Melody Maker
Byrds, The: The Byrds: Strictly for The Byrds!
Report by Derek Taylor, Melody Maker, July 1965
THE BYRDS happened. Suddenly, with little enough warning for any of us. For me, it started a couple of days after I arrived in Hollywood ...
Dusty Springfield: I Just Look For A Song That Suits Me
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1966
"YOU put a smell on me!" sang Dusty Springfield and Madeline Bell to an audience consisting of a monkey in a box. ...
Lovin' Spoonful, The: The Lovin' Spoonful: Spoonful — The Most On The Coast...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1966
TEAM O' genuine hillbillies flew into London last week and if the Lovin' Spoonful didn't actually tote 12-bore shot guns, they looked as if they'd ...
Cream: Sweet 'N Sour Rock 'N Roll
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1966
A THUNDER of blues in a church hall complete with Brownies and caretakers was the bizarre setting for the first tentative creations of the Cream ...
Artwoods, The: The Artwoods: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1966
IT WAS AN exciting but nerve-racking night for the Artwoods, one of London's finest groups, when they made their Marquee Club debut last week. ...
Davey Graham: Les Cousins, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, September 1966
THE big question is: why isn't Davy Graham booked into Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club? He has as much to say as his fellow guitarist and ...
Phil Ochs: America's Fieriest Songwriter
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, September 1966
LAST TIME American singer/songwriter Phil Ochs was here he stormed around from gig to gig, ending up in a four-letter-worded altercation with a St Pancras ...
Otis Redding: Mr Cool and The Clique From Memphis
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, September 1966
OTIS REDDING is unbelievably cool. Or is it just travel-weariness. Who knows? When he landed on English soil last week to introduce himself and prepare ...
Cream: Pop Think-In with Ginger Baker
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1967
MODERN ART: I still paint occasionally, and I've got a big sculpture I've been working on for 18 months. It's got a steel frame with ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1967
CHRIS WELCH ANALYSES THE WORK OF BAKER, BRUCE AND CLAPTON ...
Monkees, The: Why All This Hoo-Ha About The Monkees?
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1967
OH, THE bitchiness! Oh, the arguments! Oh, the rows! It's amazing how pop can still cause furore and uproar from one side of the Atlantic ...
Cat Stevens: A Rather Cool Cat
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1967
CAT STEVENS won't purr if you poor him a saucer of milk. But if, as a reward for his sensational leap up the chart with ...
Jimi Hendrix at the Pop Think-In
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, January 1967
FREAK OUT: Well, whatever the word means to you, add a few musical notes to that. Each to his own. I think for a new ...
Four Tops, The: Four Tops Plan a Motown Choir
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1967
SWINGING London was practically rocked off its hinges the first time the famous Four Tops descended among us last year – the year of 'Reach ...
Jimi Hendrix, Who, The: Jimi Hendrix, The Who: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1967
Jimi Hendrix-Who battle at Saville ...
Watersons, The: 'Entertainment' Isn't Enough For The Watersons
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, February 1967
BIGGEST bombshell to hit the folk scene since Dave Swarbrick left Ian Campbell was my news in last week's MM, that the Watersons are to ...
Edwin Starr, Cream: Cream, Edwin Starr: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1967
GINGER BAKER played one of the finest solos in his career at London's Saville Theatre on Sunday night. ...
Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Steve Winwood: Stevie Winwood: Why I Quit
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1967
MM EXCLUSIVE: CHRIS WELCH probes the Great Break Up and finds the Spencer Davis-Stevie Winwood split inevitable ...
Mothers Of Invention, The, Frank Zappa: Mothers Of Invention: Freak Out! (Verve)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, March 1967
Freak Out with the Mothers ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1967
A RIGHT phantasmagorical experience was created by the combined powers of the Small Faces and Roy Orbison at the opening of their tour at Finsbury ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, March 1967
ONCE AGAIN LOVE PROVE THEIR GREAT ORIGINALITY ...
Jeff Beck: When The 'Big Break' Leads To Disaster...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1967
CHRIS WELCH GOES BEHIND THE GLAMOUR AND GLITTER OF THE POP WORLD TO FIND TRAGEDY ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1967
A show which proves pop still has something up its sleeve ...
Jimi Hendrix: Who Says Jimi Hendrix Can't Sing? (He Does!)
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1967
JIMI HENDRIX can't sing! "Oo sez so?" outraged Hendrix fans will demand, at this startling statement. But before MM readers who dig the sounds of ...
Doors, The: The Doors: The Doors (Elektra)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, May 1967
THE RAVING R&B musical content of their first single, 'Break On Through To The Other Side', falls well short of the high standard the Doors ...
Pink Floyd: The Great Pink Floyd Mystery
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1967
AS THOUSANDS IN ballrooms and assorted hell-holes across the country are deafened and blinded nightly by the Pink Floyd, the well-known psychedelic group, thousands might ...
Desmond Dekker: On The Trail Of Desmond Dekker
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1967
A FEW years ago Bluebeat, that simple jogging West Indian pop, was all the rage among the mods of Britain. ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: Mick Decides To Play It Cool
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1967
"STONES CASH IN on psychedelic craze! Read all about it!" This was the dramatic headline that swam into Mick Jagger's vision as he answered newspaper ...
Jimi Hendrix: Mitch Mitchell: 'We're Only Friendly Little Gnomes After All'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1967
MITCH MITCHELL TALKS ABOUT HIS IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA ...
Beatles, The: The Beatles: Two Magical Mystery Tours
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1967
'Ringo stood on my foot,' said one girl helpfully. 'But I don't know where they've gone!' ...
Vanilla Fudge: Fudge Slow Down To Hang On To Success
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1967
JIMI HENDRIX slowed down 'Hey Joe', previously always recorded as an all-out tear-up, and came up with a giant hit. Then Vanilla Fudge slowed down ...
Jimi Hendrix: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1967
THE OTHER (WRESTLING) SIDE OF JIMI HENDRIX ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1967
IT WAS AN explosive opening night For the Traffic-Tomorrow-Fudge tour at London's Finsbury Park Astoria on Wednesday of last week. The Fudge came off the ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1967
GREAT THUNDERING jackanapes! An all-round good show at the Saville: No goofs, no curtains falling down, great music, a nice audience and even, wonder of ...
Ten Years After: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1967
TEN YEARS AFTER are currently drawing huge applause and crowds at London's Marquee Club on Friday nights, and it is not difficult to see why. ...
John Mayall: O, Come And Join All Ye The Blues Faithful Crusade
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1967
ROLL UP! Get your Bluesbreakers masks here. Peter Green 2s 6d, Eric Clapton five bob... ...
Eddie Floyd: Knocking On The Wrong Wood
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1967
EDDIE FLOYD IN A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY ...
Otis Redding: Otis, The King Of Soul
Report by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, December 1967
OTIS REDDING, voted as the worlds number one male vocalist in this year's MM Pop Poll, died in an air crash on Sunday night. A ...
Traffic, Dave Mason: Traffic: Dave Quits, But Traffic Keeps Moving
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1967
DESPITE THE INTENDED departure of songwriter and sitarist Dave Mason, Traffic wheels are turning with renewed vigour. ...
Who, The: The Who: Who Needs To Take Pop Seriously? Asks Pete Townshend
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1967
PETE TOWNSHEND is as unpredictable as a badly made Roman candle. He fizzes and spurts, showers light and occasionally explodes. ...
Procol Harum "At An All-Time Low", says Organist Fisher
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1968
"I THINK the group position is at an all-time low. People are saying: 'Okay, they've had two hits. Now what else can they do?' " ...
Traffic: Stevie's Back On The Beer Again
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1968
ALL IS not lost! Stevie Winwood is drinking beer again! It is pleasing to report the Traffic boss was observed entering a London ale house ...
Tom Rush: Rush Reaches For The Pop Audience
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, January 1968
TOM RUSH walked into my office shortly after he had arrived to record a BBC-2 colour TV show with Julie Felix and John Renbourn last ...
Small Faces, The: Small Faces: Is All Still Well With The Faces?
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1968
"MAC LEAVING? No — of course not!" groaned Stevie Marriott and Ronnie Lane in unison. ...
Dusty Springfield, Spencer Davis Group, P.J. Proby, Mickie Most: Right Then, Who's Backing Britain?
Comment by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1968
IF BRITAIN is going to the dogs, it is obvious a large section of the (older) community are convinced that sinful pop stars are prime ...
Love Affair: A Love Affair To Remember…
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1968
IT'S EXCITING, it's fun, it's new – it's the Love Affair! ...
Manfred Mann: Manfred Still Has That Chart Touch
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1968
BOB DYLAN and Manfred Mann have never met. Yet there is a bond between them. Manfred gets hits with Dylan songs, and the songwriter approves ...
Herd, The, Tremeloes, The, Love Affair: The Tremeloes: War Of The Groups
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1968
Pop, crackle, snap – there's friction in the air! ...
Move, The: The Move: Disgusting, That's Our Stage Act
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1968
"IS OUR stage act sexy? It's disgusting! There's no doubt about it, it's vulgar and obscene, and if I was a father I wouldn't let ...
Leonard Cohen: Songwriter Who Got Into Folk By Accident
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, February 1968
WHEN THE new album by the uncrowned queen of the non-folk, Judy Collins, is issued this month a lot of people will start talking again ...
Move, The: The Move: Five Really Nice Guys
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1968
Despite what you may think, the Move are really five nice guys – or so they say... ...
Incredible String Band, The: The Incredible String Band: Once Again, Is It Folk?
Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, March 1968
WHEN poet Pete Brown, lyric-writer for the Cream, heard the new Incredible String Band LP, The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, he said: "That's what the Rolling ...
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, April 1968
TIM BUCKLEY made a guest appearance at the Incredible String Band's packed Royal Festival Hall concert last Saturday and amply illustrated the difference in approach ...
Herd, The: The Herd: Move 'Em Out It's The Real Herd
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1968
A POACHED egg is many things to many people. To advertising copy writers, it is a symbol of health and efficiency. To the savages of ...
Beach Boys, The: The Beach Boys: A Brave New World – Through Pop
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1968
IT'S GOING to be a Brave New World through pop. That's the hope of men like George Harrison, Donovan and Mike Love, bearded, humourous hell-raiser ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1968
WE HAVE seen group wars and feuds before, but nothing like the battle for fans between the Bee Gees and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1968
When the Stones were rollin' – for £10 a gig ...
Move, The: Move's Ace Kefford: If I Hadn't Left
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1968
ONE OF THE older clichés in pop, exercised whenever a star cracks up, is "it was too much, too soon." ...
Cream: Eric Clapton: Back To The Blues
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1968
CHRIS WELCH picks his way through the chicken feathers in darkest Chelsea to chat up the guitar star of the Cream ...
Who, The: The Who: Would You Let Your Daughter Marry A Venusion?
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1968
TYPICAL WHO sound blasted in stereo from a battery of speakers – screaming guitar, vocals, bass and drums. But Roger Daltrey, John Entwhistle and Keith ...
Scott Walker: I'm Going To Japan By Train
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1968
IS SCOTT Walker a monster? This is his image among some of the pop fraternity. Is he a helpless innocent, buffeted by pitiless probings of ...
Pentangle: The Many Talents Of The Pentangle
Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, May 1968
ANSWER THE following questions to win five points: Which group is playing at the Cambridge Jazz Festival one weekend in July, and at the Cambridge ...
Tyrannosaurus Rex: Marc Bolan: The Man Behind Tyrannosaurus Rex
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1968
AGE AND world wearyness are the enemies of pop. Marc Bolan has youth and enthusiasm. His are the qualities which must be the saviours of ...
Eric Burdon, Animals, The, Zoot Money: Eric Burdon and Zoot Money
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1968
ERIC BURDON belongs to a fast vanishing breed. He is the last of the outspoken men of Pop, and the Animals are the last of ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: Will Charlie Watts Wake Up The World?
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1968
BEACH BOYS, Beatles and Donovan chased round the world after the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in search of spiritual peace. ...
Marmalade: No Peel For Marmalade
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1968
THEY DON'T like Peel in Marmalade. The well-known voice of hippery has frequently expressed opinions that the Scots lads once known as Dean Ford and ...
Manfred Mann: Manfred Michael Say's — 'It's Like Selling Fish And Chips'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1968
IS THE era of the pop idol dead? Are the days when Mick Jagger's face could launch a thousand screams over? ...
Nice, The: 1968 The Year Of The Nice
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1968
NICE ARE now one of Britain's top groups, ranking with Cream and Jimi Hendrix's Experience. And as Cream aren't working and are on the edge ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1968
JOHN MAYALL HAS taken a great leap forward with his Bare Wires suite which takes up one side of his latest Decca album. ...
Cream: Background to a Break-Up
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1968
CREAM ARE breaking up. The world-famous trio that features Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce are to go separate ways in the autumn. Said ...
John Mayall: Mayall's Bare Wires = a progression in attitude
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1968
JOHN MAYALL has taken a great leap forward with his Bare Wires suite which takes up one side of his latest Decca album. ...
Arthur Brown: I Am The God Of Hell Fire
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1968
"WHO ARE you then?" inquired the pretty young barmaid, as she served the fifth pint of foaming beer, to the customer with shoulder-length hair, clutching ...
Small Faces, The: Steve Marriott: Putting A Brave Face On Things
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1968
STEVIE MARRIOTT is not too horrified by the slow progress of 'Universal', the Small Faces' latest vital waxing. ...
Doors, The: Jim Morrison: Is He The American Mick Jagger?
Profile by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, August 1968
LOOK OUT, England! Jim Morrison is coming to get you! ...
Electric Flag: A Long Time Comin' (CBS)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1968
'Killing Floor'; 'Groovin' Is Easy'; 'Over-Lovin' You'; 'She Should Have Just'; 'Wine'; 'Texas'; 'Sittin' In Circles'; 'You Don't Realise'; 'Another Country'; 'Easy Rider'. ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1968
'White Room', 'Sitting on Top of the World', 'Passing the Time', 'As You Said', 'Pressed Rat and Warthog', 'Politician', 'Those Were The Days', 'Born Under ...
Janis Joplin, Big Brother & The Holding Company: Janis Joplin: Lock Up Your Sons
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, August 1968
SHE WEARS a micro-length dress with a neckline plunging down to the navel. She swoops around the stage like some kind of female bat about ...
Ginger Baker, Cream: Ginger Baker: The Ginger Man
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1968
PETER "GINGER" BAKER will be 29 soon, and after 13 years of beating drum kits into submission, he is at last able to relax and ...
Bob Dylan: We May Never See Him Perform Again
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, August 1968
BOB DYLAN is unlikely ever to appear in concerts again. This is my considered opinion after two weeks talking with his friends and business associates ...
Jefferson Airplane: The Isle of Wight Pop Festival
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1968
A SMALL bronze medal should be struck and presented to all the survivors of the Isle of Wight Pop Festival. They are the brave men ...
Who, The: The Who: Bus Ride Back To Pop 30 For Who
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1968
THE STATES are where the Who now have their biggest hits, most fan fever, and excitement. Pete Townsend, Keith Moon, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: Oh, What? Own Up! Just Groove!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1968
MICK JAGGER, vintage 1968. ...
Joni Mitchell: Joni, The Seagull From Saskatoon
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, September 1968
TALKING TO Joni Mitchell about her songs is rather like talking to someone you just met about the most intimate secrets of her life. Like ...
Mothers Of Invention, The, Frank Zappa: Frank Zappa: Reviled, Revered Mother Superior
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1968
FEAR OF THE abnormal isn't a trait confined to Americans, but they do seem to express their fears more vociferously than most. ...
Al Stewart, Joni Mitchell: Joni Mitchell, Al Stewart, The Johnstons: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, October 1968
OPENERS AT Roy Guest's "Festival of Contemporary Song" at the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday, the Johnstons, finished their set with Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides ...
Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, Yardbirds, The: The Yardbirds: Only Jimmy Left To Form The New Yardbirds
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1968
WHATEVER happened to the Yardbirds? One of the great mysteries of our time, ranking with the Devil's footprints, the Marie Celeste and the Five Penny ...
Joe Cocker: Soul Sheffield Style
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1968
WHICH pop star uses the Mario Lanzo method? You're wrong – it's not Tiny Tim, it's our old blues shouting, Beatle bellowing mate Joe Cocker! ...
Tiny Tim: When Tiny Tim Started To Sing In A High Voice, Even Dear Father Said 'Cissy'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1968
Chris Welch comes face to face with Tiny Tim ...
Who, The: The Who: Tackling The Most Serious Project Of Their Lives
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1968
"THAT'S A nasty letter. What's all that about?" inquired a menacing, dramatically dressed Roger Daltrey, clutching a copy of the MM and noting a communication ...
Supremes, The, Diana Ross: Diana Ross: A Talking Instead Of Just A Walking Doll
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1968
DIANA ROSS is a living doll. But as an all-talking living doll, her new image came as quite a surprise to the pop scene last ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: Beggars Banquet (Decca)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, November 1968
THE STONES, like the Beatles, have the same, problems, i.e. surpassing their original inspirations. But as the Stones have always set their sights on the ...
Beatles, The: The Beatles: The Beatles (White Album) (Apple)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, November 1968
WITH OVER a million quid already in the coffers for this latest two-LP set handed down from the Liverpudlian heights, it is difficult to put ...
John Mayall: Blues From Laurel Canyon (Decca)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, November 1968
THIS IS John's least interesting album for a long time, and the reason is quite simple, and explained best in his own words on the ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1968
A FANTASTIC and highly emotional send-off for the Cream almost gave the group second thoughts about breaking up after their brilliant final performance at London's ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: How I Survived Beggar's Banquet
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1968
THAT custard pies would one day be hurled by the Rolling Stones at the gentlemen of the press was fairly inevitable. ...
Bonzo Dog Band: Viv Stanshall, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, at the Pop Think-In
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1968
FISH: I'm trying to become a pisceculturist. I'm less interested in fish than I am in turtles really. I like evil fish of archaelogical interest ...
Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull, Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: Rock and Roll Circus
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1968
IT WAS a group fan's dream, when the giants of pop held a three hour jam session, while rehearsing for the Rolling Stones' Rock And ...
Tyrannosaurus Rex, Melanie: Tyrannosaurus Rex/Melanie: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1969
A HANDFUL of musical fairydust was thrown into the air at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall on Monday, which baffled some and choked others. ...
Jeff Beck: The Jeff Beck Group: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1969
JEFF BECK'S band blew a solid set at London's Marquee Club last week to a packed house and proved why they have been so successful ...
Jeff Beck: When Jeff Was Scared To Go On Stage
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1969
JEFF BECK is a complicated person. He can appear lazy, sullen and difficult. He has an expressive face that appears to give away his every ...
Jimi Hendrix: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1969
The legend comes to life: Chris Welch catches Hendrix in action ...
Mississippi Fred McDowell: Church House, Farnham
Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, March 1969
"I'M NOT a rock and roll singer. The only way you make me rock is by putting me in a rockin' chair. But if you ...
Rolling Stones, The: Jagger In 3-D (part 1): The First Dimension – The Present
Interview by Keith Altham, Melody Maker, March 1969
KEITH ALTHAM begins his three-part series on Mick Jagger by attempting to assess where he is now, the most controversial and greatest Anti-Hero of our ...
Brian Auger: Fear Not For The Trinity!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1969
QUESTION – What happened to Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll and the Trinity? Answer – a lot! ...
Rolling Stones, The: Jagger In 3-D (part 2): Second Dimension — Jagger On Stage
Interview by Keith Altham, Melody Maker, March 1969
KEITH ALTHAM looks into the past for the SECOND DIMENSION in his series on Mick Jagger to discover the strengths and weaknesses in the Rolling ...
Taj Mahal: At Last — A Welcome New Voice
Profile by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1969
A NEW VOICE on the music scene and a very welcome one, belongs to Mr Taj Mahal a young blues singer and guitarist from Massachusetts. ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1969
...IS A REASONABLY good programme by Free, a group often dismissed as "just another blues band." ...
Rolling Stones, The: Jagger In 3-D (part 3): Third Dimension — The Future
Interview by Keith Altham, Melody Maker, March 1969
"BUT HE can't go an being a Rolling Stone for ever, can he?" asked Joe Public spitefully. ...
Blind Faith: Eric, Or Little By Little
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1969
IT'S SOUNDING good, the Eric Clapton, Stevie Winwood, Ginger Baker Band. Forget about Cream. This is a new group with a new sound. ...
Melanie's Looking For A Bag Of Her Very Own
Profile by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, April 1969
YOU CAN'T BE neutral about Melanie. She's one of those people who comes along and creates new dividing lines in the scene, setting people at ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1969
A DOUBLE ALBUM can often prove a boring disappointment these days, with the gimmick presentation becoming more important than the quality of the music. Pete ...
Pink Floyd: Now It's Pink Floyd Plus The London Phil
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1969
CHRIS WELCH FINDS OUT WHAT BRITAIN'S TOP 'OVERGROUND' GROUP ARE PLANNING ...
Humble Pie: Exclusive! Marriott & Frampton present HUMBLE PIE
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1969
When a new group is born naturally the Melody Maker is the first to know about it ...
Marsha Hunt Says – I Do What I Dig
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1969
MARSHA Hunt's trouble is she made one boob too many on TV recently. In fact two boobs too many. She caused a great outcry by ...
Fairport Convention's Martin Lamble: Previous Occupation — Child
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1969
THEY WERE playing 'Meet On The Ledge' at London clubs last week. It is a tune people most associate with Fairport Convention. ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1969
Watching With Mothers: Chris Welch survives a week with Frank Zappa ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1969
Following Blind Faith to the shores of a lake ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: The Stones Roll Again
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1969
How Mick's facing up to the brave new world of getting the show back on the road: MICK JAGGER talks to Chris Welch about the ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1969
SOME WEEKS ago, I went horse riding with Thunderclap Newman. ...
Pink Floyd: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1969
A SILENT, attentive crowd, joss sticks waving, a huge gong booming, and the Pink Floyd looning. It was strange inside the Royal Albert Hall, London, ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1969
A ZEPPELIN attacked the City of Bath on Saturday, and gassed 120,000. Airship Commander Jimmy Page kept the most fearsome dirigible in progressive blues aloft ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1969
CHRIS WELCH SAYS: 'Somehow the magic worked' ...
Thunderclap Newman: The Crazy World Of Thunderclap Newman
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1969
WHO IS THIS strange, Pickwickian character, rumbling and bumbling gaily into the pop scene? ...
Blodwyn Pig: A Head Rings Out (Island)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, July 1969
Impressive debut album from Blodwyn Pig ...
Quicksilver Messenger Service: Happy Trails (Capitol)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, July 1969
INTROSPECTIVE exploration of themes is the general idea on this album from one of America's top underground groups. ...
Blind Faith, Bread and Freedom – Now For The Sweet Music
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1969
BLIND FAITH have not only gained a fine bass player in Rick Grech, who left Family to complete the super group, they also have an ...
David Bowie: The Beckenham Arts Lab
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1969
"I RUN AN arts lab which is my chief occupation. It's in Beckenham and I think it's the best in the country. ...
Led Zeppelin And How They Made 37,000 Dollars In One Night
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, September 1969
LED ZEPPELIN and the adjective "heavy" are practically synonymous. They were made for each other, and it's difficult to think of one without immediately associating ...
Beatles, The: The Beatles: Abbey Road (Apple)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1969
Natural Born Beatles ...
Tyrannosaurus Rex: ...But The Bopping Imp Keeps Bopping
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1969
CHRIS WELCH UNCOVERS THE TYRANNOSAURUS SPLIT ...
Graham Bond: Commissar Bond Is Back In Business
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1969
"WE DON'T want any of that around here," threatened an elderly lady shaking a palsied fist from one of the ancient alleys of Cambridge, as ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1969
WHEN A TOP musician becomes an unpaid press and public relations man for a group, it can be fairly assumed that the group must have ...
Pete Brown's Piblokto, Graham Bond: Graham Bond/Pete Brown's Piblokto: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, October 1969
BOND NEARLY blew it. The extravagant return of the Great Graham almost turned into a fiasco – but happily everything came out all right. ...
Beatles, The, Yoko Ono, John Lennon: John & Yoko (part 1)
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, December 1969
"We had to do a lot of selling out. Taking the MBE was a sell-out for me". Part 1 of a new series by RICHARD ...
Yes: Swiss Rolling And Rocking With Yes
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1969
CHRIS WELCH reporting, with a little Alp from his friends ...
John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John & Yoko (part 2)
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, December 1969
"People prefer a dead saint to a living annoyance like John and Yoko. But we don't intend to be dead Saints for people's convenience". Part ...
Yoko Ono, John Lennon: John & Yoko (part 3)
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, December 1969
"We're always together, like 24 hours a day. We're never apart by more than a 100 yards". RICHARD WILLIAMS concludes his exclusive series ...
Yes: Time And A Word (Atlantic)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1970
IT'S NICE to have those great Yes arrangements like ‘Then’, ‘The Prophet’ and ‘Astral Traveller’ on record at last. One of the great playing bands, ...
Scott Walker Comes In From The Cold
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1970
IN 1970 Scott Engel's career appeared to grind to a halt. He practically vanished from the scene. He seemed to be forgotten, discarded, after a ...
Ginger Baker's Airforce: Scramble Here Comes Ginger's Airforce
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1970
"SCRAMBLE!" Ginger Baker, Marshall of the Airforce, rapped out his orders with the cool aplomb of a man in charge of a powerful attacking force, ...
Area Code 615: Area Code 615 (Polydor)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, January 1970
AREA CODE 615. 'Southern Comfort'; 'I've Been Loving You Too Long'; 'Hey Jude'; 'Nashville 9-N.Y.1'; 'Lady Madonna'; 'Ruby'; 'Crazy Arms'/'Get Back'; 'Why Ask Why'; 'Li'l ...
Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Neil Young: Stills and Young
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, January 1970
"DON'T BUILD me up into a pop star. I'm no different from you or anybody else. It's just that, because I'm a musician, I can ...
Joni Mitchell: Joni Still Feels The Pull Of The Country
Report and Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, January 1970
CANADIAN FOLK singer Joni Mitchell this week denied rumours that she would be retiring after her Royal Festival Hall concert on January 17th. ...
Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra: The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra. Vol. 1. (Fontana)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, January 1970
'Heliocentric'; 'Outer Nothingness'; 'Other Worlds'; 'The Cosmos'; 'Of Heavenly Things'; 'Nebulae'; 'Dancing In The Sun'. ...
Jack Bruce: The Heavy Burdens Of Jack’s Shoulders
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1970
HIGH COURT Judges have often been heard to observe that pop stars have "grave responsibilities." However, they are usually referring to suspected powers of influence ...
Syd Barrett: Confusion and Mr Barrett
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1970
SYD BARRETT is a happy, creative if somewhat confused young man, who gave the Pink Floyd hits and headaches when still in the group of his own creation, and after many months of ...
Frank Zappa: Hot Rats (Reprise)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1970
Hot Rats is hot stuff! ...
Bill Graham: The Man The US Kids Love To Hate
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, May 1970
BREAKFAST at London's Savoy Hotel with Bill Graham. The man, who has the high cheekbones and thick mouth of an American Indian, and the thundering ...
Ginger Baker's Airforce: Ginger Baker's Airforce (Polydor)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1970
GINGER BAKER HAS led a long tough career. He has worked hard, stuck to his musical guns at all times. ...
Grateful Dead: The Grateful Dead: Dead on Arrival
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, May 1970
The Grateful Dead fly into Britain ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1970
AFTER SUCH a long gap in recording from this legendary West Coast band, among the first of the new wave American groups which emerged in ...
Can: The Can: Monster Movie (United Artists)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, May 1970
THINGS ARE certainly beginning to happen in Germany. ...
Miles Davis: What Made Miles Davis Go Pop?
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, June 1970
Richard Williams talks to bassist Dave Holland in New York ...
Joni Mitchell: Let's Make Life More Romantic
Profile and Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, June 1970
JONI MITCHELL is a poet whose time has come. Because she uses the vehicle of music, her words and thoughts reach out to countless minds. ...
John Phillips: John The Wolfking of L.A. (Stateside)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, June 1970
INSIDE THE Mama's and the Papa's, something better was waiting to get out – and this is it. ...
Temptations, The: The Temptations: Psychedelic Shack (Tamla Motown)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, June 1970
SHAME, SHAME, shame... Motown's sold its soul for a spoonful of wah-wah guitar. Actually that's not quite true, because you can't totally obliterate the true ...
Jimi Hendrix: Band Of Gypsys (Track)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1970
ANY ALBUM from Jimi is such a rare event, one can only be pleased to see his name back on the new releases' rack. Here ...
Booker T & The MGs: McLemore Avenue (Stax)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, June 1970
NICE IDEA – they play all the tunes from Abbey Road, and imitate the sleeve of that album by picturing the four MGs crossing McLemore ...
Fotheringay, The Sea and Sandy Denny
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, June 1970
A FEW months ago Fotheringay was a pretty name for a group of musicians who happened to play together. Today it is the name of ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1970
Beatlemania-type Free-fever grips Britain. CHRIS CHARLESWORTH reports from the front line ...
Steppenwolf: On Politics and Pop
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1970
FOR YEARS popular rhythm artists have expressed often in fairly heated fashion, or occasionally with affected languor, political opinions. ...
Cat Stevens: Cat's Back With The Cream...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1970
LAST WEEK SAW the return of Cat Stevens to the MM chart after a disappearance act worthy of Houdini. It is 12 months since the ...
Captain Beefheart, Wild Man Fischer, Frank Zappa: Frank Zappa: Listen With Mothers
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1970
FRANK ZAPPA has emerged as one of the most interesting, lucid, energetic, entertaining and creative figures in contemporary music. He has frequently complained of being ...
Fairport Convention: Full House (Island)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1970
AYE, GATHER round me bully boys – once there was a time when Fairport albums were as hard to obtain as a Grope O'Shanter at ...
Wild Man Fischer: An Evening With Wild Man Fischer (Reprise)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1970
Frank Zappa's "It had to be done" experiment finally released after some 18 months. Many will already have heard import copies of this two album ...
Quintessence: Quintessence (Island)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, July 1970
A BRILLIANT group in many respects, Quintessence unfortunately manage to alienate many potential enthusiasts through the expression of their religious and spiritual sentiments. ...
Matthews' Southern Comfort: Second Spring (UNI)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1970
IAN MATTHEWS' band, slightly changed, steam into their second album, as refreshing and attractive as their first. ...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, July 1970
ROY HARPER is a sort of Gerald Scarfe of music. Like the cartoonist, what he does isn't always pretty, it isn't always enjoyable, but by ...
Mark-Almond: No Drums For Almond And Mark
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1970
WHEN JOHN Mayall led the revolt against volume by dispensing with a drummer in his line-up, he also paved the way for what promises to ...
Blodwyn Pig: Blodwyn: It's Blodwyn, Not Piggy Banks!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1970
WHAT HAPPENED when the Pig got up and slowly walked away? A new group emerged simply called Blodwyn, with the added new power of guitarist ...
Osibisa: Beat The (African) Drums For Osibisa
Profile by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, August 1970
IT MAY BE that, having endured the painfully stilted and emotionally lukewarm playing of most rock drummers for the last decade, audiences are waking up ...
Voices of East Harlem, The: The Voices of East Harlem: The Black Pride Of 13 Hip Kids
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, August 1970
BLACK PRIDE, as a kind of more inner-directed companion to Black Power, is rapidly becoming a force in our musical world. "Black Is Beautiful" was ...
Hot Tuna: Hot Tuna (RCA Victor).
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1970
FIRMLY IMPLANTED in my mind is the image of Hot Tuna as an amazingly good, all electric jam band. This follows their appearance at Bath ...
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Cosmo's Factory (Liberty)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1970
The flaw in Creedence's brilliance ...
Jeff Dexter: From Twist Demonstrator... To Dance Band Singer... To High Priest Of Hits...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1970
Chris Welch tells the strange story of DJ Jeff Dexter ...
Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant: Robert Plant: Down To The Roots
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, September 1970
ROBERT PLANT lives in an old, rambling farmhouse near Kidderminster, on the edge of the Black Country, with his wife Maureen, baby daughter Carmen, dog ...
Report by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, September 1970
Jacoba Atlas reports on the street where she lives – Laurel Canyon, Hollywood, home of the rock stars... ...
Free, Mott The Hoople: Fairfield Hall, Croydon
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1970
FAIRFIELD Hall, Croydon, has seen some amazing scenes since it became South London's home of rock, but I doubt whether the old faithfuls at the ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1970
JOHN SEBASTIAN brought a little sunshine into a gloomy Hyde Park, London, on Saturday. ...
Deep Purple: The Smashing-Up Bit Is Valid!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1970
WHEN DEEP PURPLE smashed up their equipment on a TV show recently, here were howls of protest throughout the land. A flood of complaints hit ...
Elton John: Elton Storms The States
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, September 1970
AL KOOPER, talking about Elton John's last album: "That album's really got me screwed up. It's just the perfect album, and I carry it around ...
Jethro Tull: Ian Anderson Tulling It Like It Is
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1970
"THEY SAY I don't stand on one leg as much as I used to." Ian Anderson stretched out on a sofa and gazed quizzically at ...
Essay by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, September 1970
THE IMPORTANCE of Jimi Hendrix as a musician was sometimes forgotten behind the man's sexuality and the flamboyance of his act and appearance. ...
Chris Farlowe, Colosseum: Colosseum: Farlowe That!
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1970
CHRIS FARLOWE and Colosseum – the mind boggles! One of the country's most powerful vocal talents has joined the most explosive force in groups to ...
Obituary by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1970
"JIMMY HENDRICKS," was the name scribbled on a notepad, when Chas Chandler rang the MM towards the end of 1966. "You must come and see ...
Comment by Mick Farren, Melody Maker, October 1970
WHEN I first brought home Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry albums my parents didn't much like it. They made the mistake of thinking rock was ...
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin III
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1970
Zeppelin III is pure magic! Track by track review of the new album from the World's Top Group (MM Pop Poll 1970) ...
East of Eden: A Good Time East of Eden
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, October 1970
"IF I HAD a choice of playing a technically perfect set or giving people a good time," says Dave Arbus, "I'd definitely give them a ...
Juicy Lucy: Lie Back and Enjoy It (Vertigo)
Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, October 1970
JUICY LUCY have come a long way from 'Who Do You Love' and young ladies smothered in fruit. ...
Miles Davis: Rock Is A White Man's Word, Says Miles
Report and Interview by Al Aronowitz, Melody Maker, October 1970
NEW YORK. — Junior Mance was working the bandstand at New York's Top of the Gate and you had to put your ear to Miles ...
Led Zeppelin: Page on Zeppelin III
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1970
Jimmy Page gives a track by track background to Zeppelin's new album. Interviewed by Chris Welch ...
Black Sabbath: Paranoia — As The Fans Go Wild For Sabbath
Report by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, October 1970
Mark Plummer on a one night stand with the 'Paranoid' hitmakers ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, November 1970
THIS IS presumably Buckley's last album for Elektra, being recorded (so I'm told) at the same time as Happy/Sad and before his first Straight album, ...
McDonald and Giles: McDonald & Giles: Outside The Court Of The Crimson King
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, November 1970
THERE ARE, YOU understand, these two musicians, both having played in one of our very best bands, who're sitting at home doing virtually nothing at ...
Beach Boys, The, Brian Wilson: Staying Home: Brian Wilson
Report and Interview by Derek Grant, Melody Maker, November 1970
"IT WAS A MISTAKE but I had to try it. After about half an hour I realised I couldn't go on. My ears hurt, I ...
Colosseum: The Secret Of Their Success – Good Music
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1970
COLOSSEUM are now rated as one of Britain's and Europe's most popular and creative bands. In two years of furious activity and hard work, the ...
Mothers Of Invention, The, Frank Zappa: Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention: The Coliseum, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1970
PROBABLY only Frank Zappa and his musicians could properly review their concerts at London's Coliseum on Sunday. So much happened in each two-hour segment, one ...
Ry Cooder: The Name To Watch In 71...
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, December 1970
Jacoba Atlas talks to the States' hottest new guitarist ...
Georgie Fame, Alan Price: Alan Price, Georgie Fame: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1970
An evening of Pricey nostalgia ...
Climax Blues Band: Climax Chicago Blues Band: A Lot of Bottle (Harvest)
Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, December 1970
THERE LIES on this album one of the most exciting, imaginative guitar solos I've heard for a long time from Pete Haycock on 'Seventh Son', ...
Stooges, The: The Stooges: Fun House (Elektra).
Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, December 1970
NEXT TO GRAND Funk Railroad, this is the worst album I've heard this year. In truth it's a muddy load of sluggish, unimaginative rubbish heavily ...
Judee Sill: Judee Sill (Asylum)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1971
JUDEE SILL IS one of those breed of American girls who’ve taken to singing who one supposes were previously engaged in quietly knitting at home ...
Graham Bond: Holy Magick (Vertigo)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1971
ACCORDING TO ancient Druidic and Celtic legend, King Arthur will return in this age of Aquarius to sustain us. And man, he's going to blow ...
Captain Beefheart: Lick My Decals Off Baby
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, January 1971
ALREADY, I'M THINKING that this is the Captain's most satisfying album to date. ...
Mr. Fox, Steeleye Span: Mr. Fox and Steeleye Span: Electric Folk – The Second Generation
Comment by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, January 1971
NOW WE'VE had a chance to hear Mr. Fox and Steeleye Span properly, it is clear that we are already into the second generation of ...
Iron Butterfly, Yes: Yes and Iron Butterfly: Allies of Rock
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1971
Chris Welch with Yes and Iron Butterfly in Holland ...
