Billy Childish: Archive From 1959 – The Billy Childish Story
David Quantick, Uncut, August 2009
IT USED TO BE 1979. It's now 2009. Billy Childish — author, poet, painter, musician, influence on everyone from Tracey Emin to The White Stripes — will be 50 in December. In that time — the time that U2 have only been U2 — Billy Childish has been The Pop Rivets, Thee Milkshakes, Thee Mighty Caesars, Thee Headcoats, The Buff Medways, The Del Monas, Jack Ketch & The Crewmen, The Musicians Of The British Empire and, of course, Billy Childish. And in that time, the time that music has convulsed and shapeshifted like Morrissey getting a lawyer's bill, Billy Childish's musical vision has remained extraordinarily similar.
Total word count of piece: 792