Justin Lewis

@whenisbirths

Author/editor/'cultural historian'/carer, S Wales, probably autistic: NEW BOOK!: Into the Groove, OUT NOW. Textcast archive: Email: whenisbirths@yahoo.com ko-fi.com/firstlastanything

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Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· 6d

What a way to begin my first game of Ghosts of Motley Hall Scrabble.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Jul 7

Absolutely smashing my introductory game of Scrabble: the Only When I Laugh edition.

Current Scrabble game. My letters are STRAULI.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Jul 7

Been pondering all day on what that Tomorrow's World book has been reminding me of. I think I've got it. They were nearly all science students too.

Album sleeve of Queen's The Miracle in which the four members of the group, John Deacon, Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury and Brian May have their four respective faces morphed into one five-eyed face.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Jun 10

Higher Than The Sun came out as a single 35 years ago today. A few years back, I made this. With my hands and pens and so on. #WhenWasThings #NoAI

Hand-made #WhenWasThings card for June 1991, in the style of the sleeve for Primal Scream's single, Higher Than the Sun. Text in a variety of shades - red, pale blue, black, maroon etc on white background.

A-Z of events, June 1991:
'7 Ways to Love' / 'All Souled Out' / Ronald Allen RIP / Peggy Ashcroft RIP / 'Chorus' / City Slickers / Derelicts of Dialect / Don't Tell Mom, The Babysitter's Dead / Electric Landlady / 'Everything I Do I Do It for You' / Family Pride / Fetty Wap / G.B.H. / Stan Getz RIP / 'Higher Than the Sun' / Hope it Rains / In Suspicious Circumstances / 'It Ain't Over Til It's Over' / Jungle Fever / Kraftwerk's The Mix / 'Learning to Fly' / Sumner Locke Elliott RIP / 'Looking for the Summer' / Mary Loveless RIP / McCartney Liverpool Oratorio / Joe McElderry / Bernard Miles RIP / The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear / Jesy Nelson / 'Night in Motion' / 'Perpetual Dawn' / Gerald Priestland RIP / Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves / David Ruffin RIP / Seal LP / Selling Hitler / Sonic the Hedgehog / Slovenia / Soldier Soldier / 'Things That Make You Go Hmmm...
(C) JSL WWT MMXXI

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Jun 7

I think, in terms of laziness, even the typeface is rubbish, I’d say this:

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Jun 2

For instance:

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Jun 2

The water tumblers count as one friend.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· May 24

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· May 21

Why did they set the rubbish last series of Selwyn Froggitt in a holiday camp (Selwyn, 1978) and suddenly the penny may have dropped?

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· May 21

(Part 2/2 in alt description - and I knew I knew the nickname of that reviewer from somewhere: it's @carolinehooton.bsky.social, if she doesn't mind my thanking her in this way. Do check out her blog of book reviews: ireadthereforeiblog.com) #IntoTheGroove

(Part 2 of I Read, Therefore I Blog's review of #IntoTheGroove):

The focus of the book is on the UK and US charts, including the UK indie charts, but Lewis is careful not to keep this as an anglo-centric view of music and I liked the fact that he takes the time to reference events happening in the African music scene. Lewis also looks across the genres of music so rap, hip-hop and pop music is covered alongside indie music, rock and heavy metal and dance and he even takes on the rise of the Now! compilations and more novelty records that became unexpected hits. It’s an egalitarian book in that sense with no hint of musical snobbery. What also makes the book stand out is how the book references developments in sales, technology and even the methodology for determining what was in the top 40, in part because I still vividly remember the introduction of the CD and how futuristic it seemed to me as a child, and also how Lewis name checks the UK DJs who helped propel new records or, in some cases, censor them.

Lewis has added a quiz at the end, which draws on what’s been set out in the book and comprises 50 multiple choice questions. I’m not saying that I will be taking some of the questions for inclusion in my work quiz, but I’m not not saying that either.

I came away from this book feeling that I had more of a sense of what was going on and what had driven the music being created and played at the time. I certainly had not appreciated how connected some of the artists were. My only criticism of the book is that I ended up spending too much money on iTunes as I bought new-to-me records off the back of what I had read. This is a perfect book for music fans, anyone over the age of 40 or anyone who’s interested in cultural history. I am very much looking forward to reading what Lewis writes next.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· May 21

Extremely huge thanks to 'I Read, Therefore I Blog' for this in-depth and thoughtful review of #IntoTheGroove. (Part 1/2 in alt description)

amazon review from 'I Read, Therefore I Blog':

***** - Grab your hairspray and your shell suit for this fabulous tour of 80s music

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 May 2026
Format: Kindle Edition

Part 1

Justin Lewis is a writer, researcher and editor with an encyclopaedic knowledge of pop music. This terrific book - perfect for music fans, connoisseurs and any Generation X-ers nostalgic for the 1980s - daintily treads the fine line of being informative and entertaining while also drawing out the connections and development of singers and bands and I particularly liked how, notwithstanding the UK/US focus, it also takes in African music artists.

