From Slade, Beverley Knight and Goldie to independent venues, record shops and the Stone Roses’ notorious paint attack, The Unofficial Wolverhampton tells a lively cultural history of the city from A to Z.
WOLVERHAMPTON – A new 334-page book argues that Wolverhampton has played a far bigger part in the cultural history of the West Midlands than it is usually given credit for.
The Unofficial Wolverhampton: An A-Z of People, Machines, Music and Trouble, by Lee Brickley, was published on 21 July 2026. Moving through the city one letter at a time, it brings together music, nightlife, industry, sport, protest, art and the strange local stories that rarely make it into conventional guidebooks.
For music and culture readers, the book follows the artists, bands, venues and independent businesses that linked Wolverhampton to the wider Birmingham and West Midlands scene. It features Slade, Beverley Knight and Goldie, alongside the Mighty Lemon Drops, Babylon Zoo, local creative spaces, record shops and stories that have slipped out of public memory.
One of its most extraordinary episodes took place in 1990, when the Stone Roses entered the Wolverhampton offices of their former record company, Revolver Records, and covered the premises, its owner and his partner in blue and white paint. The incident became part of British music folklore, but its Wolverhampton setting is often treated as a footnote.
| “Birmingham quite rightly shouts about its musical history, but the wider West Midlands story is bigger and stranger than most people realise. Wolverhampton’s contribution is often reduced to a few famous names, when the city also had the venues, record businesses, scenes and odd moments that helped shape what came next.” – Lee Brickley, author |
Beyond music, the book ranges from a near-fatal balloon ascent in 1862 to manufacturing, football, political controversy and the people behind familiar names and places. It is available now in paperback from Amazon, priced at £12.99.