Melody Makers tells the true story of the rise and fall of the world’s most influential music publication in history and uncovers an era of tremendous creative freedom. At the heart of the story is Barrie Wentzell, Chief Contributing Photographer of Melody Maker Magazine (1965-1975) and his iconic photographic archive featuring prominent legendary musicians that emerged during the birth of rock n’ roll. Select musicians, and Melody Maker journalists, Chris Welch, Chris Charlesworth, Richard Williams, Alan Lewis, Mick Watts and Allan Jones infuse the film with stories about a unique period when Melody Maker Magazine, founded in 1926 as a jazz musician’s trade paper boldly became the first publication to cover popular music seriously in the early 1960’s, setting the stage for publications like Rolling Stone. Melody Maker captured the attention of the musicians, fans, and the journalists who shared a common passion, the music. Bands were formed from the back page classified section, a pop culture phenomenon!

This landmark documentary takes a fresh look at the changing landscape of music journalism that lead to the end of Melody Maker Magazine, and a style of music journalism that no longer exists today.

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