The music business
Report and Interview by Al Aronowitz, Saturday Evening Post, August 1963
2003 note: The following was trimmed down to fit in the pages of the Saturday Evening Post by Bill Ewald, one of the few editors ...
Andrew Loog Oldham, Rolling Stones, The: Andrew Loog Oldham: Secrets Of The Stones' Man
Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, August 1964
The Stones are no longer a challenge... they need no pushing... the Andrew Oldham Orchestra doesn't exist ...
Sandie Shaw, Jackie Trent, Adam Faith, Val Doonican: Eve Taylor: Queen Bee Of Show Business
Profile and Interview by Keith Altham, NME, July 1965
EVELYN TAYLOR – affectionately, respectfully, jealously and irreverently known as the "Queen Bee of Show Business" – has a loud voice, grey hair and the ...
Andrew Loog Oldham, Rolling Stones, The: Rolling Stone Oldham: Talented, Insulting, Outrageous
Interview by Keith Altham, NME, August 1966
ROLLING STONES manager Andrew Loog Oldham is on the move and as usual with this ubiquitous personality ("The Beach Boys' new single is not dedicated ...
Troggs, The: The Troggs: Trogg-Maker Reveals Secrets
Interview by Keith Altham, NME, January 1967
LARRY – "Lawrence" to his friends – Page is the one-man organisation behind the phenomenal success of the Troggs. Lawrence is the group's business manager; ...
Jimi Hendrix, Curtis Knight: Jimi Hendrix: A Shoddy Hendrix Record?
Report by Michael Lydon, Rolling Stone, January 1968
THE NEW Capitol LP, Got that Feeling: Jimi Hendrix Plays, Curtis Knight Sings, is not what it appears: Hendrix's latest release. The cover, with no ...
Comment by Paul Williams, Crawdaddy!, March 1968
THERE IS confusion afoot in the rock music world, a familiar confusion that arises from lack of understanding, lack of communication, and lack of common ...
Bill Graham: The Producer of the New Rock
Interview by Michael Lydon, New York Times, December 1968
"I dream about doing the Beatles," Bill Graham said, hunched over his desk in the crowded office of the Fillmore West. Outside the office, the ...
Report by Michael Lydon, Ramparts, 1969
IN 1956, WHEN rock & roll was just about a year old, Frankie Lymon, lead singer of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, wrote and recorded ...
Grand Funk Railroad: To Live Outside the Law You Must Be Honest
Report by Lenny Kaye, Creem, June 1971
Mark, Don, Mel, and Terry at Shea: Give Peace a Chance, Love Conquers All, Get Funked ...
The Rainbow Theatre: Cheap Seats In Pot Of Gold
Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, October 1971
"ROCK audiences now are interested in having a comfortable place to sit and really listen to music. The days of freak out dancing to anything ...
Frank Zappa: Portrait Of The Artist As A Businessman
Interview by Paul Phillips, Rob Partridge, Cream, January 1972
"IF you’re making £10 a night, you’ll be screwed. When you’re making £1,000 a night, you’ll still get screwed... only you’re being screwed for more." ...
David Geffen: David's Talented Asylum
Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, February 1972
Penny Valentine talks to America's leading manager David Geffen ...
The Platters: Buck Ram and The Platters
Profile and Interview by Bill Millar, Let It Rock, April 1973
BUCK RAM is remembered for The Platters and a number of hit records: 'Only You' and 'The Great Pretender' (1955); 'The Magic Touch', 'My Prayer' ...
Cherry Vanilla, David Bowie: Cherry Vanilla: Cherry Sauce
Interview by Andrew Tyler, Disc and Music Echo, April 1973
...Or hot gossip from a former skin-flick queen who's been hired to handle David Bowie's publicity machine. ...
Jerry Butler: The Iceman Talking: The Life And Times Of Jerry Butler
Interview by Norman Jopling, Cream, June 1973
BUTLER'S MUSIC Workshop is upstairs in a tatty warehouse building in Chicago's South Side, very near Chinatown and uncomfortably near Lake Michigan so it gets ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones Hit The Road…
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1973
...and at every date the promoter is expected to provide 50 security men, five limousines, a doctor, ten dozen roses, two bottles each of whisky, ...
Jobriath: Superstar or Superhype?
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, January 1974
"If hype means projecting your artist, I'm going to produce the biggest hype ever" – Jerry Brandt talking to ROBERT PARTRIDGE about his latest discovery, ...
