The Face
The Face was a British music, fashion and culture monthly magazine started in May 1980 by Nick Logan, who had previously created the teen pop magazine Smash Hits, and had been an editor at the New Musical Express in the 1970s It ceased publication in 2004.
278 articles
List of articles in the library
Dexys Midnight Runners: Hearts Full Of Soul: Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Interview by Mike Stand, The Face, May 1980
Dexy's Midnight Runners are working towards (cue fanfare) The End Of Rock As We Know It. Punk, heavy metal, ska, country & western, reggae, everything ...
Sham 69: Jimmy Pursey: People Try To Put Me Down...
Interview by Mike Stand, The Face, May 1980
"PEOPLE PUT me down as a loudmouth. Well, I've got a lot to talk about," said Jimmy Pursey and proved it at once by descending ...
Joe Jackson: Indifferent To Joe
Interview by Mike Stand, The Face, May 1980
ROCK 'N' ROLL is supposed to be from The Wrong Side Of The Tracks and I suppose the Joe Jackson Band's rehearsal room qualifies. It's ...
Interview by Mike Stand, The Face, June 1980
‘A FOREST’ a hit? Improbable as it sounds, yes. The Cure are on the move again. ...
Linton Kwesi Johnson: All The Way With LKJ
Interview by Deanne Pearson, The Face, July 1980
Whenever it rains/I think of you And I always remember that day in May When I saw you walking in the rain I know not what it was nor why For ...
The Beat: Beat Crazy: Can't Stop It Now...
Interview by Deanne Pearson, The Face, July 1980
This time last year the Beat had just started their first one-night a week pub residency in Birmingham, after playing only six gigs. DEANNE PEARSON ...
The Monochrome Set: Strange Boutique (Dindisc)
Review by Mick Houghton, The Face, July 1980
I STILL recall being hauled in front of the class at school where, doing my world famous impersonation of a jug-eared tomato, Mr Godber, MA ...
Dexys Midnight Runners: Searching For The Young Soul Rebels (Parlophone)
Review by David Hepworth, The Face, August 1980
YOU WON'T go short of excuses for snickering at Dexys Midnight Runners from behind your hand. There's the lofty self-esteem, the leather uniforms, the missionary ...
Echo & the Bunnymen Play Hard To Get
Report and Interview by Deanne Pearson, The Face, August 1980
DEANNE PEARSON tries anyway. ...
The Passions: Ships That Passion The Night
Interview by Mike Stand, The Face, August 1980
"I MET THESE skinheads on the tube the other day who recognised me from a gig. They said they didn't know my name but they'd ...
Sniff 'n' The Tears: The Game's Up (Chiswick)
Review by Deanne Pearson, The Face, August 1980
IT'S DIFFICULT to see how and why, at first, Chiswick, a R&R and punk label predominantly, are involved with a band such as Sniff 'n' ...
Black Uhuru: Sinsemilla (Island)
Review by Chris Salewicz, The Face, September 1980
THE THREE-piece vocal group has always been one of the strongest archetypes of reggae. Commencing some two years ago, and operating for a short period ...
Desmond Dekker, Laurel Aitken: Desmond Dekker and Laurel Aitken: Old Rude Boys Never Die
Profile and Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, September 1980
DESMOND DEKKER and Laurel Aitken are two Jamaican vocalists who, in earlier musical incarnations, helped lay the ground for the eventual acceptance of reggae music ...
Killing Joke: A Regular Bundle Of Fun
Interview by Deanne Pearson, The Face, September 1980
Bass, LeadTo Tell The Killing JokeWe Mean It Max!Total ExploitationNo InformationAnonymity ...
Bow Wow Wow: Sun, Sea & Piracy
Interview by Jon Savage, The Face, October 1980
POP, THAT disposable distraction, is mostly about transience: it’s the order of the perpetual child, the moment! Not that those last long these days. Most ...
Brian Eno: Eno: Only The Small Survive
Interview by Dave Rimmer, The Face, October 1980
One of the vital musical innovators of the Seventies, Brian Eno now inhabits a curious world. He lives in 'medieval' Manhattan, where he gambles on ...
Grace Jones: Confessions Of An Art Groupie
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, October 1980
IN THE LOUNGE bar of the Kensington Hilton, Grace Jones sprawls supinely in a wicker armchair and digs her fingers under the leaves of lettuce ...
Burning Spear: Searching for the Spear
Interview by Peter Murphy (British), The Face, October 1980
WINSTON RODNEY, a.k.a. the Burning Spear, is the enigma of the Jamaican music scene. In a dark and brooding voice that is the essence of ...
Joy Division: A History of Joy Division
Retrospective by Mick Middles, The Face, November 1980
JOY DIVISION began life in romantically seedy surroundings. In late 1977, as the initial push of the new wave began to soften, hundreds of imitation ...
Bruce Springsteen: The River (CBS)
Review by David Hepworth, The Face, November 1980
THEY GAVE me 350 words and Wednesday evening to account for the fact that my heart took to pumping double when this record slid out ...
David Bowie: The Gender Bender
Comment by Jon Savage, The Face, November 1980
"WHAT DO YOU want to be when you grow up, David?" ...
Review by Tony Fletcher, The Face, November 1980
PUT SIMPLY, Absolutely takes the sound Madness carved out for themselves on One Step Beyond, forsakes cover versions, and perfects the technique. And if your ...
Ian Dury: The Royal Academy of Jackthelademy
Interview by Mike Stand, The Face, December 1980
THE ARTIST, cultivator of a thousand verbaceous boarders, sits on a plastic chair in this desert of a room. Cropped short his greying hair gives ...
Poly Styrene: Translucence (Liberty)
Review by Deanne Pearson, The Face, December 1980
POLY STYRENE couldn't have moved further away from X-Ray Spex in the two years she has been off the scene. Where Spex were brash and ...
John Lydon, Public Image Ltd: The Fugitive: John Lydon at Large
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, December 1980
IT SEEMS POETICALLY APPROPRIATE that John Lydon has chosen Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange as the film to insert into the video-cassette deck at Virgin's Townhouse ...
Dead Kennedys: Punk Rot Is Here To Stay
Interview by Deanne Pearson, The Face, January 1981
THIS IS THE hardcore faction. Spiked hair, leather jackets, the backs emblazoned with the logos of Crass, UK Subs, Adam & The Ants. Hordes of ...
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, January 1981
WARNING: This article might offend sensitive tastes! ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, January 1981
ON A MONDAY morning so dark from thundery rainclouds it seems as though the sky has fallen in, Graham 'Suggs' McPherson, shoe-less and wearing only ...
Brian Eno, Talking Heads: Talking Heads: Jive Talking
Interview by Richard Grabel, The Face, January 1981
David Byrne talks guardedly about his collaboration with Brian Eno. Tina Weymouth talks candidly on the same subject. "By the time they had finished working ...
Vivienne Westwood: Rich pickings at the World's End
Interview by Jon Savage, The Face, January 1981
Let It Rock, Sex, Seditionaries...Anarchy t-shirts and bondage straps. VIVIENNE WESTWOOD’S new collection is called World’s End. She talked about it to JON SAVAGE. ...
Report and Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, February 1981
PAUL SIMONON lives in a modest two-room Notting Hill basement flat just north of Ladbroke Grove tube station. ...
