Bill Black

10,000 Maniacs

Interview by Bill Black, Sounds, October 1984

"MY UNCLE CHARLIE read somewhere that we were a cult band so he thought we were playing for the Moonies. He even confronted me with ...

Associates, The: The Associates: First Impressions

Interview by Bill Black, Sounds, June 1984

HE'S BACK. And although it's been two years, an aborted LP and a thousand rumors since we last heard the Associates' flighty, feisty pop, listening ...

Richard Hell: RIP (Rior)****

Review by Bill Black, Sounds, December 1984

"RICHARD HELL HAS been the most emotionally compelling, brilliant, innovative and influential rock 'n' roll performer of the past ten years. Unfortunately, these qualities are ...

New Order: TVOD

Interview by Bill Black, Sounds, September 1984

MAYBE IT'S THE lamentably low profile Factory's finest otherwise adopt, but it's as if New Order chose August to explode onto a slumbering music scene. ...

Ramones, The: The Ramones

Interview by Bill Black, Sounds, January 1985

ONE TWO THREE FOUR! Six, eight, ten? Is it really ten years since the Ramones turned a slum bar on the Bowery into the birthplace ...

Ramones, The: The Ramones: Bombing Out!

Interview by Bill Black, NME, May 1986

Tenth album time finds the RAMONES in a curiously pro-Bonzo mood and talking of solo projects. BILL BLACK adjusts his hearing suitably... ...

Cliff Richard: AUDIO: Ian Samwell on Cliff Richard (1995)

Interview by Bill Black, Rock's Backpages Audio, November 1995

From The 2i's, Cliff Richard and writing 'Move It', to producing America's 'Horse With No Name', this beat-boom Zelig takes us on a journey through British Rock'n'Roll history.

File format: mp3; in 2 parts, total file sizes: 61.7mb, total interview length: 1h 07' 15" sound quality: ****

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers: Jonathan Sings

Review by Bill Black, Sounds, 1984

IT'S BEEN a long time since Jonathan Richman's last album, Back In Your Life, and apart from the release of some interesting Kim Fowley produced ...

Jonathan Richman: Modern Romancer: Jonathan Richman

Report by Bill Black, Sounds, July 1985

Richman, you’re a Baby! Bill Black takes a rare opportunity to explore the eccentric psychology of a modern lover. ...

Smiths, The: The Smiths: Meat Is Murder (Rough Trade)****1/2

Review by Bill Black, Sounds, February 1985

STEAK YOUR CLAIM ...

Smiths, The: The Smiths: Keep Young and Beautiful

Interview by Bill Black, Sounds, November 1983

BEFITTING A BAND verging on greatness, the Smiths have a keen sense of their own history. ...

Strawberry Switchblade: Pipsqueak Parade: Strawberry Switchblade

Interview by Bill Black, Sounds, August 1983

IT'S LIKE A scene from Roeg's Don't Look Now. Between the grim, grey tombstones that populate a Glasgow cemetery like so many broken teeth, fleeting ...