ZigZag
Captain Beefheart is Alive in Hollywood
Interview by Miles, ZigZag, October 1969
IT’S THE BLIMP, IT’S THE BLIMP ...
Creedence Clearwater Revival: What's In A Name? Creedence Clearwater Revival
Interview by uncredited writer, ZigZag, October 1969
The Blue Velvets (1958-1963) became the Golliwogs (1963-1967), who became Creedence Clearwater Revival (1967-?) – a name which, according to Time magazine, was contrived to ...
Interview by uncredited writer, ZigZag, December 1969
Vitamin C tablets are sold in dark glass bottles because exposure to light weakens their effectiveness, oranges with their high vitamin C content are more ...
Paul Butterfield Blues Band: The Butterfield Blues Band
Report and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, January 1970
THE MEMORY WILL never fade for me of a freezing night near the end of 1966. It was a Friday, and a more-joyful-than-Christmas event was ...
Everly Brothers, The: The Everly Brothers
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, May 1970
THE EVERLY BROTHERS first single 'Bye Bye Love' was released in 1957 and their records have been consistently good since then. Don Everly, now 33, ...
Profile and Interview by Ben Edmonds, ZigZag, August 1970
Beefheart is and always was a Zigzag hero; we get more letter about him than any other artists, I should think – asking for news ...
Stooges, The: The Stooges: The Incredible Story
Special Feature by Dave Marsh, ZigZag, December 1970
THERE'S A SAD possibility that people are on the verge of discovering, exploiting and generally going on about the Detroit Sound (like they did with ...
Report and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, 1971
FOR ELDERLY rockers like me, it’s pretty incredible to be able to talk to those who were around at the start of their musical interests. ...
J. Geils Band: The J. Geils Band
Profile by Ben Edmonds, ZigZag, 1971
If you don't have the J. Geils Band album, don't try to talk to me about what's happening ...
Steve Tilston's An Acoustic Confusion
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, 1971
THERE IS SOMETHING very satisfying about listening to live music in small smoke-filled rooms. It creates an intimacy between artist and audience that cannot exist ...
Groundhogs, The: Tony McPhee… Groundhog
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, March 1971
ZZ: Can we talk about your new album first? How did it come to be called Split? ...
Allman Brothers Band: Duane Allman
Interview by Jon Tiven, ZigZag, April 1971
ZZ: When did the Allman Brothers decide to be a band rather than just session men? ...
Interview by uncredited writer, ZigZag, May 1971
Peter Gabriel talks about the downs and ups of Genesis… ...
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, July 1971
"When I was very young, a fat-arsed bingo club manager said: 'You're going to the top, right to the top, and I am going to ...
Al Kooper: The (Almost) Complete History of Al Kooper
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, October 1971
Tell me about the first Supersession.Well the concept came from that Grape Jam album (given free with Wow in the States but not released here), ...
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, February 1973
WHILE CHATTING to Jerry Hopkins, Rolling Stone's man in London, at a press reception, I found that he was involved in the early career of ...
Elton John: The Elton John Story: Final Part
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, April 1973
ORCHESTRA ONSTAGE ...
Profile and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, April 1973
How Neil Sedaka Added An Extra Chin And Sang His Own Songs Again ...
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, May 1973
If ever I've identified with a record company, the nearest thing in my mind to an ideal would be Elektra Records, for many reasons, not ...
Dillards, The: Herb Pederson & The Dillards
Retrospective by John Tobler, ZigZag, September 1973
PERCEPTIVE READERS, which I'm sure you all are, will have noticed my enthusiastic reports of a press reception I attended, actually on May 24th this ...
Grateful Dead: The History of the Grateful Dead
Retrospective by Andy Childs, ZigZag, October 1973
"weird, black satanic weird, white archangel weird. As weird as any thing you can imagine, like some horror comic monster who, besides being green and ...
Don Nix: Donald Nix: Of Shoes & Sticks & Donald Nix
Retrospective and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, October 1973
NOW THIS here's the story 'bout the Rock Island Line... no, that's not true at all, because it's actually a story about a legendary figure, ...
Profile and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, November 1973
"You could forgive him anything after you've listened to his music." Nicola Hugen-Tobler after first straining to hear the great man's words through the clinking ...
Mighty Baby: From Infancy To Adolescence
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, December 1973
REMEMBER Mighty Baby? Got their records? If the name sounds familiar but you've never heard them, then you've missed out on easily one of the ...
Interview by Chris Briggs, ZigZag, December 1973
1973 HAS BEEN the year that saw legendary heroes hit the floor. Bryan Ferry lampooned Bob Dylan in a sordid attempt to establish his own ...
Loggins & Messina: Kenny Loggins (With Jim Messina Sittin' In) Talkin' 'Bout…
Interview by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, January 1974
WHERE BETTER to interview Kenny Loggins and Jimmy Messina that in the crowded restaurant of a good old Holiday Inn, with piped music from the ...
Interview by Chris Briggs, ZigZag, March 1974
WHAT DO WE really know of Dave Mason – his disagreements with Winwood, ructions with record companies and his move to America is about all. ...
Michael Nesmith: 283 Reasons To Like Michael Nesmith
Retrospective by John Tobler, ZigZag, March 1974
THE STORY so far: Michael Nesmith, a Texan singer and guitar player, has left the Monkees, the manufactured group brought together to make television series, ...
John Martyn: Talking with John Martyn
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, April 1974
BARD BON-VIVEUR BULLSHITTER DOPER ENTERTAINER EXPLORER GUITARIST HERO HOBO LEGEND LOVER MINSTREL MUSICIAN PATHFINDER PERFORMER PICKER PIONEER PISSARTIST PLAYER POET RACONTEUR RAMBLER RHYMER ROMANCER SINGER ...
David Blue: Rambling through with David Blue
Profile and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, April 1974
Everyone in any way interested in rock music and its development knows that Bob Dylan spent some of his formative and pre-star years in Greenwich ...
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Dr Hook and The Medicine Show: The Fly-paper Monkey Mafia
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, May 1974
I MUST ADMIT that a couple of months ago the thought of attempting an interview and article on Dr Hook and The Medicine Show was ...
Pete Townshend, Who, The: Can You Believe It? Chatting with Pete Townshend
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, June 1974
I bet you'd given up all hope of seeing the second part of this little epic, eh? How many of you even remember the first ...
Steely Dan: Showbiz Kids: Talking with Jeff Baxter, and a Critical View of Steely Dan
Interview by Chris Briggs, ZigZag, July 1974
Interviewing an American musician is a unique experience. The inevitable myth preceeds actuality. Three Steely Dan albums and eighteen months of impressions formed within the ...
Jackie Lomax: The History Of Jackie Lomax
Profile and Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, July 1974
WITHOUT ANY DOUBT, one of the sad, inexplicable stories of English rock music is the failure of Jackie Lomax to receive the degree of success ...
Rick Nelson: The Rick Nelson Story
Retrospective by John Tobler, ZigZag, August 1974
Part 1: The Imperial Years ...
