Library Rock's Backpages

Harry Doherty

Harry Doherty

Harry Doherty wrote extensively for Melody Maker from 1975 through to the early ‘80s, and during his tenure flying the banner for the more commercial aspects of rock music championed the careers of Kate Bush, Thin Lizzy, Queen, 10CC, the Boomtown Rats, and many more, amidst the phalanx of interviews accumulated. Since then his career took in spells on Capital Radio, editor at Metal Hammer and founder of the video magazine, Hard’n’Heavy. Doherty was also author of the only official book on Queen, 40 Years of Queen (Goodman), published to tie in with the band's fortieth anniversary. Recently, and until his death in May 2014, he was managing editor of Books & Media, the online guide to books and authors in the media.

 

175 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Ann Peebles: I Can't Stand The Rain

Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 19 October 1974

BRITAIN has been bitten by the Ann Peebles bug and, in a typical reciprocal move, our very own famous bug (commonly known as 'flu) has ...

The Bay City Rollers: Bay City Rollers: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Disc, 26 October 1974

ROLLERS RUSHED ...

Status Quo: Would You Live Next Door To Status Quo?

Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 26 October 1974

A STATUS QUO recording session is an experience. What with furious neighbours bursting into the studio in the middle of "takes" and morse code messages ...

The Bay City Rollers: Phil Coulter: The Creator

Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 2 November 1974

Disc meets the man behind the Rollers and many others ...

The Bay City Rollers: Rollers On The Run

Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 2 November 1974

FAN HYSTERIA is reaching its peak with the Bay City Rollers. It's got to the point now where the Rollers can't even go to the ...

Humble Pie: Odeon, Birmingham

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Disc, 9 November 1974

FOR SOME bizarre reason, HUMBLE PIE have been finding it particularly hard to gain acceptance in England, despite the fact that they are now a ...

The Glitter Band

Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 9 November 1974

"GARY IS great. His operation was a success and there are no aftereffects at all. If anything, it has improved his voice." ...

Rory Gallagher: Play For Today, Tomorrow You Die

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1975

Rory rocks back to a supersonic reception in California. Harry Doherty is there... ...

10cc: We're The Missionaries

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 September 1975

A HATCHET-wielding psychopath was on the loose in the next room. In the circumstances, it was beyond comprehension how Lol Creme could present a gleaming ...

Leo Sayer: Sayer: “L.A. is Music's Capital, New York second, London Only Third”

Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 September 1975

"I FEEL I’m at my peak, I’m doing my best work ever now." Little Leo Sayer is back. The location is London’s Cunard International Hotel ...

Jethro Tull: The Jethro Tull Story

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 September 1975

"I want to justify the place on my passport where it says 'Occupation: musician'. I feel that I've not yet really justified that" Harry Doherty ...

Black Sabbath: Paranoid

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975

IT'S NO MERE coincidence that an Ozzie Osbourne song on the new Black Sabbath album is called 'Am I Going Insane?' Ozzie, who professes that ...

Leo Sayer: Winter Gardens, Bournemouth

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975

LEO SAYER IS in danger of losing fans if he persists in forcing his personality on audiences, as he did when his British tour opened ...

Black Sabbath: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1 November 1975

FOR SOME bizarre reason, 3,000 kids got off on Black Sabbath's antics at Hammersmith Odeon last Wednesday night. Ozzie Osbourne and cohorts had the fans ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sutherland Brothers and Quiver: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1 November 1975

IF PROOF was needed that Lynyrd Skynyrd have broken Britain's back, then a visit to Hammersmith Odeon on Monday night would have persuaded the harshest ...

Steeleye Span: Steeleye Sold Out?

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 8 November 1975

WHEREFORE art thou, Span? The cry persists: "They've sold out." The denials continue. But Steeleye Span's drift towards "commercialism," especially on the new album, All ...

Queen's Evidence

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 November 1975

I'M P---- OFF listening to the bloody album," mutters a weary Roger Taylor, confronted once more with hearing a new Queen album, four months ...

Queen: Brian May – The Power Behind Queen's Throne

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 December 1975

FREDDIE MERCURY steps out of the spotlight, Brian May moves in to seize the opportunity to deliver the most sizzling guitar solo. ...

Hot Chocolate: Hot on the Trail

Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 December 1975

HOT CHOCOLATE, the faceless men of British pop, leave soon for the real land of hope and glory, America, confident that they will be a ...

