Fine-tuning 'From Cents to Pence!'

My thanks to everyone who has been asking after the progress of the Marvel UK book.

'From Cents to Pence' is basically divided into three sections. An in-depth history, an index to most of the stories (originated and reprinted alike) published since 1972 (and a few from Annuals before then) and various additional indices listing free gifts, an outline of the contents, formats and precise names of all the comics/Annuals/Specials, plus an creators index to all the originated material... among other items of interest!

One of several, variant potential cover designs

At a 1/4 million words, checking/amending/correcting the 30 chapters that form the history part of it alone is not a quick task on top of the day job etc., but it's coming together very nicely. Right now I'm over half the way through, and with the help of some frequent contributors tidying up some of the loose ends.

My aim has always been to complete this process by the end of the year, if not before, but I have an extra incentive to do so now (and it's a doozy!), which I'll obviously tell you about in due course should our plans come together as envisaged.

As things move along, I'll try to post an occasional update or three, but when an update doesn't surface for a while at least you'll know I'm either completely immersed in the text or prepping material for re:VOX.

More news soon.

A day in the life of LA (Richards)!

A few months after the Blitz Club reunion night in 2011 I had the great pleasure of interviewing the charming Lowri-Ann Richards - one of the members of the early 1980s group Shock - about her wonderfully diverse career. Although I'd expected to run the interview later that year, when she offered me the chance to scan some photos from her personal photo albums it then took rather longer than expected until we could work out the best way of doing it, with five very heavy, very full albums involved.

Thanks to LA for very kindly loaning me the albums for a few weeks earlier this year, I'm now preparing an issue of re:VOX based around that interview (taking advantage of a small gap that's opened up in work on the Marvel UK book, while waiting for some additional information from various folk), and there's some amazing unpublished pictures from that era... plus a few faces you might not expect to see in a magazine about the many worlds of Ultravox!


LA Richards with Tik and Tok (Le Kilt, 1980) - courtesy LA Richards

Expect to see such delights as an early Depeche Mode concert; some back stage photos from the legendary People's Palace Valentines Day Ball; Shock with Gary Numan at Wembley; the launch party for Spandau's Ballet debut LP, plus a whole host of stars from Johnny Ball to Lemmy!

In the meantime, LA has a new show at the end of this month at the Studio in St. James Theatre, London. "Whatever Happened to La La Shockette" is loosely based on her own life and experiences, incorporating music and video clips. Directed by Stuart Saint, you'll only be able to see the show on Saturday 27th July, although LA hopes to be able to restage it at other venues in the near future.

More news on re:VOX #19 in the next month or so.