Chart Pop & Bubblegum
Connie Francis: Connie Will Rock For Britain!
Interview by Alan Smith, NME, August 1962
THERE'LL BE no more weepie-weepie songs from Connie Francis once her current hit 'Vacation' leaves the charts... for Connie is to record special future releases ...
Tommy Steele, Tornados, The: Alan Smith On Film Sets With The Tornados and Tommy Steele
Report and Interview by Alan Smith, NME, February 1963
A HAUNTING theme-tune echoed across the stage of a dingy London theatre on Tuesday morning, as film cameras turned on that "Globetrotting" hit group, the ...
Bobby Rydell: Twenty Years Plus Bobby
Profile and Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, March 1963
A SIGNIFICANT thing happened to Bobby Rydell when he was five years old. His father took him to see a stage show. And another stage ...
Live Review by Alan Smith, NME, April 1963
MIKE BERRY burst into the second half to the throbbing beat of 'La Bamba'. Close on its heels came his current release 'My Little Baby' ...
Lesley Gore: The Singing Rebel
Interview by Alan Smith, NME, June 1963
IT'S THE BEATLES' favourite disc of the moment and it's sung by a 17-year-old American girl who had a genteel upbringing in the sedate neighbourhood ...
Cliff Richard: How Cliff Rose To Fame
Profile by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, September 1963
David Griffiths spotlights the early days of Cliff's career... ...
Cliff Richard, Shadows, The: Cliff Richard & The Shadows: Cliff's New Film and Hank's New Guitar!
Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, October 1963
IT WAS BUSY-ness as usual for birthday boy Cliff Richard this week. On Sunday night he cut his next record (out in about three weeks) ...
Helen Shapiro: Will Helen Make Her Comeback in 1964?
Report and Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, December 1963
From child prodigy to star of stage, screen etc. That's the career of young Helen Shapiro. She has a talent way ahead of her years. ...
Heinz's Hat, Some Surfing, & The Sharks!
Interview by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, October 1964
THE FACT that Heinz has just visited Australia stuck out the proverbial mile when I met him last week, after an exhausting two week tour ...
Interview by Keith Altham, NME, March 1965
BACK from a hectic five-day promotional tour of France I found Sandie Shaw and composer Chris ('Long Live Love') Andrews seated at a piano in ...
Unit 4+2: Unit With The Crazy Nicknames
Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, March 1965
UNIT FOUR Plus 2. A bit cumbersome as a title? Ah, but remember the man who pioneered ball point pens in America just after World ...
Peter and Gordon: Peter & Gordon Are Poles Apart
Interview by Keith Altham, NME, April 1965
BEFORE THEIR trip to Japan and the Far East I lunched with Peter Asher and his sparring partner Gordon Waller, and a more unlikely combination ...
P.J. Proby Inspires Heated Emotions
Report and Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, June 1965
'l Love Him' Sobs Teen – Others Want Him Banned ...
Report and Interview by Keith Altham, NME, August 1965
"I NEVER intended to be a singer," confessed Sonny, when I found him squatting on the stairs in the corridors of a BBC Theatre in ...
Sonny & Cher: The Mad Mad World of Sonny And Cher!
Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc Weekly, September 1965
SONNY and Cher had just arrived in their manager's office in Los Angeles. It was 2.30 p.m. and they had bounced happily back from a ...
Lettermen, The: Lettermen Relate Secret Of Success
Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, October 1965
Top Pop Group For Five Years ...
Interview by Keith Altham, NME, October 1965
SONNY struck back last week! When I phoned him at his home in Los Angeles recently, I got him out of bed at five o'clock ...
Fortunes, The: Fortunes Admit It: They Use Session Boys!
Interview by Keith Altham, NME, October 1965
THE FORTUNES go on record as the first group I have met who have had the honesty to admit they use session musicians on their ...
Herman's Hermits in LA: Herman at Home
Report and Interview by Ann Moses, Rhythm 'n' News, October 1965
How He Was Almost Thrown in Jail! ...
Herman's Hermits in LA: Herman's Excitement; Keith's Disappointment
Report and Interview by Ann Moses, Rhythm 'n' News, November 1965
This concludes a two-part EXCLUSIVE Rhythm 'n' News interview with Herman's Hermits during their stay in Hollywood. ...
Knickerbockers, The: No Lie! It's a Big Hit For Knickerbockers
Interview by Ann Moses, Rhythm 'n' News, November 1965
NO. 4 IN 2 WEEKS ...
Herman's Hermits: My 4 Days and Nights with Herman
Report and Interview by June Harris, Teen Life, January 1966
SUDDENLY, THE reasonably quiet pool at the Seville Hotel on Miami Beach became a mass of young people shouting, screaming and running in every which ...
Lou Christie: Gypsy Helps Lou Make Hit Discs
Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, January 1966
LOU CHRISTIE strolled into The BEAT offices today and completely charmed the entire female portion of our staff. He's an absolute gas, a guy you ...
Jay & The Americans: A Winning Recipe For Jay and The Americans
Profile by uncredited writer, KRLA Beat, January 1966
TAKE THREE college students who like to sing. Add a shoe salesman (you wear out a lot of shoes on the road to success). Toss ...
Interview by Keith Altham, NME, May 1966
DAVE DEE, DOZY, Beaky, Mick and Tich are a gift to mediocre comedians who fall about making "unpunny" remarks like: "Oh, yes, 'Wavy Lee, Drunken, ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick And Tich: Focus on BEAKY and DOZY
Profile and Interview by Keith Altham, NME, May 1966
BEAKY (real name John Dymond) is the gaunt-faced rhythm guitarist with the group whose sinister looks contradict his "matey" nature. He has a fund of ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Focus on MICK…and TICH
Profile and Interview by Keith Altham, NME, May 1966
MICK began his musical career banging about on biscuit tins, inspired by Bill Haley records like 'See You Later Alligator'. "I just listened to the ...
Paul and Barry Ryan: Ryans Feel Established
Interview by Keith Altham, NME, August 1966
I ARRIVED nearly an hour late at Harold Davison's Regent Street office for my interview with Paul and Barry Ryan due to freak monsoon weather ...
Turtles, The: The Turtles Return!
Comment by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, August 1966
HOLLYWOOD: The hot, cigarette-stale air belched out of the Whiskey and onto the Strip. The sardine-like inside of the club drew its breath from the ...
Sonny & Cher: They're Pop's Most Lovable Couple
Report and Interview by Keith Altham, NME, September 1966
IT'S THAT 'Little Man' again and bouncing back into the NME Chart this week at No. 18 comes popdom's most lovable couple, Mr. and Mrs. ...
Report and Interview by Keith Altham, NME, October 1966
ACTION stations for Sonny and Cher. In a transatlantic phone call from his home in Encino, Sonny told me that their first film, Good Times, ...
Monkees, The: Man-Made Monkees
Profile by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, November 1966
MOST GROUPS happen. The Monkees were made. If they weren't intentionally created, it is conceivable that they would not exist for it is highly unlikely ...
Report by Ann Moses, Tiger Beat, January 1967
SUNDAY ...
Monkees, The: Why All This Hoo-Ha About The Monkees?
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1967
OH, THE bitchiness! Oh, the arguments! Oh, the rows! It's amazing how pop can still cause furore and uproar from one side of the Atlantic ...
Monkees, The: The Monkees' Front Man
Report and Interview by Keith Altham, NME, February 1967
DAVY JONES – the little Monkee with a big heart – arrived via Nassau last week wearing a battered black top hat, purchased from a ...
Monkees, The: The Monkees: More Of The Monkees (RCA)
Review by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, April 1967
IT'S A STRANGE thing to review an LP which you know will go to the top of the LP charts and sell a load of ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: No Beards for Dave Dee & Co!
Interview by Keith Altham, NME, June 1967
ROLLING Stone Brian Jones once described himself as "a straight Ernie." And the same might be said of Dave Dee. An "Ernie," I was assured ...
Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, August 1967
SANDIE SHAW was engaged in something of a friendly battle with an Italian waiter at the Palace Hotel, Viareggio, when I finally caught up with ...
Four Seasons, The: Four Seasons Speaking of Success
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, KRLA Beat, August 1967
LOS ANGELES – The Four Seasons came to the West Coast to perform in the area for the first time and completely conquered all who ...
