Colin Irwin
From beginnings as a sports reporter on the long defunct Slough Evening Mail (where one of his colleagues was Greg Dyke), Colin Irwin joined Melody Maker in the mid-1970s. He was to spend over 12 years there, writing the folk pages throughout that time, but also graduating to become Features Editor and Assistant Editor.
His notable interviewees during that tenure include Dolly Parton, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Kris Kristofferson, Tammy Wynette, Suicide, Joan Baez Human League, The Fall, Sandy Denny, Kate Bush, George Michael and, er, Bay City Rollers. He survived punk rock and the new romantics but left to become editor of weekly pop magazine Number One in the hazy, crazy era of Kylie, Jason, Wet Wet Wet and A-ha. He then disappeared into the bowels of the BBC to do something unmentionable in ‘Special Projects’, eventually emerging to play cameo roles in a succession of best-forgotten magazines, including Rock World and The Radio One Story.
He also presented five series of Acoustic Roots for BBC Radio 2 and fronted two series of the BBC’s TV coverage of the Cambridge Folk Festival, was music editor at Teletext and a Mercury Music Prize judge (his crowning glory beating a desk as he argued for Antony & the Johnsons to win).
Now settled into an uncertain world as an impoverished freelance writer, he contributes to fROOTS, Mojo, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph and Observer Music Monthly. He’s also written several books. In Search of the Craic details a long love affair with Irish music and pubs; In Search of the Albion is a trawl through English traditions; Sing When You’re Winning looks at soccer terrace songs; and Highway 61 Revisited examines Dylan’s seminal album. There was also an Abba biography but he never talks about that.
Colin Irwin's Rock's Backpages blog
List of articles in the library by artist
Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, February 1974
AMERICANS tend to pronounce the word "boogie" with one "u" and a couple of "g's". It comes out sounding "buggie" and it's heard a lot ...
Be Good Tanyas, The: Be Good Tanyas: Chinatown
Review by Colin Irwin, MOJO, March 2003
Second album by the Canadian trio who seduced us with their disarmingly unassuming old-timey debut Blue Horse. ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, December 1976
The American singer/songwriter – currently touring Britain – who has made his name by writing constantly demanding, complex and mysterious songs, talks to COLIN IRWIN ...
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, September 1982
UNDER THE premise that the Great British Public instinctively turns its nose up at anything that's a little unexpected, or which doesn't meet its carefully ...
Kate Bush: Paranoia and Passion of the Kate Inside
Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, October 1980
Kate Bush talks to Colin Irwin in Munich ...
Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, Rock World, October 1993
KATE BUSH is back with a sensational new album The Red Shoes, her first of this decade. She's been a major figure for 17 years ...
Terence Trent D'Arby: The Great Contender
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, August 1987
TERENCE TRENT D'ARBY isn't modest. But, as he's quick to point out, he has very little to be modest about. Two hit singles, a number ...
Sandy Denny: Sandy Fights Back
Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, November 1977
"IF I HAVE TO SING 'Matty Groves' one more time, I'll throw myself out of a window... I'll be doing a lot of stuff from ...
Dexy's Midnight Runners: Don't Stand Me Down
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, September 1985
COMPROMISE, as Kevin Rowland so sharply observes on the opening verse of this remarkable album, is the devil talking. ...
Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, September 1980
Tymon Dogg has nothing against success, but he wants it on his own terms, he tells COLIN IRWIN ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, January 1983
Colin Irwin visits the strange world of TYMON DOGG, former Paul McCartney protégé, Clash sidekick, and enemy of Safeway People ...
Nick Drake: Robert Kirby, 1948-2009
Obituary by Colin Irwin, Guardian, The, October 2009
IN HIS FIRST YEAR as a music student at Cambridge University, Robert Kirby sought to join Footlights, the undergraduates' fabled arts and drama club. He ...
Eagles, The: The Eagles: Hotel California (Asylum)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, December 1976
Don Henley (drums, vocals), Glenn Frey (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Don Felder (guitar, slide guitar, vocals), Joe Walsh (guitar, keyboards, vocals). Randy Meisner (bass, vocals). Produced ...
Fall, The: The Fall: Hex Enduction Hour (Kamera)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, March 1982
OF COURSE, YOU don't actually review a Fall LP. You hover in the shadow of the aura and attempt to catch some of the sparks ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, October 1974
THE MAN once dubbed the "Face Of '68" sat in the cafe, quietly reflecting on his home country. He was once the most screamed at ...
Obituary by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, April 1984
With the death of MARVIN GAYE, black music lost one of its most eloquent voices. Colin Irwin documents a brilliant but tempestuous career. ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, February 1975
SHE CAME down to London from fields afar, a cute little northern lass who was gonna be Britain's new first lady of rock. They all ...
