Trouser Press
Cockney Rebel, Steve Harley: Steve Harley Interviewed
Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, April 1975
Ever since the first rumblings came across the Atlantic about Cockney Rebel, they've generated quite a bit of curiosity and debate among American Anglophiles who ...
Rory Gallagher: TOTP meets Mr. Gallagher: The Story on Rory
Interview by Dave Schulps, Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, April 1976
LET'S START AT the beginning. Your first band was the Fontana Showband. What exactly is a showband? ...
Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin, Yardbirds, The: Jimmy Page: The Trouser Press Interview
Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, October 1977
Dave Schulps, senior editor of Trouser Press, spent more than six hours with Page, one of the longest interviews Page ever did. The interview was ...
Rumour, The: The Rumour: Not Mac's — Max!
Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, October 1977
"ASK US WHY we called the album Max, c'mon, ask us." ...
Stranglers, The: The Stranglers Do The Pose
Comment by Peter Silverton, Trouser Press, October 1977
EXTREME REACTIONS to the Stranglers are not unusual. Take the case of a mate (well, acquaintance) of mine, Dick O'Dell, tour/road manager for Alex Harvey. ...
Essay by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, October 1977
IT MAY COME as a bit of a shock, especially if you were just getting used to the idea, but Britain's new wave movement is ...
Overview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, October 1977
After A Glorious Year, British Punks Are Now Absorbed Into The Music Biz Money-go-round ...
Small Faces, The: The Small Faces Story
Retrospective by Peter Silverton, Trouser Press, October 1977
IT'S 1968, ALRIGHT. Me and a mate are lounging around in his garden. His parents are out for the day. School's out for the summer. ...
Robert Gordon, Link Wray: Robert Gordon and Link Wray: Robert Gordon with Link Wray
Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, October 1977
ROBERT GORDON with Link Wray recaptures the one elusive quality so often missing from music of the '70s: feeling. This is trickier than it seems ...
Ronnie Lane, Pete Townshend: Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane: Rough Mix
Review by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, October 1977
WHATEVER THE reasons may be for Pete Townshend's self-imposed exile from both recording and commenting on the current music scene, it's a relief to have ...
Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, November 1977
They like to think of themselves as "pop punks." In America most of the attention paid Blondie is focused on namesake Debbie Harry, whose blonde ...
Stranglers, The: The Stranglers: No More Heroes
Comment by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, December 1977
IT'S SO HARD to decode the Stranglers. After you've gone through the easy observations about Dave Greenfield's keyboard sound and its relationship to Ray Manzarek, ...
Profile and Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, December 1977
SO YOU THINK Stiff are the only one allowed to go slightly batty with their advertising, eh? Well guess again. These Motors boys got 'em ...
Elvis Costello: I fought the law!
Profile and Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, December 1977
RARELY HAS MYSTERY surrounded the arrival of a new rock performer the way it has Elvis Costello. Totally unknown a year ago, courtesy of Stiff ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, December 1977
I'VE FELT A LOT of things about a lot of bands over the years, but pity isn't one of the most common. ...
Dr. Feelgood: Dr Feelgood: Be Seeing You
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, December 1977
FINALLY THE DEBUT of a Wilkoless Feelgoods is upon us. Even more than that, it's the Nick Lowe-produced debut of a Wilkoless Feelgoods. ...
Small Faces, The: Small Faces: Rock Roots: The Singles Album
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, December 1977
NOW THAT STEVE Marriot has put a version of the Small Faces back together, there's been a bit of resurgence (perhaps as a result of ...
Steve Hillage: Motivation Radio
Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, January 1978
EARTH CALLING Steve Hillage! Earth calling Steve Hillage! Gee, it's too late. Steve is lost in space. ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1978
I AM sitting here this rainy Saturday afternoon, pretending to review this, presumably the last, Roxy Music album; an obligatory collection of those tracks which ...
Eddie & The Hot Rods: Cruising with Eddie & the Hot Rods
Report by Jim Green, Trouser Press, January 1978
THE NEW Eddie and the Hot Rods album cover is black and white. It's got this geezer, lead singer Barrie Masters if you must know, ...
Sex Pistols, The: The Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1978
HO HUM, ANOTHER album from the Pistols. No, seriously, this is it. After all the controversy, bannings, bullshit and speculation, the Pistols finally have something ...
