KEVIN PEARCE WRITES

Kevin was born in 1964, in Dartford, Kent. He still lives in the borderlands between South East London and North West Kent. He is a writer by trade, and is equally at home writing business correspondence and customer newsletter as he is coming up with sleeve notes (something he has done for Felt, Saint Etienne, ZE, Wild Swans, Hurrah! and Jasmine Minks) and reviews for the Caught By The River site.

​

He is probably best known for his book Something Beginning With O, which was published by Heavenly in 1993. While it has been out of print for a long time, and will never be reissued, it is a book that seems to be held in great affection by those who are lucky enough to own a copy. 

​

It is a wonderfully odd little book. It does not contain many words. This is partly because Kevin at the time was passionate about the idea of stripping everything down to nearly nothing. And, quite deliberately, there were lots of lovely photos in the book. Partly this was a result of being inspired by a Small Faces book Paul Weller's Riot Stories company put out in the early 1980s. 

​

Something Beginning With O has been described as a pop manifesto, but it was really intended as a blueprint which took specific elements from pop history and put them together in a new way as if to say: "Now use these ideas". The first half of the book placed the 1960s mod uprising alongside the 1970s punk explosion. The second half told the stories of three inspirational figures: Vic Godard, Paul Weller, and Kevin Rowland. Nobody else was really writing about these people at that time.

​

While Something Beginning With O is not immediately available (but then again who knows where a copy may turn up), this website does give an insight into where Kevin Pearce's writing can be found. And if you would like him to write something for you, then do please get in touch.

​