soul. With Wiggs, he ran a club called Don't Laugh in the mid-1990s in [[Maida Vale]]. Cherrybomb, a [[girl group]] night in [[Bloomsbury]], ran from 2006 to 2009.
He regularly works as a consultant for reissue record labels, notably [[Ace Records (United Kingdom)|Ace Records]]. ''English Weather,'' which he compiled with bandmate Pete Wiggs, was named ''[[The Guardian]]''{{'}}s Album of the Week in January 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/26/bob-stanley-and-pete-wiggs-present-english-weather-review-ace|title=Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs present English Weather review – the sound of the post-60s hangover|first=Alexis|last=Petridis|date=26 January 2017|access-date=15 July 2020|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> He has written liner notes for many reissues, including [[box set]]s by [[Joe Meek]], [[Sandie Shaw]] and [[The Searchers (band)|The Searchers]].
== Bibliography ==
* ''Match Day: Official Football Programmes.'' London:Fuel, 2006.
* ''Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé''. New York:[[W. W. Norton & Company]], 2014.
* ''Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop Music: A History''. New York:Pegasus Books, 2022.
== Personal life ==
Stanley lives with his girlfriend and their son, dividing his time between London and West Yorkshire.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Collingwood |first=James |date=2022-06-22 |title=Bob Stanley talks ‘Let’s Do It: The Birth of Pop’ » We Are Cult |url=https://wearecult.rocks/bob-stanley-talks-lets-do-it-the-birth-of-pop |access-date=2024-11-23 |website=We Are Cult |language=en-GB}}</ref> He is of [[Scottish people|Scottish]] and [[History_of_the_Jews_in_Ukraine|Ukrainian Jewish]] descent.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/bob-stanley-30|title=Bob Stanley|date=15 July 2020|access-date=23 July 2023|newspaper=[[Record Collector]]}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Saint Etienne}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Bob}}
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Musicians from the London Borough of Croydon]]
[[Category:People from Croydon]]
[[Category:Alternative dance musicians]]
[[Category:British club DJs]]
[[Category:English DJs]]
[[Category:English keyboardists]]
[[Category:English record producers]]
[[Category:English male songwriters]]
[[Category:British remixers]]
[[Category:Melody Maker writers]]
[[Category:The Guardian journalists]]
[[Category:The Times people]]
[[Category:People educated at Whitgift School]]
[[Category:English people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent]]