Marshall Sehorn: We Had Some Good Times
Interview by John Broven, Blues Unlimited, February 1974
Marshall Sehorn of Sansu talks to John Broven about his start in the business ...
Jimi Hendrix: How Rock Society Blew Another Mind
Essay by Michael Gray, Let It Rock, February 1974
WHEN JIMI HENDRIX flew into England for the first time, with Chas Chandler, they went straight from the airport to Zoot Money's house for an ...
Humble Pie, Peter Frampton: Dee Anthony: Dee Works!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, February 1974
From doing impersonations of Al Jolson for 20 bucks a night to managing Humble Pie – that's the story of Dee Anthony. He talks to ...
Small Faces, The, Move, The, Electric Light Orchestra, Wizzard, Roy Wood: Don Arden: The Hit Man
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, March 1974
He's been called the Al Capone of pop, and the reputation's, shall we say, a little heavy. A nervous Robert Partridge talks to Don Arden... ...
Essay by Mick Farren, NME, June 1974
Death has always been big business as a perverse form of entertainment. In the 18th Century, public hangings had similar pulling power to Emerson Lake ...
John Lennon's battle with the US Immigration Department
Report by Andrew Tyler, NME, July 1975
JOHN LENNON, IN his battle of wits with the US Immigration Department, is looking less like the stoical pre-doomed crazy of old, and more like ...
Overview by Steve Turner, NME, July 1975
NME raises its bleary-eyed head to peer at the wacky world of Press receptions. Or how to get some not-so-cheap publicity. ...
Profile and Interview by Steve Turner, NME, August 1975
"Marty Wilde was managed by Larry Parnes – 'They don't call me Parnes, shillings and pence for nothing' – who entered rock as Tommy Steele's ...
Bob Dylan: Dylan's The Basement Tapes – The Best Of The Bootlegs Goes Establishment
Overview by Michael Gross, Circus Raves, October 1975
BOB DYLAN'S ART is his body of work. There are close to twenty legitimate Bob Dylan albums. There is a book, Tarantula, and another of ...
Interview by Penny Valentine, Street Life, March 1976
Penny Valentine talks to the man in between, Joe Boyd who has recently produced Toots Hibbert, Maria Muldaur, and the McGarrigles. ...
Comment by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, March 1976
EACH YEAR, the American music industry embarrasses itself by nationally televising a 90-minute display of the irrelevant and the ridiculous, the Grammy Awards. ...
Crosby Stills Nash and Young: Mel Bush: The Man Who Hired The World
Book Excerpt by Mick Gold, Rock On The Road (Futura), April 1976
A PROMOTER IS THE middleman between a musician and an audience. A promoter hires a venue, books an act, organises the publicity, is responsible for ...
Profile and Interview by Nick Kent, NME, November 1976
MEET MALCOLM McLAREN. He runs a shop called "SEX". He manages a group called THE SEX PISTOLS. He sincerely believes that he and his band ...
Sting, Last Exit (UK): Making It: Last Exit
Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, January 1977
Any band with fire in its belly sooner or later has to gamble on that make-or-break trip to London. This is an account of how ...
Sex Pistols, The, Malcolm McLaren: A Non-Interview With Malcolm McLaren
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, June 1977
I VISITED THE office of Glitterbest (Sex Pistols management) recently, accompanied by Tony D. (editor of Ripped & Torn fanzine) to try and arrange an ...
Beach Boys, The: CBS Convention: Beach Boys Party
Report by Max Bell, NME, August 1977
BEACH BOYS PARTY FOR CHOSEN 1,600 ...
How To Succeed In The Biz Without Really Dying, part 1
Guide by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, January 1978
OK, SO YOU GOT yourself an electric guitar, you've learned how to play and now you think you're ready to corner the market with the ...
How To Succeed In The Biz Without Really Dying, part 2
Guide by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, January 1978
ROCK'N'ROLL is Laissez-Faire Capitalism Incarnate. Sorry to get so heavy so soon, but it's the truth. The music business is the most highly developed consumer ...
How To Succeed In The Biz Without Really Dying, part 3
Guide by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, January 1978
NOW YOU'RE heading for the one. The big record contract with the big record company for the BIG money and the BIG Hits. ...
How To Succeed In The Biz Without Really Dying, part 4
Guide by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, February 1978
"How many times have you been asked to sign away your services exclusively for five years? Viewed that way a record contract represents a very ...
Rolling Stones, The, Andrew Loog Oldham: Andrew Loog Oldham
Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, June 1978
ONE OF THE most interesting personalities of the first decade of British rock was the Rolling Stones' sharp-tongued, red-headed manager, Andrew Loog Oldham. ...