Bruce Springsteen: It's Hard to be a Saint in the City
Profile and Interview by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, August 1974
ALL DRESSED UP AND NO PLACE TO GO ...
Poco: The World Still Hasn’t Caught Up With Poco
Profile and Interview by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, September 1974
WHEN GEORGE GRAHAM, THE quiet member of Poco, opined that a hit single would really get Poco away as far back as the Summer of ...
Grateful Dead: A Conversation with Phil Lesh
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, September 1974
Some of you out there probably think that ZigZag has just about OD'd on the Grateful Dead recently, which is a fair criticism considering that ...
Ronnie Wood: Ron Wood: I've Got My Own Story To Tell
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, September 1974
Earlier this month Warner Bros released Ron Wood's first solo album, appropriately titled I've Got My Own Album To Do (K 56065), so we thought ...
Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers: The Ballad Of Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, October 1974
Saturday, 8th June 1974: NOT EXACTLY the best gig I've seen the Willis play, but one that sticks out in my memory as being one ...
Tim Buckley: A Happy Sad Starsailor from Washington D.C.
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, October 1974
Before I entered the glamorous and exciting world of the rock n' roll business on a full-time basis, I used to "work" (a rather loose ...
Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship: Grace Slick Talks
Interview by Rob Bowman, ZigZag, October 1974
Grace Slick, over the last ten years, has attained great notoriety fronting Jefferson Airplane. ...
Arthur Lee, Love: Love Leftovers: 64 Questions With Arthur Lee
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, December 1974
Who was your first manager then, Herb Cohen? ...
Doors, The, Butts Band, The: The Life And Death Of The Butts Band
Report and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, December 1974
DEFUNCT GROUPS are not normally my stock in trade, or that of ZigZag in general, but very occasionally the opportunity arises to learn something of ...
Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young: The Neil Young Story Part One: Expecting To Fly
Retrospective by Andy Childs, ZigZag, December 1974
WITHOUT ANY doubt, one of the musical highlights of this year was the memorable concert held at Wembley Stadium a few months back. A day ...
Profile and Interview by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, December 1974
THE ACTIVITIES OF John B. Sebastian post-Woodstock haven't so much been a mystery as mystifying. ...
10cc: The Worst Band In The World?
Retrospective and Interview by Alan Betrock, ZigZag, January 1975
WHILE MANY of the veterans on the 1960s musical scene are still around, few are creating much in the way of new musical excitement. There ...
Biff Rose: The Half Live Adventures Of Biff Rose
Retrospective by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, January 1975
"My use of words is just some antics..." A chronoligical analysis of Biff Rose's albums ...
Loggins & Messina, Poco: Loggins & Messina: Mother Lode; Poco: Cantamos
Review by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, January 1975
INITIALLY THE main difference between these two progeny of the Buffalo Springfield is one of sophistication. While Poco strive desperately to recapture past glories, Loggins ...
Guide by Alan Betrock, ZigZag, January 1975
KINK RAY DAVIES is a well respected man when it comes to composing, and dozens of his compositions are justly regarded as classics. There really ...
Elton John: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, January 1975
THE SUBJECT OF this piece is a man who could justly be called one of ZigZag's favourite people, Elton John. ...
Eric Clapton: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, January 1975
IT'S ABOUT half past eight, the lights go down, the curtains go up, and we can all see a dimly lit stage, with the drums ...
Flying Burrito Brothers: Sneaky Pete Kleinow
Interview by Mick Houghton, ZigZag, March 1975
ZZ: HOW DID you come to be part of the whole related family of Los Angeles musicians? You actually come from Michigan? ...
Love, Arthur Lee: Arthur Lee: Yes Folks, Yet Another Arthur Lee Article
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, March 1975
Oh God, please, no!! I thought old Tobler had just about run out of material on Arthur Lee, but it seems he must have a ...
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, March 1975
FOR ME, THE release of a new John Martyn album is always among the most noteworthy events of the year. ...
Raspberries, The: The Raspberries: Starting Over
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, March 1975
APPARENTLY UNKNOWN to most of the British pop press and record buyers alike, the Raspberries have made six highly successful singles (five of them made ...
Retrospective by Andy Childs, ZigZag, March 1975
LAST TIME we traced the stormy, erratic career of the fabulous Buffalo Springfield – up until the time Neil Young left them to be replaced ...
Little Feat: Lowell George: Huge Stars Big Hearts And Little Feat
Profile and Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, March 1975
AFTER THEIR PHENOMENALLY successful visit to this country, the name Little Feat must be on the tip of everyone's tongues and in the heart of ...
Dr. Feelgood: Dr Feelgood: Down By The Jetty
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, July 1975
ROCK'N'ROLL LOUD, dirty, mean, raw, vicious rock'n'roll. That's what Dr Feelgood are all about and they never make any pretensions to the contrary. ...
Alan Hull, Lindisfarne: The Lindisfarne Saga
Retrospective by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, July 1975
THREE YEARS AGO it seemed like the end of an era. ...
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, July 1975
IT'S AN AWFUL confession to make, especially in a normally omniscient rag like this, but up until about nine months ago I was almost completely ...
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, August 1975
THIS INTERVIEW TOOK place in Wilko's front room. Obviously tired and weary from the extensive Naughty Rhythms Tour, which still had three gigs to run, ...
Moonrider, Keith West: Moonrider's Keith West
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, August 1975
MOONRIDER have had tenuous ties with ZigZag since before they were born. John Weider forecast their birth in ZZ42, the group played a short set ...
Review by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, August 1975
ZIGZAG HAS FALLEN into the habit of reviewing Poco albums with trepidation. With each new Poco release Andy Childs, an old Poco buff himself, passes ...
Emmylou Harris: Pieces Of The Sky
Review by Mick Houghton, ZigZag, August 1975
BUD SCOPPA once described Gram Parsons as the most convincing singer of sad songs he'd heard. Nothing he recorded was more heartrending than 'Love Hurts' ...
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, August 1975
IT'S VERY difficult to express a feeling of disappointment in such a medium as this. Like probably many of you, I'd been looking forward to ...
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, August 1975
THE FIRST thing to say about Clifford is that it is a crime that he isn't yet the big star he inevitably will eventually become. ...
Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, August 1975
NOW I SHOULD make clear in this context that I'm not by nature a fan of this band in the same way that I like ...
Nils Lofgren: Nils Lofgren (A&M)
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, September 1975
THE FATE that was thanklessly bestowed upon Grin's fourth album Gone Crazy, is fortunately, and perhaps miraculously, not to apply to this record, i.e. it ...
Eric Clapton: There's One In Every Crowd
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, September 1975
A NEW CLAPTON album is a treat at any time, and this is no exception to that personal rule. ...
Richard and Linda Thompson: Richard & Linda Thompson: Hokey Pokey
Review by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, September 1975
THE SINGULAR most remarkable aspect of this album is its manifestation of Richard Thompson's capacity to absorb. And if that sounds a long winded way ...
