Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray on 27 June 1951) is an English music journalist. His first experience in journalism came 1970 when he was asked to contribute to the satirical magazine Oz. In particular, he contributed to the notorious Schoolkids OZ issue, and was involved in the consequent obscenity trial.

He then wrote for IT (International Times), before decamping to the New Musical Express in 1972 for which he wrote until around 1986. Subsequently he worked for a number of publications including Q magazine, Mojo, MacUser, New Statesman, Prospect, The Guardian, The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, Vogue, and The Independent. He currently writes a monthly column about his lifelong love affair with guitars in Guitarist.

In addition to his magazine work, Murray has written a number of books:

His first novel, The Hellhound Sample, ISBN 1-900486-78-4, was published by Headpress in summer 2011.

His broadcasting credits include:

He has also sung and played guitar and harmonica as "Blast Furnace" with the band Blast Furnace and the Heatwaves and currently performs with London blues band Crosstown Lightnin'.

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is widely considered to be the greatest electric guitarist in music history, and one of the most influential musicians of his era despite mainstream exposure limited to just three years. After initial success in Europe with his group The Jimi Hendrix Experience, he achieved fame in the United States following his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Later, he headlined the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. He often favored raw overdriven amplifiers with high gain and treble and helped develop the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback.

Hendrix helped to popularize use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock, which he often used to deliver tonal exaggerations in his solos, particularly with high bends, complex guitar playing, and use of legato. As a record producer, he also broke new ground in using the recording studio as an extension of his musical ideas. He was one of the first to experiment with stereophonic phasing effects for rock recording.^{[citation needed]} He was influenced by blues artists such as B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King and Elmore James,rhythm and blues and soul guitarists Curtis Mayfield and Steve Cropper, and the jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. Hendrix began dressing and wearing a moustache like Little Richard when he performed and recorded in his band from March 1, 1964 through to the spring of 1965. In 1966, he stated, "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice".

Wilko Johnson (born John Wilkinson, 12 July 1947, Canvey Island, Essex) is an English guitarist and songwriter, particularly associated with the UK rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in the 1970s.

Johnson went to Westcliff High School for Boys and played in several local groups, before going to the University of Newcastle upon Tyne to study English. After graduating, he travelled overland to India, before returning to Essex to play with the Pigboy Charlie Band, which evolved into Dr. Feelgood – a mainstay of the 1970s pub rock movement.

Johnson developed his own style, coupling a choppy guitar style with a novel dress sense (he favoured a black suit and a highly unfashionable, unpopular and unique pudding bowl haircut) and jerky movements.

Johnson plays a vintage Fender Telecaster without using a pick, something that enables him to play rhythm guitar and riffs or solos at the same time, resulting in a highly percussive guitar style. Another reason for his unique style is that he is naturally left-handed, but plays guitar right-handed. His style - which allowed him to move around abruptly on stage with the jerky movements of an automaton without the fear of losing his pick - evolved from a failed attempt to copy Mick Green of Johnny Kidd and The Pirates, a guitarist he admired. During mid-song guitar breaks he would frequently wander across the stage and cut in front of the singer (usually playing a harmonica) with the aid of an unusually long guitar lead from his amplifier. He maintained this style even after leaving Dr. Feelgood.

Clive Vivian Leopold James, CBE, AM (born 7 October 1939), born Vivian James, is an Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet and memoirist, best known for his autobiographical series Unreliable Memoirs, for his chat shows and documentaries on British television and for his prolific journalism. He has lived and worked in the United Kingdom since the early 1960s.

James was born in Kogarah, Sydney. He was allowed to change his name as a child because "after Vivien Leigh played Scarlett O'Hara the name became irrevocably a girl's name no matter how you spelled it".

His father was taken prisoner by the Japanese during World War II. Although he survived the POW camp, he died when the plane returning him to Australia crashed in Manila Bay; he was buried in Hong Kong. James, who was an only child, was brought up by his mother in the Sydney suburb of Kogarah.

In Unreliable Memoirs, James says an IQ test taken in childhood put his IQ at 140. He was educated at Sydney Technical High School (despite winning a bursary award to Sydney Boys High School) and the University of Sydney, where he studied Psychology and became associated with the Sydney Push, a libertarian, intellectual subculture. At the university, he edited the student newspaper, Honi Soit, and directed the annual Union Revue. After graduating, James worked for a year as an Assistant Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald.

Catherine "Kate" Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.

In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights", becoming the first woman to have a UK number one with a self-written song. She has since released ten albums, three of which topped the UK Albums Chart, and has had 25 UK Top 40 hit singles including the Top 10 hits "Wuthering Heights", "Running Up that Hill", "King of the Mountain", "Babooshka", "The Man with the Child in His Eyes", and "Don't Give Up".

In 1987, she won a Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist, and in 2002, her songwriting ability was recognised with an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. During the course of her career, she has also been nominated for three Grammy Awards. After her 1979 tour – the only concert tour of her career – Bush released the 1980 album Never for Ever, which made her the first British solo female artist to top the UK album charts and the first female artist ever to enter the album chart at Number 1. She is also the first (and to date only) female artist to have Top 5 albums in the UK charts in 5 successive decades.