Ace

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 December 1975

PHIL HARRIS, OF Ace, suddenly perked to attention on the edge of his chair and made a compassionate plea. "We love Britain, 'onest," he craved. ...

The Glitter Band: Listen To The Band (Bell)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975

DEFINITELY THE surprise of 1975, the album to earn the Glitter Band critical credibility, and deservedly so. If Listen To The Band is an indication ...

Thin Lizzy: The Irish Question

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975

DESPITE the homely sentiments echoed in Philip Lynott's 'Dublin' a few years back, Thin Lizzy did leave Dublin, and Ireland. But the fond memories of ...

The Glitter Band: Farewell Glitter!

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 January 1976

The Glitter Band's New Year resolution? No more glam-rock. HARRY DOHERTY investigates ...

Sheer Elegance: By Sheer Chance?

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 January 1976

From obscurity to a hit in two moves...just luck? Not true, Sheer Elegance tell HARRY DOHERTY ...

ABBA: Digging the Swedes!

Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976

THINGS WERE so bad in Scandinavia, an MM reader there informed us some months ago, that Abba were regarded as a progressive rock band. ...

Be-Bop Deluxe: Sunburst Deluxe

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976

BILL NELSON, IF popular opinion is to be believed, is destined to become something of a superstar in the coming year. And the new Be-Bop ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Gimme Back My Bullets (MCA 2744)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976

FOR SUCH A great continent, America has given the outside world very few real rock and roll bands. ...

Status Quo: Rock That Boogie!

Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976

IN THE basement of a South London shop, a group rehearses. They're loud, ever so loud. A rat crawls from behind an amplifier, its ears ...

Genesis: The Ghost That Haunts Genesis

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 February 1976

YES, PETER IS PAST, but the legacy remains. And Tony Banks, keyboards' player with Genesis, is finding it difficult to swallow that. Peter Gabriel has ...

Sailor: New Victoria Theatre, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976

ABOUT A year ago, Sailor made their live debut in front of about 50 people at London's little Collegiate Theatre. The reaction was mediocre, and ...

Status Quo: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 March 1976

THE STURICO security team didn't know what hit them. Lined up, muscles flexed, and ready for the worst, they were swamped by denim as soon ...

Thin Lizzy: Essex University, Colchester

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 March 1976

IF THIN LIZZY have spent the past 12 months breaking into first division rock, the next 12 will be spent consolidating their position in that ...

Led Zeppelin: Jimmy Page: Past, Presence & Future

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 March 1976

JIMMY ENTERED a whole hour late. But Abe, who was accompanying him, was not in the least embarrassed by the delay. He muttered an obligatory ...

Thin Lizzy: Lizzy Break 'Em Up

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976

THERE WE STOOD. Dumb-founded, we stared in stark amazement at the spectacle. It's Liverpool Stadium and the mashed wood strewn around the floor had earlier ...

The Hollies: Fun And Magic

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 April 1976

I NEEDED CONVINCING that the legendary Sixties were really the rich, golden colour painted by those lucky enough to have experienced the action. ...

10cc: We Don't Want To Be Superstars…

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 April 1976

IT'S CRAZY, totally unpredictable, this life with 10cc. ...

Kiss: Destroyer (Casablanca)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 April 1976

WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that the total eccentricity of approach, the gross make-up and the blanket heavy metal music would have eventually ensured that Kiss ...

Thin Lizzy: The Thin Man

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 24 April 1976

"I'M A ROCKER. I'm a Roller, too, honey..." Did you know that West Hampstead, London, is within spitting distance of the M1? Phil Lynott lives ...

Graham Parker, The Rumour: Graham Parker & The Rumour: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1 May 1976

WITH SOME justification, Graham Parker is being touted as a major new British talent. But, though I witnessed Parker and his fine band, the Rumour, ...

Gentle Giant: Giant Steps

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 8 May 1976

RETURNING HOME TO England has always been a bit of a comedown for Gentle Giant. ...

Gallagher & Lyle: Gallagher and Lyle: Breakaway Boys

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 15 May 1976

GALLAGHER AND LYLE: 'Art Garfunkel's version of 'Breakaway' did us a hell of a lot of good. We were preparing to record the album and ...

Jethro Tull: So Who's Too Old To Rock?