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, September 1975
ON THE back page of Sounds dated 12/4/75 there's an ad for this album which includes a quote apparently taken from ZigZag, saying simply "a ...
Discography by Andy Childs, ZigZag, September 1975
THERE WAS once a time when I thought that Lou Reed was the single most important person working in contemporary American rock 'n' roll. I ...
Strawbs, The: Ten Years of the Strawbs: From Donegan to Dali in Five Easy Stages
Interview by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, September 1975
THROUGH A ten-year period that has seen them frequently under-rated, and a time when they probably least deserved it the subject of mass adulation, the ...
Flamin' Groovies, The: The Flamin' Groovies: Sneakers
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, October 1975
BACK IN the heady days of the late sixties when it seemed that for several precious months San Francisco became the rock music centre of ...
Strawbs, The: Ten Years Of The Strawbs – Part Two 1970-1975
Retrospective and Interview by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, October 1975
THE STRAWBS were the first band to really find commercial success from within a folk environment. Dave Cousins was always clever in his adaptations of ...
Profile and Interview by Barbara Charone, ZigZag, October 1975
"I THINK SOME PEOPLE have a rip-off concept of us," Peter Gabriel remarked with a touch of cynicism as if he'd just had a revelation. ...
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, November 1975
ALTHOUGH IT'S COMMON news by now that the Grateful Dead have ceased their collective activities until the summer of next year, a whole complicated mess ...
Elton John: Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, November 1975
THIS IS PROBABLY the latest review you've read of the record under scrutiny. Having read several other reviews in various weekly and monthly publications, a ...
Neil Young: Tonight's The Night
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, November 1975
AS I HOPE I've made clear in previous articles, Neil Young ranks in my estimation as THE singer/songwriter...I play his records extensively and regularly for ...
Kevin Coyne: Matching Head And Feet
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, November 1975
READERS WHO have survived from the Golden Age of ZigZag will probably know that I'm a bit partial to the outpourings of Mr Coyne. However, ...
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Dr Hook: Bankrupt
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, November 1975
IT WAS OUR man at the layout board, Edward Barker, who recently posed the question to me that he in turn had heard elsewhere. It ...
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Dr Hook: Bankrupt
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, November 1975
ONE OR TWO of you (not enough, anyway) may be aware that I compiled a kind of 'Best Of' album of these loonies recently, and ...
Thunderclap Newman, Speedy Keen: From Out Of The Shadows Comes Speedy Keen
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, November 1975
IF SOMEONE EVER asked me to compile a list of my ten favourite singles of all time I'd have five 'definites' straight away and about ...
Clancy: The Past, Present And Future Of Clancy
Profile and Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, November 1975
THE MORE DEDICATED readers among you who scrutinise and memorise every last detail in the magazine will doubtless recall several sly mentions I have made ...
Tim Buckley: The Candle Died, Now You Are Gone, For The Flame Was Too Bright
Obituary by Andy Childs, ZigZag, December 1975
LESS THAN a month after I started work at ZigZag, I had the privilege of meeting Tim Buckley. I interviewed him at some length and ...
Humblebums, The, Stealers Wheel, Gerry Rafferty: The Gerry Rafferty Interview
Interview by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, December 1975
GERRY RAFFERTY rarely comes up in interviews, seldom works on the road and is in London even less often. And yet when it comes to ...
Todd Rundgren: The Man Born To Synthesize
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, December 1975
A ZigZag interview with Todd Rundgren could get well out of hand if we weren't too careful. Not only has he been around long enough ...
Kursaal Flyers, The: The Kursaal Flyers: Chocs Away
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, December 1975
IT ALWAYS happens that whenever the loose ensemble of people who contribute to ZigZag, and their friends, associates, chauffeurs and bodyguards get together for one ...
Grateful Dead: Blues For Allah
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, January 1976
AS ONE WHO has been frequently criticised for my unlimited devotion to the Grateful Dead and my continued belief that they are still one of ...
Man, John Cipollina: Man: Maximum Darkness
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, January 1976
ONE OF THE undoubted highlights so far this year for all ZigZaggers has been the long-overdue visit of John Cipollina to these shores, and if ...
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, January 1976
TWO THINGS occur to me. Firstly, if I continue to review every Clapton album and concert, maybe one day I'll get the interview. Join me ...
Moody Blues, The: The Moody Blues
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, January 1976
SO WHAT DO you think of the Moody Blues? ...
Leo Kottke: The ZigZag Interview: Leo Kottke
Interview by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, January 1976
I'VE ALWAYS dreaded starting so called in depth interviews with 'Go back to your earliest recollections etc and in the case of Leo Kottke I ...
Pete Wingfield: The Wheel Goes Full Circle
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, January 1976
IN THE EARLY DAYS of ZigZag, when Frame and I were young lads, Childs wasn't even born, and San Francisco was where it was at ...
Flamin' Groovies, The: The Re-emergence of the Flamin' Groovies
Profile by Andy Childs, ZigZag, February 1976
ONE OF the many bright ideas that the collective brains at ZigZag have come up with lately is that of updating articles that appeared in ...
Profile and Interview by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, February 1976
LOUDON WAINWRIGHT'S biggest paradox is his insistence that his values and lifestyle are no different from any man in the street: but his eccentricities are ...
Quicksilver Messenger Service: Solid Silver
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, February 1976
WELL, THE GREAT name of Quicksilver Messenger Service is resurrected yet again, this time with perhaps more credibility than on previous occasions. A sticker on ...
Elton John: Rock Of The Westies
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, February 1976
IT DOESN'T SEEM long since the last EJ album, and in fact, it isn't, which I suppose is more fuel for the fire that says ...
Steve Goodman: Jessie's Jig And Other Favourites
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, February 1976
I HAVE an uncomfortable feeling that this is almost exactly the sort of record that the great majority of the critics on the weeklies have ...
Rowan Brothers, The: The Rowan Brothers: The Rowans
Review by Jerry Gilbert, ZigZag, February 1976
THE ROWAN BROS. have variously been described as the greatest thing since the Beatles (J. Garcia in Rolling Stone) and Clive Davis's Biggest Mistake. A ...
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, February 1976
WELL, IF YOU'RE expecting some kind of Claptonian continuation, you'll very likely be somewhat disappointed in this, the third Elliman album, each, I might add, ...
Van Der Graaf Generator: Whatever Would Robert Have Said?
Retrospective and Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, February 1976
"BAND OF A MILLION YEARS," proclaims the decidedly Teutonic-looking poster that is being used to herald the reincarnation of Van Der Graaf Generator. Quite what ...
Who, The: Who’s Still The Best Live Rock'n'Roll Band In The World, Then?
Report by Andy Childs, ZigZag, February 1976
IT'S BEEN said often enough over the last month or so, but the fact still remains: The Who are still the best live rock 'n' ...
