Caroline Boucher
Caroline Boucher has been the deputy editor of Observer Food Monthly and Observer Woman. Trained on a local paper in Kent, her career in the music press happened solely thanks to David Hughes, who'd left the Kent Messenger to join Disc and Music Echo and found her a job there. She left in the early '70s to work as an in-house PR for Elton John at Rocket Records (replacing Penny Valentine, who became head of A&R) and left in 1976 to have children. She is married to music business lawyer Robert Lee (of 'Virginia Plain' fame).
58 articles
List of articles in the library
The Beatles, George Harrison: Beatle Wife Pattie Sets Up Shop...
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 3 August 1968
PATTIE BOYD, a regular customer of the Chelsea Antique Market, changed sides of the counter last week when she opened her own stall there. ...
Bonzo Dog Band: Urban Spacemen DO Exist! The Mad, Mad Mad World Of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 30 November 1968
CAROLINE BOUCHER INSIDE A DOO DAH DEN! ...
Joe South: Eligible Joe just loves his guitar!
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 31 May 1969
JOE SOUTH is one of America's most eligible bachelors. He's 25, wealthy, handsome, suntanned and talks in a deep Southern drawl that seems to come ...
Joni Mitchell: My Personal Life is a Shambles
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 10 January 1970
GENTLE, SHY Joni Mitchell flew into London last week with her friends Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to do her last concert for a long, ...
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 8 August 1970
THE MC5 are a very good, very determined rock band. In the old days when people weren't too bothered about listening to them, they used ...
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 29 August 1970
AFTER A recent concert in Texas, Frank Zappa was accosted by a very smart elderly man, and three society women. "We want you to know ...
Retrospective and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 6 February 1971
Chris Hillman looks back on the Byrds and talks about his 'Brothers' ...
The Faces: Faces "jam" — in a midget studio, or... A Night in the Life of Disco 2
Report by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 8 May 1971
IT'S THURSDAY at the BBC Television Centre, which means it's Disco 2 day, and there's feverish activity in a tiny studio high up in the ...
King Crimson Take To The Road!
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 8 May 1971
IT'S HARDLY surprising that King Crimson are scared stiff at the prospect of their first British gig, for it will be the first time they've ...
Mountain: How the West won 'em over
Profile and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 29 May 1971
Mountain have Leslie West, the best guitarist in the world. Now he's attracting the attention of the other best guitarists in the world... ...
The Band – Or When The Booing Ended
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 29 May 1971
NOBODY SEEMS to know much about the Band. That they're a living legend is a fact, a household name, true, but few people could enlighten ...
Andy Fraser: The Tea-Boy And The Van Driver Join Andy's Group!
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 28 August 1971
ANDY FRASER is, as they say, getting things together in the country. He's got a 400 year old cottage and a three week old hand ...
Review and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 8 January 1972
THIS IS THE story of how Badfinger won the West. They didn't really have to do much in fact. They just went to America, did ...
Humble Pie: The New Filling In Humble Pie
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 8 January 1972
EVERY NOW and again, America latches onto an English band in a big way. Last year it was Elton John, the Faces, and Long John ...
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 20 January 1972
IT'S ALWAYS sad when a group splits up amidst much bad feeling. It's even worse when one member leaves amidst equal bad feelings, and then ...
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 4 March 1972
IT COMES AS something of a shock when the MC5 – long since branded as a revolutionary and rather spine-jarring band – looks deep into ...
Mungo Jerry: Ray Loses that Happy Habit
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 4 March 1972
RAY DORSET, it transpires, is a seasonal songwriter. He writes at the end of the summer and just before the spring, but at other times ...
Rick Nelson: How Ricky Became Rick
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 4 March 1972
A YEAR and a half ago and full of enthusiasm for his new band, Rick Nelson set off for Europe and a tour of American ...
Roxy Music — one year later...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 4 March 1972
ROXY MUSIC must be the only group around who took the trouble of rehearsing for a whole year before doing a concert. And although for ...
Ten Years After: Alvin Lee On The Hassles Of Being A Success
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 25 March 1972
ALVIN LEE is currently suffering from a surfeit of everything. He's had too much touring, too much hype, too much idolatry. Nowadays the band can't ...