The Thompson Twins: Thompson Twins: How To Tell Them Apart
Interview by Deanne Pearson, The Face, March 1981
Dress the first-born back to front. Now, on with the feature ...
Essay by Jon Savage, The Face, April 1981
Jon Savage went to the People's Palace and watched Blitz Culture go public. FLASH! ...
Interview by Deanne Pearson, The Face, April 1981
Poolswinning Yorkshire musicians syndicate, Hugo Burnham, Dave Allen, Jon King and Andy Gill, pictured with the small change from their record-breaking swoop on EMI's Treble ...
Fela Kuti, Sonny Okosun, Sir Victor Uwaifo: Juju, Afrobeat and Highlife
Report and Interview by Peter Murphy (British), The Face, April 1981
Special report: Rock in Nigeria. ...
Public Image Ltd: Public Image Limited: The Flowers Of Romance (Virgin)
Review by Jon Savage, The Face, April 1981
A typically caustic, sardonic title: the thorn in the rose. If much of the current chart has much of the grace and flow of 1966 ...
Adam & The Ants: Sound and Vision: The Making of Adam Ant
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, April 1981
"Malcolm McLaren just said to me, "What do you want, Adam?" I said, "I'd like to be a household name, and have everyone know and ...
Interview by Mike Stand, The Face, April 1981
"GOD HOLD you in the palm of His hand," said Saxa pulling the bedclothes up to his chin. "He close it and you are dead. ...
Bauhaus, The Birthday Party, Modern English: 4AD Records: Bloodless Revolutions
Interview by Tony Fletcher, The Face, May 1981
TONY FLETCHER TALKS SMALL BUSINESS WITH A SUCCESSFUL ALTERNATIVE ...
Hazel O'Connor: Cracked Actress: Hazel O' Connor
Interview by Mike Stand, The Face, May 1981
HAZEL O'Connor lives on the fourth floor of a redbrick building in West Hampstead that looks as though it should belong to the water board ...
Killing Joke: A Matter of Laughs and Death
Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, The Face, May 1981
FUNNY HYSTERICAL: making the journey from Kings Cross to Shepherd's Bush with an earful of Killing Joke. I've just changed fifty albums I didn't need ...
Bow Wow Wow, Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols: Malcolm McLaren... the True Poison!
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, May 1981
You're dealing with a very low level of creativity in the music business. The man who sits in his office marketing records is not a ...
Interview by Paul Rambali, The Face, June 1981
A CHECKER CAB pulls up at the corner of MacDougal and 7th; out of it steps Mr. Michael Zilkha. The cab is yellow with a ...
Interview by Paul Morley, The Face, June 1981
POSITIVE Noise play at Cabaret Futura, and I think that they're the best group who've yet played there. What a range, I think, what reserves. ...
Interview by Paul Rambali, The Face, July 1981
Biographies of Grace Jnes used to describe her as the icy six-foot goddess of all that is perverse, decadent and nocturnal. Grace Jones was a ...
ABC: Now a name to drop. Soon a major part in the party.
Profile and Interview by Paul Morley, The Face, August 1981
I HOLD in my hand three letters... ...
Echo & The Bunnymen: Heaven Up Here
Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, The Face, August 1981
IAN McCULLOCH LETS GIOVANNI DADOMO GET UNDER HIS HAIRCUT IN ECHOSOUND AND BUNNYVISION cert x ...
Spandau Ballet: A Revolt Into Style
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, August 1981
"IF PEOPLE want to find out what is the working class attitude to life," Gary Kemp declares forcefully, leaning towards me over a corner table ...
The Clash: The Return of Native Paranoia
Report by Chris Salewicz, The Face, August 1981
IN HOT humid New York City, the eight Clash dates at Bonds discotheque had their number doubled following a first night raid by the Fire ...
Interview by Paul Morley, The Face, September 1981
Grey, industrial, oppressive, weird? Wrong, say the Sheffield stylists. Wrong, says our ace showbiz reporter. PAUL MORLEY (words) attempts to demystify Cabaret Voltaire's drab legend. ...
Ian Dury, Chaz Jankel: Ian Dury and Chaz Jankel: Teeth and Smiles
Interview by Mike Stand, The Face, September 1981
IAN DURY is in prime form. He is just back from a short holiday in Greece and is, if not exactly bronzed, then distinctly off-white, ...
Public Image Ltd, Jah Wobble: Jab Wobble At Your Service
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, September 1981
The Entertainer as Servant of the People. Chris Salewicz talked to the former Public Image bass player. ...
Marc Bolan, T. Rex, Tyrannosaurus Rex: Bolan
Retrospective and Interview by Deanne Pearson, The Face, October 1981
Original Mod, prototype New Romantic... uhmm... but that's another story. This one's about the people trying to keep the Bolan legend alive. Second Coming of ...
The Teardrop Explodes: Julian Cope: Julian Weirds Out!
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, November 1981
I'D BEEN worried about Julian Cope. This nagging concern had started some four months ago, during one hot and humid night in New York City, ...
Punk Five Years On. A Pogo Down Memory Lane...
Overview by Jon Savage, The Face, November 1981
Sept 20/21, 1976: The two-day Punk Festival at London's 100 Club showcases the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned, Buzzcocks, Subway Sect, and the debut ...
Crass Words: The Aesthetics of Anarchy
Interview by Mike Stand, The Face, December 1981
A Report from the House of Crass ...
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, December 1981
If Britain is ever to become self-sufficient in funk then it's groups like Linx who will lead the way... ...
Soft Cell: Marc Almond: The Whip Hand
Interview by Jon Savage, The Face, January 1982
…and who holds it? The pop process, alienation and sexuality discussed with Marc Almond. By JON SAVAGE. ...
Bauhaus: Darkness and Degradation in Sound and Word
Interview by Mike Stand, The Face, February 1982
But first let’s talk about Northampton! ...
Fun Boy Three, Rico Rodriguez, The Specials: Rico Rodriguez: Rastaman
Profile and Interview by Deanne Pearson, The Face, February 1982
From the Wareika Hills to Top of the Pops. A profile of Rico, the Specials trombone ace, with a side order of oaths for the ...
Goodbye Young Lovers (wherever you are)
Retrospective by Jon Savage, The Face, March 1982
Jon Savage laments the Sixties attitudes still stubbornly enshrined in television's coverage of pop: "Boom Time is over and its children must shape up." ...
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, March 1982
FLEXING her feet in a pair of black Dr Martens, Kim Wilde sits in an orderly, wholesome manner at one end of a carefully battered, ...
Patti Palladin: Snatches: Patti Palladin almost interviewed by Jon Savage
Interview by Jon Savage, The Face, May 1982
Patti Palladin... ...
The Jam, Paul Weller: The Paul Weller Interview
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, May 1982
AS PAUL WELLER says, in the mid-1960s the original spirit of Mod implanted itself into the soul of young Britain with a self-nurturing, almost religious ...
Report and Interview by Lesley White, The Face, May 1982
IN CASE YOU'RE still wondering, Vince Clarke's amicable departure from Depeche Mode was motivated by nothing less than that time honoured and truly honourable ideal: ...
Haircut 100: Haircut One Hundred
Interview by Lesley White, The Face, June 1982
Fashion à la Haircut is the cult of the cleancut, the art of the casual towel, the incidental bow tie and the perpetual smile... ...
Interview by Paul Rambali, The Face, July 1982
Ry Cooder is tall, like a Texan, and dry, very dry, like a Margarita; tall in both physical height and musical standing, dry in both ...
