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Mark Cooper

Mark Cooper

Mark Cooper (snapped in Sweden in 1983) began his career as a music journalist with Q, No 1, Mojo, Guardian, Daily Telegraph and Record Mirror, where his first review was of the last Sex Pistols gig at Winterland, San Francisco, in 1978. From print journalism, he moved into PR and began working for Virgin and Polygram, before working on his first TV show, Wired for Initial and Channel 4 in 1988. He joined the BBC in January 1990 on BBC2’s arts and media programme The Late Show, with the responsibility for music performance and features.

Until 2019, Mark was Creative Head of BBC Music Entertainment, the department responsible for much of the BBC's popular music coverage, encompassing studio shows, live events and documentaries. He conceived Later… With Jools Holland with Holland and director Janet Fraser Crook in 1992. He was also the Executive Producer of many groundbreaking and award winning documentaries, including the six-part series I’m In A Rock and Roll Band, Queens of Britpop, Latin Music USA, Neil Young: Don’t Be Denied, Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays, and the Britannia Series, which has covered a variety of musical genres from Heavy Metal to Synth to Folk and Blues.

276 articles

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Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Winterland, San Francisco

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 28 January 1978

London's pride take over USA – The Pistols' last gig? ...

Blondie: Starwood, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 13 May 1978

They still don't know who Blondie is in LA ...

The Clash: The Roxy, Los Angeles

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Sounds, 1979

The Clash: Live At The Roxy, Los Angeles A CLASH TREAT for their fans this, a five dollar ticket and a smaller setting than bands ...

Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara, CA

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 3 March 1979

Polite Elvis ...

Axis, Judas Priest: Judas Priest, Axis: Starwood, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 21 April 1979

Judas wants you for a sunbeam ...

Blondie: More Males Per Oxide

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 28 April 1979

EVER HEARD the one about New Yorkers in Los Angeles? Well there's more than one, as Woody Allen knows, and Blondie have a few on ...

Madness: A Touch Of Madness

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 15 December 1979

DOWN AT Acquarius Records an assistant keeps rushing out to put out more copies of 'One Step Beyond'. He's kept pretty busy. They're being bought ...

Fleetwood Mac: The Big Mac

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 12 January 1980

MARK COOPER sinks his teeth in ...

Pat Benatar: Old Waldorf, San Francisco

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 23 February 1980

PAT BENATAR is on her way — American style. She is exactly the kind of performer who points to the huge difference between English and ...

Pink Floyd: Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 23 February 1980

WALL OF SECRETS ...

The Specials: Stanford University, California

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 1 March 1980

THE SPECIALS' mini-tour of California has, predictably enough, been full of incident. Three sold-out nights at the Whisky in LA, the club all decorated in ...

Bruce Woolley & the Camera Club: Lene Lovich/Bruce Woolley & the Camera Club: Mabuhay Gardens, San Francisco

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 15 March 1980

LENE LOVICH'S premiere performance in San Francisco takes place unscheduled at the tiny X's. a drink dry new wave disco. Lene joins Fingerprintz on stage ...

XTC: Old Waldorf, San Francisco

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 15 March 1980

XTC HAVE toured the East Coast a few times now, but this is their San Francisco debut. Incredibly, Drums and Wires is their first release ...

Gary Numan: Warfield Theatre, San Francisco

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 22 March 1980

Frozen Robots ...

The Eagles: Oakland Coliseum

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 22 March 1980

THE EAGLES on home turf in California, even if it does rain more here in the north. ...

Public Image Ltd.: Lydon The Exorcist

Report by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 29 March 1980

John Lydon's back in America, as cynical as ever. He wants to forget the memories, do away with the past and rock 'n'roll. MARK COOPER ...

The Pretenders: Talk Of The USA

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 10 May 1980

LAST YEAR'S "next big thing" rarely succeeds in becoming "This year's model" with the ease with which the Pretenders have performed the feat in Britain. ...

Public Image Ltd: Market Cultural Center, San Francisco

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 24 May 1980

PUBLIC IMAGE in a cultural centre — sounds arty enough to make you wonder if they've gone over the top. ...

The Tourists: Tourists But Not Exiles

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 7 June 1980

HERE WE are with the Tourists in Los Angeles at the end of their first  sightseeing tour of America, 40 dates to promote their debut ...

Judas Priest: The Empire Strikes Back

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 5 July 1980

MARK COOPER encounters JUDAS PRIEST under a pile of volcanic ash of the third kind ...

Queen: Oakland Auditorium, Oakland CA

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 2 August 1980

HALF WAY through this show, Freddie Mercury finds a pack of disposable razors that someone has lobbed on stage, a fairly unsubtle hint as to ...

The Only Ones: Old Waldorf, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 2 August 1980

THE ONLY Ones are in grave danger of remaining a cult in England and obscure in America. This is their second appearance at the Waldorf ...

The Go-Go's: I-Beam, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 20 September 1980

THEY BURST on stage as bubbly as cheap champagne with a resounding "pop". Their clothes are swinging teenage sixties, miniskirts and tights, Mary Quant boots ...

Dead Kennedys: The Dead Kennedys: Anarchy American Style

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 27 September 1980

On the eve of the Dead Kennedys British tour MARK COOPER talks to Jello Biafra who says: "Our live shows are basically ways of torturing ...

Christopher Cross: Fox Warfield Theatre, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 18 October 1980

CROSS MAKES ideal radio music, faceless and bland with a touch of a story to it and trinkling piano riffs to hook into your gills. ...

Bruce Springsteen: The Man, The Myth, The Magic

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 25 October 1980

MILWAUKEE IS up by the Great Lakes in the industrial badlands. Concrete freeways, steel chimneys, cloudy skies and breweries. The kind of place "where Mister ...

The Beat: I Love the USA

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 15 November 1980

THE BEAT are beginning again at the beginning. Here they are in Chicago, four or five weeks into their first American tour — much of ...

Visage: The Young Pretender

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 29 November 1980

STEVE STRANGE, chief of the new clan of the beautiful people has made a record. MARK COOPER talks to him about the concept ...

Judy Mowatt: Black Woman (Island ILPS 9649)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 6 December 1980

THIS ALBUM is an explicit statement of spirituality and of strength — a black woman's survival. The title offers the record as a statement and ...

John Lennon

Obituary by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 13 December 1980

WHEN WE were growing up, my brother and I, he loved John Lennon especially. Our parents used to give us a Beatles album every Christmas. ...

The Stray Cats: On The Tiles With The Stray Cats

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 20 December 1980

Your storyteller: MARK COOPER (MA, DFC, VD and Private Bar) ...

Au Pairs: Vote Vote Vote

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 10 January 1981

MARK COOPER joins the AU PAIRS' campaign trail ...

