The British Beat Explosion

Jennifer Wheatley is an experienced book editor with fiction, non-fiction and cookery titles to her name. Zoe Howe is a writer, musician and visual artist based in Essex. Current projects include a film and book about the life and work of X-Ray Spex singer Poly Styrene. Previous books include, 'Lee Brilleaux - Rock 'n' Roll Gentleman', the bestselling 'Stevie Nicks - Visions, Dreams And Rumours', 'Barbed Wire Kisses - The Jesus and Mary Chain Story', 'Typical Girls? The Story Of The Slits', 'How's Your Dad? Living In The Shadow of a Rock Star Parent', 'Florence + The Machine - An Almighty Sound' and 'Wilko Johnson - Looking Back At Me'. She was a contributing author to 'British Beat Explosion - Rock 'n' Roll Island' and to Julien's documentary The Ecstasy Of Wilko Johnson. In 2015, Zoe joined the Doc 'n' Roll Film Festival jury, and as of 2016, she is The Blues Magazine's resident 'rock 'n' roll agony aunt'. Michele Whitby has spent most of her life in the Twickenham area. She discovered Eel Pie Island whilst looking for somewhere to set up a photographic studio after leaving college in 1988 and has never really left the place since. A jack-of-all-trades (hopefully master of some!) she has been amongst other things, a photographer, leather-worker, puzzle writer, comic-book colourist and shopkeeper. She became good friends with Arthur Chisnall around 1996 while beginning to research Eel Pie's musical past. She co-authored the book Eel Pie Island with Dan van der Vat, published in 2009. She was the curator of the Aurora Metro exhibition in 2013 called 'Eelpiland' which digitized two photo archives and collected memorabilia to celebrate the island's music heritage. This led her to campaign for and establish the Eel Pie Island Museum in Twickenham. Michele has two children, Louie and Leila, and lives very happily aboard a boat on the Island, venturing off here and there to catch some live music. John Platt was John was born in Heston, Middlesex, and educated at Latymer Boys school. He became a renowned writer known for his passion for rock and pop music. Platt founded Comstock Lode, and collaborated on books with the Yardbirds and Mitch Mitchell, of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and produced a guide to the 1960s and 1970s rock venues of London. Moving to New York in the 90s, he organised the Cinerock festival at the Lincoln Center. He also published a book about the making of Cream's album Disraeli Gears, and was involved in making documentaries on Cream and Eric Clapton and was writing a book on the history of the blues at the time of his death in 2001.