ABC, Buggles, Dollar, Malcolm McLaren, Spandau Ballet: The Most Wanted Man In Pop: Trevor Horn
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, July 1982
"Why does pop music have to be so naff?" asks TREVOR HORN, whose production work for Dollar, ABC and Spandau Ballet is an unequivocal answer ...
Interview by Lesley White, The Face, August 1982
According to Joe Bowie, only his trombone and his funk-jazz band Defunkt stand between him and the imminent nuclear apocalypse. LESLEY WHITE talks to the ...
Dexys Midnight Runners: Fact And Fiction
Interview by Lesley White, The Face, September 1982
THE FACE turned down an offer to interview Kevin Rowland earlier in the summer because of unacceptable preconditions which were later withdrawn. Last in line ...
Interview by Lesley White, The Face, September 1982
Suitably softened up by his workout with four year-old Twinkle, IMAGINATION'S extrovert frontman picks himself up off the floor for an interview with LESLEY WHITE ...
Brian Eno: Only The Small Survive
Interview by Dave Rimmer, The Face, October 1982
One of the vital musical innovators of the Seventies, Brian Eno now inhabits a curious world. He lives in 'medieval' Manhattan, where he gambles on ...
David Sylvian: The Face Interview
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, October 1982
David Sylvian had agreed to do only three interviews when he returned to England from a month's stay in Japan. The first was for the ...
August Darnell, Kid Creole & The Coconuts: The Kid & I: A Dinner Date with Kid Creole
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, October 1982
The night Fiona Russell Powell joined August Darnell for a late late dinner date ran into the morning of the Kid's 32nd birthday and the ...
Boy George: The Face Interview
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, November 1982
I FIRST MET George O'Dowd about two years ago, shortly after I had moved down to London from Sheffield. George had just vacated his room ...
Malcolm McLaren: Where The Buffalo Roam
Interview by Deanne Pearson, The Face, December 1982
• Svengali turned singer Malcolm McLaren has — canny as ever — recorded one of the debut singles of the year, 'Buffalo Gals', after months ...
The Human League: The Face Interview: Phil Oakey
Interview by Lesley White, The Face, December 1982
I MET UP with Phil Oakey one wet Sheffield Wednesday afternoon over coffee and a Tupperware box of assorted chocolate biscuits, in the Formica-finished kitchen ...
Marc Almond, Soft Cell: Marc Almond
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, February 1983
THE RELATIONSHIP between record companies and the music press is I think generally seen to be one of a symbiotic nature. ...
Robert Palmer: Some Guys Have All The Hits
Interview by Lesley White, The Face, March 1983
It's hard to be a superstar in today's tough musical world. Caught for a long time between ever-changing trends, ROBERT PALMER finally found his blue-eyed ...
The Style Council: The State of the Nation's dress by Paul Weller
Interview by Lesley White, The Face, April 1983
"I SUPPOSE PEOPLE find it difficult to penetrate me," offers the pale young man in the white mac, "they're not sure whether I'm really deep ...
David Byrne, Talking Heads: David Byrne: First Degree Byrne
Interview by Max Bell, The Face, June 1983
FOR SOMEONE WITH such an aversion to limelight, fame and wild applause, David Byrne certainly puts himself about a bit. Ever since he formed Talking ...
Malcolm McLaren: How The West Was Won
Profile and Interview by Paul Rambali, The Face, June 1983
An epic trek across the myth of Malcolm McLaren ...
Prince: Someday Your Prince Will Come
Essay by Carol Cooper, The Face, June 1983
THE THING TO BEAR IN MIND is that Prince does not do interviews. He certainly didn't do this one, nor any of a dozen others ...
Gil Scott-Heron: Shooting from the Hip: Gil Scott-Heron
Interview by Max Bell, The Face, June 1983
With verse and music slung from his belt, GILSCOTT-HERON is making his stand against the Cowboy. Some people accuse him of being right on. But ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: The Chapel of Love: Bob Marley’s Last resting Place
Report by Chris Salewicz, The Face, June 1983
ON A HILLSIDE in a peaceful corner of Jamaica’s lush rural hinterland – Natural Mystic Country – perches the simple white-washed chapel erected on the ...
Interview by Paul Rambali, The Face, July 1983
SOMEWHERE ON the southern outskirts of Manchester there is a graveyard. Next to the graveyard is a rehearsal room where the four members of New ...
Fun Boy Three, Terry Hall: Terry Hall: The Face Interview
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, July 1983
This interview with Terry Hall is the result of two rather brief meetings with the Fun Boy, although I'm tempted to suggest that Glum Boy ...
Curtis Mayfield: Keep On Pushing: Curtis Mayfield
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, August 1983
They were still calling it ‘race music’ when Curtis Mayfield started singing in the late ‘50s. An influential and innovative artist, Mayfield gave a stirring ...
Elvis Costello: The Face Interview: Elvis Costello
Interview by Paul Rambali, The Face, August 1983
ALMOST seven years ago now, the son of dance band singer Ross McManus invented somebody called Elvis Costello. It was possible to do that in ...
Interview by Lesley White, The Face, September 1983
CARMEL MCCOURT is a stylish blonde singer of 24 with a voice as dark as she is fair, as strange as she is straightforward. She ...
Kid Creole & The Coconuts: To The Life Boats
Profile by Carol Cooper, The Face, September 1983
"Strange, how potent cheap music is."– Noel Coward, Private Lives ...
Annie Lennox, Eurythmics: Annie Lennox: MaSQUERaDE!
Interview by Max Bell, The Face, October 1983
THE EURYTHMICS used to rehearse in a room above a picture framers in Camden Town. Now, with money in the bank and record sales approaching ...
Gwen Guthrie: Soul and Substance
Interview by Lesley White, The Face, October 1983
Despite all the changes in black music, it's still possible to start in the church and end up in the charts. Maybe that's one of ...
Interview by Jon Savage, The Face, October 1983
FOR SOMEONE whose work has graced millions of record sleeves and influenced a whole generation, Jamie Reid’s personal profile is not the highest. This is ...
Culture Club: A Boy For Europe
Interview by Max Bell, The Face, November 1983
THE BEST thing about the Culture Club is that anybody can join. Membership isn't exclusive. Jon, Roy, George and Mikey have managed to come up ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, November 1983
IN THE HITCHHIKERS Guide To The Galaxy the number 42 is revealed as the clue to The I Meaning Of Life. This is the origin ...
Heaven 17: Room At The Top: Heaven 17
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, November 1983
The son of a Sheffield steel worker, Glenn Gregory's ambition was to become an actor. Instead he found himself playing the role of pop star ...
Aztec Camera: The Outsider Comes In
Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, The Face, December 1983
This has been the year of RODDY FRAME. The leader of Aztec Camera, his songs have delighted critics with their complex, resonant lyrics allied to ...
Mick Jagger: The Face Interview
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, December 1983
1PM, THE SAVOY HOTEL. In the centre of suite 312 sits a 40-year old man once described by the writer Nik Cohn with these words: ...
ABC: Past Imperfect, Future Tense
Interview by Jon Savage, The Face, January 1984
On the dreamstage of a pop-music fantasy, ABC were cast as the perfection of a glossy ideal. But their irony was misread, their clothes misconstrued. ...
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, February 1984
IT'S THE day before Christmas Eve and I'm on my way to The Savoy hotel, 15 minutes late already for my interview with Simon Le ...