The Charts and the 12-inch Limited Edition Single
Comment by Bob Woffinden, NME, August 1978
NME's LAST chart-hyping piece concluded with a statement to the effect that the twin threat of both exposure in the press and the greater number ...
Singles in 1978: The Ones That Got Away
Overview by Paul Rambali, NME, December 1978
1978 was a classic year for singles. But most of the best were released on small labels with little chance of airplay, erratic distribution, and ...
Rock Mortality: They Gave Their Souls For Rock 'n Roll
Essay by Mick Farren, NME, January 1979
THE WRITER can eventually put down his pen, close the book and turn on the TV. The actor can take off his makeup and go ...
Aging Musicians’ Dilemma: Is There Rock After 30?
Comment by John Mendelsohn, Los Angeles Times, March 1979
AT THE APOGEE of Beatlemania, Paul McCartney was asked at a press conference how long the Beatles would last: "Dunno," he replied, "but I can’t ...
Lurkers, The, Gary Numan: Beggars Banquet: Laughing All The Way To The Banquet
Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, July 1979
FROM SECOND-HAND RECORD SHOP TO NUMBER ONE SINGLE AND ALBUM. THE STORY OF BEGGARS BANQUET ...
Majors and Indies: Fight For Survival
Overview by Greg Shaw, History of Rock, The, 1982
During the forties and fifties, at a time when giant conglomerates were starting to squeeze small companies out of the market in most industries, a ...
Interview by Roy Trakin, Musician, February 1982
Malcolm McLaren, the shaker and baker of British punk, turned the Sex Pistols into an epochal event, turned Adam Ant around and now plays Svengali ...
KLF, The, Teardrop Explodes, The, Echo & The Bunnymen: A Life In The Day Of Bill Drummond
Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, April 1982
Bill Drummond, manager of The Bunnymen and The Teardrops, talks to Mark Cooper ...
Motels, The: The Motels: Hell In A Handbag
Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, August 1982
STUCK IN a jam on the Hollywood Freeway, staring for five miles at a yellow Smiley bumper sticker telling me to have a nice day, ...
Mickie Most: The Midas Touch: Mickie Most
Profile by Steve Turner, History of Rock, The, 1983
Record production made millions for Mickie Most ...
The US Music Moguls and the Rock Revolution
Retrospective by Greg Shaw, History of Rock, The, 1983
Business as Usual Following the arrival of the Beatles, the American record industry no longer found it so easy to manufacture rock 'n' roll stars ...
What Simon Says: Simon Napier-Bell
Interview by Barney Hoskyns, NME, 1984
AS THE MANAGER of buddy-buddy superstars Wham!, Simon Napier-Bell is not modest about the role he’s played in their success. Without him, he suggests, they ...
Essay by Paul Morley, NME, February 1984
PAUL MORLEY, the man who took FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD to Number One, takes a long day's journey into night where he wonders whether he ...
Notes That Are Music To His Ears: Clive Davis
Interview by Mick Brown, Guardian, The, 1985
What do Barry Manilow, Donovan, Janis Joplin, and Springsteen have in common? They owe a lot of their success to Arista Records’ boss Clive Davis. ...
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! ...
The Rolling Stone Interview: Bill Graham
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, December 1985
The P.T. Barnum of rock & roll celebrates his twentieth anniversary ...
Overview by Kathryn Flett, i-D, February 1986
i-D presents the story of the Jukebox in glamorous technicolour, taking a quick bop, swing and a jive through the story of the blues and ...
Essay by Cynthia Rose, Creem, June 1986
ELITISM. DICTIONARIES call it "the sense of being part of a superior or privileged group." On the street, it's more familiar as hipnitude, or novelty. ...
Monkees, The: The Monkees et al: Comebacks
Report and Interview by Andy Gill, Q, December 1986
TWENTY YEARS ago, Mickey Dolenz, a former child actor best known in the title role of Circus Boy, answered an ad for "Four Insane Boys, ...
Whitney Houston: The Long Road To Overnight Stardom
Report and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Billboard, December 1986
ONCE IN A BLUE MOON, a new artist emerges who simply takes over, in utterly decisive and undeniable fashion. So it was with Whitney Houston ...
Report by Ben Fong-Torres, GQ, April 1987
AMONG THE many mini-debates raging in the record business is the future of the 45-revolutions-per-minute single. It was born in 1949, came to life by ...
