ONE OF THE GREAT MAVERICKS OF ALTERNATIVE POP, IT’S TAKEN 40 YEARS FOR PETE WYLIE TO CREATE A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO HIS SINGULAR WORLDVIEW. SINCE STARTING OUT ALONGSIDE IAN MCCULLOCH, JULIAN COPE AND PETE BURNS IN LIVERPOOL’S FAMED LATE-70s ERIC’S SCENE, VIA HIS WAH! COLLECTIVE WYLIE HAS CREATED MANY FABULOUS VARIATIONS ON MEANINGFUL POP. AS HE NOW TELLS US: “I DUCKED OUT EVERY TIME IT LOOKED LIKE I WAS GETTING A FOLLOWING.”
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his house is called Disgraceland, for obvious reasons.” Pete Wylie guides his laptop camera to give Classic Pop a tour of the living room of his home in Liverpool. It’s a riot of colour, impossible to keep track of the collection of books, Funko Pop dolls and memorabilia on the shelves. There’s a painting of the singer by Pete Townshend on the wall. More of that later.
After first sitting on his remote control – “Don’t suppose you want to watch Doctors?”, asks Wylie as the BBC1 daytime soap promptly starts up – the born raconteur spends the next 90 minutes recounting a life in service to pop music. “If all I had to do was music, I’d be fine,” summarises Wylie of his approach to life. “Some stupid person decided I have to live a whole life as well. Really, that’s the hard part for me.”