Horslips On (Almost Everyone But) Horslips
Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1978
THE FOLLOWING HORSLIPS interview was done in New York in mid-October. It has very little to do with the group or its music, but consists ...
Cheap Trick: Smart, Sleek and Debonair
Profile and Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, February 1978
AMERICA'S A FUNNY place for rock music. Just when you assume that the well of talent that unleashed classic outfits like the Velvet Underground, Doors ...
Tom Robinson Band: Tom Robinson: Happy The Way He Is
Profile by Paul Rambali, Trouser Press, February 1978
SOME PEOPLE are worried that the next few years in Britain will see the rise of extreme right wing sentiments turning the country into an ...
Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd: Syd Barrett: Careening Through Life...
Retrospective by Kris DiLorenzo, Trouser Press, February 1978
THE COLOR black is not a solitary real color. Nor is it the total absence of color. A black hole in space, in fact, is ...
101'ers, The, Clash, The: The Clash: Greatness from Garageland
Report and Interview by Peter Silverton, Trouser Press, February 1978
UNANNOUNCED, TO SAY the least, a kid in boots, suspenders and short-cropped hair clambers through the photographers' pit and up onto the stage of London's ...
Be-Bop Deluxe: Be Bop Deluxe: Drastic Plastic (Harvest)
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, April 1978
For a while there, Be Bop was one of the great post-glitter hopes from Britain. The first trio of albums displayed Bill Nelson as a ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, April 1978
It would be a laughable understatement to say that lots has happened to Blondie (the group) since their previous album appeared slightly over 12 months ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, April 1978
As the fallout from new wave continues to turn up on plastic, a few gangs of rockers have chosen (wisely I suppose) to see how ...
Jonathan Richman: Modern Lovers: Modern Lovers Live
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, April 1978
AS A RESULT of a fairly ridiculous chain of events, the ‘Home of the Hits’ has relocated (at least for the time being) from Berkeley, ...
Radio Stars: Songs for Swinging Lovers (Chiswick)
Review by Peter Silverton, Trouser Press, April 1978
DESPITE STIFF’S CLAIMS, Chiswick Records has been the most adventurous of the new British storefront labels. While Stiff has relied for the most part on ...
Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, April 1978
KAREN TOWNSHEND answers the door wearing a puzzled look. "Hello. I'm here to see Pete. We've got an interview scheduled for ten o'clock." The puzzled ...
Guide by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, April 1978
If one may hazard an absurd guess based on no real information, it will probably be around November of this year when some smart punk ...
Essay by Kris DiLorenzo, Trouser Press, May 1978
Pink Floyd.(pink floid), n., a highly-developed rock band with no mind-body split; played rock'n'roll in the 60s writing from a "psychedelic" viewpoint; still playing rock'n'roll ...
Pete Townshend, Who, The: In Which Pete Townshend Gets Personal
Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, May 1978
"SHADDUP," YELLS Pete Townshend. Then he slaps his leg and Towser the dog comes running over. "Do you want to go out?" Pete asks, getting ...
Television: Tom Verlaine: In Search of Adventure
Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, May 1978
IT HAS BEEN over a year since Television's debut album, Marquee Moon, and for the band's American fans most of that time has been a ...
Elvis Costello: This Year's Model
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, May 1978
I WAS SOMEWHAT HESITANT about falling in love with My Aim Is True. It didn't make my 1977 Top Ten LP list because the songs ...
Rolling Stones, The, Andrew Loog Oldham: Andrew Loog Oldham
Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, June 1978
ONE OF THE most interesting personalities of the first decade of British rock was the Rolling Stones' sharp-tongued, red-headed manager, Andrew Loog Oldham. ...
Dictators, The: The Dictators Look For The Perfect Wave
Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, June 1978
The Record Plant, one of New York's top pro recording studios, is located in a fairly anonymous office building just west of Eighth Avenue in ...
Tom Robinson Band: Tom Robinson: Right On, Mister!
Profile and Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, June 1978
THE ABILITY TO walk into a room and make someone you've never met feel like they've known you for years is called 'charm.' The ability ...
Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, June 1978
I DISCOVERED A GREAT pastime the other day that you've gotta hear about. It's called headbanging. Not exactly what Suzy does in that cute li'l ...
