{{Short description|British journalist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}} {{Use British English|date=September 2016}}
'''Chris Salewicz''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|æ|l|ə|v|ɪ|tʃ}} {{Respell|SAL|ə|vitch}}<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psq6onx8PDg|title=Chris Salewicz In-Studio with Jonesy|accessdate=20 August 2020|type=video|publisher=955KLOS|via=YouTube|date=2019-04-02}}</ref>) is a journalist, broadcaster and novelist who lives in London.
==Career== Salewicz was as a senior features writer for the ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') from 1975 to 1981, where, under tutelage of editor Neil Spencer, he and other journalists were said to have "re-written the book on music journalism". The period Salewicz spent at ''NME'' is regarded by some as a 'Golden Age of Music Journalism',<ref name="guardian2005">{{cite web|author=Neil Spencer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/jul/03/pressandpublishing.popandrock |title=Fraternising with the NME|publisher=Guardian |date=2005-07-03 |accessdate=2013-07-26}}</ref> where, fuelled by the punk rock explosion, the whole genre changed into a complex revolutionary socioeconomic critique rather than the fan club–style journalism of the previous decades. Along with other ''NME'' alumni (notably Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill) of that period, Salewicz's work was soon featured in mainstream publications such as the ''Sunday Times'', ''The Independent'', ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''Conde Nast Traveller'', ''Q'', ''Mojo'' and ''Time Out''; he also wrote for ''The Face magazine''.<ref name=Rocksbackpages/>
Salewicz's time at the ''NME'' allowed him to form close friendships with Joe Strummer of the Clash<ref name=RedemptionSong/> and Bob Marley.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/20/author-chris-salewicz-on-soundsystems-and-jamaicas-global-impact/ |title=Author Chris Salewicz on soundsystems and Jamaica's global impact|author=Marcus Barnes|publisher=Blogs.independent.co.uk |date=2012-08-20|accessdate=2013-07-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101092301/http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/20/author-chris-salewicz-on-soundsystems-and-jamaicas-global-impact/ |archivedate=2013-11-01 }}</ref> His journalism covered some of the experiences he had with them, including the Trenchtown Ghetto, Jamaican Gun Court, and Zimbabwean independence, and Maida Vale Squat, Groucho Club, and a search for Garcia Lorca's bones in Andalucía.{{cn|date=May 2025}} Salewicz's writing and subsequent books on Strummer (''Redemption Song'')<ref name=RedemptionSong>{{cite web|last=Hawkins |first=Paul |url=http://blogcritics.org/books/article/interview-with-chris-salewicz-author-of/ |title=Interview With Chris Salewicz, Author Of Redemption Song: A Biography Of Joe Strummer |work=Blogcritics |date=2007-06-29 |accessdate=2013-07-26|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090925130004/http://blogcritics.org/books/article/interview-with-chris-salewicz-author-of/|archive-date=2009-09-25}}</ref> and Marley (''The Untold Story'') expanded beyond their musical impact into what made them political and cultural icons.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}} In 1995, he and film director Don Letts moved to Jamaica for two years to develop film ideas. Drawing on extensive research, Salewicz wrote ''Third World Cop'', which became Jamaica's highest-grossing film ever when it was released in 1999.<ref name=Rocksbackpages>{{cite web|url=http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Writer/chris-salewicz |title=Chris Salewicz |publisher=Rocks Back Pages |accessdate=January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-111/chris-browne-third-world-filmmaker#axzz6M2WeJG9o|title=Chris Browne: third world filmmaker|newspaper=Caribbean Beat|last=Crosskill|first=Araya|date=September 2011}}</ref>
Salewicz is the author of fifteen books, including ''Rude Boy: Once Upon a Time in Jamaica''; ''Redemption Song: the Definitive Biography of Joe Strummer'';<ref name="nytimes2007">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/books/review/Christgau-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|title=Combat Rocker|date=2007-06-03|author=Robert Christgau|publisher=The New York Times}}</ref> and ''Bob Marley: The Untold Story''. He was the on-screen narrator in 2010's ''{{ill|Beats of Freedom|pl}}'',<ref name="Krakow Post">{{cite web|url=http://www.krakowpost.com/article/1944 |title=Beats of Freedom Premieres in Poland |publisher=Krakow Post |date=2010-03-12 |accessdate=2013-07-26|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723143318/http://www.krakowpost.com/article/1944|archive-date=2010-07-23}}</ref> a documentary feature film, released cinematically in Poland, about how Polish rock and roll helped bring down communism. The same year, Salewicz went into Tivoli Gardens in Kingston to report on the "Dudus affair" for ''The Wall Street Journal''.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704717004575268850282820346 |title=Chris Salewicz: Jamaica's 'Constitutional Crisis'|publisher=Wall Street Journal|author=Chris Salewicz |date=2010-05-28 |accessdate=2013-07-26}}</ref>
==Bibliography== * ''Bob Marley: The Untold Story'' (2010) * ''Redemption Song: The Definitive Biography of Joe Strummer'' (2012) * ''Reggae Explosion'' (2013) - with Adrian Boot * ''Dead Gods: The 27 Club'' (2015) * ''Jimmy Page: The Definitive Biography'' (2018)
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{twitter|chrissalewicz}} * {{imdb name|758152}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121119234032/http://www.sabotagetimes.com/author/chris-salewicz Articles by Chris Salewicz] for ''Sabotage Times'' (2012 archive)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Salewicz, Chris}} Category:British male journalists Category:British writers Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)