I picked this book up partly because Lewis’s last book - DON’T STOP THE MUSIC - was one of my top reads of 2025 but also because as a Gen X-er, I have a lot of nostalgia for the 1980s and especially the music and having followed Lewis on social media for many years, I knew he would have an interesting take on it.

Structurally, the book is fairly straightforward - Lewis takes each month from January 1980 to December 1989 and uses it to set out something that happened in the pop music world. This could be bands getting together (or disbanding), songs or albums being released or songs hitting the top of the charts (or even just getting into the top 40). There is so much here that I found myself devouring the pages and Lewis manages that clever trick of combining the nerdier side of music history (in terms of connections and musical development as artists influence each other) with events that more casual readers are likely to remember, such as Live Aid. There was a lot here that was new to me or which I had forgotten (e.g. the controversy of those performers who chose to perform in Sun City in South Africa) but I was also pleased at how much was familiar.

(Part 2 of review to follow)

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· May 18

#IntoTheGroove

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· May 18

Five years since I did this, and yes, I was clearly trying to do something 'a bit Keith Haring'. #WhenWasThings #May1983

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· May 16

Happy 60th today to Pet Sounds. #WhenWasThings

Black text on green background. May (yellow) and 1966 (white) - the colours of the Pet Sounds album sleeve:

A-Z events of May 1966:
'Ain't Too Proud to Beg.' All Gas and Gaiters pilot.
Animalisms. Arabesque. Azteca Stadium, Mexico City.
The Beginners. Heston Blumenthal. Helena Bonham Carter.
Cilla Sings a Rainbow. The Crystal World. 'Don't Bring Me Down.'
Bob Dylan 'goes electric', Free Trade Hall, Manchester.
Lisa Edelstein. Jonathan Edwards. Everybody Loves a Nut.
Genuine Dud. Tom Goddard RIP. Bet Lynch. Stephen Malkmus.
The Microcosm. Modesty Blaise. 'Nothing Comes Easy.'
Once Moore with Cook. 'Opus 17.' Our Man in Marrakesh.
'Over Under Sideways Down.' 'Paint It Black.' 'Paperback Writer.'
Pet Sounds. 'River Deep-Mountain High.' The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. Raphael Saadiq. Shoten. Small Faces LP.
'Strangers in the Night.' 'Take This Heart of Mine.'
Twister popularised: Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor play it on The Tonight Show.
Up-Tight LP. The Voice of Richard Dimbleby LP.
The Wrong Box film. WWT (C) JSL, MMXX.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· May 15

Latest slop about comedy history which a) thinks this is the only sketch show ever made, b) can’t tell the difference between the easily mixed-up Lee Mack and Harry Enfield and c) just piss off. Oh and d) ‘hundreds’?! e) this account has never seen it or comedy ever.

AI shit as follows:

‘The Sketch Show is a fast-paced and award winning British comedy series that aired on ITV between 2001 and 2004. The program is unique because it features hundreds of very short sketches in every episode rather than long stories. It relies on clever wordplay, physical comedy and very quick visual jokes that keep the audience laughing constantly. The show was so po’ (more text followed this but I was losing the will)

Extra heading:
‘LEE MACK PERFORMS A SERIES OF SHORT AND FUNNY SKETCHES FEATURING MANY DIFFERENT AND WEIRD CHARACTERS’

Pictures show Harry Enfield in scenes from the film Kevin and Perry Go Large (in one case with Kathy Burke). Lee Mack not pictured and he wasn’t in the film either.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· May 10

Obviously not to steal your thunder, but my own punk diaries which are definitely authentic and everything reveal so much about the times. What times they were.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· May 8

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· May 6

This just appeared on my FB feed and there were about eight paragraphs after that, supposedly about someone from the crowd joining them on stage, and it is all lying shit, and I am getting so weary of this.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· May 3

75 years ago this month: amongst other things, the Royal Festival Hall, The Goon Show and Rocket 88. #WhenWasThings #May1951

WhenWasThings card for May 1951, my variation on Abram Games's graphic for the Festival of Britain: four pronged star on a pink background, in alternating segments of white, red, white, blue, white, red, white, blue.

Events and births for May 1951 alphabetically, clockwise:
Philip Bailey / Fanny Brice RIP / Hermann Broch RIP / Circle of Danger / Crazy People / Christopher Cross / Festival of Britain / Follow the Sun /Al Franken / Gliere's Horn Concerto premieres in Leningrad / Hakuchi (The Idiot) / Anatoly Karpov / Kay Mellor / Richard Niles / Ninth Street Exhibition New York City / NTS TV Amsterdam / Joe Orton enrols at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art / Joey Ramone / Jonathan Richman / Sally Ride / 'Rocket 88' / Royal Festival Hall / Selina Scott / Stephen Tobolowsky
(C) WWT JSL MMXXI

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Apr 29

Hello Zara. A few samples of what I do, but the full archive is at my Instagram account @whenisbirths. My email is whenisbirths@yahoo.com.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Apr 10

And in a packed #WhenWasThings tonight... April 1971.