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 15 May 1976

. . . certainly not Tull's Ian Anderson, who tells Harry Doherty that change keeps him going. ...

Horslips: Rock in Ireland: Rock in the Dark Ages

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 15 May 1976

IF OXFAM WERE to adopt the same stategy towards rock starvation as they do towards the plight of the world's hungry, then one of the ...

David Essex: Earl's Court, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976

FOUR TIMES AT his Earls Court, London, show on Saturday night, David Essex strikingly fused the electric atmosphere of theatre with rock. The effect was ...

ABBA, Silver Convention: Europe: The Future Of Pop?

Overview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976

AS IT WAS Stockholm, and as the ever-witty 10cc were playing there, Eric Stewart thought it'd be nice to pay a little tribute to a ...

Kiss: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976

MAN, KISS HAD everything; every single effect in the book. They had a perfect lighting system; dry ice; smoke bombs; a fire-eater; a huge lighted ...

Slik: Slik (Bell)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976

Midge Ure (guitar, vocals), Jim McGinlay (bass, vocals), Billy McIsaac (keyboards, vocals), Kenny Hyslop (drums, vocals). Produced by Phil Coulter at Mayfair Studios, London, during ...

David Essex: Essex Dons The Motley Again

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 29 May 1976

DAVID ESSEX: 'I'm going to do a kind of rock revue in a West End theatre. It'll be incredible – I've got so many bizarre ...

Alan Parsons: Parsons Knows: The Tale of Alan Parsons and Edgar Allan Poe

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 July 1976

THE CONCEPT ALBUM, contemptuously rejected by many critics as the great bore of rock, has returned, and this work of producer Alan Parsons, supported by ...

Slik: We're Like A Scapegoat For The Rollers

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 July 1976

TEARS TRICKLE down her 12-year-old cheeks. She's speechless, overcome by the emotion of the moment. She has, after a stubborn battle, won the right to ...

Dave Mason, Elton John, John Miles: Elton John, Dave Mason, John Miles: Schaeffer Stadium, Boston

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 July 1976

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: The sheer pageantry of Elton John's Stars and Stripes bicentennial show here on Independence Day had the power alone to earn a standing ...

Thin Lizzy: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 July 1976

THE PREVALENT mood that hung over this Hammersmith Odeon gig on Sunday night, that this would be the occasion to herald once and for all ...

Jethro Tull: Too Old To Rock And Roll, Too Young To Die

Film/DVD/TV Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976

Dull Tull's big mistake ...

John Miles: Learning To Be A Star

Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976

...

Alan Parsons: The Alan Parsons Project: Tales Of Mystery And Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976

FOR THREE weeks I've played this album almost constantly and probably the greatest compliment I can pay it is that it has lost little of ...

Curved Air, Hawkwind, Status Quo, The Strawbs: Status Quo: Quo Storm The Castle

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 July 1976

Rock festivals in Wales always tempt providence, as many a Marley or 10cc fan can attest. But at Cardiff Castle last Saturday, the sun shone ...

Thin Lizzy: Unlikely Lads With A Lead For Lizzy

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 July 1976

THE MAN IN Black from the City Of The Angels, Los Angeles, is still dazed by the unbelievably swift rise of Thin Lizzy and chats ...

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band: Alex Harvey: Harvey's History Lesson

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 August 1976

ALEX, WHAT would your reaction be, apart from grabing me by the throat, if I said the music and image of the Sensational Alex Harvey ...

Thin Lizzy: Remembering, Part 1, featuring Eric Bell and Gary Moore (Decca)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 August 1976

Philip Lynott (bass, acoustic guitar, vocals), Brian Downey (drums), Eric Bell (lead guitar and vocals), Gary Moore (lead guitar and vocals). Produced by Nick Tauber. ...

Widowmaker (UK): Widowmaker: Make — Or Break

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 August 1976

WIDOWMAKER almost busted up the other week. ...

AC/DC: Marquee, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 August 1976

THOSE PUZZLED by the Status Quo phenomenon should beware. AC/DC, from the same rock family, could wreak similar havoc, but they will only realise their ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Skyn Flick

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 September 1976

"HI. Y'ALL COME in now..." Ronnie Van Zant, two minutes out of the sack, wears a stetson, strengthening the popular theory that he was born ...

Pilot: Pilot Change Course

Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 September 1976

David Paton: now one-half of Pilot, a band trying to rid itself of teenybop associations ...

