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Justin Lewis

@whenisbirths.bsky.social

3.1K followers 1.5K following 16K posts

Author/editor/carer, S Wales, probably autistic: NEW BOOK!: Into the Groove, out on 2 Oct 2025. Textcast archive: https://firstlastanything.co.uk/about/ (next run of eps from late Oct) Email: [email protected] ko-fi.com/firstlastanything .. more

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Justin Lewis is a Professor of Communication and Creative Industries at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University. He is the Director of Clwstwr, an Arts and Humanities Research Council and Welsh Government funded Research & Development innovation centre for the Screen and News sectors and Media Cymru, a £50 million, 23 partner consortium, funded by UK Research and Innovation, Cardiff Capital Region and Welsh Government, designed to boost inclusive and sustainable media sector innovation in Wales. He is also Chief Field Editor for Frontiers in Communication, a global Open Access publisher. .. more

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 8d

OUT NOW, my month-by-month guide to 1980s pop, from ABC to XTC, and from Madonna to Neneh. #IntoTheGroove, published by @eandtbooks.bsky.social.

Cover of
INTO THE GROOVE: THE 1980s:
THE ULTIMATE DECADE IN MUSIC HISTORY
by Justin Lewis (me)

'An epic compendium of stories and trivia from the 80s music scene'

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

(Obviously this book was written in 2022/23, since when the Smokey R story has taken a more depressing turn.)

Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

The First Class Beach Baby Symphony.

Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

I'd forgotten all about that bit. Thanks!

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

There's more of that next week! I enjoy doing it very much, but it does require me to be in a very concentrated mode.

Reposted by Justin Lewis

Andrew Beasley @andrewbeasleyfootball.com · 2h

If it helps, I’m reading Don’t Stop The Music - got to this entry earlier, the two lines of which made me smile. So thank you.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

Thanks. We've been having our windows replaced this week as well, which has had its own stresses...

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

Didn't want to get up today. Feel overwhelmed af. I am firing on no cylinders.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

Of all the phraseology I've used on social media, the one I regret most is any post beginning 'Regular reminder' or anything similar. Regardless of intention, the effect is 'I am SO clever'. Sorry I used to do that.

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Reposted by Justin Lewis

Michael Spicer @michaelspicer.bsky.social · 4h

stop thinking right now

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Reposted by Justin Lewis

Joanna Wyld @joannawyld.bsky.social · 4h

'As if ethics expire the moment something new arrives' – interesting article by Tarik O'Regan
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

‘I’m a composer. Am I staring extinction in the face?’: classical music and AI

Technology is radically reshaping how we make music. As I dug deeper into this for a radio 3 documentary I began to wonder if creative organisations are right to be so upbeat about AI. Are we riding t...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Justin Lewis

Pete Paphides @petepaphides.bsky.social · 4h

I'd love to know what every comedian who played the Riyadh Comedy Festival thinks of this piece by Jonathan Liew. It's an electrifying read. And really hard to think what any counter-justification from the participating comics would consist of. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

We know what the comedians got out of the Riyadh comedy festival. What about the Saudi regime? | Jonathan Liew

The tawdry event was an ultimately doomed attempt by the Saudi government to buy the kind of authentic grassroots culture it is unwilling to countenance, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew

www.theguardian.com

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 15h

I think so. It began as a caption in the credits and about halfway through the first series, the announcer voiced it instead. I think you can tell a real audience, you hear different kinds of laugh, individuals. And other kinds of reactions too, like gasps.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 15h

They also did this for Soap as well over the credits except there they used to say ‘Soap is videotaped before a live studio audience’.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 16h

'ALL FOUR OF THEM'

Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 16h

Gone 31 years.

Me aged probably about six or seven with my much-missed dad.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 16h

After Glen's finished, obviously.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 16h

As Nicholas Parsons would have been 102 today, I really think there's only one way to celebrate and it's to watch Mr Jolly Lives Next Door. #TerryScottsWinners

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 16h

He sings them very well but I want more of each one.

Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 17h

I'd have liked a bit more Good Vibrations, myself. Like all of it.

Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 17h

'Hmm, a medley, though' #bbc4

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 17h

Excellent use of orchestra too.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 17h

Recommend Glen Campbell on BBC4 right now. Every one a winner.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 17h

But interesting point about the vocal because at the time I thought, 'This vocal is different'.

Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 17h

I think I bought both of those as import CDs from Germany, they were about seven quid or something, a lot of money then (and I was a student).

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Reposted by Justin Lewis

Nik Horne @nikhorne.bsky.social · 17h

I bought that one too, along with Being Remixed. It gets a mention in this year’s “Annually”. (I actually quite like the UFO mix of It must be obvious! It is weird though.)

I may have my facts wrong here, but I think you're one of only two artists that have had a remix from the KLF. Depeche Mode had a remix of "Policy Of Truth". I've only heard the story from Bill Drummond's point of view, that he was doing a remix of "So hard", and you had to turn up to Trans Central to re-record vocals. Do you have any other memories of working with the KLF?

NT: This would have been 1990. I remember getting a taxi to their studio in what you would now call a
"sketchy" part of Brixton. And we pulled up, and the taxi driver turned to me and said: "If you don't mind, I'm just going to wait and make sure you're alright in there." Because it looked like a squat. But there they were, in the basement, and it was a good mix, and then on the B-side they did this crazy mix of "It must be obvious" that went on for about 15 minutes, our song

filtered with lots of weird noises. But we're always going to like that kind of thing. I think for a while, they were the new Pet Shop Boys, they were a duo, and had a string of fantastic singles.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 17h

Love Machine (The Miracles) 10/10
Love Machine (Girls Aloud) 10/10

Rob Davies @byrobdavies.bsky.social · 20h

Fun music game.

Take two songs with the same name and post your combined score out of 10. How high can you get?

No covers/no triples (e.g. Power of Love)

My first effort, which i think is hard to beat...

Zombie (Fela Kuti) 10/10
Zombie (The Cranberries) 7/10

Total score: 17

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 17h

BRING THAT BEAT BACK #totp

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 17h

'Well you've sold the exact same number of copies, but we can't do a joint number one for some reason so let's give it to the boring one'

Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 17h

And ITV before that. 'Group B - vertically polarised'.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 17h

Poor old Deee-Lite.

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