Badfinger: Fickle Fate Of Badfinger
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1971
"EVERYONE who interviews us wants to talk about the Beatles. Sure, we were influenced by the Beatles, like ten million other groups. ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1971
MARC BOLAN became a star and T. Rex supergroup on Monday. Over 2,000 jammed London's Lyceum. And they cheered. ...
Laura Nyro: Christmas And The Beads of Sweat
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, January 1971
EACH OF LAURA Nyro's four albums has had its own distinct personality. ...
Allman Brothers Band: Idlewild South (Atco)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1971
A HAPPY and clean sound kicked off with the unison guitars of Duane Allman and Dicky Betts on 'Revival'. ...
Grateful Dead: American Beauty (Warner Bros)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, January 1971
THE BEST adjective I can think of to describe the Grateful Dead is "disarming." They're beautiful because, unlike so many bands, they never overwhelm you. ...
Donny Hathaway: Everything Is Everything (Atco)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1971
A USEFUL glossary of soul terms occurs during the title track, a warm, friendly if somewhat meaningless piece of philisophy. ...
Jackson Browne, Laura Nyro: Laura Nyro: Laura's London Triumph
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, February 1971
Laura Nyro/Jackson Browne: Royal Festival Hall, London ...
Neil Young: Neil Gave Everything — And They Asked For More
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, March 1971
Neil Young: Royal Festival Hall, London ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, March 1971
THIS IS A particularly difficult album to come to any firm conclusion on. For one thing the reaction it produced depends very much on the ...
James Brown: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, March 1971
The clockwork king of soul? ...
James Taylor, Alex Taylor: James and Alex Taylor: And He Played Real Good For Free
Report by Al Aronowitz, Melody Maker, April 1971
CHILMARK, MASSACHUSETTS.The Island Children's School gave its first annual benefit concert here last January 12 and if you've read The Vineyard Gazette then you know ...
Genesis: In The Beginning There Was... Genesis
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1971
GENESIS ARE going to cause outrage and chaos in the coming year. Already they are breaking through with a blend of showmanship and original music ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, April 1971
PEACE AND brotherhood, truth and happiness. These are words which crop up constantly in conversations with Osibisa, the creeds by which they attempt to live ...
King Crimson: Zoom Club, Frankfurt
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, April 1971
AFTER MORE than a year off the road, King Crimson slid quietly back into public performance last week with a hush-hush four-day stint in Germany. ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: Stones In Exile
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1971
CANNES is a strange place. It sits on the Cote D'Azur beckoning the rich to part with their dollars, pounds and francs in glorious sunshine. ...
Rita Coolidge: Now The Delta Lady Is Out On Her Own
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, May 1971
DURING THE Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour, Joe Cocker each night would take the microphone and announce "Here she is, our own Delta Lady, Rita ...
Van Der Graaf Generator: Melody Maker Band Breakdown: Van der Graaf Generator
Report and Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
If it's Thursday, it must be Ormskirk ...
Funkadelic: It's Just To Get People's Attention
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
EVER since Keith Emerson set fire to an American flag on the stage of London's Royal Albert Hall, the banning of groups from that particular ...
Kentucky Colonels, The, Byrds, The: The Byrds: Clarence The Kentucky Colonel
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, May 1971
THE COUNTRY consonants of Clarence White's guitar have fooled a lot of people – me included – into thinking that the man must have come ...
Faces, The: The Faces: The Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
IF ANYONE still doubts that the Faces haven't yet "made it," talk to one of the 2,000 or so who visited Thursday night's show at ...
Deep Purple: The Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
ALTHOUGH it wasn't one of Deep Purple's best nights on Friday, it was certainly one of the best nights of the Camden Festival with London's ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer, Humble Pie: ELP In America
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1971
BLOOD streaming from his head, a middle-aged man, white, well-dressed, staggered into the headlights of the battered Yellow Cab. The Puerto Rican driver, grinned and ...
Rolling Stones, The, Bobby Keys: The Rolling Stones: Bobby Keys
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
"IT'S BOBBY Keys, the greatest saxophone player in the world," said Mick Jagger. And Bobby smiled modestly towards me. ...
Rita Coolidge, Byrds, The, Dixie Flyers, The: The Byrds, Rita Coolidge: Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
THE BYRDS are like an institution. They seem to have been around as long as the Houses of Parliament with their own particular style of ...
Funkadelic: The Speakeasy/The Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1971
Fun with Funkadelic ...
Chicago: One Date Only For The Chicago Seven
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
WITH THE news that Chicago will play just one concert at London's Royal Albert Hall on June 1, instead of two as they planned after ...
Beach Boys, The: Beach Boys: A Reappraisal
Retrospective by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, May 1971
IT'S PROBABLY pouring with rain by now, but the sunny days we were vouchsafed by the Almighty last week prompted me – and almost certainly ...
Band, The: The Band: A Melody Maker Band Breakdown
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, May 1971
FEW ROCK AND ROLL concerts can have been so eagerly awaited as those which The Band are due to play at London's Royal Albert Hall ...
Band, The: The Band: A Report from Paris
Report and Interview by Geoffrey Cannon, Melody Maker, June 1971
NO DIFFICULTY KNOWING when you've just finished hearing a great rock concert. Because you'll be in the middle of a great crowd of people standing ...
Roxy Music: Roxy in the Rock Stakes
Profile by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, August 1971
A curious feature of modern rock music, is the way it's taken potential artists away from other spheres. Men who might have become poets, painters, ...
Beatles, The, George Martin: The Beatles: Produced By George Martin
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, August 1971
GEORGE MARTIN is probably the most shadowy character in rock and roll history. His influence has been immense, yet few people outside the immediate circle ...
Sandy Denny: The North Sea Grassman and the Ravens (Island)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, August 1971
WE ALWAYS knew Sandy Denny had the capacity to make a brilliant record, and we were right. ...
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, August 1971
The First Lady Goes Electric ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1971
OFTEN ABUSED BY critics and disc jockeys, Deep Purple have won through during the past two years to become one of this country's top groups. ...
King Crimson, Roy Harper, Jack Bruce: King Crimson/Roy Harper/Jack Bruce: Hyde Park, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1971
JUDGING BY THE weather this week, the title of Saturday's free concert in Hyde Park – "Farewell To Summer" – was a little premature. And ...
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, September 1971
THE AMERICAN media has been hammering into people's heads that the solo singer/guitarist/songwriter is "in" and loud, exuberant rock is "out." But, the media forgot ...
Jethro Tull: Rocking In The USA
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1971
This week, Jethro Tull flew out to start their eleventh tour of America. Like other top British Rock acts, they are reaping the rich rewards ...
Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley: What Have They Done To My Roots, Ma? Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley
Comment by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, October 1971
WHEN JOHN LENNON ended a recent epistle to Mailbag with a line saying "LP Winner: I’d like Chuck Berry, please," he wasn’t joking. Modern rock ...
Report and Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, December 1971
"No, we'll never work as hard as this again. It's killing the magic. And it's not doing us much good either" - Si Cowe, guitarist, ...
Kinks, The: The Kinks: Muswell Hillbillies
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1971
SUPERSTARS may come and go but the Kinks keep marching on. They don't change as much as musical styles change around them; not for them ...
Beach Boys, The: The Beach Boys: Surf's Up
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1972
HERE'S ONE that won't disappoint anybody at all. Suddenly the Beach Boys are back in fashionable favour, and they've produced an album which fully backs ...
Smokey Robinson: The Way You Do The Things You Do
Essay by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, January 1972
THERE’s a new Smokey Robinson album out in the States, called One Dozen Roses. The natural reaction is to ring E.M.I. and ask them when ...
George Harrison: The Concert For Bangla Desh
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, January 1972
If you buy only one LP in 1972, make it this one ...
Steve Peregrin Took: Down in Ladbroke Grove: Steve Took
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, January 1972
"You live high in your apartmentSee people turn to machines,I'm scratching hard to pay my rent,I hope to God I die naturally." ...
Rory Gallagher: Music For Belfast: Rory Gallagher
Report and Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, January 1972
BELFAST GOT A rock'n'roll concert on New Year's Day in the City's notorious Ulster Hall. Heading the bill was Rory Gallagher. It was the first ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer, Yes: Ready, Eddie? An Interview with Eddie Offord
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, February 1972
EDDIE OFFORD SITS in his penthouse flat, way above the traffic that thunders down the Vauxhall Bridge Road past Victoria. ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, February 1972
BINGO IS THE SCENE most nights at the Granada, Wandsworth Road, London SW8. Fruit machines line the foyer and there's a big sign with lots ...
Ry Cooder: Into The Purple Valley (Reprise)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, February 1972
THE COVER of Ry Cooder's second album features the guitarist and his lady posed in and out of a mid-Forties model Dodge convertible. It's straight ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1972
SHE HAS JUST been discoursing on her past activities as lerpatologist when her attention was distracted. "That's the same man who was lying on the ...
Who, The: The Who: (Keith) Moon Probe
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1972
2005 note: As well as being their drummer and resident comedian, Keith Moon was the Who's PR man. Journalists unfamiliar with the group may have ...
Lindisfarne: We Can Swing Together: A Day In The Life Of Lindisfarne
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1972
SIMON COWE ordered a pint of cider and told me he hadn't eaten anything for two days. He'd had plenty of cider though. ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, May 1972
JOHN MARTYN told me about Nick Drake in ecstatic terms and so it seemed the natural thing to do, bag the album when it came ...
Roxy Music: Roxy Music (Island)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, June 1972
KARI-ANN STARES, with lustful expectancy, teeth bared and surrounded by frosted deep pink lips. She reclines on a counterpane of silvery satin in a halternecked ...
Roxy Music: The Sound Of Surprise
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, July 1972
PAUL THOMPSON's tom-toms ground slowly to a shuddering halt as Eno's synthesiser simulated the sound of Firestone Wide Ovals being pushed past their limit around ...
Rory Gallagher: Rory on the Road
Report and Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, July 1972
RORY GALLAGHER changes out of his striped tee shirt, folds it neatly and places it in his zipper case, exchanging it for an equally familiar ...
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, July 1972
ALMOST a year ago to the week, Bryan Ferry sat in a council flat in Shepherds Bush and explained his timetable for the next year. ...
David Bowie: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1972
MUSIC FROM A Clockwork Orange heralded the spectacular performance staged by David Bowie at London's Rainbow Theatre on Sunday night. "At least it makes a ...
Genesis: The Band Who Want To Be Booed
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1972
A PARTICULAR quality of certain successful groups has been their ability to create moods, to take an audience a little further than the surface excitement ...
Toots & The Maytals, Bob Marley & the Wailers: Reggae: Black Gold of Jamaica
Report by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, September 1972
Reggae – in its more commercial form – has won the battle for mass acceptance, and has gone on to influence rock and soul musicians ...
Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks: Dan Hicks Strikes it Rich
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, October 1972
ROBERT PLANT was the first Dan Hicks fan I ever knew. A couple of years ago he broke up an interview session by playing a ...
Genesis, Lindisfarne: Lindisfarne, Genesis: Dublin Stadium, Dublin
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1972
TO BE CASUAL is to be Lindisfarne, but even the most relaxed of bands have a hard time putting over a set of new numbers ...
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, November 1972
NOW YOU'D EXPECT Mike Patto to be sardonic, and embittered after five years in various guises and never really making it. ...
Alice Cooper: Alice Is Still Swinging — By The Neck!
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1972
THE KIDS AT GREEN'S PLAYHOUSE, GLASGOW, were yelling "Alice, Alice, Alice" at the top of their voices in deafening unison as the object of their ...
Kim Fowley: I'm The Most Phenomenal Man In Records!
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, November 1972
KIM FOWLEY'S looking for love. "Well," he says, snuffling into a wad of Kleenex, "I'm real entertaining and I have some nice human qualities...and I'm ...
Island Records: Reggae to Riches
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, November 1972
IF YOU WORK for Island Records, nobody minds if you take your dog into the office every day – or even if it misbehaves on ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, December 1972
MORE SONGS OF transient euphoria and stabbing loss, played out against an ambiguous background of relentless fatalism and constant hope, mingled in approximately equal proportions, ...
Tim Buckley: Digging Deeper to the Roots
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1973
IN A WORLD that seems grossly over-populated with singer/songwriters whose crotchets and quavers reflect their personal attitudes and experiences, Tim Buckley stands out like the ...
Beach Boys, The: The Beach Boys: Holland (Brother/Reprise)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1973
YOU HAVE JUST a fortnight to save up before this record hits the stores – and buy it you should, for it contains more fun ...
Ten Years After: Recorded Live
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1973
WHERE IN 1973 will you still hear a band blowing over a chord structure that sounds not unlike 'Cat Squirrel' and song lyrics that refer ...
Retrospective by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, January 1973
Richard Williams reviews the Cameo recordings, recently reissued on two double albums, which made Philadelphia the 'Crap Capital of America' ...
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas: Martha Reeves: Martha's Moving On
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, February 1973
A FEW WEEKS AGO Martha Reeves cleared out her apartment in Detroit, piled her possessions into a U-Haul trailer, and set off along Route 66 ...
Leonard Cohen: Cohen, Cohen, Gone: Leonard Cohen
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, February 1973
"LET'S sing a song, boys. . . . This one has grown old and bitter"– fragment from Songs of Love and Hate ...
Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, March 1973
IT IS TWELVE noon, and in the smoky sunshine of a London afternoon a group of German longhairs are unloading a huge Mercedes truck full ...
Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris: Gram Parsons: Parsons Knows...
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, April 1973
Gram Parsons, former member of the Byrds and Burritos and now the proud owner of a solo album, talks to Loraine Alterman in New York ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1973
GEE, YOU GUYS from Roxy sure do have style. Mmmmmmm, yummy yummy. what I couldn't do to that Bryan Ferry if he dropped around my ...
Report by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, May 1973
STAYING AT THE George V is one of life's great experiences, at least to a traveller who savours his changing environments. ...
David Bowie: Cha...Cha...Cha...Changes — A Journey with Aladdin
Report and Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, May 1973
CHARING CROSS STATION, London, 9.10 pm: And when he arrived they screamed and they cried, and they rushed, and gushed forth and beat their feverish ...
King Crimson, Pete Sinfield: Pete Sinfield Has A Nose For Success
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1973
PETE SINFIELD is a poet, and such men do not abound on the music scene. There is Pete Brown of course, and many a lyricist ...
Traffic, Steve Winwood: Stevie Winwood: 'I'm Gonna Do An Album A Week!'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1973
IT'S BEEN many a long year since Stevie Winwood has made impact as an individual on the English rock scene. ...
Steve Winwood: 'I'm Gonna Do an Album a Week!'
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1973
IT'S BEEN MANY a long year since Steve Winwood has made impact as an individual on the English rock scene. ...
Faust: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, June 1973
LONDON'S RAINBOW looked like a Berliner Ensemble production of a rock musical version of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5. The stage backdrop had been raised, revealing ...
Silverhead, Michael Des Barres: Silverhead Savage
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, June 1973
MICHAEL DES BARRES, the ultimate rock and roll star sits drinking decaffeinated coffee in the health food-come-curio shop on the Portobello Road, London. He's swamped ...
Ten Years After: Ten Year Itch
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1973
WHEN DOES a band become a juke-box? And when does it cease to be a creative musical force? These are the questions that have been ...
Jefferson Airplane: Plane Sailing
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1973
A LITTLE GIRL on a bicycle, who couldn't have been older than 12, overheard me asking the way to Olympic Studios last Wednesday night. I'd ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, June 1973
UNTIL a year ago, Graham Gouldman was going through what he calls his "why not?" period. ...
Mahavishnu Orchestra: Music Of The Gods
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1973
Mahavishnu Orchestra: Free Trade Hall, Manchester ...
Steve Marriott, Humble Pie: Humble Pie: Pulling In The Soul Audience
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1973
THE STORY SO FAR: Steve Marriott, one time leader of pop idols the Small Faces and now boss of "progressive" rock and rollers Humble Pie, ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: In The Studio With The Wailers
Report by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, June 1973
THE ROLLING STONES are upstairs in Studio 1, where they've been for the past five weeks. ...
Fairport Convention: The Banana Convention
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, June 1973
THE WAY DAVE PEGG sees it, what America needs is Fairport Convention's High Banana Content Programme. ...
Boz Scaggs: Big Boz Man: Boz Scaggs
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, June 1973
BOZ SCAGGS is the cult hero with the strongest claim to wider fame. He’s in Britain all summer to play and record...he talks to MM’s ...
Mahavishnu Orchestra: John McLaughlin: Natural High…
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1973
WITH A BAND playing music as tense and demanding as the Mahavishnu Orchestra's, one might be forgiven for expecting them to be (a) nerve wracked ...
Deep Purple: Who'll Be Purple's New Voice?
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1973
THE NEWS that Ian Gillan is to leave Deep Purple comes at a time when the group are on the crest of world-wide acclaim. Yet ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1973
IT BEGAN TO OCCUR to me that this was very poor music indeed. ...
Edgar Winter: How Winter Went Glam and Created A Frankenstein Monster
Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, June 1973
EDGAR WINTER, his wife and his band live in a 13-bedroom white clapboard mansion at Sands Point, overlooking Long Island Sound. 30,000 dollars a year ...
Santana, John McLaughlin: Carlos Santana & Mahavishnu John McLaughlin: Love Devotion Surrender
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, June 1973
Jamming in the spirit of Coltrane ...
Sly & The Family Stone: Fresh (Epic)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, June 1973
Sly (just being mice elf again) ...
Jack Bruce, West, Bruce & Laing: Jack Bruce
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1973
JACK BRUCE has turned full circle. The best bass guitarist Britain has produced, whose career has merged jazz and rock to the extent where he ...
Peter Frampton's Camel: A Galloping Success In The States
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1973
PETER FRAMPTON made a flying visit to London last week. But the boss of Frampton's Camel couldn't stay long – too much excitement is happening ...
Slade, Sensational Alex Harvey Band: Earls Court, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1973
IT'S MONDAY morning and my ears are still ringing. The night before, I'd been among the 20,000 fans who packed London's Earls Court to prove ...
Deep Purple: A New Bassman — But Still No Singer
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1973
"PAUL RODGERS was asked to join us, but there were just too many things in the way. Apart from just the contractual side of it, ...
Dr. John: Doctor John: Doctor Feelgood!
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, July 1973
COULD THAT possibly be Mac Rebennack peeping through the Dr. John persona? Just like, say, Sly Stone and Sylvester Stewart. ...
Report by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, July 1973
LIKE THE WEATHER, the music at London’s White City on Sunday was a mixture of fair and foul. ...
Allen Toussaint: Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky
Profile and Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, July 1973
THEY KNOW, of course, which one is Dr John. The Swiss photographers huddle around the stage, clicking their Nikons like American tourists determined to capture ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1973
IT GIVES ME NO pleasure to report upon this recording. In fact I cannot recall an album by a British rock band that has given ...
Genesis: What Genesis Did On Their 'Holidays'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1973
NOT MANY groups conduct their rehearsals squashed together in a Morris Mini. But if you are in the habit of strolling around the backwaters of ...
Everly Brothers, The: Everly Brothers: Bye Bye Love
Report by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, July 1973
IT'S ALMOST eleven years since the first serious rumours suggesting the breakup of the Everly Brothers appeared. What with that, and a much-noted coolness between ...
Van Morrison: Gonna Rock Your Gypsy Soul
Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, July 1973
"IT'S SHOWTIME, ladies and gentlemen! And here's the one you've been waiting for – the Caledonia Soul Orchestra with ... VAN MORRISON!" ...
Carole King: King Is The Queen
Live Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, July 1973
Carole King: Hammersmith Odeon, London ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1973
"YES ARE LIKE an amoeba. Now an amoeba works on the principle of..do you know, I've no idea how it f***** works!" Jon Anderson grinned, ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones Hit The Road…
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1973
...and at every date the promoter is expected to provide 50 security men, five limousines, a doctor, ten dozen roses, two bottles each of whisky, ...
Jethro Tull: Can 72,000 Fans Be Wrong?
Report by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, August 1973
I DON'T KNOW how it is in England, but in this country the minute you get too big, too powerful, people start gunning for you. ...
Gryphon: The 13th Century Slade
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1973
"EARLY ENGLISH music? Gah – give us Slade and T. Rex!" Thus one can imagine the reactions of lads and maidens today as they dance, ...
Electric Light Orchestra: The Electric Light Orchestra: In The Hall Of The Mountain Lynne
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1973
"WHEN I LISTENED to Greig's 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King', I thought our version was much heavier." Jeff Lynn wasn't boasting. He was ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1973
THE 'PHONE DOESN'T stop ringing in Eric Burden's room at the Holiday Inn at Swiss Cottage. So many people, explains Katie from Island Records, are ...
Nicky Hopkins: Sixth Stone Rolls Alone
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1973
THE NEWS THAT the Rolling Stones are to tour next month without their long serving pianist Nicky Hopkins will come as a surprise to those ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1973
WHEN APPRAISING an artist of the stature of Stevie Wonder, there seems nothing worse than to hark back to previous triumphs and make comparisons. ...
King Crimson: Robert Fripp…Super Stud?
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, August 1973
"I AM," MUSES Robert Fripp, "already a living legend."The light breeze ruffles his curly locks. He settles back in the plastic garden chair, sips his ...
Blood Sweat & Tears: New Sweat
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1973
THE WIND of change that spread through Blood Sweat and Tears a year ago is beginning to make itself felt at last. Their forthcoming album ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: Goat’s Head Soup?
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1973
"GOAT'S HEAD SOUP," said Mick Jagger pacing about the room. "I might change it. A lot of people don't like it. Too bad." A typically ...
Frank Zappa: Past Flops And Future Shocks
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, August 1973
HIS ARMS AROUND a red-haired girl whose ample chest was covered with a Mighty Thor t-shirt, debonair Frank Zappa (32) sank deeper into the couch, ...
Faces, The, Rod Stewart: Rod Stewart
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1973
"GOOD LUCK Rod!" People like Rod Stewart. And he likes the people. As he stood forming a queue outside ye old Marquee Club (home of ...
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, September 1973
THE FIRST word out about Jo Jo Gunne raved about their looks – "gorgeous" said those into masculine beauty. An emphasis on appearance always makes ...
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, September 1973
"Hey, shout summertime bluesJump up and down in blue suede shoes" ...
Marc Bolan: Why Marc Won't Be Giving Up
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1973
DESPITE the critical savaging that Marc Bolan regularly receives – he ain't gonna do a Jethro Tull and give up. Marc was accused of being ...
Judy Collins: Judy In Disguise
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, September 1973
Judy Collins film director? The singer – songwriter has taken a year out of her life to make a movie with a strong Womens' Lib ...
Jethro Tull: Why Tull Called It A Day
Report by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, September 1973
JETHRO TULL's manager Terry Ellis this week accused rock critics of "taking advantage of their unassailable position to be abusive." ...
Joe Walsh: The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, September 1973
MAY I TAKE just a couple of seconds to make my position clear? I thought, and still do, that the James Gang were a very ...
Professor Longhair: The Nutty Professor
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, September 1973
THE PROFESSOR, THEY SAY, INFLUENCED just about every musician in New Orleans. And it’s not a claim he’s about to deny. "I taught most of ...
Mott The Hoople: The Ballad Of Mott
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1973
IAN HUNTER is a great romantic, torn by doubts and secure only in the knowledge that the will to succeed usually bears fruit. ...
Elton John: Elton's Finest Hour!
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1973
Elton John: The Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles ...
Dave Mason: Why Dave Mason Is Trying To Go The Paul Simon Route
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1973
THE VERY fat man with a pony tail who sat himself down next to me twitched almost uncontrollably as the Englishman with the red Stratocaster ...
Carpenters, The: The Carpenters: It's Plane Sailing!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1973
HEAD DOWN THE Santa Ana freeway, turn off on San Gabriel, make a couple of rights and you're in Downey, a right-wing, unpretentious suberb of ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1973
FLUSHED from their success in the MM Pop Poll, the all-star musicians of Yes held a remarkable summit conference this week. Gathered round the board ...
Beck, Bogert and Appice: Heavyweight Champions Of The World
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1973
TAKE A LONG guitar lead. Sit as far far away from the studio as possible. And record some of the funkiest sounds ever laid down ...
Joe Walsh: Barnstorming the USA
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1973
THINGS ARE starting to happen for Joe Walsh. In the corridors of rock and roll where informed people discuss what, where and when, elbows are ...
Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1973
AND HELLO Elton John all set to smash a path to the top of the album chart with this superb new collecion of songs. He ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1973
GENESIS have lain dormant throughout the summer, at least as far as the public was concerned. Then came the sensational appearance at Reading Festival, when ...
Duane Eddy: The Guitar Man Twangs Back
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1973
THE FIRST REAL guitar superstar of the rock and roll age sits in an office no larger than a bathroom on North Vine off the ...
Iggy Pop, Stooges, The: Iggy Pop: Iggy Breaks Out Of His Cage
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1973
IGGY POP swam out to sea, his wiry frame floating over the waves of Manhattan Beach, his dyed blonde head bobbing along the ripples, his ...
Report by Dave Marsh, Melody Maker, October 1973
GREAT WHITE ROCK has not often come from New York City and its surrounding boroughs, even though – or perhaps because the American music business ...
Doug Sahm: Arise, Sir Douglas is Blowing Up A Storm
Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, October 1973
THE FUNKY SOUNDS of 'Texas Tornado', Doug Sahm's latest single, blasted out of the stereo in the office of Atlantic Records' co-ordinator of A&R, Mark ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1973
"I'M TELLING ye mon, there was this bird in 'ere and she can't 'ave been more than fifteen mon, and she's telling me she's wearing ...
Doors, The, Ray Manzarek: The Doors: When The Music's Over
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1973
HELPING HIMSELF to one of my British cigarettes and inhaling deeply, Ray Manzarek coldly and without emotion spoke about why The Doors finally decided to ...
Eric Clapton: King Of The Blues Guitar
Profile by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1973
WHO IS THIS man Eric Clapton, of whom they speak so highly? Is he the world's greatest guitarist? Is he now a victim of rock ...
David Bowie: Ziggy Storms the Marquee: Bowie’s 1980 Floor Show
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1973
DAVID BOWIE in action at The Marquee (where it all began) was just one of the many rare and knee-trembling sights to be enjoyed within ...
Band, The: The Band: Band Of Gold
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, November 1973
EVEN THOUGH everyone involved is tremendously excited about the Band/Dylan tour (reported on page one), 1973 still has some time left and The Band have ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
WHERE DOHENY DRIVE cuts Sunset at the edge of the Beverly Hills estate, there's a tobacconist shop that carries all makes and brands. It's called ...
Slade: America Feels The Noize
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
NO COMPROMISE says Noddy. No compromise at all. America will just have to go crazee, feel the noize and get their boots off Just like ...
Grand Funk Railroad: Isn't Life Grand!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
THEY said it would never happen. ...
Overview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, November 1973
"You just can't live in Texas if you don't have a lotta soul" – 'At The Crossroads' by the Sir Douglas Quintet, 1969. ...
Sly & The Family Stone: The Palladium, Los Angeles
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
HOLLYWOOD: Will he? Won't he? Will he? Won't he? Sly Stone's reputation is too firmly etched for these questions not to be asked when he's ...
Pink Floyd, Soft Machine: Pink Floyd/Soft Machine: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1973
PINK FLOYD and Soft Machine stunned fans with two sensational shows at London's Rainbow Theatre on Sunday night. It was a splendid evening of rock-co-operation, ...
Everly Brothers, The: The Everly Brothers: Creators Of Country Pop
Retrospective by Michael Gray, Melody Maker, November 1973
THE EVERLY BROTHERS – Don and Phil – first emerged in the rock 'n' roll market in 1957, with a unique harmony-vocal sound, a modern ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
Carlos Santana is in Britain this week with a new vocalist, a new name and a new energy – thanks to the divine intervention of ...
Jimmy Cliff: From Reggae To Riches
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, November 1973
IT MUST BE almost three years since the last hit record. God, that's an artistic lifespan for many people, but somehow he manages to suggest ...
Jackson Browne: Jackson's Song For Everyman
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
JACKSON Browne arrived half an hour late. He'd been figuring out how to repair the plumbing at his house, and had finally succeeded in getting ...
Sutherland Brothers and Quiver: Conquering Quiverlands
Profile and Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, November 1973
FOR NINE WEEKS now, the Sutherland Brothers and Quiver have toured America with Elton John. Their single, '(I Don't Want To Love You But) You ...
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, November 1973
TRAFFIC, ON OCCASIONS, have the ability to sound like the most demanding and mature rock band in the world. Trouble is, each time they've reached ...
Elton John Steps Into Christmas
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1973
ELTON JOHN is a happy man as 1973 draws to a close. He has established himself not merely as an elitist's delight and king of ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1973
"I SUPPOSE I've sold-out, because I do cabaret. Isn't that what they say?" Alan Price said that recently in his dry, laconic way, understanding full ...
Linda Ronstadt: Linda's Liberation
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
WHEN THE film industry was at its peak and the Hollywood Hills beamed down on the Babylon city in its celluloid wrapper, someone decided that ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1973
NOTHING IS more satisfying for a successful artist than helping the less fortunate. Elton John has had his chance to set matters aright for at ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1973
SOME POP stars like to rock. Some pop stars like to roll. But little Ronnie Lane has got the gypsy in his soul. ...
Paul McCartney, Wings: Paul McCartney
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1973
WHEN THE Prime Minister, Royalty or a Rear Admiral makes a tour of inspection of a naval establishment, there is a flurry of activity among ...
Dawn, Glen Campbell: Live in Las Vegas: Dawn and Glen Campbell
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1973
"HANG ON tight," said the man in the next seat on the Western Airlines jet. "Landings in Las Vegas are the roughest in the world." ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1973
A DISTURBING night for a Yes fan at London's Rainbow, when the group unveiled their new work Tales From Topographic Oceans. For despite, the applause ...
Yes: Tales From Topographic Oceans (Atlantic)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1973
CHANTING VOICES lead us into 'The Revealing Science Of God', and the marathon Yes epic that has occupied so much of their time throughout the ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1973
"IT'S NOT A concept," says Paul McCartney, but there is a thread to Wings' newie Band On The Run. The feeling expressed throughout is one ...
Beach Boys, The: The Beach Boys: Good Vibrations In The Rain
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1973
The Beach Boys: Convention Centre, Anaheim, California ...
Elton John: Belle Vue, Manchester
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1973
FOR THE first time since Bill Haley's motion picture triumph Rock Around The Clock, played at the now-demolished Queen's Cinema, Catford, in 1956, the urge ...
Jimi Hendrix: Wild Man Of The Guitar
Retrospective by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1973
AS A ROCK HERO Jimi was one of the best, one of the greatest. Lying on his back playing flaming guitar with his teeth. Fanitastic! ...
Love, Arthur Lee: Arthur Lee: Forever Changes
Interview by John Tobler, Melody Maker, December 1973
REMEMBER Arthur Lee and Love? Love was the first rock band to sign with Elektra Records, which they did in late 1965. In approximately their ...
Electric Light Orchestra: ELO: Live in Philadelphia
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1974
WE ARE gathered together, ladies and gentlemen, for a recital by that promising septet of young British musicians who call themselves the Electric Light Orchestra. ...
Stealers Wheel: Wheel Of Fortune
Profile and Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, January 1974
JOE EGAN used to be in a band called the Mavericks. Nothing much, just a young band from Paisley, a tough industrial town on the ...
Jobriath: Superstar or Superhype?
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, January 1974
"If hype means projecting your artist, I'm going to produce the biggest hype ever" – Jerry Brandt talking to ROBERT PARTRIDGE about his latest discovery, ...
Phil Ochs: Home Thoughts Of Phil Ochs
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1974
ALTHOUGH I'M typing this in Greenwich Village, New York City, this story really begins 3,000 miles away in Los Angeles. ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1974
PETER GABRIEL, man of a thouand faces, is now also a man of several voices. One at least swoops upwards into the stratosphere, gibbers madly, ...
Rick Wakeman: Sentimental Journey
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1974
After two years' work, RICK WAKEMAN'S Journey to the Centre of the Earth will be premiered in London tomorrow (Friday). Rick talks to CHRIS WELCH ...
Tim Hardin: The Legend of Tim Hardin
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, January 1974
A CHUNKY, muscular figure. Penetrating eyes. Wispy black hair ever so slightly receding. What the hell is a legend supposed to look like anyway? "The ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1974
MARC BOLAN is a star. Still. However much heavy water has passed under the bridge of rock and roll sighs, Mr B. commands respect. And ...
Gregg Allman, Allman Brothers Band: Gregg Allman
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1974
GREGG ALLMAN picked up an old Gibson acoustic guitar and allowed his nimble fingers to slide over the six new strings. He tuned it and ...
Michael Nesmith: Mike Nesmith: Monkee in the Countryside
Profile and Interview by John Tobler, Melody Maker, January 1974
Do me the gracious favour of not pointing me out as the most talented Monkee ...
Electric Light Orchestra, Moody Blues, The, Move, The, Spencer Davis Group, Wizzard: Brum Beat
Overview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, January 1974
"Liverpool today – Birmingham tomorrow. That's the forecast for the beat business in rock music. Yes, the Brum Beat is all set to take over ...
Rick Wakeman: Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1974
SHEER ENTERTAINMENT, that was Rick Wakeman's highly successful solo concert at London's Festival Hall on Friday last week. Rick, the keyboard whizz of Yes, brought ...
Genesis: Drury Lane Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1974
GENESIS'S WEEK at London's Drury Lane Theatre, proved that rock and theatre can mix and have a validity outside of mere exhibitionism. The band arc ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1974
MARC BOLAN returned to the British stage on Monday night and it was as if he had never been away. There were the fans, mostly ...
Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, February 1974
AMERICANS tend to pronounce the word "boogie" with one "u" and a couple of "g's". It comes out sounding "buggie" and it's heard a lot ...
John McLaughlin, Mahavishnu Orchestra: John McLaughlin: It Was Natural Evolution
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
NEW YORK: Although John McLaughlin's decision to disband the Mahavishnu Orchestra came as a surprise in the closing weeks of 1973, further reflections point to ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1974
"HYPE, BILGE, lies, rubbish!" These are the epithets often hurled when a band appears on Top Of The Pops weekly, and soars chartward with a ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
DOWN ON COTTON Avenue in Macon, Georgia, lie the offices of Capricorn Records, slotted between a funeral parlour and a beauty salon that's anything but ...
Humble Pie, Peter Frampton: Dee Anthony: Dee Works!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1974
From doing impersonations of Al Jolson for 20 bucks a night to managing Humble Pie – that's the story of Dee Anthony. He talks to ...
Idle Race, The, Electric Light Orchestra: Electric Light Orchestra: Light And Bitter
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, February 1974
BRUNEL UNIVERSITY, FRIDAY: The film man wants to know the running order of the show tonight. ...
Bruce Springsteen: Springsteen Turns On The Heat…
Profile by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
HE STANDS there looking like a cross between Elvis Presley and a reject from Sha Na Na with faint Dylanesque overtones and a battered Fender ...
Band, The, Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan & The Band: Knocking On Heaven's Door
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
THEY CHEERED and clapped and waved for fifteen minutes even though the house lights were up and 'Greensleeves' was playing through the PA system and ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1974
MUCH LOVED Maggie is back in action, and ringing changes in her career that will reverberate around rock. Miss Bell has been quiet in the ...
David Ackles: Just A Handful Of Songs
Interview by John Tobler, Melody Maker, February 1974
DAVID ACKLES has got a great house in Pacific Palisades, a few miles west of Los Angeles, and thereby close to the ocean, although the ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1974
HAPPY CHILDREN – maybe. Realistic and dedicated musicians – certainly. For beneath the jolly image of Osibisa, there beat sensitive hearts. ...
Allman Brothers Band: Leavell Headed Allman
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
PIANIST CHUCK Leavell is the least heralded member of the Allman Brothers Band, a musician first and a talker second. ...
Slade: Ambassador Theater, St. Louis, MO
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
ST LOUIS: The wide Missouri River flowed beneath the hotel window and a few paddle steamers, now tourist traps or floating restaurants, were securely tied ...
Status Quo: Whisky A Go Go, Los Angeles
Live Review by Harold Bronson, Melody Maker, February 1974
LOS ANGELES – Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Rory Gallagher, and Manfred Mann's Earthband all graced the Whisky opening night to welcome Status Quo's second Los ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
NEW YORK: They say that heavy rock is on the decline and it's become fashionable to put down bands whose music is based on a ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1974
AS YES PLAY one of the most prestigious concerts in their career, at Madison Square Garden, New York, this week both their British and American ...
Maggie Bell: Queen of the Night
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
MAGGIE BELL'S first solo album is with us at last. It's been a lengthy wait and there have been countless rumours concerning who would be ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
Black Oak Arkansas are UK bound and MM's man in America, Chris Charlesworth, warns: watch out for the sexiest thing since Jim Morrison ...
Black Sabbath: Sabbra Cadabra!
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
THE GRINDING riff sears through the eardrums, ripping the senses and dulling with monotony. It crashes through the PA system, hurtling itself towards the back ...
Stephen Stills: Carnegie Hall, New York City
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
NEW YORK: There's really no substitute for experience in rock music and there are few musicians around with as much experience as Steve Stills who ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd, Al Kooper: Al Kooper: Sweetheart Of The South
Interview by John Tobler, Melody Maker, March 1974
AL KOOPER is presumably in accord with Bob Dylan more often than not, as his playing on some the latter's best albums, like Blonde On ...
New York Dolls: Standing in the Shadow of Rock: Shadow Morton, Pt. 1
Interview by Lenny Kaye, Melody Maker, March 1974
"I don’t consider myself a good producer. I’m one of the best." Shadow Morton, producer of the New York Dolls, talks to Lenny Kaye. ...
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1974
Rick Wakeman said it: the MM's Yes concert at Madison Square Garden was the best yet. ...