Queen

Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 September 1976

BRIAN MAY remembers Queen's first-ever free gig well. It was in London, five years ago, when the band invited 120 people along to a lecture ...

The Bay City Rollers: Bay City Rollers: New Victoria Theatre, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 25 September 1976

SOME TIME ago, David Essex remarked that he was fed up with critics reviewing his audiences when they should have been more concerned with the ...

Kiki Dee, Queen: Queen: Hyde Park, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 25 September 1976

AT LAST, the Seventies have arrived, and in majestic style, when, at London's Hyde Park on Saturday, Queen, born of this decade's rock generation, played ...

Barclay James Harvest: Barclay Bank On The Future

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 October 1976

BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: 'If you want to be a musician and play the type of music you want – you've gotta cruise.' ...

Rory Gallagher: Calling Card (Chrysalis)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 October 1976

His first venture into the land of overdub and experimentation – and an unqualified success ...

Be-Bop Deluxe: Nelson's Column

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 October 1976

"HELLO, I'm the man with two noses....." ...

Cliff Richard: Cliff Brings Good News To Belfast

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 October 1976

CLIFF RICHARD wasn't smuggled into Belfast on Saturday night in the back of a furniture van. Nor was his appearance marred by a background of ...

Rory Gallagher: The Rory of the Crowd

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 October 1976

RORY GALLAGHER looked ruffled, most annoyed indeed. He cast a reflective eye across the current mode of pyrotechnical wizardry in rock and was not happy ...

The Runaways: You Sexy Things!

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 October 1976

"AW, C'MON, you guys at the front. Sit down and give the rest of the lads a view of the girls..." And that passionate request, ...

Thin Lizzy: Johnny The Fox

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 October 1976

THIN LIZZY: Johnny The Fox (Vertigo 9102 012). Phil Lynott (bass, vocals), Brian Downey (drums, percussion), Scott Gorham (lead guitar), Brian Robertson (lead guitar). Produced ...

Dr. Feelgood: Dr Feelgood: Where There's a Wilko…

Report by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976

FEELGOODS' WILKO JOHNSON: 'I work for one hour a day and get paid about £2,000. That's why I want a television in my room.' ...

Sailor, Sparks: Sparks: Big Beat (Island);Sailor: The Third Step (Epic)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976

SPARKS: Big Beat (Island ILPS 9445). Russell Mael (vocals), Ron Mael (keyboards), Jeffrey Salen (guitar), Sal Maida (bass). Billy Boy Michaels (drums). Produced by Rupert ...

Wishbone Ash: Phase 3 for Ash

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976

After deserting their homeland to live in the States, they're back — but they've not been forgotten… ...

Thin Lizzy: Lizzy's Cocky Rebel

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 November 1976

"Cocky Rocky's a rock and roll starGot the talent to take him far..." ...

David Essex: Home On The Road

Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976

"THE TIMES they are a-changin" ...and David Essex is changing with them. ...

Leo Sayer: Endless Flight (Chrysalis)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976

Leo Sayer (vocals, harmonica). Ed Greene, Steve Gadd, Rick Shlosser, Jeff Porcaro, Nigel Olsson (drums), Andy Muson, Bill Bodine, Willie Weeks, Bob Glaub, Lee Sklar, ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd: One More From The Road (MCA)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976

LYNYRD SKYNYRD are one those bands who, like Rory Gallagher and Dr. Feelgood, will never be able to create the same excitement in the studio ...

Wishbone Ash: New England (MCA)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976

Andy Powell (guitars, mandolin and vocals), Laurie Wisefield (guitars and vocals), Martin Turner (bass and lead vocals), Steve Upton (drums). Recorded at Mart's Place, Laureledge, ...

Barclay James Harvest: Octoberon

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976

I GET the impression from this new BJH album that the band were in a particularly mellow mood when they finally got around to recording ...

Electric Light Orchestra: The Electric Light Orchestra: A New World Record (Jet)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976

Jeff Lynne (lead vocals, lead, rhythm and slide guitars), Bev Bevan (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Richard Tandy (keyboards, backing vocals), Kelly Groucutt (bass, vocals), Mik ...

Thin Lizzy: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976

THIN LIZZY have reached that dangerous stage where they no longer nave to be good to provoke a maniacal response from their audience. ...

Cliff Richard: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976

Cliff: he's nearly rocking ...

