The first biography of the enigmatic poet-songwriter leads a resurgence in popularity for the late northern balladeer whose admirers include Neil Gaiman and Cerys Matthews
It was around 1999 when Neil Gaiman first heard someone else mention the name Jake Thackray. Growing up in East Grinstead, West Sussex, in the 60s and 70s, the British-born author and Sandman creator had perceived Thackray as a vague voice on the peripheries of childhood, this lugubrious wooly jumpered raptor of a man, his voice a foggy, owlish hoot steeped in dark Yorkshire bitter, who doled out droll topical songs on such lighthearted TV consumer affairs shows as Braden’s Week and That’s Life!.
“I was exactly the wrong age to like or appreciate him,” Gaiman told author and Thackray fan Paul Thompson in 2019. “Then, 20 years ago, I was talking to [singer-songwriter] Thea Gilmore about great songwriters and she just happened to mention [a song by Thackray called] The Castleford Ladies Magic Circle.” Gaiman ordered a Thackray CD from Amazon and, as he puts it, was “all of a sudden in love”.