Brownsville Station: Smokin' Out America's Slade
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1974
FIRST PLACE the tip of the digit finger on the first fret of the third string, then place the second finger on the second fret ...
Elvis Presley: Revolt Into Style
Essay by Michael Gray, Melody Maker, March 1974
ELVIS PRESLEY. The giant among giants, and yet also that strange kind of comic-book hero, Mr Reverso Man. ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1974
UP ON THE 37th floor of a Park Avenue office block which faces north and thus commands an extensive view of New York's Central Park ...
Small Faces, The, Move, The, Electric Light Orchestra, Wizzard, Roy Wood: Don Arden: The Hit Man
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, March 1974
He's been called the Al Capone of pop, and the reputation's, shall we say, a little heavy. A nervous Robert Partridge talks to Don Arden... ...
Roy Orbison: 1960's Man Of Integrity
Profile by Michael Gray, Melody Maker, March 1974
ROY ORBISON seems fated to be Mr. 1960. That's when he began a cascade of hit singles. That's when he became a star in Britain. ...
Interview by Lenny Kaye, Melody Maker, March 1974
Part two of the Shadow Morton story by Lenny Kaye ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1974
From 'Hang On Sloopy' to the Winter Brothers – and now Rick Derringer's got a hit US single and album ...
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Hook, Line And Sinker
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1974
"HEY MAN, that was really great. They really hated us out there. There was a guy at the front who kept shouting 'you suck' all ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1974
STEVE MARRIOTT – hair flying, jaw set at an aggressive angle, knees akimbo and arms flailing over his jutting guitar – is one of the ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1974
IN A ROCK world where folk tend to babble nonsense at the drop of a hat, blither platitudes, and indulge in half-baked philosophising, it is ...
Alice Cooper: Fangs Ain't What They Used To Be
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, March 1974
AT THE END of the second evening of this three-day trip to London, after a grueling schedule of interviews for the press radio and TV, ...
Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin: Jimmy Page: The Power And The Glory
Profile by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1974
WHEN THEY showed Antonioni's classic film of the 'sixties, Blow Up, on TV last week, apart from evoking the real or imaginary spirit of "Swinging ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1974
"OH LORD please don't let me be misunderstood" was the classic line Eric Burdon sang with the Animals. It could almost have been written for ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1974
FOCUS HAVE been through some changes in recent months, and happily for fans of this Dutch band with an international reputation for fine music – ...
Queen: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, April 1974
FREDDIE MERCURY glares thunderously from beneath the beam of the spotlight. Anger and hostility ooze from his mouth. He pumps his right fist vigorously skywards ...
Rick Wakeman, Yes: Rick Wakeman: British Groups Have Gone Over The Top
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1974
The American tour was the last of the long ones ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1974
ALTHOUGH IT'S quite incidental to the story that follows, let's begin by explaining the meaning of the term Steely Dan. It has nothing to do ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1974
IT HAD TO BE said. The gentleman with the black, slicked-back hair, Charlie Chaplin moustache and thoroughly English cricket pullover, in no manner resembled a ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1974
DESPITE substantial success in the United States, Loggins and Messina have remained an unknown quantity in the U.K. ...
Rick Wakeman: Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1974
IN CLASSICAL music terms, this composition might be described as "lightweight" or of "little consequence." But as far as popular music is concerned, Rick's composition ...
Eric Clapton at the China Garden
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1974
A TURN UP for the books, and as it transpired, a turn up for the stomachs, when Eric Clapton announced his return to active service ...
Gregg Allman: Carnegie Hall, New York City
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1974
GREGG ALLMAN, the usually shy keyboards wizard, emerges into the limelight at last. Chris Charlesworth was there... ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1974
TODD RUNDGREN loped into Bearsville's offices on East 55th Street the other day with a South American raccoon on one arm and a lady dressed ...
Yes, 5,000 Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong!
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1974
"I HEAR we're playing the next gig in My-Rand," said Rick Wakeman, leaning heavily on the bar in the George Cinque Hotel. ...
Report and Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, April 1974
Mud. They’re a pure pop band, no pretentions, but a lot of fun. Caroline Coon goes on the road with the boys who bridge the ...
Andy Williams: Ol' Treacle Voice Is Back
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, May 1974
Darling of the soap-opera set, Goliath of the balladeer belt, Andy Williams is so very glad to be back in this wonderful country. Caroline Coon ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1974
"JEEZ, I HOPE the sound guy is straight tonight." said Al. "The guy who did it last night didn't have a clue. Might wind up ...
Grand Funk Railroad: Funk On A Grand Scale
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1974
RINGING EARS are a symptom of excessive listening to loud rock and roll. When the ears tingle after a gig, you know the band in ...
Harry Chapin: Short Stories of Harry Chapin
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1974
SHORT STORIES is the most apt title for Harry Chapin's new album, for Chapin is not so much a singer as a storyteller, an artist ...
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1974
A NEW album release by David Bowie is today looked on with as much awe as a release by the Beatles in the sixties. Later ...
Roxy Music: We're Not Killing Ourselves In America
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1974
BRYAN FERRY was exhausted. Utterly. Not much lounging for the lounge lizard this week. All go. Up at dawn to another city. Another round of ...
Pete Townshend, Who, The: Pete Townshend: March Of The Mod
Profile by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1974
IT MAY WELL have been pure chance that produced the most visually exciting guitarist in rock. If Peter Townshend hadn't been born with a big ...
Steely Dan: Get Dan And Get With It!
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1974
Steely Dan: Palace Theatre, Manchester ...
Loudon Wainwright III: Loudon Alone
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, June 1974
THE PR MAN in the coffee lounge of the Hotel Russell was anxious about the Loudon Wainwright's appearance. "Is he cleanshaven or bearded." he wanted ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1974
STEELY DAN, in their short time together, have been hailed as one of the best bands to emerge from America in a long time. They ...
Sly & The Family Stone: Sly Stone: Super Sly
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1974
HE EXTENDED A HAND but looked elsewhere. Who could tell where his eyes focused beneath those silver shades? He gripped and I felt pain through ...
Traffic, Steve Winwood: Stevie Winwood: Sixties Soul Survivor
Profile by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1974
"STEVE'S only 25 you know. When people criticise him and say he's not as good as he used to be in the old days, they ...
Ronnie Lane's Circus Comes To Town
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1974
"CHAOS!" said Ronnie Lane, crinkling his expressive face into a smile against the sunshine raining on his caravan. "Courage," I thought, gazing at the Big ...
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, June 1974
PERHAPS THIS boy had an image problem. Randy Newman's first album, for instance, had a picture of him looking like he'd never heard of rock ...
Brian Wilson: From Surf To Symphony
Profile by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, June 1974
BRIAN WILSON was 19 years old when, in 1961, the Beach Boys committed his first song, 'Surfin'', to tape. ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1974
IS IT AS GOOD as Yellow Brick Road? That will be the cry, where 'ere Elton John fans congregate and exchange notes. ...
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, June 1974
WE'RE just talking, comparing favourite singers, when Boz Scaggs happens to mention Bobby "Blue" Bland. ...
Who, The: Pete Townshend in New York
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1974
"LAST NIGHT," says Roger Daltrey, screwing his face up to obtain maximum effect, "we was f...'orrible. Really f...'orrible. It just shows that we ARE human, ...
David Bowie: Birth Of The New Rock Theatre
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1974
A FEW THOUSAND lucky Canadians witnessed a completely new concept in rock theatre last weekend when David Bowie opened his North American tour in Montreal ...
Yes, Rick Wakeman: Rick Wakeman: Why I Said No To Yes
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1974
RICK WAKEMAN has a grand design afoot that could result in one of the most extraordinary, epic concerts in ye history of popular music. ...
Rick Wakeman, Yes: Rick Wakeman: Quitting Was An Obvious Move
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1974
A SQUEAL of tyres, a cloud of dust and Rick Wakeman and wife Ros, drew to a halt outside the "Valiant Trooper," an excellent boozer, ...
Eric Clapton: Danish Blues Power: Eric Clapton
Review and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1974
"WE WANT Buddy Holly!... I AM Buddy Holly!" ...
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Buffy St Marie: Buffy Breaks Away
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1974
"HI, IT'S Buffy St. Marie here. How are you?" The call came through some 48 hours after it was expected, rousing this writer from a ...
Heavy Metal Kids, The: Heavy Metal Kids: Kid's Stuff
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1974
JUST HOW heavy are the Heavy Metal Kids? They peer at us from advertisements clad in top hats, patched jeans, braces, big boots and flat ...
Frank Zappa: Outrage And Invention
Profile by Michael Gray, Melody Maker, July 1974
FRANK ZAPPA is the only West Coast musician who emerged in the 1960s without giving free promotion to the California Tourist Board. ...
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: Gary Puckett: How We Split The Gap
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1974
"YEAH I GUESS you could say I was kinda surprised when I got the news. But the funny thing is that I kinda predicted it ...
Suzi Quatro, Olivia Newton John: Suzi Quatro & Olivia Newton-John: Dolly Mixture
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, July 1974
'What's ladylike?' asks Suzi Quatro. Olivia Newton-John should know – she was amazed in America when the audience ignored that she was wearing jeans on ...
George McCrae's Last Chance – A Smash
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1974
STRANGE how chance plays its part in the record business. If George McCrae hadn't decided to have one last try at making a hit record ...
Eric Clapton, Band, The: Eric Clapton: A Hero Comes To Town
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1974
PITTSBURGH, PA. – The tint on the TV screen gave the newscaster a peculiarly reddish face, almost as if he was genuinely quite excited about ...
Edgar Winter: Great White Wonder
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1974
EDGAR WINTER shoots pool pretty good considering he's as blind as a bat. The green ball gives him trouble because that's the same colour as ...
Brian Auger: Straight Ahead Again
Interview by Michael Gray, Melody Maker, July 1974
BRIAN AUGER has been stomping round the commercial radio stations as part of his duty in promoting his latest album Straight Ahead by the Brian ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: Emerson Lake and Palmer: England's Robbing Us!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1974
WHEN THE alarm bells ring at "Whyte Eagles," it's not a warning of imminent fire or pestilence, just a reminder to Carl Palmer to turn ...
Profile and Interview by Mick Gold, Melody Maker, July 1974
JOHN CALE is sitting in a preview theatre, cowering in the shadow of the London Hilton to see a screening of this movie hes scored ...
Georgie Fame: Fanning the Flames
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1974
TEN YEARS HAVE elapsed since Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames pioneered a brand of funky jazz in the sweating cellars of Soho and fought ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: Greg Lake: Rock Will Go Back To Its Roots
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1974
GREG LAKE'S London home is a rare and impressive sight. A light glows outside a town house in a quiet street that takes you back ...
Rolling Stones, The: Rolling Stones: Jagger – It's Time For A Change
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1974
"SORRY I'm late." "It's all right Mick." "No – it's not all right." ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1974
Bad Company's formation has been a shot in the arm for Paul Rodgers – and he's raving over the band's tour of the States as ...
Crosby Stills Nash and Young: Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Love The One You're With!
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1974
MILE HIGH STADIUM, as the name implies, is 1,760 yards high. That's a mile above sea level, but even so it sits at the foot ...
Jackson 5, The: The Jackson 5: Madison Square Garden, NYC
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1974
NEW YORK: There's something about Michael Jackson that is almost frightening to behold. How can it be possible for a kid that age to be ...
Yes: I'm Not Jumping Into Wakeman's Boots…It Will Be Different
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1974
"THE TEXTURES are so rich...and they work so fast..." Patrick Moraz slipped a sidelong glance across the top of an amphitheatre of keyboards, a mixture ...
Mike Oldfield: High On The Ridge
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, August 1974
Toy gliders, house-hunting and a jam with a harpsichordist in a restaurant. It's all happening on the Welsh Marches where Karl Dallas meets Mike Oldfield. ...
Rod Stewart: I Dream Of A Solo Concert
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1974
"ANYTHING I say is not meant to be a blot on anyone's character...or trousers." ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1974
From the Turtles via the Mothers and T. Rex to their own radio show. Chris Charlesworth meets Flo and Eddie in New York ...
New York Dolls: The New York Dolls: Broken Dolls
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1974
NEW YORK: The many critics of the New York Dolls will doubtless be pleased to hear that their fortunes recently have spiralled downwards. Unless a ...
Loudon Wainwright III: Loudon Wainwright: I Like To Be Laughed At
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1974
...which is as good a reason as any for Loudon Wainwright to play a role in the weekly comedy TV series, Mash. He spoke to ...
KC & the Sunshine Band: KC & Sunshine Band: Let The Sunshine In
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1974
ALTHOUGH it has yet to register in the US Top 100, 'Queen Of Clubs' by K. C. and the Sunshine Band represents the second big ...
Luther Grosvenor aka Ariel Bender: Ariel Bender: Hot Ariel
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1974
Chris Welch meets ex-Mott guitarist Ariel Bender, now going solo ...
Alvin Stardust: Devil in Disguise
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, October 1974
Alvin Stardust hasn't looked back since he returned to the charts a year ago. But as Caroline Coon finds out, his 'untouchable' image isn't the ...
King Crimson, Robert Fripp: Robert Fripp: Why I Killed the King
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, October 1974
King Crimson finally abdicated last week. But the end came with a whimper, an official statement merely commented that the band had "ceased to exist". ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1974
Chris Charlesworth has a round – of golf, that is – with Alice Cooper in New York and finds the ghoul of rock is a ...
Slade: Your Public Is Your Judge
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, October 1974
THEY CAME out of Wolverhampton. Failed skinheads who became the loudest, most aggressive stomping band in the land. A year ago nobody questioned it – ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, October 1974
THE MAN once dubbed the "Face Of '68" sat in the cafe, quietly reflecting on his home country. He was once the most screamed at ...
Bad Company: Kings Of The Castle!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1974
CLEARWELL CASTLE, Gloucestershire, Thursday – Mick Ralphs, clad in blue jeans, tee-shirts with Texas written on the front and dirty white fur-lined coat, hovers around ...
Genesis: The New Face Of Gabriel
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1974
Don't lose hope, Genesis fans! Their tour may be cancelled, but there's a new album on the way. And the new-look Peter Gabriel has given ...
Steeleye Span: How a Goon Came To Play Ukelele
Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, October 1974
IT WAS like the coming of a new Messiah. Everyone sat around nervously awaiting the arrival of HIM, the man who was gonna make this ...
Sparks: Hometown Heroes At Last
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, November 1974
IT WAS a typical day in Los Angeles, hot and smoggy. 18-year-old Jeff exclaimed with glee clutching his autographed Sparks album, "They went to my ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
THE FORTUNES of Deep Purple have taken strange paths over the past 12 months. But changes in line-up and strange stories about their antics in ...
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
ABOUT ONE year ago this week Dick Clark, in his infinite wisdom, decided to host a ten year anniversary edition of his TV rock show ...
Deep Purple: Stormbringer (Purple Records)
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
'Stormbringer'; 'Love Don't Mean A Thing'; 'Holy Man'; 'Hold On'; 'Lady Double Dealer'; 'You Can't Do It Right'; 'High Ball Shooter'; 'The Gypsy'; 'Soldiers of ...
Stevie Wonder: Further Fulfillingness
Interview by Wayne Robins, Melody Maker, November 1974
STEVIE WONDER had to know: should he, could he, release part two of Fulfillingness' First Finale at the end of November? ...
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
"WELL, we are here and you are here so let's get started," announced a slightly apprehensive but essentially laid back Roger Waters from the stage ...
Bay City Rollers, The: The Bay City Rollers: Kings Of Pop!
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
IN THE same week that Muhammad Ali regained his heavyweight boxing title, the featherweight crown of pop, too, has changed hands. ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1974
"PEOPLE THINK I'm an ogre at times. Some girls hissed at me in the street...'You devil.' They think we're really nasty. But that's only on ...
Pink Floyd: Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
"WELL, WE ARE here and you are here so let's get started," announced a slightly apprehensive but essentially laid back Roger Waters from the stage ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
IN THE current era, when groups and artists come and go with alarming regularity, the continuing success of the Pink Floyd is a peculiar state ...
Jethro Tull: Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
RISE SIR Ian of Flute, for thou hast indeed redeemed thyself. The critics have had their way, the Passion Play has been forgotten and Jethro ...
Greenslade: Greenslade Warming Up
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1974
THERE'S DEVIL'S work afoot in the world of rock (and indeed roll). Wot wiv the price of petrol and motorway chips it's a wonder there ...
Alvin Lee & Co: In Flight (Chrysalis)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1974
CLAP YO' hands and stomp those feet, here's some funky music, you can't beat. ...
Miracles, The: The Miracles: Miracles Never Cease…
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, November 1974
LOS ANGELES: "I really loved touring with the English groups, back in 1963 and 1964. We used to tour with the Rolling Stones and people ...
Dana Gillespie: Big Girls Don’t Cry…
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, November 1974
Dana Gillespie talks to Caroline Coon ...
Baker-Gurvitz Army, Ginger Baker: Ginger Baker: Ginger Recruits An Army
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1974
...and they're going into battle shortly with a new album and tour. Ginger Baker, ace drummer and member of the Lagos Polo Club, explains his ...
Faces, The: The Faces: Lewisham Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1974
"NOW THIS is serious," said the dazzling figure of Rod Stewart, calling for order. "Me brother and sister are here and I'd like you to ...
Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Charisma)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1974
I WISH that rock musicians would learn the importance of self-editing. A few golden, miraculous notes, and some choice pithy words are worth all the ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1974
ROD ARGENT is a nice chap. Not one of your violent illiterates of rock prone to throwing pints of Guinness over the heads of passers-by, ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1974
A MYSTERIOIUS lack of bubble seems to be affecting Master Marc Bolan's latest offering, the Zip Gun Boogie, as it is known to those who ...
Bad Company: City Hall, Newcastle
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1974
BAD COMPANY were big before they were born. Any band that included Paul Rodgers in its ranks and a bassist with the talents of Boz ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1974
Tex Comer (bass guitar), Fran Byrne (drums). Bam King (rhythm guitar), Phil Harris (lead guitar), Paul Carrack (organ, piano). Producer John Anthony. ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1974
Chris Squire (bass guitar), Jon Anderson (vocals), Patrick Moraz (keyboards), Steve Howe (guitar), Alan White (drums), Produced by Yes and Eddie Offord. Recorded on Eddie ...
Queen: Freddie Mercury: Queen Bee
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, December 1974
THERE'S NOTHING like a dearth of hero-stars to make a media industry writhe with despondency. Film moguls, unable to find successors to Monroe and Gable, ...
Beach Boys, The: The Beach Boys: Stepping Out Of The Surf
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, December 1974
LOS ANGELES; "Last week in Vancouver we sold out the Canadian National Exhibition Hall twice. We had 17,500 for each show and over 5,000 additional ...
Eric Clapton: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1974
Clapton duels with Wood ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1974
I DOUBT very much whether Lynyrd Skynyrd, those Southern rock and rollers who take the stage to the strains of a tape of 'Dixie', could ...
Guess Who, The: Guess Who's a smash!
Profile and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, December 1974
"I WANTED to buy some records, so I went collecting for UNICEF on Halloween and took the money," recalls the 26-year-old lead singer for the ...
Rory Gallagher: Play For Today, Tomorrow You Die
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1975
Rory rocks back to a supersonic reception in California. Harry Doherty is there... ...
Lynsey De Paul: Pop’s Leading Lady
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, January 1975
After only three years in the music business, Lynsey De Paul is already a hit. And she’s not yet reached the peak of her talent. ...
Pasadena Roof Orchestra, The: The Pasadena Roof Orchestra: Up On The Roof
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1975
MAYBE it's a sign of the times, as the Seventies increasingly take on the atmosphere of gloom and uncertainty that pervaded the late twenties and ...
Elton John: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1975
MAYBE IT WAS the pre-Christmas spirit or the entire packet of chocolate I had just consumed, but a lump rase in my throat during the ...
Bonnie Raitt: Raitt Place, Raitt Time
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1975
BONNIE RAITT JUGGLED happily between the various lines on the desk telephone in an office at Warner Brothers' New York headquarters. She seemed to be ...
Elton John: 'It's Not All Down To Elton...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1975
...he's just part of a band'. And that's the way Elton John's always wanted it, drummer Nigel Olsson tells CHRIS WELCH, in a rare behind-the-scenes ...
Sly & The Family Stone, Larry Graham: Larry Graham: Platform For Station
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1975
OAKLAND: Few people can ever have listened to a Sly Stone record without experiencing a gut feeling as the bass guitar runs through its paces, ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1975
LOS ANGELES: For Montrose this is their second visit to the UK having played here as support act on a Status Quo tour earlier this ...
Doobie Brothers: Doobies — With Added Skunk
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1975
KALAMAZOO: Over thirty guitars, mostly Gibsons, sit on racks in one dressing room and a wooden packing case in another contains suits of clothing that ...
Little Feat: Real Dixie Chickens
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1975
LITTLE FEAT come to Europe with a high reputation to live up to. While the Doobie Brothers headline one of the two nights at each ...
Tower of Power: Tower Of Power
Profile by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1975
BY FAR THE biggest ensemble to be visiting Europe on the Warners tour is Tower of Power, the Oakland based blues and soul outfit whose ...
Baker-Gurvitz Army: Baker-Gurvitz Army (Vertigo)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1975
WHAT BETTER WAY to start a new year than with an album that truly evokes a sense of occasion and excitement. ...
Suzi Quatro: Your Momma Won't Like It
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, January 1975
...but black leather isn't all there is to Suzi Quatro explains KARL DALLAS ...
Doobie Brothers, Little Feat: Doobie Brothers/Little Feat: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1975
CURIOUSER and curiouser. There was no denying the deserving nature of the ovation that greeted Little Feat the boogie band that plays more music than ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1975
A CURIOUS MARRIAGE of convenience. That is how the link between American lead guitarist Tommy Bolin and British speed rock band Deep Purple might appear ...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, February 1975
STOMU YAMASHTA was looking pretty chipper for someone who's been getting just two hours sleep a night for the past month. For a man who ...
Led Zeppelin: Robert Plant: Recording's No Race For Us
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1975
WITH WEEKS of the current Led Zeppelin tour under his belt, Robert Plant is feeling the strain. One show has been cancelled because he caught ...
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, February 1975
IT'S CURIOUS that Maggie Bell still hasn't got her name up there in lights. ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, February 1975
SHE CAME down to London from fields afar, a cute little northern lass who was gonna be Britain's new first lady of rock. They all ...
Alexis Korner: Why Alexis Won't Join The Stones
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, February 1975
ALEXIS KORNER laughed, his suntanned face creasing up into laughter lines, his body rocking very gently back and forth. "Oh," he said. "No way." ...
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, February 1975
Kiki Dee, sitting in the ritzy bar of the Hotel Metropol in Monte Carlo, is looking thoughtfully at the clinking ice cubes which she is ...
Leo Sayer: One Man Band No Longer
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1975
WHEN LITTLE Leo Sayer does his Michael Crawford impersonation and becomes disaster prone Frank, protective instincts are aroused, and folk cluster around to prevent him ...
Report and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, February 1975
LOS ANGELES: "We sold out two houses in Detroit at 12,000 each and were the biggest thing to hit the city since the Beatles. People ...
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, February 1975
DON COVAY'S resurrection as an artist was one of the brightest events of last year. His 'It's Better To Have' made number 21 in the ...
Charlie Daniels Band, The: The Charlie Daniels Band: The South Rises Again
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1975
Southern bands like the Allmans, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Wet Willie have smashed their way to the top of American rock. Now add a new name ...
Leonard Cohen: Cohen's New Skin
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, March 1975
LOS ANGELES: "For a while, I didn't think there was going to be another album. I pretty well felt that I was washed up as ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1975
It's a busy time for JOHN LENNON – hit singles, a new album of oldies and recording with Elton John and and David Bowie. Plus ...
Report and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, March 1975
LOS ANGELES: In the last six months, he's jammed with Ray Manzarek at the Whiskey, played with John Sebastian at the Troubadour and recently, at ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1975
AIN'T IT just like the February sunshine to play tricks with the mind? Here I am, sat aboard the Long Island Railroad Express, rattling out ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1975
Recordings between 1969-1971 including material from Yes and Time And A Word. ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1975
ALVIN LEE is getting into self-sufficiency. Along with many fellow Britons, alarmed at the daily news, he is determined to make full use of the ...
Don McLean: How A Hobo Could Save McLean From Endless Pie
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1975
THE BIZARRE tale of a black hobo with one leg who fell from a Dallas bound train in the early part of this century and ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1975
HARRY CHAPIN, the singer who tells stories rather than sings songs, has recently moved his craft a giant leap forward with the opening of The ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1975
NO QUESTION about it. Styx were stuck. Their second album had lain on the record warehouse shelves for two years doing nothing but gather dust. ...
Bad Company: Straight Shooter (Island)
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, March 1975
BAD COMPANY were the most remarkable success story of 1974. The band hit number one in the American charts with their first album, became headliners ...
Rick Wakeman: Next Stop – The Gods
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1975
RICK WAKEMAN on ice! It takes a cool nerve to launch a rock extravaganza in an area normally the preserve of pantomimes and hockey, but ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1975
Top-rated guitarist JOE WALSH – due in Britain in June – talks to Chris Charlesworth in Iowa ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1975
MINNIE RIPERTON is as fizzy as a soda bottle shaken on a hot summer day. Life, it is reassuring to know, can be enjoyed even ...
Eagles, The: The Eagles: Eagle Eyed
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1975
HOLLYWOOD: On a clear day Glenn Frey can see from his living room right out to sea, right across the Pacific to Catalina, the island ...
Alice Cooper: Alice's Tasteful Nightmare
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1975
THE NEW Alice Cooper Revue, which opened in Chicago last week and moved on to Detroit and Cincinnati, is yet another step forward in the ...
Leo Sayer: Leo Raises His Glasses
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1975
LITTLE Leo Sayer leaned across and asked with his usual charm and courtesy: "Have you got any matches?" A surprising request from a non-smoker, but ...
Maria Muldaur: Maria's Magic Moment
Profile and Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, May 1975
ENCORE time at Stony Brook, Long Island. Maria Muldaur had just finished an impressive set and the kids were yelling out for more of the ...
Elton John: Elton's Bitter Sweet Album
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1975
Chris Charlesworth in New York previews Elton John's new album Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy – and talks to the man himself... ...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, May 1975
SEVEN YEARS ago, Desmond Dekker was a raw, gangling boy from St Thomas, Jamaica. ...
Seals and Crofts: Two's Company
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, May 1975
JIMMY SEALS is wearing an extremely smart tweedy outfit like he's an advert for Hardy Amies. He's got those granny spectacles and he leans back ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1975
Judy Collins – back in the MM chart with a hit single, 'Send In The Clowns' – talks to Chris Charlesworth in New York ...
Wings: Paul McCartney: Abbey Road Revisited
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1975
WINGS flew over Soho this week. But these were of musical origin and did not belong to the rather grubby pigeons that haunt London's home ...
Dion, Phil Spector: Phil Spector: He's A Rebel
Report and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, May 1975
THE OCCASION is Professor Phil Spector's guest lecture at the Sherwood Oaks Experimental College record producing seminar. Last time Phil talked at the school was ...
Ian Hunter, Hunter-Ronson, Mick Ronson: Hunter-Ronson: Till Death Us Do Part
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1975
Forget all the rumours, Hunter-Ronson are still happily married, as they tell Chris Charlesworth ...
Tammy Wynette: Going UP Country
Report by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, June 1975
How come a seven-year-old single, re-issued for the fifth time, made it to number one? Robert Partridge gets the full story behind Tammy Wynette's 'Stand ...
Tammy Wynette: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, June 1975
THREE MONTHS ago Tammy Wynette was little more than cowboy fodder in Britain, appealing only to a small body of country freaks. But, one smasheroo ...
Led Zeppelin: John Bonham: Over The Hills And Far Away…
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1975
GOSSIP IN the village was running riot. John up at the farm was going to buy The Chequers. The American in the bar of another ...
Elton John: I Want To Chug, Not Race
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, June 1975
IN AMSTERDAM LAST WEEK, while canals evaporated in the heat wave, eight musicians and three singers were stirring the sluggish air with an electric sound ...
Beach Boys, The, Chicago: Beachago: The Beach Boys meet Chicago
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1975
PERHAPS THE MOST the most interesting side-effect of the depression in the United States has been the decision of two potential headliners to go out ...
Singer-Songwriters: Back To The Roots!
Overview by Dave Laing, Melody Maker, June 1975
In this exclusive extract from a major new rock book, The Electric Muse, Dave Laing investigates the post-Woodstock singer/songwriter syndrome, and charts the rise in ...
Ritchie Blackmore, Deep Purple: Ritchie Blackmore
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1975
RITCHIE BLACKMORE'S DEPARTURE from Deep Purple comes as no surprise to followers of Deep Purple who have watched their activities closely over the years. For ...
Profile by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1975
AMERICAN BANDS USUALLY fall into one of two categories. They are either denim-clad cowpokes, bearded, laidback to the point of collapse, drinking corn liquor from ...
Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry: Bryan Ferry: Putting On The Style
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, July 1975
The elusive Bryan Ferry, reviver of oldies and singer with Roxy Music, talks to Caroline Coon In 1971, when Bryan Ferry flew into the ...
Colosseum: Jon Hiseman: Why I've Re-formed Colosseum
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1975
DRUMS HAVE BEEN rumbling down in darkest South London, underneath the railway arches. Drums and guitars competing with the rumble of trains overhead, and grim ...
Rory Gallagher: Rory Gets The Acoustic Bug
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1975
RORY GALLAGHER made two startling discoveries during his week at the Montreux Festival. One was that Swiss beer has remarkably potent characteristics, despite its deceptively ...
Chieftains, The: The Chieftains: Montreux Music Festival, Switzerland
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1975
THE CHIEFTAINS MADE much of contemporary rock music sound a shallow fraud, when they took the stage of the Montreux Music Festival in Switzerland last ...
Average White Band: Cut The Cake (Atlantic)
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, July 1975
Hamish Stuart (guitar, vocals), Alan Gorrie (bass, vocals), Onnie Mclntyre (guitar), Roger Ball (keyboards, alto and baritone saxophones), Malcolm Duncan (tenor saxophone), Stephen Ferrone (drums, ...
Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, July 1975
I'M SATISFIED with this album, but I wish I could be more enthusiastic as Stephen Stills has both created and had a hand in creating ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, July 1975
A CLUTCH of nubile girls are usefully spending their school holidays hanging around outside the Bell Record Company offices in the hope of a glimpse ...
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, July 1975
Drummer Ed Cassidy talks about the new-look Spirit – and explains why a band of '67 is still hunting the big-time ...
Maria Muldaur: Maria Hangs Loose
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, July 1975
Maria Muldaur, the American singer who has just completed a highly-successful week at London's Ronnie Scott Club, talks to KARL DALLAS ...
Maria Muldaur: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, July 1975
THE TROUBLE with Maria Muldaur is that she is so Goddamn talented it could make you sick. At Ronnie Scott's London, she was all the ...
Captain, The, and Tennille: The Captain and Tennille: Captain Fantastic
Profile and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, July 1975
IN SEPTEMBER 1973, two Chatsworth residents recorded a song, 'The Way I Want To Touch You'. Subscribing to the Phil Spector school of self-distribution, they ...
Pete Wingfield: Breakfast Special (Island)
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, July 1975
THE ONLY question this album leaves unresolved is why no one thought of recording Pete Wingfield before. ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: Wailin'
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, July 1975
After two amazing gigs last week in London, Bob Marley is being universally hailed as reggae's first superstar. Karl Dallas watches the Wailers in action ...
Stylistics, The: The Stylistics: Sing, Baby, Sing!
Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, August 1975
ABUSE COMES too easily. The Stylistics are the masters of sweet soul, the kings of lush sentiment, and the lords of overstated romance. Even their ...
Rolling Stones, The, Billy Preston: Billy Preston: Like a Rolling Stone
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, August 1975
"We're a family," says Billy Preston of his current tour of the U.S. with the Stones. And in addition to that, he's just released a ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, August 1975
IT'S A BIT disconcerting when you're having a perfectly innocent conversation and the guy you're talking to suddenly brandishes a knife beneath your nose. Not ...
Smokie: Smokey: No Smokey Without Fire…
Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, August 1975
THE NEWS that Chinn and Chapman had signed a new band was predictably greeted by the music business with one big yawn. What would this ...
Rod Stewart, Faces, The: Rod Stewart: Sorely Taxed
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1975
The Faces may split ...
Rod Stewart: Atlantic Crossing (Warner Bros.)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1975
Producer: Tom Dowd. Musicians include Barry Beckett (keyboards), Steve Cropper (guitar), Duck Dunn (bass), Al Jackson and Nigel Olsson (drums), and Memphis Horns (brass). ...
Rick Wakeman: Liszten To Rick!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1975
Lisztomania is quite a movie, says Rick Wakeman. He plays Thor in the film, as well as producing the music, and he tells Chris Welch ...
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, August 1975
ANAHEIM: Forty miles from Los Angeles, Johnny Cash sits in the Royal Inn Hotel. Cash is in town to promote his autobiography, Man In Black, ...
Procol Harum: Palladum, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1975
IT COULD WELL have been two different bands appearing at the London Palladium on Sunday. The first was a shambling, incohesive bunch whose dull, plodding ...
James Taylor: Universal Amphitheatre, LA
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, August 1975
JAMES TAYLOR'S UNIVERSAL Amphitheatre gig, though predictable at times, established new beginnings for the folkster as he returned to the Southland for the first time ...
Peter Gabriel, Genesis: Peter Gabriel Quits Genesis
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1975
THE MELODY MAKER last week front-paged the growing doubts about Gabriel's future in the band. Reports, denied by the management of Genesis, indicated that Gabriel ...
Peter Gabriel, Genesis: Genesis to Revelation
Obituary by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1975
AS PETER GABRIEL QUITS GENESIS, CHRIS WELCH RECALLS A GREAT BRITISH BAND ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1975
HOWEVER ERIC CLAPTON spent his couple of years in isolation from the world, he returned to active performing refreshed and revitalised. ...
Buddy Holly: The Legend Lives On
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1975
"DEAR BUDDY, I have several records of yours and my favourite is 'Oh Boy'. Please send me a picture with your autograph." With the constant ...
Bay City Rollers, The: Inside the Bay City Rollers' Camp
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, September 1975
"WHEN ANYONE slates us, you can bet they’ve never heard our own stuff – Derek is a brilliant drummer" ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1975
A HATCHET-wielding psychopath was on the loose in the next room. In the circumstances, it was beyond comprehension how Lol Creme could present a gleaming ...
Santana: Guitarists Bore Me To Tears
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1975
OF ALL the great groups to have emerged out of San Francisco since the mid-sixties, Santana have retained a musical credibility that surpasses their home ...
Jon Anderson, Yes: Yes: When We're Perfect, We'll Stop
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1975
"IT'S BEEN a marvellous year for us, and hopefully it will get even better in 1976, but although we aim for perfection, I hope we ...
Leo Sayer: Sayer: “L.A. is Music's Capital, New York second, London Only Third”
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1975
"I FEEL I’m at my peak, I’m doing my best work ever now." Little Leo Sayer is back. The location is London’s Cunard International Hotel ...
Jethro Tull: The Jethro Tull Story
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1975
"I want to justify the place on my passport where it says 'Occupation: musician'. I feel that I've not yet really justified that" Harry Doherty ...
Supertramp: 'Tramp On The March
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1975
FOR ALL THAT has been heard of Supertramp during the past six months, you could be forgiven for doubting their very existence. ...
Isley Brothers, The: Isley Brothers: Heat's Still On Isleys
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, October 1975
LOS ANGELES: The Isleys' latest album, The Heat Is On, recently hit number one in America, but for as long as there's been rock and ...
Ike & Tina Turner: Tina Turner: Acid Queen
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, October 1975
"WE TOURED FOR years with all the English groups and I always liked what they were singing about. ...
Art Garfunkel: Art For Art's Sake
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1975
ART GARFUNKEL cut an odd dash at the Top of the Pops rehearsals last week. Slotted between Pan's People and Mud and closely followed by ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1975
IT'S NO MERE coincidence that an Ozzie Osbourne song on the new Black Sabbath album is called 'Am I Going Insane?' Ozzie, who professes that ...
Leo Sayer: Winter Gardens, Bournemouth
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1975
LEO SAYER IS in danger of losing fans if he persists in forcing his personality on audiences, as he did when his British tour opened ...
Who, The: The Who: Bingley Hall, Stafford
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1975
LIKE MOUNTAINEERS tottering on the brink of some huge ravine, the Who crashed into their first tour in over two years at the weekend and, ...
Steeleye Span: Steeleye Sold Out?
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1975
WHEREFORE art thou, Span? The cry persists: "They've sold out." The denials continue. But Steeleye Span's drift towards "commercialism," especially on the new album, All ...
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, November 1975
Cat Stevens, after a long personality crisis, has bounced back with a new album and tour. Caroline Coon meets him in Frankfurt ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1975
I'M P---- OFF listening to the bloody album," mutters a weary Roger Taylor, confronted once more with hearing a new Queen album, four months ...
Queen: Brian May – The Power Behind Queen's Throne
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, December 1975
FREDDIE MERCURY steps out of the spotlight, Brian May moves in to seize the opportunity to deliver the most sizzling guitar solo. ...
Genesis, Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel: Behind Peter Gabriel's Mask
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1975
PETER GABRIEL'S departure from Genesis was one of the biggest shocks of 1975 for those who admired, nay loved, the combination of perverse talent they ...
Elkie Brooks: Has Elkie Souled Out?
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, December 1975
WHEN VINEGAR JOE broke up two years ago, another brilliant British vocalist retired from the road. Elkie Brooks never actually wore the Queen of Rock ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, December 1975
PHIL HARRIS, OF Ace, suddenly perked to attention on the edge of his chair and made a compassionate plea. "We love Britain, 'onest," he craved. ...