Kinks, The, Dave Davies: Dave Davies: He Ain't Heavy, He's Ray's Brother
Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, June 1978
HORNSEY IS a sleepy working class neighborhood in the northeast of London, far removed from the teeming heart of the city. Not as far away ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, June 1978
THERE HAVE BEEN quite a few new wave bands who have a strong relationship with their audience, but not a one can compete with Sham ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, June 1978
FROM THE VERY start of their recording career, it was obvious that Generation X had some rather unparochial ideas about their role as a punk ...
Rainbow: Long Live Rock'n'Roll
Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, June 1978
MENTION GUITARIST Ritchie Blackmore around so-called "intelligent" rockers and you'll just get a bunch of barf noises in response. ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, June 1978
FOR ANYONE COUNTING, this is the third Trick LP to be released in a smidge under fourteen months. In that time, the band has played ...
Flamin' Groovies, The: Flamin' Groovies' Cyril Jordan Isn't Angry
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Trouser Press, July 1978
LIKE THE CITRÖEN, the Groovies have always been interesting, but never popular. Born amid the psychedelic rush of Haight Ashbury in 1965, the Groovies from ...
Ritchie Blackmore, Deep Purple: Ritchie Blackmore: I Want To Tell You What I've Been Doing
Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, July 1978
AS DAVE SCHULPS and I rolled along in the darkness to our impending interview, we were filled with apprehension. After all, Ritchie Blackmore has never ...
Vibrators, The: The Vibrators: V2
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, July 1978
THE VIBRATORS' first album, over a year ago, was a great disposable album of lasting significance. The short songs contained all the elements of great ...
Stranglers, The: Stranglers: Black & White
Review by Gary Sperrazza!, Trouser Press, July 1978
THERE'S A STORY floating around the A&M offices concerning the Stranglers that will probably never see print in the English pop weeklies. ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, July 1978
GRAHAM PARKER'S a nice guy, writes great songs. He leads a tight, exciting band full of talented players, and his stage presence looms larger than ...
Profile and Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, July 1978
ALL OF A sudden Kate Bush was at the very top of the UK singles charts. 'Wuthering Heights', her first 45, was number one and ...
Cheap Trick: Presenting Cheap Trick: A Musical In Eleven Years
Profile and Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, August 1978
Without a doubt, Cheap Trick has definite shortcomings as a band. They're certainly not perfect. However, they've now got three albums in their catalogue and ...
Squeeze: Putting On The (UK) Squeeze
Profile and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, October 1978
"HEY, YOU guys are great! Now which one of you is Bill Bruford?" That's the kind of reception UK Squeeze got on their American tour. ...
Aerosmith: Joe Perry Meets The Press
Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, November 1978
"I don't care if we never make another album as long as we can play live." "I've never tried to be a guitar hero." ...
Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, December 1978
WINTER 1974: When I saw the cover of the first Kiss album, I laughed. I mean, here were these four geeks looking like rejects from ...
Jam, The: Rickenbacker Rock: The Jam
Profile by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, December 1978
Try calling Paul Weller of the Jam a punk rocker, and finds out how icy a cold stare can be. The intense young man who ...
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty: The Great White Hope
Interview by Gary Sperrazza!, Trouser Press, December 1978
Tom Petty Takes On Disco Menace ...
Graham Parker WANTS YOU…To Get Stuck!
Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, December 1978
GRAHAM PARKER had reason to be happy. And he was. ...
Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, December 1978
NEVER SAY DIE! Black Sabbath didn't never say it, and that's why the heaviest damn band ever is back. Forget all those other bands, because ...
Roxy Music: Manifesto Destiny: The Return Of Roxy Music
Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, 1979
"We Never Really Broke Up" I distinctly remember being more than a bit skeptical the first time I heard Roxy Music. ...
Comment by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1979
AS BILLY MARTIN once put it, "I feel very strongly both ways." Although Devo's cosmic significance may truly compare with that of yesterday's toast, they ...
UK, King Crimson: UK: John Wetton
Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, January 1979
"IT'S NOT insecurity, but I always like to I work with other people in groups. I think that's the strongest thing. When you take a ...
Clash, The: The Clash: Give 'Em Enough Rope
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1979
THE CLASH HAVE been through a lot since they last released an album, almost 19 months ago, and so has the scene that they emerged ...
Lou Reed: Live – Take No Prisoners
Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, January 1979
"I DO LOU REED better than anybody else, so I thought I'd get in on it." ...
Todd Rundgren: Back to the Bars
Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, February 1979
PROOF OF THE evils of peer-group pressure is found in the phenomenon of the double live album. A more useless trend would be hard to ...
