Jim Wilson is the man behind Phantom Billstickers, which is celebrating its 40th birthday this year. A prolific writer and blogger, the book features extracts from many of Wilson’s unpublished manuscripts where he often details life as a junkie in 1970s Christchurch. Having done a lag for possession of narcotics, Wilson returned to promoting live music, something he had first done as a 16-year old. He started booking bands at The Gladstone and Hillsborough in Christchurch, just as the first wave of independent Kiwi bands (including The Clean) were looking for stages to play on. One of the regular patrons at The Gladstone was a young music retailer by the name of Roger Shepherd. Then Wilson moved into promoting all areas of the arts through his paste-up business, which has become this country’s longest running and largest. A biography of Jim and Phantom Billstickers will be released next year
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