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Don Watson

Don Watson

Don Watson wrote for the NME in the '80s and was - with Michael Bracewell and Mark Edwards - part of The Quick End. He is the author of Dancing in the Streets: Tales from World Cup City (1994).

60 articles

List of articles in the library

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Cocteau Twins: The Cocteau Twins: Fun From Falkirk - Fat Chance?

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 6 November 1982

FRIDAY night is cardboard-box-kicking night. ...

Sisters of Mercy: Razor Shock: Sisters of Mercy

Report and Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 1983

HOW ODD this all looks, reflected in the opaque black lenses of Wayne Hussey's absolutely Ian Hunter shades. ...

Divine: The First Lady of Filth

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 12 March 1983

Divine pits his 300lbs of solid glamour against Elizabeth Taylor, Diane Keaton and Bette Midler. Don Watson referees. ...

Marine Girls: Lazy Ways (Cherry Red)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 26 March 1983

YO HO HO IT'S THE NEW SENSITIVITY ...

Matchbox, Tammy Wynette: Tammy Wynette: Wembley Conference Centre, London

Live Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 16 April 1983

DANG MA POONS!* * Lit: Make mine a whiskey sour and a marriage on the rocks. ...

Rip Rig and Panic: Rip Rig & Panic: Rip Rig It Up And Start Again

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 7 May 1983

Their commercial failure was rigged, but they didn't panic. Now Don Watson discovers Rip Rig & Panic's new attitude. ...

The Go-Betweens: King's College, London

Live Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 4 June 1983

DON WATSON SEES THE GLINT ON THE EDGE OF THE GO-BEES' POP KNIFE ...

Simple Minds: Taking Kerr of Business

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 3 September 1983

SIMPLE MINDS: on the banks of a new gold dream? Or simply wet? DON WATSON fathoms it out with Jim Kerr ...

The Associates, Billy Mackenzie: Spoilt Brat, Silly Prat Or Visionary Genius?: Billy Mackenzie

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 10 September 1983

ONLY A YEAR AGO The Associates seemed to have the world at their feet; with three hit singles behind them and their first tour in ...

Action Pact, The Bay City Rollers, Bone Orchard, The Cult, Flesh For Lulu, Holy Toy, Killing Joke, Lavolta Lakota, Ligotage, New Model Army, Pink Peg Slax, Pleasure and the Beast, The Three Johns: Killing Joke, The Three Johns, New Model Army, Bay City Rollers et al: Futurama 5, Queen's Hall, Leeds

Live Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 24 September 1983

POCKET BILLIARDS ...

The The: Soul Mining (Some Bizzare)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 22 October 1983

DIGGING FOR VICTORY ...

Gary Numan: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 29 October 1983

BARBIE'S BOYFRIEND IN BONDAGE GEAR ...

The Go-Betweens: Up From Down Under

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 26 November 1983

HOW TOUCHINGLY ENGLISH this all is. Outside in the late autumn Notting Hill Gate landscape shoppers shuffle through the leaves, surprised at the novelty of ...

Soft Cell: Farewell My Lovely!

Report and Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 21 January 1984

Don Watson witnesses Soft Cell's glorious farewell concert and listens to Marc Almond kiss 'n' tell about his future plans to travel the world. ...

Johnny Thunders: Hurt Me (New Rose)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 28 January 1984

PAIN! ...

Nina Simone: Ronnie Scott's, London

Live Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 28 January 1984

NINA SIMONE finishes another song, totters to the front of the stage and stands, fixing the audience with a gaze that's as intent as it ...

Simple Minds: Sparkle In The Rain

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 11 February 1984

Give The Kerr A Bono ...

The Smiths: The Smiths (Rough Trade)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 25 February 1984

"And if you must go to work tomorrow Well, if I were you I wouldn't bother" ('Still Ill') ...

Orange Juice: Texas Fever (Polydor)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 10 March 1984

TO MAKE things clear from the start, Texas Fever arouses an excitement I thought I may be in danger of forgetting, at least in connection ...

Black Flag: My War (SST)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 31 March 1984

TO SAY that Black Flag's Damaged was the punk LP of 1981, is tantamount to (if I may be allowed to lapse for a moment ...

Richard H. Kirk: Sound Tracked

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 5 May 1984

IT DOESN'T take too long to suss that Richard Kirk's medium is The Image – here's a man who's ill at ease with The Word. ...