Flowerpot Men, The: The Flowerpot Men: Flowered, Belled and Beaded
Interview by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, September 1967
"I WAS strolling casually through the dining-car of a British Railways choo-choo train the other day, flowered belled and beaded, as befits a Flowerpot Man, ...
Herd, The: The Herd Take Over As Screamers' New Idols
Interview by Keith Altham, NME, October 1967
MY CONTENDER as the man "most likely to get ripped to pieces by hysterical females" in 1967 is Peter Frampton, the seventeen-year-old vocal-guitarist with the ...
Sandie Shaw: Her Anatomical Assets
Report and Interview by Keith Altham, NME, November 1967
PROVING quite conclusively that she has legs right up to her shoulders, Sandie Shaw wearing her self-designed string mini dress (or was it a vest?) ...
Foundations, The : Before This Record, We Were Just What You'd Call 'Bums' Say The Foundations
Interview by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, November 1967
IT'S ENOUGH to make psychedelia and Flower Power turn in its grave. I mean, how dare a group like the Foundations have the effrontery to ...
Interview by Keith Altham, NME, November 1967
I WENT several rounds with Eve Taylor and Sandie Shaw over dinner last Friday, where among other things we discussed her performance at last week's ...
Sonny & Cher: Sonny and Cher: We're In Love, That's The Secret Of Success
Memoir by Keith Altham, NME, 1968
IT WAS ON July 31, 1965, that a stocky little man dressed after the fashion of an Eskimo bounced across the reception hall in London ...
Love Affair: A Love Affair To Remember…
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1968
IT'S EXCITING, it's fun, it's new – it's the Love Affair! ...
Herd, The, Tremeloes, The, Love Affair: The Tremeloes: War Of The Groups
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1968
Pop, crackle, snap – there's friction in the air! ...
Herd, The: The Herd: Move 'Em Out It's The Real Herd
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1968
A POACHED egg is many things to many people. To advertising copy writers, it is a symbol of health and efficiency. To the savages of ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, April 1968
WE HAVE seen group wars and feuds before, but nothing like the battle for fans between the Bee Gees and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick ...
Esther and Abi Ofarim: The Dance That Lasted A Hundred Years...
Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, June 1968
RM's MULTI-LINGUAL DAVID GRIFFITHS TALKS TO ESTHER AND ABI OFARIM ABOUT THEIR NEW SINGLE ...
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: 16 Salutes The Union Gap
Profile and Interview by uncredited writer, 16 Magazine, July 1968
IN THIS day and age, with all the competition, it's quite an accomplishment to have a top ten record – especially for a new group. ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Nine Hits In A Row
Interview by Keith Altham, NME, July 1968
WHEN I arrived at the Lime Grove TV studios it was to find that Tich, Mick, Beaky, Dozy and Dave Dee (how about that for ...
Interview by Mike Grant, Rave, August 1968
HAVE YOU ever wondered what its like to hardly ever finish a meal in peace without someone thrusting an autograph book under your nose – ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Dave Dee's Happy To Make Instant Hits
Interview by Keith Altham, NME Annual, 1969
GROUPS come and go but Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, it seems, go on for ever. And the secret of their success? According ...
Bee Gees, The: Was Robin The Key Figure In The Bee Gees' Success?
Interview by Keith Altham, Top Pops, August 1969
WITH ROBIN GIBB hurtling up the charts with his first solo single, 'Saved by the Bell', it would appear that the answer to the question, ...
Archies, The: The Archies: The Archies Are Fictional, But Their Success Is Not
Report and Interview by Mike Jahn, New York Times, November 1969
CRITICS MAY debate whether some rock groups that make hit records should exist at all but what can one say about a hit record made ...
Box Tops, The: The Box Tops: Dimensions, Nonstop, Super Hits
Review by Lester Bangs, Rolling Stone, December 1969
THE BOX TOPS? Are you serious? Those yokel hacks grinding out rattly pop for the tyrannical Top 40? Those squeaky-clean goons in paisley scarves and ...
Dave Clark Five, The: The Dave Clark 5's Mike Smith
Interview by Keith Altham, Record Mirror, January 1970
NOT UNLIKE 'old man river' the Dave Clark Five keep rolling along and just when the critics are about to re-write their obituaries – missing ...
Interview by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, June 1970
DESPITE having a successful single in 'Yellow River', Geoff Christie (front man of new group Christie) would have been happier had the group just not ...
Nancy Sinatra, Osmonds, The: Nancy Sinatra, The Osmonds: Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas NV
Live Review by Ann Moses, NME, August 1970
FRANK SINATRA played host to 500 members of the Press to celebrate the fourth anniversary of Caesar's Palace and his daughter Nancy's opening. ...
Tony Orlando: The Last Of The Teenage Idols
Retrospective by Bill Millar, Record Mirror, April 1971
THE ODEON, Kingston-upon-Thames. Or maybe it was The Granada. It's 9.20 p.m. on the 15th February 1962 and Clarence 'Frogman' Henry has just boogied his ...
Neil Diamond: The Jekyll and Hyde of Pop
Interview by Phil Symes, Disc and Music Echo, June 1971
NEIL DIAMOND is a latter day Jekyll and Hyde. The quiet, hesitant, sensitive man you meet in a plush London hotel suite is nothing like ...
Michael Jackson, Jackson 5, The: Michael Jackson: Schmaltz or Genius?
Comment by Roger St. Pierre, NME, March 1972
In his day perhaps they thought Mozart was a hype ...
Osmonds, The: The Osmonds: Phase Three (MGM)
Review by Wayne Robins, Creem, May 1972
IT CAME AS no surprise when FAVE Magazine recently handed out its best of the year awards. Left unresolved was the question of who really ...
Osmonds, The: The Osmonds: They're Enough To Make You Scream…
Report by Keith Altham, NME, May 1972
LAST FRIDAY at High Noon it was 'teen time' at London's Churchill Hotel, where those Beetle-haired Monkee-faced and indecently wholesome Osmond Brothers (You have probably ...
Bobby Vee: Bye Bye Bobby – Meet Mr Villene
Profile and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, August 1972
A CLAIM to fame you don't often associate with Bobby Vee is that he once sacked Bob Dylan from his band. Over here having just ...
Gary Glitter: A Raven in Rich Plumage
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, November 1972
"YOU WILL bear in mind that he's got dreadful 'flu, won't you," says Gary Glitter's publicity agent when we fixed up the interview. And sure ...
Profile and Interview by John Pidgeon, Let It Rock, February 1973
IT'S VERY EMBARRASSING to be caught out when you haven't done your homework. We hadn't planned much before we met Dave Berry because we automatically ...
Report and Interview by Ray Fox-Cumming, Disc and Music Echo, February 1973
Sweet's Andy Scott Talks To Ray Fox-Cumming ...
Sweet: The Sweet Soft Underbelly of Rock
Report and Interview by Nick Kent, NME, February 1973
FUNNY how moods change – there we all were...the Sweet and myself...in the bar, having a few drinks, sharing a joke or two y'know, getting ...
Interview by Keith Altham, NME, February 1973
HE COMES ON stage with Slade like an over-decorated, perambulating Christmas tree – smothered in silver-stars, gold and glitter from head to toe – but ...
Four Seasons, The: The Four Seasons: Ten Years And Still Hanging On
Retrospective by Bob Fisher, Let It Rock, March 1973
IN AUGUST LAST YEAR Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons celebrated ten years as one of the most successful recording groups America has ever produced. ...
Osmonds, The: The Osmonds: The Business Of Being An Osmond
Report and Interview by Andrew Tyler, Disc and Music Echo, March 1973
EDD LEFFLER knows just how to take care of his boys. He knows all about double and triple entendres and how reporters sometimes like to ...
Osmonds, The: The Osmonds: Ever Thought Of Stringing Jimmy Up On Stage?
Report by Charles Shaar Murray, NME, March 1973
HAVE YOU heard? Donny Osmond's in town – along with big brother Alan – and the secret weeny bopper jungle telegraph knows where he's going ...
Osmonds, The: Golden Age Of The Osmonds
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, March 1973
THE OSMONDS have been around for years and Alan has known success with earlier line-ups, but it is with Donny that the brothers have discovered ...
David Cassidy: Empire Pool, Wembley, London
Live Review by Ray Fox-Cumming, Disc and Music Echo, March 1973
Nice one David! ...