You Don't Have to Say You Love Him: The Divine Simon Napier-Bell
Profile and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Q, Summer 1987
IN A DISCREET east London venue, in the smaller dressing room backstage, a new group called Blue Mercedes are packing up their gear after their ...
Frankie Goes to Hollywood: The Final Chapter?
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, April 1988
ON WEDNESDAY 10 February, the usual knot of press photographers and television camera crews on permanent point duty outside the Law Courts in The Strand ...
Soul II Soul: Jazzie B and the New Black Economy
Report and Interview by Cynthia Rose, New Statesman, June 1988
A thriving underground enterprise culture has grown up around music – bootlegged vinyl, pirate radio, warehouse parties. It’s a black economy powered by black aesthetics ...
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Simon Napier-Bell, Svengali
Interview by Chris Bourke, Rip It Up (New Zealand), August 1988
SIMON NAPIER-BELL'S reputation has preceded him. He's used to that. "Some people are wary of me," he says. "So it's difficult to know what a ...
Tipper Gore and the PMRC: Not In Front Of The Parents
Report and Interview by Ralph Traitor, Sounds, September 1988
The PMRC scored major brownie points recently when its chief, Tipper Gore, appeared on MTV. RALPH TRAITOR hears the woman who Guns N' Roses' Slash ...
Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 1989
Madonna has signed a $7.5 million deal with Pepsi which allows them the "world exclusive" on her single. They call it "synergy". Others call it ...
Sampling: A Creative Tool or License to Steal?
Report by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, August 1989
Guitarist Leo Nocentelli vividly remembers his first exposure to sampling in 1982. "I was on a session and the guy pressed one note on the ...
"I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives"
Interview by Len Brown, NME, October 1989
PETER JENNER epitomises the 'fifth Beatle' school of pop management, guiding the ill starred careers of the early Pink Floyd, Marc Bolan and Topper-troubled Clash ...
Singles Incentives, Rank Outsiders
Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 1990
SO, FAREWELL – to the Fine Young Cannibals single in a tin, to the Eurythmics in a wooden casket, and to Eric Clapton in a ...
Miming: Here's One We Prepared Earlier…
Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1990
IT WAS THE Prince's Trust Concert of 1985 and Wembley Arena swayed gently to Dire Straits' lushly bestringed lament for star-crossed lovers, 'Romeo And Juliet'. ...
N.W.A.: Poison The Hood: Niggaz with Attitude
Retrospective by John Mendelsohn, unpublished, for Playboy, 1991
ON A SPRING EVENING in 1991, the late Eazy-E accepted the invitation of Dr. Dre, his fellow member of the notorious "gangsta" rap group NWA, ...
Stone Roses, The: The Stone Roses: Stone Free
Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1991
After nine months of strenuous legal wrangling, The Stone Roses have extricated themselves from an "oppressive", "one-sided and unfair" contract. Report by Phil Sutcliffe. ...
Band, The: AUDIO: Bill Graham on The Band (and Dylan) (1991)
Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages Audio, August 1991
Über-promoter Bill Graham talks about his relationship with The Band, from their Winterland debut to The Last Waltz, via Watkins Glen and the 1974 Dylan mega-tour
File format: mp3 File size: 28.3mb Interview length: 30 minutes 56 seconds Sound quality: ****
A Last Farewell To Bill Graham
Obituary by Ben Fong-Torres, San Francisco Chronicle, November 1991
BILL GRAHAM was a movie of a man. His 60-year-long life, which came to an end in a helicopter crash in Sonoma County the night ...
Ticket Touting: On Every Street
Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1992
"IT'S A QUESTION of water in the desert," say Harry the ticket tout. "If someone's got the water and you need it, you'll pay him ...
Tori Amos: I Wanna Sell You A Tori
Report by Terry Staunton, NME, February 1992
Six months ago she was nobody, today TORI AMOS is well on the way to becoming a household name. The former LA 'rock chick' has ...
Love Compilations: The Fast Food Of Love
Overview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, March 1992
Passion to go. Ambience-U-Like. Take-away smooch. Marketing men have discovered the public's appetite for romantic compilation albums. "Everyone loves love," they tell Lloyd Bradley. "We've ...
Bill Nelson, Robert Wyatt: Robert Wyatt & Bill Nelson: Tough Guys Don't Dance
Interview by Mac Randall, Musician, August 1992
Bill Nelson meets Robert Wyatt. For 20 years they've bucked the system and made music at the edge of rock. Two vets discuss the never-ending ...
Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out By Bill Graham and Robert Greenfield
Book Review by Tom Graves, Washington Post, The, October 1992
THE LATE Bill Graham is remembered by most as the prickly, hyperactive browbeater who opened not one, but two Fillmore concert halls during the height ...
Report and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, November 1992
Weird but true. The average unknown band will get more work and better money by pretending to be someone famous than by being themselves. Martin ...
George Michael: D.I.V.O.R.C.E.
Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 1993
George Michael vs. Sony: "We do not speak the same language." ...
U2, Negativland: Negativland: A Fistful Of Lawsuits
Report and Interview by Tony Fletcher, Creem, April 1993
"I don't think there are any record companies right now in the real sense of the word. We're all in the fashion business. You used ...
Vince Power: Power, Corruption and Lies?
Profile and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1993
Once, he ran a junk shop; now Vince Power's a powerful music impresario. But last month's acquisition of London's Town & Country Club has led ...
Kim Fowley: Living and Dying in L.A.
Retrospective and Interview by Steve Roeser, Goldmine, November 1993
IT'S A NAME (and yes, it's a man's name) that's been popping up around the music scene for roughly the past 35 years. And every ...
George Michael Vs Sony: This Time It's Personal
Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1993
DOWN AT THE High Court, as Q went to press, the case of George Michael versus Sony was prodigiously well-paid business as usual for the ...
Beach Boys, The, Linda Ronstadt: AUDIO: Nik Venet (1993)
Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages Audio, Summer 1993
From his youth in '50s Baltimore to involvement with Linda Ronstadt and the Canyon Cowboys in '70s L.A., via Kim Fowley, his time at World Pacific and Capitol including producing the Beach Boys and much more: the music biz veteran tells the whole story.
File format: mp3; in 3 parts, total file sizes: 103.6mb, total interview length: 1h 53' 08" sound quality: ***
Neil Young: A Conversation with Elliot Roberts
Interview by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, September 1994
FEW OTHER artist/manager relationships have endured as long as the one between Neil Young and Elliot Roberts. It is nearly 30 years since the lanky, ...
The Q New Year Summit 1995: Where Are We Now?
Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, February 1995
We teeter on the lip of a New Year, and, let's not flagellate around the shrub-like foliage here, The Future. In an attempt at stocktaking ...
Sleeping With The Enemy: When Musicians Become Record Executives
Report and Interview by Roy Trakin, Musician, March 1995
YOU WOULD think Gary Lemel is one of the luckiest guys around. As President of Music for Warner Bros, films, he gets to pal around ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: How It Happened
Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, May 1995
By 1963, The Rollin' Stones lacked only a "g" and a manager. Enter Andrew Loog Oldham, 19-year-old music publicist and soon-to-be Stones Svengali... ...
Interview by Dave Thompson, Goldmine, November 1995
THERE ARE only a handful of rock managers who truly deserve the epithet great, those whose reputations have lived on long after the sell-by date ...
Profile by Al Aronowitz, Blacklisted Masterpieces of Al Aronowitz, The, 1996
THE DAY HE GETS OUT of the hospital from his third suicide attempt, Dave Kapralik is ready to try to snuff himself again. He's got ...
David Bowie, Lou Reed, Neil Young, Frank Zappa: Contract Breakers
Essay by Mark Sinker, Wire, The, June 1996
2005 note: Savage Pencil did a nice illustration for this: John and Yoko hilariously naked, among other excellent things. It also elicited an angry postcard ...
Lemonheads, The, Evan Dando: Evan Dando and the Pop Walkabout
Essay by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, September 1996
IN DON DeLillo’s 1973 novel Great Jones Street, a rock star named Bucky Wunderlick decides to quit his band and disappear from the music industry. ...
Elvis Presley: 25% Of The King: Col. Tom Parker
Obituary by Michael Gray, Guardian, The, January 1997
COLONEL TOM PARKER, the flamboyant tent-show hustler who was Elvis Presley's Svengalian manager, has died in Las Vegas at the age of almost 90. He ...
“Bastards. Liars. Pimps. Theives. Scumsuckers. Perverts...”
Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1997
...And that's some of the nicer things they say about rock'n'roll managers. they may have swapped their baseball bats for law degrees, but as Phil ...
Beatles, The: Taylor of Savile Row: Derek Taylor, 1932-1997
Obituary by Chris Bourke, New Zealand Herald, September 1997
DEREK TAYLOR, WHO will forever be known as "the Beatles' press officer", leant across and switched my tape recorder to "pause". I had just admitted ...
