Miss Claudia profile picture

Miss Claudia

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination

About Me

Writer/sub-editor based in north London. Grew up in East Anglia, but the best place I’ve lived in is Brighton.
I am a music reviewer for the Camden New Journal, as well as being a contributor to Derelict London
Was co-editor of Scene 64, London’s newsletter for mods, with Dave Edwards. Still love all things mod except Jurassic parkas and Jam tribute bands.
I love photography (film and digital) and have a 1960s Super 8 cine camera and a Flip. Recent photos are in my albums, earlier stuff from the mod scene is on uppers and modculture
Like going to gigs and photo exhibitions. Only go to pubs and clubs if they’ve got character, they’re unpretentious, welcoming and don’t rip you off. A bit like the best people.
I keep a blog of memorable nights out – some of the bits I’d rather forget are in there too.

My Interests

Walking round London and Brighton with my camera. Walking the dog.
60s and late 70s street style.

I'd like to meet:

Someone tall, clever and handsome, who lives for music as much as I do.

Music:

60s soul, R&B, ska, British beat, garage.
The Who, Stones, Small Faces & Faces, Booker T & the MGs, Otis Redding, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, Martha & the Vandellas, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley, Freddie King, Brian Auger & Julie Driscoll, Kinks, The Action, Creation, Artwoods, Pretty Things, David Bowie, Them, Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, Free, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Curtis Mayfield, Parliament & Funkadelic, Sly and the Family Stone, Byrds, 13th Floor Elevators, Chocolate Watchband, Iggy Pop, Link Wray, Prisoners/Solarflares, Chesterfield Kings, Thee Hypnotics, Screaming Trees, Dexy's Midnight Runners/Bureau, LTS, Eddie & the Hot Rods, Dr Feelgood, Buzzcocks, X Ray Spex, The Ruts, The Undertones, Five Aces, Mother Earth, This is Seb Clarke, James Hunter.

Movies:

Top five: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Performance, Long Good Friday, Midnight Cowboy, Whistle Down the Wind.
The rest: Anything with Gary Oldman, Nil by Mouth, Sexy Beast, Get Carter, Gangster No 1, Barbarella, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Live & Let Die; The Big Lebowski, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly; Mean Streets/Saturday Night Fever/Quadrophenia, Point Blank, Standing in the Shadows of Motown, Rough Cut & Ready Dubbed, This is England.

Books:

Jake Arnott, Brendan Behan, The Stones - Philip Norman, Small Island - Andrea Levy, McVicar by Himself, This Little Ziggy - Martin Newell, Billie Morgan - Joolz Denby, Milk, Sulphate & Albie Starvation/Dreams of Sex & Stage Diving - Martin Millar

Heroes:

George Orwell, Charles Dickens, Pete Townshend, Mary Quant, Anita Pallenberg, Dusty Springfield, Martin Luther King, Mohammed Ali, Bob Marley, Bruce Lee, Jake Burns and Denys Avis (DJ Wheelie Bag).

My Blog

Menace, Dublin Castle

Well this is going to be a short review. I went to see Menace at the Dublin Castle and narrowly avoided being whacked by four or five boneheads. They'd been throwing beer over everyone, then decided t...
Posted by Miss Claudia on Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:57:00 PST

Small Faces Convention 2008

Here's the review I did for the Camden New Journal. Had such bad flu that day I didn't think I was gonna make it - almost keeled over on the Tube, had more Beechams in me than a laboratory beagle (had...
Posted by Miss Claudia on Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:45:00 PST

Ian McLagan at the Jazz Café - Songs for unsung heroes

I went to see Steve Marriott twice, but only saw him play once. The reason being that the second time not enough people turned up, so he couldn't do the gig. Yes, really. I spoke to him that night  h...
Posted by Miss Claudia on Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:18:00 PST

The Creation, 100 Club, London - Ready, Eddie, Go!

Not many people can say they've been immortalised in song by Boney M  Rasputin is one of them and Eddie Phillips is the other. Have seen The Creation twice before, the first and best time was at Terr...
Posted by Miss Claudia on Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:17:00 PST

Stiff Little Fingers at Meltdown - a religious experience

It's Meltdown time again, this year with acts chosen by Massive Attack, and I'm here because Stiff Little Fingers are going to be playing one of my all-time favourite records, Inflammable Material, 'i...
Posted by Miss Claudia on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:56:00 PST

1968: The Counterculture in Print

Went along to the British Library for a talk on The Counterculture in Print, about London's underground press in the 60s. On the panel were Tony Elliott, who set up Time Out in August 1968, Spare Rib ...
Posted by Miss Claudia on Thu, 22 May 2008 09:36:00 PST

Mick Taylors Bank Holiday Blues

I went down to the river to see Mick Taylor's Blues Summit. Suspect it's going to be a giffer's night out but Mick played on my favourite Stones albums (Let it Bleed and Get Yer Ya Yas Out) so I have ...
Posted by Miss Claudia on Fri, 09 May 2008 05:24:00 PST

Joy Division - The Sequel

Reasons why I don't go to the cinema part 2  Saturday nights are full of couples, who else watches lame shit starring Cameron Diaz? They're also popular with noisy pseuds who pass their broadsheet op...
Posted by Miss Claudia on Tue, 06 May 2008 09:38:00 PST

Saturdays Kids - Mod Life in Camera

Ace photographer Darren Russell is bringing out a book of his photos from the 80s mod scene. It's going to be called Saturday's Kids  Mod Life in Camera. I'm helping Darren to edit it and we're looki...
Posted by Miss Claudia on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:43:00 PST

Sex on a Sunday... with Nicolas Roeg and Nanna Royle

To the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley, for a Nic Roeg double bill  The Man Who Fell to Earth, starring David Bowie, and Bad Timing, with, er, Art Garfunkel.Along with trips to Ikea and office leavin...
Posted by Miss Claudia on Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:45:00 PST