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The History of MARTIN LEWIS as a Writer
Martin Lewis started his professional life as a freelance journalist in
1970 - writing for the prestige weekly British music magazines such as
NME (New Musical Express), Disc and Record Mirror. As his career in the
entertainment industry evolved in the 70's and 80's - to encompass
publicity, marketing and artist management - and subsequently to
producing and directing stage shows, TV specials, movies and records -
he had less and less time available for his journalism. His writing
work in this period was primarily confined to contributing concepts and
material to his record, stage, film and TV productions - including
several projects featuring Monty Python and Peter Cook - such as the
legendary "Secret Policeman's Ball" series of shows, albums and movies.
In 1990, Lewis distilled his 20 years experience working with entertainers and metamorphosed into an artist in his own right - as a performing humorist. In this capacity he found himself writing on a regular basis again. However, the majority of his writing was for his frequent television appearances - and in the late 1990's- for his critically-acclaimed one-man stage show - "Great Exploitations!" He was also the sole writer for major TV specials such as VH1's inaugural "Divas Live" show - which became the highest-rated show in VH1 history. In 1994 he was invited to contribute material to Monty Python's first CD-ROM - "Monty Python's Complete Waste Of Time" - distinguishing himself as the only non-Python to write and perform on that project. Through the 1990's Lewis became a familiar presence on American TV. Though he initially covered entertainment and pop culture - by the late 1990's he was also in demand as a commentator offering his take (usually sardonic - occasionally serious) on political and social issues. It was his growing stature as a political and satirical commentator on television that led to his return to 'print' journalism. During the American presidential election of 2000 - he was invited to write some articles about the campaign for the website of Time Magazine - Time.com. The success of these essays led to Time.com requesting further columns - and he spent over a year writing for this very prestigious and widely-read website. So - 30 years after his first professional writing - he has found himself back in 'print' as a journalist! Quite separately to his work as a humorist and commentator - Martin Lewis enjoys a reputation as one of the world's leading authorities on the Beatles. Drawing on his Beatles expertise – for he has been a regular contributor to the leading Beatles fanzine - Daytrippin' – for which he writes a column titled "Beatle-ly Incorrect!" He has also written some other articles about the Beatles for Time.com, Daytrippin' and for the acclaimed Abbey Road Beatles website. One of his long-term projects is to present on this website all his articles, interviews and reviews as a journalist from his 1970's archive. This is a time-consuming project. Check back on the Martin Lewis Columns Page periodically to monitor progress! |
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Springtime!