4
Interview with…
Simon Sheridan
Simon Sheridan is well known
for his knowledge on all things
to do with cinema, cheerful
child nostalgia and pop music.
Simon has written many
critically acclaimed books over
the years and is best known
for writing ‘The Complete
Kylie’. We talk to Simon about
Kylie and the success of his
book
Hello Simon, Can you give us a
little background on you and
some of your earlier work?
I started my career working in
newspapers, but about 15 years
ago I decided I wanted to break
free and become a freelance
writer. It was quite a daunting
prospect, but I’ve had quite a
varied career so far – writing
about television shows, movies,
music and all aspects of
entertainment. I particularly
love writing about the 1970s
and 1980s!
Now for those who don’t know,
you wrote the critically
acclaimed Kylie biography
entitled ‘The Complete Kylie’.
Can you tell us what sparked
the idea to write a biography
about Kylie?
wanted to take the plunge. So
I went back to my publishers
and suggested I do a book on
Kylie instead. They agreed
immediately, and that’s how
The Complete Kylie came
about. It was definitely the
right decision, as the book has
now gone to three editions.
The most recent came out
earlier this year. I’ve always
loved Kylie’s music and she’s a
fascinating performer too
In about 2007 I was invited to
write a biography on Madonna. Are you a fan of Kylie?
I thought about it for some
time, but wasn’t entirely sure if I I bought ‘I Should Be So Lucky’
on 7” vinyl all those years ago,
and it would be true to say
that I’ve liked Kylie ever since
she was in Neighbours! That
show was so big in the 1980s
when I was growing up. My
friends and I would rush
home from school to watch it.
It’s hard to comprehend just
how popular it was back then,
but it used to get viewing
figures of something like 16
million per episode, which is
unheard of today. I remember
watching the iconic ‘wedding
episode’ when Scott married
Charlene and the newspapers