Pasadena Roof Orchestra, The: The Pasadena Roof Orchestra: Pasadena Uber Alles!
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1975
"ALL OVER Germany the people are freaking out...it's their cool English sense of humour...they have to beat off the groupies with sticks." ...
Thin Lizzy: The Irish Question
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, December 1975
DESPITE the homely sentiments echoed in Philip Lynott's 'Dublin' a few years back, Thin Lizzy did leave Dublin, and Ireland. But the fond memories of ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1975
BOBBY WOMACK is the kind of guy who lights up a room when he enters, and this suite in the Plaza Hotel is no exception. ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1975
"YES," SAID Graham Gouldman without any hesitation, "we are deadly serious to break over here." ...
Rory Gallagher: The Rory of the Crowd
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1976
RORY GALLAGHER looked ruffled, most annoyed indeed. He cast a reflective eye across the current mode of pyrotechnical wizardry in rock and was not happy ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1976
Ry Cooder, cult figure and esoteric guitarist, tells CHRIS CHARLESWORTH in New York why he's now into Tex-Mex music ...
Beach Boys, The, Dennis Wilson: Wilson Returns!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1976
A NEW studio album is in the works, Brian Wilson is back in business and the Beach Boys are planning to visit England in late ...
Little Feat: The Roxy, Los Angeles
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 1976
In Southern California this year, Little Feat have presented their musical wares opening shows for ELO, the Who and Dave Mason. Consequently, 1976 has seen ...
Band, The: The Band's Robbie Robertson: 'The Struggle Has Gone'
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, January 1976
ROBBIE ROBERTSON: "We'd been around so long that we couldn't take a name seriously. So we made the first album and we called ourselves the ...
Status Quo: 'We're Not Musicians — We're Players!'
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, January 1976
STRIDING into his road-manager's sitting room, Francis Rossi quips, "no comment " and then spins on his heel as if a fast retreat is on ...
Humble Pie, Faces, The, Small Faces, The: The Small Faces
Retrospective by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1976
WELL – WHAT do you make of it lads? There's Rodney, jetting round the world with his blonde bombshell, the very lovely Britt Ekland. ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1976
From Face to farmer, Ronnie Lane has never been yer typical star. Now he's thinking of quitting rock ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, January 1976
From obscurity to a hit in two moves...just luck? Not true, Sheer Elegance tell HARRY DOHERTY ...
Bob Dylan: Jacques Levy: Dylan's Write Hand Man
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1976
THOSE WHO have already acquired a copy of Dylan's new album, Desire, will have noticed at least one difference between this and other Dylan records ...
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, January 1976
"I WAS NERVOUS but I looked forward to playing overseas because I had this feeling there was an audience for my kind of music, especially ...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, January 1976
TOM WILSON is an elegant, very tall (6ft 4in) black American, a former Harvard man who talks a little like Bill Cosby but whose pencil-thin ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, January 1976
IN THE basement of a South London shop, a group rehearses. They're loud, ever so loud. A rat crawls from behind an amplifier, its ears ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Gimme Back My Bullets (MCA 2744)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, January 1976
FOR SUCH A great continent, America has given the outside world very few real rock and roll bands. ...
Be-Bop Deluxe: Sunburst Deluxe
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, January 1976
BILL NELSON, IF popular opinion is to be believed, is destined to become something of a superstar in the coming year. And the new Be-Bop ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1976
AS AGATHA CHRISTIE discovered to her considerable advantage, everybody loves a mystery. The subject of this mystery is Leon Redbone, a musician whom we can ...
Steve Harley Says It Loud: 'I'm Back And I'm Proud!
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, February 1976
SO LONG AS the braggadocio who boasts "I'm the greatest" or "I'm a star" continues to climb up the success ladder, sceptics and critics are ...
Scott Walker, Walker Brothers, The: Scott Walker: No Regrets
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, February 1976
IT'S ONLY mid-afternoon, but the curtains are drawn and the lights are out. The room is in darkness and at first it looks empty. "Hi, ...
Genesis: The Ghost That Haunts Genesis
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, February 1976
YES, PETER IS PAST, but the legacy remains. And Tony Banks, keyboards' player with Genesis, is finding it difficult to swallow that. Peter Gabriel has ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1976
IT IS NOW ten months since Wishbone Ash packed up their troubles and settled in the USA, choosing a spot in Westport, Connecticut, that is ...
Neil Sedaka: Sedaka's Rocket to the States
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1976
NEIL SEDAKA does not look like a wealthy entertainer, not even when he's surrounded by the splendour of his rented luxury apartment above Fifth Avenue ...
C.W. McCall: McCall Keeps On Trucking
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1976
JUST IMAGINE the scenario: a thousand massive trucks, a petroleum-driven army, hurtling down the highway in a strict convoy formation, all the drivers linked together ...
Sailor: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, February 1976
ABOUT A year ago, Sailor made their live debut in front of about 50 people at London's little Collegiate Theatre. The reaction was mediocre, and ...
Mahavishnu Orchestra: Inner Worlds (CBS 69216)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1976
THE NAKED BODY of John McLaughlin, surmounted by a beaming face, hints, on the album cover, of purity, devotion and honesty. ...
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, March 1976
LEONARD COHEN'S GREATEST Hits is an interesting album to contemplate when one remembers that Cohen was in his mid-thirties when he began to make records, ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1976
"I'M SURE YOU were all as surprised as I was to find that Rick wasn't here, when we arrived tonight..." Brian Lane, manager, smiled uneasily ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1976
IT IS, I GUESS, the third time around for Dobie Gray who, at the present moment, is stretched out full length on a bed on ...
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, March 1976
"THE THING IS," confides Billy McIsaac, Slik's 26-year-old keyboards player, "we have a positive attitude to everything." He is speaking with the advantage of hindsight. ...
David Bowie: Ringing The Changes
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1976
"I'M JUST DOING this tour for the money. I never earned any money before, but this time I'm going to make some. I think I ...
Peter Frampton: Frampton Comes Alive
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1976
THIS IS THE best set of live performances heard for some time, and it marks the evolution of Peter Frampton into a major rock figure, ...
Led Zeppelin: Jimmy Page: Past, Presence & Future
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, March 1976
JIMMY ENTERED a whole hour late. But Abe, who was accompanying him, was not in the least embarrassed by the delay. He muttered an obligatory ...
Deep Purple: Empire Pool, Wembley
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1976
THIS REVIEW SHOULD have been written in the white heat of anger after seeing Deep Purple play at the Empire Pool, Wembley, on Friday night. ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1976
IT WOULD BE a shame if this album were overlooked because it is ascribed to the drummer in a famous band (Yes) and is one ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1976
WITH THE SUNSHINE on his shoulders and the mountain water in his veins, John Denver is an enigma surrounded by moonbeams, a v friendly postman ...
Wings: Paul McCartney: Pressure Cooking
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1976
Paul McCartney reveals a new national achievement – the first British cooking on record! – and discusses the proposed Beatles reunion with CHRIS WELCH ...
Wings: Wings At The Speed Of Sound (Capitol)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1976
PAUL McCARTNEY HAS a brilliant knack of taking an ordinary, daily statement and imbuing it with intrigue. ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1976
NICE TO SEE Osibisa back in the news and making some chart action after a difficult spell when it seemed they had lost their grip ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1976
THERE WE STOOD. Dumb-founded, we stared in stark amazement at the spectacle. It's Liverpool Stadium and the mashed wood strewn around the floor had earlier ...
Camel: Fairfield Hall, Croydon
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1976
AS BILLY CONNOLLY would say, it was sheer magic, the night Camel broke through into that indefinable sunlit area where a group becomes a supergroup. ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1976
FEW ARTISTS have experienced such a turbulent – yet short – career as Phoebe Snow, whose second album, just released, is already on its way ...
Rick Wakeman: No Earthly Connection(A&M AMLK 64583)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1976
RICK ORIGINALLY PLANNED an album dedicated to the gods of ancient myth, but shelved that when he became intrigued by the origins of man on ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1976
IF YOU were haunted by the cry of the Snowgoose last year, and cheered by the success of Camel in the MM's Readers' Poll (they ...
Thin Lizzy: Lizzy Break 'Em Up
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1976
THERE WE STOOD. Dumb-founded, we stared in stark amazement at the spectacle. It's Liverpool Stadium and the mashed wood strewn around the floor had earlier ...
Bill Bruford, Genesis: Bill Bruford Joins Genesis
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1976
THERE HAS BEEN a lot of stunning lately. I was stunned when Peter Gabriel quit Genesis. And stunned once more when Bill Bruford joined Genesis. ...
Hollies, The: The Hollies: Fun And Magic
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1976
I NEEDED CONVINCING that the legendary Sixties were really the rich, golden colour painted by those lucky enough to have experienced the action. ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1976
WHEN CAMEL became the MM's Brightest Hope in last year's Poll, it caused organist Peter Bardens a wry smile because he had become "an overnight ...
Genesis, Bill Bruford: Bill Bruford: 'It's all Ringo's fault!'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1976
THERE HAS been a lot of stunning lately. I was stunned when Peter Gabriel quit Genesis. And stunned once more when Bill Bruford joined Genesis. ...
Led Zeppelin: Presence (Swan Song)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1976
THERE IS A MAN I know, a college lecturer, for whom there is only one rock band. ...
10cc: We Don't Want To Be Superstars…
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1976
IT'S CRAZY, totally unpredictable, this life with 10cc. ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1976
WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that the total eccentricity of approach, the gross make-up and the blanket heavy metal music would have eventually ensured that Kiss ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1976
"I'M A ROCKER. I'm a Roller, too, honey..." Did you know that West Hampstead, London, is within spitting distance of the M1? Phil Lynott lives ...
Peter Frampton: How I Cracked America
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1976
"IT'S ALL QUITE unbelievable really. I don't want to think about it too much. I know it's great and it's made me really happy, but ...
Genesis: Beacon Theatre, New York
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1976
WITH THE RELEASE of A Trick Of The Tail Genesis demonstrated that, on record at least, they could carry on at the same degree of ...
Diana Ross: New Victoria, London
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, April 1976
WHEN WILL THE real Diana Ross sing up and be counted? ...
Ian Hunter: There Are More Important Things In Life Than Hit Records
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, May 1976
LOS ANGELES: In the afternoon I arrived at his hotel, and for a while we drank red wine and watched I Love Lucy reruns on ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1976
"THEY'VE gotta name for you people." Eric Bell settled back in a speeding Volkswagen as we wound through the West Cork countryside, and addressed the ...
Maxine Nightingale: Maxine — Right Back At The Top
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1976
NEW YORK: Maxine Nightingale, who comes from Wembley, seemed neither over-awed nor surprised that her record 'Right Back Where We Started From' was topping the ...
Jethro Tull: Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die! (Chrysalis)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1976
ROMANTICISING THE WORKING LAD as a cult hero is a popular theme with rock musicians. They have oft flirted with, or observed at close hand, ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
RETURNING HOME TO England has always been a bit of a comedown for Gentle Giant. ...
Elvis Presley: Long Beach Arena, Los Angeles
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, May 1976
DESPITE MEDICAL PROBLEMS Elvis Presley's show at the Long Beach Arena proved that he still has the voice and romantic quality that established him as ...
AC/DC: Nashville Rooms, London
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, May 1976
AC/DC'S SINGLE 'IT'S A Long Way To The Top', has a lot to answer for. First, since its weird, bagpipe-drone of a break sounded unusually ...
Report and Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, May 1976
NEVER IN THE history of rock 'n' roll has it been more difficult for bands to get the exposure they need to break big and ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1976
LOUNGING IN HIS suite at the Pierre Hotel, an opulent home for the wealthy, once owned by Paul Getty, Boz Scaggs completes a picture of ...
Jethro Tull: So Who's Too Old To Rock?
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
. . . certainly not Tull's Ian Anderson, who tells Harry Doherty that change keeps him going. ...
Gallagher & Lyle: Gallagher and Lyle: Breakaway Boys
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
GALLAGHER AND LYLE: 'Art Garfunkel's version of 'Breakaway' did us a hell of a lot of good. We were preparing to record the album and ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1976
"I DON'T feel I have to defend myself to you, and I won't take your criticism either. I'd take the criticism of a fan, though. ...
Horslips: Rock in Ireland: Rock in the Dark Ages
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
IF OXFAM WERE to adopt the same stategy towards rock starvation as they do towards the plight of the world's hungry, then one of the ...
Elton John: Here And There (DJM)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1976
DO NOT FEAR a rip-off, for this is a worthy selection of live performances from two major concerts which will long serve as a reminder ...
Leonard Cohen: Cohen Down the Road
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, May 1976
GOD'S IN his heaven, all's right with the world. The words, surprisingly enough, came from Leonard Cohen, and he was making the first of several ...
ABBA, Silver Convention: Europe: The Future Of Pop?
Overview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
AS IT WAS Stockholm, and as the ever-witty 10cc were playing there, Eric Stewart thought it'd be nice to pay a little tribute to a ...
Kiss: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
MAN, KISS HAD everything; every single effect in the book. They had a perfect lighting system; dry ice; smoke bombs; a fire-eater; a huge lighted ...
David Essex: Earl's Court, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
FOUR TIMES AT his Earls Court, London, show on Saturday night, David Essex strikingly fused the electric atmosphere of theatre with rock. The effect was ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
Midge Ure (guitar, vocals), Jim McGinlay (bass, vocals), Billy McIsaac (keyboards, vocals), Kenny Hyslop (drums, vocals). Produced by Phil Coulter at Mayfair Studios, London, during ...
David Essex: Essex Dons The Motley Again
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
DAVID ESSEX: 'I'm going to do a kind of rock revue in a West End theatre. It'll be incredible – I've got so many bizarre ...
Led Zeppelin, Bad Company: Bad Company: Led Zep Join The Company
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1976
It was a night to remember...when Robert Plant and Jimmy Page jammed with Bad Company on stage in Los Angeles. ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1976
A SPACESHIP, perhaps better described as an earth ship, forms the basis of a bizarre and fantastic story that is the central theme of Jon ...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, June 1976
TOM WAITS, currently appearing at London's Ronnie Scott Club, talks to Karl Dallas ...
Hall & Oates: Hall and Oates: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1976
IT WAS ONE of those historic, electrifying events that punctuate the cavalcade of rock, one of those nights that fans will long recall..."Do you remember ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1976
AFTER TEN years of trial and error – with eight of them spent in England drifting in and out of Spooky Tooth – Gary Wright ...
Little Feat, Outlaws, The, Sensational Alex Harvey Band, The, Who, The: The Who: Who-ray!
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1976
"Will the people on the lighting tower please get-off because it's very dangerous and we are afraid that tower might go" – Nicky Horne, Capital ...
Colosseum II: Strange New Flesh
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1976
THERE COMES a moment during 'Dark Side Of The Moog', when the clamour of the strident arrangement fades away, and Jon Hiseman begins a simple, ...
Canned Heat: Live At Topanga Corral
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1976
WHITE PLAGIARISTS almost killed the blues as a vital force in popular music. The perpetual rip-off of Elmore James' phrases, and the piquant cries of ...
Fleetwood Mac: Mac Bounce Back
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, June 1976
THE LAST YEAR has brought Fleetwood Mac a platinum LP – Fleetwood Mac – their eighth album for Reprise records, from which two top ten ...
Outlaws, The: The Outlaws: Outlaw Country
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1976
TELL US, O beefy cowboy with a stetson drawn over the eyes and a bottle of Jack Daniels old time malt liquor grasped between the ...
Janis Ian: Society's Child Grows Up
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, June 1976
ONE JOURNALIST WHO knew Janis Ian in 1969 thought she was the snottiest kid he'd ever met, "the cocky, pretentious product of an 'old Lefty' ...
Rod Stewart: A Night On The Town
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1976
IT'S A long way from Gasoline Alley. Young Rodney is up in the world, aye 'appen. He's going out with a classy lady, he's worth ...
Baker-Gurvitz Army: Baker Gurvitz Army: Hearts On Fire
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1976
NOW REDUCED to four members as Peter Lemer, the keyboard player, has left, the Baker Gurvitz Army are more economically deployed, and where songs require ...
Genesis: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1976
SO MUCH was happening on stage during the first sensational concert by Genesis at Odeon Hammersmith on Wednesday last week, that one needed stereoscopic earsight ...
Back Street Crawler: Second Street
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1976
A CAPTAIN Midnight character adorns the cover, but he's no way as snobby as a similarly named person who writes in the Sunday Times. ...
John Sebastian: Welcome Back With A Half Hour Hit
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1976
"YES...I can understand that people in England might have felt that I'd given up music or something, but the fact is I haven't at all. ...
Demis Roussos: Onassis Of Rock
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, June 1976
TWENTY miles east of the Arc de Triomphe, across the Seine as it meanders north, and a fast drive through grimy Paris suburbs, there looms ...
Peter Frampton, Yes, Gary Wright: Yes, Peter Frampton, Gary Wright: JFK Stadium, Philadelphia
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, June 1976
PHILADELPHIA: As rocket shells burst overhead and mortars roared only feet away, a lone Englishman with a dapper moustache smiled with delight as he stood ...
Steve Miller: Flying Like An Eagle
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1976
STEVE MILLER seems to be the kind of guy who would act first and ask questions afterwards, a tough-looking Texan brought up on bands and ...
Phil Collins, Genesis: The Trick of the Tale: Phil Collins Talks
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1976
PHIL COLLINS IS A spry, restless man with seemingly limitless amounts of energy and intense drive. It is this drive that has made him one ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1976
SO MANY bands have broken up in the past, or experienced ill-feeling within the ranks because some of the members have felt restricted, tied-down, perhaps, ...
Jon Anderson: Olias Of Sunhillow (Atlantic)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1976
An unashamedly romantic solo album that combines grace, taste and power ...
Slik: We're Like A Scapegoat For The Rollers
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, July 1976
TEARS TRICKLE down her 12-year-old cheeks. She's speechless, overcome by the emotion of the moment. She has, after a stubborn battle, won the right to ...
Rick Wakeman: Wakeman On The Attack With His Birotron
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1976
RICK WAKEMAN is one of a very exclusive breed – the International Heroes of the Electric Keyboard. For Rick's meteoric career has been bound up ...
Alan Parsons: Parsons Knows: The Tale of Alan Parsons and Edgar Allan Poe
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, July 1976
THE CONCEPT ALBUM, contemptuously rejected by many critics as the great bore of rock, has returned, and this work of producer Alan Parsons, supported by ...
Peter Frampton: How Frampton Came Alive
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1976
WHAT WAS it about the Fifties that encouraged the birth of so much talent? Was it the result of H-bomb testing or increased sunspot activity ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1976
AMERICA HAS until now avoided a head-on confrontation with the big British production or stage bands. ...
Kim Fowley, Runaways, The: The Runaways: Runaway Girls
Profile and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, July 1976
RUNAWAYS: the Natalie Woods, Brigitte Bardots and Ann-Margrets of rock. ...
Genesis: Apollo Theatre, Glasgow
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, July 1976
HEAT, DUST, smoke, lasers and Genesis combined to turn the Glasgow Apollo into a replica of Dante's Inferno when the band descended on the city ...
John Miles, Dave Mason, Elton John: Elton John, Dave Mason, John Miles: Schaeffer Stadium, Boston
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, July 1976
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: The sheer pageantry of Elton John's Stars and Stripes bicentennial show here on Independence Day had the power alone to earn a standing ...
Thin Lizzy: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, July 1976
THE PREVALENT mood that hung over this Hammersmith Odeon gig on Sunday night, that this would be the occasion to herald once and for all ...
Loudon Wainwright III: Whimsical Wainwright
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1976
NEW YORK: The smart way to begin a story about Loudon Wainwright III would be to concoct some snappy couplet not unlike those that form ...
Blue Oyster Cult: We Copped A Lot From Sabbath
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1976
EVEN THE hardest of hearts must soften sometime, and so it is with Blue Oyster Cult, whose fifth album Agents of Fortune offers a degree ...
Jefferson Starship: Starship's Enterprise
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, July 1976
ONE BY ONE the group drifts into Wally Heider's recording studio for a mixing session. Marty Balin is absent but his presence fills the air. ...
Jethro Tull: Too Old To Rock And Roll, Too Young To Die
Film/DVD Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, July 1976
Dull Tull's big mistake ...
John Miles: Learning To Be A Star
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, July 1976
...
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1976
PONTIAC Stadium rises out of the Michigan earth like a four-walled town. ...
Thin Lizzy: Unlikely Lads With A Lead For Lizzy
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, July 1976
THE MAN IN Black from the City Of The Angels, Los Angeles, is still dazed by the unbelievably swift rise of Thin Lizzy and chats ...
Weather Report: The True US Art Form
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, July 1976
"PEOPLE ARE beautiful everywhere," says Josef Zawinul. "I think a real open person, I don't care what music he is playing, is going to be ...
Starland Vocal Band: Starry-eyed
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1976
NEW YORK: As each summer rolls by it brings with it an easily identifiable summer hit which is almost always a catchy vocal treatment of ...
Eddie & The Hot Rods: Pier Pavilion, Hastings
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, July 1976
BARRY MASTERS, Eddie And The Hot Rods' front man, drove his band down to Hastings from London himself – a sweaty, draining, three hour bang. ...
Hawkwind, Curved Air, Status Quo, Strawbs, The: Status Quo: Quo Storm The Castle
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, July 1976
Rock festivals in Wales always tempt providence, as many a Marley or 10cc fan can attest. But at Cardiff Castle last Saturday, the sun shone ...
Donovan: Flower Child's Second Bloom
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1976
FEW ARTISTS evoke memories of the Sixties as much as Donovan who, even in this enlightened age, still clings resolutely to the styles that developed ...
Sensational Alex Harvey Band, The: Alex Harvey: Harvey's History Lesson
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, August 1976
ALEX, WHAT would your reaction be, apart from grabing me by the throat, if I said the music and image of the Sensational Alex Harvey ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1976
THERE IS an aura of faded grace and decaying dignity about Crystal Palace, set upon the heights of Norwood in South London. Perhaps it stems ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1976
IT IS heartening in these disturbing times (as the poet Cedric observed in his massive volume, Away, Dull Cares), to find there are still men ...
John Lennon Gets His Ticket To Ride
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1976
NEW YORK: John Lennon has won his five-year battle against the immigration authorities in the United States. ...
Sex Pistols, The: Punk Rock: Rebels Against the System
Report and Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, August 1976
JOHNNY ROTTEN looks bored. The emphasis is on the word "looks" rather than, as Johnny would have you believe, the word "bored". His clothes, held ...
Joan Armatrading: Burning Like Fire
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, August 1976
THE SOUTH LONDON side-street is unimposing and still. Neat houses face each other, their windows opaque, like rows of black eyes shielded by the reflecting ...
Widowmaker (UK): Widowmaker: Make — Or Break
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, August 1976
WIDOWMAKER almost busted up the other week. ...
Elton John: He's Got The Whole World In His Hands
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1976
THE WHOLE FAMILY was there. Mum, dad and three children all waited patiently by the elevators in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency hotel on ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: ELP: The Show That Never Ends?
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1976
WHATEVER happened to ELP? One of Britain's most successful and popular bands has been surrounded by a wall of silence as impenetrable as the Kremlin ...
Eagles, The: The Eagles: The Spectrum, Philadelphia
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1976
SPECTRUM, Philadelphia: You can't get much more Los Angelean than the Eagles. Right down to the faded jeans and slightly wrinkled tee-shirts, the fuzzy moustaches ...
Joan Armatrading: Joan Armatrading (A&M)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, August 1976
REPUTABLE SOURCES assure me that this new record album is, in fact, by the same Joan Armatrading who almost died of fright during her London ...
Thin Lizzy: Remembering, Part 1, featuring Eric Bell and Gary Moore (Decca)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, August 1976
Philip Lynott (bass, acoustic guitar, vocals), Brian Downey (drums), Eric Bell (lead guitar and vocals), Gary Moore (lead guitar and vocals). Produced by Nick Tauber. ...
Jess Roden: The Jess Roden Band: Jess Keeps His Hat On
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, August 1976
"I JUST couldn't wait to get out of my stage uniform and into a pair of jeans...I may have wasted time, but I sing what ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, August 1976
THOSE PUZZLED by the Status Quo phenomenon should beware. AC/DC, from the same rock family, could wreak similar havoc, but they will only realise their ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1976
THOUGH Tavares are scoring for the first time in Britain with 'Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel', the quintet of brothers has been together as ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1976
WHAT'S A MIDDLE-of-the-road singer like Neil Diamond doing with the Band's Robbie Robertson? Making a hit album, Beautiful Noise, that's what. The two first met ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1976
FEW ARTISTS have quite as much faith in themselves as Ted Nugent, the Midwestern rocker and former leader of the Amboy Dukes. He is getting ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1976
"HI. Y'ALL COME in now..." Ronnie Van Zant, two minutes out of the sack, wears a stetson, strengthening the popular theory that he was born ...
Manfred Mann: Mann Of The Moment…
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1976
ARGUMENTATIVE and brittle, Manfred Mann has long been notorious as a man not likely to suffer fools gladly. He has terrorised managers, journalists, publicists and ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
OF ALL the guitar heroes to emerge from the British blues boom of the mid-Sixties, Jeff Beck has been the most slippery to follow. There ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1976
David Paton: now one-half of Pilot, a band trying to rid itself of teenybop associations ...
Bay City Rollers, The: The Bay City Rollers: Rollers' American Civil War
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
THE STATE TROOPER, with his tall hat perched firmly on a head with very little hair, seemed to be in control. One hand grasped a ...
Sex Pistols, The: The Sex Pistols: Club De Chalet Du Lac, Paris
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, September 1976
PARIS: The Sex Pistols believed the myth that it all happens in Paris. The fans who drove over specially to see the band's first appearance ...
Bay City Rollers, The: The Bay City Rollers: Dedication (Bell)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1976
Leslie McKeown, (lead vocals and background), Eric Faulkner (lead guitar, rhythm and acoustic guitars, vocals), Stuart Wood (bass and vocals), Derek Longmuir (drums, percussion, vocals), ...
Joan Armatrading: Bottom Line, New York
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
PERHAPS IF Joan Armatrading had opened for an artist less popular than Richie Havens, her U.S. debut would have been more fruitful. At the Bottom ...
Crosby and Nash: Crosby & Nash: Central Park, New York
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
NEIL YOUNG and Steve Stills may have blown out their tour in a flurry of sore throats and, reportedly, short tempers, but the "other half" ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
RANDY CALIFORNIA: re-formed Spirit after picking pineapples and advice from a fortune teller ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1976
BRIAN MAY remembers Queen's first-ever free gig well. It was in London, five years ago, when the band invited 120 people along to a lecture ...
Emmylou Harris Makes Up Leeway
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
IT CAME as something of a surprise to learn that Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band were in town last week. To be precise, they ...
Eddie & The Hot Rods: Eddie and the Hot Rods: "Punk? — We Just Do It"
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1976
ENERGY, LIFE, YOUTH, ROCK 'N' ROLL! What are these strange ingredients that have suddenly injected themselves into the creaking old rock scene? "We're just DOIN' ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1976
Rollers, Quo, Wakeman – just three targets for ace satirists Supercharge ...
Bay City Rollers, The: Bay City Rollers: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1976
SOME TIME ago, David Essex remarked that he was fed up with critics reviewing his audiences when they should have been more concerned with the ...
Roger McGuinn: Bottom Line, New York City
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
NEW YORK: Roger McGuinn is an institution in American rock music and, like all institutions, he seems to crop up at least once a year ...
Kiki Dee, Queen: Queen: Hyde Park, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1976
AT LAST, the Seventies have arrived, and in majestic style, when, at London's Hyde Park on Saturday, Queen, born of this decade's rock generation, played ...
Barclay James Harvest: Barclay Bank On The Future
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1976
BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: 'If you want to be a musician and play the type of music you want – you've gotta cruise.' ...
Band, The, Rick Danko: Rick Danko: Solo, But Not Alone
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1976
WITH THE possible exception of Robbie Robertson, the individual members of the Band have enjoyed a remarkable anonymity that belies their status as one of ...
Report by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, October 1976
THE 600-STRONG line, which last Monday straggled across two blocks outside London's 100 Club in Oxford Street, waiting for the Punk Rock Festival to start, ...
Rory Gallagher: Calling Card (Chrysalis)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1976
His first venture into the land of overdub and experimentation – and an unqualified success ...
Cimarons, The, Aswad: British Reggae: Prejudiced Vibrations
Comment by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, October 1976
ON THE SURFACE it looks as though there has been something of a major breakthrough for reggae in Britain. ...
Be-Bop Deluxe: Nelson's Column
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1976
"HELLO, I'm the man with two noses....." ...
Cliff Richard: Cliff Brings Good News To Belfast
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1976
CLIFF RICHARD wasn't smuggled into Belfast on Saturday night in the back of a furniture van. Nor was his appearance marred by a background of ...
Eddie & The Hot Rods: Eddie and the Hot Rods
Profile by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1976
THE STORY of the Hot Rods is one to warm the hearts of those who still believe in the essential simplicity and drive of rock ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1976
HOWARD BUNKER looked down at his instrument panel and spoke softly into the radio. There was no point in looking through the plexiglass canopy, for ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1976
THIN LIZZY: Johnny The Fox (Vertigo 9102 012). Phil Lynott (bass, vocals), Brian Downey (drums, percussion), Scott Gorham (lead guitar), Brian Robertson (lead guitar). Produced ...
Runaways, The: The Runaways: You Sexy Things!
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1976
"AW, C'MON, you guys at the front. Sit down and give the rest of the lads a view of the girls..." And that passionate request, ...
Climax Blues Band: Climax Get It Right
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1976
COLIN COOPER and PETER HAYCOCK: 'We're playing more of what people call funk today, but it's all rooted in the blues.' ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1976
EARLIER this summer, Bob Seger appeared in concert at Pontiac Stadium, a giant indoor arena on the outskirts of Detroit, attracting some 70,000 crazed Michigan ...
Aerosmith: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1976
AFTER MANY years studying the phenomenon of the rock concert, I have made a discovery that might well be hailed as a scientific breakthrough in ...
Jonathan Richman: Rock Poet Of Lower Middle-Class Suburbia
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, October 1976
I'm in touch with the modern worldI'm in love with the modern worldI got the radio on(Radio on) ...
David Cassidy, Mick Ronson: David Cassidy & Mick Ronson: Cassidy Lights Up With Ronson
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1976
DAVID CASSIDY is to form a band with Mick Ronson, the British guitarist whose services as a freelance player are much in demand these days. ...
Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains The Same
Film/DVD Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1976
THE FOUR members of Led Zeppelin received standing ovations at the premiere in New York last week of their film The Song Remains The Same. ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1976
After deserting their homeland to live in the States, they're back — but they've not been forgotten… ...
Peter Frampton: Empire Pool, Wembley
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1976
"PEDER! Cor what a man," came the strangled gasp from two young chaps in the foremost rows. "Ain't 'ee sexy!" ...
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, October 1976
HOW DOES it feel to be a pop star?" The Italian journalist eagerly thrust his microphone at the glamorous vision stumbling out of his limo ...
Dr. Feelgood: Dr Feelgood: Where There's a Wilko…
Report by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1976
FEELGOODS' WILKO JOHNSON: 'I work for one hour a day and get paid about £2,000. That's why I want a television in my room.' ...
Sailor, Sparks: Sparks: Big Beat (Island);Sailor: The Third Step (Epic)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1976
SPARKS: Big Beat (Island ILPS 9445). Russell Mael (vocals), Ron Mael (keyboards), Jeffrey Salen (guitar), Sal Maida (bass). Billy Boy Michaels (drums). Produced by Rupert ...
Steven Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen: Steve Van Zandt: Miami, Bruce, and Roots
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, November 1976
LOS ANGELES: Miami Steve Van Zandt has been in Bruce Springsteen's band for over a year now, and also finds time these days to guide ...
Thin Lizzy: Lizzy's Cocky Rebel
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1976
"Cocky Rocky's a rock and roll starGot the talent to take him far..." ...
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes: Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes: Southside Of The Tracks
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: Springsteen protege from Asbury, so-named because he sounds like a Chicago Southside blues singer. ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
Steve Stills tells Chris Charlesworth in New York why he's touring solo after all these years... ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
FOR A band that was formed virtually by accident one night on a European tour four years ago, Orleans have now come a long way, ...
Bruce Springsteen: The Palladium, New York
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
IT MAY rain or snow, and the temperature in New York might even drop below freezing-point this weekend, but so long as Bruce Springsteen is ...
Climax Blues Band: Victoria Palace, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1976
AFTER A succession or strangely dissatisfying gigs in the giant aircraft hangars of rock (ie Empire Pool, Wembley), how sweet it was to hear some ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
FEW BANDS have enjoyed the stability of Chicago, those rather dull "pioneers of jazz-rock" whose 'If You Leave Me Now' not only tops the charts ...
Clash, The: The Clash: Down And Out And Proud
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, November 1976
THREE WEEKS AGO at London's ICA, Jane and Shane, regulars on the new-wave punk rock scene, were sprawled at the edge of the stage. Blood ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1976
"THE TIMES they are a-changin" ...and David Essex is changing with them. ...
Allman Brothers Band: Elected! Rock and US Politics
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
After Jimmy Carter's victory in the U.S. Presidential elections, Chris Charlesworth in New York investigates the role of rock in American politics... ...
Wishbone Ash: New England (MCA)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1976
Andy Powell (guitars, mandolin and vocals), Laurie Wisefield (guitars and vocals), Martin Turner (bass and lead vocals), Steve Upton (drums). Recorded at Mart's Place, Laureledge, ...
Leo Sayer: Endless Flight (Chrysalis)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1976
Leo Sayer (vocals, harmonica). Ed Greene, Steve Gadd, Rick Shlosser, Jeff Porcaro, Nigel Olsson (drums), Andy Muson, Bill Bodine, Willie Weeks, Bob Glaub, Lee Sklar, ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1976
A WARM HANDSHAKE, twinkling eyes and black hair grown thicker than he has allowed for some while – Jimmy Page arrived at his London office ...
Electric Light Orchestra: The Electric Light Orchestra: A New World Record (Jet)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1976
Jeff Lynne (lead vocals, lead, rhythm and slide guitars), Bev Bevan (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Richard Tandy (keyboards, backing vocals), Kelly Groucutt (bass, vocals), Mik ...
Barclay James Harvest: Octoberon
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1976
I GET the impression from this new BJH album that the band were in a particularly mellow mood when they finally got around to recording ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1976
WHEN I sat upon my mother's knee during the years of austerity, being spoon-fed National Health bubble and squeak, and listening to the Light Programme, ...
Junior Murvin: Steal Away With Success
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, November 1976
JUNIOR MURVIN’S ‘Police And Thieves’, currently bubbling under the chart and selling up to 1,000 copies a day some five months after its release, a ...
Comment by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, November 1976
BY NOW we must all, surely, regard the coming of rock's New Wave as beneficial. Whether the currently fashionable bands prove to be the real ...
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, November 1976
AL STEWART, who plays London's New Victoria Theatre on December 2, is now enjoying greater success in America. ...
Sex Pistols, The: Sex Pistols: Rotten To The Core
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, November 1976
"I had absolutely no interest in singing. I was more interested in being obnoxious." ...
CBGBs, Max's etc: Underground Overground
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
"PUNK ROCK? What's that supposed to mean? The bands that play at my club aren't punks. They might wear leather jackets, chew gum and try ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1976
YOU PROBABLY haven't heard of Heart – apart, perhaps, from their excellent 'Magic Man' single – yet they've soared from obscurity in the States to ...
Hall & Oates: Hall and Oates: A Bigger Splash
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
JOHN OATES: 'I find the audiences in Europe more intelligent and receptive – music in Europe and England still retains its mystique and excitement.' ...
Crazy Horse, Neil Young: Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Palladium Theatre, NYC
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
NEW YORK Only an artist with the charisma and talent of Nell Young could perform with a lacklustre band such as the current Crazy Horse ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1976
THIS MUST MEAN something. Driving home last week-end, I flicked on the radio, to the Alan Freeman Show, and was greeted by a piece of ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, November 1976
ROCK LYRICS aren't usually worth printing on the sleeve, but most bands display their adolescent poetry as if Homer played rhythm guitar, and Dostoyevsky was ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, December 1976
"HAVE WE ever come close to splitting? My God, HAVE we! It's very incestuous, our band, y'see. We're all interdependent and to work out your ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1976
YIHAAHS RANG in the ears when the cowpokes came to town on Saturday night. Huge beefy men burst out of their jeans and hammered away ...
Jess Roden Band: Drury Lane Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1976
IT WAS no use. The smartly attired attendant (he may well have been the manager) just could not get the kids to sit down. ...
Overview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, December 1976
SOME come, others go, but the name lives on for ever...10cc set no precedent by splitting in half last week, but the decision by Graham ...
Bee Gees, The: The Bee Gees: Nights on Broadway
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1976
BEE GEES: 'The Beatles influenced us in the early days and before that Neil Sedaka. Now we let Stevie Wonder influence us.' ...
Queen: A Day At The Races (EMI)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, December 1976
QUEEN: A Day At The Races (EMI EMTC 104). Freddie Mercury (vocals, piano), Brian May (guitars, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), John Deacon (bass). Produced ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, December 1976
ABBA: Frida Lyngstad and Anna Faltskog (vocals), Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals) with Ola Brunkert and Roger Palm (drums), Janne Schaffer, ...
