Matt Johnson & the unique story of The The plus George Michael and the sunbed

2026-04-01

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Matt Johnson’s life story has been mapped out as one long Q&A conversation from meetings with old friend, fan and BFI director Jason Wood. ‘Cognitive Dissident’ traces his trajectory from the East End to Soho to the beloved albums he made with a series of super-groups and his 2021 comeback. He looks back here at … … his earliest musical memories – Donovan, the Move, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown … the old East End and the Two Puddings pub run by his parents, “full of ghosts”, Bobby Moore, Francis Bacon and the Krays ...

… his earliest musical memories – Donovan, the Move, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown

… the old East End and the Two Puddings pub run by his parents, “full of ghosts”, Bobby Moore, Francis Bacon and the Krays

… his Uncle Kenny promoting the Who, the Kinks and Jerry Lee Lewis

… “Get yourself on a sunbed!” and other advice from George Michael

... what he learnt at De Wolfe Music, aged 15, in the red-light Soho of the late ‘70s

… legendary manager Stevo signing the band’s CBS contract at midnight in Trafalgar Square

… “cigarettes, coffee, warm analogue equipment”: the Proustian scent of old studios

… his NME ad recruiting The The members via the Residents, the Velvet Underground, Syd Barrett and Throbbing Gristle

… being part of “the Long Mack Brigade” with Cabaret Voltaire, This Heat, Wire and the Gang of Four

… Leonard Cohen’s premonition of the internet

… the Albert Hall: “like a tennis player playing Wimbledon”

… the genius of Hank Williams