Shooting Stars: Denny Bruce Produced Plenty Of Legends – But Never Became One
Profile and Interview by Kirk Silsbee, LA New Times, September 1997
STROLL THROUGH Denny Bruce's home on a hillside north of Sunset Boulevard, and you wander through mementos of a career spent nurturing greatness. ...
Beatles, The: Derek Taylor 1932-1997
Obituary by Philip Norman, Rolling Stone, October 1997
THE SIMPLE term "music publicist" does not begin to describe Derek Taylor, who died from cancer of the esophagus at his home, in Suffolk, England, ...
Overview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1997
Or the New Dylans. Or the New Stones. Maybe they were the New Johnny Hates Jazz. Whatever, whether plugging a gap left by the originals ...
Overview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999
Phil Sutcliffe tells of the winners and losers in music publishing ...
Overview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999
Nobody goes into rock’n’roll for the money. No, really. Ask any band. But the trouble is if a lot of people like them they get ...
Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999
Phil Sutcliffe checks out the history of British bands making it, and failing to make it, in the USA, and looks at the example of ...
Report by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, 1999
Tangled webs, anyone? Rock’n’roll’s got them by the skein, especially when it comes to money. But the case of The Verve, Allen Klein and Andrew ...
Comment by Gene Sculatti, LCD, November 1999
Who's the perp?Somebody must've done this. ...
Brits Go Home! The End of the Invasion
Overview by Barney Hoskyns, Observer, The, 2000
AMID ALL the self-congratulatory hubbub over the British successes at the Oscars, few people stopped to reflect that luvvie wonderboy Sam Mendes hadn't actually made ...
KLF, The: Burning question: The KLF
Report and Interview by Andrew Smith, Observer, The, February 2000
Why did Bill Drummond set fire to £1 million? Why did he want to chop off his own hand on stage? And why did the ...
Pop in the 90's: Everything for Everyone
Essay by Eric Weisbard, New York Times, April 2000
GEORGE STRAIT is a middle-aged country singer with an easy grin about him; even his boxed sets go platinum. Ice Cube is an intense rapper ...
Andrew Loog Oldham, Rolling Stones, The: Andrew Loog Oldham
Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 2000
As manager of The Rolling Stones for most of the Sixties, ANDREW LOOG OLDHAM became almost as famous as the band themselves. Modelling himself on ...
Interview by Colin Harper, Folk Roots, October 2000
HAVING BEEN through the music business mill several times over the past thirty-five years, with spells in such legendary and pioneering Irish music ensembles as ...
Led Zeppelin, Gene Vincent: The Enforcer: Peter Grant
Book Excerpt by Chris Welch, from 'The Man Who Led Zeppelin', Omnibus Books, 2001
An extract from Peter Grant: The Man Who Led Zeppelin by Chris Welch, first published by Omnibus Press in 2001. (256pp, currently available in softback ...
Rolling Stones, The, Andrew Loog Oldham: The Backpages Interview: Andrew Loog Oldham
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Rock's Backpages, January 2001
Last year saw the UK publication of Stoned, a wonderfully insightful film/fashion/music overview of the first Britpop era (1960-1964) by Andrew Loog Oldham, perhaps best ...
Looking For Influence, Significance, Development And Perpetuation At The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
Comment by Bill Holdship, LA New Times, March 2001
Press release, Tuesday, December 12, 2000, New York – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees for the 16th Annual Induction Ceremony were announced ...
Music: The Key To Getting Rich, High And Laid
Book Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Independent, The, April 2001
Black Vinyl White Powder by Simon Napier-Bell (Ebury Press, £16.99) ...
Shane MacGowan and Simon Napier-Bell: The Sound And The Fury
Book Review by Ian Penman, Guardian, The, April 2001
Black Vinyl, White Powder, Simon Napier-Bell (390pp, Ebury Press £16.99)A Drink With Shane MacGowan, Victoria Mary Clarke and Shane MacGowan (360pp, Sidgwick & Jackson £15.99) ...
Comment by Tom Cox, Observer, The, May 2001
IN AN ERA WHEN pop carries scant mystery and every 'best ever' list imaginable seems to have been compiled, the term 'lost classic' has so ...
Slaves to the Rhythm: Is Napster Dying?
Report by Edward Helmore, Guardian, The, July 2001
After leading the digital music revolution, Edward Helmore says former fans won't flock back to Napster when it relaunches this summer ...
Gillian Welch: The Cost of Music
Essay by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, August 2001
"EVERYTHING IS free now," sings Gillian Welch. "That's what they say/Everything I ever done/ Gotta give it away." There is resignation in her voice. Though ...