Tangerine Dream: Twilight of the Dream
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, December 1976
TANGERINE DREAM seem to have strange ideas about off-duty entertainment. ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, December 1976
The American singer/songwriter – currently touring Britain – who has made his name by writing constantly demanding, complex and mysterious songs, talks to COLIN IRWIN ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, December 1976
SILVER DISCS paper the walls of Ralph McTell's new eight-roomed Putney castle. There's going to be a studio upstairs, he says, directly above where the ...
Eagles, The: Eagles: Where Eagles Dare…
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1976
WHAT'S it like, I asked, being an Eagle? Glenn Frey, a perpetual talker, paused to consider the question and the silence lasted almost a minute. ...
Band, The: The Band's Last Stand
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, December 1976
IT WASN'T easy to book a plane from Los Angeles airport on Thanksgiving to fly up to San Francisco for the Band's farewell live concert ...
Eagles, The: The Eagles: Hotel California (Asylum)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, December 1976
Don Henley (drums, vocals), Glenn Frey (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Don Felder (guitar, slide guitar, vocals), Joe Walsh (guitar, keyboards, vocals). Randy Meisner (bass, vocals). Produced ...
Lou Reed: How Lou Saw The White Light
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, December 1976
LOU REED, the crafty old rock 'n' roll fox, is alive and kicking. In fact, he's standing in the lobby of the Los Angeles Hyatt ...
Hall & Oates: Hall and Oates: The Palladium, NYC
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1976
NEW YORK: Like it or not, Hall and Oates are currently running the distinct risk of becoming just too perfect for their own good. At ...
Wings: Wings Over America (EMI)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, December 1976
An exhausting triple set which had the making of an exceptional double album ...
Genesis: Wind And Wuthering (Charisma)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1976
Phil Collins (voices, drums, percussion), Steve Hackett (electric guitars, nylon classical 12-string, Kalimba, auto-harp), Mike Rutherford (basses, electric and acoustic guitars, bass pedals), Tony Banks ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1976
THE PUBLIC has a strange image of rock and roll musicians. Most imagine them to be public school educated, with a passionate dedication to the ...
Thin Lizzy, Queen: The Year Queen Lizzy Shook America:
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1977
Queen and Thin Lizzy tour the USA ...
Band, The: The Band: Islands (Capitol)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, April 1977
WHEN Isaac Hayes was at the peak of his success, some five or six years ago, he told me of his great ambition to write ...
Electric Light Orchestra: Look At Me Now: The Electric Light Orchestra
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1977
ELO: MORE than a classical gas. "It’s not classical rock. It never has been, but when it started, it needed a name. It had to ...
Van Morrison: Jamming with George Benson
Report by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, April 1977
LOS ANGELES: VAN MORRISON made a rare TV appearance on the Midnight Special filmed last Monday at the NBC studios in Burbank. The show, which ...
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, April 1977
THE GRANDLY-NAMED COLISEUM in Harlesden, London, turned out somewhat grander than most people expected. It's no fleapit, more a small local theatre — complete with ...
John Coltrane:The Other Village Vanguard Tapes
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, April 1977
The combination of affection, respect and awe in which his fans held the late John Coltrane is given to few people in any walk of ...
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, May 1977
THIS IS THE ALBUM we have been waiting for since Sandy left Fairport Convention for the second time at the end of 1975. Over six ...
Dr. Feelgood: Just What The Dr. Ordered: A New Guitarist To Replace Wilko In The Feelgoods
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1977
IT'S BARDOT'S, Canvey Island, formerly Cloud Nine, former weekly haunt of Dr. Feelgood. It's Thursday, almost midnight, and Wilko Johnson has well and truly joined ...
Thomas A Dorsey: The Father Of Gospel: Thomas A. Dorsey
Profile and Interview by Steve Turner, Melody Maker, May 1977
He likes his stories does Thomas A. Dorsey, and with a 77-year-old mind in charge of the telling, they do tend to crop up more ...
Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, July 1977
SANDY DENNY looked radiant. Yes, one is always supposed to say that about ladies when they're pregnant, but in this case it was true. She ...
Adverts, The: Reading The Adverts
Profile and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, August 1977
THE NEW WAVE scythe has brought about a dual personality in programming for a lot of the more established clubs. ...
Boomtown Rats: The Boomtown Rats (Ensign)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, August 1977
OH CHRIST, what will we label them? Rock 'n' Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Pop/New Wave? All tags apply. But no one alone totally fits the ...
Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Generation X: Bowie and Bolan Get It On
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1977
"OH THAT'S REALLY Polaroid! You've gotta keep the ending!" David Bowie rocked with laughter and Marc Bolan wiped away the tears that had threatened to ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1977
TAPE RECORDER OFF, Roy Wood typically loosens up, revealing a few of his franker thoughts. "I've written something like 30 hit songs, you know," he ...
Only Ones, The: The Only Ones: Ones-off
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, September 1977
SOMETIMES you feel so...er, hypocritical. Let me explain. The project in hand was an interview with The Only Ones, who over the last couple of ...
Pete Townshend, Ronnie Lane: The Return of You Know Who: Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1977
PETE TOWNSHEND is back — with a new album accompanied by his old mate Ronnie Lane, and with trenchant views on punk. ...
Jonathan Richman: In Love With The Modern World
Profile by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, September 1977
On the eve of Jonathan Richman's first British tour, Ian Birch traces his career ...
Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, September 1977
IT CONFOUNDED all expectations. Cross a children's pantomime with a Charlie Chaplin movie and filter it through a gawky highschool kid who mimes awful ...
Bob Seger: Cruisin' with Seger
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, October 1977
Detroit rocker Bob Seger, who starts his first British tour tomorrow (Friday), talks to Harvey Kubernik in Los Angeles ...
Sandy Denny: Sandy Fights Back
Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, November 1977
"IF I HAVE TO SING 'Matty Groves' one more time, I'll throw myself out of a window... I'll be doing a lot of stuff from ...
Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, December 1977
LISTEN, going to the movies is cheaper than going to Jamaica. Am I right or am I wrong? As Dillinger used to say before he ...
Tom Robinson Band: The Tom Robinson Band: Lyceum, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, December 1977
IT WAS undoubtedly one of the best gigs I have seen this or any other year. The combination of two excellent bands, the Tom Robinson ...
Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 1978
PATTI SMITH'S first album, Horses, was a bolt out of the blue, a lightning stab at the very top of the tree, one of the ...
Report and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, January 1978
Steely Dan will compose and perform the title track for FM, which is scheduled to begin filming this week at Universal Studios. Danny Rosencrantz, vice-president ...
Prisonaires, The: The Prisonaires: Five Beats Behind Bars
Retrospective by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, January 1978
With doo-wop increasing in popularity, MARTIN HAWKINS reveals the 'inside' story of the Prisonaires, one of the South's finest vocal harmony groups. ...
Frank Zappa: Carry On Composing
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, January 1978
No Edgar Varèse trip for Frank Zappa, who's just sold out four shows at the Hammersmith Odeon (not bad for a hippie in '78, eh?). ...
Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, January 1978
Penny Valentine reports from the Talking Heads tour ...
Devo: We Are Devo. We Are The Next Thing
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, February 1978
Ian Birch talks to an American band with heavy friends – like Eno and David Bowie ...
Kansas: Wayward Sons in Slot Machine City: Kansas
Report and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, February 1978
TWO DAYS in Las Vegas and your grip on sanity begins to slip. You can even buy a T-shirt there emblazoned with the gem: "I've ...
Kansas, Styx, Aerosmith: American revolution: Aerosmith, Boston, Kansas and co.
Overview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1978
LIKE A FOREST fire, the flames of the new wave roared across the British rock scene, leaving behind a charred and blackened landscape. A few ...
Earth Wind and Fire: Earth, Wind & Fire: Flying Sorcerers
Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, February 1978
Earth, Wind & Fire are the biggest soul group in the world – their albums now go platinum. But Britain will have to wait until ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, March 1978
2002 Prologue: This interview would have come on the back of an MM editorial conference, Ray Coleman at the helm, sarcastic bastards around the table, ...
Report and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, March 1978
THEY SEEMED to come out of nowhere: Dire Straits, that is. Suddenly last year London's bitter-and-Number-Six grapevine was buzzing with the name. Everyone wanted to ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, April 1978
FORGIVE the blasphemy, but I reckon God must have been way out of his little box when he deposited Tom Waits among us. Mr. Waits ...
Profile and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, May 1978
Ian Birch introduces Ohio's latest 'overnight sensation', Pere Ubu ...
Electric Light Orchestra: Themes and Variations on ELO
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1978
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA's forthcoming British tour, which includes a run of eight nights at Wembley Empire Pool, will be the band's last appearances here ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, June 1978
2002 Prologue: I remember this interview with massive warmth. I knew me and Kate were obviously getting onside ‘cos this was done at the family ...
Rory Gallagher: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, June 1978
RORY GALLAGHER'S return to London, with two shows at the Hammersmith Odeon at the weekend, emphasized the sway the eternally youthful Irish guitarist holds over ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, June 1978
IT'S THOSE damned shades that frighten me so much. What goes on behind them? Where are his eyes? Has he got eyes? The imagination runs ...
Electric Light Orchestra: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, June 1978
HONESTLY, when you find yourself actually applauding the stage at the end of a gig, then you suddenly realise that you've just witnessed a very ...
Bruce Springsteen: Reborn and Running Again
Report by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, June 1978
EVEN BEFORE the two brilliant concerts at the Spectrum earlier in the week, Bruce Springsteen could have been the Mayor of Philadelphia if he had ...
Brian Eno, Talking Heads: Talking Heads: More Songs About Buildings And Food (Sire)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, July 1978
David Byrne (singing, guitars, synthesized percussion); Chris Frantz (drums, percussion); Jerry Harrison (piano, organs, synthesizer, guitar, background vocals); Tina Weymouth (bass) and Brian Eno (synthesizers, ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, July 1978
July 2002 intro: Supertramp play at Hyde Park this month, a sure sign they have lost none of the fans who made them huge with ...
Police, The: The Police: 'The Best Rock'n'Roll Band I've Seen In Years'
Profile and Interview by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, September 1978
THE POLICE are not punk. The Police are not disco. The Police are not heavy metal. The Police are not power pop. The Police are ...
Frankie Miller: Dingwall's, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1978
FRANKIE MILLER would have been recognised as a major rock singer with a major rock audience three years ago had it not been for his ...
Punishment Of Luxury: Dishing out Punishment
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, September 1978
"It's really crazy to think you've got to get crazy to be happy. I don't think you can be so logical as to estimate your ...
Blondie: From Blondie With Love…
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1978
CLEM BURKE offers a rather intriguing analogy about his band: Blondie are now playing the roles patented earlier this decade by Gary Glitter, T. Rex ...
Allman Brothers Band: Allman Brothers Reform For LP, Tour
Report by Richard Wootton, Melody Maker, September 1978
THE FOUR SURVIVING members of the original Allman Brothers Band – Gregg Allman, Dickie Betts, Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson – have reformed for ...
Blondie: Parallel Lines (Chrysalis)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1978
BLONDIE'S third album seems designed to cater for two distinct requirements: a) to satisfy the near-hysterical cries for the pure pop of the band's debut ...
Doll By Doll: Entropy Is Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, September 1978
"If you go walking in the street today/be sure and listen what the young boys say/they know the colour of speed is red/you don't become ...
Tammy Wynette: Stand By Your Record Producer
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, September 1978
Tammy Wynette, over here for a short tour, lectures COLIN IRWIN on how to be an Average Superstar... ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: Back Door Men
Interview by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, September 1978
Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman aren't exactly garrulous types. But behind the... er... stony facade lies a commitment which has kept them pumping up the ...
Smokie: Exiles On The Reeperbahn
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1978
LAST NIGHT, IN Hamburg, Smokie played to 6,000 people and tonight they'll repeat the process in the fishing port of Kiel. It brings to an ...
Yes in New York: Swings And Roundabouts
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1978
"EXCUSE me, but what are you writing?" I'm just making notes about the concert and I'm trying to listen to the piano player. ...
Obituary by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1978
ON THE RADIO they were playing a tribute to Keith Moon. They put on 'My Generation' by the Who. We heard the line that now ...
Keith Moon: Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
Obituary by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1978
SOMETIME IN 1972, when my admiration for the Who was at its most passionate peak, I spent an afternoon at Keith Moon's house in Chertsey. ...
Emmylou Harris: Profile…Best Of Emmylou Harris
Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, September 1978
UNDOUBTEDLY, Emmylou's success has been to make traditional country music acceptable to a rock audience. She has a lot to answer for, and in a ...
Bryan Ferry: The Bride Stripped Bare
Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, September 1978
WITH HIS USUAL panache (some may say pretensions), Bryan Ferry has taken his album title from a famous work by the surrealist Marcel Duchamp: The ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1978
"RELEASE, Release!" is one of the most significant chants on this happy musical event. It is the hook-line on the fastest, funkiest, piece of rock ...
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, September 1978
LOOKING AFTER Bette Midler's career, says her manager and former lover Aaron Russo, is like being the navigator of a plane en route for California. ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1978
Fighting their reputation and their record company, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme turn defence into attack. ...
Profile and Interview by Bill Millar, Melody Maker, September 1978
YOU CAN ENJOY Etta James as a throwback to the rockin' Fifties. You can admire her as the apotheosis of Sixties soul performing ghetto clubs ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1978
IF NOTHING ELSE, at least the sun shone undisturbed for the duration of the Stranglers' long-awaited London gig on Saturday afternoon ("They're trying to strangle ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Skyrvyrd's First And…Last
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1978
ROCK 'N' ROLL REQUIEMS usually denigrate rather than enhance the reputation of the deceased, which is as sound a reason as any to approach this ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1978
RADIO STARS' aspirations are anything but modest. They have visions of themselves as a major (Hammersmith Odeon-Earls Court-Knebworth) band and Holiday Album is the vehicle ...
Joan Armatrading: Fragile Surfaces And Fast Getaways
Interview by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, September 1978
IN HER KITCHEN Joan Armatrading washes up the plates from a vegetarian meal we have just eaten. "You wouldn't think," she had said earlier with ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1978
A LISTLESS GREY shroud hangs gloomily over Manchester as I arrive on this lazy Friday afternoon. From Piccadilly Station, it's a 15-minute walk through the ...
Patrick Moraz, Moody Blues, The: Moody Blues: Yes To The Moodies
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1978
"I THOUGHT I was God. Then I realised I was just the drummer in a rock 'n' roll band." Graeme Edge and Caligula had the ...
Ramones, The: The Ramones: A Blitz At The Speed Of Light
Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, September 1978
The Ramones: Ulster Hall, Belfast ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1978
"BRAKES ARE locked. The steering is jammed!" Peter Robinson wrestled with the steering wheel as he drove like a Dalek around Bristol City centre last ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, September 1978
SINCE THEIR appearance in 1975, Third World have always seemed the most likely candidates to follow Bob Marley through the gates marked Reggae/Pop Crossover. ...
Buzzcocks, The: The Buzzcocks: Love Bites
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, September 1978
UMMMMM, ON THE cover of their new album the Buzzcocks look yummy enough to wrap up and take home. Love Bites, it's called, but no ...
Linda Ronstadt: Living In The U.S.A.
Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, September 1978
OVER HER PAST few albums and, curiously, ever since she won a wall full of awards, something has been happening to Linda Ronstadt's "interpretative" powers. ...
Jethro Tull: Live – Bursting Out
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1978
SECRETIVE lot, Jethro Tull. This "live" double set was NOT recorded at Harold Rumsey's Lighthouse, nor at the Manor, nor on Ronnie Lane's mobile, but ...
Richard Thompson: The Guitar Hero as Mystic Recluse
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, October 1978
Richard Thompson is one of the world's finest guitarists, but a few years ago he "got cheesed off" and packed it all in. Now he's ...
Johnny Thunders: Nothing Is Forever
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1978
Maybe you sneered at the New York Dolls; so maybe you missed a Distant Early Warning of the new wave. Johnny Thunders is back in ...
Cabaret Voltaire, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Pop Group, The, Nico: The Pop Group/LKJ/Nico/Cab Voltaire
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, October 1978
Disorder by juxtaposition. Subversion by paradox. Nothing is as simple as we're told. New feelings. ...
Motors, The: The Motors: The Motors Show
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1978
UNE NUIT A PARIS...The intention behind visiting France with the Motors seemed a good one: the circumspection of their intriguingly varied curriculum could be more ...
B.B. King: BB King: The Las Vegas Tax Deductible Blues
Interview by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, October 1978
PETE WINGFIELD played with B.B.King seven years ago, on one of the guitarist's less celebrated albums. They met up again last week – only this ...
Bram Tchaikovsky: The Marquee, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1978
FOR THOSE CONFUSED, angered and alienated by the Motors' continuing divergence from their original hard rock base, the movements in the Bram Tchaikovsky camp at ...
Rich Kids, The: The Rich Kids: Music Machine, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1978
UNTIL THE RICH KIDS get a few things into perspective – the rather misbegotten and amusing attitude, for instance, that their music goes above the ...
Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, October 1978
IT'S RARE FOR any artist to re-emerge successfully from a long period of musical sterility. Harder still, somehow, for black musicians, whose problems – brought ...
Sex Pistols, The: Sex Pistols Bootlegs
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, October 1978
Sex Pistols: Indecent Exposure (It's A Dirty Business) (Rotten Records – bootleg album)'Anarchy In The U.S.A.'/'Belsen Was A Gas' (Rotten Role – bootleg single). ...
Kate Bush: Kate: Enigma Variations
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1978
2002 Prologue: KATE IS famous now. WELL famous, right across Europe and to celebrate that, EMI are launching Lionheart, the second album, in a castle ...
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, November 1978
A week is a month and you could be forgiven for thinking that the times would catch up with Pere Ubu (and overtake them) as ...
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, November 1978
LAST Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio, the bona fide booji were out in force on the street. In America, any event (however minor) is invariably heralded ...
Sensational Alex Harvey Band, The: Alex Harvey: Absence Makes The Art Grow Older
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1978
Alex Harvey: The Venue, London ...
Tyla Gang: Moon Proof (Beserkley)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1978
THERE ARE certain musicians whose burden in life is to carry the can for mediocre past. Sean Tyla, late of Ducks Deluxe, is suffering from ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: A Lost Leader? Bob Marley & the Wailers’ Babylon By Bus
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, November 1978
THE BEST RECORD Bob Marley ever made was the live single version of ‘No Woman, No Cry’. The reasons for its success were complex, but ...
Bay City Rollers, The: The Bay City Rollers: Strangers In The Wind
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1978
IT WOULD indeed be wonderful to report that, after a lengthy break, the Bay City Rollers have returned to remind us that they were really ...
Isaac Hayes: Chronicle/For The Sake Of Love
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, November 1978
IT'S MY CONTENTION that, whatever bizarre circumstances caused the flurry of lawsuits circulating round Isaac Hayes prior to the demise of Stax Records, and the ...
X-Ray Spex: Germ Free Adolescents
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, November 1978
"I WANNA BE A FROZEN PEA!" Does Poly Styrene finally make it? Will she really dehydrate? Does she turn into a Teasmade? Will she... ...
Sex Pistols, The: The Sex Pistols: Bootleg Albums
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, November 1978
The Sex Pistols: Gun Control/Live at the Rodeo ...
Mike Oldfield: This Is The Year Of The Expanding Man...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, November 1978
What Scientology did for Chick Corea (and John Travolta), Exegesis is doing for mild, retiring Mike Oldfield. He puts the stare on KARL DALLAS ...
Joe Ely: Texas Country Rock: Texas Twisters
Overview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, November 1978
THE ECHOES of rock get older; and likewise those consumers who, like me, retain an interest in them – rather than giving in to the ...
Profile and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, December 1978
"A Colchester farmer on his own accounts for 10,000 of the 400,000 advance orders of Boney M's 'Mary's Boy Child'. George Story heard the single ...
Eric Clapton: The Lost Weekend
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1978
THE ERIC CLAPTON MOVIE – LOCATION: A darkened Glasgow street, swept by freezing wind. TIME: Friday night, just after the Burns Howf has closed. ...
Jacksons, The: The Jacksons: Destiny
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, December 1978
THIS IS AN important album for the Jacksons – now five again, with a small letter at least, Jermaine's defection having been balanced by lil' ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, December 1978
"We don't need nude tarts to sell records. Thus spake Wire, the most ruggedly uncompromising band HARRY DOHERTY has met for, oh, at least a ...
Peter Tosh: The Bush Doctor's Dilemma
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, December 1978
GAME-RULES for life: tall people have a natural advantage. Or look at it this way: tall people stand out. They're obvious targets. If you're very ...
Eric Clapton: Portrait Of The Artist As A Working Man
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1978
IT HAS OFTEN been said that one of Eric Clapton's major problems over the years has been to find his own identity, a role in ...
Rezillos, The: The Rezillos: Cold Wars
Report and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, December 1978
"Because Fay and I are going out together, when you have a group argument it invariably gets personal. Things that you dislike about people become ...
Dr. John: Dr John: City Lights
Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, December 1978
DR JOHN is clean (and mean) and on the scene; so Hail on Mac 'cause it's a stone fact (y'all), the gritty gumbo hustler's back. ...
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, December 1978
THE LEAD SINGER sweats redly, tuffness of the strategic stud decorations unable to blind the look of uncertainty in his eye for the camera as ...
Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, December 1978
ALICE NEVER really was a contender for the world's greatest rock musician or singer (that's why he had to "kill" chickens and babies every night ...
Public Image Ltd: Public Image
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, December 1978
"I don't agree with bands who make records to please audiences." (Johnny Rotten.) ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, December 1978
DISCO, THE People's Music, is the modern blues: the truest expression of a generation's thoughts, bitter sweetness with a backbeat. The old blues celebrated the ...
Rockpile: Rock Around With Philip Marlowe
Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, December 1978
THE TROPICANA MOTEL sits disconsolately on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, an area that looks uncomfortable sandwiched in between the clinical sky-scrapers of Century ...
Live Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, December 1978
Peter Tosh did three nights in London, and I attended two. Why is it always the night I'm not there that everybody raves about? In ...
Gary Moore: Back On The Streets
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, December 1978
GARY MOORE is one of the best rock guitarists in the world – a conviction reinforced by his gymnastic feats on his instrument on this, ...
Peter Gabriel: The Lamb Brought Down In Paris
Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, December 1978
ON THE WAY TO Paris to meet a man I've never seen there is a white sign splashed across a motorway bridge: 'Vive Le Proletariat' ...
Sly & Robbie: The Reggae Heartbeat – Freedom Into Form
Profile and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, December 1978
"Mr. Bassie, please sing your song to me." – Horace Andy, Rasta Rabbi in his own words ...
Throbbing Gristle: D.O.A. (Industrial)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, December 1978
THE UNDERGROWTH OF pop...Take the mechanics of the situation as being something like this: you have a multi-million dollar industry, which has established channels whereby ...
Stranglers, The: Stranglers: Something Better Change?
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1979
Lots of people would like to start by changing the Stranglers. Surprise, surprise...they've done it themselves. Hugh Cornwell tells HARRY DOHERTY how they've dragged themselves ...
Clash, The: The Clash: Electric Ballroom/Lyceum London
Live Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 1979
CLASH GIGS these days aren't the backs–against–the wall experience they used to be. The political tensions and confrontations they once represented are now just so ...
Only Ones, The: The Only Ones: Even Serpents Shine (CBS)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 1979
SINGLES can often be deceptive signposts for forthcoming albums. When ‘You've Got To Pay’ slipped out a few weeks back, it didn't augur well for ...
Dennis Brown: Words Of Wisdom (Laser)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1979
THE WHITE listener who came to reggae through Bob Marley may have been puzzled by the emergence of Dennis Brown, who at first seems to ...
Profile and Interview by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, January 1979
IT’S a truism to say that you have to decide which is real – you or Los Angeles – but like most truisms, it has ...
Marvin Gaye: The Meek Shall Inherit... The Bankruptcy Court
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, January 1979
RING out the trumpets! Roll out the carpets! Marvin Gaye’s released his first studio album for two years! I’m tempted to add, Bring On The ...
Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, January 1979
I SUPPOSE I should be grateful to the new Marvin Gaye album for something – I did a very surreal drawing in pencil while wading ...
Rolling Stones, The, Keith Richards: An Outlaw At The Ritz: Keith Richards
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1979
In which Keef holds up the price of Smirnoff shares, little Marlon holds up his Dad, Anita Pallenberg holds up the interview, and CHRIS WELCH ...
Hot Chocolate: Everyone's a Moneyspinner
Profile and Interview by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, January 1979
GREAT POPULAR music is generally not a cynical or synthetic product, but something personal to one individual that many, many others find appealing. ...
Ducks Deluxe, Damned, The, Rockpile: The Damned, Rockpile, Ducks Deluxe: Venue, London
Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, January 1979
DESPITE THE eleventh hour location change, the Venue was packed. ...
Ace Records: The Ace Story Vol. 1/Vol.2
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, January 1979
THESE TWO VOLUMES, together with the indispensable Huey 'Piano' Smith and the Clowns collection in the same series (Ace CH 9) represent the first time ...
Horslips: The Man Who Built America (DJM)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, January 1979
HORSLIPS' RECORDING career has been, to say the least, erratic: moments of inventive brilliance meshed with frequent mediocrity. But, at long last, they have emerged ...
Lloyd Price, Dr. John: Ace Records: Dealing Aces Vols. 1 and 2
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, January 1979
THESE TWO volumes, together with the indispensable Huey "Piano" Smith and the Clowns collection in the same series (Ace CH 9) represent the first time ...
Jam, The: The Jam: A Mod At 20
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, January 1979
Hope I die before I get old? The Jam's Paul Weller knows he can't write teenage anthems any more. HARRY DOHERTY sympathises. ...
15, 16, 17: Living For The Weekend
Profile and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, January 1979
15, 16, 17 are the best-known of British reggae's new crop of female vocal trios. ...
Mack Allen Smith: The Last Of The Great Unknowns
Profile by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, January 1979
MARTIN HAWKINS searched the Mississippi delta and found Mack Allen Smith ...
Charlie Mingus: Charles Mingus's Sound of Love
Obituary by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, January 1979
Charles Mingus died in Mexico on January 5, of amytrophic lateral sclerosis, a condition also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. He had been in Mexico ...
UFO: Strangers In The Night: A Double Live Album (Chrysalis)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, January 1979
THE LESSON to be learned from this album is undoubtedly that the natural habitat of a heavy metal band is in concert. The proof comes ...
Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, January 1979
WAR WAS a multi-platinum album act in America with such classic Top 40 streetfunk singles as 'All Day Music', 'Cisco Kid', 'The World Is A ...
Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, January 1979
EDITOR'S NOTE: A couple of weeks ago, Vivien Goldman trashed Marvin Gaye's new album in these columns. A dissenting voice pleads to be heard ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1979
ARE THE WHO haunted by ghosts? Is the spectral figure of Tommy now joined by the cackling spirit of Keith Moon? ...
Chic: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, January 1979
Cheers for Chic ...
Van Morrison: These Dreams of You (So Unreal, So Untrue)
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1979
OUTSIDE THE ROYAL GARDEN HOTEL, a blizzard raged. Inside, snowflakes dripped and melted into the plush carpets. Waiters scurried while rich Americans and Arabs mulled ...
Jimmy Cliff: A Pioneer Returns
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, February 1979
Jimmy Cliff, wholesome and handsome as a ripening ear of corn, radiates on the couch. The night before, he had made a triumphant return to ...
Interview by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, February 1979
Yes, it is. For behind Chic's rags-to-Regine's success lies an understanding of style as cool as their musical intelligence. ...
Mekons, The: The Mekons: Blows Against Individuation
Profile and Interview by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, February 1979
The Mekons insist they're just a by-product of confusion. But 'intervention', a.k.a. 'going commercial', looms. ...
Roy Hill: Riverside Studios, London
Live Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, February 1979
APPROACHING Roy Hill via one sub-Bowie single ('I Like, I Like, I Like') and a first album saturated in unsympathetic production, I was not – ...
Bee Gees, The: The Bee Gees: Spirits Having Flown
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, February 1979
MOST OF the tracks on Spirits Having Flown would fit snugly enough onto Saturday Night Fever. The Bee Gees have stuck to their disco formula: ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1979
ONE OF THE MOST pleasant incidents I recall from last year was an afternoon spent in a summery open-air cafe in Notting Hill with Steve ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, February 1979
THIS COULD HAVE BEEN an unholy disaster. A group of Los Angeles session men forming their own band could have been the signal for God-knows-what ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, February 1979
In which UFO try for world domination...HARRY DOHERTY followed them round the concert circuit ...
Pretenders, The: The Pretenders: Moonlight Club, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, February 1979
NO APOLOGIES for following Mark Williams' review of the Pretenders at the Moonlight last week with an instant replay. Now is the time to catch ...
Elvis Costello: Hammersmith Palais, London
Live Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, February 1979
HAS Elvis Costello finally become an Establishment "star," or is he still mounting a concerted attack against the old-fart fortress? Taking the stage at Hammersmith ...
Rough Trade Records: The Humane Sell
Report and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, February 1979
Rough Trade aim to break down the barrier between the consumers and the consumed. ...
Pretenders, The: Say a Prayer for the Pretenders
Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, February 1979
The way tongues are wagging, though, they might not need them. Mark Williams profiles a Next Big Thing who actually look like delivering. ...
Siouxsie & The Banshees: The Giraffe Looked At Siouxsie
Report by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, February 1979
"WHAT DO you think of it, then?" sneered Siouxsie Sioux as we slipped into the Kurfurstendamm, Berlin's notorious main strip, which is like Oxford Street ...
Jon Anderson, Ian Anderson: Shake A Leg, Jock: Ian Anderson, Jon Anderson and the Scottish Ballet
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1979
VISIONS OF HIGHLANDERS in hobnail boots and tartan tutus shouting "Hey Jimmy!" were inspired by a rare invitation to drinks with the Scottish Ballet last ...
Jack Bruce: Jack's Sound of 1979
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1979
IT SEEMED like the end of an era when we discovered, last week, that Jack Bruce and the Robert Stigwood Organisation have parted company. ...
Inner Circle: reggae's final breakthrough?
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, February 1979
Bobby the Em aside, JA roots music has achieved no significant market penetration outside its own country. VIVIEN GOLDMAN suggests that, by 'going disco', the ...
Human League, The: The Human League: The Cyclic And Random Lyric Organisation System
Profile and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, February 1979
CARLOS for short. IAN BIRCH talks to the Human League, Sheffield Novorockers with a weakness for torch ballads. ...
Lene Lovich: Bedford College, London
Live Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, February 1979
EMERGING FROM the Stiff tour as little more than a suspicious record company packaging job with a clever line in Spanish lace, Lovich is now ...
Sex Pistols, The: The Sex Pistols: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, February 1979
"WHAT NEEDS UNDERSTANDING is the state of paralysis everyone is in..." ...
Skids, The: The Skids: Scared To Dance (Virgin)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, February 1979
PREPARE yourselves for a thorny contender. The Skids are a relatively new four-piece from Scotland who, apart from their current single 'Into The Valley', have ...
Mud, Suzi Quatro, Sweet, Blondie: Chinn & Chapman: Ballroom Blitz & Hearts of Glass
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, March 1979
Mike Chapman began with Mud and Sweet, disappeared when glitter-rock went cold, and came back to make the new wave palatable for America with the ...
Georgie Fame: Right Now! (Pye)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1979
"WELL, WELL, well, hello there, it's been a long, long time." Doesn't that introduction to 'Funny How Time Slips Away' take you back? I address ...
Albert Collins: Ice Pickin' (Sonet)
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, March 1979
IN THE game of guitar-hero one-upmanship during the blues boom days of the mid-late Sixties, Albert Collins' was the name to zap 'em with. Through ...
Manfred Mann: Angel Station (Bronze)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1979
MOST OF us potter through life without any clear aims or objectives. Somehow we imagine that having heaved the cat out of bed and wiped ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, March 1979
While 'Heart Of Glass' seems about to repeat its British success in America, via the disco connection, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein stay home in ...
Van Morrison: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1979
VAN MORRISON has a special kind of communication with his followers that is reserved for only a favoured few. It's not an hysterical or violent ...
UFO: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1979
"UFO! UFO!" The chant blasts across the stalls, and security men blench at the prospect of a mass invasion. ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1979
MEDALS FOR bravery should be struck for Billy Idol and his mates in Generation X. Would you, dear reader, like to stand on a stage, ...
Jimmy C. Newman: Jimmy 'C' Newman: Cajun Music And The Big Beat
Profile and Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, March 1979
Jimmy 'Cajun' Newman tells MARTIN HAWKINS: 'Cajun music has two speeds – off, and full-blast'. ...
Alternative TV: Vibing Up The Senile Man (Deptford Fun City Records)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, March 1979
WHEN MARK Perry gave up editing Sniffin' Glue, he started a band that has turned out to be a logical extension of the famous punkzine. ...
Santana: Carlos Santana: Oneness: Silver Dreams/Golden Reality (CBS)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, March 1979
AS THE sleeve makes abundantly clear, this is Carlos Santana's equivalent of Pete Townshend's Meher Baba solo album: a dedication to Sri Chinmoy, the guru ...
Sister Sledge: We Are Family (Cotillion U.S. import)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, March 1979
I WAIT for new work by Chic's Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers in the way that I once waited for the latest items from Phil ...
Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, March 1979
NOT A great week for the Gladiators, all round. First of all, the lead singer, Albert Griffiths, is shattered to learn over the phone that ...
Undertones, The: The Undertones: Putting On The Anti Style
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, March 1979
...are the Undertones, Derry's nosethumb to the star system. HARRY DOHERTY helped them bury a few rock myths. ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, March 1979
DAVID PAICH has the grizzly, rough-hewn features of a particularly underhand heavyweight wrestler. The image is blown by a hugely infectious grin that recurs frequently, ...
Dire Straits: Bottom Line, New York
Live Review by Dave Marsh, Melody Maker, March 1979
LIVE, DIRE Straits are precisely what they are on record: a throwback to the kind of unassuming funk that hasn't enjoyed much popularity since Delaney ...
Joan Armatrading: Apollo Theatre, Manchester
Live Review by Idris Walters, Melody Maker, March 1979
HER PEOPLE should market a badge that says, "JA From JA Is For Everyone". The hack was expecting the worst – high feminism on parade, ...
Earth Wind and Fire: Earth, Wind & Fire: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, March 1979
PITY THE poor reviewer covering a show of the astonishing calibre of Earth, Wind & Fire's weekend extravaganza at the Empire Pool. ...
Earth Wind and Fire: Earth, Wind & Fire: Maurice White's Band of Hope
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, March 1979
There's more to America's biggest soul band than bread and circuses. VIVIEN GOLDMAN followed them to Staffordshire to talk about the Bible, spinal fluid, reincarnation, ...
Frankie Miller: Falling In Love (Chrysalis)
Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, March 1979
AT ONE time Frankie Miller looked as though he was going to do a Joe Cocker without the intervening period of success. Now he just ...
Roxy Music: Manifesto (Polydor)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, March 1979
AN INAUSPICIOUS time for the old heavy-weight to take the gloves off the shelf and clamber back into the ring? ...
Scorpions, The: Scorpions: Lovedrive
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, March 1979
NOW THAT the new wave has been institutionalised and tamed by the Establishment, heavy metal is once more basking in a glorious and celebrated comeback, ...
Tom Robinson Band: The Tom Robinson Band: TRB Two (EMI)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, March 1979
Just Easing The Liberal Guilt ...
Wayne Kramer, MC5: Wayne Kramer Forgets The Motor City
Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, March 1979
"SOMETIMES we used to pass the Milan jail when the MC5 were driving to gigs outside of Detroit, and I used to look up at ...
Raspberries, The: The Raspberries: Best Of The Raspberries (Capitol)
Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, March 1979
THE ONE clever thing that Eric Carmen's earlier outfit did was to put Overnight Sensation out in the summer, the one time the record could ...
Graham Parker and the Rumour: Squeezing Out Sparks
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, March 1979
AS FAR AS I'M concerned, Graham Parker is one of the great rock singers. I'd pay happily for a tape of him singing in the ...
Bill Nelson: The Sound Of Household Appliances
Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, March 1979
From frayed denim through guitar heroics to novorock, Bill Nelson's career has been plagued by accusations of plagiarism. MARK WILLIAMS listens to the disclaimers. ...
Culture: The International Dub
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, March 1979
Like Bob Marley before him, Culture's Joe Hill is spreading Jah-message, international-style. But how long can he keep his roots pristine in the hotels and ...
Pop Group, The: The Pop Group: First Steps In The Primal Skank
Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, March 1979
Tribal customs live on, even in the era of Afterpunk. RICHARD WILLIAMS investigates The Pop Group. ...
Christine Perfect/McVie, Beach Boys, The, Dennis Wilson: Dennis Wilson Loves Christine McVie
Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, March 1979
The Beach Boys love good karma ...
George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Albert Collins: Thoroughly Bluesy George
Live Review by Bill Millar, Melody Maker, March 1979
George Thorogood, Albert Collins: Electric Ballroom, London ...
Cure, The: The Cure: Practical Poprock
Profile and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, March 1979
That's the Cure, the no-image band who do more with less to charismatic effect. IAN BIRCH probed the mystery. ...
Doll By Doll: Remember (Automatic Record Co.)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, March 1979
AS OFTEN happens, the rock 'n' roll romance blows hot and then cold before it settles down to a realistic affair. ...
New Barbarians: The Forum, Los Angeles
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, March 1979
IN THE foyer of LA's vast concrete amphitheatre, you could buy T-shirts promising "nothing less than ear-to-ear violence" in lettering supposed to resemble dripping blood. ...
Bad Company: Jogging Back to Happiness
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1979
Two years ago, Bad Company lost their collective bottle after a gruelling American tour. CHRIS WELCH hears how it took Paul Rodgers three months to ...
