More from: James Medd
Icons April 2020
BLOOD BOND (THE SQUIRE OF NETTLEBED)
Peter Fleming was a law unto himself, according to his more regarded younger brother. The adventurer, spy and author deserves, then, to be remembered on his own terms.
Icons March 2020
The Fire in His Belly
As originally examined in Issue 68 of The Rake, Billy Joel’s best songs are an intriguing, genre-defying mixture of melody, musicality and lyrical brimstone. What’s with the attitude? Is he a great-but-flawed entertainer, or forever just a Bronx Joe made good?
Style February 2020
Sica and ye shall find
Originally featured in Issue 36 of The Rake, James Medd examines how Neapolitan style icon and Oscar-winning director Vittorio De Sica imbued his work with his inimitable spirit, giving even his self-confessed “bad films” a touch of playfulness and comic flair, as well as a sense of sophistication.
Icons July 2019
Escaping The Tyranny Of The Ordinary: Paul Theroux
The writer Paul Theroux has been cast in a great American tradition – as an inquirer, an idealist and, most importantly, a subversive. From his defining work, 1975’s The Great Railway Bazaar, he has helped us see the world anew…
Icons September 2018
Sid Vicious: The Grubby Demon of Punk
He was an icon of freedom and a helpless addict, rock ’n’ roll inspiration and cautionary tale. Simon John Ritchie — a.k.a Sid Vicious — just couldn’t escape his own contradictions. He was dead at 21.
Icons September 2017
Miller's Tale: How Robert Miller Made His Fortune
Robert Miller made his immense wealth from duty-free shopping, yet business domination was never enough for this salesman’s son from small-town Massachusetts. Miller, writes James Medd, wrote his own great American story.
Icons August 2017
Paul Simonon: The Clash's Ace of Bass
Without him, The Clash would still have been a great band, but with him they became iconic. Paul Simonon was built for rock ‘n’ roll and his cultural influence is felt to this day.
Icons July 2017
Gunter Sachs: The Ultimate Playboy
Sportsman, dandy, artist, filmmaker and playboy, Gunter Sachs was the last of the golden-era pleasure seekers. The Rake salutes him…
Icons June 2017
The Bold and the Beautiful
Who’s to say that a woman’s attraction to wealth and influence is any more shallow than a man’s to beauty or sexual allure? Whatever the motivation, writes James Medd, it took courage and strength of character for women in the 20th century to behave in a way men considered their birthright.
Icons February 2017
The View From The Mountaintop: The Rat Pack
‘You look like a goddamn rat pack,’ an exasperated Lauren Bacall once said. And after a time, they were. Frank, Dean, Joey, Sammy and ‘Brother-in-Lawford’… just the neighbourhood guys hanging…
Icons December 2016
Light Years: The Golden Age of the Night Club
When you think of the seventies, what do you see? How about Bianca Jagger on a white horse at Studio 54, or Grace Jones on a pink Harley-Davidson at le…
Icons November 2016
All Work and All Play: Francisco 'Baby' Pignatari
Francisco ‘Baby’ Pignatari was not your average playboy. True, he enjoyed plenty of sexual conquests, crashed Cadillacs, flew planes, and lived his life, as it’s said, ‘to the full’. But…