Godley & Creme: Godley and Crème: L
Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, February 1979
GIVE BOTH SIDES in the 10cc split a few LPs to get their feet back on the ground. It took Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman ...
Review by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, February 1979
XTC'S FIRST ALBUM, White Music, released earlier this year, was a stunning debut from a band that defies easy labeling. ...
Jam, The: The Jam: All Mod Cons
Review by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, February 1979
IT HAS TAKEN the Jam merely three albums to go from a young band with a lot of energy and a love for mod-era rock'n'roll ...
Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, February 1979
K-SCOPE FINDS a retiring Phil Manzanera sitting uneasily in the driver's seat, unwilling to take a dominant role but not really collaborating either. ...
Police, The: Police Lean To America...
Report and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, February 1979
IT'S SMOKY and crowded in that dusty old shoebox they call CBGB, and there's a band called the Police onstage – so what else is ...
Clash, The: The Clashmen Meet The Pearlman
Report and Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, February 1979
"It wasn't the easiest thing I've ever I done, that's for sure." I had Sandy Pearlman, Record Producer, on the phone from some unnamed restaurant ...
Elvis Costello: Armed Forces (Columbia)
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, April 1979
When Bob Dylan broke up with his wife, Sara, a few years ago, the world was treated to the introspective and bitter Blood on the ...
Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, April 1979
Kids Are Allright Director Jeff Stein Tells TP All About It ...
Retrospective by Dan Matovina, Trouser Press, May 1979
WHAT WOULD eventually become Badfinger started out as a part time local band in Swansea, Wales during the post-Mersey beat boom of 1964-66. Back then ...
Clash, The: Clash City Talkers: New York Meets Jones And Co.
Report and Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, June 1979
There's nothing quite as frustrating to watch as the hypocrisy of press, radio, and record companies rushing to get behind some new band that has ...
999: Feelin' Alright With the Crew
Profile and Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, June 1979
ANYONE WHO SEES more than one rock show a year knows that a lot of the glitter wears off after the first few times. Which ...
Ian Hunter's Love-Hate Relationship With Rock'n'roll
Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, June 1979
IAN HUNTER'S been staying at his Manhattan hotel so long (two months) that the staff treat him like a member of the family. Between desperate ...
Jonathan Richman: Back In Your Life
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, June 1979
THE OSCAR BRAND of the now generation returns with his first studio LP in quite a while. Amid the ceaseless confusion that is Beserkley Records, ...
Vivian Stanshall, Bonzo Dog Band: Viv Stanshall: Bonzo Bounces Back
Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, July 1979
Perhaps, as the curse of King Tut suggested, some legends are best left uninvestigated. Rock heroes tend to have warts, just like everybody else, and ...
No Dice: No Dice Are a Good Bet
Profile and Interview by Kris DiLorenzo, Trouser Press, July 1979
IT'S JUST the luck of No Dice that they first surfaced during the punk-to-new wave transition. Judging from the tacky photos that keep appearing, you'd ...
Stiff Little Fingers: (F)Ireland Rockers
Interview by Garry Bushell, Trouser Press, July 1979
"TAKE A LOOK where you're living/You got the army on your street/ And the RUC dog of repression is barking at your feet..." Jake Burns ...
Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, July 1979
HORSLIPS AND the new wave? An unlikely topic on the face of it, but Horslips, recently touring here in support of their latest album, The ...
Ramones, The: The Ramones Finish High School
Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, July 1979
"D-U-M-B, everyone's accusing me..." The Ramones don't wanna be pinheads no more. ...
Ronnie Wood: New Stone Tries a Solo
Report and Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, July 1979
WHEN TP FIRST interviewed Ron Wood, back in the fall of 1974, the Faces' guitarist and exBeckite was more than happy to answer questions about ...
Rolling Stones, The, Ronnie Wood: Ronnie Wood: New Stone Tries a Solo
Report and Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, July 1979
WHEN TP FIRST interviewed Ron Wood, back in the fall of 1974, the Faces' guitarist and ex-Beckite was more than happy to answer questions about ...
Van Morrison: Belfast to Belfast
Retrospective by Peter Silverton, Trouser Press, July 1979
IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO imagine someone further removed than Van Morrison from looking like a pop star or even a rock'n'roll artiste. It's not even like, ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, July 1979
AFTER 16 YEARS IN the public eye, growing and developing, quick-cutting and dodging, Bob Dylan carries his catalogue of songs behind him like a bevy ...