The Jacksons, Michael Jackson: The Jacksons: Off The Cuff

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 21 March 1981

Stevie Wonder's rival? The black Bambi or just James Bond's scuba diving companion? Mark Cooper looks at the mystery behind Michael Jackson's shades… and finds ...

Culture: Rainbow, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 25 April 1981

THE CULMINATION of Culture's brief tour of Britain that features only flashes of the old Cultural genius and falls somewhere between showbiz and a testifying ...

Stiff Little Fingers

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 2 May 1981

'We've got to get out and we've got to fight back' is still the message from SLF and their commitment hasn't evaporated since the heady ...

The Beat: Wha'ppen? (Go Feet) ****

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 9 May 1981

IN WHICH the Beat define their sound over a whole album, realise their strengths (most notably the individuality of each performer) and, in general, settle ...

The Cure: Swaying with the Cure

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 16 May 1981

READING ON a rainy Sunday afternoon is about as cold and empty as an English town can get. There's no one on the street and ...

Tenpole Tudor: A King Without A Clown

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 23 May 1981

Tenpole Tudor march into the heartland of England (well, Sheffield actually) carrying their proud banner of scruffy English eccentricity. MARK COOPER watches the march of ...

Bruce Springsteen: Wembley Stadium

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Quarto, June 1981

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN returned to England in June for the first time since 1975, appearing before audiences totalling over a quarter of a million people. On ...

Yoko Ono: Season Of Glass (Geffen K99164)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 13 June 1981

SINGLE FANTASY ...

Pink Floyd: Earls Court, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 20 June 1981

PINK FLOYD'S The Wall is the ultimate rock concert, more a funeral than a celebration. ...

Wah!: Nah-Poo-The Art Of Bluff (Eternal Classic 1)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 4 July 1981

WAH! WARS ...

Was (Not Was): Was (Not Was) (Ze ILPS 7015)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 4 July 1981

WAS (NOT WAS) are as good an example of post-Vietnam paranoia as you're going to get. While all around them are losing theirs, Was (Not ...

The Human League: Beautiful Dreamers

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 8 August 1981

Start with pop with a capital P, add a touch of glamour, stir with a generous helping of amateur enthusiasm and you've got the new ...

The Teardrop Explodes: We Can Be Heroes Just For One Day

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 12 September 1981

Christ, Warhol, Arthur Lee (who?), Scott Walker, JULIAN COPE. Are these the immortals of the next century and beyond? Julian Cope hopes so, after all ...

Carlene Carter: Blue Nun (F-Beat XXLP12).

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 3 October 1981

WHEN IT comes to being blue, Carlene's a natural, a belle of the ball with a ballbreaker's wit. Carlene looks like an angel but underneath ...

John Martyn: Glorious Fool (WEA k99178)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 3 October 1981

JOHN MARTYN'S twelfth album, his first with Warners and his first with a band. The glorious fool continues to go his own way with little ...

Tom Tom Club: Tom Tom Club (ILPS 9686)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 10 October 1981

GIRLS IN THE CLUB ...

The Human League: A Soap Opera

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 17 October 1981

An everyday story of human life starring the HUMAN LEAGUE. Script MARK COOPER ...

U2: October (Island ILPS 9680)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 17 October 1981

PURGATORY IN MOTION ...

Gregory Isaacs: Clean Up Man

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 31 October 1981

MARK COOPER talks to the 'cool ruler', Gregory Isaacs ...

ABC: Tongue in Chic

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 21 November 1981

Martin Fry spells out the ABC manifesto to MARK COOPER ...

Tenpole Tudor: University College, Dublin

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 21 November 1981

CAVALRY TRILL ...

The Teardrop Explodes: Club Zoo, Liverpool

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 21 November 1981

Escape from Tinseltown ...

Aswad, Creation Rebel: Creation Rebel: Psychotic Jonkanoo (STAT IP4); Aswad: New Chapter (CBS 85336)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 28 November 1981

Aswad — home grown Roots ...

Gasper Lawal: Ajomase (Cap 1)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 28 November 1981

GASPER LAWAL'S track record might suggest that he is a music business hack. He is not. He has played with many who are anyone, from ...

Soft Cell: Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (Some Bizzare BZLP 2)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 28 November 1981

SYMPATHETIC SYNTHESIS ...

Scritti Politti: Suspicious Minds

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 5 December 1981

Making their way from the margins to the mainstream SCRITTI POLITTI have discovered the beauties of pop. But what took them so long? "Professor" MARK ...

A Certain Ratio: Sextet (Factory Fact 55)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 16 January 1982

A CERTAIN JE NE SAIS QUOI ...

Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus: Disarmament (Trojan)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 16 January 1982

DISARMAMENT IS a surprise – perhaps the first reggae album to openly confront the threat of nuclear warfare with the power of Jah Love while ...

Rhoda Dakar: Being Boiled – Rhoda Dakar

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 23 January 1982

2-Tone's follow up to 'Ghost Town' is equally timely and a good deal more controversial. The single is 'The Boiler' and its subject is rape. ...

Talking Heads: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 24 January 1982

Joining the stadium set ...

Kraftwerk: The Model Life

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 6 February 1982

"I'm not nuts," says RALF HÜTTER of mighty Germanic megastars KRAFTWERK. "Blimey," gasps MARK COOPER (PHD Engineering and Knitting) in disbelief. Well, is he or ...

Haircut 100: The Young Ones, Darling We're The Young Ones

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 13 February 1982

Young is beautiful, say HAIRCUT 100. MARK COOPER gets nostalgic with the band every mother wants her daughter to love. ...

The Jam: The Gift (Polydor POLD 5055)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 6 March 1982

MAN'S GIFT... ...

Pigbag: Dr Heckle and Mr Jive (Y 17 LP)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 13 March 1982

BLOW ME down and shake me round, here comes Pigbag, a tornado in your town. Yes, yes a breath of fresh air designed to move ...

The Fall: Hex Enduction Hour (Kamera KAM 005)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 20 March 1982

What the hex ...

Bill Drummond, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes: A Life In The Day Of Bill Drummond

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 3 April 1982

Bill Drummond, manager of The Bunnymen and The Teardrops, talks to Mark Cooper ...

Altered Images: On a Clare Day!

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 10 April 1982

Silly Billy MARK COOPER on the Grogan trail (PS: Who are ALTERED IMAGES anyway?) ...

Motörhead: The Rank Organisation!

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 10 April 1982

MARK COOPER probes beneath the scum on the surface of rock's greasy snipers. MOTÖRHEAD An interview that squeezes the spots other music papers can't reach. ...

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts: I Love Rock And Roll (Epic)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 24 April 1982

JOAN JETT is 23 years old. She's been in rock and roll for the last 10 years. It shows. ...