Sparks: Too Much Too Soon Again
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1979
Sparks discover disco – but did the critics discover it first? HARRY DOHERTY smooths the ruffled curls. ...
Sham 69: Jimmy Pursey: The People's Champ
Interview by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, April 1979
JIM POPS down the betting shop to bung twenty quid on a 10-1 shot in the 3.10 at Newbury, so I give his records the ...
Bee Gees, The: The Bee Gees, Larry Pryce (Panther)
Book Review by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, April 1979
Oh what a boring book we see When Larry practises to Bee Gee ...
Bill Haley: The Guardian Of Rock 'N' Roll
Profile and Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, April 1979
MARCH 1979, and rock king Bill Haley's in town, almost a quarter of a century since he recorded 'Rock Around The Clock', and 22 years ...
Mick Ronson, Hunter-Ronson, Ian Hunter: Hunter-Ronson: Good News From Nowhere
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1979
Nowhere being the most expensive studio in New York, scene of the Hunter-Ronson comeback with a startling new album. HARRY DOHERTY investigated the Geminian partnership ...
Ian Hunter: You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic (Chrysalis)
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, April 1979
I GROANED when I saw what this record was called. Modish madness and the wrong joke anyway – shouldn't it be "You're Never Alone If ...
Tavares: Madame Butterfly (Capitol)
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, April 1979
MADAME Butterfly opens with the familiar dance floor sounds – brass riff, flowing strings punched out guitars, tightly strung percussion – but this isn't really ...
Percy Sledge: The Venue, London
Live Review by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, April 1979
THE SIMPLISTIC idea that the fundamental difference between country and soul in the Sixties was that one music was made by poor whites in the ...
Elvis Costello: Live in New York
Live Review by Roy Trakin, Melody Maker, April 1979
Palladium & Great Gildersleeve's, NYC ...
Skids, The: The Skids: Theme For War Movies and Romantic Losers
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1979
THE LOCATION: Basing Street Studios, London.THE EVENT: The World Premiere of 'Masquerade', starring the Skids and produced by Bill Nelson.THE AUDIENCE: The Skids – Richard ...
Rachel Sweet: What Rachel Did Next
Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, April 1979
Rachel Sweet may follow Tanya Tucker's career with particular interest, but she really wants to be Bruce Springsteen. PENNY VALENTINE followed her on a tour ...
UFO, Scorpions, The: Scorpions: Stateless and Fighting Back
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1979
German heavy metallurgists Scorpion, fronted by ex-UFO lead guitarist Michael Schenker, are set to conquer the world the English-speaking one, that is. HARRY DOHERTY talked ...
Thin Lizzy: Black Rose (Vertigo)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1979
YOU build 'em up... ...
Jam, The: The Jam: Invasion of the Riff Snatchers
Report and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, April 1979
Can a bunch of ordinary guys repeat the British Invasion? IAN BIRCH watches the Jam take on America. ...
Dusty Springfield: Theatre Royal, London
Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, April 1979
IT WAS a significant week for Mary O'Brien. Not only did she turn 40 but, after endless cancellations of provincial dates due to sparse ticket ...
Sylvester: Stars (Fantasy, U.S. import)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, April 1979
AS A POP 45, Sylvester's symphonic recasting of 'I (Who Have Nothing)' has been a slow starter. Even coming off the massive crossover success of ...
Village People: Go West (Mercury)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, April 1979
FRONTIER experiments rise and fall, but showbiz pop goes on forever. It's always been that way, and there's nothing to suggest that the Eighties will ...
Red Krayola: Red Crayola: Soldier-Talk (Radar)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, April 1979
IN A CURRENT context of confusion, Soldier-Talk appears to be a good idea. ...
Joe Ely: Down On The Drag (MCA)
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, April 1979
THIS TIME last year Joe Ely played the Wembley Country Festival and toured Britain as Merle Haggard's bemused support. I saw him in the Brighton ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, April 1979
IT'S EASY to acknowledge it in retrospect, but Badfinger were a great band who suffered the classically clichéd fate of being criminally ignored in Britain. ...
Robin Scott: Now Pop For Pure People
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1979
M is for mirror, says Robin Scott, whose single, 'Pop Muzik', realises the potency of the disco/punk fusion. And that mirror reflects the present, he ...
Sleepy LaBeef: Rockabilly's Tower Of Power
Profile and Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, May 1979
IF WALT DISNEY had decided to make an animated cartoon of the rock 'n' roll story he would have needed a rockabilly character, and I ...
Misty In Roots: The Price Of Hate
Report by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, May 1979
Among the casualties of last week's confrontation between the police and anti-racist demonstrators in Southall was the Peoples Unite Centre, a haven for local musicians, ...
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, May 1979
WHAT DO you buy when you buy Lou Reed, and do you still need to buy him? ...
Undertones, The: The Undertones: The Undertones (Sire).
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1979
FOR SOME reason, this album reminds me of a scene in Kate Bush's live show, the part where she plays a rifle-toting trouble-shooter on 'James ...
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, May 1979
WAVE IS a much better record than I expected, but to explain why I'll have to go back a bit. ...
National Health: Of Queues And Cures (Charly)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1979
THE HEALTHY Ones have been through a whole ring-cycle of changes in recent times, with Dave Stewart out and Alan Gowen back in again. We ...
Sly Dunbar: Sly, Wicked And Slick (Virgin Front Line)
Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, May 1979
REGGAE'S ONE of the youngest contemporary musical forms, but it's growing up fast, and in all sorts of directions. ...
Who, The: The Who: The Mod Revival, Yes…
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, May 1979
The Who: Rainbow, London ...
Jam, The: The Jam: The Rainbow, London
Live Review by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, May 1979
FASHION NOTES first. The band, of course, were in their sharp suits, looking less like matching mods, though, than a good old group in uniform. ...
Who, The: The Who: Vive Le 'Oo
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1979
After last week's Rainbow triumph the Who continued their return in France at the weekend with an open-air concert and the premieres of their two ...
Babys, The: The Babys: Bringing Up Babys
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1979
A FEW weeks ago in New York, I saw the greatest transition since Jesus changed the water into wine. ...
Narada Michael Walden: Awakening (Atlantic)
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, May 1979
SERENE MR WALDEN, Sri Chinmoy disciple and erstwhile drummer with the all-clad-in-white Mahavishnu Orchestra, surely knows which side his cosmic bread is buttered. Seems like ...
Gang of Four: Dialectics Meet Disco
Essay by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, May 1979
This is the year of the second coming of British art-rock – although the new art-rockers won't admit it. MARY HARRON strips away the modish ...
Dennis Brown: Enter A Good Man
Profile and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, May 1979
Dennis Brown comes of the race of Joseph; and he means that seriously, 'I am Joseph, here to do the things Joseph has done in ...
Who, The: Townshend: Still No Touring
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1979
What next for the Who?Roger loved it, but Pete's not so sure...After their French concert last week, CHRIS WELCH eavesdropped on the Who's doubts and ...
Moody Blues, The: The Moody Blues: It's A Wonderful Life
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1979
The rich are not like you and me, said Fitzgerald. That's right, Hemingway replied: they have more money. Just in time for cocktails, CHRIS WELCH ...
Bobby Womack: Roads Of Life (Arista)
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, May 1979
THE FORTUNES of gravel-voiced soul vet Bobby Womack have taken a dip of late. ...
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, May 1979
ANOTHER YEAR, another record. Like Burroughs, David Jones, rootless, looks for unconventional commitment: Burroughs found it in junk, control-systems and predatory homosexuality; Jones found it ...
Nina Hagen: Nina Hagen Band (CBS)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, May 1979
SAY HELLO to the next Euro cult sensation. ...
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, May 1979
Steve Cropper/Pop Staples/Albert King: Jammed Together (Stax 3009) Booker T & The MGs: Time Is Tight — The Best Of… (Stax STX 3007) The Emotions: ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1979
ONE OF Alfred Hitchcock's most memorable finales comes at the end of Strangers On A Train, when a huge carousel goes into overdrive and runs ...
Patti LaBelle: It's Alright With Me (Epic)
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, June 1979
I GUESS it's all of eighteen years since I first heard 'Down The Aisle' by Patti Labelle and the Bluebelles – and when I put ...
Madness: Dublin Castle, London
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, June 1979
THE NAME says it all. ...
Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, June 1979
Can Nina Hagen become Germany's most important contribution to radical pop culture since Brecht? CHRIS BOHN learns about growing up on the wrong side of ...
Thin Lizzy: Deutschland Liebt Lizzy
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, June 1979
Phil and da boyz invade Germany. HARRY DOHERTY went on the sortie and watched Lizzy win over what had once been an alien audience. ...
Report and Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, June 1979
After a lengthy period on the ground, Paul McCartney's redesigned Wings are taking a few exploratory hops. MARK WILLIAMS' verdict: no metal fatigue. ...
Isley Brothers, The: The Isley Brothers: Winner Takes All
Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, June 1979
3 + 3 DON'T MIND they just keep on jamming. Strings and horns? Uh-uh. They just go up to Bearsville. Ernie puts down the drums ...
Public Image Ltd.: The Factory, Manchester,
Live Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, June 1979
A Quick One While No-One's Thinking ...
Supertramp: The Philosopher and the Realist
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, June 1979
In Supertramp's first interview for two years, songwriters Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies tell HARRY DOHERTY how their immense success in America has widened the ...
Link Wray: A Link With The Past
Interview by Bill Millar, Melody Maker, June 1979
Tag; the jet-black hair, dark shades and gaunt Shawnee Indian cheekbones evoke an image of prowling malevolence which was crystallised by 'Rumble' but still some ...
Dire Straits: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, June 1979
The end of innocence ...
Anita Ward: The Bell Rings and School's Out
Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, June 1979
THIS VERY day, 'Ring My Bell' has made it to number one in the British charts. The boys at TK records (who function from the ...
Stiff Little Fingers, Undertones, The: Consuming Passion: The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers
Profile by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, June 1979
IT seemed like they were the last gigs of the year. Summer’s coming. Exam requests for DLT, college partings for Anne Nightingale, End of the ...
Herman Brood: Brood Back On The Nest
Report and Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, June 1979
German rock star Nina Hagen's upset because her Dutch rock 'n' rolling boyfriend, Herman Brood, has disappeared. Will our intrepid CHRIS BOHN track him down? ...
Cars, The: The Cars: Candy-O (Elektra)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, June 1979
THE CARS emerged last year as pace-setters in the American new wave. The platinum status of their debut album probably surprised the band as much ...
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, June 1979
I ALMOST didn't make it through the title-track. Two female trios do the I Threes jobs for Tosh, and here their effect is extra-irritating. They ...
Dire Straits: Communiqué From a Washeteria
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, June 1979
A million quid from record sales can buy you the love of a multinational, but can it pay for the freedom to wander up the ...
B-52s, The: The B-52s: B-52s (Island)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, June 1979
Yesterday's Sound Tomorrow ...
Eddy Grant: Living On The Ice Block
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, July 1979
How far can a black musician control his own destiny in white society? Surprise, surprise, not all the way, says the man in the front ...
Sylvester: No Business Like Show Business
Essay by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, July 1979
ON HIS RECORD sleeves, Sylvester is definitely svelte. A pink shirt and a red rose. Spectacles and a cool look, like Arthur Ashe. My favourite ...
Lowell George, Little Feat: Lowell George: The Rock'n'Roll Doctor
Obituary by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, July 1979
Of all the hundreds of white boys who fell in love with the blues, few used the idiom with such brilliance as Lowell George. Singer, ...
Blondie: Pinecrest Theater, Shelton, Connecticut
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, July 1979
BLONDIE'S US tour should provide some interesting results when it ends in eight weeks' time. It could, for instance, determine just how willing American audiences ...
Tourists, The: The Tourists: The Tourists (Logo)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, July 1979
A DIFFERENT sort of rock album, this, and one that will perhaps confuse many people. The Tourists have a set of values that, on record ...
Bootsy Collins: Bootsy's Rubber Band: This Boot Is Made For Fonk-n (Warners)
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, July 1979
THE WORLD'S zaniest bass-player is back, whatever the truth of reports about a nervous breakdown; or, as he tells us himself: "I dug the concern ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, July 1979
NICK GILDER does arrange meetings in the oddest places. Our first introduction is sealed amid snow-storms and the threat of frostbite in mid-February Milwaukee. Four ...
Billy Lee Riley: Red Hot Riley
Profile and Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, July 1979
The volcanic music of Billy Lee Riley never quite erupted; Martin Hawkins tells how the talent remains hot. ...
Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, July 1979
"To talk of life today is like talking of rope in the house of a hanged man." Where will it end? ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley In His Own Backyard
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, August 1979
AS YOU drive through the white-pillared gates into the grounds of 56 Hope Road, the first thing you notice is that the road doesn't have ...
Merton Parkas, The: The Merton Parkas: Deals On Wheels
Profile and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, August 1979
The Merton Parkas, the first New Mod chartmakers, tell PAULO HEWITT that life's a lot easier in a Ben Sherman button-down than in a ripped ...
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, August 1979
IT'S IRONIC that Little Feat were never adjudged sufficiently commercial to have headlined a concert at Los Angeles' massive Forum, since the place was bursting ...
Ian Dury & The Blockheads: Live at Hammersmith Odeon
Live Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, August 1979
FIRST OF ALL I’d like to say I’ve always felt ambivalent towards Ian Dury. His work has always been, like his persona, male-orientated without being ...
Led Zeppelin: In Through The Out Door (Swan Song)
Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, August 1979
THE GRAND illusion was popped way back when I was taking my O-levels. Then Led Zeppelin 2 fulfilled the noble function of releasing all the ...
UK Subs: No Change For UK Subs
Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, August 1979
Finding that tribal punk is still alive...and kicking ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, August 1979
DAVITT SIGERSON was right a couple of weeks ago when he described Squeeze as the new-wave ELO. ...
Maria Muldaur: Open Your Eyes (Warner Bros)
Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, August 1979
MUSICIANS WHO return after a hiatus as long as Muldaur's – since the confusion of Sweet Harmony – face several problems, not least over-effort. It's ...
Angelic Upstarts: Someone Else's Fight
Report and Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, August 1979
INTOLERANCE FALLS like a heavy pall over the Angelic Upstarts – only they won't lie still and let it settle. Follow them round for a ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, August 1979
NOT ONE OF the great Wembley encounters, we decided, as the car crept another couple of feet in the late Saturday evening jam. ...
Ramones, The: The Ramones: You're Not The Same. Are They?
Report and Interview by Van Gosse, Melody Maker, August 1979
Will the Spector of big things gone by give the Ramones the platinum sound that has so far eluded them? ...
Al Green: Tired Of Being Alone
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, August 1979
Al Green's London concerts last week were a puzzling mixture of the brilliant and the banal – and VIVIEN GOLDMAN discovered that his verbals are ...
Van Morrison: Into The Music (Mercury)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, August 1979
NOWADAYS, PEOPLE don't so much discover Van Morrison as grow old with him. ...
Bob Dylan: Slow Train Coming (CBS)
Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, August 1979
DYLAN HAS switched roles once too often. We've followed him patiently through his phases as rebellious folk singer, rock and roll outlaw, musing mystic, contented ...
Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie And The Banshees: Join Hands (Polydor)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, September 1979
(IT'S MY party and) I'll mystify if I want to! ...
This Heat: This Heat (Piano Records)
Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, September 1979
THIS Heat takes you to ten movies in the space of a one-year-old album. ...
Buzzcocks, The, Gang of Four: Buzzcocks/Gang Of Four: Club 57, New York, NY
Live Review by Van Gosse, Melody Maker, September 1979
THIS IS the year that the New Wave, or at least its more retrograde element, has finally hit the U.S. charts. Everybody English and short-haired, ...
Live Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, September 1979
Angst in an East Lancs wasteland ...
Overview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, September 1979
If Los Angeles is the future, how come its bands all sound so backdated? MARK WILLIAMS puts the case for the defence ...
Profile and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, September 1979
REVILLOS OR Rezillos or...whatever. Fay Fife and Eugene Reynolds have got a new set of backing players (?) and some fledgling singers behind them. What ...
Photos, The: The Photos: Photos Is A Group
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1979
Does Britain need a Blondie? Will Wendy Wu be on your bedroom wall next month? Is this fair? HARRY DOHERTY discovers why most of Britain's ...
Nina Simone: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, September 1979
NINA SIMONE has never been a comfortable musician to see live. A powerful performer, she is formidably dedicated to her art. It's hardly surprising, then, ...
Police, The: The Police: Reggatta De Blanc (A&M)
Review by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, September 1979
ONLY A year ago I had to talk the editor of this paper into taking a feature on the Police. I don't recall who got ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, September 1979
ROGER SCOTT, Britain's only disc-jockey (no, that's not a misprint – it's a fact) put this into what they call "heavy rotation" last week. It ...
Cheap Trick: Dream Police (Epic)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1979
IT'S IRONIC that Cheap Trick, having recorded a song called 'ELO Kiddies' on their debut album almost three years ago, should now be setting themselves ...
Richard and Linda Thompson: Richard And Linda Thompson: Sunnyvista (Chrysalis)
Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, September 1979
THIS THOMPSONS package tour is a fine irony. Its visuals signal a break from the couple's traditional melancholy, replacing it with a sarcastic, partially threatening, ...
Elvis Costello: Costello Beats Anaesthesia
Comment by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, September 1979
ELVIS COSTELLO spun the discs for a couple of hours on Radio One's Star Special last week, and the result was the kind of radio ...
Gary Numan: Apollo Theatre, Glasgow
Live Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, September 1979
THE FACE of '79 doesn't belong to a mod, punk, or to anyone so sectarian, but to Gary Numan, and it's time we faced up ...
Live Review by Van Gosse, Melody Maker, September 1979
FIRST time here, in February, the Clash were merely grand. The energy was awesome but the music was more volume than anything else; in the ...
Report by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, September 1979
Lots of people thought that Operation Julie was a bit of an anachronism. Who, in the late Seventies, could be dropping all those tabs? It ...
Ray Davies, Kinks, The: The Kinks: Low Budget (Arista)
Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, September 1979
THE TROUBLE with Ray Davies is that since he forsook the stark, three-chord spleen of 'You Really Got Me' and 'All Day & All Of ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: Survival (Island)
Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, September 1979
SOME PEOPLE mellow as they get older. Bob Marley gets angrier and wiser. Following the relaxed, self-fulfilled Exodus and Kaya, Survival marks a surprising but ...
Eagles, The: The Eagles: The Long Run (Asylum)
Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, September 1979
THE POLITICS of pop have always been anathema to me. I cannot, and will not, shift my allegiances from an underrated or up-and-coming band when ...
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, September 1979
WRAPPED IN an abstract minimal geo-deco sleeve (all straight lines and waves, pastel shades), with its own label and a "free" 45, the third Wire ...
Report and Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, September 1979
IAN GOMM is short, not quite stout, and has had his straw-coloured hair fashioned a la mod from the first time it was fashionable. His ...
Clash, The: Clash in NYC - Waiting for Ivan
Report and Interview by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, October 1979
According to reports, it was a hot, dead, airless summer in New York City. With nothing much happening on the local music scene, excitement centred ...
Gang of Four: Entertainment (EMI)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, October 1979
THE Four are ambitious; and so they accept the process. ...
Eric Clapton: Clapton: Driving Sideways Again
Live Review by Steve Turner, Melody Maker, October 1979
DEAR Eric, On Sunday I came up to Staffordshire to see your warm-up concert with the new band. When you came out dressed in that ...
Gladys Knight & the Pips: Memories of the Way We Were (Buddah); 20 Golden Greats (Motown)
Review by Barney Hoskyns, Melody Maker, October 1979
GLADYS KNIGHT has been turned into the spinster of soul. Her generous face seems to invite desertion. Yet with almost maternal dignity, she translates this ...
Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, October 1979
Wire don't sit comfortably in the publicity man's gullet. They're not easily categorised, seemingly spurning the hype-market. But they do conform in one way; they ...
Jack Clement: 'Cowboy' Jack Clement: The Nut With The Midas Touch
Profile and Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, October 1979
RECENTLY, the successful Nashville-based record producer and songwriter, sometime singer, and failed movie mogul. Jack Clement, made his first visit to Europe. At the age ...
Status Quo: Whatever You Want (Vertigo)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, October 1979
THE TITLE may be construed in some areas as Status Quo's capitulation to their critics, who've been claiming for donkey's years that the band's appeal ...
Buzzcocks, The, Joy Division: Buzzcocks/Joy Division: Rainbow, London
Live Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, November 1979
ON CURRENT FORM, Joy Division should have been the best thing happening on Friday night, and the Buzzcocks camp knew it too. Consequently, they treated ...
Small Faces, The, Who, The: A Face in The Who: Kenny Jones
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1979
ZERO HOUR approaches. Soon the Who will be back on stage, and the whole world will be watching. Kenny Jones doesn't mind admitting that he's ...
Talking Heads: De Montfort Hall, Leicester
Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, December 1979
THE apres-gig lig is, as usual, gruesome. ...
Overview by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, December 1979
Okay, so there isn't an R&B revival around the London clubs – but there are certainly a whole lot of bands borrowing their material from ...
Blondie: Your Instrument Is Your Body
Interview by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, December 1979
PEOPLE REMEMBER the face as they see it in photographs, that's axiomatic. And her face possesses that photographic stillness even in life – not as ...
Clash, The: The Clash: One Step Beyond
Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, December 1979
INSIDE THE CLASH'S new rehearsal studio, under a railway bridge somewhere in South London, Joe Strummer is singing a slow country blues about rolling boxcars, ...
Mike Oldfield: Boy Genius "Not Broke" Shock
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, December 1979
Things haven't been going smoothly for Mike Oldfield. Tours have lost money, expensive gear has been scrapped and he's had a dispute with his label ...
Buddy Holly: The Complete Buddy Holly
Review by Bill Millar, Melody Maker, December 1979
NO PROBLEM here. Charly’s compendium of Ronnie Hawkins Toronto out-takes isn’t released until next month (I checked) and, however might the music, their oft-reissued Jerry ...
James Blood Ulmer: Tales Of Captain Black (Artists House)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1980
IT WON'T be long, I guess, before someone describes James "Blood" Ulmer as "the new Hendrix", so you might as well be forewarned. ...
Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers (Imp)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 1980
COSTELLO BUFFS will undoubtedly be familiar with this generously-stuffed collection of His Master's Voices from its previous existence on cassette. On the other hand, they ...
Leonard Cohen: Haunted By Spector: Leonard Cohen
Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, January 1980
Leonard Cohen’s voyage to the bottom of his soul is over. He’s back on top and is finding rock’n’roll fun too... ...
Pretenders, The: The Pretenders: Hynde Sight
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, January 1980
"I'LL NEVER be a man in a man's world". As the Pretenders' album and single rise in the charts, Chrissie Hynde discusses with old friend ...
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Ray Sawyer: Hooked On Country And R&B
Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, February 1980
RAY SAWYER isn't Dr Hook, but he does have an eye patch – a real one – and a pirate persona. He also had an ...
Flying Lizards: The Flying Lizards: The Flying Lizards (Virgin)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, February 1980
WHY DID THE hit maker make an LP? Because it was expected of him. Slips down easy. ...
Velvet Underground: Pop Art/Art Pop: The Warhol Connection
Report and Interview by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, February 1980
Like to be a galleryPut you all inside my show— David Bowie, 'Andy Warhol' Some people claim that only James Brown can match Andy ...
Joy Division: University of London Union
Live Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, February 1980
AH, THE HORROR, the horror... where's Colonel Kurtz? Somehow the demented Brando figure is there, spiritually leading the new dance. Like him, today's purveyors have ...
Larry Williams: A Bad Boy Blown Away
Obituary by Bill Millar, Melody Maker, February 1980
SOME PEOPLE nurture memories of the first time they copped a feel or saw the New York skyline. For me, it's hearing Larry Williams' 'She ...
Selecter, The: The Selecter: Survival Inna Suburbia
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, February 1980
It took him ages to get the lapel of his jacket off. The scissors kept on cutting the cloth instead of the bits of stitching, ...
Report and Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, March 1980
Today the UK. Tomorrow the USA? Next week, the world? Are Madness about to get everybody up and dancing again? MARK WILLIAMS sits down and ...
Doug Sahm, Sir Douglas Quintet: Tex Mex Makes Your Feet Smile
Overview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, March 1980
MARTIN HAWKINS uncovers the Tex-Mex mix that gives the roots to the San Antonio sound. It's time to discover the music of Sahm, Fender and ...
B.B. King: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, April 1980
A SLY old dog who knows all the tricks, B. B. King is capable of making you realise that the blues is rather more than ...
James Brown: Studio 54, New York City
Live Review by Roy Trakin, Melody Maker, April 1980
Despite the recent hip upsurge in his popularity, James Brown has for over a year studiously avoided playing a live gig in Manhattan. Pity that, ...
Cure, The: The Cure: Emerald City, Philadelphia
Live Review by Van Gosse, Melody Maker, April 1980
THE CURE HAVE just made their American debut at Emerald City, a huge "rock disco" outside of Philadelphia. Beside Jefferson Starship playing the Roxy, it's ...
Pete Townshend: Empty Glass (Atco)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, April 1980
TO MOST people, it's probably always been obvious that Roger Daltrey was simply Pete Townshend's mouthpiece, the hired vocalist who put the professional gloss on ...
Joy Division: From Safety To Where?
Comment by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, June 1980
ABOUT MIDDAY on Sunday, May 18, Ian Curtis was found dead by his wife in the kitchen of his house in Macclesfield. Although the exact ...
Billy "The Kid" Emerson: Billy 'The Kid' Emerson: Red Hot And Still Rocking
Profile and Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, July 1980
MARTIN HAWKINS talks to the 'resurrected' Billy 'The Kid' Emerson, a blues legend in his own lifetime. ...
Siouxsie & The Banshees: Kaleidoscope (Polydor)
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, July 1980
STRANGE TO think that, as the Banshees' contemporaries head off for the fourth or even fifth time in the studio, Kaleidoscope marks only the third ...
Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, September 1980
Tymon Dogg has nothing against success, but he wants it on his own terms, he tells COLIN IRWIN ...
Kate Bush: Paranoia and Passion of the Kate Inside
Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, October 1980
Kate Bush talks to Colin Irwin in Munich ...
Bruce Springsteen: The River (CBS)
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, October 1980
LISTENING to Bruce Springsteen's The River is like taking a trip through the rock 'n' roll heartland as you've never experienced it. It's a walk ...
Madness: The Italian Nutty Brigade
Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, October 1980
All aboard the trans-Europe express as Madness go from Rome to Amsterdam, by Paolo Hewitt ...
John Martyn: Martyn's Identity Papers
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, December 1980
ACCORDING to the official biog, John Martyn was born in New Malden, Surrey, but was brought up for the first 15 years of his life ...
Clash, The: The Clash: Joe Strummer Answers The Call-Up
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, December 1980
WORKING ON THE theory that if you give him enough rope he'll either hang or save himself, the following pages are left basically for the ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 1981
IT'S AN IRONIC twist of fate that Pere Ubu's latest visit to the UK should be prefaced by Rough Trade's reissue of the band's debut ...
Phil Collins: Facing Up To New Values
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, February 1981
URPASSING even The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and Crossroads in the bus-stop yapping stakes, the national adult pastime of watching Tiswas every morning of ...
Marvin Gaye: For Once In A Lifetime
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, February 1981
AFTER NEARLY two hours in that bedroom, Lydia finally gave up. By any standards she'd waited long enough for her Marvin Gaye interview – a ...
101'ers, The: The 101'ers: Keys To The Legend
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, February 1981
ON THE WAY out of that pub, last Friday afternoon Joe Strummer suddenly gripped my elbow, and propelled me urgently away from the rest of ...
Robert Fripp: Do you want me to sell you an album…or a treatise on neg-entropy?
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, March 1981
Robert Fripp lectures Lynden Barber ...
Steve Young: Pickin’ with the Renegade: Steve Young
Interview by Richard Wootton, Melody Maker, April 1981
IT’S a depressingly familiar scenario. An American musician who’s acquired a strong cult following over several years with a string of excellent but hard-to-get albums ...
Bruce Springsteen: Not The Me-Me-Me-Me
Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, May 1981
STACKED on the left of the typewriter are two blank cassettes which should contain the voice of Bruce Springsteen. But like Kevin Rowland and Elvis ...
Kate Bush: 'What I Did On My Holidays' by Kate Bush, As Told To Ian Birch
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, June 1981
LATE LAST year not even jump leads would have revitalized the Kate Bush batteries. She was so exhausted that she took the only sensible course ...
Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, June 1981
STANDING BY the toilet door, the kid recognised him instantly. The hair piled up in a scraggy mess. The white leather jacket. The beautiful punkette ...
Bruce Springsteen: Brighton Centre
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, June 1981
TRYING TO WRITE about a Bruce Springsteen concert without reinforcing the man's reputation for scarcely believable stage performances is like trying to cross the Atlantic ...
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty
Report and Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, June 1981
BENMONT TENCH remembers the day well. "It was April Fool's Day 1974 when we drove to LA" he recalls. At the time, keyboardsman Tench, guitarist ...
Rory Gallagher: Life With Last Year's Model
Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, September 1981
THEY WERE IN Manchester. It was 8:30 in the morning, and the hotel was quiet. The Rory Gallagher Band and their crew were peacefully sleeping ...
Soft Cell: Soft See Cell Warfare
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, January 1982
The Soft White Underbelly of Soft Cell ...
Damned, The, UK Subs: Dreaming Of A Punk Christmas
Report by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, January 1982
"COME HERE," cried an excited Captain Sensible from the corner of the backstage lounge. "I've just discovered what this is like! It's like the Generation ...
Nona Hendryx, Material: Nona Hendryx: Labelle-d By The Funk
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, January 1982
Paolo Hewitt sees eye-to-eye with NONA HENDRYX ...
New Order: North London Polytechnic, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, January 1982
FIRST THE RESOUNDING echo of the cumbersome mythology surrounding this group, then the subsequent, inevitable dismissals and sneers. Now, perhaps for the first time, it's ...
Fall, The: The Fall: Hex Enduction Hour (Kamera)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, March 1982
OF COURSE, YOU don't actually review a Fall LP. You hover in the shadow of the aura and attempt to catch some of the sparks ...
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, April 1982
ON THE first bright day of '82, two tramp-like figures lounge on a bench outside the South Bank complex overlooking the Thames. The sun is ...
Chelsea: Spring Time for October
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, April 1982
I DON'T know why it had to happen to Chelsea. Clawed by the press, mauled by the dim-witted forces of fashion, the four-man disaster team ...
Roddy Radiation & The Tearjerkers: Tears and Radiation
Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, April 1982
ONE THING'S certain. Roddy Radiation, with his new band the Tearjerkers, could hardly have travelled further away from the sound, the style, the mood and ...
Overview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, April 1982
TIMELESS music...a rare and precious thing...hard to find ...even harder to create: that's Motown music when it was in its heyday. It was a music ...
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, April 1982
DESIGNED BY computer, hand-built by robots...Completely calculated, thoroughly contemptible, Asia is very bit as hollow, shallow and nasty as anyone had a right to expect. ...
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, April 1982
THERE'S SOMETHING invisible about the Mothmen. Oh yes, they've included a picture of themselves here and their names are all written down for inspection...but the ...
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, April 1982
AN INTERRUPTION. You can forget your Bananajamas and their shrink-wrapped kharma, stuff your paedophiliac slobbering over little Lolita Grogan – wipe that saliva away, it's ...
Chron Gen: Chronic Generation (Secret)
Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, April 1982
WELCOME TO the chronic generation, and a glimpse into the past, present and future of Chron-Gen on their debut album. ...
Angelic Upstarts: Still From The Heart (Zono)
Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, April 1982
EXTRAORDINARY. Quite extraordinary. This has got to be the most astonishing thing I've heard in months; a shock so devastating that I'm shaking still. ...
British Electric Foundation: Music Of Quality And Distinction Volume One (Virgin)
Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, April 1982
BRIEFCASES bulging with credentials, the boardroom men of the BEF decided last year to live up to their status as "production company" within the mighty ...
Angelic Upstarts: Mensi's Marauders
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, May 1982
"COME HERE you!" bellowed Mensi across a crowded and quite respectable lounge bar. The reverberations thundered over the heads of the lunchtime clientele, their salads ...
Junior Giscombe: Secret Life of a Streatham Soul-Boy
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, May 1982
Paolo Hewitt rides the Soul Train to L.A. with Junior Giscombe ...
Funkapolitan: Funkapolitan (London)
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, May 1982
ON PAPER the chemistry looked fine. Take a young, English funk band with obvious American leanings, pair them off with the cool, experienced hand of ...
Altered Images: Pinky Blue (Epic)
Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, May 1982
IF THE jolly-jolly blancmange and Jellytot frills on the cover of Happy Birthday didn't, like the kid at the party who stuffed all the eClares, ...
Anti-Nowhere League: We Are…The League
Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, May 1982
THERE'S ONLY one League in my life. It's not the Human League, for sure. It's not the Ivy League either, or the League of Gentlemen. ...
Squeeze: Sweets From A Stranger (A&M)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, May 1982
CELEBRATED FOR their willingness to look the slings and arrows straight in the eye, Squeeze return with more observations and scars from the battle zone. ...
Third World: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, May 1982
OBVIOUS I know, but it seemed more than a coincidence that Third World should kick off their opening night in London on the first anniversary ...
Gang of Four: Songs Of The Free (EMI)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, May 1982
AND SO the most highly-evolved piss artists in "rock" came to release their third LP. ...
Scritti Politti: The Sweetest Groove
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, May 1982
Everything's gone GREEN, the voice of SCRITTI POLITTI tells Lynden Barber ...
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, June 1982
HOW COULD they have known? The caption under the BBC1 column in the Sunday Times television listings for May 30 was unmistakeable. "6.10. Sense And ...
Bluebells, The: The Bluebells: Everybody's Somebody's Bluebell
Profile and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, June 1982
MATTERS FINALLY came to a head after the show that night. In the cramped dressing room, Ken McCluskey, the Bluebells' harmonica player, picked up a ...
Attila the Stockbroker: The Ultimate Hooligan
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, June 1982
STANDING against the kind of pastel sea and sky only seen in Turner paintings and south-coast resorts is a dog-eared set of leather and denim ...
This Heat: King's College, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, June 1982
TRAGICALLY snubbed by both press and public in this country, This Heat may have played their final gig. ...
Tom Verlaine: Slurs From The Front
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, June 1982
Tom Verlaine: The Venue, London ...
Cabaret Voltaire: Venue, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, June 1982
SOME shock, this. Hatched in the dreariest industrial crucible, Cabaret Voltaire have always crawled, and snivelled down their own dubious paths, hacking away in their ...
A Flock of Seagulls: A Flock Of Seagulls: Beaks On Broadway
Report and Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, June 1982
"AND THAT was a Flock with 'Space Age Love Song' here on K-ROQ Los Angeles. For those of you who don't know yet, that's A ...
Peter and the Test Tube Babies: More Bottle Than Brains
Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, June 1982
Carol Clerk cracks a tube with PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES ...
Rip Rig and Panic: I Am Cold (Virgin)
Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, June 1982
THINK OF Rip Rig And Panic and think of wily freedom, wit and dazzle, a flurry of mayhem to disrupt these days of a rapidly ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, June 1982
"THERE'S 70 million people on earth." "Where are they hiding?" ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, June 1982
From the pits of Yorkshire to the industrial might of Seattle, SAXON have taken tea to the world. Colin Irwin earnestly believes it's the new ...
Business, The: The Business: Heaven Can Wait
Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, June 1982
IT SEEMED like a good idea at the time. Meet The Business, knock back a pint or two, set off on a disco crawl...and find ...
Dolly Mixture, Captain Sensible: Captain Sensible & Dolly Mixture: Sense and Sensibility
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, July 1982
SHE DIDN'T look a day under 75, but she recognised him instantly. Up to her elbows in pie and mash and jellied eels, the woman ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, July 1982
THE AIRPORT at Minneapolis is surprisingly big, considering the town itself is hidden away up towards Canada in the big blank heart of the mid-West. ...
New Asia: Ian Little: Gateway to Asia
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, July 1982
CHECK THE scarf then consider all points east. Face more than slightly swarthy, eyes coffee dark, Ian Little could easily turn out to be a ...
Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, July 1982
THIS IS ALMOST another case of "eat thy words", hard on the heels of Allan Jones' revelatory viewing of the Stones at Wembley. I didn't ...
Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, July 1982
IT WAS in the winter of 1978 that vocalist Lee Drury had his first traumatic encounter with the cruel forces of fate. At the time, ...
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, July 1982
IF THERE's one song that Donna Summer should be singing right now it's our current number one, 'Fame'. Tailor made for her, 'Fame' is glossy, ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, July 1982
UNDER THE nuclear shadow, something stirs. Looking west, it decides to reject the old men's fear and guilt. If the sands of time are turning ...
Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, August 1982
Carol Clerk collars confident Blackpool punksters The Fits in a fact-packed foray ...
Police, The, Sting: Sting: A Policeman's Guide To Good And Evil...
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, September 1982
YOU MIGHT NOT have noticed, but there's been little activity on the Police front recently. This year, apart from a few sporadic live appearances, has ...
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, September 1982
UNDER THE premise that the Great British Public instinctively turns its nose up at anything that's a little unexpected, or which doesn't meet its carefully ...
Shalamar: The Second Time Around
Profile and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, December 1982
LATE LAST March, under the advice of a close friend, Jeffrey Daniels, one third of a group called Shalamar, took a walk down the Kings ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, January 1983
Colin Irwin visits the strange world of TYMON DOGG, former Paul McCartney protégé, Clash sidekick, and enemy of Safeway People ...
New Order: Brixton Ace, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, March 1983
THE OMENS WERE poor. Judging from the new single, 'Blue Monday', you could be forgiven for supposing that New Order are simply the latest Factory ...