Osmonds, The, Donny Osmond: Donny Osmond: Sometimes I Just Can't Believe We're on Top!
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Family Weekly, May 1973
"We finally decided to go with me as a solo. There's no jealousy in the family about the decision. If I sing a solo record, ...
Suzi Quatro: This Is Suzi Quatro. She's Heavy
Interview by Tony Stewart, NME, June 1973
ON THE HORIZON of Charles Street, London, or more precisely in the RAK Record Company offices, is a Star. Her name is Suzi Quatro. Five ...
Profile and Interview by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, July 1973
...with Hedgehoppers Anonymous, Simon Turner, 10cc, Ricky Wilde and the UK Gang ...
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, September 1973
"Hey, shout summertime bluesJump up and down in blue suede shoes" ...
Carpenters, The: The Carpenters: Summer Sweethearts
Overview by Nick Kent, NME, September 1973
If it's muzak you're looking for, look no further... ...
Herman's Hermits: So What's Wrong With Herman's Hermits?
Retrospective and Interview by Harold Bronson, Zoo World, September 1973
CRINKLED NOSES and pained "ooohs" accompany ninety-five percent of the responses I receive when I tell people I like Herman's Hermits. But how can I ...
Carpenters, The: The Carpenters: It's Plane Sailing!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1973
HEAD DOWN THE Santa Ana freeway, turn off on San Gabriel, make a couple of rights and you're in Downey, a right-wing, unpretentious suberb of ...
David Cassidy: Real Cool Cassidy
Report by Nick Kent, NME, October 1973
I ALWAYS FIGURED secretly that David Cassidy was a cool guy. ...
Profile and Interview by Simon Frith, Creem, November 1973
Stuck in the middle with the Chartbusting Champions of Un-hip ...
Sonny & Cher: Growing Up With Sonny & Cher
Retrospective by Greg Shaw, Phonograph Record, November 1973
RECENTLY, THE SONNY & Cher Comedy Hour devoted a special show to what they called "The Sonny & Cher Years". ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1974
"HYPE, BILGE, lies, rubbish!" These are the epithets often hurled when a band appears on Top Of The Pops weekly, and soars chartward with a ...
David Cassidy: Terminal Fandom
Report and Interview by Chrissie Hynde, NME, June 1974
IN "FREE" ADULTS, mass frustration breeds war. In "free" teenagers, mass frustration breeds rock phenomena. ...
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: Gary Puckett: How We Split The Gap
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1974
"YEAH I GUESS you could say I was kinda surprised when I got the news. But the funny thing is that I kinda predicted it ...
Review by Gene Sculatti, Zoo World, September 1974
MOST EUROPEANS would, quite rightly, give their balls to suck Slurpees at a 7-11 or grow up absurd on Yankee turf, but they don't get ...
David Essex: The Busy Mr Essex
Interview by Ray Fox-Cumming, Disc and Music Echo, November 1974
MR ESSEX, I Presume? One could be forgiven for asking the question because, caught unawares in his dressing room for the 45 show, he looks ...
Bay City Rollers, The: Phil Coulter: The Creator
Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc and Music Echo, November 1974
Disc meets the man behind the Rollers and many others ...
Bay City Rollers, The: The Bay City Rollers: Rollers On The Run
Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc and Music Echo, November 1974
FAN HYSTERIA is reaching its peak with the Bay City Rollers. It's got to the point now where the Rollers can't even go to the ...
Interview by Ray Fox-Cumming, Disc and Music Echo, November 1974
THESE WERE THE MYSTERIOUS INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN TO FOX-CUMMING WHEN HE SOUGHT AN INTERVIEW WITH THIS CHAP ...
Glitter Band, The: The Glitter Band
Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc and Music Echo, November 1974
"GARY IS great. His operation was a success and there are no aftereffects at all. If anything, it has improved his voice." ...
Bay City Rollers, The: The Bay City Rollers: Kings Of Pop!
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
IN THE same week that Muhammad Ali regained his heavyweight boxing title, the featherweight crown of pop, too, has changed hands. ...
Rubettes, The: The Rubettes: Rubettes Bring Back Jive
Interview by Ray Fox-Cumming, Disc and Music Echo, November 1974
IN DANCE-craze circles 'The Bump' is supposed to be all the rage...but is it? ...
Turtles, The: The Turtles: The Turtles (Happy Together Again) (Sire)
Review by Gene Sculatti, Zoo World, December 1974
ITEM: THE Turtles' It Ain't Me Babe album cover was one of the first to recognize and promptly display rock 'n roll fatty tissue, at ...
Jonathan King: A Rose in a Fisted Glove
Review by Charles Shaar Murray, NME, March 1975
WHEN JONATHAN KING first manifested his presence upon this already sufficiently troubled planet he was able to masquerade as a genuinely provocative presence, mainly because ...
Sweet: The Sweet: No Longer Unfashionable
Interview by Max Bell, NME, April 1975
ROCK SNOBBERY. THAT'S what it is. A prevailing attitude that anything commercially successful in terms of the charts must therefore be top-twenty hype, not suitable ...
Smokie: Smokey: No Smokey Without Fire…
Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, August 1975
THE NEWS that Chinn and Chapman had signed a new band was predictably greeted by the music business with one big yawn. What would this ...
Bay City Rollers, The: Bay City Rollers: Once Upon A Star
Review by Mitchell Cohen, Phonograph Record, September 1975
THE BAY CITY Rollers campaign is underway, and its components are familiar: screaming female fans in Great Britain, Sid Bernstein masterminding tour plans, back-to-back appearances ...
Bay City Rollers, The: Inside the Bay City Rollers' Camp
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, September 1975
"WHEN ANYONE slates us, you can bet they’ve never heard our own stuff – Derek is a brilliant drummer" ...
David Essex: Roll On For The Main Attraction
Interview by Barbara Charone, Sounds, September 1975
JUST OFF the Fulham Road, round the corner from an old cinema that Manticore have converted into a hollow rehearsal hall, David Essex sits in ...
Cliff Richard: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Salewicz, NME, November 1975
A GIANT TUPPERWARE party. ...
Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, Archies, The, Tommy James & the Shondells: Bubblegum: A Beginners' Guide
Guide by Ken Barnes, Let It Rock, December 1975
ARCHIES: As the Monkees started to slip in late '68, Don Kirshner unveiled his new media blitz – a cartoon show (based on a popular ...
Neil Sedaka, Carpenters, The: Neil Sedaka: Second Stairway To Heaven
Report and Interview by Tom Nolan, Rolling Stone, December 1975
AWAY FROM the Vegas casino clatter, inside the Riviera Hotel's now empty Versailles Room, onstage, seated at a piano is a petite, energetic man who ...
Overview by Bob Woffinden, NME, December 1975
We kid you not.What else happened?Remarkably little actually. ...
Monkees, The: Monkee-Mania... In The '70s?
Retrospective by Ken Barnes, Who Put The Bomp, 1976
I WROTE A prototype version of this piece in 1973, at a time when admitting you liked the Monkees was about as cool as driving ...
Review by Ken Barnes, Phonograph Record, January 1976
LYNSEY DE PAUL'S new Aimed-at-America image seems to be Sex & Sleaze – with class. Visually, as any potential consumer can see by directing an ...
Smokie: Smokie Rising — 11 Years to Take Off!
Profile and Interview by Ray Fox-Cumming, Record Mirror, January 1976
MOST BRIGHTEST hope contenders in any year tend to be fairly new bands, but Smokie, although the name is newish, had their beginnings over 11 ...
Sweet: The Sweet: Top of the Pops
Interview by Chris Salewicz, NME, January 1976
OH, YOU know, it gets so very confusing. What with the fickleness of all these rock writers and the constant need to come across with ...
Neil Sedaka: Sedaka's Rocket to the States
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1976
NEIL SEDAKA does not look like a wealthy entertainer, not even when he's surrounded by the splendour of his rented luxury apartment above Fifth Avenue ...
Osmonds, The: The Family Plan Of The Latter-Day Osmonds
Profile and Interview by Tom Nolan, Rolling Stone, March 1976
The Wizards who Live in the Land of OsWorship their God and Obey the LawsWear Ice Cream Suits without Bulges or FlawsAnd Smile with the ...