Dr. Feelgood On The Road: Maximum R'n'B
Report and Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, February 1976
THE DRESSING room is a scene of semi-chaos and ordered confusion... packets of half-eaten sandwiches, cans of lager, guitar cases, cigarette remains... the usual décor. ...
Country Joe & The Fish, Barry Melton: Barry Melton: The Tale of a Fish
Profile and Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, March 1976
STRANGE AS IT MAY seem to all of you who may imagine me as a contemporary of [Pete] Frame and [John] Tobler, when the early ...
Profile and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, April 1976
IF ANY OF YOU missed seeing Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band on their recent tour, you were either very unlucky or very foolish. I ...
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, April 1976
Abbreviations:GG ... Graham GouldmanLC ... Lol CremeES ... Eric StewartKG ... Kevin GodleyHL ... Harvey Lisburgh (manager) ...
Peter Frampton: Frampton Comes Alive
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, April 1976
I MUST CONFESS before I go any further that I'm not very familiar with too many of Frampton's previous solo albums (I've only got one ...
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, April 1976
I THINK IT'S QUITE safe to say that Kevin Ayers has spent the greater part of his chequered career trying very hard not to be ...
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, May 1976
THIS RECORD is a positive gem. However, unless some large quantity of record buyers pick up on it, it is destined to languish in the ...
Flamin' Groovies, The: The Flamin' Groovies: Shake Some Action (Phonogram — released very soon)
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, May 1976
I STILL CAN'T believe this album! In fact, I would go as far as to say it will be one of the most important and ...
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, June 1976
I'VE ALWAYS HAD a strong affection for Ian Matthews' music since the Fairports, and just like a lot of other people, I suppose, I've wondered ...
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Dr Hook: A Little Bit More
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, June 1976
ANOTHER DR. HOOK extravaganza. Another album full of stoned, croaking vocals, infectious giggling, and jokes about dope and sex, right? Wrong. If this new record ...
Dillards, The: Finally Catching Up With The Dillards
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, June 1976
THOSE OF YOU who possess that rare back number with Family on the front will perhaps also recall a lengthy treatise of mine about the ...
Bonnie Raitt: At Home with Bonnie Raitt
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, June 1976
On examining her albums, of which there are five to date, I drew various conclusions about Bonnie Raitt's recording career. ...
Ramones, The: The Ramones: Ramones (Sire Import)
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1976
PHEW, WHAT A scorcher! From the opening call to action of 'Blitzkrieg Bop' to the last strung-out powerchord of 'Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World', ...
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1976
THIS IS ONE for hardened Can-atics, being basically a collection of snippets which haven't made it onto past Can albums. ...
Flamin' Groovies, The: The Flamin' Groovies
Report by Kris Needs, ZigZag, August 1976
A STUNNING album and a pair of London gigs last month heralded the return of the fabulous Flamin' Groovies, San Francisco legends still crusading for ...
Fairport Convention, Matthews' Southern Comfort, Ian Matthews: Goin' Back With Ian Matthews, part 1
Retrospective and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, September 1976
IT CAME AS no great surprise to me that Ian Matthews should come quite so high in the recent poll concerning who you'd like to ...
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, September 1976
FOR THE uninitiated, Les Dudek has been connected in various ways with the Allman Brothers (he was one of the guitarists on 'Ramblin' Man'), Steve ...
Dion: Born To Be With You, Greatest Hits and Streetheart
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, September 1976
THE THREE most recent albums to come on to the British market, and as a measure of my own commitment to the artist, the 16th, ...
Runaways, The: The Runaways: The Runaways
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, September 1976
OOWHEE!! This platter boasts one of the most fetching sleeves I've had the pleasure to mas...ogle at. On the front the glitteringly attired Cherie casts ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, September 1976
KRIS NEEDS corners Cyril Jordan, founder and leader of the Flamin' Groovies, in room 315 of the Agnew Hotel, and produces his tape recorder. ...
Beach Boys, The: 14 Minutes With Beach Boy Mike Love
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, October 1976
ONE OF THE great omissions of Zigzag's entire life thus far has been a piece on the Beach Boys, who I consider to be the ...
Plainsong, Ian Matthews: Ian Matthews: Goin' Back With Ian Matthews, part 2
Retrospective and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, October 1976
LAST MONTH WE left Ian moaning and groaning about the Best Of Ian Matthews' Southern Comfort album, which MCA chose to thrust upon an unsuspecting ...
Stranglers, The: The Stranglers
Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1976
AMONG THE hordes of bands currently playing London's pub and club circuit, the Stranglers are leading contenders to break out and hit unsuspecting mass audiences ...
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, November 1976
I'VE BEEN LOOKING forward to this one for ages, same as I do every Ry Cooder album. Apart from the obvious quality of his music, ...
Stephen Stills, Neil Young: Stills Young: Long May You Run
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, November 1976
IF THE music on this album had in any way matched up to the exceptionally heavy vibes surrounding its making then we would surely have ...
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1976
THERE'S SOMETHING LIKE five years between the recording of these two albums, so it comes as little surprise that they're almost totally different in style ...
John Hartford: Mark Twang (Flying Fish)
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, November 1976
MULTIPLE CAUSE for celebration – the return of the amazing John Hartford, and the start of the long overdue British outlet for Flying Fish. Both ...
Jefferson Starship's Paul Kantner
Interview by Ian Birch, ZigZag, November 1976
LIKE A KANTNER COMPOSITION, this interview was virtually plucked out of the air. I was all set to leave San Francisco but, knowing the Jefferson ...
Jesse Winchester: The Only Fools On The Road Tonight Are The Fools On The Midnight Bus
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, November 1976
"THE NEXT NUMBER is by a songwriter who we really like... his name's Jesse Winchester". (A liberal smattering of applause). "Great... you like him too!" ...
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, December 1976
IN A REVIEW of one of Elton's earlier albums I wrote something to the effect that those who already liked Elton would inevitably enjoy that ...
Profile and Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, December 1976
IF, IN A FLIGHT of fancy, you've ever ventured over to this particular neck of the woods you won't be at all surprised to learn ...
David Bromberg: How Late'll Ya Play Till?
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, January 1977
AT A TIME WHEN instrumental virtuosity seems to be undervalued, and is to some extent replaced by skull-numbing mindlessness disguised rather shabbily as "revolution", a ...
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, January 1977
NOW THAT THAT MOST extraordinarily tedious and self-indulgent of rock 'n' roll years has finally stumbled to some sort of half-assed conclusion, I am able ...
Ry Cooder Part 1: Into The Purple Valley Of Romance And Adventure
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, February 1977
"Everything I know, I know from records. I don't live in a place where the neighbours are playing fiddles, I live in the city."When Ry ...
Steve Hillage, Gong: Steve Hillage....Electric Gipsy
Profile and Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, February 1977
AS I RECALL, it was the "livin' jukebox" himself, Andy Dunkley, who first assailed my ears with Steve Hillage's album Fish Rising. ...
