Ted Kessler on the Franks, Sultans, and the decline of the music press

Ted Kessler's memoir, Paper Cuts, covers the highs and lows of his time as editor of Q magazine

Ted Kessler, former editor of Q magazine. 

Ted Kessler was visiting Cork recently when was surprised to see a poster advertising a gig by the Frank and Walters. It brought back memories of the time he interviewed the Franks as a young writer eager to claim a toehold in the London music press. He was surprised to discover the iconic Leeside band remained a going concern.

“I couldn’t believe they were still playing. Who else was it [from Cork]? A House?,” he says. Is he perhaps thinking of the Sultans of Ping – the other stars of the “Corkchester” scene the NME tried to make happen circa 1993?