Echo & The Bunnymen: Glen Pavilion, Dunfermline, Scotland

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 8 May 1982

COME FEEL THE NOISE! ...

The Clash: Combat Rock (CBS) ***

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 15 May 1982

Gonna write a Clashic ...

Girlschool: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 22 May 1982

THE SPECTACLE is always the same – blinding flashes and smokebombs, loud guitar and pounding drums. The band dedicate the songs to the crowd, the ...

Jonathan Richman: The Venue, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 29 May 1982

JONATHAN RICHMAN made his name by singing about the modern world in a style that belonged to the cityscapes of the Velvet Underground. Then he ...

The Human League: A Life In The Day Of Martin Rushent

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 5 June 1982

MARTIN RUSHENT, producer of the Human League and Altered Images, talks to MARK COOPER. ...

Siouxsie & the Banshees: Stare Case

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 12 June 1982

Siouxsie raises eyebrows in Sweden ...

Soft Cell: Non Stop Erotic Dancing (Some Bizarre) **

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 19 June 1982

I'M NOT dancing, I'm sulking. Here we have a copy of Soft Cell's dance-mix album, a supposed treat, and I'm rooted to the floor. Church ...

Dennis Brown: Dennis the Menace

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 26 June 1982

DENNIS BROWN talks high finance with MARK COOPER ...

Pigbag: Brand New Beanbag

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 3 July 1982

Mark Cooper throws a few questions at the brand new Pigbag ...

Scritti Politti: The Sweetest Boy

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 17 July 1982

I'm not arrogant, just good, says Scritti Politti's Green Gartside ...

The Jam: Whine, Women and Song

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 17 July 1982

One man and his misery — Paul Weller of The Jam by Mark Cooper ...

The Clash: Doubt and desperation on the edge of town

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 24 July 1982

From Garageland to hell with Joe Strummer of the Clash ...

Bow Wow Wow: Candyed Camera

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 7 August 1982

MARK COOPER puts a fatherly arm round ANNABELLA'S shoulders ...

Carmel: Storm Warning

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 7 August 1982

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN discipline and fierce spontaneity lies the storm that is Carmel. ...

Everything But The Girl: Cole Minors

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 7 August 1982

  THE NAME comes from a furniture store in Hull, the tune from the songbook of the master, Cole Porter. Everything But The Girl's version of ...

Thomas Dolby: Tom Club

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 21 August 1982

Mark Cooper explores boffin chic with electro popper Thomas Dolby ...

Gregory Isaacs: Night Nurse (Island ILPS 9721)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 28 August 1982

FOLLOWING A brief sojourn on Pre, the 'Cool Ruler' now elects Island to release the latest fruits of his labours. A change of label does ...

Tight Fit: The Hol Truth!

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 28 August 1982

Phew, what a scorcher! Mark Cooper takes an Away day to the sizzling south coast with saucy songsters Tight Fit ...

Simple Minds: The Prize Guys

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 4 September 1982

JIM KERR is sitting in the bay window of a hotel in Portobello, his head surrounded by a halo of sunlight Jim is smiling and ...

Heaven 17: You Ware It Well

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 6 November 1982

THESE THREE men belong to neither pavement nor penthouse. Instead they've grown comfortable by the fireside. Heaven 17, Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh and Glenn ...

Fun Boy Three: The Message

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 8 January 1983

TERRY HALL reckons the Funboy Three have grown up into a real group. The proof is threefold. First, the release of one of this year's ...

Rip Rig and Panic: The Ace, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 8 January 1983

CHOOSING TO take the Ace by storm, Rip Rig and Panic ran headfirst into their own arrogance, particularly that of brat-of-the night, Gareth Sager. ...

Strawberry Switchblade: Every Witch Way But Loose

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 15 January 1983

ROSE AND JILL of Strawberry Switchblade may look like Macbeth's weird witches but sisters they aren't. "We actually think we dress quite differently," complains Jill, ...

Virginia Astley, Aztec Camera, Bauhaus, Blue Zoo, Central Line, Dire Straits, Earth, Wind & Fire, Aretha Franklin, The Gap Band, Haysi Fantayzee, Indeep, Michael Jackson, Cheryl Lynn, Manfred Mann, Johnny Mathis, The Polecats, Rockers Revenge, Supertramp, Tears For Fears, The Thompson Twins, Toto, Dionne Warwick: Singles Reviewed by MARK COOPER

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 22 January 1983

THE GAP BAND 'Outstanding' (Polygram) Yet another soul concerto from The Gap Band with a monstrously hard-hitting handclap from the engine room and a vocal ...

Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) (RCA 6063)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 29 January 1983

YET ANOTHER compact duo making studio music for the age of video, Eurythmics lack that vital edge of character. This, their second album in a ...

Daryl Hall & John Oates: Hall & Oates: One Upmanship

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 12 February 1983

  HALL & OATES have taken up permanent residency in the world's Top Tens. The American duo have spent the last decade and more making albums ...

Joe Cocker, Jennifer Warnes: Jennifer Warnes: With a little help...

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 12 February 1983

WHEN JOE Cocker met Jennifer Warnes, he didn't know who she was. She, however, had first seen Cocker's appearance on America's Grammy Awards and been ...

Rockers Revenge: Revenge is Sweet

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 19 February 1983

THE MANAGEMENT of Brooklyn's Music Factory have more on their minds than their dayjobs. They have to explain that the silver discs on the wall ...

Blancmange: The Ritz, New York

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 12 March 1983

AMERICANS HAVE never heard of Blancmange: they can't buy it in shops and they can't pronounce it. If Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe are to ...

Fun Boy Three: Leeds University, Leeds

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 12 March 1983

Ain't what you do... ...

The Thompson Twins: Thompson Twins: Hammersmith Palais, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 12 March 1983

FORMER DOGS, currant diamonds, the Thompsons are the last of their class to turn from frogs to princes. Former darlings of student halls, the Twins ...

Aztec Camera: High Land, Hard Rain (Rough Trade 47)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 9 April 1983

Height of fashion ...

Afrika Bambaataa: Bambaataa Of The Bronx

Interview by Mark Cooper, No. 1, 31 March 1984

The Grandmaster of hip hop lectures Mark Cooper on the meaning of the Funk ...

Echo & The Bunnymen, The Smiths: The Smiths and Echo & The Bunnymen: The Smith and the Bunnyman

Interview by Mark Cooper, No. 1, 28 April 1984

No.1 brings together two of rock's most charismatic singers... and two of its biggest egos as well!" ...

Sandie Shaw, The Smiths: Sandie Shaw with the Smiths

Interview by Mark Cooper, No. 1, 5 May 1984

TEMPTED OUT of retirement by the friendship and the songs of The Smiths, Sandie Shaw seems girlishly bemused by the sudden fuss around her. ...