New York Dolls: The New York Dolls: The New York Dolls (Mercury)
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1980
This seminal slab of early-70s punkitude, produced by unlikely Todd Rundgren, defines the sound and style of New York’s contribution to new wave: a raunchy ...
Sparks: A Woofer In Tweeter’s Clothing (Bearsville)
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1980
The all-time weird American art-rock LP, Spark’s second album was, at first encounter, impenetrably arcane and smug. After cranking up the volume, adjusting to the ...
Pink Fairies, The: Pink Fairies: Kings Of Oblivion (Polydor)
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1980
It must have taken a lot of guts to name a band "Pink Fairies". But considering the amount of mind alteration practised by its British ...
Cure, The: The Cure: Art For Pop's Sake
Profile and Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, January 1980
ROBERT SMITH of the Cure is not your ordinary front man. ...
Remember Those Fabulous Seventies? A Musical Stroll From Woodstock To Punk-rock
Overview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1980
The best characterization of rock'n'roll's third decade is that of 10 years spent revising, refining and recalling the music of the '60s. While '50s bands ...
Profile and Interview by Steven X Rea, Trouser Press, March 1980
LAST SUMMER, holed up in Sound City Studios in the industrial pits of the San Fernando Valley, four musicians known collectively as 20/20 were deep ...
Profile and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, March 1980
"Nothing's been inflated and nothing's been enlarged/What you're looking at, baby, is the original model..."— Will Birch, 1977 ...
Clash, The: The Clash Play Revolution Rock
Report and Interview by Chris Salewicz, Trouser Press, March 1980
IT'S FOUR days before Christmas. A dark, early evening damp with snow and rain. Immediately south of the Thames, in the inappropriately genteel Victorian suburb ...
Fleetwood Mac: Can't Go Home Again
Profile and Interview by Chris Salewicz, Trouser Press, April 1980
OF COURSE, Fleetwood Mac is the American Dream. The band's success story is the stuff of which the mythology of modern day America is made: ...
Jam, The: The Jam: Rising Sons
Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, May 1980
HAS IT really been three years since the Jam made its first live appearance in America? Since three teenagers in matching suits and skinny ties ...
Discography by Jim Green, Trouser Press, May 1980
PINK FLOYD is pretty weird. And not just the band, but the way they've been viewed by the rock world. ...
Marc Bolan, T. Rex: A Wizard, A True Star
Retrospective by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, May 1980
Marc Bolan's brief blaze of glory ...
Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Get Happy!!
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, May 1980
The first draft of this review, written on the basis of an American pressing, had to be discarded when an English copy arrived. Sound quality ...
Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, June 1980
REMEMBER HOW your parents used to attack rock 'n' roll by pointing out how disreputable most bands looked? It sure didn't help when they seized ...
Motors, The: The Motors Roar Back
Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, July 1980
THE INNER sleeve of the current Motors album, Tenement Steps, boldly states "The Motors are Andy McMaster [and] Nick Garvey." A demarcating "with" adds a ...
Motels, The: The Motels: Growing Up In Motels
Interview by Steven X Rea, Trouser Press, July 1980
"THERE'S SOMEONE on the Ameche for you, Mom," chimes in Maria Davis, 13-year-old daughter of Motels lead singer/songwriter/sometime rhythm guitarist Martha Davis, 29. Ameche? "The ...
Willie Nile: The Reluctant Stardom of Willie Nile
Profile and Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, July 1980
YOU PROBABLY remember the New Dylan syndrome. It doesn't turn up much anymore, but once upon a time it seemed like every American male songwriter ...
Undertones, The: The Undertones: Hypnotised (Sire)
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, July 1980
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING special about the Undertones. They're a motley gang of Irish kids with typical imperfect faces and no visible charismatic presence as ...
Secret Affair: A Thoroughly Modern Affair
Profile and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, August 1980
IAN PAGE, 19, is the smooth-talking, trumpet-tooting singer/co-writer/producer of Secret Affair, the first and foremost band to emerge from London's neo-mod explosion. He is also ...
Ian Hunter, Mott The Hoople: Ian Hunter Remembers
Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, August 1980
As told to Jon Young ...
Dave Davies: This Man He Laughs Tonight: Dave Davies Spearheads Kinks Attack!
Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, August 1980
SIXTEEN YEARS AFTER 'You Really Got Me', the Kinks are entering the 80's in better shape than anyone has a right to expect them to ...