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, March 1976
"THE THING IS," confides Billy McIsaac, Slik's 26-year-old keyboards player, "we have a positive attitude to everything." He is speaking with the advantage of hindsight. ...
Report and Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, May 1976
NEVER IN THE history of rock 'n' roll has it been more difficult for bands to get the exposure they need to break big and ...
ABBA, Silver Convention: Europe: The Future Of Pop?
Overview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
AS IT WAS Stockholm, and as the ever-witty 10cc were playing there, Eric Stewart thought it'd be nice to pay a little tribute to a ...
David Essex: Earl's Court, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
FOUR TIMES AT his Earls Court, London, show on Saturday night, David Essex strikingly fused the electric atmosphere of theatre with rock. The effect was ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
Midge Ure (guitar, vocals), Jim McGinlay (bass, vocals), Billy McIsaac (keyboards, vocals), Kenny Hyslop (drums, vocals). Produced by Phil Coulter at Mayfair Studios, London, during ...
David Essex: Essex Dons The Motley Again
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, May 1976
DAVID ESSEX: 'I'm going to do a kind of rock revue in a West End theatre. It'll be incredible – I've got so many bizarre ...
Sweet: Sounds Girl In Sweet Nude Bathing Horror
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, June 1976
THE ERSATZ raunch, bump and grind of 'The Stripper' blares out over the Sportshalle in Cologne. Thousands of minute German teenyboppers are creaming in excitement ...
Slik: We're Like A Scapegoat For The Rollers
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, July 1976
TEARS TRICKLE down her 12-year-old cheeks. She's speechless, overcome by the emotion of the moment. She has, after a stubborn battle, won the right to ...
Bay City Rollers, The: The Bay City Rollers: Rollers' American Civil War
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
THE STATE TROOPER, with his tall hat perched firmly on a head with very little hair, seemed to be in control. One hand grasped a ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1976
David Paton: now one-half of Pilot, a band trying to rid itself of teenybop associations ...
Bay City Rollers, The: The Bay City Rollers: Dedication (Bell)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1976
Leslie McKeown, (lead vocals and background), Eric Faulkner (lead guitar, rhythm and acoustic guitars, vocals), Stuart Wood (bass and vocals), Derek Longmuir (drums, percussion, vocals), ...
Bay City Rollers, The: The Bay City Rollers: The View From Seat A6
Live Review by Charles Shaar Murray, NME, September 1976
"Then one day I found a perfect plan,I shake my ass and sing in a rock and roll band,From now on there'll be no compromisin'Rock ...
Bay City Rollers, The: Bay City Rollers: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, September 1976
SOME TIME ago, David Essex remarked that he was fed up with critics reviewing his audiences when they should have been more concerned with the ...
David Essex: Out On The Street (CBS) ****
Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, October 1976
DAVID ESSEX has arrived at a most interesting junction in his career. Standing at the crossroads, his fourth studio album paints a versatile self-portrait of ...
David Cassidy, Mick Ronson: David Cassidy & Mick Ronson: Cassidy Lights Up With Ronson
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1976
DAVID CASSIDY is to form a band with Mick Ronson, the British guitarist whose services as a freelance player are much in demand these days. ...
David Essex: Manchester Palace, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Morley, NME, November 1976
CLEAN ROCK from the super slick, sadly lackadaisical David Essex Band at the plush Manchester Palace is a harmless way to waste a few hollow ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1976
"THE TIMES they are a-changin" ...and David Essex is changing with them. ...
Review by Bob Woffinden, NME, November 1976
How they made a billion while still in their twentiesWITH THE POP MUSIC OF TODAY ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, December 1976
ABBA: Frida Lyngstad and Anna Faltskog (vocals), Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals) with Ola Brunkert and Roger Palm (drums), Janne Schaffer, ...
Comment by Greg Shaw, Phonograph Record, 1977
"ABBA IS the most exciting pop phenomenon of the ‘70s," claims their bio, and for once it’s no hype. My admiration for this group knows ...
Suzi Quatro: Aggrophobia (RAK)
Review by Charles Shaar Murray, NME, January 1977
FOUR AND A HALF YEARS since Suzi Quatro scored jackpot and replay with 'Can The Can', and it's only now that she's made an album ...
Sweet: Give Us A Wink (Capitol)
Review by Richard Riegel, Creem, May 1977
I SEE HERE in this clipping that Sweet lead singer Brian Connolly got his throat kicked in during a pub brawl in London in 1974. ...
Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, May 1977
THE FIRST cut on this album is 'Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone', Smokie's latest chart single. Of course, you'd expect to find it ...
Bay City Rollers, The: The Bay City Rollers: It's A Game
Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, July 1977
LET'S FACE it, the idea of a Bay City Rollers album is just a little amusing. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if several of ...
Captain, The, and Tennille: The Captain and Tennille: Come In from the Rain
Review by Lester Bangs, Circus, September 1977
IT'S TOO EASY to be cynical about the Captain and Tennille. People who pride themselves on being hip and chic find it very convenient to ...
Sweet: The Sweet: Sweet's Golden Greats
Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, November 1977
EVERY GENERATION of rock writing throws up its own paper tiger. ...
Osmonds, The: The Osmonds: The Osmonds' Greatest Hits
Review by Mick Farren, NME, January 1978
I HAVE this theory that they're a totally separate (and probably hostile) species. They breed and multiply in hidden canyons of the American South West. ...
Bee Gees, The: Confessions of A Bee Gees Fan
Essay by Simon Frith, Let It Rock, June 1978
THE OTHER day I read this shocking story in the Sun: it seems that when Andy Gibb set off from Australia to find fame, fortune ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich: Dingwalls, Camden
Live Review by Charles Shaar Murray, NME, October 1978
HIPSTER PANTS held up with two-inch-wide white belts, op-art shirts with bloody great monstrous collars that hang down to armpit level and then button down ...
Bay City Rollers, The: The Bay City Rollers: Strangers In The Wind
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, November 1978
IT WOULD indeed be wonderful to report that, after a lengthy break, the Bay City Rollers have returned to remind us that they were really ...
Profile and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, December 1978
"A Colchester farmer on his own accounts for 10,000 of the 400,000 advance orders of Boney M's 'Mary's Boy Child'. George Story heard the single ...
Yummy, Yummy, Chewy Chewy: A Bubblegum Yarn
Essay by Robot A. Hull, Creem, October 1979
"PERHAPS THE blight of the late '60s was 'bubblegum', music planned entirely as a product, not as anybody's art." – Charlie Gillett, The Sound Of ...
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 ...
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. ...
Tremblers, The, Peter Noone, Herman's Hermits: The Hermit Trembles: Peter Noone Looks Back
Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, December 1980
ON A WARM, smoggy Saturday morning on the verge of September, this journal's man on the West Coast called on Peter Noone, who, from farther ...
Depeche Mode: Systems Muzak: Depeche Mode at The Venue, London
Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, NME, February 1981
THOSE ARBITERS of modern taste who would wish on you the indecencies of things like Spandau Ballet are generally the same people who can be ...
Adam & The Ants: Adam Ant: Sound and Vision
Interview by Chris Salewicz, Face, The, April 1981
"Malcolm McLaren just said to me, "What do you want, Adam?" I said, "I'd like to be a household name, and have everyone know and ...
Human League, The: The Human League: Beautiful Dreamers
Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, August 1981
Start with pop with a capital P, add a touch of glamour, stir with a generous helping of amateur enthusiasm and you've got the new ...
Human League, The: The Human League: Dare (Virgin)
Review by Paul Morley, NME, October 1981
SURPRISE! ...the love of human MOR-als ...
Archies, The, Barry Mann, Carole King, Neil Sedaka: Don Kirshner: The Pop Factory
Profile by Greg Shaw, History of Rock, The, 1982
POP FROM THE production line; that seemed to be the story of the late Fifties and early Sixties. But the production line does not inevitably ...
Retrospective by Cynthia Rose, History of Rock, The, 1982
ON 16 FEBRUARY 1979, Elvis Costello and the Attractions performed Leon Payne’s 1974 country anomaly ‘Psycho’ at Hollywood’s Palomino Club and, late in 1981, the ...
Haircut 100: The Young Ones, Darling We're The Young Ones
Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, February 1982
Young is beautiful, say HAIRCUT 100. MARK COOPER gets nostalgic with the band every mother wants her daughter to love. ...