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: Dirt Silver & Gold
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, February 1977
THE SEPTEMBER 13th 1975 edition of Billboard Magazine, the American music industry's Bible, carried an interesting and revealing supplement on Colorado – "a growing music ...
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, February 1977
WELL, THIS IS probably the strangest thing Bowie has ever recorded. First listen was a real shock...and I've come to expect surprises from this bloke. ...
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, February 1977
A CLASSICALLY CONCEIVED album for one such as myself – two songs by Parsons, one by the Louvin Brothers, a Rodney Crowell, a Mr. Guy ...
Nils Lofgren: Concluding A Natter With The Soft Funster Himself, Nils Lofgren
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, March 1977
WHAT ELSE did you do between the breakup of Grin and your first solo album, apart from producing that album for Charlie & The Pep ...
Ry Cooder Part 2: The Prospect Before Us
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, March 1977
Since the first half of this interview was written, there's been an opportunity to see Ry and the Chicken Skin Band in action, which was ...
Nils Lofgren: Rock ‘N’ Roll Gymnast
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, March 1977
Friday 25th February: Andy Childs talks with Nils Lofgren during a flying visit to London to hype his new album... which is where we begin. ...
John Martyn: Up To Date With John Martyn
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, March 1977
ONLY SIX WEEKS or so gone, and already it looks as if 1977 is going to be a cracker of a year for rock music! ...
Clash, The: The Clash: Konkrete Klockwork
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, April 1977
AT THE MOMENT there isn't a group in the New Wave that comes within spitting distance of The Clash, live or on record. Within a ...
Report by Kris Needs, ZigZag, April 1977
Well, we got through to the second issue despite opposition from the hippies. Anyway, here we are...and it's about time we went Over The Top ...
Michael Nesmith: Mike Nesmith: From A Radio Engine To The Photon Wing
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, April 1977
NO, I HAVEN'T the faintest idea what it means, but I do feel well chuffed that the task begun in November 1973 has finally made ...
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, April 1977
AS FAR AS anticipation goes, this album has been high on my list ever since that memorable Roundhouse gig where Clover were sandwiched between a ...
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, April 1977
IT'S TWO O'CLOCK in the morning and I'm playing The Idiot for the fifth time running. Can't stop, it's so compelling...but very VERY strange. ...
Saints, The: The Saints: I'm Stranded
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, May 1977
HEY! THIS IS a nice surprise! Almost out of nowhere comes this rip-snorter of an album when all we'd had from The Saints before was ...
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, May 1977
EVER SINCE I first heard the magnificent 'Acadian Driftwood' and marvelled in particular at Garth Hudson's tasteful use of synthesiser, it has always been a ...
Asleep at the Wheel: The Wheel
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, May 1977
THIS ISN'T going to be a very long review, because I want to play the record again before the pubs open. ...
Stranglers, The: The Stranglers: IV Rattus Norvegicus
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, May 1977
HERE COME the Stranglers with forty minutes of brain-rapingly original spewings like you ain't gonna hear anywhere else. ...
Roy Harper: There'll Always Be An England
Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, May 1977
As the pound plummets, the economy slumps and the government totters, there is yet hope for the fair isle of Albion… as we get a ...
Monkees, The, Michael Nesmith: Michael Nesmith: On The Road To ‘Rio’
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, May 1977
IT WAS INEVITABLE that when Michael Nesmith returned to London recently to promote jet lag and his single, 'Rio', we should meet again. My vibrant ...
Patti Smith: Lenny Kaye: New York Nuggets
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, May 1977
IN ISSUE 68 [of ZigZag], Patti Smith talked about a number of things during an account of the first half of her visit to this ...
Sex Pistols, The: Sex Pistols: Silver Jubilation
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, June 1977
A Jubilee special from the ever-patriotic Zigzag team in the form of an almost-exclusive interview with those lovable crop-tops from Shepherd's Bush, the Sex Pistols. ...
Stranglers, The: The Stranglers: IV Rattus Norvegicus (United Artists)
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, June 1977
THERE'S LITTLE DOUBT that while the first batch of British new wave albums were by the more outrageous elements, and somehow seemed to rely on ...
Ramones, The: The Ramones: An Aylesbury Affair
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, June 1977
IT'S BEEN about a year since The Ramones made their first hit-and-run visit to England for a pair of storming gigs in London. ...
Generation X: We're Not Into The Mindless Drone
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1977
GENERATION X are half way through their soundcheck, and there's a "what shall we play next?" lull in the proceedings. ...
MC5: The MC5: How the Jams Were Kicked Out!
Retrospective by John Sinclair, ZigZag, July 1977
In Britain, the MC5 are now far more popular than they ever were in their heyday – a fact which has prompted the recent re-release ...
Doors, The: The Doors: "I Looked Into Her Eyes And Pretty Much Felt That Jim Was Dead"
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, July 1977
FOR SOME YEARS now, I've had this big problem. One which often leads to incredulity in those to whom I explain it. It concerns my ...
Essay by Alan Betrock, ZigZag, July 1977
2:39 Richard Hell and the Voidoids glide into take one of 'The Plan', a quirky composition, supported by subtle mood changes. At 2:43 it's finished. ...
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, August 1977
THERE ARE FEW groups I'd rather go and see at the moment than The Slits. They've only been going a few months in their present ...
Blondie: All Aboard For Funtime!
Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, August 1977
FUN! IT'S A word which keeps coming back when you try and describe Blondie – live or on record. ...
Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, September 1977
Sunrise, wrong side of another day,Sky high, and six thousand miles awayDon't know, how long I been awakeWound up, in an amazin 'state Can't get ...
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, September 1977
WHILE countless young groups do weak imitations of the Ig of five years ago Jimmy Osterburg himself moves on at a rate of revitalised progress ...
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, September 1977
DRY AND Heavy indeed. The title says it all. This album is pure magic from start to finish and, in my opinion, his best yet, ...
Discography by John Tobler, ZigZag, September 1977
It's more than a tragedy that Mike Nesmith’s 'Rio' wasn't a bigger hit single. Not for me, because I've seen the amazing film about which ...
Interview by Danny Baker, ZigZag, September 1977
THE ROXY CLUB. Week one. The band bottom of the three playing that night played the night's most exciting set to about 20 people. ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, October 1977
THERE'S OVER 1,000 people from kids to hall staff grinning, swaying, dancing and screaming with delight at the stage on which Mink DeVille are playing ...
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, October 1977
BOWIE RECKONS he's discarded the last of his image facades/personality disguises, but as his appearance gets straighter the music gets weirder. ...
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, October 1977
THERE'S MORE similarity between these two albums than the fact that they've both got 'Red Hot' on 'em. They're the opposite ends of the rockabilly ...
Heartbreakers, The: The Heartbreakers: LAMF
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, October 1977
THE HEARBREAKERS are one of my fave live bands. For sheer ecstatic raunch you can't beat 'em. This album has been a long time coming. ...
Sex Pistols, The: The Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1977
THE TITLE SAYS it all really. Ignore the press hysteria, dopey articles in Rolling Stone and cross-country panic/fear/loathing over "those foul-mouthed Sex Pistols". This album ...