The Pretenders: Leather Wears Better Than Dreams
Profile and Interview by Lesley White, The Face, February 1984
In the last two turbulent years, Chrissie Hynde has had a baby by the man who once personified for her the rock and roll myth, ...
Prefab Sprout: Faith, Hope & Glory?
Profile and Interview by Max Bell, The Face, March 1984
"IF ALL THIS HADN'T worked out, I was resigned to being a librarian. That's what I wanted to do." Thus speaks Paddy McAloon, brains in ...
Profile and Interview by Lesley White, The Face, April 1984
Sophisticated jazz, Silk Cut and Jersey. That's Sade Adu. The girl can't help it. The torches have been lit. Profile Lesley White ...
Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, The Face, April 1984
Ian Dury's verdict on the nation's art heritage ...
X: Guitars Against The Golden State
Profile and Interview by Robin Eggar, The Face, April 1984
They've been called The Last American Rock Band. It's a tag they hate. ...
Electro: The Beatbox Bites Back
Essay by David Toop, The Face, May 1984
1984: Two a.m. at The Funhouse and the giant video screen fills with the image of the Master O.C.'s hands scratching an Enjoy 12 inch. ...
Live Review by Ira Robbins, The Face, June 1984
ELVIS Costello’s 1983 American tour was so boring that even longtime fans found it difficult to remain alert for an entire set of pseudo-cabaret runthroughs. ...
Mods: The Resurrection Of Chad
Report by Lesley White, The Face, June 1984
For two days the town slept uneasily, anticipating events prophesied by dark whispers in the roadside inns. As the pilgrims gathered by their tents, huddled ...
Interview by Paul Rambali, The Face, June 1984
NOTES SCRAWLED habitually on the back of Richard Branson’s hand attest to a hectic day. He had been invited to lunch by the financial editor ...
Report and Interview by Carol Cooper, The Face, June 1984
In 1981 Stevie Wonder led the first of three marches in Washington D.C. calling for the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, the black civil ...
The Special AKA: Still Special (After All These Years)
Interview by Max Bell, The Face, June 1984
Jerry Dammers appeared on the cover of the first ever issue of THE FACE. The General, as he was nick-named then, led his group The ...
Profile and Interview by Paul Rambali, The Face, July 1984
How can one so rich, talented and beautiful be so weary of life? ...
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, July 1984
Pausing only to change from one outrageous outfit to the next, PHILIP SALLON has hosted a mad whirl of parties that unite youth tribes in ...
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, July 1984
Back from the mystery plane, where they witnessed a host of gore movies and much else besides, THE CRAMPS have come to reclaim their followers from the ...
Tom Verlaine: Tom Foolery: Tom Verlaine
Interview by Max Bell, The Face, July 1984
CAN IT REALLY be ten years now since we first heard about Television and the infamous New York scene of 1974? Those days, laughingly referred ...
Interview by Max Bell, The Face, August 1984
PARTHENON DRIVE, Norris Green, is one of Liverpool's quieter backwaters. The road, with its leafy gardens and council houses, is not scarred by graffiti or ...
Profile and Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, September 1984
Glen Milston has dedicated his life to glamour, in the guise of the 'outrageous', 'disgusting' Divine. After a career in films and on stage, Divine ...
Chic: Nile Rodgers: Brother, Can You Spare a Riff?
Interview by Paul Rambali, The Face, September 1984
THE CHIC SOUND – unique, polished, assertive – was the Motown of the '70s, synonymous with the rising aspirations of black America. It was to ...
Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, The Face, September 1984
The almost accidental progress of a modern-day pop group. Lesson No. 1: never give up your day job until your goal is in sight. ...
Report and Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, The Face, October 1984
"WHAT WE'RE DOING here is bringing back the talkies," David Bowie announces self-mockingly. His livid mask recalls the white-faced clowns and demons of the Commedia ...
Van Halen: David Lee Roth: The Face Interview
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, October 1984
Larger than life and twice as loud, David Lee Roth is the vocalist and ringmaster of the Van Halen hard rock circus. ...
Grand Mixer D.ST, Jalal Mansur Nuriddin: Rappers: Jalal Nuriddin
Report by David Toop, The Face, October 1984
EARLIER THIS year, just when it seemed safe to assume that the message rap genre had run out of self-righteous steam, two 12-inch records popped ...
Profile and Interview by Carol Cooper, The Face, November 1984
DESPITE WHAT you may have read, there is no such thing as a monolithic black American style. The attempt to pigeonhole black creativity into narrow ...
Boy George, Culture Club: Boy George: Boy On Fire
Interview by Lesley White, The Face, December 1984
The friendly but frozen smile of Boy George has been served up, like a cake fresh from the refrigerator, all over the media. It has ...
Paul Young: Too Much, Too Young
Interview by Dave Rimmer, The Face, January 1985
CLOSE YOUR EYES and picture the man who is talking. Chances are you imagine him looking well turned-out in a sharp and quite possibly shiny ...
Depeche Mode: Coming Up Smiling
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, February 1985
On the upside of pop you will find Depeche Mode, fast purveyors of tunes with meaning. On the downside, they find those meanings are often ...
Andy Warhol: The Face Interview
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, March 1985
"I HAVE NOTHING to say – read my books" is Andy Warhol's standard riposte to most would-be interviewers. ...
Duran Duran, Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Warhol: The Face Interview
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, March 1985
"I HAVE NOTHING to say — read my books" is Andy Warhol's standard riposte to most would-be interviewers. David Yarritu — a former assistant of ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, April 1985
Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, New York... The urban sound off black America is synonymous with these places. So what of Washington DC, the first US city ...
The Smiths: Dreamer In The Real World
Profile and Interview by Nick Kent, The Face, May 1985
To his father, he was a "complete fruitcake," to his contemporaries "the village idiot". Yet in the treacherous image-bloated clone-zone of pop, his is the ...
The Jesus & Mary Chain: The Jesus and Mary Chain: Jesus Wept
Profile and Interview by Max Bell, The Face, June 1985
ACCORDING TO MR Geoff Travis, chief of staff at the born again, doubly hip Rough Trade records (purveyors of high class pop to the gentry), ...
The Cure: Robert Smith: A Suitable Case for Treatment
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, October 1985
"We can't make it. We are ready to die when we are born. We are the patsies. And I hate the intellectual freak who realises ...
Duran Duran: The Pop Dream Come True
Report and Interview by Dave Rimmer, The Face, December 1985
NIGHT SETTLES ON The Palace Hotel, Philadelphia, like a sigh of relief. All the acts have finished all their frantic, last minute preparations for Live ...
Morris Day, The Time: Now Is The Time For Morris Day
Interview by Carol Cooper, The Face, December 1985
He played the senior dude in Purple Rain, the one who nearly stole the show from his real-life hometown rival Prince. He calls his autobiographical ...
Womack and Womack (and Womack): Bring The Family Back
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Face, December 1985
BORN IN THE SOUL YEARS, SURVIVING THE LEAN YEARS, THE WOMACK FAMILY HAVE PUT A LIFETIME'S EMOTIONS INTO THEIR MUSIC. BUT CECIL AND LINDA WOMACK ...
Boy George: The Face Interview
Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, 1986
George O'Dowd on fame, drugs, wealth, sex, George Michael, Alice Temple, Martin Degville… ...