Interview by Chris Salewicz, Face, The, March 1982
FLEXING her feet in a pair of black Dr Martens, Kim Wilde sits in an orderly, wholesome manner at one end of a carefully battered, ...
Report and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, August 1982
BIT OF AN abrasive character, this Mark Hollis from Talk Talk. Halfway through our chat, I innocently mention that they're often compared to Duran Duran, ...
Altered Images: Clare Grogan's Altered Images: Thank Heaven For Little Girls
Interview by Iman Lababedi, Creem, January 1983
"I just wanted to get to know her, really. She was just kind of fascinating."— Director Bill Forsyth, explaining why he cast Clare Grogan in ...
Haircut 100, Nick Heyward: Back To Square One: Nick Heyward
Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, March 1983
"IS IT REALLY worth talking about?" Ask Nick Heyward what he's been up to in the six months since the release of ‘Nobody's Fool’, the ...
Live Review by Betty Page, Record Mirror, May 1983
75% OF THIS Kajaudience measured less than 5ft 2ins and looked like the walking personification of Top Shop. Hundreds of young girls in crisp, virginal ...
Kajagoogoo: The Sound Of The Crowd: The Kajagoogoo Tour
Report and Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, May 1983
Shrieks, squeals, gasps, wails...It gets even louder when the band actually come on stage. The Kajagoogoo tour is not an experience easily forgotten. Neil Tennant ...
Kajagoogoo: Puppy Love In The Plasma-Glow: Kajagoogoo at Hammersmith Odeon
Live Review by Richard Cook, NME, June 1983
AS PHENOMENA GO, Kajagoogoo seem like the nastiest end of a train that starts in Boy George's inspirational and self-sufficient glamour and ends in the ...
Shakin' Stevens: The Secret Life Of Shaky
Interview by Ian Birch, Smash Hits, July 1983
He never gives interviews and keeps well out of the public eye. In fact, the 'real' Shakin' Stevens is a bit of a mystery. Ian ...
Interview by Ian Birch, Smash Hits, August 1983
A year ago Wham! made records and simply had fun. Now they've got managers, gossip columns and solo careers to worry about. Ian Birch hears ...
Culture Club, Boy George: Culture Club and George
Report and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, December 1983
A TYPICAL SUNDAY afternoon in New York's Central Park. Horse drawn carriages sweep by full of tourists. Armies of joggers with headphones stream down every ...
Bananarama: Mean Streaks and True Confessions
Interview by Susan Williams, NME, April 1984
WHACKING THROUGH the poster-rack at Woolworths. Staring back at the faces of the semi-famous packaged like slabs of bacon. ...
George Michael, Wham!: Wham!: The Beach Boys
Report and Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, May 1984
A sun-soaked story of sea, sand, shorts, shuttlecocks and snogging. Yes, Wham! are back. Your travel guide in Miami: Neil Tennant. ...
Nik Kershaw: Fame! Riches! Fast Cars! Lots Of Free Meals And Fizzy Drinks!
Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Smash Hits, September 1984
ABOUT A YEAR ago it was Nik and Sheri Kershaw's wedding day. Registry office, parents and friends, reception at their small house in Essex, cut ...
Interview by Ian Birch, Smash Hits, September 1984
But they used to be. Wham! now think that their whole ''Bad Boys" look is "pathetic" and they "can't believe how many people bought that ...
Report and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, NME, October 1984
The first year of ZTT has been a spectacular success with Frankie Goes To Hollywood singles 'Relax' and 'Two Tribes' becoming respectively the fourth and ...
Review by Paolo Hewitt, NME, November 1984
LET'S START with Barry White. Now there was a man that I loathed. At the height of his success, I used to watch his videos ...
Boy George, Culture Club: Boy George and the War On Pop
Essay by Ian Penman, NME, December 1984
2003 note: I don’t know about this: "this" being the original 2,000 words I handed in at the very last minute to a poor, frazzled ...
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, January 1985
"The Portly Pilot Of Pop", they called him. "The Clown Prince Of Glam", they called him. "A Frightmare In Lurex", "Marlene Dietrich Gone Wrong", "A ...
Spandau Ballet: Shout To The Top
Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, January 1985
When they started out, at the dawn of the '80s, Spandau Ballet were determined "to do something different". They said they'd never end up like ...
Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Relax, It's Only A Rock Group: Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Profile and Interview by Max Bell, Times, The, February 1985
CARL GUSTAV JUNG, in one of his lighter moments, once wrote: "Liverpool is the pool of life". A year after Jung's death his words were ...
Pet Shop Boys: Neil Tennant At The British Record Industry Awards
Report by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, February 1985
You saw Prince. You heard Frankie. You felt the warmth of Wham's sun tans. You watched the TV show but now read THE FULL STORY! ...
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, February 1985
Alison Moyet is a singer, mum-to-be, owner of a house in the country and a collector of dodgy videos. But there's something more to her ...
Marilyn: Does Anyone Still Want Him?
Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, March 1985
"I COULD DROP DOWN DEAD TOMORROW AND I COULD COUNT THE PEOPLE WHO WOULD CARE ON ONE HAND." MARILYN IS TRYING TO MAKE "A COMEBACK". ...
Nik Kershaw, Paul Young: Paul Young & Nik Kershaw: "We Haven't Actually Kissed Yet..."
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, September 1985
They'd never met before. But then they set off to "conquer" America — Nick's the support act on Paul's US tour — and now they're ...
K-Tel's Place in the Music Industry: Where Have All the One-Hit Wonders Gone?
Retrospective by Larry Jaffee, Popular Music and Society, 1986
COMEDIAN ROBERT KLEIN has a story about how you can call up K-tel and order every record ever made. A forty-foot trailer will drive up ...
Madonna: 'Bruce Springsteen Was Born To Run, I Was Born To Flirt...'
Essay by Richard Cook, Sounds, February 1986
RICHARD COOK takes a manly look at the pop tart goddess, MADONNA, who has put sleaze and safety back into pop stardom ...
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, June 1986
No more Sammy's tits on page three! Unthinkable! More Sammy songs on Top Of The Pops! Even more unthinkable! While the world wrings its hands ...
Interview by Mat Snow, NME, June 1986
"ALTHOUGH I AM honest, I will deal with an interview with the confidence of GEORGE MICHAEL, POP STAR. And the way I deal with people ...
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, July 1986
BUCKS FIZZ have survived a coach crash, the Jay Aston "scandal" and Shelley's chaotic audition. And they're still having top ten hits and rattling on ...
Review by David Quantick, NME, July 1986
RONNIE BARKER: "What's it all about, then? Life, I mean. What's it all about, eh?" Ronnie Corbett: "Something to do, I s'pose." ...
Review by David Quantick, NME, October 1986
HERE THEY are again. Norway's finest and the group who cleaned up after the chart fragmentation of Culture Club, Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran, a-ha ...
Monkees, The: I Like The Monkees
Retrospective and Interview by Bill Holdship, Creem, December 1986
ONE OF THE worst aspects of rock 'n' roll is that it's often centered on this debate as to whether something is "cool" or not. ...
Bananarama: These Charming Girls
Interview by Iman Lababedi, Creem, December 1986
"Who steals my purse steals trash, 'tis something, nothing; 'twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands. But he who filches from me ...
What's Missing: On Pop's Eternal Dilemma
Essay by Simon Reynolds, Monitor, Summer 1986
SOMETHING'S WRONG. Everyone knows this, acknowledges it, but it's still hard to point out, precisely, what's supposed to have slipped into abeyance, eluded us in ...
Frankie Goes to Hollywood: The Revenge of Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Report and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Q, Summer 1986
"NO ONE GETS IN HERE!" screams Brian Nash, slamming the caravan door and flicking the lock. "No one!" Outside hover a few members of the ...
Mel & Kim: Shop Girls Of The World Unite!
Profile and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, NME, February 1987
Out of the shops and into the charts come MEL AND KIM – friendly, forthright, but kept strictly in line by their manager. PAOLO HEWITT ...
Jonathan King: Who The Hell Does Jonathan King Think He Is?
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, March 1987
"WHO IS THE REAL Jonathan King? There is no real Jonathan King. Jonathan King simply does not exist, dear heart..." ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, June 1987
Good lads and all that but are Go West any more than the sum of pop's mediocrity? David Stubbs takes a gander ...