Undertones, The: A Better Mousetrap: The Undertones Beat A Path To America’s Door
Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, September 1980
Back in the primordial '70s, a rash of groups moved into the British 45 charts to occupy the places formerly inhabited by the Beatles and ...
Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, September 1980
IN A BUSINESS geared more and more towards pushing product, Kevin Ayers is a rare commodity. He's never sold great amounts of records, but has ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, September 1980
OVER THE course of eight albums Queen has scaled all the heights and plumbed all the depths. ...
Interview by Todd Everett, Trouser Press, November 1980
IF THE IDEA of Todd Rundgren producing Wasp, an album by teen idol Shaun Cassidy strikes you as...unusual, that, Cassidy says, was the idea. ...
Cheap Trick: Greetings From Rockford, Ill.
Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, December 1980
Rockford, Illinois (population 140,000) has made two notable contributions to the entertainment world: John Anderson and Cheap Trick. While there is little similarity between the ...
Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, January 1981
CONTRADICTIONS, contradictions. (Sigh.) Gary Numan is not a simple proposition. Most people think he's simply wonderful – the electrono-pop tunesmith who's ever so cute – ...
Profile and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, January 1981
HEY BUNKY, are ya feelin' low because the whirlwind East Coast tour you were promised turned out to be two weeks at Vinnie's Peppermint Lounge ...
Silverhead, Detective, Michael Des Barres: Michael Des Barres
Profile and Interview by Todd Everett, Trouser Press, January 1981
THOUGH THE degree of his sales success thus far has been, to put it kindly, limited, Michael Des Barres has lived one of rock's more ...
Bruce Springsteen: The River (Columbia)
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1981
A SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE sketch of a few seasons back poked fun at Roy Orbison by reducing him to a caricature: motionless stance and ever-present ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, February 1981
THE GENERAL PUBLIC is no doubt familiar with the Blondie story: from Bowery pop-punks to mid-American Euroschmaltzers and product endorsers. What was once a band ...
Beat, The: The Beat (UK): Up On The Beat
Report and Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, February 1981
SOONER OR later, every British band of any significance has to decide what to do about America. ...
Clash, The: The Clash: Sandinista!
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, April 1981
THE FIRST TIME the Clash ventured into a recording studio they emerged with a concise blockbuster 45 ('White Riot') that deliv-ered the goods in under ...
Profile and Interview by Adam Sweeting, Trouser Press, May 1981
"NOISE IS A big part of Motorhead mania" says the stark black lettering inside one of the band's tour brochures. Immediately below it is a ...
Steve Winwood: The Steve Winwood Autodiscography
Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, May 1981
Steve Winwood's work defies pigeonholing; his distinctive "blue-eyed soul" vocals grace an impressive blend of rock, soul, jazz and folk. He's responsible for a wealth ...
Who, The: The Who: Face Dances (Warner Bros.)
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, June 1981
ONCE UPON A TIME, the Who was a guiding force in the life of many people (myself included). The wisdom of Chairman Pete Townshend, as ...
Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, October 1981
THAT OLD saw about prophets without honor in their own land has a ring of truth even today, as Ron and Russell Mael, known as ...
Bill Nelson: Triumph of the Bill
Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, November 1981
The admirable Nelson returns ...
Profile and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, November 1981
THE CURE is this kind of rock band that encourages a blurring of distinctions between journalism and criticism. They simply must be considered subjectively; dealing ...
Rick Springfield: Rick Rules This Town
Profile and Interview by Todd Everett, Trouser Press, December 1981
IF THE Saturday night crowd at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is any indication of who buys his records, Rick Springfield has at last conquered ...
Report and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, January 1982
"MANY PEOPLE have said to me, 'You must have changed your style, because you now have a popular record with 'New Toy'," says Lene Lovich. ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1982
From a fan's point of view, there is nothing worse than a compilation album put together by either a group, whose nearness to the material ...
Blue Oyster Cult: Why You Should Care About Blue Oyster Cult
Comment by Jim Green, Trouser Press, February 1982
Action conforms to preexistent imagery.– Sandy Pearlman, The History of Los Angeles, 1965-1969 ...
Joan Jett: I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, March 1982
JOAN JETT'S first solo album, Bad Reputation, suffered from a number of flaws, I pointed out in my review of the time; listening to it ...
