Unknown schoolboy Crowley famously persuaded The Clash's Joe Strummer to give him an exclusive interview and later spent time with the band as they rehearsed for their Complete Control tour in London's Chalk Farm studios.
[1] At this time the weekly music paper was at the centre of the punk explosion under the editorship of Neil Spencer; Crowley was at the NME alongside writers Julie Burchill, Tony Parsons, Nick Kent, Charles Shaar Murray.
[2] In 1991, Crowley signed a contract to host the music show The Beat on Carlton Television, one of two ITV networks in the London area, where he introduced the emerging Britpop movement to UK TV audiences.
As a mark of respect to someone we saw as someone going her own way, standing apart from the rest, and for being a remarkable ambassador in the struggles for the dispossessed, the sufferers of leprosy and AIDS, and the ongoing horror of land mines, we wish to dedicate the activities of our launch day to her memory.In August 1998, Crowley left XFM along with Ricky Gervais and others when the station was sold to Capital.
Gary Crowley has interviewed some of the UK's most influential musical artists of the 20th century, including Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Robert Plant, U2, Blur, Oasis, Jamiroquai, Small Faces, and more.