Comsat Angels: The Comsat Angels: Selling Sheffield By The Pound
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, August 1983
UNLIKE BOXING, there is no knockouts when art and commerce enter the ring, though the least we can do is award points. ...
Elvis Costello And The Attractions: Punch The Clock (F Beat)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, September 1983
PHEW, for a moment there I thought the penny wasn't going to drop in time. Luckily, after a further batch of circumnavigations of the turntable, ...
Depeche Mode: Crushing The Wheels Of Industry
Report and Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, January 1984
SPARKLERS. That's how German audiences display affection and appreciation. Sparklers, plus the odd lone klaxon crying out like a wolf with a peg on its ...
Spear Of Destiny: Spear of Destiny: Spear & Loathing
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, January 1984
SPEAR OF DESTINY'S KIRK BRANDON bares his soul to Adam Sweeting ...
Redskins, The: The Redskins: Keeping On And On
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, February 1984
Adam Sweeting weathers a storm of political invective from THE REDSKINS ...
Thomas Dolby: The Flat Earth (Parlophone)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, February 1984
ANYBODY WHO'D put Magnus Pyke in one of their videos has to be a gimmick merchant, right? Though Thomas Dolby scored a hit in all ...
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, February 1984
Carol Clerk and MARILYN parry ideas about love, life and sex and the single girl. ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, March 1984
Adam Sweeting gets all smoochy with Eighties Renaissance Man THOMAS DOLBY. ...
Clash, The: The Clash: The Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, March 1984
ONCE UPON a time when we were a little more naive than we like to admit, The Clash seemed pretty important, like they were the ...
Obituary by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, April 1984
With the death of MARVIN GAYE, black music lost one of its most eloquent voices. Colin Irwin documents a brilliant but tempestuous career. ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, April 1984
Suddenly, yesterday's men Dead Or Alive are pop Stars. Here, flamboyant PETE BURNS tells Adam Sweeting about fame and dressing up. ...
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five: The Venue, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, April 1984
THE MOST simple consideration of live performance throws up two basic types; those shows that define musical experience, are the quintessential medium for the music ...
Hanoi Rocks: Danceteria, New York
Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, April 1984
IT WAS a particularly nasty little flu bug, the sort that devastates every function of the human body and turns you into the most miserable ...
Public Image Ltd: PiL: This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get (Virgin)
Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, July 1984
JUST when you thought you had the bugger pinned down as a spent force, a wasted opportunist and black and white photocopy of a colourful ...
Spear Of Destiny: Spear of Destiny: World In Action
Interview by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, July 1984
KIRK BRANDON is experiencing a new burst of energy with SPEAR OF DESTINY. He braved the mud and bottles at Milton Keynes, he's been playing ...
Jason & the Scorchers: Jason and the Scorchers: Fervor
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, July 1984
WITH MUCH contemporary sound becoming more than a tad anaemic (they know who they are), we must turn our eyes to the West for a ...
Psychic TV: Holloway Road, London
Live Review by Julian Henry, Melody Maker, August 1984
TONIGHT'S UNPUBLICISED appearance of Psychic TV at an old disused music hall off the Holloway Road was some "event". ...
Johnny Thunders: The Marquee, London
Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, September 1984
WHEN JOHNNY came marching back to London this time around, he took us all by surprise. ...
Bruce Foxton: Camden Palace, London
Live Review by Dave Thompson, Melody Maker, September 1984
THE EIGHTEEN months since You Know Who finally called it a day have been reasonably kind to Brother Foxton. So he's not quite at ...
Style Council, The, Wham!: Wham! Style Council: Miners' Benefit, Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, September 1984
Pit-Head Ballet ...
John Lennon, Julian Lennon, Yoko Ono: Julian Lennon: The Lennon Legacy
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, October 1984
Four years after a madman took out his father, JULIAN LENNON launches his own career in music. In his first major interview he tells Colin ...
Last Poets, The: The Last Poets: Young Master
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, October 1984
Kidnapped heiress Patti Hearst is said to have listened to him incessantly during her captivity and the hip-hop crowd regard him as a guru. His ...
Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force: Pink Elephant, Luton
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, October 1984
THE CABBIE, waiting in the foyer, hadn't been too impressed. Now it was different when Demis Roussos and Johnny Mathis played here. Sounded just like ...
Afrika Bambaataa: Play It Again Bam
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, October 1984
Leader of the Zulu Nation. Godfather of hip-hop. Overlord of funk. Black youth guru. Creator of the most influential record of the Eighties. All this ...
Felt: The Strange Idol Pattern And Other Short Stories (Cherry Red)
Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, November 1984
THERE IS A singular atmosphere to Felt's music. Their dreamy guitar excursions are a pure extension of mood, not intent, and as such have no ...
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, November 1984
SPK bang on pieces of metal and go spot-welding. Lynden Barber wants to know why ...
Redskins, The: Red On Arrival: The Redskins
Report and Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, December 1984
"TUC LEADER Norman Willis tells Arthur Scargill a few home truths," they said on Channel 4 news last night (and this is the Left Wing ...
Durutti Column, The: The Durutti Column: Without Mercy (Factory)
Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, December 1984
SO MUCH contemporary music strives to conquer eager hearts and incite itchy feet with bombastic crescendoes and prolific sloganeering, substituting the possible with the obvious, ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, December 1984
An unlikely star and a reluctant one, but SADE ADU is the most successful female artist of the year. The life and times of a ...
Stiv Bators: Stiv Bator and Michael Monroe
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 1985
STIV BATOR: "THERE'S an old saying in the American Mid-West that whoever you spend New Year's Eve with, you spend the rest of the year ...
U2: At The Homecoming: U2’s Unforgettable Fire
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 1985
THIS HAS BEEN a long time coming, and there have been signs of strain. War, U2's last album of new material, was released more than ...
Interview by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, January 1985
'Some of you (the Freemason pederasts) may be a trifle confused or even annoyed by the packaging and name of this record. For all your ...
Report and Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, March 1985
IF IT'S TUESDAY, this must be Paris. How about Europe so far, girls? ...
Monochrome Set, The: The Monochrome Set: Snakes and Ladders
Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, March 1985
Martin Aston plays cards with THE MONOCHROME SET currently clambering chart-wards with 'Jacob's Ladder' ...
Eurythmics: The Ministry Of Truth
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, May 1985
AMONG THE CRASH of crockery and the hubbub of tea-slurping customers, Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox sit unobtrusively at a table in the Waldorf Hotel. ...
Eurythmics: Be Yourself Tonight (RCA)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, May 1985
AMONG their assimilations, borrowings and treatments, Eurythmics remain outsiders. "I'm a looker, a viewer of things," said Annie Lennox. Their Sweet Dreams album nailed the ...
Triffids, The: The Triffids: Kangaroo Courting
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, May 1985
LATE AFTERNOON, the wind’s beginning to whip up a little. Two Triffids sit on the balcony of an Italian cappuccino bar taking in the passing ...
Stewart Copeland: The Rhythmatist
Review by Dave Thompson, Melody Maker, June 1985
COME ON, Stewart! Personal expression is all very well, and we all know that, beneath those candy floss classics you make with the rest of ...
Sigue Sigue Sputnik: The Underworld, Croydon
Live Review by Julian Henry, Melody Maker, August 1985
Space race ...
Dexy's Midnight Runners: Don't Stand Me Down
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, September 1985
COMPROMISE, as Kevin Rowland so sharply observes on the opening verse of this remarkable album, is the devil talking. ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, September 1985
"WHAT KIND of strings do you use on your axe, man?" ...
Alex Chilton, Big Star: Alex Chilton: Alex's Wild Years
Interview by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, November 1985
If anybody can really claim to be a living legend, ALEX CHILTON is the guy. From the Box Tops to Big Star to the booze, ...
Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, Summer 1985
LIFE has gone full circle for Alex Chilton. Seventeen years old in 1967, up to New York City from hometown Memphis where he fronted the ...
Review and Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, January 1986
THEY'VE ALL all been coming out of the woodwork this past year, the artists who'd never deign to speak to anyone - ole Neil, Dylan ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, January 1986
With last year's album Low-life, NEW ORDER finally laid the ghost of Joy Division and emerged as one of this nation's saving graces with a ...
Hüsker Dü: Husker Du: Candy Apple Grey
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1986
LISTENING TO THIS vast, volatile music, up in its power and space, I suddenly realised that these attributes are the precise opposite of the experiences ...
Art of Noise: The Art Of Noise: In Visible Silence (China Records)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, April 1986
SO it's THE Art Of Noise now is it? Addition of the definitive article does not hide an alarming slump into powerpop abandon and things ...
Garry Bushell: The Most Evil Man In Pop
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, May 1986
Scourge of the Looney Left, creator of Oi and prime exponent of the dreaded 'Sunspeak', GARRY BUSHELL makes a clean breast of it to Prof ...
Public Image Ltd: John Lydon: Apocalypse New
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, May 1986
SOMEBODY told me John Lydon liked a drink. And this was indeed a large crumb of comfort. Suddenly, it was possible to establish some common ...
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, May 1986
Pulp are from Sheffield and make rather outrageous records. Paul Mathur talks to them of dogs, wheelchairs, Nazis and baked beans. ...
Smiths, The: The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead (Rough Trade)
Review by Nick Kent, Melody Maker, June 1986
THIS IS NEITHER the time nor the place to indulge in trivial banter; suffice to say that The Smiths' peculiar career manoeuvres, which have caused ...
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, June 1986
No more Sammy's tits on page three! Unthinkable! More Sammy songs on Top Of The Pops! Even more unthinkable! While the world wrings its hands ...
Fad Gadget, Frank Tovey: Cult Heroics: Frank Tovey
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, June 1986
No longer Fad Gadget, his sights firmly focused on Saturday Superstore, FRANK TOVEY tells a skeptical Simon Reynolds that he’s out to corrupt the youth ...
Rod Stewart, Faces, The: Rod Stewart, The Faces: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, July 1986
BIG NOSE STRIKES AGAIN! ...
Zapp: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, July 1986
ZAPP LIVE were perhaps the most extreme spectacle I have ever witnessed, with both band and audience abandoning inhibitions more extensively than at any rock ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, August 1986
GWEN GUTHRIE, currently burning 'em up with 'Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent' explains to David Stubbs the genesis of 'Fly Girl' ...
Schoolly D: Schoolly D (Schoolly D Records)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, August 1986
SCHOOLLY D is from Philadelphia and appears to be some kind of hoodlum, with an unhealthy interest in the status trinkets of high life, drugs ...
Material: Secret Life (Jungle)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, August 1986
STRANGE TIMING for this double album retrospective, considering how totally the alternative scene has renounced the ambitions of 1979-82, all the rhetoric about Eurofunkactivism, Sex, ...
Report and Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, September 1986
With their Raising Hell tour putting the frighteners on many a major American town and their Rapping Metal single, 'Walk This Way' scaring the pants ...
We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, November 1986
They sing! They dance! They make jokes! They play with bar-bells! They dye their hair! They talk in Brummy accents! They've got a new single ...
Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Berlin: Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Berlin: G-Mex Centre, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, January 1987
MR HOLLY Johnson is right, shooting stars never do stop, more's the pity. Instead they tumble entropically to the back of beyond, hollering, hooting and ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, January 1987
ANITA BAKER, the new queen of soul, discusses the dos and dont's of the bigtime with a sympathetic Caroline Sullivan. ...
Big Audio Dynamite: V For Victory
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, February 1987
Another tour, another single, another video and still BIG AUDIO DYNAMITE are special. Chris Roberts had dinner with MICK JONES and discovered sense and sensitivity ...
Style Council, The: The Style Council: The Cost Of Loving (Polydor)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, February 1987
A REMARKABLE fellow, this Paul Weller. It's a strange journey he's made over the last decade, but stranger still is that he's managed to take ...
Luther Vandross: The Language of Love
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, February 1987
So what does LUTHER VANDROSS, sex god to millions, do on a date? Does he even date at all? And what the hell happened when ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1987
BARKING AT THE MOON ...
Janet Jackson: Complete Control
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, March 1987
'WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, I USED TO TALK TO THE ANIMALS... THEY'RE GOOD LISTENERS, AND I ALWAYS FELT THEY UNDERSTOOD.' SO SAYS JANET JACKSON, IN ...
Curiosity Killed The Cat: Filthy Rich These Cat Chaps
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, April 1987
Too naughty to be teeny-boppers, CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT are nonetheless attracting attention for all the trad reasons – goodlookers, dressers, er mates of Paula ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, April 1987
BLUR. The boys from Happy Mondays skitter past us on the rob down the Arndale. Loose limbs and flares kick dust into everybody's eyes. ...
Happy Mondays: The Rock Garden, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, May 1987
HAPPY MONDAYS is where the repetition-repetition-repetition of post-Velvets jangle-drone meets the repetition-repetition-repetition of '70s funk. Imagine a cross between the Blue Orchids and Hamilton Bohannon, ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, May 1987
WIRE are pure luxury. Here are a bunch of superior sound technicians with an immaculate grasp of the sculptural and architectural possibilities of rock, who ...
Replacements, The: The Replacements: The Rebel Yell
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, May 1987
Describing their relationship to pop as being like 'a dirt road through an emerald city', The Replacements get Simon Reynolds all hot under the collar ...
Danielle Dax: Return Of The Wolf Girl
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, May 1987
DANIELLE DAX, A FREE SPIRIT AND A PRETTY STRANGE LADY, EXPLAINS THE MEANING OF 'INKY BLOATERS' TO A MIGHTILY IMPRESSED CHRIS ROBERTS. ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, June 1987
Good lads and all that but are Go West any more than the sum of pop's mediocrity? David Stubbs takes a gander ...
Beastie Boys, The, Run DMC: Run DMC/The Beastie Boys: Brixton Academy, London/Brighton Centre
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, June 1987
PHALLUS & FALLACY ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, June 1987
LICENSED TO THRILL ...
Hüsker Dü: Husker Du: Why Aren’t They Massive?
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, June 1987
IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA, the Replacements play me a tape of Husker Du’s live appearance on The Joan Rivers Show. It’s more than a little mindblowing. ...
Terence Trent D'Arby: The Great Contender
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, August 1987
TERENCE TRENT D'ARBY isn't modest. But, as he's quick to point out, he has very little to be modest about. Two hit singles, a number ...
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, August 1987
Wide-eyed and reckless, Kim Wilde has discovered sex. At least, she writhes a bit on the vid of the new single. Paul Mathur talks dirty ...
Prince, Wendy and Lisa: Wendy & Lisa: Revolt Into Style
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, August 1987
WENDY & LISA USED TO BE PART OF PRINCE'S REVOLUTION. NOW THEY'RE STORMING THE BARRICADES WITH A SOLO CAREER. PURPLE RAIN OR JUST A DAMP ...
Primal Scream: No More Yesterday
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, August 1987
Primal Scream look back to look forward. Simon Reynolds retracts a few statements but still argues the toss. ...
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, August 1987
MATALLIC KO ...
Public Enemy: Strength to Strength
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, October 1987
PUBLIC ENEMY PLAY BRITAIN IN NOVEMBER AND SIMON REYNOLDS TAKES A LONG HARD LOOK AT THE SURVIVALIST PHILOSOPHY BEHIND SOME OF THE TOUGHEST NOISE OF ...
Public Enemy, Eric B & Rakim: Public Enemy/Eric B And Rakim: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, December 1987
PUBLIC NUISANCE ...
Leonard Cohen: Crocodile Tears
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, January 1988
LET'S TALK misconceptions. Like the one about Cleopatra being Egyptian (she was Greek), Christmas being a time for giving (take take take), Ben Elton and ...
Marc Almond: The Astoria, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, January 1988
WHERE HAVE these vulpine goths acquired their taste for this Brechtian melodrama? A brush with The Collected Isherwood? ...
Sinead O'Connor: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, January 1988
SO, NINA SIMONE'S 'My Baby Just Cares For Me' – the clubland secret, the cult trophy – went High Street provincial, Top Ten Top Shop. ...
Sugarcubes, The: The Sugarcubes: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, January 1988
LIKE EVERYONE else. I expressly came to worship, to be defeated, to drench their names in a prolix of hopelessly imprecise euphoria. Unhappily, though, it ...
Triffids, The: The Triffids: On The Ice
Report and Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, January 1988
THE TRIFFIDS HAVE GRABBED CRITICAL ATTENTION WITH THEIR CALENTURE ALBUM AND A REPUTATION FOR REINVENTING ROCK IN ALL SORTS OF WIGGLY WAYS. PAUL MATHUR GRABS ...
Lee 'Scratch' Perry: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, January 1988
SOMETIMES there are concerts that leave your mind so thoroughly evacuated, that the only way to galvanise your diminished sense of being is to work ...
Scarlet Fantastic: Phantasmagoria
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, January 1988
ARE SCARLET FANTASTIC LEADERS OF THE NEW GLAM MOVEMENT OR MERELY HIPPIES DRESSED IN SATIN AND SEQUINS? CAROLINE SULLIVAN SEPARATES THE MAGIC FROM THE MANIFESTO. ...
Nick Cave, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Nick Cave: Lizard of Oz
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, January 1988
AFTER A YEAR AWAY, NICK CAVE RETURNS FROM THE WILDERNESS WITH ANOTHER LADELFUL OF PEARLS AND PESSIMISM. CHRIS ROBERTS MEETS THE MAN WHO SEES EVERYTHING ...
My Bloody Valentine: The Excellence of Ecstasy
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, January 1988
WHERE SHALL WE BEGIN? "When we first started we had this image thing, right, all Sixties haircuts and really setting out to do the pop ...
Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page: Robert Plant: The Song Remains The Same
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, January 1988
Over the past three years Led Zeppelin have been used and abused by everyone from The Cult to the Beastie Boys. On the eve of ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, February 1988
AND IT SEEMS like they never went away. The Pere Ubu revival has burst through like mushrooms in your airing cupboard, and somehow, this re-release, ...
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, February 1988
Aztec Camera have just completed their first tour for four years and are gradually steering their way back into the nation's heart and soul. Paul ...
All About Eve: The Garden Of Eden
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, February 1988
WITH A DEBUT ALBUM AND A NATIONAL TOUR ABOUT TO EXPLODE, DREAM LOVERS ALL ABOUT EVE TEACH CHRIS ROBERTS ABOUT JEAN COCTEAU, CILLA BLACK, OPTICIANS, ...
Wedding Present, The: The Wedding Present: Best Defence
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, February 1988
THE WEDDING Present were born in 1985, achieved the level of quite exciting, and now have had greatness thrust upon them with worrying prematurity. Recent ...
Scritti Politti: Enigma Variation
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1988
Break out the dictionaries and Post-Structuralist text books, pop's most perfect intellect, GREEN GARTSIDE, is back with a new SCRITTI POLITTI single ready for release ...
Red Hot Chili Peppers, The: Red Hot Chilli Peppers: The Clarendon, Hammersmith, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1988
SO THE Clarendon faces closure, and yes it's a sad day for rock, another step in the drawn-out death of the London gig circuit, and ...
Megadeth: So Far, So Good... So What! (Capitol)
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, March 1988
THE DEATH MACHINE ...
Morrissey: Songs Of Love And Hate
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1988
I THINK I'VE MET THEM ALL NOW. For me, there are no more heroes left. And no new ones coming along, by the look of ...
Sinead O'Connor: Olympic Ballroom, Dublin
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, March 1988
THE IDEA of pretending it was Hazel without her wig or Tom without the gags struck me as an astronomical corker for about a minute, ...
Pixies, The: The Pixies: Surfer Rosa (4AD)
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, March 1988
"WHERE IS my mind?" smirks huggable Black Francis, and you can't help but rattle your jewellery. If "bloody your hands on a cactus tree/wipe it ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, March 1988
LOOPHOLES AND repression being what they are, an Alabama county recently admitted that according to local legal dictates, it was illegal for any baby in ...
Red Hot Chili Peppers, The: Red Hot Chili Peppers: The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, March 1988
SO THIS is where all the funk went. The Red Hot Chili Peppers have triumphed in a medium I thought you could only blunder in ...
Throwing Muses: Storm Troupers
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, March 1988
THROWING MUSES' REBUILDING OF POP'S DARK SIDE IS WINNING THEM LOTS OF NEW FRIENDS. PAUL MATHUR AMBLED ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO TALK TO SINGER KRISTIN ...
Pixies, The: The Pixies: Speaking In Tongues
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1988
THE HOLLERING IS ALL. The Pixies are what's left when all the frustrations and absences that once prompted rock'n'roll into being have faded away or ...
Morrissey: Songs of Love and Hate, Part 2
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1988
"Did that swift eclipse torture you?/A star at 18 and then – suddenly gone/down to a few lines in the back page/of a teenage annual/oh ...
Pere Ubu: The Tenement Commandments
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, March 1988
BEAMING BACK FROM HIS ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE, DAVID THOMAS LEADS PERE UBU'S MANIC WALTZ INTO THE DANGER ZONE. DAVID STUBBS TRACKS DOWN THE REFORMED AND REVITALISED ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, March 1988
"BOBBY Maggot was a big attorney/Through the courtroom down to hell he'd journey/Baldheaded piece of garbage that he was/He'll defend you if your money's honest/Do ...
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, March 1988
FOLLOWING THE PHENOMENAL SUCCESS OF 'CHINA IN YOUR HAND', T'PAU HAVE LEAPT FROM THE PAVEMENT TO THE PENTHOUSE. WHAT IS THE SECRET OF THEIR SUCCESS? ...
Salt 'N' Pepa: Salt 'n' Pepa: Look Ma Top Of The World
Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1988
SALT 'N' PEPA WILL DO ANYTHING TO HAVE EVERYTHING. WITH THEIR NEW SINGLE, 'PUSH IT', ACCELERATING UP THE AMERICAN CHARTS IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THEIR ...
Butthole Surfers: Swamp Things
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, April 1988
THE BUTTHOLE SURFERS ARE THE MONSTER SOUND OF THE EIGHTIES, A SWELLING CULT WHO PULL THEM IN IN DROVES AND HAVE TO TURN AWAY JUST ...
Darling Buds, The: The Darling Buds: Move Over Darlings
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, April 1988
SOWING SEEDSSO WE WON'T compare them to a summer's day, then. Summer days are the longest, the most languorous. The Darling Buds are flecked with ...
Band of Susans: Repeat & Frayed
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, May 1988
AT THEIR UTMOST Band of Susans make one of the most spiritual and uplifting rock sounds around. ...
Red Hot Chili Peppers, The: The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, May 1988
AS SIMON Reynolds said last time they tripped over here, The Red Hot Chili Peppers are totally WRONG. This alone makes them great. The mix ...
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, July 1988
WIRE HAVE probably not played to 100,000 people in total as they've skimmed their precious stones across the edges of a strange pop history. And ...
Metallica: ...And Justice For All (Phonogram)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, September 1988
THE KILLING MACHINE ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, September 1988
WITH THEIR NEW SINGLE, 'MAKE ME LAUGH', ANTHRAX CONTINUE TO LEAD THE HARDCORE CHARGE AGAINST TRADITIONAL HEAVY METAL. SIMON REYNOLDS HITCHES A RIDE ON THE ...
Darling Buds, The: The Darling Buds: Beyond The Valley Of The Blondes
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, September 1988
BudismTHERE ARE SOME people, believe it or not, who don't like The Darling Buds. They don't recognise this music as the very Taj Mahal of ...
Salt 'N' Pepa: Sat 'N' Pepa: The Showstoppers
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, November 1988
'To Know Us Is To Love Us' claim Salt 'n' Pepa, one of rap's most unlikely success stories, whose A Salt With A Deadly Pepa ...
Sugarcubes, The: Sugarcubes: Yule Never Björk Alone
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, December 1988
THE SUGARCUBES' BID FOR WORLD DOMINATION IS ALMOST COMPLETE. FOR CHRISTMAS THEY'LL BE RETURNING HOME TO ICELAND TO START RECORDING THE FOLLOW-UP TO THE LIFE'S ...
Overview by Push, Melody Maker, December 1988
AT THE BEGINNING of this year a House record would have cleared the majority of London's dancefloors. ...
Morrissey: Civic Centre, Wolverhampton
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, January 1989
MORRISSEY COMES to the Midlands to play eight songs, two of which receive their first airing tonight, and only 1,700 followers adorned with the Stephen ...
Diamanda Galás: The Demon Diva
Interview by Mark Sinker, Melody Maker, January 1989
As the AIDS epidemic spreads and all pop can do is turn a blind eye, Diamanda Galas is the only singer left to stand and ...
New Order: The Almighty New Order
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, January 1989
New Order: G-Mex Centre, Manchester ...
Jane's Addiction: Embassy Theatre, Los Angeles
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, January 1989
IN THE LARGER-than-life (and therefore, strictly speaking, lifesize) city of Zen yuppie angels and drive-by crucifixions, it is New Year's Eve. At nine Perry Farrell ...
Ciccone Youth: The Whitey Album (Blast First)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, January 1989
NEXT to the brittle plangency and luminous, labyrinthine depths of Daydream Nation, the first (and last?) Ciccone Youth album is an irrelevance. ...
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, January 1989
WITH A TOP 10 SINGLE IN HER NATIVE AMERICA, EDIE BRICKELL AND HER NEW BOHEMIANS LOOK SET TO MAKE A HUGE IMPACT IN 1989. CHRIS ...
Big Country : Big Country: Talk About The Passion
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, January 1989
Big Country are on tour again, playing to more people in bigger places, taking Peace In Our Time to the masses. Ian Gittins catches up ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, January 1989
THEIR HARD ROCK LP, NOTHING'S SHOCKING, CONVERTED MANY TO THEIR CAUSE. THEIR OUTLANDISH APPEARANCE IS ATTRACTING COMMENT WHEREVER THEY GO. THEY'RE DUE HERE FOR A ...
Throwing Muses: Daughters Of The Fatherland
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, January 1989
THEIR HUNKPAPA ALBUM IS WIDELY REGARDED AS THEIR MOST ACCESSIBLE YET. THEY'RE SOON TO TOUR BRITAIN WITH THE SUNDAYS. THEIR CARD TRICKS ARE CRAP. DAVID ...
Darling Buds, The: The Darling Buds: International, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, January 1989
FROM SIMON Reynold's held-back vituperative vitriol to Chris Roberts' rapturous rivers of rhapsodies, there's no denying the sheer weight of wise or wondrous words that ...
New Order: Technique (Factory)
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, January 1989
IT BEGINS. IT THUMPS with glee, it swirls with lackadaisical intensity. "You're much too young to be a part of me, you're much too young ...
Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians: The Marquee, London
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, February 1989
THE MESSY BEAT Angels were well and truly bushed after a week of post-Dali wassailing, but the sight of Edie Brickell's band was as startling ...
Shamen, The: The Shamen: In Gorbachev We Trust (Demon)
Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, February 1989
THE SHAMEN may indeed, as Steve Sutherland said, be a band whose time has come. For over three years now they've been drilling away, obsessed ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, February 1989
ABOUT TO TOUR BRITAIN WITH LIVING COLOUR AS SUPPORT, ANTHRAX TELL DAVID STUBBS HOW THEY PLAN TO BE AS BIG AS U2 WITHOUT SELLING THEIR ...
Pop Will Eat Itself, Nasty Rox, Inc.: Pop Will Eat Itself/Nasty Rox Inc: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, February 1989
NASTY ROX INC look like slobs but have a beat which cuts it. Their rock/hip hop amalgam makes all the right moves, yet never manages ...
Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, February 1989
'EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORN' WAS NUMBER ONE IN AMERICA OVER CHRISTMAS. THE OPEN UP AND SAY...AHH! LP CRUISED INTO THE US TOP 10 AND ...
Darling Buds, The: The Darling Buds: Confetti Junction
Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, February 1989
Saturday11:20 IT'S SATURDAY MORNING kiddie time, and The Darling Buds are shining out of the telly. After Bruno Brookes and the Red Arrows display team, ...
Mudhoney: Sub Pop, Sub Normal, Subversion!
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, March 1989
SUDDENLY SEATTLE IS THE CENTRE OF ALL THINGS GRUNGE. EVERETT TRUE TRAVELS TO THE HOME OF THE ANTI-HITS TO MEET MUDHONEY WHO RECENTLY TRADED SONGS ...
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, March 1989
A RUSH OF BLOOD? Lush are nearly as good as their name, which is high praise indeed. ...
Hot House: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, March 1989
THERE ARE, oh, a thousand or so people in London who know that Hot House have nothing to do with Chicago, or with Liam O'Maonlai ...
De La Soul: 3 Feet High And Rising (Tommy Boy/Big Life)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, March 1989
THE DAISY AGE ...
American Music Club: Psycho Thriller
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1989
MARK EITZEL, OF American Music Club, a self proclaimed 'fuckin mess', a man who's spoken before of being 'doomed to sing' and living in terror ...
Swing Out Sister: Dog Day Afternoon
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, April 1989
TWO YEARS AGO THEY HAD TWO TOP 10 SINGLES AND A NUMBER 1 ALBUM. THEN THE TRIO OF SUAVE POPSTERS DISAPPEARED. CAROLINE SULLIVAN REPORTS ON ...
Deacon Blue: The Reluctant Tourist
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, April 1989
AFTER THE SUCCESS OF THEIR DEBUT ALBUM, RAINTOWN, AND A STRING OF HIT SINGLES INCLUDING THE RECENT 'WAGES DAY', RICKY ROSS AND HIS BAND LOOK ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, April 1989
PUSH TALKS TO THE BIGGEST RAP SENSATION SINCE PUBLIC ENEMY AND DISCOVERS WHAT LIFE'S LIKE ON PLANET SCREWBALL ...
Moe Tucker, Half Japanese: Moe Tucker/Half Japanese: Powerhaus, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, April 1989
THEY’RE ALL HERE tonight, convened in a spirit of slackwitted sentimentally: Morrissey (summoned, rumour has it, by the "great lady" herself, who admires his work), ...
Wendy and Lisa: Wendy And Lisa: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, May 1989
WOMEN IN unison. A glaring gaggle. A terrifying prospect. Wasn't it in fact Dorothy Parker, theoretically one of their own, who wrote, "I hate women. ...
Fields Of The Nephilim: Attractions Fatalist
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, May 1989
THE THING I most enjoy about Carl McCoy is his refusal to jump through the traditional music industry hoops. ...
Stone Roses, The: The Stone Roses: Shooting From The Lip
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, June 1989
THE STONE ROSES are the latest instalment in the resurrection insurrection. ...
La's, The: Interview with The La's
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, June 1989
THE LA'S ARE NOTHING if not perfectionists. After two years work they've just completed their debut LP - no wonder they look knackered as they ...
Soundgarden: The Mutate Gallery
Profile and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, June 1989
EVERETT TRUE MEETS THE MOST AGGRESSIVE METAL MARAUDERS TO ESCAPE FROM THE SUB POP LABEL, WHOSE NEW SINGLE, 'FLOWER', SOUNDS LIKE DAS DAMEN COVERING BIG ...
Bobby Brown: Goodbye Cruel World
Report and Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, June 1989
THE ALL-SINGING, ALL-DANCING WUNDERKIND IS CURRENTLY THE FASTEST RISING STAR IN AMERICA WITH HIS DEBUT ALBUM DON'T BE CRUEL. AT ONLY 20 HE IS SET ...
Throwing Muses, Band of Susans: Throwing Muses and Band Of Susans: Loving The Aliens
Report and Interview by Dele Fadele, Melody Maker, July 1989
THROWING MUSES, BAND OF SUSANS: GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL, SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY, BIRMINGHAM HUMMINGBIRD ...
Primitives, The: The Primitives: Red Dawn
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, July 1989
TC: "Poor innocent me. And all this time I thought you were a bona fide blonde."Marilyn: " I am. But nobody's that natural. And incidentally, ...
N.W.A.: Straight Outta Compton (Priority/Ruthless)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, July 1989
THE SLEEVE of Straight Outta Compton, the debut LP from N.W.A., depicts one of the members of this Los Angeles rap group pointing a pistol ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, July 1989
It's been two years since we last heard from Bobby Gillespie's indie darlings, but the Galswegian Motormouth is finally back with a new single, 'Ivy ...
Review by Push, Melody Maker, August 1989
STONED, LOADED. It's both a mental and a physical bliss. Everything is nothing but an abandoned blur. Minutes away from a blackout, from a sweet, ...
Primitives, The: The Primitives: Before The Crash
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, September 1989
Lazy 86-88. Paul: "WELL, THE FIRST FOUR SONGS ARE crap for starters! That first record goes for £30 now, those four songs made up our ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, September 1989
WITH TWO NUMBER ONE SINGLES ALREADY UNDER HIS BELT, MARK MOORE WAS FINALLY CROWNED AS THE SVENGALI OF ACID SAMPLING WHEN PRINCE ASKED HIM TO ...
New Order: The Reading Festival
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, September 1989
NEW ORDER have to be blinding, have to be gorgeous and maverick and wise, if we're to leave with any sense of napalm in our ...
Kate Bush: The Sensual World (EMI)
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, October 1989
"WHEN LAUREN WAS a small girl, she would stand in the field and call the cats. One by one they would come to her through ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, October 1989
Everett True Thrashes It Out With The Latest Wizards From Seattle's Sub Pop Label Who Arrive In Britain Next Week ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, November 1989
IN THEIR SHORT CAREER THE RAPPERS HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATED BY THE FBI, CONDEMNED BY THE CONGRESS FOR RACIAL EOUALITY, BANNED BY TV AND RADIO AND ...
Felt: Too Much Monkey Business
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, December 1989
THE RECENT ME AND A MONKEY ON THE MOON LP WAS FELT'S LAST SHOT, THE COMPLETION OF A 10-YEAR PLAN, THE PRE-DESTINED END OF THE ...
Soul II Soul: Songs In The Key Of Life
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, December 1989
WITH A STRING OF SUCCESSFUL SINGLES AND A STUNNING DEBUT ALBUM, SOUL II SOUL HAVE SPEARHEADED THE DANCE REVIVAL OF THE LATE-EIGHTIES AND LOOK LIKE ...
Fields Of The Nephilim: The Nod Corner
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, December 1989
THE MOMENT IS breathtaking. One minute, he's Nod, drummer of Fields Of The Nephilim, chatting placidly of a pint of Flowers Best. Next minute, he's ...
Public Enemy: Fear of A Black Planet
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 1990
OVER THE past three years, Public Enemy have made the single most concerted attempt to take rap's inchoate fury and sonic insurgency, and commandeer it ...
Loop: A Gilded Eternity (Situation Two)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, January 1990
IT'S CLEAR now that Loop peaked with their magnificent brace of EPs in 1988, Collision/Thief Of Fire and Black Sun/Mother Sky. Last year's Fade Out ...
Tanita Tikaram: The Sweet Keeper
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, January 1990
THE CONNECTION between pop stars and new towns in the Eighties – someone should have done a thesis on it. We had Depeche Mode in ...
Cowboy Junkies: Horse Latitudes
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, February 1990
"MOST OF THE SONGS, there's a grain of hope in there. The characters are always striving for something else. They're in a situation which is ...
Fall, The: The Fall: Funfair For The Common Man
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, March 1990
IN A CHEAP INDIAN RESTAURANT IN LONDON'S BRICK LANE Mark Smith's eyes begin to glint. His bony figure leans forward and stiffens. From deep in ...
Tad, Screaming Trees, Nirvana: Screaming Trees, Nirvana, Tad: Pine Street Theatre, Portland, OR
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, March 1990
IT SEEMS incredible people still miss the point of Tad. Most (heavy) rock bands play for the sheer hell of it, and, sure Tad do ...
Primal Scream, Andrew Weatherall: Primal Scream: Spring Loaded
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, March 1990
The former darlings of indie rock may lose some deities with their new house-orientated single 'Loaded', but Primal leader Bobby Gillespie is determined to use ...
Nirvana, Tad: Tad and Nirvana: The Larder They Come
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, March 1990
This was a tour not for the faint-hearted. Everett True witnesses the chaos & carnage caused by Tad & Nirvana as they rampaged through the ...
Associates, The: The Associates: Wild and Lonely
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1990
THE FIRST TIME I heard the Associates was when I saw 'Party Fears Two' on Top Of The Pops. It was one of those moments ...
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, March 1990
"I thought I'd play a couple of numbers from the Tin Machine album... wait, wait, where are you going...come back!" ...
Grace Jones: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, April 1990
IT'S THE second of Grace Jones's first London shows for almost 10 years and everybody's hoping there won't be a repeat of the appallingly unprofessional ...
My Bloody Valentine: Glide on Time
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, April 1990
MY BLOODY VALENTINE are sitting in the basement rehearsal studio they've just rented. I am wandering around upstairs walking into lots of offices and insisting ...
Darling Buds, The: The Darling Buds: Petal Music Machine
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, May 1990
POP SAID "BECAUSE we're in Newport and because we're in love and because the sun is shining and everyone has disappeared, lost among the flowers, ...
Pop Will Eat Itself: Porn to be Wild
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, June 1990
NEITHER THE Football Association nor, astonishingly, FIFA's UK representatives are entirely sure who will be presenting the 1990 World Cup to the winners in Italy ...
Stone Roses, The: The Stone Roses at Spike Island
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, June 1990
When The Stone Roses announced their plans for a gig at Spike Island the concert was eagerly heralded as the event of the year. Everett ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, July 1990
HOW TOUGH is Johnette Napolitano? Maybe here's a clue. Bloodletting, as Mat Smith noted, is an intensely personal LP, cruelly close to her, but for ...
Pixies, The: The Pixies: Bossanova (4AD)
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, August 1990
ONE THING that's always bugged me about The Pixies is the universal acclaim for their LPs – how come no one ever gripes about the ...
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, August 1990
MOST ENIGMATIC and downright peculiar of the 1990 Manchester shockwave are World Of Twist. All they have in common with their Manc contemporaries is that ...