Stranglers, The: The Stranglers: La Folie
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, March 1982
WANT TO FEEL prematurely old? This, if you can believe it, is the Stranglers' seventh British album. While most alumni of the '77 punk explosion ...
Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, March 1982
PEOPLE HAVEN'T asked U2 if they're the future of rock. They've told them. ...
Profile by Todd Everett, Trouser Press, April 1982
IT'S AN IRONIC fact of life that until quite recently very few of the so-called (and frequently maligned) "Los Angeles" bands had deep roots in ...
Police, The: The Police Have More Fun
Report and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, May 1982
HELLO, SPORTS fans! We're in the 76ers' dressing room at the Spectrum in Philadelphia – but that tall, gangly fella slumped on the end of ...
Report by Mick Farren, Trouser Press, May 1982
AS I WRITE THIS, the tabloids tell me we're having a cocaine war in New York City. Not that there's anything novel about a cocaine ...
Profile and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, June 1982
"EQUALITY AND democracy were what we preached. That's how it was when we started, but it didn't last. When we started making $2,000 a night ...
Joan Jett: Selling Records Is The Best Revenge
Profile and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, June 1982
"I LOVE ROCK'N'ROLL" has to be one of the corniest, old hat, lowest-common denominator clichés of all, right? The phrase conjures images of barechested, bluejeaned ...
Graham Parker: Another Grey Area
Review by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, June 1982
IF, AS GRAHAM PARKER declared on Squeezing Out Sparks, "passion is no ordinary word," then Another Grey Area should by all rights have been no ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, June 1982
JOHN HIATT'S career has been hampered by unfortunate business liaisons ever since lift-off. ...
Roxy Music, Phil Manzanera: Phil Manzanera
Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, June 1982
PICTURED ON THE first Roxy Music album with bizarre fly-glasses, long hair and unkempt beard, Phil Manzanera looked like left-field weirdness incarnate. That image was ...
Interview by Todd Everett, Trouser Press, July 1982
ONE FREQUENTLY repeated cliche of the rock press has it that John Hiatt is the "American Elvis Costello." ...
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, July 1982
SPARKS' HIT STREAK in the mid-'70s produced America's best Anglophiliac rock ever – so good, in fact, that English teenyboppers made them tops of the ...
Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, September 1982
BLONDIE IS the new wave success story, from Bowery boys-and girl-to glamorous chart-toppers. Yet the band has never felt it had to toe any musical ...
Robert Plant: Pictures at Eleven
Review by Mick Farren, Trouser Press, October 1982
IT'S ALWAYS HARD to know what to do when the drummer drops dead. The Who and the New York Dolls recruited new ones and pressed ...
Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, November 1982
After 11 albums over a decade of stylistic evolution, Sparks — that is, Ron and Russell Mael with collaborators — have achieved legendary status despite ...
Fleshtones, The: The Fleshtones: Opening The Doors Of Perception
Profile and Interview by Karen Schlosberg, Trouser Press, 1983
IT WAS a dark and stormy night. In his castle high on the hill, evil Dr Vollen was cackling to himself, and to the stuffed ...
Captain Beefheart: In Search Of Captain Beefheart
Profile and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, January 1983
The elusive Don van Vliet tracked to his lair ...
Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska (Columbia)
Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, January 1983
Starkness at the Edge of Town ...
Clash, The: The Clash’s Greatest Hits: Clash City Rockers
Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, April 1983
"In 1977 I hope I go to heaven'Cos I been too long on the doleAnd I can't work at allDanger stranger — you better paint ...
Dexy's Midnight Runners: Dexys Midnight Runners: This Man Believes
Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, May 1983
The back of Dexys Midnight Runners' 'Liars A to E' single sleeve bears a message to the world. In general terms it explains the Dexys ...
Profile and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, June 1983
The End of the World is Nigh ...
Musical Youth: Out Of The Mouth Of Babes
Profile and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, June 1983
IT'S A BITTERLY cold and gusty February day that finds me scampering through the remnants of New York's blizzard of '83 on my way to ...
Pete Shelley, Buzzcocks, The: Peter Shelley
Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, August 1983
Back when the much-saluted bywords of British punk were "rebellion," "relevance" and "gritty realism," Manchester's Buzzcocks brought something fresh, pithy and even humorous to their ...
Profile and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, December 1983
THE TRANSATLANTIC telephone line is dominated by the muffled distortion and hiss common to calls made across a thousand leagues of water; the voice at ...
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