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Carol Clerk

Carol O'Brien is a pseudonym for Carol Clerk
Carol Clerk

Carol Clerk wrote extensively for MELODY MAKER in the '80s and '90s, and more recently for UNCUT. She was the author of books about Madonna, the Pogues, Hawkind and others, as well as of Vintage Tattoos. She died in March 2010.

2003 interview with Carol Clerk

66 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Rory Gallagher: Life With Last Year's Model

Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 12 September 1981

THEY WERE IN Manchester. It was 8:30 in the morning, and the hotel was quiet. The Rory Gallagher Band and their crew were peacefully sleeping ...

The Damned, UK Subs: Dreaming Of A Punk Christmas

Report by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 2 January 1982

"COME HERE," cried an excited Captain Sensible from the corner of the backstage lounge. "I've just discovered what this is like! It's like the Generation ...

Chelsea: Spring Time for October

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 3 April 1982

I DON'T know why it had to happen to Chelsea. Clawed by the press, mauled by the dim-witted forces of fashion, the four-man disaster team ...

Roddy Radiation & The Tearjerkers: Tears and Radiation

Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 3 April 1982

ONE THING'S certain. Roddy Radiation, with his new band the Tearjerkers, could hardly have travelled further away from the sound, the style, the mood and ...

Angelic Upstarts: Still From The Heart (Zono)

Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 10 April 1982

EXTRAORDINARY. Quite extraordinary. This has got to be the most astonishing thing I've heard in months; a shock so devastating that I'm shaking still. ...

Chron Gen: Chronic Generation (Secret)

Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 10 April 1982

WELCOME TO the chronic generation, and a glimpse into the past, present and future of Chron-Gen on their debut album. ...

Angelic Upstarts: Mensi's Marauders

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 8 May 1982

"COME HERE you!" bellowed Mensi across a crowded and quite respectable lounge bar. The reverberations thundered over the heads of the lunchtime clientele, their salads ...

Anti-Nowhere League: We Are…The League

Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 8 May 1982

THERE'S ONLY one League in my life. It's not the Human League, for sure. It's not the Ivy League either, or the League of Gentlemen. ...

Circle Jerks: Wild In The Streets (Faulty Products)

Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 19 June 1982

LOOK, here they come now, swaggering round the corner: mouthfuls of curses; knuckledusters; leathers scraped with the scars of street battle; chains in the pockets; ...

Peter and the Test Tube Babies: More Bottle Than Brains

Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 19 June 1982

Carol Clerk cracks a tube with PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES ...

The Business: Heaven Can Wait

Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 26 June 1982

IT SEEMED like a good idea at the time. Meet The Business, knock back a pint or two, set off on a disco crawl...and find ...

Captain Sensible, Dolly Mixture: Captain Sensible & Dolly Mixture: Sense and Sensibility

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 10 July 1982

SHE DIDN'T look a day under 75, but she recognised him instantly. Up to her elbows in pie and mash and jellied eels, the woman ...

Delta 5, Southern Death Cult, Theatre of Hate: Theatre Of Hate, Southern Death Cult, Delta 5: Hammersmith Palais, London

Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 10 July 1982

THIS IS ALMOST another case of "eat thy words", hard on the heels of Allan Jones' revelatory viewing of the Stones at Wembley. I didn't ...

Erazerhead: Teenagers In Lust

Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 24 July 1982

IT WAS in the winter of 1978 that vocalist Lee Drury had his first traumatic encounter with the cruel forces of fate. At the time, ...

The Fits

Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 21 August 1982

Carol Clerk collars confident Blackpool punksters The Fits in a fact-packed foray ...

Haysi Fantayzee: The Cheeky Double Fantasy

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 30 October 1982

Carol Clerk shouts "Up yer bum!" as she discovers the sexual side of HAYSI FANTAYZEE ...

Joni Mitchell: Wild Things Run Fast

Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 27 November 1982

I LISTEN TO Joni Mitchell's voice these days with a fleeting pang of nostalgia. Flitting from one plaintive note to another, fluttering up and down ...

Jayne County: Old Queens Never Die… They Just Change Sex

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 24 September 1983

Carol Clerk shows an unhealthy interest in the bodily development of JAYNE COUNTY. ...

Marilyn: The Misfit

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 25 February 1984

Carol Clerk and MARILYN parry ideas about love, life and sex and the single girl. ...

Hanoi Rocks: Danceteria, New York

Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 14 April 1984

IT WAS a particularly nasty little flu bug, the sort that devastates every function of the human body and turns you into the most miserable ...

Johnny Thunders: The Marquee, London

Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 1 September 1984

WHEN JOHNNY came marching back to London this time around, he took us all by surprise. ...