Tim Hardin: The Legend of Tim Hardin
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, January 1974
A CHUNKY, muscular figure. Penetrating eyes. Wispy black hair ever so slightly receding. What the hell is a legend supposed to look like anyway? "The ...
Dorris Henderson: US Folk Singer Who Settled In London
Obituary by Colin Irwin, Independent, The, March 2005
DORRIS HENDERSON cut an unforgettable figure on the emergent British folk-music scene of the mid-1960s. ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, July 1975
A CLUTCH of nubile girls are usefully spending their school holidays hanging around outside the Bell Record Company offices in the hope of a glimpse ...
John Lennon, Julian Lennon, Yoko Ono: Julian Lennon: The Lennon Legacy
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, October 1984
Four years after a madman took out his father, JULIAN LENNON launches his own career in music. In his first major interview he tells Colin ...
Queen: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, April 1974
FREDDIE MERCURY glares thunderously from beneath the beam of the spotlight. Anger and hostility ooze from his mouth. He pumps his right fist vigorously skywards ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, December 1984
An unlikely star and a reluctant one, but SADE ADU is the most successful female artist of the year. The life and times of a ...
Retrospective and Interview by Colin Irwin, Guardian, The, July 2009
ALL GUSHING JET-black hair, radiant smiles and shining eyes, Buffy Sainte-Marie looks fabulous. "Do I? Why thank you..." ...
Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, July 1977
SANDY DENNY looked radiant. Yes, one is always supposed to say that about ladies when they're pregnant, but in this case it was true. She ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, June 1982
From the pits of Yorkshire to the industrial might of Seattle, SAXON have taken tea to the world. Colin Irwin earnestly believes it's the new ...
Seals and Crofts: Two's Company
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, May 1975
JIMMY SEALS is wearing an extremely smart tweedy outfit like he's an advert for Hardy Amies. He's got those granny spectacles and he leans back ...
Slade: Your Public Is Your Judge
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, October 1974
THEY CAME out of Wolverhampton. Failed skinheads who became the loudest, most aggressive stomping band in the land. A year ago nobody questioned it – ...
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 ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, December 1976
"HAVE WE ever come close to splitting? My God, HAVE we! It's very incestuous, our band, y'see. We're all interdependent and to work out your ...
Steeleye Span: How a Goon Came To Play Ukelele
Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, October 1974
IT WAS like the coming of a new Messiah. Everyone sat around nervously awaiting the arrival of HIM, the man who was gonna make this ...
Stylistics, The: The Stylistics: Sing, Baby, Sing!
Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, August 1975
ABUSE COMES too easily. The Stylistics are the masters of sweet soul, the kings of lush sentiment, and the lords of overstated romance. Even their ...
Richard Thompson: The Guitar Hero as Mystic Recluse
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, October 1978
Richard Thompson is one of the world's finest guitarists, but a few years ago he "got cheesed off" and packed it all in. Now he's ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, March 1979
DAVID PAICH has the grizzly, rough-hewn features of a particularly underhand heavyweight wrestler. The image is blown by a hugely infectious grin that recurs frequently, ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, April 1978
FORGIVE the blasphemy, but I reckon God must have been way out of his little box when he deposited Tom Waits among us. Mr. Waits ...
Scott Walker, Walker Brothers, The: Scott Walker: No Regrets
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, February 1976
IT'S ONLY mid-afternoon, but the curtains are drawn and the lights are out. The room is in darkness and at first it looks empty. "Hi, ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, August 1975
IT'S A BIT disconcerting when you're having a perfectly innocent conversation and the guy you're talking to suddenly brandishes a knife beneath your nose. Not ...
We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, November 1986
They sing! They dance! They make jokes! They play with bar-bells! They dye their hair! They talk in Brummy accents! They've got a new single ...
Tammy Wynette: Stand By Your Record Producer
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, September 1978
Tammy Wynette, over here for a short tour, lectures COLIN IRWIN on how to be an Average Superstar... ...
List of genre pieces
Garry Bushell: The Most Evil Man In Pop
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, May 1986
Scourge of the Looney Left, creator of Oi and prime exponent of the dreaded 'Sunspeak', GARRY BUSHELL makes a clean breast of it to Prof ...
back to LIBRARY
Best Databases: RBP is Runner-up in Best Niche category
Video: Johnny Marr talks about Rock's Backpages
download eBooks and audio interviews
RBP on Spotify: The Very Best of 40-year-old Virgin
RBP Album Club, June 13th: Miki Berenyi and Lucy O'Brien celebrate a Blondie classic
Essential Listening: Green Day grilled by Roy Trakin
RBP Album Club, July 11th: Nick Hornby and Nick Coleman celebrate Southside Johnny's debut
Essential Reading: Bud Scoppa's 1971 Byrds classic