Bob Stanley

Yeah!: The Story of Modern Pop, was published by Faber & Faber in 2013. His third book Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop Music: A History was published by Pegasus in 2022. He also has a career as a DJ and as a producer of record labels, and has collaborated on a series of films about London.

• Name — Bob Stanley • Birth Name — Robert Andrew Shukman • Born — 25 December 1964 • Origin — Horsham, Sussex, England • Instrument — Keyboards, programming, guitar • Genre — Synthpop, alternative dance, trip hop, indie pop • Occupation — Musician, songwriter, journalist, DJ • Years Active — 1990–present • Label — Heavenly Icerink EMI Disc • Current Member Of — Saint Etienne • Website — Bob Stanley website

Stanley is a member of the group Saint Etienne for which he co-writes songs and produces. Live on stage, he normally plays keyboards.

Stanley was educated at Whitgift School in Croydon, London. After leaving school, Stanley worked in various record shops. While working at Virgin Records in Peterborough he met Andrew Midgley (with whom he would later create the group Cola Boy). The two produced a fanzine called Pop Avalanche in 1986. Stanley also wrote four issues of Caff, a fanzine created with childhood friend Pete Wiggs (with whom he would later form Saint Etienne). In 1987, Stanley sent an issue of Caff to James Brown, then live reviews editor for NME. This led to Stanley's first commissioned work, a review of a Johnny Cash show in Peterborough. After two years he moved to Melody Maker, where he wrote regularly until Saint Etienne became a full-time occupation in 1991. Even as Saint Etienne dominated his career, Stanley continued to write occasionally for The Face and Mojo in the 1990s. In the 2000s he has returned to journalism, writing about art and architecture as well as music. He contributes regularly to various publications including The Times and The Guardian.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Stanley briefly ran a record label called Caff Records, which released 17 7" singles, all limited to 500 copies, including early singles by the Manic Street Preachers and Pulp. Between 1992 and 1994, Stanley and Saint Etienne bandmate Pete Wiggs ran the indie label Icerink Records; the most notable act to emerge from this endeavour was the girl-group Shampoo. In 1996, Stanley ran EMIDisc, again alongside Wiggs, backed by EMI Director of A&R Tris Penna. The label was to be an EMI sub-label devoted to new talent. The label was short-lived, releasing albums by Kenickie and Denim. Stanley and Wiggs also previously ran a CD imprint called Eclipse through Universal. Stanley started his own imprint, Croydon Municipal, via Cherry Red in 2012, specialising in music from the mid-twentieth century.

Stanley is known for his large collection of vinyl records. When Saint Etienne are between projects, he DJs, playing generally 1960s and 1970s pop music and soul. With Wiggs, he ran a club called Don't Laugh in the mid-1990s in Maida Vale. Cherrybomb, a girl group night in Bloomsbury, ran from 2006 to 2009. He regularly works as a consultant for reissue record labels, notably Ace Records. English Weather, which he compiled with bandmate Pete Wiggs, was named The Guardians Album of the Week in January 2017. He has written liner notes for many reissues, including box sets by Joe Meek, Sandie Shaw and the Searchers.

Stanley was once married to Anneliese Midgley but the couple later divorced, although remained close friends: Midgeley later became MP for Knowsley, Stanley having supported her election campaign by allowing her to use the band’s track Only Love Can Break Your Heart in a campaign video. Stanley lives with his girlfriend and their son, dividing his time between London and West Yorkshire. He is of Scottish and Ukrainian Jewish descent.