Andrew Loog Oldham… And The Salty Tale Of Sandy Beach
Retrospective by Dave Thompson, Goldmine, 2002
POP STARDOM is about creating myths and sticking to them. ...
So Solid Crew, Starsailor, Coldplay: Letter from London, January 2002
Overview by Phil Sutcliffe, Los Angeles Times, January 2002
WHILE, SINCE The Beatles, we British music fans have often affected insouciant confidence in the superiority of our taste over the rest of the world's ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, January 2002
Learning how not to hoard music. ...
Ranting About The Record Business
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, March 2002
It's no surprise major-label music sales are down – the music sucks!. ...
Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Payday, March 2002
"WE'RE NOT GOING to let people rip us off, we want the money!" That's what Bono said in 1979 when Dublin's teenaged hopefuls U2 were ...
Is The Record Industry Killing Itself?
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, March 2002
Chasing the elusive million-seller could be the kiss of death for the corporate music business ...
Wilco: Taking Control in a Crisis
Report and Interview by Ben Thompson, Daily Telegraph, March 2002
ROCK AND ROLL is not the first place you would look for a new form of patriotism. Yet Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the latest album by ...
Rock Bottom: The Music Industry In Trouble
Comment by Charles Shaar Murray, Independent, The, April 2002
WHEN ROLLING STONES manager Andrew Loog Oldham founded his own company, Immediate Records, in the 1960s, the paper sleeve of each and every single bore ...
Beatles, The: The Death of Brian Epstein
Retrospective by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2002
THERE'S A story, probably apocryphal, concerning John Lennon during his infamous 'lost weekend', the period in the mid-'70s when he split from Yoko and devoted ...
Essay by David Stubbs, Guardian, The, January 2003
THE NEWS THAT the Vines have been sent back to Australia, following a bout of Ricky Gervais/Grant Bovey-style pat-a-cakes onstage between singer Craig Nicholls and ...
Essay by David Stubbs, Guardian, The, August 2003
ON JULY 3, the House Of Lords failed to block government moves to introduce a new law requiring pubs, clubs and cafes to apply for ...
The Brits: D-Day – The Music Died
Report by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, February 2004
IT WAS the British music industry's D-Day, with The Darkness, Dido, Duran Duran and even Daniel "personality bypass" Bedingfield sweeping the board. ...
Julian Cope, XTC: The Old Boy Network
Report by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, June 2004
GETTING DITCHED by a major label is not always the end of the line for the big stars of yesteryear, as Terry Staunton reports ...
Comment by Pete Paphides, Observer Music Monthly, July 2004
Will iTunes really kill off the record shop? Perhaps not – after all, digital information isn't something you can have and hold. And, says Peter ...
Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages Audio, December 2004
The mogul of Laurel Canyon on Asylum Records, managing artists and his close relationships with the likes of JD Souther, Laura Nyro, David Crosby and Joni Mitchell.
File format: mp3; file size: 25.1mb, interview length: 26' 07" sound quality: * (phoner)
Who, The: Kit Lambert: A Profile
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Q, Spring 2004
"GET HIM OUT of here." "What?" "Get him out. He’s making things worse." "But Pete, he’s... he’s Kit, their manager." ...
Arrow Brown: The Godfather of King Drive
Retrospective by Bob Mehr, Chicago Reader, April 2005
Arrow Brown wanted badly to be a player-he wore a black hat, packed heat even in church, and exploited a houseful of wives and concubines ...
Tom Waits: Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, Asheville, NC
Report and Interview by Fred Mills, Harp, August 2006
HE CAME, he saw, he conquered. Meanwhile, he hoisted that rag, he got behind the mule, and he tangoed until we were just about sore. ...
How To Beat The Difficult Second Album Syndrome
Comment by Ian Gittins, Guardian, The, January 2007
SOPHOMORE SLUMP Or Comeback Of The Year? asked Fall Out Boy in a brilliantly prescient track on their 2005 album From Under the Cork Tree, ...
Beatles, The: Neil Aspinall: The Man Who Really Made The Beatles
Profile by Philip Norman, Daily Mail, April 2007
LOYALTY IS not a virtue associated with the pop music industry. Treachery, exploitation and kiss-and-tell are its far more familiar signature-tunes. ...
Beach Boys, The: David Anderle's California Nights
Profile and Interview by Kirk Silsbee, Life after 50, May 2007
"WATCH YOUR HEAD," cautions David Anderle. The retired record industry executive-turned-painter is leading the way down a steep, narrow stairway in his classic Spanish-style home ...