The Birthday Party, Nick Cave: Nick Cave: If This Is Heaven I'm Bailing Out

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 12 May 1984

THE ENIGMA of The Birthday Party, like that of Kaspar Hauser, begins with grunts in the darkness and ends in murder. ...

Sonic Youth: This Savage Breed: Sonic Youth: Kill Your Idols (Zensor, German Import)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 12 May 1984

"KILL YOUR IDOLS/With Sonic Death" — scrawled across the label and screamed across the searing noise, the statement of intent on the latest release by ...

Everything But The Girl: Eden (Blanco Y Negro)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 4 August 1984

CONCEIVED IN the bedroom (as was much great music) Eden has been hermetically sealed so none of its sensitivity should leak out in transit, and ...

Marc Almond: Revenge Of The Sleazebag

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 8 September 1984

AS LONDON swelters, there's one back alley in Soho's underarm narrow enough to escape the sun's onslaught. Damp and dingy it seems to seep moisture ...

Black Flag: Heart of Darkness

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 15 September 1984

RUN! THIS can't be happening! The headlights of the car bearing down on Greg Ginn and Bill Stevenson capture two slack-jawed faces, stark with astonishment, ...

Adele Bertei, Culture Club: Adele Bertei: Contorted Into Culture

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 29 September 1984

This is ADELE BERTEI, the new one in that Club. DON WATSON files the scoop. ...

Alison Moyet: Alf (CBS)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 10 November 1984

AS THE blue dawn pours in through the shutters, Alison Moyet stares from the cover of her first solo LP with a look that immediately ...

Eurythmics: 1984: For The Love of Big Brother (Virgin)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 17 November 1984

WAR IS Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength and this soundtrack LP with the logo of Radford's 1984 on its cover is not the ...

Depeche Mode: Deconstruction Time Again

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 20 December 1984

You thought they were prissy pinkos. But no! They drink, talk to girls, wear leather mini-skirts! Don Watson walks tall with Depeche Mode, the new ...

Hüsker Dü: New Day Rising

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 9 March 1985

THESE ARE fast times that we live in, something that dawned upon Hüsker Dü long before New Day Rising glimpsed the light. ...

Gram Parsons: We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning

Retrospective by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 21 April 1985

"Death is a warm cloak. An old friend. I regard death as something that comes up on a roulette wheel every once in a while."Gram ...

Bob Geldof: Live Aid: Transmission Of Mercy

Comment by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 20 July 1985

JUST ABOUT the time that the 70,000 in the centre of the mediarena were filing, as instructed, towards the exits, I was emerging from the ...

Nico: "Watch Out, The World's Behind You"

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 3 August 1985

From the mists of time steps a pale, haggard figure with a handful of memories and a single like a photo of the '50s. NICO, ...

James, Wire: Wire, James: Bloomsbury Theatre, London

Live Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 3 August 1985

SPARKLY JAMES HARVEST ...

Madness: A Serious Case Of Madness

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 10 August 1985

No longer just Nutty Boys, MADNESS have grown into troubled and doubting pop commentators on the English way of life. DON WATSON traces the Four ...

The Jesus & Mary Chain: The Jesus And Mary Chain: Unchained Melody

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 14 September 1985

Fourth single and an LP coming up? Surely THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN aren't becoming veterans? DON WATSON chronicles the rise of the best bit ...

J.G. Ballard: Closely Observed Trains

Profile and Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 26 October 1985

He never listens to music but he inspired the writing of 'Warm Leatherette' and Magazine's 'Motorcade', his trilogy of Crash, High Rise and Concrete Island ...

Tom Waits: Reigning Hats And Dogs: Tom Waits at the Dominion, London

Live Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 26 October 1985

COME INSIDE, the finger beckons and the man with the stubble breaks out a grin and leans in your direction... ...

Grace Jones: Slave To The Rhythm (ZTT)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 2 November 1985

THE SCENE: An unwashed and impolitely dazed Paul Morley stumbles into the ZTT offices one day. "But Trevor, the people are hungry for imagination, stimulation, ...

The Beastie Boys, Slayer: Def Jam Records: Men Or Beasties?

