Michael O'Connell

Michael O'Connell – Editor

A scrupulous editor and project manager, I have worked on a comprehensive range of titles featuring the biggest names in popular culture

Overview

I'm a freelance editor and literary agent, specializing in music and popular culture. A founder of Helter Skelter Books, the world-renowned rock and roll bookshop and publisher, I have worked on many titles acclaimed by the national press . I am also a lecturer and speaker on popular culture topics.
Services
Non-Fiction
Art Biographies & Memoirs History Music
Fiction
Cultural & Ethnic
Languages
English (UK)

Work experience

Self-employed

Jan, 2005 — Present

I have worked in books and publishing for over twenty years, working on an enviable range of projects. Wider experience and achievements are listed below. As an editor I have worked on an astonishing range of music books as displayed above.

As literary agent, Mojo's David Sheppard, the late Lee Hazlewood and The Clash's road manager, Johnny Green are numbered among my clients - I provide guidance and counsel throughout the publishing process, including editorial input if necessary.

Achievements as a published author & ghost writer include my book on Ian Brown from the Stone Roses: published in 2006 and selling 8,000 copies. 59% of Amazon readers gave it five stars. I have worked on many other books covering music, film and football.

As a college lecturer I have been employed by Kensington & Chelsea College, delivering a series of lectures on rock music literature, outlining the development of the genre and providing in-depth study and criticism of its most talented practitioners. I start a new series of lectures starting in 2019 on the fertile relationship between art and rock music. I am a regular speaker on popular culture topics.

As book buyer In the early-mid nineties, I curated cult books at the Oxford Street Virgin Megastore, a selection rivaling that of Compendium and the ICA. This destination point for metropolitan readers showcased writers like Billy Childish and artists like Vaughan Oliver for the first time, and provided one of the country's most comprehensive selections of Beat literature, cyberpunk, radical philosophy and more.

Portfolio

‘Hollywood is a chain gang and we lose the will to escape; the links of our chain are forged not of cruelties but of luxuries: we are pelted with orchids and roses; we are overpaid and underworked.’First there was Charles Chaplin. Then came Stan Laurel, and su... read more
"Everyone went crazy over Wayne Rooney, but I get more excited by Cristiano Ronaldo." George Best. "I'm living a dream I never want to wake up from." Ronaldo.
Cult Rock Posters

Roger Crimlis

I'm with the Band
On the Road with Bob Dylan

Larry Ratso Sloman

Authorised biography of Brian Eno - the 'Father of Ambient Music'A sonic alchemist to the stars, Brian Eno's address book is a veritable who's who of rock and pop. Tellingly, his involvement with Roxy Music, David Bowie, Talking Heads and U2 has coincided with... read more

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