| Music magazine with a tumultuous history. In the 1920s, it was at the cutting edge of popular music. Unfortunately, back then this involved printing articles about "nigger music" (don't get cross at me - that's a direct quotation). It found its feet in the 60s, as pop became as wild, brilliant and chaotic as some of the writing that appeared in the magazine.
MM really hit its stride in 1983, when a junior editor, given responsibility for one issue, decided to ditch the non-entity that the reigning editor had decided go with and risk placing an unknown Manchester band on the cover. He almost lost his job for doing that, and would have if The Smiths had not become one of the biggest English bands of that time.
That single decision defined the appeal of Melody Maker for over a decade. While it's sister publication NME endorsed more conservative rock and equally conservative journalism, MM seemed to deliberately go out of its way to promote pop music and gonzo journalism. The endorsement of unknown bands continued unabated - most famously with the front page devoted to then-unsigned Suede.
Sadly, a change of editor, the lack of objectivity(almost to the point of bigotry) and the fact that most people didn't like MM's build-em-up-and-knock-em-down policy, meant that it had to change direction. It is now, in a word, shite.
Addendum 20/12/00 :
It is also now, in a word, defunct. Today sees the printing of the last ever Maker, meaning that NME is the last surviving inky
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