Shortly after Greg Shaw’s death, his ex-wife and business partner Suzy Shaw had her own mission: to cement Shaw’s place in the rock and roll firmament. The result was a gorgeous 2007 hardbound book called Bomp! that was subtitled Saving the World One Record at a Time. In the “Dedication”, Suzy Shaw writes: “The idea for this book came in the early 1980s right after BOMP! magazine first folded. . . . When Greg died I knew it was the most important job I had, as this book is not just the story of BOMP! and Greg Shaw, but a unique document of a time, place, and perspective in the history of rock and roll.”
The co-writer is one of my very favorite musicians (and a prolific writer as well), Mick Farren of the bold English underground rock band, the Deviants. The book opens with the modestly titled “Introduction” by Farren that is as good an overview of the rock music scene as any that I have ever read.
(May 2013)
I wrote the above tribute to Dr. Crow on July 30, 2013, not learning until later that morning that Deviants frontman Mick Farren had passed away three days earlier. Besides his amazing music that is not like anyone else’s – that goes double for his singing voice – Mick Farren regularly wrote articles that I would see in the Village Voice and other places, published numerous science fiction novels, and was a respected rock critic and music historian.
When Suzy Shaw of Bomp! Records determined to write an appreciation of the ground-breaking career and life of her former husband and long-time business partner Greg Shaw (shortly after his untimely death in 2004), Mick Farren was brought in as the co-author of the resulting hardbound book Bomp! / Saving the World One Record at a Time.
(August 2013)
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Following the death of her former husband and longtime business partner Greg Shaw in 2004, Suzy Shaw sought to establish in book form his legacy in the annals of rock and roll. She asked Mick Farren to be her co-writer, and they published an excellent overview Bomp! / Saving the World One Record at a Time. Naturally, the book was mostly composed of Greg Shaw’s writings, actions and antics, focusing on his early fanzines and the formation of Bomp! Records. But the opening essay by Mick Farren, the modestly entitled “Introduction” not only provides a canny observation of the history of rock and roll, but also Greg Shaw’s place in it – concentrating as much on Shaw’s ideas as anything else. The Bomp! book establishes that Greg Shaw didn’t just assemble compilation albums and press records and publish fanzines, and he didn’t just write music history – he actually changed the direction of rock and roll more than once.
About this time, Suzy Shaw had discovered the Wikipedia articles that I had been writing, and I was delighted to see that she had started using some of the copy from them in advertising albums for sale on the Bomp! mailorder website. When I pointed that out, she told me that she was wondering who had written all of that. Suzy even mentioned that Mick Farren had commented to her how good it was – and what could my response be to that except, “I’m not worthy . . . I’m not worthy!” The autograph by Suzy Shaw on my copy of the Bomp! book reads: “Thanks for the brilliant work! Suzy Shaw ’08”.
(March 2014/1)