David Sylvian Vs. The Pop Goliath
Interview by Dave Rimmer, The Face, March 1986
THE MAN WHO STROLLED INTO the lobby was small and neat, grey-suited with white shoes. His hair was a natural darkish brown a small silver ...
LL Cool J: Def Jam: The Rap Brat Pack
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, March 1986
THE GREATEST CREATIVE CONVERGENCE IN 20th Century music has been the American Jewish/Black independent record company. Reel 'em off: Herman Lubinsky and Savoy Records, Hy ...
Willie Colon, Gilberto Gil, Dizzy Gillespie, Milton Nascimento: ¿Te Gusta La Musica Latina?
Overview by David Toop, The Face, August 1986
FROM PANAMA DOWN THROUGH VENEZUELA TO BRAZIL, THIS MUSIC IS THE PULSE OF A CONTINENT. IN SOUTH AMERICA, SAMBAS CARRY SOCIAL STATEMENTS. THE DANCING IS ...
The Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sid Vicious: Scum Also Rises
Retrospective by Nick Kent, The Face, August 1986
SID LIVES ON T-SHIRTS AND IN A NEW FILM, BUT MOSTLY HE JUST LIVES ON IN INFAMY ...
Report by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, September 1986
"Sue the bastards!" WE'VE BEEN IN Chicago for two hours now, and for reasons too ridiculous to explain we are sitting in an Armenian restaurant talking ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, January 1987
MUSIC with drums? Music without drums? That is the question. New Yorker Arthur Russellrecords both, though he drily observes, "in outer space you can't take ...
Overview by Ian MacDonald, The Face, March 1987
WHAT IS THE USE OF MINIMALISM? ...
Luther Vandross: Let's Start with Pacman
Interview by David Toop, The Face, March 1987
LUTHER VANDROSS SPRAWLS UNTIDILY ACROSS THE COUCH AND SHOOTS THAT LOOK. "MS PACMAN," HE CORRECTS. ...
The Smiths: The Band With The Thorn In Its Side
Report by Nick Kent, The Face, April 1987
The past two years have seen panic in the Smiths camp, with take-over bids and narcotic problems competing with international success. Nick Kent assesses the ...
Sweet Tee & Jazzy Joyce: Queens of the Bronx
Interview by David Toop, The Face, May 1987
"HIP HOP is such a beats orientated music. It's just beats and a bass line. If you put anything else to it like keyboards and ...
John "Jellybean" Benitez, Madonna: Jellybean Benitez: Spinning the Globe
Interview by David Toop, The Face, October 1987
First it was Jellybean the DJ playing disco in a Bronx salsa club and helping launch post-video game dance music from New York's Funhouse. Then it was Jellybean the producer working with megastars like Whitney Houston and Madonna. ...
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, October 1987
Desiree Heslop had an English girl's dream of US Soul Romance. She didn't find it working in Top Shop, or studying at the Royal Academy. ...
Report and Interview by Dave Rimmer, The Face, Summer 1987
SEARCHLIGHTS SWAY IN THE SKY over Hollywood Boulevard and Vine as the premiere party for La Bamba the movie strides into full swing. The subject ...
Scritti Politti: The Green Manifesto
Interview by David Toop, The Face, 1988
The only pop artist who can incorporate Miles Davis and Jacques Derrida into the same repertoire, Green Gartside is still pondering the "the undecideability of ...
Smith & Mighty: Smith And Mighty: Bristol Rising
Profile and Interview by John McCready, The Face, 1988
Coming from the same sound system roots as Soul II Soul, dance producers Smith And Mighty are at the centre of a thriving West Country ...
The Farm: The Dark Side Of The Mersey: Retro-Rock Scallies
Report and Interview by John McCready, The Face, 1988
A HIPPIE IS chased down a darkened street by a group of 16 year-old Casuals. In most parts of Britain, what follows is likely to ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, April 1988
BROS and their fans are tired of the grown-up messages of adult pop. The girls that cluster outside their house every day represent a new era in ...
Gail Ann Dorsey: Bimbo Backlash — Gail Force
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, July 1988
THE REIGN of the bimbo over the British charts has been a long one. There's absolutely nothing wrong with pretty faces fronting other people's songs ...
Essay by Nick Kent, The Face, September 1988
If eighties pop was a cultural void, then Prince tried his hardest to fill it. Crossing barriers of race, gender and genre to capture the ...
Report by John McCready, The Face, October 1988
Scorned by the purists and ignored elsewhere, British soul has finally decided to go it alone. From bedrooms in Hackney and basements in Bristol a ...
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, October 1988
LONDON, JULY. The police, finally twigging onto the city's thriving house scene, raid a warehouse just south of the river. As is usual on such ...
Report by David Toop, The Face, December 1988
When New York's Paradise Garage closed, the city lost part of its pulse, leaving only a brand of Eighties disco called Garage. In Chicago, it ...
Interview by Max Bell, The Face, December 1988
For many he's a rock messiah, a man with a message and all the answers. Perhaps that's why BONO did no interviews to promote what has become Britain's fastest-selling album ...
Interview by John McCready, The Face, 1989
"ASK ME what you want, John. I can take it. I mean, what are you going to do — spank me?" ...
Depeche Mode: Modus Operandum: Depeche Mode in Detroit
Interview by John McCready, The Face, 1989
IT'S JUST after one at the best club on the planet. This is Detroit’s Music Institute, an all-night and most-of-the-next-day juice bar with a sound ...
Guide by John McCready, The Face, 1989
TECHNO HAS turned ordinary record buyers into badly-informed technology obsessives. ...
Interview by John McCready, The Face, 1989
INSPIRED BY a single, ‘There She Goes’, and an assortment of odd, beautiful and tangential B-sides built from nothing but raw creativity, I feel like ...
Blackpool Weekender: Keeping The Faith
Report by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, May 1989
A modern Mecca: the finale of the Third Blackpool Soul, Funk & Jazz Weekender in early April, where dancers left cold by rap and acid gather ...
Frankie Knuckles: The Godfather
Report and Interview by John McCready, The Face, May 1989
AS YOU'RE assaulted by yet another PWL production — the legacy of House lives on in 'I'd Rather Jack' — this question may or may ...
Jerry Lee Lewis: Man on Fire: Going to Hell with Jerry Lee Lewis and Dennis Quaid
Special Feature by Nick Kent, The Face, May 1989
HE WAS trying to be courteous but you could tell almost at once that being courteous wasn't really part of his nature. "Wahl, ah looks ...
Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Holly Go Lightly
Interview by Lesley White, The Face, June 1989
AS LUNCH DATES with professionally outrageous people go, mine with Holly Johnson — upstairs and upstairs again at L'escargot — was an affair of studied ...
Report by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, August 1989
THERE WERE stories of people dancing to police sirens, traffic noises, anything to stretch the Summer Of Love out a little longer, but never before ...
The Beautiful South: Popping out for a bit
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, December 1989
The Beautiful South: classic English pop or a bit boring, really? ...
Jane's Addiction: Jane’s Addiction: Guns ’N Poses
Interview by John McCready, The Face, 1990
Some people think Jane’s Addiction are the new Guns N’ Roses, even the new Rolling Stones. Others think that singer Perry Farrell will save rock ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, January 1990
A LITTLE suburban parking spot in Carson, Los Angeles, and balmy tranquility hangs in the air like Valium fallout. There are harsh alien sounds, though: ...
Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses and The Happy Mondays
Report and Interview by Nick Kent, The Face, January 1990
AFTER A YEAR of underground success, Stone Roses and Happy Mondays crowd into a Top Of The Pops dressing room to celebrate their entry into ...
Morrissey, The Smiths: Morrissey: The Deep End
Interview by Nick Kent, The Face, March 1990
Walking backwards into the Nineties, has Morrissey finally lost all sane 'focus' on his career? ...
Adamski, Paul Oakenfold, Seal, The Shamen: Adamski: Play for Today
Report and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, April 1990
First there were the raves, and a few imaginative DJs who mixed live music with the records.Then there was Adamski, and the madness that is ...
Tracy Chapman, Jimi Hendrix, Living Colour, Prince, Dan Reed Network: Black Rock
Essay by David Toop, The Face, July 1990
White Rock we know about, but why should the idea of Black Rock be so difficult to comprehend? When Prince says his current tour is rock'n'roll based, he ...
Depeche Mode, Erasure, Inspiral Carpets: Staying Mute
Profile and Interview by John McCready, The Face, August 1990
ELECTRONIC. TEUTONIC. Independent. European. Regardless of the reality of its catalogue, Mute Records has a certain image. Like any record label with a desire to ...
The KLF: KLF: Tales From The White Room
Interview by John McCready, The Face, September 1990
SINISTER. That's the word. The KLF are sinister. With their pervy mail-order black-hooded packamacks, their propaganda and their perfect assimilation of rave culture they are ...
Janet Jackson: Into Control, Out Of Tunes
Interview by John McCready, The Face, October 1990
JANET JACKSON'S last single, 'Black Cat', was truly mind boggling in its awfulness. Its politely heavy metal styling was really just an excuse for Janet ...
Charlatans, The (UK): The Charlatans: Sexier Than Shaky?
Interview by John McCready, The Face, October 1990
After one chart hit, The Charlatans are poised on the fringe of either stardom or obscurity. They may be better mannered than Happy Mondays and cuter than the Stone Roses, but will ...
Beats International, Fatboy Slim: Beats International are a Pop Group of Their Time
Report and Interview by John McCready, The Face, November 1990
...an indie star turned dance guru, a soap star turned singer, and a motley crew of British rappers, singers, musicians, graffiti artists and dancers passing ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, The Face, January 1991
DJ GILLES Peterson's Talking Loud afternoon club (Sundays at Dingwalls, London) has a reputation for showcasing distinctive acts on the jazz tip, but recently moved ...
MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice: Hooked on Rap
Comment by David Toop, The Face, January 1991
David Toop on the rise of Hammer and Ice ...
Massive Attack: The Bristol Bunch
Interview by John McCready, The Face, January 1991
MASSIVE ATTACK were part of Bristol's Wild Bunch crew, a posse who pioneered UK hip hop. In 1986 they helped put together ‘The Look Of ...
Report by Sean O'Hagan, The Face, March 1991
Where have all the pop stars gone? Artists like Elvis Presley or The Beatles are the record company ideal, showing steady sales year after year. ...
Primal Scream: Ten Minutes In The Mind Of Bobby Gillespie
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, August 1991
Why did you start playing dance music?Better music, better chicks, better drugs. Is rock'n'roll dead? No. There's a lot of great rock'n'roll bands, like Jane's ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Heath, The Face, December 1991
Apart from his music. Prince never gives much of himself away in public – or even in private. But over six strange days in Paisley ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, February 1992
Rap music has become less experimental, but on America's West Coast, groups like The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy and New World Rhythm are trying to ...
Report and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Face, 1 April 1992
IT'S EARLY evening in a Russian restaurant somewhere in west London, a place that specializes in vodka – chili vodka, lemon vodka, brandy vodka, even ...
Jon Bon Jovi: Q&A: Jon Bon Jovi
Interview by David Toop, The Face, December 1992
Jon Bon Jovi has had his hair cut off and been remixed by Jesus Jones. What's going on? ...
Obituary by David Toop, The Face, January 1993
JUST BECAUSE remix culture confuses our sense of history, this doesn't mean that DJs don't have heroes. Larry Levan was one of the few DJs ...
Morrissey, Suede: Brett Anderson & Morrissey: Suedegate
Comment by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, May 1993
Does this magazine print deliberate lies? Well actually no, we don't ...
Report and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, July 1993
Hailed as a spokesman for the E generation, Jon Marsh is now following a path few would have predicted. With a much-underrated new album receiving ...
Miami Bass: How Low Can You Go?
Report by John McCready, The Face, 1994
In Florida, a pair of 15-inch speakers carry more B-boy cred than a pair of fat-laced sneakers, and your car is judged not by speed ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Doggy Dogg: A Dogg's Tale
Interview by Steven Daly, The Face, February 1994
Snoop Doggy Dogg is currently America's top rap star. He's also due to be tried later this year as an accessory to murder. In his ...
Beck, Jeff Buckley, David Gray, Ben Harper, Palace Music, Liz Phair: Beck et al: Don't fake the folk
Overview by Cliff Jones, The Face, August 1994
A WASTED voice wails to a scratchy guitar, drifting in some desolate, unforgiven shopping mall limbo: "I was working at McDonald's, doing the late night ...
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Face, August 1994
When Shara Nelson and others moved on to new projects, the faces and spaces of Massive Attack's Blue Lines were superseded by silence. Three years later, ...
Oasis: Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Beatles...
Interview by Cliff Jones, The Face, August 1994
The next Pistols, the next Beatles, or just this month's Next Big Thing? Oasis are good enough to fight the hype – but the battling ...
Marshall Jefferson: Moving House
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, September 1994
I FIRST MET MARSHALL Jefferson in 1986, in his native Chicago. House was just starting to bloom there, and he was working on 'Move Your ...
Essay by David Toop, The Face, September 1994
David Toop listens to the old and the new and wonders which is which ...
Interview by Andrew Smith, The Face, November 1994
JAY KAY shouldn't really be telling me shit like this. He and his band for — make no mistake, it is his band — have ...
Report and Interview by Craig McLean, The Face, November 1994
Shampoo are two grown-up schoolgirls who've turned their private world of sweeties, ciggies and suburban naughtiness into a hit commodity. Welcome to the world of ...
Shane MacGowan, The Pogues: Shane MacGowan: Lush life
Interview by Chris Heath, The Face, November 1994
When Shane MacGowan left the Pogues, it was not so much in a cloud of acrimony than a murky fog of drink and drugs. Against ...
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Face, December 1994
THE "DISCO SUCKS" MENTALITY REARS ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN. JUST AS M PEOPLE'S STAR REACHES ITS ZENITH, THEIR AWARD-WINNING SHEEN BURNING BRIGHT, THE MUSIC WORLD DISSENT ...
Interview by Andrew Smith, The Face, January 1995
You probably know him as "that slacker guy" who recorded 1994's lo-fi radio anthem 'Loser'. That's fine by Beck, but just don't call him the ...
Future Sound Of London: Future Pop
Report and Interview by Andrew Smith, The Face, January 1995
When Future Sound Of London played live in New York last month, they were at home in London, connected to the venue only by a ...
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Face, February 1995
Tense, nervous and paranoid, Tricky has emerged from the dark heart of the Bristol beat with an extraordinary album that is almost as strange and ...
