Acclaimed music journalist receives honorary doctorate from The Open University

Posted on 8 November 2023 • Honorary Graduate

Former member of early Nineties pop band Saint Etienne and acclaimed music journalist Bob Stanley has been awarded an honorary doctorate by The Open University.

The author and producer received the honour at the OU’s degree ceremony in Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall for his work enriching British cultural and artistic life for the past 30 years and particularly for his contributions to music criticism and journalism.

The audience heard how his writing “exemplified The Open University’s fundamental values of spreading enthusiasm for life-long learning, and an openness to people, places, ideas and methods”.

Bob, who is also a film producer, said his passion for music ignited when his father bought him three paperback books called the Encyclopaedia of Rock at the age of 13.

He said they covered “pretty much all post-war popular music” and it was enough to spark his musical passion.

He told graduating students:

“Essentially, I’ve dedicated myself to my favourite hobby – delving in the byways and backwaters of pop music. I’ve done that for as long as I can remember.”

He gave a potted history of his working life, from starting a fledgling career as a quantity surveyor.

Upon finding it was the wrong path, he started working at Our Price Records where he worked alongside “like-minded souls” and started writing a fanzine.

He said:

“None of this, however, felt like a proper job so doing what I thought was the right thing, I began studying Town Planning at Central London Polytechnic.

“At the end of my first year, thanks to my fanzine, I started to get freelance writing work at the New Musical Express, the NME.

“The head of my town planning course was a woman called Carole James. When I told her I wanted to leave to be a music writer, she told me that her husband was Phil Hardy, who had been the editor of those encyclopaedias of rock I’d been given.

“Still, she didn’t think I was doing the right thing but it dawned on me that music writing could actually be my proper job.

“I was still learning about music. That was my on-going education. I was schooled by the NME, Smash Hits and writers like Tom Hibbert, who took absolutely nothing seriously, and Paul Morley who seemed to take everything seriously.

“Pop music is ephemeral. It should be ephemeral. It is designed to be ephemeral, but I think it also plays a significant part in history. I’ve been very fortunate in turning my hobby into my livelihood and having the chance to write about it.

“I’m humbled by this award. I would like to thank The Open University. Very much. Thank you.”