Radio Stars: The Radio Stars STORY!
Profile and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, November 1977
GREAT NAME, and both their records so far have also been pretty neat. There's an imminent album, and a third 45 coming out about the ...
Dwight Twilley: The Dwight Twilley Band
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1977
EVEN ACROSS thousands of miles of trans-Atlantic telephone cable and several time zones Dwight Twilley exudes excited confidence. He's sure the time has come for ...
MC5: Rob Tyner: The Secret Life Of The MC5
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1977
ROB TYNER, NOW fronting a new MC5 after about four years away from the stage, was recently in this country to check out what's going ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1977
I KNOW IT'S BEEN a hectic year full of surprises but if anything 1977 will go down as the year Jonathan Richman (a) Got in ...
Darts, The: The Darts: Getting To The Point With The Darts
Profile by John Tobler, ZigZag, December 1977
THIS IS GOING to be a two part feature. This is the first part, as the more astute among you have probably already worked out, ...
Alternative TV: ATV: Is As Wonderful
Profile and Interview by Danny Baker, ZigZag, December 1977
I WAS AT ONE of Steve Mick's bi-annual parties, (baffling, rambling affairs – you want to find your long-lost aunt? Come in and prowl around, ...
Clash, The, Lester Bangs: The Clash: Clash City Rockers On Tour
Report by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1977
DERBY KING'S HALL. The thickset geezer with the appearance of a frustrated rugby player – too short to make the scrum but just as tough ...
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1977
GROSS. LOUD. Fun. Funny. Fast. Flash. All words which can he applied to the Dictators, the New York City bad boys who toured here last ...
Ramones, The: The Ramones: Rocket to Russia
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1977
WHO DOESN'T LIKE the Ramones? Nobody, that's who – unless they're dead or M. Black of Norwich or something. I've had this LP for three ...
Review by Andy Childs, ZigZag, December 1977
ONE OF the most immediately likeable things about this album besides the very impressive packaging, is that it doesn't purport to be a Best Of ...
Jonathan Richman: The Modern Lovers: The Modern Lovers Live
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, December 1977
WELL, I think that's the title, but anyway you should know that this is the vinyl result of Jonathan Richman's quite unforgettable concerts here a ...
Slits, The: The Slits: Holland Park School, London
Live Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, January 1978
I BURBLED MY feelings about The Slits for four pages in ZZ75 last July, and happily that resulted in crazed Radio One producer and Zigzag ...
Brian Eno: An Interview With Brian Eno
Interview by Kris Needs, Danny Baker, ZigZag, January 1978
YOU COULD SAY Brian Eno was pissed off on the day the dynamic Zigzag interviewing team were supposed to be interviewing him. Quite the opposite ...
David Bowie: Secret Secret Never Seen: An Interview with David Bowie
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, January 1978
THE LAST couple of albums, which is really what you're here to talk about, have been, to some people, somewhat inaccessible. I think you said ...
Richard Hell: To Hell and Back: Richard Hell
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, February 1978
Richard Hell had just got up, and one of the first things he focused on was John Tobler, looming over him with a tape recorder. ...
Report and Interview by Danny Baker, ZigZag, February 1978
AH THE FALL! My mind fell on a quote that was all I knew of the name, something like '...there's hardly another band fit to ...
Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, March 1978
THROBBING GRISTLE: Drop that name in any conversation and watch the reaction. Giggling or nervous laughter, disgust or horror, blankness or a polite "Who?" Yeah, ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, March 1978
WHEN WIRE came out of the Punk No-man's-land with their strikingly different debut album Pink Flag they seemed one of the hottest hopes for lifting ...
Live Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, April 1978
JUST GONE 7.30 and the punter queue is already half in. About a thousand punks, bikers, 'Awkwind 'Eadbangers and 48 hour fun-makers have turned up ...
Profile by Kris Needs, ZigZag, April 1978
DESTROY ALL Monsters hail from the Detroit area and have provided a good home for two of the Motor City's baddest boys – ex-MC5 bassist ...
Flamin' Groovies, The: Flaming Groovies: A Thirteen Year Overnight Success Story
Profile and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, April 1978
"Right Cyril...left foot forward, two steps back, and then turn around...and when we've finished this old Ike and Tina Turner Review bit we'll go into ...
Patti Smith: Horse Latitudes: The Possession of Patti Smith
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, April 1978
This interview with Patti Smith took place last October when she stopped off in London for a day en route for Europe. We were saving ...
Sex Pistols, The: The Sex Pistols: Radio Fun!!
Guide by John Tobler, ZigZag, April 1978
JUST FOR A CRACK HERE IS ONE OF THE LAST U.K. INTERVIEWS THE PISTOLS DID ...
Generation X: X Cert For A Teenage Opera
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, April 1978
GENERATION X ARE pissed. Legless. Tony James is sprawled in a dressing room armchair, cradling his bass with a glazed-silly grin spread across the face ...
Patti Smith: High on Rebellion: Patti Smith Speaks, Part 2
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, June 1978
We join Patti Smith and John Tobler mid-conversation one day last October, when Patti was on her way to Europe to do her annual poetry ...
Television: T.V. Tube Heart: An interview with Tom Verlaine
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, July 1978
I get the impression that the first album was the album that the record company wanted you to make and the new album is more ...
Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie And The Banshees
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1978
"I CAN'T WAIT to get into Polydor and run wild 'round the secretaries and throw all their typewriting paper and get their ribbons twisted. They ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1978
I pushed a penny in the toilet door then I quickly stepped inside to some graffiti and a greyhound paper and the gentle thought of ...
Flamin' Groovies, The: The Flamin' Groovies: Groovy Times On The Road!
Report by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1978
UP AND DOWN the country over the last few weeks wide-eyed audiences have been driven past boundaries of passion they never knew could exist in ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: Some Girls
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1978
AH, THE NEW Stones album. For me the most feverishly-anticipated event between the first album in 1963 and Black and Blue two years ago was ...
Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, July 1978
THE RETURN of the street people, which should be a good thing. First, Springsteen, whose scenario of misfortune has been so well publicised that there's ...
Alternative TV: The Image Has Cracked
Review by Danny Baker, ZigZag, July 1978
YOU KNOW them "artists" and "reviewers", they ain't never gonna stop. ...
John Otway: The Intimate Secrets of John Otway
Report by Kris Needs, ZigZag, August 1978
Well go all the way to CornwallTell me baby what do you see?I see a long trip back home 'cos Polydor won't payI say, "Cor ...
Blast Furnace & The Heatwaves: The Best Band In The World!
Profile and Interview by Danny Baker, ZigZag, August 1978
"WE LOVE MUSIC...BUT WE HATE THE DISCO SOUND!!!!"Know what? I'll even forgive this band for saying that. ...
Profile and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, August 1978
It is to be hoped that some of you lemmings may have taken a little time out from adoration of the Clash on their current ...
