I've always believed that this guy was an irritating, nasal-voiced twat, more from reading others opinions of him - I never had Channel 4 during the 1990s so missed out on the yoof phenomenon that was The Word. Anyway, while in a book shop the other day, I picked up his newly published auto-biography and had a flick through (saw Alex James' new book too - any Mackey slurs in that I wonder like in The Last Party?), images of Pulp's fantastic performance of Lipgloss on The Word going through my mind (you know, the tv bit on the Hits DVD where Mark Webber looks like Michael Bolton's, disshelved, younger cousin). A pleasant surprise then to see, while flicking through the pages, a little paragraph on the rake of hopeless "music press three week wonders" bands he had on the show - over many of whom he clashed with the show's band-booker, on account of their shiteness. Then he mentions how Pulp were the complete anti-thesis to this, as they had struggled on for years while trying to do something different and entertaining.
An interesting anecdote he shared was telling Jarvis in the green room when Pulp performed on The Word how much he had loved the single They Suffocate At Night and that he had regularly played it on his radio show (Manchester presumably?) around the time of its release. A brief peruse through Truth And Beauty reveals that BBC Radio 1 played the song a few times on a Saturday afternoon show aswell; probably the first Pulp single to get some admirers in DJ circles.
Anyway, Terry Christian - he may still be a tosser; but at least he's one with taste.
