Barney Hoskyns
Acting
Biography
Barney Hoskyns (born 5 May 1959) is a British music critic and editorial director of the online music journalism archive Rock's Backpages. Hoskyns graduated from the University of 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 a book about soul music. The result was Say It One Time For The Brokenhearted (1987). He went on to write more than fifteen books on musicians and music history. Hoskyns has written regularly on pop culture and the arts for British Vogue, where for five years he was a contributing editor, and for The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Observer and Arena magazine. He has also contributed to Harper's Bazaar, Interview magazine, Spin magazine and Rolling Stone, as well as to Amazon.com and CDNOW. Between 1993 and 1999, Hoskyns worked as associate editor and then U.S. editor of Mojo magazine. Hoskyns' book Glam! Bowie, Bolan & The Glitter Rock Revolution was published in 1998, tying in with Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine. Haynes provided an introduction. In 2000, Hoskyns became senior editor of CDNOW in London. He left to co-found Rock's Backpages, an online library of classic rock journalism that launched in September 2001 Hoskyns has been a regular broadcaster and pundit on both radio and television in the UK, appearing on the Top Ten series (Channel 4), the I Love The 80s/90s series (BBC 2), Walk On By (BBC 2), Behind The Music (VH1) and Classic Albums (BBC 2). He was the consultant on the acclaimed 2005 series Soul Deep (BBC 2). A BBC documentary based on his 2005 book Hotel California: Singer-Songwriters & Cocaine Cowboys In The L.A. Canyons was broadcast in 2007.
Known For
A documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.
Classic Albums
The story of the big names that have shaped the musical genres, plus an occasional stopgap for the new rock 'n' roll - comedy.
Legends
Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison all died at the age of 27 between 1969 and 1971. At the time, the coincidence gave rise to some comment, but it was not until the death of Kurt Cobain, about two and a half decades later, that the idea of a "27 Club" began to catch on in public perception, reignited with the death of Amy Winehouse in 2011. Through interviews with people who knew them, such as music stars, critics, medical experts and unseen footage, the lives, music, and artistry of those who died at 27 are investigated with a bid to find answers.
27: Gone Too Soon
Tom Waits is one of the most original musicians of the last five decades. Renowned for his gravelly voice and dazzling mix of musical styles, he's also one of modern music's most enigmatic and influential artists. Using rare archive, audio recordings and interviews, this film is a bewitching after-hours trip through the surreal, moonlit world of Waits' music - a portrait of a pioneering musician and his unique, alternative American songbook.
Tom Waits: Tales from a Cracked Jukebox
Mark Radcliffe looks at the highs and lows of band life - the creative tension that produces great music and the pressures that come with success and fame, which pulls many apart.
Biggest Band Break Ups and Make Ups
Carly Simon is one of the most influential singer-songwriters of her generation. The classic album that made her a global star was No Secrets, which included the enigmatic song You're So Vain. The album spent five weeks at number one in the US chart.
Classic Albums: Carly Simon - No Secrets
A fascinating and unique look back at The Eagles’ recording of their 1973 album “Desperado” and the era of 1970s Los Angeles that it represents.
Eagles: Desperado
This 53-minute film reviews the most influential album of one of rock musics true giants. The documentary includes rare musical performances never before available on DVD, and obscure footage of comments, criticisms and insights on every track from the album by; writer, journalist, and author of Radiohead: A Guide To Their Music, Mark Paytress; respected rock authority and ex-Mojo editor, Barney Hoskyns; Radiohead biographer Alex Ogg, and more. Through this DVD you can reassesses and get insight into one of rocks seminal works: OK Computer.
Radiohead | OK Computer: A Classic Album Under Review
This film, the first ever to chronicle Lowell George's life, music and career, uses archive footage and interviews of and with Lowell and Little Feat, plus contributions from many of those who knew him best, to visually recount the sometimes ecstatic, other times tragic life and times of this maverick genius.
Feats First: The Life and Music of Lowell George
Starting with the image of a tour bus warming its engine in the stillness of an empty lot, this haunting, personal portrait of music legend Levon Helm evokes the mood of a lifetime spent on the road. Jacob Hatley's extraordinarily intimate documentary finds Helm, a founding member of The Band, at home in Woodstock in the midst of creating his first studio album in 25 years. The ultimate survivor, he's overcome drugs, bankruptcy, the bitter breakup of The Band and a bout of throat cancer -but then, as the rueful title indicates, he wasn't in it for his health