Stiv Bators: Stiv Bator and Michael Monroe

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 1985

STIV BATOR: "THERE'S an old saying in the American Mid-West that whoever you spend New Year's Eve with, you spend the rest of the year ...

Public Image Ltd: John Lydon: Apocalypse New

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 24 May 1986

SOMEBODY told me John Lydon liked a drink. And this was indeed a large crumb of comfort. Suddenly, it was possible to establish some common ...

Samantha Fox: Tittle Tattle

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 21 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 ...

The Faces, Rod Stewart: Rod Stewart, The Faces: Wembley Stadium, London

Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 12 July 1986

BIG NOSE STRIKES AGAIN! ...

The Bangles: Globe Trotters

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 28 March 1987

The Bangles seem permanently on the road. Carol Clerk met up with them during a London stop-over to get all the scam on Prince, old ...

Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin: Robert Plant: The Song Remains The Same

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 30 January 1988

Over the past three years Led Zeppelin have been used and abused by everyone from The Cult to the Beastie Boys. On the eve of ...

T'Pau: The Fame Game

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 26 March 1988

FOLLOWING THE PHENOMENAL SUCCESS OF 'CHINA IN YOUR HAND', T'PAU HAVE LEAPT FROM THE PAVEMENT TO THE PENTHOUSE. WHAT IS THE SECRET OF THEIR SUCCESS? ...

Michael Jackson: The Bowl, Milton Keynes

Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 17 September 1988

THE SUMMER'S grand parade of American megastars has finally come to an end with the last great gasps from Michael Jackson. And so, now, must ...

Poison: The Call Of The Wild

Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 11 February 1989

'EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORN' WAS NUMBER ONE IN AMERICA OVER CHRISTMAS. THE OPEN UP AND SAY...AHH! LP CRUISED INTO THE US TOP 10 AND ...

Fields Of The Nephilim: Attractions Fatalist

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 20 May 1989

THE THING I most enjoy about Carl McCoy is his refusal to jump through the traditional music industry hoops. ...

Fields Of The Nephilim: The Nod Corner

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 23 December 1989

THE MOMENT IS breathtaking. One minute, he's Nod, drummer of Fields Of The Nephilim, chatting placidly of a pint of Flowers Best. Next minute, he's ...

Fields Of The Nephilim: Graveyard Shifts: Fields Of The Nephilim

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 23 March 1991

Does the release of their new live album, Earth Inferno, mark the end of an era for Fields Of The Nephilim? Why does Carl McCoy ...

Killing Joke: Armageddon Outta Here

Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 22 June 1991

The millennium is coming and Jaz Coleman is waiting. On the eve of the Joke's latest UK tour, he talks to CAROL CLERK about white ...

The Fall: 15 Years Of Fame

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 1 May 1993

THERE'S SOMETHING TREMENDOUSLY reassuring about the fact that The Fall, and Mark E Smith, exist. ...

Juliana Hatfield, The Lemonheads: Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield: Is She Really Going Out With Him?

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 13 November 1993

Evan Dando likes to avoid relationships. Juliana Hatfield is a self-confessed virgin. And yet, whatever their sexual orientation, Ev and Jules are indieland's second most ...

Oasis: They Thought It Was All Over

Report by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 21 September 1996

THE ANNOUNCEMENT came on Friday, 24 hours of nail-biting drama. Oasis, after all, were not going to split. ...

Pamela Des Barres: No Holds Barres

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 19 December 1996

Carol Clerk reports on the latest book from groupie supreme, Pamela Des Barres ...

Paul McCartney: Flaming Pie

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, June 1997

PERHAPS Anthology holds the key. Not just the CDs and the videos, but the whole hullabaloo surrounding the project and the full-scale reassessment of The ...

Bon Jovi: Jon Bon Jovi: Destination Anywhere

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, July 1997

THE ONLY living American to get the hang of TFI Friday. The hardest-working man in, oh, several industries. The pin-up pop star who dared to ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: Yoko Ono on John Lennon

Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, January 1998

AND SO THIS is Christmas. Well, nearly. The stores in Manhattan are already sparkling with trees and tinsel, and here in Central Park, the traditionally ...

Janis Joplin: The Ultimate Collection

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, October 1998

ROCK'S HOTTEST mama revisited in a comprehensive 32-track retrospective. ...

Jimi Hendrix: Through Gypsy Eyes by Kathy Etchingham and Andrew Crofts (Orion)

Book Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, October 1998

JIMI HENDRIX flew into London for the first time in 1966, with a guitar and a bag containing a change of clothes, a jar of ...

Rory Gallagher Reissues

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, October 1998

DeuceIrish TourCalling CardPhoto-FinishFresh Evidence Random selection of work from late Irish guitar hero ...