Ben E. King Why Ben Stopped Drifting
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 25 March 1972
KEEPING abreast of the times, says Ben E. King, is one of the most important and difficult jobs for a singer. He's been singing and ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 25 March 1972
ASK GENESIS how their careers are progressing and they'll tell you they're superstars in Aylesbury and Belgium, but little known elsewhere. In fact their fame ...
Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa: Captain Beefheart: Zappa stole my ideas, says the Captain
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 1 April 1972
CAPTAIN BEEFHEART is talking about his home, Eureka, where the snails are THIS big — he indicates about nine inches with his hands — and ...
Emerson Lake and Palmer: Why Keith Wants To Become Immortal
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 13 May 1972
KEITH EMERSON would like to be remembered as a twentieth century composer – he thinks about it quite a lot and finds it curious that ...
King Crimson: Fripp Finds the Answer
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 27 May 1972
...in White magic, coloured candles and a witch called Walli Emlark ...
Spencer Davis Group: Spencer Davis: Waiting For The Next Crack-Up
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 3 June 1972
SPENCER DAVIS' ailment is that he's hooked on music. It has made him ill, broke, come near to wrecking his marriage and, although he talks ...
Judge Dread: Here comes the Judge
Profile and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 22 July 1972
AFTER RECEIVING three stab wounds in the stomach, an axe wound on the head and a broken bottle in the face, Alex Hughes gave up ...
Screaming Lord Sutch: Sutch is Life...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 5 August 1972
SCREAMING Lord "Jack the Ripper" Sutch — as he now likes to be known — is currently wearing his grudge on his chest. He is ...
Bobby Vee: Bye Bye Bobby – Meet Mr Villene
Profile and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 26 August 1972
A CLAIM to fame you don't often associate with Bobby Vee is that he once sacked Bob Dylan from his band. Over here having just ...
Joe's Lights: Many Hands Make Lights Work
Profile and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 2 September 1972
A look at the people behind the glitter. Caroline Boucher meets JOE'S LIGHTS, one of the best creative light shows around today ...
Gary Glitter: A Raven in Rich Plumage
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 4 November 1972
"YOU WILL bear in mind that he's got dreadful 'flu, won't you," says Gary Glitter's publicity agent when we fixed up the interview. And sure ...
Roxy Music: Central Hall, Chatham
Live Review by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 11 November 1972
"COR," SAID the bloke behind me after Roxy Music had finished their first number, "I like the way they take the micky out of themselves." ...
T. Rex: The Science Fiction Diplomatic Twentieth Century Robotised Holy Man Sends A Message...
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 11 November 1972
AS THE knockers warmed to their theme last week and adjusted their sights on Marc Bolan, the man himself was being mobbed at London Airport ...
The Jackson 5: Caroline Boucher Meets The Father Of A Phenomena
Report and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 11 November 1972
THE TWO rival fan factions swarm round the Churchill Hotel, Osmond Brothers fans to the left waving up to those windows, Jackson Five ones massed ...
The Jackson 5: The Jackson Five: The Talk of the Town, London
Live Review by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 11 November 1972
TWO DAYS after they arrived, the Jackson Five had the unenviable task of doing a 45-minute spot to the British press at a champagne party ...
Silverhead: guaranteed reaction...
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 25 November 1972
SILVERHEAD HAVE only been in existence for a couple of months, but they're already causing some extreme reaction round the country. One reader wrote in ...
Marc Bolan, T. Rex: The Boogie Merchants: Marc Bolan
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 9 December 1972
CAROLINE BOUCHER takes a bleary, cross-eyed view of Marc Bolan who started life as a Tooting Mod, progressed to a flower child, bopped as an ...
The Faces: And Along Came Jones
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 20 January 1973
BASICALLY SAYS Kenney Jones, the Faces have to be busy because if they're not working pretty regularly they get bored, very bored. And a bored ...
David Cassidy: A Partridge Planning to Leave the Nest
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 10 March 1973
Looking through the eyes of Caroline Boucher at DAVID CASSIDY, with whom she spent a day at his Los Angeles home ...
