13 Questions with Penny Kiley

On my wall I have a poster showing Liverpool bands through the ages. The bands are broken down into sections such as post-punk, electronica, Mersey Beat and so on. One of the sections is called Adopted Scousers and lists Julian Cope and Elvis Costello as having this honour.

Another name they could have added here is Penny Kiley.

Penny came to Liverpool from Kent to study and fell for the many charms of Liverpool’s late ’70s music scene and, as a result, stayed for many years. One effect of this was picking up a Liverpudlian accent, much to her parents’ bemusement when she started pronouncing the word ‘bath’ with a hard A.

She started to write for Melody Maker as their “Liverpool correspondent and token punk rocker” before going on to write a music column for the Liverpool Echo. As such, Penny became a cultural commentator in her adopted city, writing about bands and scenes and interviewing the city’s main players. This was not always a bump free ride.

Nonetheless, Penny has continued to write, despite having to support this with several ‘real jobs’, a dedication that displays a creative soul.

I recently read a draft of Penny’s memoirs and found such a lot of common ground – gigs we both attended, clubs we went to, records we bought – that I was amazed our paths had not crossed before. We must surely have bumped shoulders on a few crowded dancefloors, but maybe the tribal nature of the late ’70s/ ’80s music scene got in the way (I was very guilty of this in those times).

Her autobiography is candid, open and immensely enjoyable. It perfectly captures the spirit of the Liverpool scene in these turbulent times, but from an immensely personal viewpoint. Here at Sun 13, we hope that this book can soon find a publisher, because it very much deserves to be read.

We asked Penny if she would be interested in taking part in one of our 13 Questions features and received answers that again showcase her engaging writing. Read on to find out more about deadlines, T-Rex and having bad reviews quoted back at you.

Sun 13: Where are you and what are you doing?

Penny Kiley: “In my home office sitting at my laptop. There’s a mug on my desk from the Ramones museum in Berlin (a present from my well-travelled niece). It’s full of pens, because I don’t like drinking out of black mugs. On the notice board in front of me there’s a card with a photo of Another Place, Crosby, sent to me years ago by my friend John Hodgkinson. I like looking at it, even though it makes me sad because he died last year.

“I’ve just finished work for the day, and now I’m going to spend some time on the scanner sorting out old cuttings for my Substack newsletter. I started it last year and the idea is to share some of my music journalism archives and the odd bit of memorabilia. It’s fun, and people seem to like it.”

S13: When did you last make yourself do something you didn’t want to?

PK: “I still have a day job, even though I’m my own boss. Some days I want to do it, and other days I don’t. I like the work (web editing) but sometimes there are more fun things calling me, like writing. But I’ve never missed a deadline yet.”

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S13: Who is the nicest ‘celebrity’ you’ve met?

PK: “I liked Linda McCartney. I met her and Paul in 1979 at a press event I was covering for the Melody Maker. He was professionally friendly but she seemed quite genuine. I don’t really agree with the concept of celebrity though. We are all just people and all equal.”

S13: When did you last get into an argument?

PK: “I have a bad habit of arguing with strangers on social media. I really need to stop.”

S13: What has been your favourite decade for music?

PK: “Gut instinct says 1970s, because of glam rock and punk. But the ’80s were good, too, if you screen out the glossy nonsense. Post-punk and early indie were exciting because there was so much inventiveness and so many different things going on. And I love lots of music from the ’50s too, even though I discovered it all after the event.”

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S13: What is the last album you listened to?

PK: “The last new album was Pohorylle by Margo Cilker. My old boss Allan Jones (former Melody Maker editor) recommended her on Facebook and it ticked the boxes for me: women’s writing + Americana + Lucinda Williams influence.

“The last old album I listened to was Electric Warrior by T Rex. I never get tired of it. Marc Bolan was a genius, but so was Tony Visconti who produced it.”

S13: When did you last consider quitting social media?

PK: “I consider it at least once a week, because I don’t like being addicted. More often since Mr Musk took over Twitter. But, for an introvert, it’s so easy compared to real life.

“Also, I’ve met so many like-minded friends on social media. And Facebook keeps me in touch with what’s happening in Liverpool, and I’d miss that.”

S13: What’s the best night out you’ve ever had?

PK: “It’s a bit sad to choose something that was 40-odd years ago but there were many memorable nights at Eric’s – The Clash, The Cramps, Jonathan Richman… But I guess I should choose the Seel Street pub crawl where I met my husband, near the end of the last century. All the better because it was unexpected.”

The Clash play Liverpool Eric’s

S13: Vinyl, CD, MP3 or Streaming?

PK: “Vinyl at home, CDs for driving. I keep thinking I should investigate streaming as a way of discovering new stuff. But I have enough old stuff to keep me going.”

S13: What words of warning would you give your younger self?

PK: “It doesn’t matter, because I wouldn’t have listened.”

S13: When were you last told off?

PK: “See above about arguments. I then get told off by myself.

“When I was working as a music journalist, I used to get musicians (and their fans) quoting my reviews back at me. But only the bad ones. They never seemed to remember the times I said nice things about them.”

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S13: What is your favourite view?

PK: “The coast. I live down south now in a landlocked county so I really miss the sea. I have favourite south coast places for holidays these days, like Swanage and Margate. But I also have happy memories of Formby beach, Otterspool prom and North Wales.”

S13: Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.  Is there anything else you’d like to say?

PK: “Please sign up for my Substack. – https://pennykiley.substack.com/”