Lloyd Bradley

Born in London to recent Jamaican immigrants,[1] Bradley discovered Jamaican music during his teenage years, while going out in the North London-based sound systems and created his own, named "Dark Star System", in the late seventies.

He worked on several magazines in their early years, including Q and Empire for Emap Metro, and launched Big! for the same company. Together with Mat Snow, he developed Maxim for Dennis Publishing, and worked on the launch of Encore magazine in 1994 for Haymarket. He then joined GQ as an editor, moving in 2003 to US company Rodale as an editorial consultant on Men's Health and Runner's World magazines.

Bradley is currently a freelance journalist and consultant for many titles, and is developing a series of international city running guides and health and fitness books. He is also working on a biography of George Clinton, that sets P-Funk in its correct socio-political context. His journalistic contributions have been published in NME, Black Music magazine, The Guardian and Mojo, among other publications.

Bradley's Bass Culture (2001) is considered as one of the most important books on reggae music,[1] and he was associate producer of the BBC2 series Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music. His most recent book is Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital, which was published to positive reviews in 2013.[2][3][4][5]

Lloyd Bradley is also a classically trained chef.[6]

• Rock Year Book Vol. 9, Virgin Books, 1988. ISBN 0-86369-278-8
• Rock Yearbook, St Martin's Press, UK, 1989. ISBN 0-312-02134-8
• With Gary Glitter, Leader: The Autobiography of Gary Glitter, London: Ebury Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0852239773
• Soul on CD: The Essential Guide, 1994, Kyle Cathie Ltd, UK, ISBN 1-85626-162-X
• Reggae on CD: The Essential Guide, first edition, Trafalgar Square Publishing, UK, 1996, ISBN 1-85626-177-8
• Rod Stewart: Every Picture Tells a Story, London Bridge, UK, 1999. ISBN 1-85410-657-0
• Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music, photographs by Dennis Morris, BBC Books, UK, 2001. ISBN 0-563-48807-7
• Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King, Penguin Books Ltd, UK, 2001. ISBN 0-14-023763-1. Different editions:
  • USA: This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music, Grove Press, USA, 2001. ISBN 0-8021-3828-4
  • France: Bass Culture: Quand le Reggae était roi, translation Manuel Rabasse, 2005, Editions Allia, France. ISBN 2-84485-174-6
  • Germany: Bass Culture Der Siegeszug des Reggae, Hanibal. ISBN 3-85445-209-8
  • Japan: Bass Culture, Shinko. ISBN 978-4-401-63145-2
  • Italy: Bass Culture: La Musica dalla Giamaica: ska, rocksteady, roots reggae, dub & dancehall, Shake Edizioni. ISBN 978-88-88865-68-3
  • Spain: Bass Culture: La historia del reggae, translation Tomás González Cobos. Acuarela & A. Machado, Spain. ISBN 978-84-7774-217-3
• The Rough Guide To Running, Rough Guide, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84353-909-4
• The Rough Guide to Men's Health, Rough Guide, 2009. ISBN 978-1-84836-004-4
• Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital, London: Serpent's Tail, 2013. ISBN 978-1846687617
• With Ian Wright, A Life in Football: My Autobiography, London: Constable, 2016, ISBN 978-1472123589
• With Marcia Barrett, Forward: My Life With and Without Boney M., Constable, 2018, ISBN 978-1472124425

• LLoyd Bradley Profile at The Guardian.
• Lloyd Bradley page at Rock's Back Pages.