Heart: Heart Tremors

Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976

YOU PROBABLY haven't heard of Heart – apart, perhaps, from their excellent 'Magic Man' single – yet they've soared from obscurity in the States to ...

Lone Star: Lone Star's State

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976

THIS MUST MEAN something. Driving home last week-end, I flicked on the radio, to the Alan Freeman Show, and was greeted by a piece of ...

10cc, Colosseum, Electric Light Orchestra, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Yes: 10cc, Genesis, Fleetwood Mac, ELO et al: Split Ends

Overview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976

SOME come, others go, but the name lives on for ever...10cc set no precedent by splitting in half last week, but the decision by Graham ...

ABBA: Arrival (Epic)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976

ABBA: Frida Lyngstad and Anna Faltskog (vocals), Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals) with Ola Brunkert and Roger Palm (drums), Janne Schaffer, ...

Queen: A Day At The Races (EMI)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976

QUEEN: A Day At The Races (EMI EMTC 104). Freddie Mercury (vocals, piano), Brian May (guitars, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), John Deacon (bass). Produced ...

Heart: Oxford Polytechnic

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976

IT WAS with a little disappointment that I discovered at the weekend that Heart's stage act isn't as impressive as their debut album, Dreamboat Annie. ...

Ralph McTell: The Anti-Star…

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976

SILVER DISCS paper the walls of Ralph McTell's new eight-roomed Putney castle. There's going to be a studio upstairs, he says, directly above where the ...

Wings: Wings Over America (EMI)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 December 1976

An exhausting triple set which had the making of an exceptional double album ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 February 1977

Skynyrd: all guts and fury ...

ABBA: The Arrival of Abba

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 12 February 1977

On the eve of Abba's British live debut, Harry Doherty looks at the reasons for their amazing success — and asks the rock biz for ...

Queen, Thin Lizzy: The Year Queen Lizzy Shook America

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 19 February 1977

THE WINTER of 1977 was fierce on the East Coast of the USA, a thick layer of snow engulfing the territory between Boston and New ...

AC/DC: Current affairs

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 March 1977

Harry Doherty travels to Cardiff to see how AC/DC are steadily working their way to the top ...

Electric Light Orchestra: Look At Me Now: The Electric Light Orchestra

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 April 1977

ELO: MORE than a classical gas. "It’s not classical rock. It never has been, but when it started, it needed a name. It had to ...

Elton John: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 May 1977

Elton enthrals ...

Dr. Feelgood: Just What The Dr. Ordered: A New Guitarist To Replace Wilko In The Feelgoods

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 May 1977

IT'S BARDOT'S, Canvey Island, formerly Cloud Nine, former weekly haunt of Dr. Feelgood. It's Thursday, almost midnight, and Wilko Johnson has well and truly joined ...

Dr. Feelgood: Sneakin' Suspicion (United Artists UAS 30075)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 May 1977

Epitaph to Wilko ...

Little Feat: In the lap of the gods? "Jeez, I don't know about that"

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 August 1977

FORGIVE ME, Father, for I have sinned. I did not genuflect every time Lowell George spliced Fender guitar with bottleneck last night. ...

Boomtown Rats: The Boomtown Rats (Ensign)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 August 1977

OH CHRIST, what will we label them? Rock 'n' Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Pop/New Wave? All tags apply. But no one alone totally fits the ...

Roy Wood: Jazzed-up Wood

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 September 1977

TAPE RECORDER OFF, Roy Wood typically loosens up, revealing a few of his franker thoughts. "I've written something like 30 hit songs, you know," he ...

Tom Robinson Band: The Tom Robinson Band: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 December 1977

IT WAS undoubtedly one of the best gigs I have seen this or any other year. The combination of two excellent bands, the Tom Robinson ...

The Rich Kids: Rich Kids: Nashville Rooms, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 February 1978

MIDGE URE made the most telling comment of the night just before the Rich Kids played their deserved encore after a rattling set at the ...

Blondie on Blondie

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 March 1978

Harry Doherty reports from West Berlin ...

Kate Bush: Bush Baby

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 March 1978

2002 Prologue: This interview would have come on the back of an MM editorial conference, Ray Coleman at the helm, sarcastic bastards around the table, ...

