You can't go home again" is an old saying that simply means that fondly remembered events from the past are impossible to recapture. It was first into the men’s mass market, it had a self deprecating sense of humour and it covered areas men loved, like football, music, clubbing, drinking, women, cult films and so on, all in the one place for the first time. On one occasion, Brown says, the references to narcotics became so overt that the publisher at IPC became worried the drug squad might be about to turn up. Animal House (2021) is the creator and editor James Brown's story of his humble beginnings in Leeds, to becoming become features editor at NME, his three years at the helm of Loaded, his tenure at GQ and his battle with the alcohol and drug addiction that very nearly consumed him. Instead I felt he came across as an ambitious, driven and confident person who knew what he wanted and set out to achieve it.

The James Brown I have got to know, the man who helped me out with numerous employment opportunities, gave me a place to live in London and offered unending advice and encouragement with my writing, is kind, generous, self-effacing and unassuming to the point of anonymity. Brown at least displays self-awareness throughout, yet still finds space to disingenuously fill his pages with accolades whilst feigning disinterest. While Loaded’s sales boomed and he was supposedly enjoying his imperial phase, the truth was that Brown was also self-destructing, blotting out his inner pain with absurd amounts of booze and cocaine. A better book (possibly the next one) would result from more anecdotes, war stories and extracts from old loadeds rather than just a soupcon of an era.I liked the James in this book but I feel he may have hidden a lot of his bad behaviour as he said a few times that he had condensed down the original draft of his anecdotes significantly. For a teen-come-twentysomething, Loaded magazine was the bible of all things music/sport/fashion/film and gonzo journalism right at the centre of what would be known as 'Cool Britannia'. He genuinely means that last bit: a life in magazines might have left Brown feeling like a “beaten up old car”, but he seems to be doing pretty great at the moment.

He decided he didn’t want to do it after my first question, but didn’t have the manners or know-how to end it politely.The story of James Brown’s meteoric rise to the top of the publishing industry, and his subsequent crash, burn and re-birth, is unflinchingly documented in his newly published autobiography, Animal House: Music, Magazines, Mayhem. The partaking of indulgences that often goes hand in hand with rock and roll can lead to habits that are detrimental to health.

Loaded‘s unexpected success legitimised (and paid for) James’s lifestyle, and it wasn’t until he crashed and burned at GQ, and went through rehab, that any sense of perspective kicked in. Where once he posted out zines from a pile in his bedroom, he now has a pile of this book in his bedroom.The Chalke History Festival announces a new name, new look, and tons for history buffs to get their teeth into! It mainly follows James up until he left GQ magazine in 2000, any subsequent work is either not mentioned or very briefly covered.

I was a regular reader of the NME from the late seventies till long after it ceased to be relevant, some time in the naughties. I was explaining you’d have to do something really bad like that, and there’s no point moving into controversial territory. Brown's very personal story is as moving as his tales of debauchery whilst running the country's premier 'lads' mag are hilarious.James Brown worked on the NME, founded Loaded, Jack and Leeds, Leeds, Leeds magazines, and was Editor-in-Chief of British GQ. Loaded reflected this sense of optimism – in contrast to the NME, negativity didn’t feature on its pages. It’s about, celebrities, football, drugs, a crisps World Cup, travelling, partying and a dose of self reflection. This might be true, but they couldn’t truly tame the impulsive and occasionally reckless editor they hired. It tested appallingly in focus groups, but legend has it that Lewis altered the figures, and so the project was greenlighted.