Prefab Sprout: Sproutspout

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, City Limits, 19 July 1985

Can a group that conjure up ugly buildings and vegetables conquer the world? Do they want to? MARK COOPER meets the makers of Steve McQueen. ...

The Jesus & Mary Chain: The Blasphemy of Stardom

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 21 July 1986

Mark Cooper reports on the brothers from East Kilbride they banned on Radio 1 ...

Elvis Costello: Blood and Chocolate

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, October 1986

ELVIS COSTELLO'S CAREER now consists of a spiral of sidesteps and multiplying identities, all designed to accommodate the extraordinary fecundity of his writing. ...

The Oyster Band: Out Of Their Shells

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 16 January 1987

Mark Cooper on The Oyster Band's place in the "roots" dance revival ...

DAT: How Japan has got the trade taped

Report by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 27 February 1987

There's another audio revolution on the way, and it could pose a piracy threat to the music business, says Mark Cooper. ...

Rough Trade Records: Rough At The Top

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 30 February 1987

In the record industry big doesn’t always mean best, and the independent Rough Trade have beaten the big boys in fostering new talent and ideas. ...

Burning Spear: Redemption Song

Interview by Mark Cooper, City Limits, 19 March 1987

"Music for your children and my children and their children" is how Burning Spear looks at his 15 years in reggae. In Europe and America ...

Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer: Thrash Metal: Psycho Path to the Top

Report by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 20 March 1987

Thrash metal is the new noise of teenage horror, a vinyl equivalent of the video nasty. Mark Cooper reports on the bands that delight in ...

Cocteau Twins: "None Of This Should Have Happened"

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, April 1987

Unlistenable early tapes. Refusals to appear on Top Of The Pops. Information-free record sleeves. A mistrust of people "who can play all the strings on ...

Chris Isaak: A Soft Touch

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 17 April 1987

Chris Isaak's melancholy songs hark back to the teen ballads of the Sixties, reports Mark Cooper ...

Randy Newman: The Star And Snipes

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 22 May 1987

Mark Cooper talks to Randy Newman, standard bearer against the smug and prejudiced ...

Defunkt, Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band, Richard and Linda Thompson, Toots & The Maytals: Joe Boyd: "Our own little Motown"

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, June 1987

In the late '60s, Joe Boyd helped create a peculiarly English form of folk-psychedelia, producing albums for Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band and Nick ...

The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Run-DMC, Slayer: Def Jam: Don't Knock The Rock – Rap It

Report by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 1 June 1987

Mark Cooper on how Def Jam crossed over punk with rap, white with black, and stayed cool with both sides ...

Warren Zevon: Rugged Individualism

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1987

The return of Warren Zevon (with a little help from Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Don Henley, George Clinton, REM...) ...

Terence Trent D'Arby: Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1987

HERALDED AS THE NEW crown prince of soul, Terence Trent D'Arby already has Britain at his feet courtesy of 'If You Let Me Stay', his ...

10,000 Maniacs, R.E.M.: REM and 10,000 Maniacs: Rulers Of The Campus

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 25 September 1987

College rock is alive and gigging in the US. MARK COOPER hears why from Michael Stipe of REM and Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs ...

Robbie Robertson: Off the Band Stand

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 30 October 1987

After turning off the road to rock and ruin, Robbie Robertson is back — on his own terms. Mark Cooper reports ...

Squeeze: South Side Story

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1987

SOMETHING HAPPENED halfway through the recording of Babylon And On, Squeeze's seventh studio album. They ran out of money. ...

Pink Floyd, Roger Waters: Roger Waters: Out of Troubled Waters

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 20 November 1987

Roger Waters now finds himself in competition with his one-time colleagues in Pink Floyd – he doesn't like it but there are compensations. Mark Cooper ...

10,000 Maniacs: Mood Music

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1988

IN 10,000 MANIACS' native America, hotel operators hang up when friends ask for the band by name and nervous radio programmers assume that Elektra are ...

Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1988

LEONARD COHEN HAS spent 53 years perfecting the art of being Leonard Cohen, poet of romantic despair. A self-declared "ladies' man" in his songs, Cohen's ...

Ry Cooder: The Hardline

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1988

FIVE YEARS AGO Ry Cooder packed out the Hammersmith Odeon for eight consecutive nights, the culmination of a triumphant European tour. ...

Prefab Sprout: A Satisfying Whiff of Glue

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 11 March 1988

Paddy McAloon of Prefab Sprout talks to Mark Cooperabout Tin Pan Alley, nostalgia and his search for enchantment ...

David Byrne, Talking Heads: David Byrne: Heads and Tales

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 18 March 1988

With Naked, Talking Heads' tenth album, David Byrne is still asking "How did I get here?" Mark Cooper examines a stranger in paradise. ...

Morris Day: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 29 April 1988

A bad Daydream ...

Alexander O'Neal: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, May 1988

BANK HOLIDAY weekends used to be taken up with rock and roll frolics. These days soul music has a better grasp of good times and ...

Fleetwood Mac: All Meat With The Big Macs

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 13 May 1988

As Fleetwood Mac start a major tour Mark Cooper talks to Christine McVie about the band that refused to die ...

Ry Cooder: Back Slider

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 20 May 1988

Ry Cooder is on the road again. He talks to Mark Cooper ...

k.d. lang: Shadowland (Sire WX17LP/Cass/CD)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, June 1988

k.d. lang's "torch'n'twang": corn with a cutting edge. ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers, Bunny Wailer, The Wailers: A Wailer Surfaces to Claim Reggae's Crown

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 26 August 1988

After Marley, what price reggae? Mark Cooper on Bunny Wailer's musical crusade ...

Talk Talk: Spirit Of Eden (EMI)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, October 1988

TALK TALK'S fourth LP is the kind of record which encourages marketing men to commit suicide. ...

Anita Baker, Luther Vandross: Luther Vandross, Anita Baker: Omni Coliseum, Atlanta GA

Live Review by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 25 November 1988

Casanova in a shiny suit ...

Roy Orbison: The Big O 1936-1988

Obituary by Mark Cooper, The Observer, 18 December 1988

Chubby and shaded, Roy Orbison made a generation weep in pleasurable misery, says MARK COOPER ...

Martin Carthy: A Passage to England

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 29 December 1988

Martin Carthy believes in the power of performance, not purity. Mark Cooper meets the folkie who refuses to play safe. ...

Simply Red: A Simply Red hot lover

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Observer, 29 January 1989

Mick Hucknall bristles with social convictions but his songs aren't those of an angry young man. MARK COOPER meets the singer with a penchant for ...

Luther Vandross

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Time Out, 8 February 1989

LUTHER VANDROSS' popularity has firmly established him as the King of Soul. His songs of love and loneliness have sold millions, and now his only ...