Human League, The: The Human League: Romantic Antics
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, September 1990
THE HUMAN LEAGUE are back among us, more serious than ever, not for a last gasp, but completely reinvigorated and rewired – after what ...
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, October 1990
BEFORE WE start, one thing: 'Dreams Burn Down', eh? What a stormer! Breathtaking, sickening, walls collapsing all around you and oh look the gazelles are ...
Pixies, The: The Pixies Facing The Fire Squad
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, November 1990
The pixies are the best band on the planet. Discuss. ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, November 1990
"JOHNNY ROTTEN telephoned me within hours of splitting The Sex Pistols," begins Jah Wobble, acknowledging the fact that there's a fascinating background story to tell ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, November 1990
YOU WANT TO know how I feel when I listen to Espero, the new three-track EP from Portsmouth's Cranes, right? You want to know whether ...
Replacements, The: The Replacements
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, November 1990
This year, singer, downtrodden writer and all-round wasted boozer PAUL WESTERBERG has given up drinking, abandoned his band and is trying to look on the ...
Swervedriver: Chrome Sweet Chrome
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, December 1990
This year, Creation broke the mould and signed their very first kick-ass rock'n'roll animals – a hard-edged, bone-rattling death machine called SWERVEDRIVER. With their second ...
Butthole Surfers: The Butthole Surfers: Deeper & Down
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, December 1990
AFTER OVER A YEAR OF SILENCE, the Butthole Surfers have re-emerged only to suffer the indignity of being topical. With uncanny punctuality, their cover of ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, December 1990
NIRVANA'S NEW single, 'Sliver' weighs in at a fraction over two minutes and is one hell of a pop song. No messing. ...
Charlatans, The (UK): The Charlatans: Glory Days
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, December 1990
1990 could well go down in the rock almanac as the year The Charlatans stole the initiative from The Stone Rose. While the figureheads of ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, January 1991
After a year of rumours about Dinosaur splitting and retiring from music altogether, J Mascis finally returns with a major label contract, a new single, ...
Associates, The: The Associates: Popera
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, January 1991
ONCE UPON A time (the early '80s), there was something called "new pop". For about a year Morley's pipedream of a chartbusting music that combined ...
Mark Eitzel: Dark Side of the Loon
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, January 1991
"YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER JUST LEFT. He made me laugh, he said Americans don't like having their photo taken and I'd better act for the camera. I ...
Tanita Tikaram: Say Halo Wave Goodbye
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, February 1991
AS EVERY HAIRDRESSER worth their shears will tell you, a radical change of hairstyle usually heralds an equally radical shift of persona. Tanita Tikaram's new ...
KLF, The: The KLF: Pranks for the Memory
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, February 1991
They can't help having hits, they can't come to terms with fame and they can't keep out of trouble! DAVID STUBBS witnesses THE KLF's dawn ...
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, February 1991
THE WILD FRONTIER ...
Lemonheads, The: The Lemonheads: The Longhorn, Stuttgart
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, March 1991
NICE CHAPS. I realise that this in itself isn't much of a recommendation when it comes to making music which fires the belly and fills ...
Slowdive: Younger than Yesterday
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, March 1991
"A LOT OF BANDS are so precious about influences, thinking they're massively original. I don't think we are." ...
Scritti Politti: Intellectual Hooliganism
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, March 1991
"SO YOU USE the language of dreams and you toy around for the micropolitical effect of the goosebump. I like that – the goosebump as ...
Doors, The: Jim Morrison: The Anatomy Of Madness
Essay by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, April 1991
This year's superstar is a bloated, bearded would-be poet who died 20 years ago. SIMON REYNOLDS investigates the dark influence and deep fascination JIM MORRISON ...
Lemonheads, The: The Lemonheads
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, April 1991
THEY'RE NOT doing themselves any favours, putting out another cover version. ...
On-U Sound System, Adrian Sherwood: On-U Sound: Circus Attractions
Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, April 1991
This week, the On-U Sound takes its show on the road with 36 acts and five hours of murderous rhythm every night. IAN GITTINS joined ...
Bruce Springsteen: Palais Des Sports, Lyons, France
Live Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, May 1991
COME ELECTION time, even the President of France must sometimes have to make speeches. And when the President makes a speech, nothing gets in his ...
Jane's Addiction, Happy Mondays: Jane's Addiction/Happy Mondays: Madison Square Garden, NYC
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, May 1991
IT MUST HAVE seemed an inspired notion to pair these unabashed champions of drug culture, but inside sources tell me that it's turned out to ...
De La Soul: Malice In Wonderland
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, May 1991
With their new album, De La Soul Is Dead, the founders of the hippy hop movement have turned their back on peace, love and positivity. ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, June 1991
BOBBY GILLESPIE reckons that his new single, 'Higher Than The Sun', will revolutionise pop in the Nineties in the same way as the Pistols' 'Anarchy ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, June 1991
CALIFORNIAN band HOLE sit around my Hollywood hotel room in various degrees of drunkenness. ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, June 1991
THIS FOUR-CD mega-anthology reveals that there are actually two James Browns. The first is JB the patrician and patriarch: the disciplinarian who fined his musicians ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, July 1991
CONSOLIDATED ARE the new militants of American rock. Their debut album, The Myth Of Rock, agitated against rock’s regressive impotence, its spurious rebellion and disengagement ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, July 1991
Can you feel it? A creeping paralysis accompanying every advance in the obese accumulation of ‘good music’, a seeping slide into the mire of eclecticism. ...
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, July 1991
LFO are a perfect example of the kind of thing that makes fogeys furious. They hit the charts from nowhere while still in their teens, ...
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, July 1991
Into the dressing room of the Manchester International comes a figure in tight yellow tartan flares. "The chicks love these strides, man. Ha ha. Anyone ...
Spiritualized: Young, Gifted and Tongue-Tied
Interview by Jim Arundel, Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, August 1991
Jason Pierce is the man who makes Marcel Marceau seem positively gobby. You'd get more anecdotes out of a house-brick, they told us as we ...
Bomb The Bass: Unknown Territory (Rhythm King)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, August 1991
WE NEED a new category – something like "progressive dance", or prog funk – to describe the new post-aciieed groups like 808 Slate, Bass-O-Matic and ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, August 1991
MERCURY REV's debut album has been hailed as one of the albums of the year. SIMON REYNOLDS talks to the band in New York about ...
Interview by John Robb, Melody Maker, August 1991
As they prepare for their appearance at this weekend's Reading Festival, Veteran art rock terrorists talk to Johnny Robb ...
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, September 1991
CURRENTLY THE focus of much cultish enthusiasm, Pavement exemplify all that's groovy and all that's grievous about American underground rock right now. ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, October 1991
What’s the bond between rap and metal? What’s the ‘black holocaust’? Why are Public Enemy angrier than ever? SIMON REYNOLDS meets CHUCK D to discover ...
House Of Love, The: The House Of Love's Guy Chadwick
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, October 1991
If there was ever any doubt that it’s tough at the top, one need only look at what happened to GUY CHADWICK. Feted, eulogized, deified ...
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, October 1991
Stereolab are onstage. There are seven of them tonight; five male (two guitars, bass, drums and keyboard) and two female (singing). They are supporting, so ...
Nirvana: Station To Devastation
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, November 1991
On their recent European tour, Seattle's masters of chaos, Nirvana, managed to set their tour bus alight, upset the Pogues and The Ramones, piss into ...
Slayer: Always Crashing In The Same Carnage
Interview by Neil Perry, Melody Maker, November 1991
Are SLAYER Satanic High Priests who revel in gore or misunderstood philanthropists to a nihilistic generation? NEIL PERRY joins them in the London Dungeon and ...
Nirvana: Kilburn National, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, December 1991
THE ONLY EXPLANATION is that a lot of people didn't realise how angry and alienated they really were. Once in a blue moon, a group ...
William Orbit/Bassomatic: Inner Space
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, January 1992
It's four in the afternoon, which is a bit early in the day for William Orbit, especially as he awoke with a migraine. ...
PJ Harvey: P. J. Harvey: Sex and Bile and Rock and Roll
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, February 1992
IT'S SUNDAY AFTERNOON, grey and bitter and it looks like rain. Your flatmate, Lisa, and her gangly boyfriend, Ben, are in her room. They're burning ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, February 1992
They've been nominated for a Brits award as Best International Newcomers, and their new single, 'Reality Used To Be A friend Of Mine', is a ...
Nymphs, The: Nymphs: The Asylum Siren
Report and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, February 1992
When singer Inger Lorre first heard Patti Smith, she knew she had to become a rock'n'roll star. When she heard the Velvet's 'Heroin'. She got ...
Massive Attack: Wheeling In The Years
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, February 1992
BRITAIN IS CRAP, we decide over lunch in a Bristol restaurant where we're waiting for Massive Attack. The food is cold, the service is virtually ...
Primal Scream: The Ritz, New York NY
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, February 1992
Days Of Future Past ...
Soundgarden: Camden Underworld, London
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, March 1992
CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP, swallow swallow grimace. The sound of a music journalist eating his own words. Good job my writing's normally so tasteful. Yum. Gobble ...
Lou Reed: The Velvet Undertaker: Lou Reed at the Palace Theatre, Manchester
Live Review by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, March 1992
A CURSORY listen to Lou's latest, Magic And Loss, and you'd be forgiven for thinking that Tragic Old Toss might have been a better title. ...
Jane Siberry: Rhyme and Seasons
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, May 1992
"It's not art, it's a power struggle. It captures me and I capture it back," says Jane Siberry at the start of one of her, ...
Report and Interview by Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, May 1992
To get on L7's shitlist, all you have to do is be a member of the Moral Majority or dis women. To get off the ...
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, May 1992
STEREOLAB, to me, were always one of those anonymous State Of The Art bands which so needlessly cluttered up the pages of the music press, ...
Soundgarden: Horticulture-Shock
Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, June 1992
Soundgarden provide proof positive that you can be a successful metal band without being sexist and racist dickheads. Seattle's finest have already conquered the US ...
Sebadoh, Pavement, Buffalo Tom: Buffalo Tom/Pavement/Sebadoh: The Cattle Club, Sacramento
Live Review by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, June 1992
ERIC IS STRANDED alone onstage behind his drum kit. Sebadoh have been announced but it's clear that the rest of the band aren't even in ...
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, June 1992
THEY'RE ALL elbows and angst, are Radiohead. They want to gouge their mark so deep into us yet don't truly know How To Do It. ...
Lemonheads, The: The Lemonheads: It's A Shame About Ray
Review by Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, June 1992
WHAT DO THE Lemonheads want from you? Unlike Nirvana, who want to raise your awareness, or Buffalo Tom, who want you to feel the hurt, ...
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, July 1992
Tanya Donnelly and I have met before. She was a nervous, skittish platinum blonde then who kept leaving the room to be ill, clutching her ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, July 1992
YOU KNOW, MAYBE the Scene wasn’t so bad after all. Sure, it churned out rapture by rote, but grunge has similarly turned rage into a ...
Evan Dando, Lemonheads, The: Lemonheads
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, July 1992
JULIANA SCREAMS. SHE SOUNDS PETULANT, ANNOYED FRUSTRATED: "I JUST WANT A BIT PART IN YOUR LIFE! I JUST WANT A BIT PART IN YOUR LIFE!" ...
Pavement: Some Enchanted Evenings
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, July 1992
The post-Nirvana deluge of grunge guitar bands is threatening to stifle rock. Only a handful of genuine mavericks and freaks are holding out against the ...
Nirvana: 'In My Head, I'm So Ugly'
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, July 1992
In the frankest and most comprehensive interview he's given since Nevermind blasted Nirvana into the rock super league, Kurt Cobain talks to EVERETT TRUE in ...
Nirvana: Crucified by Success?
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, July 1992
In the second part of his exclusive NIRVANA interview, Everett True meets the band in Stockholm and finds Kurt Cobain, Chris Novoselic and Dave Grohl ...
Nirvana: Come As You Aren’t: Nirvana at Isle Of Calf Festival, Oslo
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, July 1992
THEY DON'T DESERVE THIS. Forget any reports you may have heard that rock is alive and kicking. The world’s only credible arena rock band is ...
Bjorn Again: Tribute Bands: Send In The Clones
Report by Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, August 1992
What the hell's going on? BJORN AGAIN are on at Reading, ABBA are more popular than they have been for years and tribute bands devoted ...
Happy Mondays: Yes Please! (Factory)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, September 1992
NO THANKS ...
Bark Psychosis: Ghosts In The Machine
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, September 1992
0 minutes 01 seconds 'Scum' begins. ...
Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, The: The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Axe of Faith
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, September 1992
THE DISPOSABLE HEROES OF HIPHOPRISY don't piss about like most groups who claim to be 'political'. The Disposables just get on down and do something ...
Saint Etienne: St Etienne: Let's Be Avenue!
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, October 1992
I wanted to talk to St Etienne because I don't like their records as much as everyone else seems to. I don't believe that they're ...
Orb, The: The Orb: Sphere and Loathing
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, October 1992
THE ORB are on the road and mayhem reigns. PUSH joins in the jollities ...
Big Black: Steve Albini: Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, November 1992
Big Black (1981-1987) were one of the most influential bands of the Eighties. Industrial music, 'skronk' rock, New York noisecore, British indiepop, Nirvana, Ministry, Suede, ...
Leftfield: Release The Pressure!
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, December 1992
CRITICAL ACCLAIM means bugger-all in clubland. Here, an act's reputation is better measured by the number of others sampling them. And, right now, it's impossible ...
Cure, The: The Cure: Robert Smith's Wish List
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, December 1992
FIFTEEN years on, THE CURE are post-punk's hardy perennial. Of all their peers, they're virtually alone in making it to stadium level without pandering or ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, January 1993
FREE KITTENEXACTLY 12 MONTHS AGO, blonde terrorist Kim Gordon of avant-grungers Sonic Youth and white panther Julie Cafritz, once the glamour and guitars in Pussy ...
Pop Will Eat Itself: We're Not Serious Artists
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, January 1993
THE GIGTHE FIRST-TIME I see Pop Will Eat Itself, It is nine o'clock on Wednesday, Clint is wearing baggy white pyjamas, Graham is fiddling with ...
Pavement: Surreally Saying Something
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, March 1993
In America, pavement don't seem any more surreal than drive-in burger joints, gun-toting grocers and Manhattan cable TV. ...
Huggy Bear, Bikini Kill: Riot Grrrl: The Riot Girls And Bender Boys Tour
Profile and Interview by Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, March 1993
It really is happening! The Daily Star said so! Yup, one year after The Maker first reported on this new phenomenon, the whole world has ...
American Music Club: 'Club for Zeroes'
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, March 1993
AMC MAKE MUSIC for losers, loners, early-hour fuck-ups and late-night wasters. Perfect for us, really. ...
L7, Nirvana, Breeders, The, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, The: Nirvana: Cobain't That Peculiar
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, April 1993
Last week, Nirvana, L7, The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy and The Breeders staged a massive benefit for Bosnia at San Francisco's Cow Palace. Everett True ...
Fall, The: The Fall: 15 Years Of Fame
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, May 1993
THERE'S SOMETHING TREMENDOUSLY reassuring about the fact that The Fall, and Mark E Smith, exist. ...
Nirvana: Cow Palace, San Francisco
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, May 1993
LET'S GO BACK a few years. Rock – as an innovative and thus creative form – is dead. I'll temper that. Rock, as created by ...
Report and Interview by Pete Paphides, Melody Maker, May 1993
RADIOHEAD arrived on our pages in January, proclaiming themselves the saviours of UK pop. Four months later, they're on top of a hill in Los ...
Blur: Modern Life Is Rubbish (Food)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, May 1993
CONTEMPORARY FAULT – ADJUST YOUR MIND-SET ...
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, May 1993
BEETHOVEN WAS indeed deaf. And, Lord, upon looking at the CD panel and realising that after a full prison stretch of maudlin warbling that there ...
Suede: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, May 1993
THIS IS happening with our permission. We wanted it to happen. We virtually willed it to happen. Suede are this season's singing saviours because we ...
Suede: The Best New Band In America?
Report and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, June 1993
SUEDE have already proved themselves in the UK, both critically and commercially. The next step is for the fab four to cross the Atlantic and ...
Stereo MCs, U2: Stereo MCs: Zooropean Sons
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, June 1993
Stereo MCs are already one of the biggest (dance) bands in Britain. By the end of the summer, after touring Europe with U2, unarguably the ...
PJ Harvey, Gallon Drunk: PJ Harvey: The Academy, New York NY
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, July 1993
FROM GRUNGE'S "castration blues" to the glutinous gloom of Come/Red House Painters/Mazzy Star to tonight's support band Gallon Drunk (with their cliché-encrusted homage to Nick ...
Alex Chilton, Big Star: Big Star: 'Whatever Was There, I Drank It Or Took It...'
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, August 1993
...So says Alex Chilton, inspirational genius behind Seventies legends BIG STAR, whose brief but influential career embraced three classic albums and more drugs, booze and ...
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, August 1993
The very mention of THE THE inspires visions of musical doom, fretful soul-searching and a general air of unreconstructed gloom. But does MATT JOHNSON really ...
Cocteau Twins: Dreams of Consciousness
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, September 1993
ROBIN IS NOT HERE today. He is housebound with chicken pox, "covered in spots from head to foot, it's fucking terrible. I got it from ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, September 1993
By now, you must all know about Moby, the techno nutter who's a Christian vegan, doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs. And you'll have heard ...
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, October 1993
At the open air theatre on the THE sun-blasted campus of San Diego State University, the golden-limbed teens in the box-fresh sneakers and blue and ...
Kate Bush: Heaven’s Kate: Kate Bush
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, November 1993
ENGLAND MY LION HEART KATE BUSH AN ENGLISH original. In 1978, that wavering, starburst voice seemed to come out of nowhere, but only because it's ...
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, November 1993
Evan Dando likes to avoid relationships. Juliana Hatfield is a self-confessed virgin. And yet, whatever their sexual orientation, Ev and Jules are indieland's second most ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, November 1993
Aphex Twin is unusual. He likes tanks. He hates sleeping. And he pours tea on his cereal. SIMON REYNOLDS meets the rave-age Mozart in a ...
Nirvana: The Coliseum, New York City
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, November 1993
IF THERE WERE any doubts that Nirvana had truly connected with America's rock heartland, the sight of the crowd tonight dispels them. It's a sea ...
Marvin Gaye: Here, My Dear (Motown)
Review by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, December 1993
ALMOST SILENTLY, Motown have finally issued this all-but-forgotten masterpiece on CD. ...
Mothers Of Invention, The, Frank Zappa: Frank Zappa RIP
Obituary by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, December 1993
FRANK ZAPPA, who died last week at the age of 52, has long been regarded as one of the most important figures in rock, a ...
Nirvana, Pearl Jam: Pearl Jam Versus Nirvana: The Final Countdown
Essay by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, December 1993
IF NUMBERS COUNT for anything, Pearl Jam wiped the floor with Nirvana. In its first week of release, Vs sold five times as many copies ...
Nirvana, Breeders, The: Kurt Cobain and Kim Deal: Sleepless In Seattle
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, December 1993
For a concert spectacular to be broadcast worldwide on New Year's Eve, MTV went to Seattle, where they'd but together a bill featuring Cypress Hill ...
Stooges, The: Stooges Reissues
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 1994
The Stooges (Elektra)Fun House (Elektra) FUN HOUSE is, no contest, the greatest rock'n'roll album of all time. And its prequel, The Stooges, is the tremor ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 1994
Pink Flag (Harvest/EMI)Chairs Missing (Harvest/EMI)154 (Harvest/EMI) ...
Robert Wyatt: Going Back A Bit - A Little History of Robert Wyatt (Virgin)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 1994
AT LAST, a long-overdue anthology of stuff and nonsense by one of the great eccentrics of English art-rock, Robert Wyatt. A miscellany of bits and ...
Huggy Bear: The Powerhaus, Islington, London
Live Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, January 1994
SHOULDN'T HUGGY Bear have split up by now? ...
Overview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, January 1994
What is JUNGLE? And where does it fit into the new dance scheme? SIMON REYNOLDS reports ...
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, January 1994
At last count Tricky owes me two stereos and an eardrum. Yup, when the bassline to 'Aftermath' thunders into your life your woofers are history, ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, January 1994
In 1990, ROYAL TRUX released Twin Infinitives, a double album once described as one of the 'most hallucinatory avant-rock sprawls ever'. Then they got even ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Ruff Justice
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, February 1994
SNOOP DOGGY DOGG is America's most controversial performer, taking the street-tuff credentials of previous gangsta rappers to new extremes of 4 Realness. His album, Doggystyle, ...
Pavement: R U Ready 2 Unrock?!
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, February 1994
PAVEMENT have mutated from being the weirdest band on Planet Pop to the '94 version of Easy Listening Gods, Steely Dan. EVERETT TRUE meets mainman ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: The Equinox, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, February 1994
SNOOP IS in the house, and so are we, finally. The pre-match build-up is a work of art, a triumph of modern mythology and marketing. ...
Hole, Courtney Love, Nirvana: Courtney Love: In A Hole
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, February 1994
Hole are, to all intents and purposes, Courtney Love. And Courtney Love is a one-woman spite factory, spewing out bile and savaging anyone who dares ...
Fall, The, Inspiral Carpets: Insprial Carpets and Mark E. Smith: Manchester United
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, February 1994
Inspiral Carpets team-up with Mark E. Smith! For a one-off collaboration called ‘I Want You’! Psychedelic optimism meets psychedelic miserabilism! ...
Elvis Costello: Brutal Youth (Warner Bros.)
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, February 1994
PRAY TO GOD that Elvis Costello never writes a song about you and relationships. Rather Mike Leigh or Ken Loach documents you, rather a fly ...
Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, March 1994
M PEOPLE are the darlings of hip clubbers and pop kids alike, recent Brits winners, and THE crossover band from club culture who can simply ...
Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Warp)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1994
The prodigious, prolific and increasingly eccentric Richard James brings us two and a half hours of his unique muse. SIMON REYNOLDS is bewitched on our ...
Aphex Twin: 'Phex And Drugs And Rock'N'Roll
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, March 1994
APHEX TWIN is the first superstar of ambient, the crossover King of innovative pop. Which is why Seefeel, Saint Etienne, The Boo Radleys, Curve, hell, ...
Primal Scream: SCREAMADULLICA – Primal Scream: Give Out But Don't Give Up (Creation)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, March 1994
Pre-modernism! Culture pundits reckon art, architecture and literature are all trying to return to classical values. Why should rock be left out? Primal Scream wanna ...
Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie: Prophet Or Dead Loss?
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, April 1994
Primal Scream’s new LP, Give Out But Don’t Give Up, has split the voters. Some think it’s retro-rockist rubbish, others believe it’s the ultimate good-time ...
Nirvana: Kurt Cobain: I Hate Myself And I Want To Die
Obituary by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, April 1994
AND SO, to quote his mother, the only person who appears to have been actively concerned about his well-being in the last few days of ...
Nirvana: Kurt Cobain 1967-1994
Obituary by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, April 1994
In Bloom — The Musical Legacy of Kurt Cobain ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, June 1994
Before PAUL LESTER travelled to Detroit and came into contact with PANTERA, currently America's fastest, loudest, most popular and OTT speed metal band, he looked ...
Pulp: Non Stop Erotique Cabaret
Report and Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, June 1994
"I WAS WONDERING", says Jarvis Cocker. "There was a baboon in the top floor of a flat behind where we played in Paris last night." ...
Stereolab: Separation Terrorists
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, July 1994
Subversive MOR may sound like a contradiction in terms, but it’s the best available description of Stereolab’s new single, ‘Ping Pong’, the most brilliant example ...
Prodigy, The: The Prodigy: Touched By The Hand Of Prod
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, July 1994
"So I've decided to take my work back underground... to stop it falling into the wrong hands." ...
Ice Cube / Gravediggaz: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, September 1994
TRY AND tie down hip-hop with yer baggage and it always finds a way to bust loose. Never mind asking "Has Rap Gone Too Far", ...
Portishead, Massive Attack: Trip Hop Don't Stop: Massive Attack and Portishead
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, September 1994
Imagine a cross between ambient and hip-hop. Imagine a Brit version of Cypress Hill or Gravediggaz's spooky Gothic Hop. Imagine the sound of 'bombs exploding ...
Arrested Development: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, October 1994
IT TAKES A while, but I finally work out what it is they remind me of. ...
Elastica: From Hype To Eternity
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, October 1994
ELASTICA were voted Best New Band in our Readers' Poll almost before the band had released a note. Why? Because you could tell just by ...
Beck, Sebadoh: Beck and Sebadoh: It's Saturday, It's Two O'Clock and It's... Slackerjack!
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, November 1994
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Get BECK, the blue-eyed, wigged-out Californian space baby whose slacker anthem 'Loser' topped the American charts, ...
Veruca Salt: Saline of the Century
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, January 1995
Since the release of their brilliant debut single 'Seether', VERUCA SALT have become the fastest rising band on the indie scene, both here and in ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, January 1995
1995 is set to be SLEEPER's year. The latest leading lights in the ongoing resurgence of Britpop brightened up last year with a string of ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, January 1995
From a tiny town outside Bristol came last year's best album, the piercing, lovelorn and sexy-as-f*** Dummy by PORTISHEAD. EVERETT TRUE meets the band to ...
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, February 1995
"THE THING IS, we won't let anyone down." ...
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, February 1995
IF NOTHING ELSE, it's one of the better conjuring tricks of the age. Sleeper, as a musical entity, are resolutely standard issue, yet are hailed ...
Retrospective by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1995
If anyone remembers Fleetwood Mac's Tusk at all, it's as the surprise flop sequel to 1977 Rumours. A soft rock masterpiece (gorgeous melodicism charged with ...
Pop Will Eat Itself: No One Likes Us, We Don't Care
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, March 1995
SO NO ONE likes Pop Will Eat Itself, and they don't care. Not strictly true, of course – after all, they've enjoyed a good dozen ...
Elastica: Twang Twang, You're Cred!
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1995
This week, ELASTICA’s debut album has achieved the greatest double whammy of critical and commercial success since Parklife and Definitely Maybe, final proof that Britpop’s ...
A Guy Called Gerald: Wicked Guy!
Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, March 1995
A GUY CALLED GERALD is at the forefront of junglist innovation and future-shock technological experimentation. A guy called SIMON REYNOLDS joins him in virtual space. ...
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, April 1995
Radiohead: The Forum, London ...
La's, The: There He’s Gone: Lee Mavers
Interview by Paul Moody, Melody Maker, April 1995
Simple as. When Lee Mavers talks, in that cracked-up Mersey drawl of his, he talks. ...
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, May 1995
"There is no name yet for the places he or his voice can't go..." They said that about Sixties archangel Tim Buckley and they're saying ...
Verve, The: The Verve: live at Manchester Roadhouse
Live Review by John Robb, Melody Maker, June 1995
YEAH, we know that Richard Ashcroft can talk a good campaign and that The Verve are the nearly men of the great northern rock thing, ...
McAlmont & Butler: The Band That Likes To Play... 'YES'!
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, June 1995
DAVID McALMONT used to be in the lavishly praised but commercially unsuccessful THIEVES. The he formed the even more lavishly praised, though still commercially unsuccessful, ...
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, June 1995
Radiohead's The Bends is one of the albums of the year. We already know this. We also know that Thom Yorke is the next richeykurt ...
Jesus & Mary Chain, The: The Jesus & Mary Chain: Chain Reaction
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, June 1995
"I MUST REMEMBER," says Jim Reid, "never to come here again." ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, June 1995
"I had this psychic drawing done," says Tricky, sucking greedily on the first of the four joints he's to consume in the next hour. Behind ...
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, June 1995
NOW HERE'S what you know about Björk. She's tiny, elfin, mad as a rabbit, childish, arty, trendy and Icelandic. ...
Therapy?: Penetration Terrorists
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, July 1995
THERAPY? ALMOST lost their minds back there, OD'ing on women and drugs. So they changed – no more cartoon punk behaviour for them. Instead, as ...
Cypress Hill, Ice Cube: Cypress Hill: Do Believe The Hype
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, September 1995
CYPRESS HILL's self-titled debut album changed the face of hip hop. Their second, Black Sunday, was the rap crossover LP of the early Nineties. But ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, September 1995
Read this, it's great! ECHOBELLY, who are Number Three at the time of going to press with their new album, On, have a habit of ...
Radiohead, R.E.M.: R.E.M./Radiohead: Meadows Music Theatre, Hartford, CT
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, October 1995
SCARY 'MONSTERS' AND SUPER 'CREEPS' ...
Burt Bacharach: Bacharach to the Future
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, October 1995
As grey-haired, 67-year-old composers go, Burt Bacharach is pretty f***ing cool. Paul Lester interviews the melodic inspiration behind Oasis, Stereolab and Pulp. ...
Nirvana, Foo Fighters: Foo Fighters: The Chosen Foo
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, November 1995
THE FOO FIGHTERS Melody Maker interview takes place in the lobby of some swank hotel in Madrid, Spain. Outside, gun-toting cops keep the hookers at ...
Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, February 1996
The new TORTOISE album, with its radical approach to rock, dub, trip hop and avant-Techno, will blow your mind. SIMON REYNOLDS heralds the future ...
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, March 1996
BOSTON. IT'S COLD. Covered in snow. Twee. In the rarefied, tourist part of the city centre, fairy lights twinkle on the gaudy exterior of Doc ...
Report and Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, March 1996
Ever been to a CAST gig? Total entertainment. Ever been to Amsterdam? Druggy hedonism meets sensual abandon. So what happens if you put Cast and ...
Foo Fighters: Have We Got Foos For You
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, April 1996
Foo Fighters are back with a new single, 'Big Me', and a fresh determination to not let adulation force them into a Nirvana–type corner. Melody ...
Chic: Bernard Edwards 1952-1996
Obituary by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, May 1996
BERNARD EDWARDS of CHIC died last week. Paul Lester celebrates the life and work of a massively influential musician, producer and songwriter ...
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, June 1996
BECK is back. But is the slacker guru's new opus a celebration of eclectic musical styles or just an aimless shambles? ...
Screaming Trees: Ashes To Ashes
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, July 1996
WE'RE LUCKY Screaming Trees, peers of Nirvana, are still here, given mainman Mark Lanegan's excess-all-areas past. We're especially lucky because the Trees have just recorded ...
Lemonheads, The: The Lemonheads: Car Button Cloth
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, July 1996
NO RADICAL new departures for Evan, then. No jungle. No trip hop. No techno. No baggy. No "slo-fi", even. Thank f*** for that. A band who ...
Oasis: They Thought It Was All Over
Report by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, September 1996
THE ANNOUNCEMENT came on Friday, 24 hours of nail-biting drama. Oasis, after all, were not going to split. ...
Soundgarden: Apollo, Manchester
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, September 1996
PERFECT. AS only the superficial can be. ...
Kenickie: Kamikaze! Karaoke! Kenickie!
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, November 1996
KENICKIE may barnstorm through life like kamikaze karaoke kids, but there's sadness in their madness ...
Screaming Trees: Riverside, Newcastle
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, November 1996
FOR A gig you might've expected to be a pissed–up, beery slop, all bum–notes and chaos, it's all in the subtleties of feel. This is ...
Placebo, Foo Fighters: Placebo & Foo Fighters: Hallo Spaceboys
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, February 1997
THE SETTING: Placebo's dressing room, backstage at Madison Square Garden. David Bowie is halfway through his 50th Birthday Concert. Two of his special guests are ...
Daft Punk: Plastique Fantastique
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, March 1997
It's taken a while, but mainstream America is finally welcoming dance music with open aims. Now they're going crazy over the Chemicals and are poised ...
Method Man, RZA, Ghostface Killah, Wu-Tang Clan: Wu-Tang Clan: Martial Lore
Special Feature by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, May 1997
Public Enemy's fall from grace left hip hop without a heroic focus. Enter WU-TANG CLAN, a crew from Staten Island whose ever-changing line-up has produced ...
Ben Folds Five: The Wax Inspectors!
Report by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, July 1997
Jeez, the things you find out when you take an American band — BEN FOLDS FIVE — to a London tourist attraction — Madame Tussaud's ...
Michael Jackson: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, July 1997
All You Need Is Glove ...
Spice Girls, The: The Spice Girls: The Notorious Zig-A-Zig-Ah!
Profile by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, August 1997
THERE'S NO ducking it. The Spice Girls are undoubtedly the most successful British teenypop act. Their album, Spice, has sold over seven million albums in ...
All Saints: Post Spice Hip-Hop
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, August 1997
THERE ARE certain things in life you can be sure of. Rain on Bank Holidays, never having enough money, Alan Shearer getting injured when it ...
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, September 1997
Mart For Art's Sake ...
Marilyn Manson: Alternative Cult Star
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, September 1997
He's seven-foot tall and rips his stomach to shreds with a half-broken bottle on stage. But, heh, he's still little Brian to his mum. We ...
Green Day: Stick 'Em Up, Punks!
Interview by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, October 1997
Those loveable American punk rockers GREEN DAY are back. We join them in Milan to find out if they're still punk at heart. Guess what? ...
Hole: My Body The Hand Grenade (City Slang)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, October 1997
COURTNEY LOVE reigned supreme in 1995 – and didn't we know she knew it. Now, with the release off a new album, well, it's all ...
Verve, The: The Verve: The Boston T-Shirt Party!
Report by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, November 1997
Welcome to the beauty of the new soul rebels. We join THE VERVE in America and discover the Wigan warriors are ready to take on ...
Natalie Imbruglia: Shredded Treat!
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, December 1997
Why NATALIE IMBRUGLIA? Because her debut single 'Torn' is f***in' brilliant, and she's gorgeous and she drinks! Wahey! We invite Nat out for a beer ...
Profile and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, January 1998
"THINGS ARE GETTING strange, I'm starting to worry/This could be a case for Mulder & Scully…" ...
Bernard Butler: People Move On (Creation)****
Review by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, April 1998
YOU KNOW the story. March 25,1992 and there in block capitals, the stuff legends are made of: "Suede – The Best New Band In Britain". ...
Kenickie: Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, June 1998
HEY, LITTLE rich girl, where did you go wrong? The 'Nick should never have moved to London. Left home, met all these glittery chuckleheads, built ...
Review by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, September 1998
COURTNEY LOVE is performing the most outrageous and unexpected act of an outrageous, unexpected life: surviving. Her rewriting of 'Miss World' on Hole's last tour ...
Report and Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, September 1998
The original Bratpoppers, ASH, are back! We meet them in Sweden and hear about Ian Paisley, the nuclear-tastic new album and Charlotte's death-threats ...
PJ Harvey: Is This Desire? (Island)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, September 1998
IT NEVER rains, it pours. The release of Is This Desire?, PJ Harvey's fifth album, comes hot on the heels of releases by such former ...
RZA, Wu-Tang Clan: RZA: The Digital Revolution
Interview by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, November 1998
One minute RZA's producing the Wu-Tang Clan, the next he's writing as his alter ego Bobby Digital, then he's off to star in the movies. ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, January 1999
It's million-selling records, a 24-hour media circus and a limo in every city for HOLE, but does Courtney Love want even more success? Oh yes... ...
Ed Rush & Optical: Quantum Drum'n'Bass
Interview by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, January 1999
IN CONTACT, Jodie Foster climbs into the capsule, straps herself in, and mentally prepares for the impending voyage. The aliens have kindly given Earth/the US ...
Tom Jones, Stereophonics: Tom Jones and the Stereophonics
Profile and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, March 1999
LOOKING OUT across the affluent Silverlake area of Los Angeles stretching out below us, this is not your usual house. Perched high on a hilltop, ...
Britney Spears: Baby One More Time (Jive)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, March 1999
I WOULDN'T, actually. Jailbait. Pastels. Popsox. Mall rat. Sure, all the obvious jokes cover up the fact that this is a document of pure venality. ...
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, April 1999
20 Minute Party People ...
Report and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, October 1999
IT'S A SPARKLY autumnal London morning. In a back road off Oxford Street, a band are huddled in a radio production company recording an interview ...
John Lydon: Psychobabble: John Lydon
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, June 2000
NOTE: When the Filth and the Fury film was released in 2000, Lydon agreed to do three press interviews, of which Melody Maker, for some ...
Graham Coxon: The Leadmill, Sheffield
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, July 2000
MAYBE THE whys and wherefores don't matter. Maybe it's pointless trying to figure out the real reasons for people coming here. Nobody could really have ...
Coldplay: 'Brightness and Hope and Devotion'
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, July 2000
THAT'S COLDPLAY'S MOOD, POST-'YELLOW'S' GLORIOUS SUCCESS. WE MEET THE BAND WHO ARE FAST PROVING HOW NICE GUYS CAN FINISH FIRST ...
Dilated Peoples: 'Hip-Hop Culture Has Suffered. We Want To Reverse That'
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, October 2000
IT'S NOT JUST PUNK AND METAL THAT ARE KICKING OFF STATESIDE — SO IS HIP-HOP AS DILATED PEOPLES TELL US ...
Dr. Dre, Eminem, N.W.A.: Dr. Dre: 10 Reasons Not To Forget About Dre
Comment by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, November 2000
THOUGHT DR DRE HAD SLIPPED OUR MINDS, DID YA? NOPE — US MUTHAF***AS WERE JUST ACTING LIKE WE HADN'T REMEMBERED THE HIP-HOP POWERHOUSE. HERE'S WHY ...
Queens Of The Stone Age: We Pride Ourselves On Giving You A Night You'll Never Remember
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, November 2000
WE JOIN QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, ROCK'S ULTIMATE HEDONISTS, ON THE ROAD IN THE UK FOR TALES OF DRUGS, DRINK AND ONSTAGE PENIS SHRINKAGE ...
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