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, August 1987
Wide-eyed and reckless, Kim Wilde has discovered sex. At least, she writhes a bit on the vid of the new single. Paul Mathur talks dirty ...
Curiosity Killed The Cat: Meowing For Dollars
Profile and Interview by Deborah Frost, Creem, November 1987
ENGLAND MIGHT have never lost the Empire if she'd only listened to her taxi drivers. Here it is, 5 a.m., my time. I've just stumbled ...
John Fred and his Playboy Band: John Fred: The Long Career of a One-Hit Wonder
Retrospective and Interview by Steven R Rosen, One Shot, Fall 1987
IT SEEMED A BOW to novelty and nostalgia. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which features roots-music artists of all sorts, was sponsoring a ...
George Michael: The Lone Star State
Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, June 1988
His second career is already more succesful than his first. His spry and winning pop songs have a greater-than-average life expectancy. He is uncountably wealthy. ...
Sheena Easton: The Prime of Miss Sheena Easton
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, NME, January 1989
A star in the States and yet either a twee girlie singer or second-string Prince collaborator in her home country, SHEENA EASTON, courtesy of that ...
Debbie Gibson, Bros: Bros, Debbie Gibson: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Terry Staunton, NME, August 1989
BROTHERS GRIM ...
Report and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, November 1989
"VERNA!" CRIES Luke Goss, the drummer. "Verna! Can I have another triple Hennessy's, please, darl?" ...
Wet Wet Wet: Holding Back The River
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, December 1989
PLEASANT AS it was, Wet Wet Wet's first album, Popped In Souled Out, was always too slick to be really interesting. ...
George Michael: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
Review by Mat Snow, Q, October 1990
SOME THREE YEARS and 14 million copies later, George Michael follows up his solo debut Faith with an album that should prove to any lingering ...
Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1990
DURING LAST YEAR'S concerts, Pet Shop Boys reserved a moment amidst the costumes and the dancing for an intimate spell at the piano with Neil ...
David Essex: Who The Hell Does David Essex Think He Is?
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, February 1991
DAVID ESSEX KNOWS all about the pressures that go with being an international star but still manages to keep a friendly smile on his face ...
One-Hit Wonders: They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!
Guide by Mat Snow, Q, March 1991
Rock ‘n’ roll, they say, is a cruel mistress. How often has pop fame proved but a tragically brief interlude between obscurity and oblivion! Well, ...
Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1991
THE FAMOUS DANCER'S legs are hidden by the kind of white trouser suit favoured by the molls of Italian mobsters, but the tiny figure with ...
Kylie Minogue: A Wallaby Adored
Interview by David Quantick, NME, September 1991
Be very afraid, indie saddos, for the Queen God-Empress of the Known Universe, KYLIE MINOGUE, will now transform into a Perv Rock Temptress before your ...
Chris Montez: All-Time Greatest Hits
Review by Tom Graves, Rock and Roll Disc, October 1991
ANYONE WHO still doesn't think remastering ace Steve Hoffman is a genius should be forced to listen to this anthology of Chris Montez. ...
Interview by Mat Snow, Rock's Backpages Audio, Fall 1991
From taking the morning train to having the look, Mat Snow probes Sheena Easton about her life in music, Esther Rantzen, Kenny Rogers, Prince and all.
File format: mp3; file size: 56.9mb, interview length: 1h 02' 09" sound quality: ***
Live Review by Keith Cameron, NME, April 1992
MAYBE IT'S for the best that Marc Bolan didn't take that bend as well as he'd have liked back in '77. Otherwise we might now ...
Adam & The Ants: Adam And The Ants: Where Are They Now?
Profile by Martin Aston, Q, September 1992
"DON'T WORRY – HE'LL soon be a hairdresser in North Finchley." So it was that, with Malcolm McLaren's unprophetic words as encouragement, the original Ants ...
Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Where Are They Now?
Profile by Martin Aston, Q, October 1992
THERE ARE FEWER more meteoric sagas than that of Liverpool's Frankie Goes To Hollywood – from almost complete obscurity to the hottest, and the most ...
Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1992
WEIRD. ALMOST EVERY blushful purchaser will have recently caught the artist in flagrante, bollock, so to speak, naked. ...
Eurythmics, Annie Lennox: Annie Lennox: Front Woman
Interview by Mac Randall, Musician, March 1993
CONGRATULATIONS ON your Grammy nominations. Are you making any bets on how you'll do? ...
Bad Boys Inc: Naughty By Nurture
Interview by Steven Wells, NME, July 1993
It's easy to be cynical about 'manufactured' Pop Stars, how it's all so easy for talentless young upstarts to get fame and fortune beyond their ...
Kylie Minogue: A Wallaby Together
Interview by Keith Cameron, NME, September 1994
It's been a difficult gestation, but the world looks set to witness the rebirth of KYLIE MINOGUE as she emerges from the cocoon with colourful ...
Heaven 17, Human League, The, Duran Duran, Culture Club: Top Of The Pops and The '80s Brit Pop Boom
Overview by Stuart Maconie, Q, November 1994
YOU CAN tell if they're boys or girls these days, that's the trouble. Just look at them, these so-called modern pop phenomena. ...
Report by Sheryl Garratt, Independent, The, July 1996
WE'RE IN THE atrium of a sleek, modern, five-star hotel that is actually in Moscow but could be almost anywhere in the world. In the ...
Spice Girls, The: The Spice Girls: Girls Just Wanna Be Loaded
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 1996
LAST WEEK, the world was as it should have been. Gary Barlow was number one, the summer's foreign novelty hit, 'Macarena', was panting just behind ...
Spice Girls, The: The Spice Girls
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Big Issue, The, December 1996
THE PAY IS GOOD, the perks are fantastic, but there's one thing they never tell you about being a pop star – the hours are ...
Profile by Ben Fong-Torres, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1997
CALL THEM what you want – the Jackson 5, the J5, the Jacksons – they were, in the end, Michael and four of his brothers. ...
Take That: Mark Owen: Pretty Verdant
Interview by Keith Cameron, NME, February 1997
He was known as the cute one, the member of Take That most likely to adorn pubescent girls' bedroom walls, the one who sang and ...
Sweet: The Sweet: As Sweet As It Was
Retrospective by Dave Thompson, Goldmine, February 1997
FEW BANDS ever led a life full of as many personalities as The Sweet. In their British homeland, they were as unfashionable as last year's ...
Monkees, The: The Monkees: People Said They Monkeyed Around
Interview by David Quantick, Q, April 1997
...only they didn't. At all. For being The Monkees was no fun. They couldn't play on their records; their film was crap, but, unlike the ...
Dollar: Where Are They Now? Dollar
Interview by Martin Aston, Q, July 1997
Once they sat behind the gilt-inlaid desk of success, with the keys to the executive washroom; then, suddenly, they were "downsized". ...
Spice Girls, The: The Spice Girls: The Notorious Zig-A-Zig-Ah!
Profile by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, August 1997
THERE'S NO ducking it. The Spice Girls are undoubtedly the most successful British teenypop act. Their album, Spice, has sold over seven million albums in ...
Culture Club, Boy George: Culture Clash: The Return Of The 50 Foot Gender Benders
Report and Interview by Dave Thompson, Alternative Press, 1998
"LIAM GALLAGHER is so sexy! There’s not much irony in the things Liam says, it’s just pent up rotweiler frustration. But honey, I ...
I Feel Like I Win When I Lose: The Eurovision Song Contest
Retrospective by Rob Chapman, MOJO, May 1998
WHAT HAVE FRANCOISE HARDY, Esther Ofarim, and Ofra Haza got in common? Answer, they are all fine singers. But before they got such deserved reputations ...
Spice Girls, The: Spice Girls: Gone But Not Forgotten
Report and Interview by Philip Norman, Sunday Times, June 1998
POOR GAZZA. Or should that be typical Gazza? Looking for a holiday destination as far from the World Cup as possible, he chooses the Ritz-Carlton ...
Kylie Minogue: Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, Times, The, July 1998
SHE MAY HAVE spent most of the Nineties pursuing different musical directions with mixed results, but Kylie Minogue can still sell out three nights at ...
Kylie Minogue: Little Miss Boomerang
Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Guardian, The, August 1998
Kylie Minogue has probably had more brickbats than bouquets since she quit soap stardom to become a pop singer. But, with a new record in ...