The 50 Year Copyright Conundrum
Report and Interview by Colin Harper, unpublished, July 2007
IN SEPTEMBER 1959, an inmate of Mississippi State Penitentiary named James Carter led his fellows in singing a work song, 'Po' Lazarus', while chopping wood. ...
Report by Robin Eggar, Sunday Times, July 2007
Library gigs, recycled sleeves, free CDs – our correspondent finds novel ways to get your music to the masses ...
Paul Wasserman, Press Agent and Friend
Obituary by Wayne Robins, waynerobins.blogspot.com, November 2007
PAUL WASSERMAN, the erudite press representative to a long roster of rock and movie stars, died in Los Angeles at age 73, according to an ...
Joy Division: The Joy Division Industry
Comment by Chris Roberts, Quietus, The, April 2008
More offcuts from the Factory ...
Bill Drummond: Recorded Music Has Run Its Course
Interview by John Doran, Quietus, The, August 2008
...
Jerry Wexler: Appreciating Jerry Wexler, the Supreme Atlantic Record Man
Memoir by John Broven, Now Dig This, October 2008
AS SOON AS Jerry Wexler's death was announced on August 15, 2008, daily newspapers and rock magazines had their already-written obituaries ready to go in ...
Live Music: Is This The End Of The Road?
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2008
Gigs have been shoring up the ailing music industry – but they're not as popular as they once were. Caroline Sullivan reports on growing anxiety ...
Wembley Arenaversary: A Legendary Venue Turns 50
Report and Interview by Johnny Black, Audience, March 2009
FIFTY YEARS AGO, in March, 1959, Petula Clark, Lonnie Donegan and rising young songstrel Shirley Bassey appeared in the Record Star Show, the first live ...
Obituary by Adam Sweeting, Guardian, The, March 2009
Alan Wendell Livingston, businessman, born 15 October 1917; died 13 March 2009 ...
Bay City Rollers, The: Tam Paton
Obituary by Adam Sweeting, Guardian, The, April 2009
Bay City Rollers manager who was mired in scandal ...
The Last Days of a Great Guitar Shop: RIP Manny's Music Store
Retrospective by Binky Philips, Rock's Backpages, May 2009
AFTER 75 YEARS, Manny's Music Store on West 48th St in Manhattan will close its doors forever at the end of this month. Obviously, this ...
Book Review by Danny Goldberg, Truthdig, June 2009
STEVE KNOPPER'S Appetite for Self-Destruction is an entertaining, well-written attempt to chronicle the economic decline of record companies, but his thesis echoes conventional wisdom that ...
Robyn Hitchcock: He Often Dreams of Packaging
Report and Interview by Larry Jaffee, MediaPack, December 2009
LIKE MANY singer-songwriters, Robyn Hitchcock needs to supplement his boundless creativity with art forms in addition to music. Not surprisingly, when he's not releasing albums ...
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 ...
Frank Zappa, Tom Waits: Frank Zappa's Manager: A Smile On His Lips, And A Pistol Under The Bar
Obituary by Mick Brown, Daily Telegraph, March 2010
Mick Brown pays tribute to Herb Cohen, who managed Frank Zappa while maintaining an enthusiasm for music, cheese, confectionery and armaments. ...
LCD Soundsystem, Pixies, The, Zombies, The: Why Your Favourite Band Should Split Up
Overview by Jude Rogers, Guardian, The, August 2010
From the Pixies to the Zombies, Jude Rogers talks to the bands who chose to burn out, not fade away ...
Nirvana: Smells Like a Sellout: Nirvana and the Death of Alternative Rock
Essay by Toby Creswell, Rock's Backpages, September 2011
NOWADAYS EVERYBODY ascribes the collapse of the recording industry to illegal downloading. But as Bob Dylan recently observed, "Remember when that Napster guy came up ...
Rolling Stones, The: Everybody Must Get Stoned: Andrew Loog Oldham Speaks
Interview by Paul Trynka, Rock's Backpages, December 2012
ANDREW OLDHAM'S two books of memoirs, Stoned and 2Stoned, are not only vital, entertaining works on the genesis and growth of the Rolling Stones; they ...
Peace: Tiny, Smug and Blissfully Ignorant Minds: New British Indie and Peace's In Love (Columbia)
Special Feature by Neil Kulkarni, fuckyouneilkulkarni.blogspot.co.uk, April 2013
"I. Man's perceptions are not bound by organs of perception; he perceives more than sense (tho' ever so acute) can discover." — William Blake, ...
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