Simon Goddard

Simon Goddard (born Cardiff, 21 December 1971) is a British author and music journalist.

He was born in Wales, later moving to Scotland.[1] Though a writer by profession, Goddard originally went to art school in Carlisle, then Hull, and briefly considered a career in visual media. In 1995 he directed his one and only pop promo for Edwyn Collins[2] (the subject of one of his future books, Simply Thrilled). He started freelance writing the following year and eventually found regular work as a music journalist in London. He has written for various magazines and newspapers including Mojo, Uncut, The Guardian and Record Collector. In 2006 he joined Q magazine where he remained a Contributing Editor until it ceased publication in 2020. Goddard has also supplied the accompanying essays to two deluxe collections by esteemed rock photographer Tom Sheehan[3][4] and written several sleevenotes including reissues by Orange Juice, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Nico and Soft Cell.

His first two books, Songs That Saved Your Life and Mozipedia, established his initial reputation as an authority on The Smiths and their former lead singer Morrissey. The latter was voted Book Of The Year by readers of Mojo magazine and has since been published in America by Plume, and in Brazil by Leya.

In the wake of Mozipedia, Goddard’s writing style and choice of subjects has broadened considerably, adopting a frequently unorthodox approach to popular music narratives. Ziggyology (2013) presented an evolutionary history of David Bowie’s extraterrestrial Ziggy Stardust persona, taking as its starting point the creation of the universe itself.[5] Simply Thrilled (2014) was the first biography of the influential Scottish indie label Postcard Records written as a whimsical post-punk comedy of manners.[6] Rollaresque (2015) was a "mock-picaresque biographical novel" documenting the early adventures of The Rolling Stones as if it had been written in the 19th century.[7] In 2018, his novelistic The Comeback, telling the story of Elvis Presley and his 1968 Comeback Special, made both Q and Mojo magazines' Music Books Of The Year lists,[8] described as "a genre-busting modernist rock'n'roll fable".[9]

October 2020 sees the publication of Bowie Odyssey 70, the first in his intended decology chronicling the life of David Bowie through the 1970s, year by year.[10]