Advertising, Blondie, Boyfriends, The (US): Blondie, Advertising, the Boyfriends: The Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 March 1978

PROOF — IF proof were now needed — of Blondie's vast potential was provided in full during Sunday night's gig at the Roundhouse, London's answer ...

Boomtown Rats: The Boomtown Rats: the Stars And Stripes Club, Yate

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1 April 1978

The new Rats bag ...

Cheap Trick: the Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 8 April 1978

Cheap and tasty ...

Queen: Empire Pool, Wembley, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 May 1978

Queen bee ...

Electric Light Orchestra: Themes and Variations on ELO

Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 May 1978

THE ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA's forthcoming British tour, which includes a run of eight nights at Wembley Empire Pool, will be the band's last appearances here ...

Kate Bush: The Kick Outside

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 June 1978

2002 Prologue: I remember this interview with massive warmth. I knew me and Kate were obviously getting onside ‘cos this was done at the family ...

Rory Gallagher: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 June 1978

RORY GALLAGHER'S return to London, with two shows at the Hammersmith Odeon at the weekend, emphasized the sway the eternally youthful Irish guitarist holds over ...

Electric Light Orchestra: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 June 1978

HONESTLY, when you find yourself actually applauding the stage at the end of a gig, then you suddenly realise that you've just witnessed a very ...

Graham Parker: Shield

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 June 1978

IT'S THOSE damned shades that frighten me so much. What goes on behind them? Where are his eyes? Has he got eyes? The imagination runs ...

The Shirts: Dingwall's, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 July 1978

YOU KNOW the feeling. Out comes a new album from a new band and you get so enthusiastic about it that you're falling over yourself ...

Supertramp on the Verge

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 July 1978

July 2002 intro: Supertramp play at Hyde Park this month, a sure sign they have lost none of the fans who made them huge with ...

Frankie Miller: Dingwall's, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 September 1978

FRANKIE MILLER would have been recognised as a major rock singer with a major rock audience three years ago had it not been for his ...

Blondie: Parallel Lines (Chrysalis)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 September 1978

BLONDIE'S third album seems designed to cater for two distinct requirements: a) to satisfy the near-hysterical cries for the pure pop of the band's debut ...

Blondie: From Blondie With Love…

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 September 1978

CLEM BURKE offers a rather intriguing analogy about his band: Blondie are now playing the roles patented earlier this decade by Gary Glitter, T. Rex ...

Smokie: Exiles On The Reeperbahn

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978

LAST NIGHT, IN Hamburg, Smokie played to 6,000 people and tonight they'll repeat the process in the fishing port of Kiel. It brings to an ...

10cc, Godley & Creme: Godley & Crème: 'How Do We Get To Be Rich And Famous, Kev?' 'But Lol, We Are Rich And Famous'

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978

Fighting their reputation and their record company, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme turn defence into attack. ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Skynyrd's First And…Last

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978

ROCK 'N' ROLL REQUIEMS usually denigrate rather than enhance the reputation of the deceased, which is as sound a reason as any to approach this ...

Radio Stars: Holiday Album

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978

RADIO STARS' aspirations are anything but modest. They have visions of themselves as a major (Hammersmith Odeon-Earls Court-Knebworth) band and Holiday Album is the vehicle ...

The Edge, Peter Gabriel, The Skids, Spizz, The Stranglers: The Stranglers, Peter Gabriel, The Skids et al: Punishment Park

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978

IF NOTHING ELSE, at least the sun shone undisturbed for the duration of the Stranglers' long-awaited London gig on Saturday afternoon ("They're trying to strangle ...

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: Pete Shelley is a Sensitive Artist... and Buzzcocks Have no Guilt

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978

Every successful new wave band experiences a backlash, and Buzzcockes are no exception. HARRY DOHERTY sympathises ...

Wayne County & the Electric Chairs: Music Machine, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 October 1978

WEIRD IS the word that immediately springs to mind; the detached weirdness of viewing a transvestite play hard rock, of being part of an audience ...

Johnny Thunders: Nothing Is Forever

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 October 1978

Maybe you sneered at the New York Dolls; so maybe you missed a Distant Early Warning of the new wave. Johnny Thunders is back in ...

Bram Tchaikovsky: The Marquee, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978

FOR THOSE CONFUSED, angered and alienated by the Motors' continuing divergence from their original hard rock base, the movements in the Bram Tchaikovsky camp at ...