Elvis Costello - Spike

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1989

ELVIS COSTELLO'S LAST two albums were released back in 1986. Despite their excellence, the combination of King Of America and Blood & Chocolate suggested that ...

Luther Vandross: The Soul Survivor

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 24 March 1989

Mark Cooper on the awesome presence that is Luther Vandross ...

Lucinda Williams: Mean Fiddler, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 5 May 1989

Twang go the heart strings ...

10,000 Maniacs: A Lioness's Share of Woe

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 19 May 1989

Natalie Merchant is fighting the world's battles in her songs. Mark Cooper finds out why. ...

Bobby Brown: Bobby Bites The Bullet

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 23 June 1989

Mark Cooper meets the young American soul star everybody's gunning for ...

Cowboy Junkies: The Cowboy Junkies: Cowboy country

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 30 June 1989

Mark Cooper hears how the Cowboy Junkies draw on Canada for their inspiration ...

Paul McCartney: Flowers In The Dirt

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1989

Spiked by Costello, Paul McCartney is back in the pink ...

Chaka Khan: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 1 July 1989

No Khan do... ...

Pet Shop Boys: The Pet Shop Boys: The double exposure

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 7 July 1989

Previously glimpsed only on videos and record sleeves, the Pet Shop Boys are going live. Mark Cooper previews their materialisation ...

Carole King: Stepping Out Of The Shadows

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 14 July 1989

Carole King is coming out from behind her piano because she wants to rock. Mark Cooper reports. ...

Bob Mould, Husker Du: Bob Mould: Out of the Warehouse

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 21 July 1989

DESPITE THE flood of veterans currently patching up ancient quarrels for one last sack of ancient dollars, divorce rather than reconciliation remains the common fate ...

The Pogues: Peace & Love

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1989

BY RIGHTS, The Pogues should surely be dead by now, overcome by the drink or the enthusiasm of their fans. Yet somehow they've survived the ...

Ian McCulloch: After the echo fades

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 22 September 1989

Ian McCulloch has lost the Bunnymen. But his confidence and boyish innocence remain intact. Mark Cooper reports. ...

Eurythmics: We Too Are One

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, October 1989

Eurythmics: the kind of sadness that can't shed tears ...

N.W.A: NWA: Welcome to L.A.

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Sunday Correspondent Magazine, 1 October 1989

"Takin' a life or two/That's what the hell I do." The rap band NWA – Niggers with Attitude – compares Los Angeles street life to ...

The Neville Brothers: At Last The Legend Lives

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 5 October 1989

The Neville Brothers, long held in awe by fellow musicians, are finally selling records. Mark Cooper on the London-bound band. ...

Danny Thompson: Romance From A Bit Of A Raver

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Sunday Correspondent, 22 October 1989

Breaking the rules comes easily to double-bass player Danny Thompson, says Mark Cooper ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Keeping Her Cool

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 25 October 1989

Shot to stardom 10 years ago, Rickie Lee Jones has fought her way back – no less cool but much more confident. Mark Cooper reports ...

Don Henley: Eagle's elegy

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 28 October 1989

Don Henley of the Eagles is 42. Mark Cooper found him lamenting lost youth as he prepares for his London concert. ...

Chris Rea: Road To Hell

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1989

NEW LIGHT Through Old Windows, last year's re-recorded look through his back pages, finally established Chris Rea as a frontrunner in his own country. ...

David Byrne: Rei Momo

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1989

DESPITE DAVID Byrne's beaver-like activities over the last few years, his persona and his work have gradually been losing much of their old allure. Perhaps ...

J.J. Cale: Busy Doing Nothing

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1989

J.J.CALE LEANS back from his lunch and reaches for the tab, waving aside the objections of his guests with unusual tenacity. "Might as well do ...

Neil Young: You Sort It Out!

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1989

The drugged and the destitute, the needy and the greedy, unrest between East and West...Don't ask Neil Young where it's all leading. "I'm just a ...

The Wonder Stuff: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 28 November 1989

Carry on rocking: Mark Cooper on a glittering performance from Wonder Stuff ...

Jimi Hendrix: The Jimi Hendrix Concerts

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, December 1989

THE RECENT spate of activity that has surrounded Jimi Hendrix – The South Bank Show, Charles Shaar Murray's musical biography Crosstown Traffic and now the ...

Neneh Cherry: Mother Superior

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, December 1989

OUTSIDE NENEH CHERRY'S modest terraced house in West London's Kensal Green, four bursting rubbish sacks jostle for attention by the front door. Round the back, ...

Paul Simon: Melancholy beat of a backpacking magpie

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Independent on Sunday, 1990

Mark Cooper on Paul Simon's latest borrowings and his lucrative flair for domesticating the alien ...

Boogie Down Productions, The Jungle Brothers, KRS-One, LL Cool J, N.W.A, Public Enemy, Tone Lōc, Young MC: U.S. Rap: Listen Up!

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1990

RAIN IS STREAMING down in sheets on the Long Island suburb of Hempstead but, inside Public Enemy's headquarters, the group's leader Chuck D is just ...

David Byrne: Music, Maestro!

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, February 1990

Although embarrassed at being hailed a "cultural ambassador", David Byrne has temporarily put Talking Heads on hold to step out with his 14-piece Latin big ...

Quincy Jones: The Hit Master

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 8 February 1990

From Satchmo to Wacko Jacko, Quincy Jones has worked with them all. Now, he tells Mark Cooper, it's time to take stock. ...

Dick Gaughan: Handful Of Earth

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1990

FIRST RELEASED BACK in 1981, Handful Of Earth survived the '80s so well that it was voted Album Of The Decade in Folk Roots magazine's ...

Sinead O'Connor: Forgive…And Forget

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1990

She arrived in '87, all Doc Marten's and radical chic, disparaging those who'd helped her, declaring support for the IRA. Now there's a new Sinead ...

The Jungle Brothers, KRS-One, Public Enemy: Rapped in Black

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 5 April 1990

An Africa-shaped pendant has become the new badge of honour for American rappers, reports Mark Cooper ...

The Jungle Brothers, KRS-One, Public Enemy: Rapped in Black

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 5 April 1990

An Africa-shaped pendant has become the new badge of honour for American rappers, reports Mark Cooper ...

Bob Dylan: Elizabeth Thomson & David Gutman (eds): The Dylan Companion

Book Review by Mark Cooper, Q, May 1990

DESPITE THE CRITICAL and commercial success of Oh Mercy and the recent Hammersmith shows, the reverence with which Bob Dylan was regarded in the '60s ...

John Cale, Lou Reed: John Cale and Lou Reed: Songs For Drella

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, May 1990

ANDY WARHOL'S NAME was all over the famous banana sleeve of The Velvet Underground's debut album. ...