Report and Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 11 January 1986

IN CRUMPLED, jeans, trainers and an AC/DC T-shirt Rick Rubin represents the current hippest record company in New York, Def Jam Records. ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie and the Banshees: The Howling

Retrospective by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 22 February 1986

SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES: "a great whirlpool of noise, pulling the future down." Many moons later DON WATSON recalls the dawn of the great Sioux ...

Swans: Greed

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 29 March 1986

WHAT IS the sound of a Swan in love? ...

The Band of Holy Joy: Band Of Holy Joy: The Big Ship Sails

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 24 May 1986

AND SO the shock of the new continues to give way to the celebration of the old. ...

Laurie Anderson: More Blank Than Frank

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 7 June 1986

AS SHE confides to us in her live show, Laurie Anderson was a bird in a previous incarnation. ...

Pet Shop Boys: Suburban Stardom

Essay by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 7 June 1986

England swings to the yawning sound of the suburbs, where Dynasty kids dream of escape and fortune. DON WATSON reflects on the hit and myth ...

Madonna: True Blue

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 12 July 1986

"SO I'M HERE looking through an old picture frame/Waiting for a perfect view/I hope something special will come into my life/Another fine edition of you" ...

Boy George: From Culture Club To Vulture Club

Comment by Paolo Hewitt, Don Watson, New Musical Express, 26 July 1986

Boy George's romance with the Fleet Street scandal sheets came to an abrupt end when they turned on him in an hysterical anti-drugs campaign. But ...

David Sylvian: Blonde On Blonde

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 23 August 1986

TWO YOUNG men, once blond, face one another and indulge in the absurd activity of taking music seriously. "Almost too seriously," says David Sylvian. The ...

Iggy Pop: Blah, Blah, Blah

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 4 October 1986

"I'M A real wild one." Iggy Pop, 1986. ...

Miles Davis: Tutu (WEA)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 11 October 1986

SO, THE last two, troubled decades of Miles Davis — from Voodoo to Tutu, from the blistering frustration of On The Corner to the comfortable ...

The Band Of Holy Joy: The Loneliness Of The Late Night Drinker

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 20 December 1986

1986 was the year that Englishness made a comeback, and no one caught its multi-faceted moods of gloom and nostalgia better than THE BAND OF ...

Momus: CV of Mortal Sins

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 6 August 1988

Is MOMUS (aka NICK CURRIE) a voyeur, ex-rent boy and semi necrophile? Or is he merely writing a rock'n'roll bad reputation for himself? DON WATSON ...

James: Strip-mine (Blanco Y Negro LP/Cassette/CD)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 1 October 1988

THE FIRST thing to say is that this is not the LP that James are capable of. By today's standards certainly it's excellent, but it's ...

Pussy Galore: Paw Little Rich Kids

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 17 December 1988

Using horrendous production and brattish titles PUSSY GALORE are fast and thrashing on the heels of The Buttholes and Sonic Youth. DON WATSON (clenched fists) ...

Brian Eno: Man Out Of Time: Brian Eno

Interview by Don Watson, Spin, May 1989

"IS THIS 1962 OR 20 YEARS ON?" asked the sleeve notes of the first Roxy Music LP, the record that introduced Brian Eno to the ...

Throbbing Gristle: Wreckers Of Civilisation: The Story Of COUM Transmissions & Throbbing Gristle by Simon Ford Black Dog Publishing PBK £19.95)

Book Review by Don Watson, The Wire, March 1999

JG BALLARD once said that rock journalism at its best was a medium for the "real news", a means of conveying what he called the ...

Can, Holger Czukay, Irmin Schmidt: Can: Paladium, Cologne, Germany

Live Review by Don Watson, The Wire, May 1999

DURING THEIR heyday in the mid-70s, Can put great emphasis on the subjugation of the individual to the sound of the group. At their best ...

Faust: The Faust Tapes: Faust Epiphany

Retrospective by Don Watson, The Wire, September 2000

ONE OF THE EFFECTS of the rabid reissue programs that accompanied the CD revolution was to offer shrinkwrapped package tours into your teenage bedrom. Music, ...

Global Ear: Izhevsk

Report and Interview by Don Watson, The Wire, September 2002

A survey of sounds from around the planet. This month: Don Watson travels deep inside Russia’s Volga Basin to eavesdrop on the region’s new electronica ...

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