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 10 March 1973
… from Zappa, whom Caroline Boucher visited at his Hollywood home ...
The Osmonds: Golden Age Of The Osmonds
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 17 March 1973
THE OSMONDS have been around for years and Alan has known success with earlier line-ups, but it is with Donny that the brothers have discovered ...
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band: Free Trade Hall, Manchester
Live Review by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 14 April 1973
"THAT WAS just TERRIBLE," said Captain Beefheart after the opening performance of his tour at Manchester Free Trade Hall last Thursday. ...
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 16 June 1973
PAUL SIMON minus his famous side-kick Art, in part one of his interview with Caroline Boucher ...
Emerson Lake & Palmer: Carl Palmer 'ELPing Himself
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 23 June 1973
SO YOU thought Keith Emerson was a flashy organist? You should see Carl Palmer these days. He's got a two-tone Perspex rostrum which revolves when ...
Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel: Simon on the split... The Paul Simon interview — part two
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 23 June 1973
WHEN CONFRONTED with the inevitable questions about the split partner, Artie Garfunkel, Paul Simon always says now that it is three years since he made ...
Brian Eno: Eno: Blank Frank — the Messenger of Doom
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 2 February 1974
The initials B.F. spell... think about it. Words by Caroline Boucher ...
Hawkwind: Reaching out for higher flings
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 2 February 1974
Hawkwind's Stacia acts it out. Disc's Caroline Boucher writes it down ...
Al Kooper, Lynyrd Skynyrd: Who The Hell Are Lynyrd Skynyrd?
Profile and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 16 February 1974
LYNYRD SKYNYRD is, in fact, a used-car salesman somewhere in Florida. At least, he doesn't spell his name quite like that – the band had ...
Elton John: My life with the Rocket man
Memoir by Caroline Boucher, The Observer, 30 June 1996
Katharine Hepburn in the swimming pool and Stevie Wonder locked in the loo. Just two more problems for Elton John's former PR, Caroline Boucher ...
The Beatles: Copyright: Pepper corn
Interview by Caroline Boucher, The Observer, 23 March 1997
ONE OF the most famous album covers of all time is about to become the subject of bitter legal wrangling. Peter Blake, 64, designed the ...
Captain Beefheart: The Artist Formerly Known as Captain Beefheart (Dir. Elaine Shepherd, BB2)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Caroline Boucher, The Observer, 17 August 1997
WE AT the Observer can boast a couple of ancient links with Captain Beefheart, subject of tonight's Rock Cults programme, The Artist Formerly Known as ...
Keith Moon, The Who: Boozing with Keith Moon
Memoir by Caroline Boucher, The Observer, 18 April 2010
An afternoon with the Who drummer started with him putting wing mirrors on a donkey then went steadily downhill ...
Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant: Going veggie with Robert Plant
Memoir by Caroline Boucher, The Guardian, 20 June 2010
It wasn't easy grabbing a decent stew in Carnaby Street with the Led Zeppelin singer, says Caroline Boucher. ...
Marc Bolan: Brown rice with Marc Bolan
Memoir by Caroline Boucher, The Observer, 15 August 2010
Hippie food in rundown Notting Hill in the early '70s. It was hardly glam… ...
Frank Zappa: Cucumber sandwiches with Frank Zappa
Memoir by Caroline Boucher, The Observer, 17 October 2010
Caroline Boucher recalls afternoon tea with California's king of outrage. ...
Alice Cooper: Burgers with Alice Cooper
Memoir by Caroline Boucher, The Observer, 14 November 2010
Alice had hamburger… and his snake had a couple of mice. ...
Obituary by Caroline Boucher, The Guardian, 18 December 2010
DON VAN VLIET, better known as Captain Beefheart, who has died aged 69 of complications from multiple sclerosis, was one of the most influential American ...
Captain Beefheart: The night Captain Beefheart drove me into the hills in a red Corvette
Memoir by Caroline Boucher, The Observer, 20 August 2017
It's 1974, and a young Caroline Boucher is in Los Angeles to meet scary legend Don Van Vliet… ...
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