John Martyn: Same Again?

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, May 1990

Sober, wiser, more than a little weather-beaten, John Martyn hassurvived 20 turbulent booze-fuelled years pursuing a romantic image ofthe lone folk troubadour. But the "rebel ...

Bonnie Raitt: Raitt's Progress

Interview by Mark Cooper, Daily Telegraph, 26 May 1990

Twenty years ago Bonnie Raitt was a cult success. The Eighties treated her badly but now, aged 40, she has become an overnight sensation. MARK ...

Madonna: I'm Breathless

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, June 1990

THE VIDEO FOR Madonna's recent Number 1 has her "voguing" her way through a series of classic Hollywood images. As Madonna metamorphoses into blonde after ...

Aztec Camera: Stray

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1990

LIKE THE PRETENDERS, Aztec Camera have long since become a solo act in all but name with Roddy Frame matching Chrissie Hynde's refusal to churn ...

Anita Baker: Compositions

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1990

WITH THE EXCEPTION of Luther Vandross, most of the current crop of soul men restrict themselves to the limited sphere of their bedroom mirrors and ...

Ice Cube: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (4th & Broadway BR551)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1990

THE RELATIVELY flat reception for NWA's recent British shows was surely a direct response to rapper Ice Cube's departure in January. Ever the brutal realist, ...

Bonnie Raitt: The Bonnie Raitt Collection

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1990

THE RELEASE OF this 20-track retrospective of her nine Warners albums must be sweet revenge for Bonnie Raitt. ...

The Neville Brothers: Brother's Keeper

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1990

AFTER SPENDING A decade producing four albums for as many labels, the four Nevilles finally got the bit between their teeth with the Daniel Lanois-produced ...

Robert Cray: Wedded Bliss Blues

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Daily Telegraph, 15 September 1990

Mark Cooper asks, can contented men sing the blues? I do, says Robert Cray ...

Grateful Dead: The Grateful Dead: Dead But Unburied Dreams of the Sixties

Profile by Mark Cooper, Independent on Sunday, 14 October 1990

After 18 years of making magic music, the Grateful Dead – who return to Britain this week – still remain true to their legendary spontaneity. ...

Pet Shop Boys: Behaviour

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1990

DURING LAST YEAR'S concerts, Pet Shop Boys reserved a moment amidst the costumes and the dancing for an intimate spell at the piano with Neil ...

U2: A Perspective

Essay by Mark Cooper, Q, 1991

WHEN U2's recent Number 1 single 'The Fly' first came on the radio, it sounded like a confused mess, an irritating jangle of throbbing guitars ...

The Byrds: Box-Set

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1991

PRIOR TO THIS exhaustive four-CD box set with its careful remixing, 17 previously unissued recordings, four new songs by three of the original band and ...

Cher: Cher by J. Randy Taraborrelli ***

Book Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1991

"I DON'T THINK this means I am somebody," remarked a tearful Cher of the 1988 Best Actress Oscar she won for Moonstruck, "but, you know, ...

Alexander O'Neal: All True Man

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1991

ALEXANDER O'NEAL ONCE once remarked that he was successful because he helped "bring back masculinity to the black industry". ...

R.E.M.: Out Of Time

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, April 1991

DESPITE MICHAEL STIPE'S production activities with the likes of the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies and the recent emergence of Tourfilm, from 1989's Green tour, R.E.M. have ...

Richard Thompson: The Unsung Thompson

Interview by Mark Cooper, Daily Telegraph, 11 May 1991

Mark Cooper meets the folk hero who is now sharply observing home from abroad. ...

Johnny Cash: Pills'n'Thrills And Bellyaches

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, June 1991

HITCHING UP HIS blue jeans to give his hands something to do, country music's Greatest Living Legend smothers a cough before the familiar voice offers ...

Kirsty MacColl: Kirsty In Control

Interview by Mark Cooper, Daily Telegraph, 22 June 1991

Mark Cooper watches as Kirsty MacColl reluctantly prepares to meet the world ...

Shabba Ranks: As Raw As Ever

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1991

AS THE REIGNING king of Dancehall, Rexton Gordon aka Shabba Ranks is a major Jamaican sex symbol, ambitious enough to crush his rivals at Sunsplash ...

Luther Vandross: Battle Of The Bulge

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1991

ON THE HOSPITALITY TABLE OF Luther Vandross's suite at Hollywood's Four Seasons Hotel, four untouched plates of king prawns lie waiting next to a half-demolished ...

Paula Abdul

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1991

THE FAMOUS DANCER'S legs are hidden by the kind of white trouser suit favoured by the molls of Italian mobsters, but the tiny figure with ...

Chris Whitley: Living With The Law

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1991

ON THE COVER OF THIS, his debut, Chris Whitley's long hair and cowboy boots are shrouded in shadows, while his open shirt reveals a crucifix ...

The Pixies: Pixies: Trompe Le Monde

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, October 1991

BOSTON'S PIXIES have already ascended close to stadium status judging from their recent triumph at Crystal Palace. Yet their mounting success betrays no loss of ...

Gram Parsons: Ben Fong-Torres: Hickory Wind: The Life And Times Of Gram Parsons

Book Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1991

HE VIRTUALLY INVENTED country rock with The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers and was a major influence on the Stones of Sticky Fingers. He ...

Elton John: Various Artists: Two Rooms

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1991

HITHERTO, TRIBUTE ALBUMS have tended to be the preserve of the American college circuit with R.E.M. seemingly ubiquitous as today's aspiring eccentrics queue up to ...

Tori Amos: Stranger in a Strange Land

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Daily Telegraph, December 1991

THE LIGHT IS falling in Tori Amos's Kensington flat and she is packing for a Christmas visit to her parents back in the USA. Amos ...

Paul Simon: Concert In the Park

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1992

TEN YEARS after Simon And Garfunkel crowned their short-lived reunion with a concert in Central Park, Paul Simon returned solo to claim the patch as ...

U2: Re-issues

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1992

WHEN U2'S RECENT NUMBER 1 single 'The Fly' first came on the radio, it sounded like a confused mess, an irritating jangle of throbbing guitars ...

Lou Reed

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, February 1992

THESE DAYS, PREPARING for a Lou Reed interview is like joining the Civil Service. First, the specially run-off CD of the new album, Magic And ...

Garth Brooks: Meet Nashville's New Breed Of Generously Stetsoned Crooner

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1992

BANDY-LEGGED and pigeon-toed, Garth Brooks has finally taken off his stetson and is staggering around the stage of Atlanta's Omni like a man who's just ...

Lyle Lovett: The Singer Who Argues With God

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Daily Telegraph, 27 March 1992

Lyle Lovett's latest album gives a contemporary twist to the Old Testament, says Mark Cooper ...