Pete Waterman: The Puppetmasterplan
Interview by Stephen Dalton, NME, January 1999
Pete Waterman: scourge of the majors, champion of the people and the most wonderful man in Britain? Or just the tosser who brought us Jason ...
Britney Spears: Baby One More Time (Jive)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, March 1999
I WOULDN'T, actually. Jailbait. Pastels. Popsox. Mall rat. Sure, all the obvious jokes cover up the fact that this is a document of pure venality. ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, May 1999
Here a full transcript of the interview conducted with Bjorn Ulvaeus for a MOJO feature published in 1999 to mark the opening of Mamma Mia!. ...
Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 1999
THEY HAD a dream. It was November 1970, and the greatest pop group of the decade was about to get off to a very inauspicious ...
Britney Spears: Dear Diary: Britney Spears
Comment by Metal Mike Saunders, Village Voice, June 2000
NOVEMBER 3, 1998, was the release date of the '... Baby One More Time' CD single and 12-inch (w/ 'Autumn Goodbye' on the B side). ...
Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, October 2000
Her Madgesty's eighth studio album is a clinical future-dance monster ...
Britney Spears: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Ian Fortnam, bol.com, October 2000
IN CERTAIN SOCIAL CIRCLES it’s entirely acceptable, if not positively compulsory, for gentlemen rock journos of a certain age to swan about like leather-clad rutting ...
Britney Spears: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by David Sinclair, Times, The, October 2000
ROBBIE WILLIAMS may believe he has no competition. But the day after he began his latest tour, the American superstar Britney Spears arrived to play ...
Report and Interview by Ben Thompson, ES, November 2000
ELVIS HAD The Ed Sullivan Show, The Sex Pistols had the Silver Jubilee boat trip. But for acid-tongued trans-Atlantic playground pop sensations Daphne and Celeste, ...
Madonna: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2001
The live shows you really shouldn't have missed - a transcendent pop moment ...
Pop Quiz: What does the new Top Ten list mean?
Comment by Nick Hornby, New Yorker, August 2001
IN 1973, FOR AN ESSAY published in The New York Review of Books, Gore Vidal read his way through the Times best-seller list in an ...
Sleevenotes by Colin Escott, unpublished, September 2001
IN THESE trivia-obsessed times, it's probably worth knowing that the first Number One hit recorded in Memphis by a Memphis act was 'The Letter'. It ...
Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, October 2001
All the studio albums 1973-1981, digitally remastered with statistic-stuffed notes and bonus tracks previously only heard on 1994's Thank You For The Music box ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2002
The First Ladies of the British pop charts talk about fame, boys, UK Garage, the Angels With Dirty Faces album and each other.
File format: mp3; in 3 parts, total file sizes: 64.6mb, total interview length: 1h 09' 46" sound quality: ****
Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2002
A 17-YEAR-OLD skate chick with the face of a rebellious angel and attitude to match, singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne should be the answer to every record ...
Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, January 2002
Second decade of hits and myths from La Ciccone — but no 'American Pie' ...
hear'say: It’s All Just hear’say
Comment by Mark Sinker, Freaky Trigger, February 2002
HE SAID TRUST ME I’LL MAKE YOU A STAR SO I BIT MY TONGUE UNTIL HE’D FINISHED... ...
Various Artists: Electric (Telstar)
Review by Tim Clifford, Rock's Backpages, April 2002
THE OLDEST track on this 34-track compilation dates from 1974 – and Sparks’ 'This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both of Us' still sounds ...
Interview by Pete Paphides, Guardian, The, June 2002
People were often a bit sneery about Abba, born of Eurovision, duded out in satin and feathers, quintessentially pop. Only years after the group broke ...
Like Rock Never Happened: Pop Idols for Tibet... or Greenpeace... or whatever
Comment by John Mendelsohn, Rock's Backpages, June 2002
WELL, I HOPE everybody's satisfied. Back in the early '80s (you can look it up!), I was railing in Creem about the institutionalisation of surliness ...
Carpenters, The: The Carpenters' 'Superstar'
Retrospective by Johnny Black, Blender, September 2002
PERFORMERS: Karen Carpenter, lead vocals; Richard Carpenter, piano, vocals; Hal Blaine, drums; Joe Osborne, bass; Jim Horn, wind instruments; Bob Messenger, bass and wind; Doug ...
hear'say: Hear'Say, Gone Tomorrow
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 2002
In it for the fame, the manufactured popstars didn't have so much as a slogan to fall back on when the going got tough. Caroline ...
Report and Interview by Pete Paphides, Guardian, The, March 2003
To some, the Here And Now Tour is a has-beens cabaret, to others it's a harmless trip down memory lane. Peter Paphides reports from the ...
Obituary by Phast Phreddie Patterson, Rock's Backpages, April 2003
SINGER LITTLE EVA (59) died of cervical cancer at a hospital in Kinston, North Carolina on April 10. She was born Eva Narcissus Boyd on ...
Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Guardian, The, May 2003
THE WORDS ARE TALL, luridly colourful and carefully stitched onto a bed sheet, and the sentiment is unambiguous. As Busted guitarist Matt Jay’s eyes alight ...
Victoria Beckham: Keepin’ It Real
Review by John Mendelsohn, Rock's Backpages, August 2003
YOU COULD HARDLY blame the ridicule-mongers for nearly swooning with delight a couple of months ago when Victoria Beckham revealed that she would soon begin ...
Radiohead, Phil Spector: Steven Wells On Rock Snobs
Column by Steven Wells, playlouder.com, August 2003
The The Stages Of Pop-Man ...
Robbie Williams: Q Icons: Robbie Williams
Profile by Ian Gittins, Q, 2004
EVERY BRITISH comprehensive school class has its in-house clown. Tirelessly hyperactive and compulsively subversive, he (and it always is a he) leaves at 16 in ...
Review by Kandia Crazy Horse, Village Voice, June 2004
HAVING PASSED out during Hanson's historical 1999 Bob Weir summit at the late Wetlands, this critic can attest to the inexorable power of the towhead ...
Sugababes, Girls Aloud: Xenomania: Heart Of The Country, Home Of The Hits
Profile and Interview by Ben Thompson, Observer, The, July 2004
In rural Kent, the future of British pop is being shaped by Brian Higgins – a Phil Spector for the 21st century. Ben Thompson meets ...
Madonna : Manchester Evening News Arena
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, Times, The, August 2004
PARTS OF MANCHESTER almost ground to a halt this weekend as the European wing of Madonna’s Reinvention Tour opened with two nights at the city’s ...
Natasha Bedingfield: Unwritten
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, September 2004
SO IT'S OFFICIAL. Natasha Bedingfield is no longer just Daniel's little sister. That 'These Words' going to No.1 made chart history – making her and ...
Girls Aloud: How I Became a Girl Aloud
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2004
Caroline Sullivan spends a week in the shoes — the very painful shoes — of the UK's number one girl band ...
Essay by David Stubbs, Guardian, The, October 2004
THE ONE AND Only, a hardback celebration of one-hit wonders by Tom Bromley, is a touch too self-satisfied a stocking filler, inviting us, not for ...
Xmas LPs: Worst Christmas On Record
Essay by David Stubbs, Guardian, The, December 2004
THE CHRISTMAS SINGLE is a thing of thudding familiarity - brace yourself again for Jona Lewie to make his annual re-emergence, bludgeoning you like a ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, January 2005
Hanson want to be taken seriously as an alt-rock band. But will anyone forgive their teeny-bop past? By Caroline Sullivan ...
Adam & The Ants: Adam Ant: Adam And The Fall
Interview by Paul Lester, Daily Telegraph, April 2005
STUART GODDARD is one of the most gifted – and most troubled – pop stars this country has ever produced. ...
Profile by Jaan Uhelszki, Harp, September 2005
AFTER LEARNING that a London ad agency was searching for music for an upcoming Volkswagen commercial, Aqualung’s Matt Hales locked himself in his flat, hammered ...
Interview by Stephen Dalton, Times, The, November 2005
IN 2005, there are few cooler pop names to drop than a-ha. Coldplay and Travis are not just avowed fans but sometime collaborators with the ...
Book Review by Bill Wasserzieher, Ugly Things, Summer 2005
IF SOCRATES, the George Carlin of his day, was right that "the unexamined life is not worth living," then The Monkees have nothing to worry ...