The Motors: The Motors Show

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978

UNE NUIT A PARIS...The intention behind visiting France with the Motors seemed a good one: the circumspection of their intriguingly varied curriculum could be more ...

The Rich Kids: Music Machine, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978

UNTIL THE RICH KIDS get a few things into perspective – the rather misbegotten and amusing attitude, for instance, that their music goes above the ...

AC/DC: If You Want Blood You've Got It (Atlantic K50532)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978

WHAT CAN you say? AC/DC. A live album. An inevitable live album, given the knowledge that they're one of the best heavy metal bands around ...

Kate Bush: Enigma Variations

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978

2002 Prologue: KATE IS famous now. WELL famous, right across Europe and to celebrate that, EMI are launching Lionheart, the second album, in a castle ...

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band: Alex Harvey: Absence Makes The Art Grow Older

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978

Alex Harvey: The Venue, London ...

The Bay City Rollers: Strangers In The Wind

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978

IT WOULD indeed be wonderful to report that, after a lengthy break, the Bay City Rollers have returned to remind us that they were really ...

Tyla Gang: Moon Proof (Beserkley)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978

THERE ARE certain musicians whose burden in life is to carry the can for mediocre past. Sean Tyla, late of Ducks Deluxe, is suffering from ...

Wire: Barbed Wire

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978

"We don't need nude tarts to sell records. Thus spake Wire, the most ruggedly uncompromising band HARRY DOHERTY has met for, oh, at least a ...

Gary Moore: Back On The Streets

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978

GARY MOORE is one of the best rock guitarists in the world – a conviction reinforced by his gymnastic feats on his instrument on this, ...

The Stranglers: Stranglers: Something Better Change?

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1979

Lots of people would like to start by changing the Stranglers. Surprise, surprise...they've done it themselves. Hugh Cornwell tells HARRY DOHERTY how they've dragged themselves ...

Horslips: The Man Who Built America (DJM)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 January 1979

HORSLIPS' RECORDING career has been, to say the least, erratic: moments of inventive brilliance meshed with frequent mediocrity. But, at long last, they have emerged ...

The Jam: A Mod At 20

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 January 1979

Hope I die before I get old? The Jam's Paul Weller knows he can't write teenage anthems any more. HARRY DOHERTY sympathises. ...

UFO: Strangers In The Night: A Double Live Album (Chrysalis)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 January 1979

THE LESSON to be learned from this album is undoubtedly that the natural habitat of a heavy metal band is in concert. The proof comes ...

Toto: Toto

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 February 1979

THIS COULD HAVE BEEN an unholy disaster. A group of Los Angeles session men forming their own band could have been the signal for God-knows-what ...

UFO: In Search Of Heady Riff

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 February 1979

In which UFO try for world domination...HARRY DOHERTY followed them round the concert circuit ...

Blondie, Mud, Suzi Quatro, Sweet: Chinn & Chapman: Ballroom Blitz & Hearts of Glass

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, March 1979

Mike Chapman began with Mud and Sweet, disappeared when glitter-rock went cold, and came back to make the new wave palatable for America with the ...

Blondie: Fear Of Frying

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979

While 'Heart Of Glass' seems about to repeat its British success in America, via the disco connection, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein stay home in ...

The Scorpions: Scorpions: Lovedrive

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979

NOW THAT the new wave has been institutionalised and tamed by the Establishment, heavy metal is once more basking in a glorious and celebrated comeback, ...

The Undertones: Putting On The Anti Style

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979

...are the Undertones, Derry's nosethumb to the star system. HARRY DOHERTY helped them bury a few rock myths. ...

Hunter-Ronson, Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson: Hunter-Ronson: Good News From Nowhere

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979

Nowhere being the most expensive studio in New York, scene of the Hunter-Ronson comeback with a startling new album. HARRY DOHERTY investigated the Geminian partnership ...

Sparks: Too Much Too Soon Again

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979

Sparks discover disco – but did the critics discover it first? HARRY DOHERTY smooths the ruffled curls. ...

The Scorpions, UFO: Scorpions: Stateless and Fighting Back

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 April 1979

German heavy metallurgists Scorpion, fronted by ex-UFO lead guitarist Michael Schenker, are set to conquer the world the English-speaking one, that is. HARRY DOHERTY talked ...

