SNAPSHOTS OF NELLCÔTE, REDLANDS AND the Rock And Roll Circus, long sealed in a box in a Biggin Hill loft. A Pirelli calendar, photographed by Bryan Adams. A crateful of rare vinyl featuring albums by Captain Beyond, Black Heat, Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes, Arthur Verocai and Agitation Free… These are the sort of artefacts we draw on for a typical issue of MOJO. This month, though, in addition to us finding unseen pictures of The Rolling Stones, Adams’ stunning portrait of Iggy Pop to accompany our new interview, and the raw materials for our 1972 Nuggets feature, our Art Editor Mark Wagstaff also embarked on a particularly unusual quest.
The sacred object he located was a 1963 physics textbook, The How And Why Wonder Book Of Light And Colour, originally priced at three shillings and sixpence and available from Oxfam’s online shop at a very reasonable £12.99. The reason? To shed light on a legendary nugget of rock lore, hidden away for half a century. If you haven’t already worked out The How And Why Wonder Book’s significance, the solution is revealed on page 74. But first, have a look at what the future holds, courtesy of our expansive 2023 preview. Yesterday, today, tomorrow: wherever you look, we’ll always come up with the new angles.