Alan Burridge

Essays at school in any subject were always a joy, and maths a drudge, so it pointed in the right direction when an essay or poem was published in the school magazine at the age of 14 or so.

Always a keen reader and writer, and with an interest in offset litho printing, the opportunity presented itself in 1979 to write and produce a fanzine for the rock band, Motorhead. It was the punk era, fanzines were trendy, a printing machine was available, an introduction to the band was made and we have never looked back. Now, in 2012, I have the pleasure of saying that I have been running the Motorheadbangers Fan Club for 32 years, with 94 fanzines to my credit.

But going back a little, or perhaps quite a lot, Babylon Books published 'Motorhead' in 1981. A resume of their then 6 year history, the book is now a sought-after collector's item.

In 1993 contact was made with a Canadian publisher, and 'The Illustrated Collector's Guide To Motorhead' was a big hit with the fans. Again, it now fetches high prices in collector's circles as a 'must have' item.

Writing for a lifetime and also writing for and about Motorhead was my apprenticeship and where I paid my dues. In 1999 / 2000 I wrote 'The Message' which was a thinly disguised Jill Dando murder crime thriller. Don't ask me how, but from the minute her assassination was announced I was convinced a hit-man was responsible; and it turned out that I was right.

With quite a few manuscripts already on file, and with others written at the time, another 11 books followed; 7 were crime thriller fiction, one fantasy, one home front war fiction, and two Sci-Fi.

Another Motorhead book, which reprinted the text only from the first 15 fanzines was published in 2002 as 'Diary Of The Fans Volume 1.'

After writing some essays and humorous poetry for a local magazine, along with local photos and postcards, they were published as a local interest book in 2008, titled 'When Upton Had Trains.'

After writing a resume / memoir of post war life and trying to convince parents and grandparents that rock 'n' roll was worthwhile, short reviews of many of the bands who visited the area between 1960 and 1980 were added, and 'Bournemouth Rocks!' was published in 2009 as a unique look at the local music scene.

The idea of Kindle was appealing, and the majority of the fiction output was uploaded at a price most Crime Thriller readers couldn't resist, and the 'Murder In The Village' title achieved a Top 5 position in the Amazon British Detective Story Chart in May 2012.

The Motorhead 'Live To Win' biography was published in September 2012. A lavish full colour 220 page Luxury hardbacked book detailing Motorhead's history from 1975 to 2010, it is a massive hit with the fans

Another local interest book, The Dorset Brick & Clay Drainage Pipe Industry, will be published in 2013.