Since the 1970s, Mick Houghton has written on music for various publications including Sounds, Time Out and, more recently, Mojo and Uncut. He worked as a PR at Warner Brothers, before setting up his own agency, Brassneck Publicity, where he's represented artists such as Echo & the Bunnymen, Julian Cope, Spiritualized, Bert Jansch, Richard Thompson, and the KLF. As one of the Grammy-nominated compilers of the box set Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra Records, 1963-1973, he went on to write the critically acclaimed Becoming Elektra: The True Story of Jac Holzman's Visionary Record Label, published in 2010. He lives in London.
I've Always Kept a Unicorn is rich in insight from those who loved and despaired of her. While never over-embroidering the story, Houghton builds it through the intelligent and sensitive recall of everyone from Thompson to the Guardian's Richard Williams. <i>The Guardian</i> Mick Houghton's scrupulously researched biography draws a detailed picture both of Denny's increasingly complex mental state and of the London folk scene in the Sixties and Seventies. . . [An] authoritative and comprehensive biography. <i>Fiona Sturges Independent</i> Houghton unpicks her story with sensitivity, but does not shy away from the more unpalatable details. . . [An] admirably level-headed account. <i>Graeme Thomson Mail on Sunday</i> I've Always Kept A Unicorn lays legitimate claim to being the most comprehensive account yet of a career of often unrealised promise <i>Uncut 8/10</i> A flaws-and-all celebration of one woman and her timeless music <i>Mojo 4****</i> Expertly written, definitive biography <i>Shindig 5****</i>