Interview by Cliff Jones, The Face, March 1995
HELL HAS broken lose. Scaramanga's prosthetic nipple has fallen off, Odd Job's bowler hat is carving up anyone within range and the rest of the ...
Report and Interview by Craig McLean, The Face, June 1995
Two years ago Björk drove herself into the nation's hearts with Debut. Now she's back with a new LP that's even stranger and more compelling. ...
Interview by David Toop, The Face, July 1995
Ten years ago, David Toop met a young graffiti artist named Goldie. "When I was a kid," he said, "I had nothing to look at ...
Interview by Andrew Smith, The Face, July 1995
Ladies and gentlemen: introducing Sheffield's own Jarvis Cocker, man of the common people, unlikely sex symbol, top pop personality and the best TV presenter we never ...
Black Grape, Happy Mondays: Black Grape: Shaun Ryder Q+A
Interview by Cliff Jones, The Face, August 1995
Call the cops! Manchester's premier exponent of hooligan rock is back, and sounding better than ever. Cliff Jones grills the Black Grape head honcho on Star ...
Blur, Oasis: Blur: England Expects
Special Feature by Chris Heath, The Face, September 1995
BLUR'S NEW album, The Great Escape, might be based around an imaginary retreat from the heady pop melee, but for Damon, Graham, Alex and Dave, ...
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Face, September 1995
Is D'Angelo the last soul man or simply the finest new voice of the Nineties? ...
Cypress Hill: Back in the Daze
Interview by Andrew Smith, The Face, October 1995
CYPRESS HILL used cannabis to devastating effect in the marketing of their Black Sunday — racking up best-selling rap album in the process. Can they pull the ...
Report by Andrew Smith, The Face, October 1995
Amsterdam's Safe House Project does more than just advise clubbers on Ecstasy: it goes right to the source, to the manufacturers. ...
Take That, Robbie Williams: Robbie Williams: The Wild One
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, October 1995
Robbie Williams was always the cool one in Take That. His appearance at this year's Glastonbury, dancing onstage with his mates Oasis, only confirmed that. ...
Interview by Cliff Jones, The Face, December 1995
At 15 Coolio embraced a life of crime and violence that left him addicted to crack and almost dead. His song 'Gangsta's Paradise' is the ...
Mary J. Blige: Mary J Blige: Soul For Real
Profile by Bill Brewster, The Face, December 1995
She is the soul queen of urban America. So why is it so sad to be Mary J Blige, asks Bill Brewster ...
Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky: Massive Attack: Unique 3
Report and Interview by Craig McLean, The Face, December 1995
With sales of Protection approaching a million. Massive Attack are going seriously global. They have recorded a love song with Madonna, Tina Turner wants to ...
Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, December 1995
I FIRST MET MRS WOOD on a trip to BCM in Majorca. The manager had flagged up his attractions outside the club in four-foot letters: ...
Guide by Kodwo Eshun, The Face, January 1996
CALL IT drum & bass, breakbeat science or hardstep. As jungle accelerates faster into the future, it is splintering into a million different theme tunes ...
Interview by Craig McLean, The Face, January 1996
...as man of the year? Man of the last 15 years more like. Over a goblet of mulled wine the sound of young (ahem) Scotland ...
Comment by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, February 1996
Nice flyer, shame about the club: Sheryl Garratt on the art of parties. ...
2 Unlimited, Clock, N Trance: Europop: Young, Dumb and Full of Hum
Report by Bob Stanley, The Face, February 1996
YOUR MUM LOVES the catchy melodies and your little brother fancies the singers. It's not Britpop, it's Euro technotechnotechnotechno and it's in the top ten ...
Burt Bacharach, Portishead: Ballads: Heart of Darkness
Essay by David Toop, The Face, September 1996
Can the ballad survive in the post-soul '90s, asks David Toop. ...
Interview by Bill Brewster, The Face, September 1996
The Haçienda in considering dropping house music. UK Midlands' new night features Goldie and Weatherall. Has house burnt out? Faze Action says it's time to ...
Interview by Cliff Jones, The Face, September 1996
FIONA APPLE is a Manhattan teenager ablaze with songs of love, loss, anger and pain. "Given my way, I'd tie all shrinks together and burn the fuckers!" ...
Garbage: Modern Life is Rubbish
Interview by Steven Daly, The Face, September 1996
ONCE SHE WAS just another washed-up indie singer from Edinburgh. Then fate, MTV and three American rock musos intervened, and now Shirley Manson finds the ...
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, September 1996
WHEN NENEH CHERRY was a toddler, she met Miles Davis. She remembers his gravelly growl of a voice, and recalls him opening his trumpet case ...
Blur, Oasis, Pulp: The Nineties: Going for Bloke
Comment by Johnny Cigarettes, The Face, September 1996
In the Nineties, we are all everyday people, says Johnny Cigarettes ...
Interview by Cliff Jones, The Face, October 1996
The success of 'Killing Me Softly' this summer has turned them into MTV darlings and global stars. Yet lead singer Lauryn Hill still believes she ...
Tupac Shakur: Farewell to Arms
Retrospective by David Toop, The Face, November 1996
Tupac Shakur was the rapper whose lyrics merged poetry with pain to make him an icon for America's doom generation. On September 13, at the ...
Amon Düül, Faust, Neu!: Welcome To The Machine: Kraut Rock
Overview by John McCready, The Face, November 1996
Julian Cope has championed it, new Nineties bands are ransacking it and the ageing German hippies that first created it are now packing in techno ...
Interview by Cliff Jones, The Face, December 1996
Is it possible for a man to live a long and happy life on a diet of sex, drugs and sausage? Iggy Pop explains to ...
Retrospective by John McCready, The Face, 1997
TEN YEARS IS A LONG TIME. Three score short of a lifetime, I know, but long enough to establish your own space programme and see ...
Blur, Johnny Marr, Oasis: Britpop: Let's Stay Together
Comment by Cliff Jones, The Face, January 1997
Britpop hasn't so much gone Pete Tong as Travelling Wilburys, says Cliff Jones ...
Interview by Cliff Jones, The Face, February 1997
That fuzzy folk fella, BECK HANSEN, might now be enjoying full-on international acclaim, but has it helped him and his music become any better understood? Meet the man who believes his generation needs to grow up ...
Interview by Emma Warren, The Face, February 1997
ANYONE WHO'S ever found themselves propelled on to the middle of the dancefloor as soon as the twisted "wah wah" strains of 'Da Funk' hit ...
Comment by Caitlin Moran, The Face, February 1997
New Madonna, new danger? Groomed, elegant — the Material Girl has matured with good grace. Will her fans wish she hadn't bothered, asks Caitlin Moran ...
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, March 1997
He plays himself in Mars Attacks! but would love to play James Bond, is hung like a donkey but not like a horse, and doesn't ...
Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: Top of the world, ma
Special Feature by Chris Heath, The Face, March 1997
Dear Mum, Everything's going great in the States. We're dead tired and a bit fed up, but we're zooming up the charts here and we're ...
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, April 1997
On the horizon of credibility, a faint cry is heard: "Who ate all the pies, who ate all the pies, who ate, who ate, who ...
Village People: "Macho Types Wanted, Must Have Moustache"
Retrospective and Interview by William Shaw, The Face, April 1997
Young man! There's no need to feel down... Until you've heard the strange and tragic tale of the man behind the biggest disco sensation of ...