Interview by Bill DeMain, Performing Songwriter, July 2006
When Don Kirshner hired Jeff Barry as a producer and writer for the Monkees, then the Archies, he knew he was getting a guaranteed hitmaker. ...
Adam & The Ants: Stand And Deliver by Adam Ant (Sidgwick & Jackson)
Book Review by Bob Stanley, Times, The, September 2006
STUART GODDARD attempted suicide, aged 21, in 1975. He woke up in Friern Barnet hospital and discharged himself. When he got home to his wife ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, Spring 2006
AFTER INSTIGATING the '80s rock revival currently sweeping the hit factories of US pop, it's only fair that Pink should now get to be its ...
Profile and Interview by Robin Eggar, Sunday Times, May 2007
MIKA MAKES Marmite pop music. Back in January, when 'Grace Kelly' first leapt out of the radio, people rushed to instant judgment. Indifference was not ...
Profile by Johnny Black, Blender, December 2007
Vital statistics on Soft Cell's controversial smash ...
Sleevenotes by Todd Everett, Bear Family Records, 2008
THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME – the list of performers, not the museum in Cleveland – has often generated its share of controversy; ...
Spice Girls, The: The Spice Girls: Never Mind The Bum Notes
Live Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, January 2008
The Spice Girls: O2 Arena, London ...
Girls Aloud: Brighton Centre ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 2008
GIRLS ALOUD long ago ceased to be a guilty pleasure, and are now just a pleasure. It defies the laws of reality TV that they're ...
Katy Perry: On Music: Katy Perry — Voice of No Angel
Comment by Jude Rogers, Guardian, The, August 2008
IT'S BEEN quite a week for sex, music and me. Take last weekend. There I was at the Big Chill festival, hot-browed and clammy-palmed, watching ...
Essay by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, October 2008
FOR MANY years now I have been a closet Abba fan. This was not always the case. ...
Tony Christie: Cadogan Hall, London
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, Times, The, November 2008
THIS HAS BEEN a vintage year for triumphant comebacks by veteran singers, from Leonard Cohen to Neil Diamond. Now Tony Christie, who turned 65 in ...
Ian Whitcomb: The Troubadour Of Lost Time
Retrospective and Interview by Kirk Silsbee, Arroyo Monthly, January 2009
POET HOLLY PRADO once observed: "A city either wants you or it doesn't." Ian Whitcomb was a history student at Dublin's Trinity College with ...
Florence and the Machine, Lady GaGa: On Music: Lady GaGa and Florence Welch
Comment by Jude Rogers, Guardian, The, January 2009
Lady GaGa and Florence Welch have been hailed as the new queens of pop. But why pretend they're anything more than cheap imitations? ...
Depeche Mode: Universal Truths And Sounds
Interview by John Doran, Stool Pigeon, The, April 2009
It's all tea and biscuits for Depeche Mode these days, and a trip back to the future ...
Madonna: Why Madonna's Still A Material Girl
Profile by Robert Sandall, Sunday Times, April 2009
Turning 50 and divorcing Guy Ritchie doesn’t seem to have dented Madonna’s fortune – or her bankability. Robert Sandall investigates the business of being a ...
Bay City Rollers, The: Tam Paton
Obituary by Adam Sweeting, Guardian, The, April 2009
Bay City Rollers manager who was mired in scandal ...
Profile and Interview by Johnny Black, Music Week, June 2009
IT'S OBVIOUS to anyone with even a smattering of pop music suss that without Neil Sedaka there would be no 'Breaking Up Is Hard To ...
Shakira: On Music: Shakira – The She Wolf Bites
Comment by Jude Rogers, Guardian, The, July 2009
Shakira's howling alter ego is properly, wonderfully strange, going back to the old rules of pop star alternate personas ...
Sugababes: 'We Took Our Eye Off The Ball'
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 2009
After a brush with self-doubt, the Sugababes are back on form. Keisha Buchanan, Amelle Berrabah and Heidi Range talk about their new album, Get Sexy ...
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Times, The, October 2009
Paul Lester remembers the two years when the band ruled the world ...
Robbie Williams: Writing Off Robbie Williams Is Unfair And Premature
Comment by Jude Rogers, Guardian, The, October 2009
Expectations of immediate success are threatening to strangle Robbie Williams's comeback at birth, even when his single is selling well and the new album is ...
Comment by Paul Morley, Observer, The, October 2009
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, but I decided that I would not watch this particular series of The X Factor, because I thought, I'll get ...
Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, Guardian, The, December 2009
In the last 10 years, The X Factor and its ilk have bucked record-buying trends and breathed new life into a dying industry. We talk ...
Shakira Wants to Fight Poverty and Offer Escapism
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, December 2009
SHAKIRA'S THE 50 million-selling pocket-sized Colombian superstar whose high-profile charity work, runaway international success and eye-boggling performances comprise a perfect combination of brain power and ...
Essay by Bob Stanley, Guardian, The, December 2009
Can Bob Stanley listen to every No 1 song from the noughties and escape with his sanity intact? He recalls a musical decade that ranged ...
Lady GaGa: Transvision Vamp: Lady GaGa
Comment by Simon Warner, Rock's Backpages, January 2010
THE POWER OF Lady GaGa has been one of the most scintillating features of 2009: three number one UK singles, a sprawling debut album and ...
Paolo Nutini: Paisley's Own Caped Crusader
Profile and Interview by Pete Paphides, Times, The, February 2010
SEVERAL MONTHS have elapsed since Paolo Nutini got the idea for his performance at the 2010 Brit Awards. If he remembers the moment well, that'll ...
Bobby Vee, Bobby Darin: Was 1960 Really The Worst Pop Year Ever?
Retrospective by Gene Sculatti, Rock's Backpages, March 2010
KIDS TODAY. And the music they listen to! As I write, Billboard's (U.S.) Top 10 features three songs with the F-word in their title, one ...
Review by Ben Thompson, Observer, The, April 2010
Thanks to her henchmen, writes Ben Thompson, the shameless idol still has much to give ...
Report by Johnny Black, Music Week, June 2010
LESS THAN a year ago Robbie Williams was being written off by the nation's critics, but this month has seen him honoured with an Outstanding ...
Ke$ha: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London ****
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Guardian, The, December 2010
IT'S EASY TO dismiss Ke$ha as a Primark take on Lady Gaga, but such an appraisal disregards the fact that 23-year-old Kesha Sebert this year ...
Justin Bieber: NIA, Birmingham
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, March 2011
JUSTIN BIEBER fans will tell you there are two only kinds of people in the world: "Beliebers" and the rest of us. For those who ...
Katy Perry: Hammersmith Apollo, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, March 2011
KATY PERRY is strutting across the stage, a giant spray of feathers fanning out from her tiny backside, and she's singing, "I wanna see your ...
Black Eyed Peas, Taio Cruz: Never Mind The Balearics: The Ibiza-ification Of Pop
Comment by Simon Reynolds, Guardian, The, April 2011
From Black Eyed Peas to Taio Cruz, much recent pop looks to Ibiza for inspiration. And yet for all the hands-in-the-air moments, this music is ...
Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj: Staples Center, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Evelyn McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, June 2011
Haters Go Home: Britney Dominates L.A. Show ...
Taylor Swift: Madison Square Garden, November 22nd, 2011
Live Review by Iman Lababedi, RockNYC, November 2011
STANDING ON A PLATFORM in the middle of the Arena, Taylor Swift looked genuinely amazed. A young girl in the cheap seats randomly began to ...
Wizzard, Roy Wood: Roy Wood: The Santa Claus Of Pop Music
Retrospective and Interview by Terry Staunton, Sunday Express, December 2011
TRIPS TO the supermarket can take twice as long in December when you're Roy Wood. The humdrum chore of grocery shopping is constantly interrupted by ...
Timi Yuro: That Time Of Yuro: Timi Yuro
Retrospective by Steven R Rosen, blurt-online.com, April 2012
ANY LIST OF proto-feminist Top 40 hits of the 1960s would have to include Timi Yuro's 1962 'What's A Matter Baby' along with Lesley Gore's ...
Lady GaGa: This Megalith Reality: Lady Gaga Live
Live Review by John Calvert, Quietus, The, September 2012
I KNOW IT'S COMING, but when it finally does it's different to how I expected. It's far worse. Less than real. ...
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