telys wrote: Thu 19 Mar 2026, 11:30 am
My daughter received a school task to make a presentation about a british city. Turned out she was given Newcastle. Now my idea was to use Neil's writing/experience as a starting point. So what does the Forum respond to what has Neil written or said about Newcastle?
Neil hasn’t written extensively about Newcastle-upon-Tyne as a city in a formal, travel-guide sense but he’s spoken and written about it in a few really useful ways that you could build from.
While not explicitly “about Newcastle”, songs like Suburbia, It’s a Sin, Being Boring and West End Girls (contrast with London) reflect the kind of environment he grew up in. From interviews and commentary (including broader writing about PSB themes), Tennant often uses boredom set against ambition, wanting to escape, not fitting in, and observing society from the edges as constant themes of his youth. That would align very closely with growing up in and around Newcastle in the 60s/70s.
Neil has never been outwardly sentimental about Newcastle-upon-Tyne in a cliché way, but there’s a clear thread of pride in being northern, a slightly dry, observational take on British life which is combined with an awareness of class differences. So, in essence Newcastle isn’t romanticised by Neil. His experience of northern life helped shape his writing about British society, class, and city life.
richwill wrote: Fri 20 Mar 2026, 8:34 pmNo AI, please.
Have we really sunk to the point where anything longer than two or three sentences is assumed to be AI?
Oh, have ye spent time on Reddit lately?? As someone who got a fairly decent education - although I can't say I always put it to good use - and a habitual em-dash user, it's effing annoying to see anything even semi-literate being dismissed as the work of bots.
Vintage Youth wrote: Sat 21 Mar 2026, 1:13 am
Is it OK to admit I don't like Greggs...
Yes, but can we still be friends, she asked, surreptitiously brushing pasty crumbs off her chin.
richwill wrote: Fri 20 Mar 2026, 8:34 pmNo AI, please.
Have we really sunk to the point where anything longer than two or three sentences is assumed to be AI?
Oh, have ye spent time on Reddit lately?? As someone who got a fairly decent education - although I can't say I always put it to good use - and a habitual em-dash user, it's effing annoying to see anything even semi-literate being dismissed as the work of bots.
Vintage Youth wrote: Sat 21 Mar 2026, 1:13 am
Is it OK to admit I don't like Greggs...
Yes, but can we still be friends, she asked, surreptitiously brushing pasty crumbs off her chin.
It's these bloody academic types - coming on here with their literacy....
telys wrote: Thu 19 Mar 2026, 11:30 am
My daughter received a school task to make a presentation about a british city. Turned out she was given Newcastle. Now my idea was to use Neil's writing/experience as a starting point. So what does the Forum respond to what has Neil written or said about Newcastle?
Looking at this list of famous Newcastle people in the music business I can't help thinking that it might be the forgotten music centre of UK:
Cheryl Cole, Girls Aloud
Mark Knopfler,
Andy Taylor, (Duran Duran)
Eric Burdon, (The Animals)
Sting
Neil Tennant,
Brian Johnson,
Bryan Ferry,
Hank Marvin, The Shadows