White text of April 1971's events on dark blue background, arranged in the respective shapes of the Two Ronnies' spectacle frames.

April 1971:
Top specs: 17-11-70 / The Abominable Dr Phibes / ...And Mother Makes Three / Bananas / People's Republic of Bangladesh / Max Beesley / 'Brown Sugar' / Budgie / Victoria Hamilton / The Land of the Grey and Pink / 'It's Too Late' / L.A. Woman / Melody / Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon / Cecil Parker RIP

Bottom specs: Severine wins Eurovision for Monaco / Sky's the Limit / Smiling Men with Bad Reputations / Sticky Fingers / Igor Stravinsky RIP / Summer of '42 / Claire Sweeney / Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song / 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' / David Tennant / Thin Lizzy LP / The Two Ronnies / Valdez is Coming / Jacques Villeneuve / Where I'm Coming From

(C) WWT JSL MMXX

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Apr 9

The most I’ve spent on a book in some time (£40) and it wasn’t even a matter of ‘spent’ as I had unused book tokens. Beautiful, heavy yet compact, and given they’ve only done two sleeves in 40 years I dislike, a must.

Front cover of Pet Shop Boys Volume: The complete visual record.

Orange cover, image by the late Eric Watson: photograph of (back) Chris Lowe (stripy T-shirt, cap, stripy specs) and (front) Neil Tennant (black top), from the Suburbia single sleeve photo sessions, 20 July 1986.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Apr 8

35 years ago today, 8 Apr 1991, #BlueLines by #MassiveAttack came out. Here's commemoration of that and many other events from Apr 1991.

Black and white text on orange background, with items arranged alphabetically in concentric circles (plus red adornments and a flame at the centre) in an attempt to evoke the artwork of both Massive Attack's Blue Lines sleeve and the Orb's Adventures of the Ultraworld sleeve, both released in this month.

APR 1991 [items listed A-Z]:
Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld / Auberge / Big Break / Blue Lines
Channel Four Banned Season / Carmine Coppola RIP / The Darling Buds of May / Delicatessen / Dinosaurs / Finders Keepers / Max Frisch RIP / Republic of Georgia / 'Get the Message' / Gorby: The Man and His Music / Martha Graham RIP / Graham Greene RIP / 'Gypsy Woman' / Martin Hannett RIP / Hoodoo / 'Last Train to Trancentral' / David Lean RIP / Mama Said / Steve Marriott RIP / Peggy Mitchell / The New Nashville Cats / Out on Blue Six / Prime Suspect / The Queen of the Tambourine / The Rap Selection with Pete Tong / Real Life / Record Mirror RIP / Riff Raff / 'Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)' / Shift Work / Sight and Sound monthly / 'The Size of a Cow' / Sky Sports / Sleepers / Sounds RIP / 'There's No Other Way' / 'Touch Me (All Night Long)' / Johnny Thunders RIP / Word of Mouth
(c) JSL WWT MMXX

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Mar 24

‘Name an album you’ve heard on cassette’, is it

TDK formerly blank tape (AR90) filled with two Prince and the Revolution albums taped from my CD copies circa 1989. With all the different fonts copied as closely as I could.

A
Purple Rain
Let’s Go Crazy - Take Me With U - The Beautiful Ones - Computer Blue - Darling Nikki - When Doves Cry - I Would Die 4 U - Baby I’m a Star - Purple Rain

B
Around the World in a Day
Around the World in a Day - Paisley Park - Condition of the Heart - Raspberry Beret - Tamborine - America - Pop Life - The Ladder - Temptation

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Mar 18

Doing some more of these in the spring. They’re called #WhenIsBirths cards, events from a month in history. AI not involved, they’re entirely my handiwork. (Even the July one, that’s not been put next to a mirror.) And I do commissions. Email me at whenisbirths@yahoo.com to find out more.

The events of Jan 1982, Feb 1922, Mar 2002, Apr 1991, May 1953, June 1972, July 1967, Aug 1983, Sept 1969, Oct 1998, Nov 1984 and Dec 1974.

I would normally type out the text detail but there’s actually too much here.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Mar 16

Happy birthday Dad x

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Mar 12

Yes, I know I look cheerful but bushed.

Me, in Waterstones cafe, grey black top, passable.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Mar 12

Day off. Saw this. Product placement accidental.

Massive red dragon, backed with Cardiff landmarks and blue sky and clouds all fashioned out of Lego.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Mar 8

A by-no-means definitive #IWD composer playlist I made in 2023. You can listen to it on whatever streaming service you like via this link: www.tunemymusic.com/share/GfxCb4...

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths· Mar 7

March 1983 #WhenWasThings #BlueMonday