Profile and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, September 1978
AS MENTIONED in fab Zigzag 85, this is a feature of their very own concerning Matchbox, who I dubbed the best British rock 'n' roll ...
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, September 1978
LOVE BITES can be: The vice-like heart-grasp of new love: Embarrassing marks on the neck; Romance with a sting in the tail; THE NEW BUZZCOCKS ...
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, October 1978
BLONDIEEEE!!!! IT'S just yards between the stage door and the coach but feels much more as the waiting hordes grab, shout and thrust bits of ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, October 1978
COULDN'T you just see it coming? Ever since the Ramones made a follow-up album to their magic formula debut they've been under some fire for ...
Patti Smith: 15 Minutes with Patti Smith
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, October 1978
DOUBTLESS, many of you will have noted a small item in NME's scandal section recently, which referred to the fact that Patti Smith had broken ...
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, October 1978
ONE of the less predictable events of this year has been the re-emergence of Mick Farren on the productive rather than critical side of rock'n'roll. ...
Television: Life After TV: An Interview with Richard Lloyd
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, November 1978
TELEVISION were one of my ultra-favourite groups of the past couple of years. The music they made has always seemed to me to combine the ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1978
WHEN JOHNNY came swaggering home last month (well, second home), you could safely bet there was no other place I'd be that night than right ...
Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie and the Banshees: The Scream
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1978
FIRST DAY I got it I stunned a full room with this magnificent record...and you should have seen me three hours and four more plays ...
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1978
AND YOU ALL thought, or have been led to believe, that Siouxsie and the Banshees were nothing but grim-faced, black-clad warriors of doom and disorder, ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1978
HE'S BEEN ON the stage for twelve years, eight of those rarely out of the Jamaican charts. He's a major reggae ambassador to Canada, the ...
Slits, The, Clash, The: The Clash/The Slits: Village Bowl, Bournemouth
Live Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1978
IT'S 5.30 in the morning and for some reason I'm stuck on a ledge halfway down a several hundred foot cliff overhanging Bournemouth beach... And ...
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, December 1978
I HOPE you're sitting comfortably, because this could be quite long... ...
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, January 1979
ZZ: THE MATERIAL on your first album strikes me as not being as unconventional as some of your later stuff, it's pretty straightforward. Does that ...
Ian Dury: Where Blockheads Dare…
Report by Danny Baker, ZigZag, January 1979
IN 1979 THE music press could well go the way of The Times. Rock'n'roll is all about crucial exhibitions of art, quiet spoken interviews with ...
Doll By Doll: Night Of The Psychotic Woodsmen
Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, March 1979
"This band is unquestionably involved in a death trip, and when you're involved in a death trip it ends in one thing alone and that's ...
Doors, The: The Doors: Stoned Immaculate
Review and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, March 1979
"The man's been dead for seven years — or gone for seven years — and he's still causing trouble!" — Ray Manzarek ...
Profile by Lindsay Hutton, ZigZag, March 1979
I'VE NEVER BEEN this goddam excited about a rock'n'roll band for ages. The monster media called NEW WAVE is almost finished and the climate is ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, April 1979
THE SLITS AND me in an Interview Situation, eh? Well, hardly. We just chat away (it was better when the cassette was off but I ...
George Thorogood & The Destroyers: George Thorogood: The Delaware Destroyer!
Profile and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, April 1979
IF RECENT REPORTS are to be believed, Beserkley Records may be in some kind of difficulties, at least as far as their English office is ...
Buzzcocks, The: The Buzzcocks: The Other One Speaks!
Interview by Michael Gray, ZigZag, May 1979
WHEN YOU GO and see Buzzcocks, there are four of them. Up at the back, as high on his rostrum as an Old Bailey judge, ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, May 1979
TO ME, ROBERT Fripp has always meant the nastiest riffs you could wish to cower from. I mean NASTY. Malevolent, grating sounds which fair oozed ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, May 1979
FOR THIS naughty mammal, one of the definite chest-expanding events of recent weeks was the storming resurgence of Ian Hunter, with his first album for ...
Psychedelic Furs, The: Psychedelic Furs: The Flowers Of Evil Are In Full Bloom...
Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1979
"We're in love with beautiful chaos, we're love with flowers..." ...
Siouxsie & The Banshees, Merger, John Otway, Doll By Doll, Clash, The: ZigZag: The Party (The Pain)
Report by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1979
IT WAS OUR party... the day ZigZag came OUT. An erratic monthly "fanzine" (not owned by IPC or any other gardening clubs) celebrated ten years ...
Flamin' Groovies, The: The Flamin' Groovies: Jumpin' in the Night
Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1979
HOT FROM their sizzling UK tour last June, the Groovies bombed into Eden Studios and laid down 16 tracks in a few days of midnight ...
Destroy All Monsters: Fighting The DAM-Buster
Report by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1979
DESTROY All Monsters were the first American group to be brought over to the UK by a British small label. ...
Public Image Ltd.: The Metal Box
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1979
FRIDAY EVENING in Chelsea and I'm looking for a house, panning the street on the odd numbers side. Nearly there and a door opens. Down ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1979
"WE DON'T WANT to be a cult," says Kate, the guitarist.It's Mo-dettes. Not Modettes. ...
Live Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1979
JUST FOR that night "ABBA – World Tour 1979" nestled next to Motorhead and the Heartbreakers on my pet leather's lapel. Talk about extremes – ...
ABBA: Abba: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1979
JUST FOR THAT night "ABBA – World Tour 1979" nestled next to Motorhead and the Heartbreakers on my pet leather's lapel. Talk about extremes ...
Marianne Faithfull: The Ballad of Marianne Faithfull
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1979
MARIANNE FAITHFULL was the Face of the '60s Fragile, damaged little bird with the voice of an angel, broken on a spike and filled with ...
Patti Smith: 20 Minutes With Lenny Kaye…
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1979
THE PATTI SMITH Group had a day off in London. The night before they'd played to a generally enthusiastic reaction but universal slagging at Wembley ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, January 1980
JERRY HARRISON plays keyboards and guitar for Talking Heads. Usually it's David Byrne, ostrich-like singer-songwriter-guitarist, who gets seized on by writers after hot poop on ...
Motorhead: The Year Of The Gory Boys
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, January 1980
IT'S STILL ONE of the greatest pleasures known to man: dig out the Motorhead albums, crank every knob, climb every wall and blister blissfully in ...
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, January 1980
'UNTER'S BEEN on stage about three-quarters of an hour now. Behind the shades he's revelling in the ecstatic open-armed adulation raining down on the boards ...
Joan Jett: Return Of The Jett Girl
Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, February 1980
HELLO, hello, she's back again! Joan Jett, the Runaway with the solid gold rock 'n' roll heart has returned, bouncing to a Gary Glitter soundtrack ...
Blondie: The Art Of Class: Behind The Blondie Invasion!