RuPaul, Spice Girls: RuPaul and the Spice Girls: Mean Streaks
Report by Chris Heath, The Face, May 1997
Chris Heath discovers which magazine RuPaul really really hates. Go on, guess... ...
808 State, Happy Mondays, New Order: The Haçienda: Working on a Building of Love
Retrospective by John McCready, The Face, May 1997
It gives us such great joy to sayThat fifteen years ago todayA club was born — the HaçiendaA venue for the maddest bendersSo as you ...
Beck: With Beck all things are possible
Report and Interview by Craig McLean, The Face, May 1997
He is rhythm wizard, zombie fawn, Prada punker, Spice Boy and hip hop beatnik. Step with us, if you will, into Beck's American dreamstate: where ...
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci: Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!
Interview by Ben Thompson, The Face, June 1997
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci (gaw'kes zy'gotik mung'ki), n. pl. (1) Young art-rockers from Wales. (2) Makers of four albums of well-wrought psychedelic pop. (3) Also called: ...
Comment by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, August 1997
The summer of love that grew out of the Balearic scene wasn't as revolutionary as some claim, says Sheryl Garratt ...
Paul Oakenfold: House Music: Promised Land
Overview by John McCready, The Face, August 1997
What have we got to celebrate after ten years of non-stop ecstatic dancing? Loads, says John McCready ...
Texas, Wu-Tang Clan: Beauty and the Beats: Texas meet the Wu-Tang Clan downtown
Report by Steven Daly, The Face, December 1997
It's the pop story of '97, the most unlikely end to a weird year: Texas collaborating with the Wu-Tang Clan. First, a Scottish rock band ...
Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson: Janet Jackson: Janet Unzipped
Interview by David A. Keeps, The Face, December 1997
ALL LITTLE JANET WANTED TO DO WAS CLIMB TREES, BANG DRUMS AND "SCRAPE MY ASS". IN SHORT, SHE WANTED TO BE HER BROTHERS. THEN LITTLE ...
Report and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, December 1997
JOHN DIGWEED stares at the sleek, black stretch limo we've ordered to take us from the hotel to the club in New York. "I usually ...
Working on a Building of Love: The Great Days of the Haçienda
Retrospective by John McCready, The Face, Spring 1997
With Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People opening in the UK this weekend, we reprint Face writer John McCready's wonderful account of the club's rise, ...
Special Feature by Craig McLean, The Face, 1998
It spans eight years, three continents and an aborted Fleetwood Mac cover. It features Richard Ashcroft, Thom Yorke and Mike D. How did DJ Shadow ...
Report by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, March 1998
Sheryl Garratt learns from those at our hospitals' sharp end that Ecstasy may not be the biggest threat to clubbers' health after all ...
Dallas Austin, Tricky: Tricky: The Mad Father
Interview by Craig McLean, The Face, May 1998
They used to call him Tricky Kid, now they call him The Boss... He is the overworked businessman with his own label who is to ...
Robbie Williams: Resurrection man
Comment by Craig McLean, The Face, September 1998
Boy band clown. Drug band hanger-on. Solo flop. So how did Robbie manage to come back for good? Because whatever he's said, whatever he's done, ...
DJ Pierre, Marshall Jefferson, Frankie Knuckles: House Music: Jack in the Day
Book Excerpt by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, October 1998
Chicago's Eighties club scene was the tinderbox that sparked a global dance music explosion. Sheryl Garratt remembers the time... ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Face, November 1998
You know him as That Bloke From The Fugees. The one who mutters "One time... two time" on 'Ready Or Not'. The one who isn't Lauryn Hill. ...
Basement Jaxx: London — Basement Jaxx
Report and Interview by Andy Crysell, The Face, March 1999
Stupid dancing in a dirty Camberwell pub ...
Report and Interview by Bill Brewster, The Face, March 1999
Sunday afternoon disco classics down a Manhattan side street ...
Gay Dad: Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rock Star
Report and Interview by Sylvia Patterson, The Face, April 1999
They're the best band since Oasis. They're the joke of the year. Their records are all fantastic. But they've only made one. They've got a ...
Special Feature by Sylvia Patterson, The Face, June 1999
Her father threatened her with guns, her teachers graded her bottom of the class and the music industry told her she'd never make it. Then ...
Interview by Tom Doyle, The Face, June 1999
HEROIN. ARSON. DEATH. DESTROYED STUDIOS. BLOWN OPPORTUNITIES. THE BALLAD OF SHACK IS HARDLY EASY LISTENING. BUT NOW, WITH A GLORIOUS NEW ALBUM, BRITAIN'S GREAT LOST ...
Profile and Interview by Frank Broughton, The Face, October 1999
His home was The Loft. He played house before it existed. And New York's David Mancuso has a nun to thank for it all ...
Colleen "Cosmo" Murphy: DJ Cosmo: Cosmic Girl
Interview by Lulu Le Vay, The Face, December 1999
She was a mainstay of New York nightlife — until Mayor Giuliani sent in the cops. Now Cosmo's making it in London ...
Macy Gray: There's something about Macy
Interview by Sylvia Patterson, The Face, December 1999
Some say she's "a genius"; others, "insane".What is it about Macy Gray that makes her more than just the soul sensation of the year? ...
Sigur Ros: The Band at the Edge of the World
Interview by Andrew Mueller, The Face, December 1999
Sigur Ros have a singer who sounds like a whale. Their lyrics are in a secret language. And they want to perfume the world with ...
Armand Van Helden: Professional Weirdo
Report and Interview by Andy Crysell, The Face, March 2000
He's the house DJ who loves hip hop, the pop star "at war" with his record label, the New York City boy who was born ...
Profile and Interview by Lulu Le Vay, The Face, August 2000
The genre-defying DJs of diversity have faced shootings and bomb scares. Hard to believe they're only named after a manhole cover. ...
Fatboy Slim, Paul Oakenfold, Sasha and Digweed: Clubs: USA Special! America: What Time Is Love?
Report by Bill Brewster, The Face, September 2000
Dance music conquers America! Yes, really, this time! Bill Brewster on how Sasha, Oakie and Fatboy Slim are taking on the last bastion of rock'n'roll ...
At the Drive-In, Nirvana: Sylvia says: bring me Nirvana or bring me death
Comment by Sylvia Patterson, The Face, November 2000
"WHAT THE FUCK is THAT?!?' shuddered Ali, a ferociously opinionated psychiatric nurse, being forcefully towed into a half-full tent at a summer festival, eyebrows twisting ...
Report and Interview by Ian Fortnam, The Face, 2001
STANDING CENTRE-stage and plastered in a grin that pretty much redefines the very word maniacal is a 52-year old man uniquely blessed with the voice ...
Report by Toby Manning, The Face, August 2001
The pills are getting cheaper, the music's getting faster, the nights are getting longer. Now the club promoters have joined police and newspapers in telling ...
Interview by Sylvia Patterson, The Face, May 2003
Beneath Beyoncé Knowles' shining, golden exterior lies a heart which is… damn! It's shiny and golden too. But although she seems the ideal super-star for glittery-shallow ...
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, October 2003
You were scheduled to snog Madonna at the MTV awards, but you dropped out and Britney took over. Why? ...
The Distillers: The Ballad of Brody Dalle
Interview by Sylvia Patterson, The Face, February 2004
Just as they're about to make it huge, The Distillers are in the middle of a bitter punk-rock feud. The LA punk scene's split down ...
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