John Lee Hooker: Mannish Boy

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, April 1992

MONDAY IS TRADITIONALLY a slow night in the music calendar, especially the first Monday in January in clubs like the Sweetwater, a small but chic ...

Lyle Lovett: Erm…

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, May 1992

Confusion and uncertainty are Lyle Lovett's middle names. Is he country? Or is he blues, or gospel, or swing? What the hell, he decides, "They're ...

Vince Gill: The Soul not the Stetson

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Daily Telegraph, 23 May 1992

Mark Cooper warms to country singer Vince Gill's still, small voice of calm ...

Tracy Chapman: Matters Of The Heart

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, June 1992

THE COMBINATION OF 'Fast Car' and the Mandela show transformed Tracy Chapman from an odd throwback to the era of folk protest into the voice ...

Henry Rollins: Don't Get Even, Get Mad

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1992

He wants to kill policemen. He is obsessed by his father. He dosen't have a girlfriend and his best friend is dead. "Either I write ...

Orange Juice: The Best Of

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1992

THE GUINNESS BOOK Of British Hit Singles offers no less than nine entries for Orange Juice, beginning in November 1981, with their cover of Al ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: Songs For Freedom

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1992

WHEN LITTLE RICHARD stood up at his piano and hollered 'Tutti Frutti', he sounded like a man who'd just broken out of prison. ...

Neil Young: Harvest Moon

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, December 1992

TRUST THAT CONTRARY old buzzard Neil Young to come up with something as cunning and contrary as this "sequel" to 1972's Harvest, his biggest-selling record ...

Tasmin Archer: Stop The World, I Want To Get Off

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, December 1992

Your very first record has just gone to Number 1. Tonight you're on Top Of The Pops for the third time in a month. The ...

Ice Cube: Corporate Raider

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1993

Yikes! Ice Cube is America's most controversial (dead heat with Ice-T) and successful rapper, recently blasting good ole Garth Brooks off the top of the ...

Love: Comes In Colours (Raven)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1993

Long before psychedelic rock meant meandering guitar solos drifting peacefully towards nirvana or oblivion, there was Love. ...

Alice In Chains: Dearly Beloved

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, April 1993

ALMOST TWO years ago to the very day, Seattle's Alice In Chains supported Megadeth here in Berlin's Neu Welt club on a first, rather pointless ...

Willie Nelson: Cheer Up, It Might Never Happen

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1993

…Er, unfortunately it already has. Three failed marriages, a son's suicide, his house burning down — and that's before the small matter of a $16.7 ...

Mary Chapin Carpenter

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, MOJO, November 1993

A RIOT OF SEQUINS and studded belts, of thick foundation and fringed pastel jackets, of monstrous boots and massive hair, Nashville's old – and new ...

Meat Loaf: Bat Out Of Hell II

Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, November 1993

ACCORDING TO MOST rock histories the late '70s were defined by punk rock and the Sex Pistols. Commercially speaking, however, the awful truth is that ...

John Cale: The Forum, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, December 1993

THIS SUMMER'S VELVET UNDERGROUND reunion inevitably recast John Cale in the role of Lou Reed's foil. After all, while the Velvets clearly depend on the ...

Stereo MCs: If Bob Marley Came To Nottingham

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, December 1993

"ARE YOU there, Milwaukee?" enquires a ghostly but undoubtedly English voice. It is around seven o'clock in the evening at the Marcus Amphitheatre in Milwaukee ...

John Martyn: Johnny Too Bad: John Martyn

Book Excerpt by Mark Cooper, 'Love is the Drug' (Penguin), 1994

HE'S A JAZZ MAN, he's a folkie and he's been a drinker. Singer songwriter John Martyn has been most things, apart from commercially acceptable. Now ...

Public Enemy: Muse Sick N Hour Mess Age

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, 1994

BY RIGHTS, THEY should be out of here. Hip hop may be black folks’ news channel, as Chuck D likes to point out, but today’s ...

Madness: The Business

Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, January 1994

I FIRST SAW MADNESS EARLY IN 1980 IN A SAN Francisco club. It was the city's mecca of punk but the locals didn't know quite ...

Mazzy Star: Mean Fiddler, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, January 1994

IN THE PRIVACY OF ONE'S OWN HOME, CALIFORNIA'S MAZZY Star can sound like an American bar band performing at half-speed at the bottom of a ...

Randy Newman

Comment by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1994

Randy Newman does not suffer fools gladly but surely he is currently pushing a point a little too far. ...

Alice In Chains: Jar Of Flies/Sap (Columbia 47571314)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, February 1994

SUFFOCATING Alice In Chains: a most serious business. ...

Janis Joplin: Janis (Columbia/Legacy)

Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, March 1994

DYLAN FELL OFF his motorcycle, The Beatles broke up and Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin paid the full price of ‘60s rock stardom ...

Tori Amos: Under The Pink (Atlantic)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1994

THESE HAVE not been good years for distinctive new voices who have to swiftly follow their groundbreaking debuts with that crucial sophomore outing. ...

Emmylou Harris: Pieces Of The Sky

Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, April 1994

WHEN GRAM PARSONS 'DISCOVERED' Emmylou Harris in late 1971, she was working as a folkie in Washington DC, and singing the occasional country tune like ...

The Proclaimers: Hit The Highway (Chrysalis)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, April 1994

DEF LEPPARD, Tears For Fears, even The Stone Roses have their excuses. After all, success breeds its own insecurities and what's a year or two ...

Tim Buckley: Live At The Troubadour 1969

Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, April 1994

HE WAS, ABOVE all, a beautiful boy. Sure, the album sleeves show those impossible good looks steadily thickening into manhood and by 1974's Look At ...

Chaka Demus and Pliers: The Rolls Royce of Ragga

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, May 1994

"ANY QUESTIONS then?" ...

Nick Drake: Way To Blue

Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, June 1994

WHEN NICK DRAKE'S Five Leaves Left first came out in 1968, albums with gatefold sleeves by moody songwriters accompanied by orchestras were almost two a ...

Seal: It's a Bitch

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1994

WHEN SEAL first appeared on billboards all around Britain in 1991, he cut a vast, almost monumental figure. Hands on hips like a fashion model, ...

Johnny Cash: American Recordings

Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, September 1994

SOMETIME IN THE LATE '80S, Columbia Records unceremoniously dropped Johnny Cash. No matter that Cash had been one of Sun's Million Dollar Quaret, alongside Elvis ...

Public Enemy: Muse Sick N Hour Mess Age (Def Jam)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1994

BY RIGHTS, they should be out of here. Hip hop may be black folks' news channel as Chuck D likes to point out but today's ...

Sade: Habitual: Sade: The Best Of (Epic) ****

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1994

When will Britain wake up to Sade? ...