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, February 1980
THREE O'CLOCK on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Debbie Harry and Chris Stein have just got up and the hotel breakfast is being wheeled in. ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, March 1980
"Some search this world for fameBut fightin' 'gators is my gameFrom the scars upon my handYou know I'm an alligator man..." ...
Clash, The: The Clash: Six Days On The Road And 16 Tons Of Fun…
Report by Kris Needs, ZigZag, March 1980
THE QUEST GOES ON, HIT THE DECK! ...
Ramones, The: The Ramones: Ramonin' In The Moonlight
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, March 1980
AH, THE RAMONES. It's always one of my favourite times when those four are carving up our land with strategic bursts of concentrated sonic Ramonia. ...
Psychedelic Furs, The: Psychedelic Furs: The Furs Cut Is The Deepest
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, March 1980
"I HATE supporting other bands it sucks." Butler Rep, singer with The Psychedelic Furs, is reflecting on the last few days, which have seen one ...
Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, April 1980
SITTING on a curb with a fuming Joe Ely... ...
Profile and Interview by Pete Makowski, ZigZag, April 1980
MY FIRST sojourn into the pages of this fine mag and what a balls up. Cock up amundo, mate. ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, May 1980
"The main thing I've got to emphasise at this time is we're just not going away"– Jackie Leven ...
Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, May 1980
NEW YORK'S a lonely town when you've never been there before, and you really don't know too many people (although being there is a problem ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, May 1980
A YEAR after Exposure and Robert Fripp is following through on his 80s drive with the combined Frippotronics-Discotronics and a bunch of new theories on ...
Linton Kwesi Johnson: Hour Of The Electric Rebel
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, May 1980
Muzik of blood Black reared Pain rooted Heart geared('Bass Culture' by Linton Kwesi Johnson) ...
Siouxsie & The Banshees: Haul Of Mirrors
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, May 1980
SIOUXIE AND THE BANSHEES MAY CALL THEIR NEW LP KALEIDOSCOPE, REFLECTING THEIR NEW, MULTI-FACETTED STRENGTH. HERE THEY TALK ABOUT THE NEW SONGS AND PLANS... ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, August 1980
WHAT'S KATE BUSH doing in ZigZag? It's a fair chance that's the thought flitting through your noggin as you espy our rather tasteful cover. ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1981
TEAR A STRIP off the sucker. Suddenly everybody's selfconsciously diving for the dancefloor. Most groups have got their 'funky number', even if they're not funky. ...
Defunkt: Too Fierce For Radioland
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, June 1982
Joe Bowie, singer-songwriter-trombonist-leader talked to Kris Needs and Killing Joke bassist Youth. ...
Debbie Harry, Blondie: Blondie: Making Tracks And The Art Of Parties
Report by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1982
THE B2 ART GALLERY is oddly situated in derelict Thameside structures off Wapping's hysterically termed High Street. But no rundown jungle on the other side ...
Kate Bush: Dream Time in the Bush
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1982
Kris Needs rises with the dawn (Wot?) to talk with the elfin Kate Bush about her new album The Dreaming ...
Report by Richard Kick, ZigZag, June 1984
IT WOULD take a century of three-foot-thick ZigZags to truly describe the weird scenes, huge fun, turmoils, wobblers, windups, triumphs and downers of nearly three ...
The Gun Club: I Left My Hat In San Francisco
Interview by Richard Kick, ZigZag, September 1984
WE CARRY OUR ANCIENT RELATIVES AROUND WITH US – ...
Alternative TV: Mark Perry: After The Storm
Interview by Richard Kick, ZigZag, October 1984
ONE SOMETIMES wonders what ever happened to the original punk rock generation of 1976? Obviously those who have managed to hold onto the limelight we ...
Interview by Richard Kick, ZigZag, October 1984
THE THOUGHT was: as a concise introduction into the idea of 23 Skidoo I would write a short piece about Fritz Hamaan. ...
Marc Almond: Ol' Goo Eyes Is Back
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1984
LURCHING ALONG a dark street, hellhound on my trail, underpants on my head...A new life around the corner. ...
Stranglers, The: The Stranglers: The Menin Straits
Interview by Richard North, ZigZag, November 1984
A BAND who, in 1977, I jumped up onstage with at the Queensway Hall Dunstable/I was drunk/I sobered up very quickly/ ...
Interview by Antonella Gambotto, ZigZag, January 1985
I AM CRUSHED between a maniac with a mohican and a screaming string-singleted Scot in the audience - sweating, drunken, belching, retching, hopeless, drugged - ...
Jesus & Mary Chain, The: The Jesus and Mary Chain: Like A Virgin
Profile and Interview by John Robb, ZigZag, February 1985
GLASGOW 1984 AND punk is dead (At last, positive punk had become a coral reef of untold disaster, sinking outfits such as Silly Death Cult ...
The Gun Club, Jeffrey Lee Pierce: Trigger Happy: Jeffrey Lee Pierce Goes Solo
Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, March 1985
AND SO the Gun Club was finally laid to rest. That majestic, thrashing animal with its tail in the blues, foot in the garage and ...
Richard Hell, Robert Quine, Lou Reed: Robert Quine: Red Red Quine
Interview by Richard Kick, ZigZag, April 1985
WILD MEN of rock come and wild men of rock fizzle out. Or, rebels don't – their voices just fade away. Robert Quine, mild mannered ...
Morrissey, Smiths, The: Antonella Strikes Again: Morrissey Revisited
Interview by Antonella Gambotto, ZigZag, May 1985
Absurd Person Singular Antonella grapples with the shining Morrissey, now larger than life than ever before. Is there any offal truth to discover? ...
Fuzztones, The: The Fuzztones: Police To Meet You
Interview by Richard North, ZigZag, August 1985
THE FUZZTONES are the type of band who inspire thoughts like, 'Rootless beat, ruthless rhythms, voxed-up twang at maximum volume, magnified beyond belief. Bourbon, drugs, ...
Interview by Richard North, ZigZag, November 1985
STATELY, PLUMP Jah Wobble came from the stairhead, bearing a bottle of lemonade from which the label was peeling. A blue jean jacket, ungirdled, was ...
Echo & The Bunnymen: Warren Peace
Interview by Dele Fadele, ZigZag, November 1985
WHEN THE CONSCIENCE AND SOUL LIE – A BODY'S GOT NO CHOICE. ...
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1985
"Since time immemorial the great sea has fascinated mankind, even as he is plucked like a lifeless doll from its creaking shores..." (in BBC2 documentary ...
Siouxsie & The Banshees: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, January 1986
LAST MONTH WE CAUGHT SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES FIGHTING INJURY AND BOUNCERS IN NOTTINGHAM AND SET THE SCENE FOR THIS INTERVIEW, WHICH HAD TO BE ...
Overview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, January 1986
TO PUT EVERYTHING INTO PERSPECTIVE, AS TO WHERE THE ORIGINALS FROM '76 HAVE GONE; BE IT A WAYSIDE DITCH OR A MAJOR RECORD COMPANY WATER ...
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