The Skids: Theme For War Movies and Romantic Losers

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 April 1979

THE LOCATION: Basing Street Studios, London.THE EVENT: The World Premiere of 'Masquerade', starring the Skids and produced by Bill Nelson.THE AUDIENCE: The Skids – Richard ...

Thin Lizzy: Black Rose (Vertigo)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 April 1979

YOU build 'em up... ...

Badfinger: Airwaves

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979

IT'S EASY to acknowledge it in retrospect, but Badfinger were a great band who suffered the classically clichéd fate of being criminally ignored in Britain. ...

Robin Scott: Now Pop For Pure People

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979

M is for mirror, says Robin Scott, whose single, 'Pop Muzik', realises the potency of the disco/punk fusion. And that mirror reflects the present, he ...

The Undertones: The Undertones (Sire).

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979

FOR SOME reason, this album reminds me of a scene in Kate Bush's live show, the part where she plays a rifle-toting trouble-shooter on 'James ...

The Babys: Bringing Up Babys

Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 19 May 1979

A FEW weeks ago in New York, I saw the greatest transition since Jesus changed the water into wine. ...

Thin Lizzy: Deutschland Liebt Lizzy

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979

Phil and da boyz invade Germany. HARRY DOHERTY went on the sortie and watched Lizzy win over what had once been an alien audience. ...

Supertramp: The Philosopher and the Realist

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979

In Supertramp's first interview for two years, songwriters Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies tell HARRY DOHERTY how their immense success in America has widened the ...

The Cars: Candy-O (Elektra)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979

THE CARS emerged last year as pace-setters in the American new wave. The platinum status of their debut album probably surprised the band as much ...

Blondie: Pinecrest Theater, Shelton, Connecticut

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 July 1979

BLONDIE'S US tour should provide some interesting results when it ends in eight weeks' time. It could, for instance, determine just how willing American audiences ...

The Tourists: The Tourists (Logo)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 July 1979

A DIFFERENT sort of rock album, this, and one that will perhaps confuse many people. The Tourists have a set of values that, on record ...

Nick Gilder: Future Love

Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 July 1979

NICK GILDER does arrange meetings in the oddest places. Our first introduction is sealed amid snow-storms and the threat of frostbite in mid-February Milwaukee. Four ...

Squeeze: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 August 1979

DAVITT SIGERSON was right a couple of weeks ago when he described Squeeze as the new-wave ELO. ...

AC/DC, Nils Lofgren, The Stranglers, The Who: The Who / The Stranglers/ AC/DC /Nils Lofgren: Wembley Stadium, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 25 August 1979

NOT ONE OF the great Wembley encounters, we decided, as the car crept another couple of feet in the late Saturday evening jam. ...

Cheap Trick: Dream Police (Epic)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 September 1979

IT'S IRONIC that Cheap Trick, having recorded a song called 'ELO Kiddies' on their debut album almost three years ago, should now be setting themselves ...

The Photos: Photos Is A Group

Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 September 1979

Does Britain need a Blondie? Will Wendy Wu be on your bedroom wall next month? Is this fair? HARRY DOHERTY discovers why most of Britain's ...

Status Quo: Whatever You Want (Vertigo)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 October 1979

THE TITLE may be construed in some areas as Status Quo's capitulation to their critics, who've been claiming for donkey's years that the band's appeal ...

Blondie, The Knack, Mud, Nervus Rex, Suzi Quatro, Sweet: Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn: Ballroom Blitz & Hearts of Glass

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 29 December 1979

Mike Chapman began with Mud and Sweet, disappeared when glitter-rock went cold, and came back to make the new wave palatable for America with the ...

Kate Bush Christmas Special: Kate (BBC)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 12 January 1980

WITH 1979 over and no Kate Bush album in more than a year, a television special by the lady that introduced six new songs was ...

Buggles: The Age Of Plastic (Island ILPS 9585)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 February 1980

Music for radios ...

Rory Gallagher: When The Good Guys Die: Remembering Rory Gallagher

Memoir by Harry Doherty, Rock's Backpages, August 2002

I REMEMBER IT WELL, the day Rory Gallagher died. It was brought back to me the other week when news of George Best and his ...

Kate Bush: Stand By Your Mantra

Retrospective by Harry Doherty, Classic Rock, December 2005

An enigma. A recluse. A sensitive artist scared of the limelight. Few people get close enough to get to know the real Kate Bush. But ...

back to LIBRARY

COPYRIGHT NOTICE