John Lee Hooker: Chill Out (Point Blank VPB 22)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1995

John Lee Hooker: an Old Testament prophet for modern times. ...

Fairport Convention: Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, April 1995

TWO FAIRPORTS STILL STICK IN my mind from the late '60s, early '70s. The first was London's answer to Jefferson Airplane, furiously eclectic and frequently ...

PJ Harvey: To Bring You My Love

Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, April 1995

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT PJ HARVEY IN A dress that doesn't quite gel and that's the something that she's chafed and worried at in her bruising, ...

Tindersticks: The Tindersticks' Second Album

Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, May 1995

THERE'S A WONDERFULLY hushed, still quality about Tindersticks that pulls you closer to the speakers. Casually overheard, much of this album sounds like little more ...

Supergrass: Mojo Rising: Supergrass

Interview by Mark Cooper, MOJO, July 1995

Now trespassing in the charts, three princes of rascal rock… ...

Natalie Merchant: Tigerlily

Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, July 1995

SHE'S BARELY IN HER THIRTIES, SHE became the voice and face of 10,000 Maniacs as a 17-year-old and yet there's always been something olde-worlde and ...

The Rolling Stones: Rolling Stones in Hyde Park # 1

Memoir by Mark Cooper, MOJO, July 1995

THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE VERY nature of being a schoolboy that necessitates getting caught. In the summer of 1969, I was boarding in the lower ...

Van Morrison: Days Like This (Polydor)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1995

Although Van Morrison has enjoyed unprecedented commercial success since signing to Polydor in 1989, in creative terms it has been an uncertain period for him. ...

Joy Division: Permanent

Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, August 1995

WHEN JOY DIVISION'S UNKNOWN PLEASURES was released in June, 1979, it sounded like it came from another planet. Of course, it's easy now to historicise ...

The Vulgar Boatmen

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, MOJO, August 1995

LONGEVITY, STABILITY, COMMITMENT – this is what has enabled the likes of The Rolling Stones and The Grateful Dead to become the biggest draws in ...

Neil Young, Pearl Jam: Neil Young: Oh But I Was So Much Older Then...

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1995

...he's younger than that now. Neil Young's new album, Mirror Ball, is a scintillating trans-guitar-generational collaboration with hip young gunslingers Pearl Jam, and has given ...

George Jones, Tammy Wynette: Stand By Your Ex: George Jones and Tammy Wynette

Interview by Mark Cooper, MOJO, October 1995

Wait till I get you home...to Splitsville, Tennessee, where George Jones and Tommy Wynette have resided since the classic song D.I.V.O.R.C.E. came true following perhaps ...

Bruce Springsteen: Hushed — Bruce Springsteen: The Ghost Of Tom Joad (Columbia 481650)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1996

Bruce Springsteen: the new Boss — very different to the old Boss. ...

Country Joe & The Fish: Country Joe and The Fish: Electric Music for the Mind and Body; I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die; Together (Vanguard reissues)

Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, February 1996

COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH are doomed to be best remembered for that old crowd-pleaser they churned out at Woodstock in August, 1969. No matter ...

Bo Diddley: Godfather Back On The Beat

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Daily Telegraph, 11 May 1996

If guitar rhythms could be copyrighted, Bo Diddley would be a millionaire. As it is Mark Cooper finds him warily hitting the comeback trail again ...

John Martyn: And

Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, August 1996

ONE OF THE GREAT maverick stylists of British music, John Martyn has been out on a limb in recent years, marooned first by some increasingly ...

Norma Waterson: Past Caring About a Career

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Daily Telegraph, 7 September 1996

Folk music matriarch Norma Waterson shot into the limelight with her solo album. But, she tells Mark Cooper, she could give up performing tomorrow. ...

Christy Moore's Great Escape

Retrospective and Interview by Mark Cooper, MOJO, October 1996

IN THE GOOD old bad old days,Christy Moore was the Brendan Behan, the Shane MacGowan, of his generation. A wild troubadour lashing out at himself ...

Neneh Cherry: Spirited: Neneh Cherry: Man (Hut) ***

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, October 1996

Neneh Cherry: she deserves better. ...

Tricky: Pre-Millennium Tension (Island BRCD 623)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, December 1996

Tricky: no way is everything getting to him. ...

Gillian Welch: As Real And As Raw As It Gets

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Independent, 7 June 1997

Mark Cooper samples Gillian Welch's alternative bluegrass ...

Paul Weller: Heavy Soul (Island) ****

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1997

Paul Weller: very much lord of his "manor". ...

Nick Drake: Tortured Artist: Nick Drake: The Biography by Patrick Humphries (Bloomsbury) ***

Book Review by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1998

Nick Drake: still an enigma after all these years ...

Beverley Knight: Prodigal Sista (Parlophone 496 2962)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, October 1998

Explosive British R&B singer comes in from the cold with self-penned second album. ...

Method Man, RZA: RZA: RZA As Bobby Digital In Stereo (Gee St/V2) ****; Method Man Tical 2000: Judgement Day (Def Jam) ****

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1999

Yo! Apocalypse: It's a mad, bad, Wu-Tang world ...

Ryan Adams: Rock N Roll

Review by Mark Cooper, The Word, December 2003

So much swagger, so little heart ...

Johnny Cash: The Last Great American — Johnny Cash: Unearthed (American)

Review by Mark Cooper, The Word, January 2004

Johnny Cash's final recordings were as powerful as anything in his whole career ...

Prince: Musicology

Review by Mark Cooper, The Word, June 2004

Slave To The Rhythm. Prince: the old school's head boy gets back to basics. ...

Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Neil Young: Neil Young: Against the Tide

Retrospective and Interview by Mark Cooper, Observer Music Monthly, 11 October 2008

Charles Manson, the Iraq war, a near fatal aneurysm: Neil Young has spent five decades fighting anything foolish enough to get in his way. On ...

Leonard Cohen: "Dance Me to the End of Love: In the Round" – Leonard Cohen on Later… with Jools Holland

Book Excerpt by Mark Cooper, 'Later... with Jools Holland' (Harper Collins), September 2022

LEONARD COHEN taught us what Later... could become. He would show us how the show could be much more than the accidental sum of its ...

Bridget St John: Still Bridget St John

Retrospective by Mark Cooper, Rock's Backpages, November 2023

I CAN'T RECALL ever having seen Bridget St John before although I owned her first couple of albums as the '60s wobbled into the '70s. ...

Tracy Chapman, Natalie Merchant: Tracy Chapman: I Could Be Someone

Retrospective by Mark Cooper, Rock's Backpages, February 2024

THE FIRST TIME I heard Tracy Chapman was in the office of an Elektra A&R man at 9229 Sunset Boulevard late in 1987. ...

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