Oasis: Liam Gallagher

Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, April 2000

THE LOCATION IS LONDON'S flashy Landmark Hotel, a place where palm trees loom over drinkers in the lobby and there's a better class of toiletry ...

The Ramones: Joey Ramone 1951-2001

Obituary by Carol Clerk, Uncut, June 2001

'Life to me is an adventure and you've got to experience everything' ...

Iggy Pop: Beat 'Em Up

Review by Carol Clerk, Classic Rock, July 2001

After the introspective Avenue B, it's gloves off for Iggy as he comes out swinging. ...

The Ramones: Joey Ramone: Hey Ho, Let's Go!

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Clerk, Classic Rock, July 2001

Long hair, shades, ripped denim — the Ramones were the epitome of early punk, and singer Joey the epitome of the Ramones. From his school ...

Travis: The Invisible Band (Independiente)****

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, August 2001

A FOLLOW-UP of quality and distinction, inventively produced ...

Courtney Love, Nirvana: Nirvana, Courtney Love: Live Through This: American Rock Music In The Nineties By Everett True

Book Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, October 2001

Marking the 10th anniversary of Nevermind, True relives a turbulent life in grunge and Gullick and Sweet share their photographs ...

The Beatles, George Harrison: George Harrison

Obituary by Carol Clerk, Uncut, February 2002

'You know, life flows on within you and without you'– George Harrison ...

The Ramones: Joey Ramone: Don't Worry About Me (Sanctuary) ****

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, March 2002

HIS LONG-awaited solo album, posthumously released. ...

Natalie Merchant

Comment by Carol Clerk, Uncut, June 2002

FORMER 10,000 Maniacs vocalist and lyricist on a record that changed her life: The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust RCA 1972 ...

The Pink Fairies: Neverneverland;What A Bunch Of Sweeties; Kings Of Oblivion

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, August 2002

First three albums by heroes of early '70s UK underground. ...

Pink Floyd: The Making of Dark Side Of The Moon

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, June 2003

ROGER WATERS (BASS, VOCALS, VCS3, TAPE EFFECTS, LYRICS) ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: The Ballad of John & Yoko

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, September 2003

IT'S THE summer of 1969, and John and Yoko are in bed in room 1742 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal. They are in their ...

Hawkwind: The Saga of Hawkwind

Book Excerpt by Carol Clerk, Omnibus Press, 2004

Emerging from the hippie heartland of London's Ladbroke Grove in 1969, Hawkwind invented space-rock with a potent, psychedelic mixture of jamming blues, electronica and lights. ...

The Stranglers' Jean-Jacques Burnel

Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, March 2004

BEST REMEMBERED for the harpsichord heroin eulogy 'Golden Brown' (which reached No 2 in the UK singles chart in January 1982), the Stranglers and their ...

Pink Floyd: The Final Cut

Review and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, May 2004

Waters' last Floyd album is harrowing and still surprisingly relevant. ...

Pink Floyd, Roger Waters: The Last Days Of Pink Floyd

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, June 2004

They called it The Final Cut, and that’s what it was for Pink Floyd – The last album they would make with Roger Waters. For the ...

Brian Jones, The Rolling Stones: Brian Jones: Death of a Rolling Stone

Retrospective by Carol Clerk, Uncut, February 2005

Without guitarist BRIAN JONES, there would have been no Rolling Stones. And yet the golden boy of the '60s was also the first rock casualty ...

Man Reissues (Esoteric)

Review and Interview by Carol Clerk, Classic Rock, December 2007

They stretched their songs to the limit — now three of Man's '70s albums get stretched and expanded... ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: Yoko Ono: Special Occasions

Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, January 2008

THOUGHTS FROM YOKO ONO ON THE EVE OF JOHN LENNON'S BIRTHDAY (OCTOBER 9, 2007) IN ICELAND, WHERE SHE INAUGURATED THE IMAGINE PEACE TOWER IN HIS ...

Thin Lizzy: The Making of 'The Boys Are Back In Town'

Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, April 2008

The shit-kicking '76 hit that saved Phil Lynott's bad-boy brawlers in the nick of time. ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: The Making of 'Hong Kong Garden'

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, May 2008

The oddly light debut smash that shoved punk's dark primitives out of the shadows ...

Mudhoney: Superfuzz Bigmuff: Deluxe Edition (Sub Pop!)

Review by Carol Clerk, Classic Rock, July 2008

TWENTY YEARS AGO, Mudhoney released their first Sub Pop! single, 'Touch Me I'm Sick', followed closely by the Superfuzz Bigmuff EP. Neither sold much, but ...

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