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Max Bell

Max Bell

"I can't do that self-promotion malarkey. Mine sounds phony to me. But here are some clues. I did write for Nick Logan's NME, and for the Evening Standard, GQ, Arena, Uncut, Vox and the Independent On Sunday etc., but that's so old hat. I have written some stuff for Classic Rock, which is a fine magazine. I did a Doors piece last year which was well received, a kind of detective story on the last days of Jim Morrison. There are others. But my trumpet isn't working.

"Frank Sinatra liked me. He wrote me a letter; or rather he recited one to his stenographer. He invited me to Palm Springs. I saw the Beatles play live when I was 10, and I spoke to John and Paul outside Dick James' office in Gray's Inn the same year. I queued up to get Cilla Black's autograph at the London Palladium in 1965 and she was a complete bitch. When push comes to shove my favourite album is Countdown To Ecstasy. But then it might be Carl and the Passions. Or After the Goldrush. Or Stills' first album. It could be Secret Treaties, though. Or The Trials Of Van Occupanther.

"There aren't any answers. Rock journalism is – short version – hanging out with cool people and catching a contact high. Then you write about it and the pay is laughable. I went for a limo ride with Dennis Wilson to the Lincoln Festival. But I wasn't a music journalist then so that doesn't count. I've swum in a pool with Jerry Garcia. And I can't swim. I sat on the Sphinx with Captain Trips and David Freiberg dosed me with Owsley's finest via teat pipette and eye dropper. I was sitting next to Ken Kesey. I got my own back when I hung out with Julia, the Quicksilver Girl, and the Byrds Girl. Nice girl. I also hung out with Sable Starr and the Turtles and Helen Wheels. I took a lot of drugs with Arthur Lee and John Phillips in the Hollywood Hills. I loved Arthur a great deal. See what I did there.

"Elton John burned one of my articles on stage. That was a highpoint. At university I had a few interesting visitors, like Mike Wilhelm and Cyril Jordan and Sandy Pearlman. All I'd done was compare him to Mrs. Mills. Sparks wanted me to be their rhythm guitarist. Who am I?"

410 articles

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Black Sabbath: Volume 4

Review by Max Bell, Let It Rock, December 1972

DESPITE BLACK SABBATH'S protestations that they have spent both a great deal of time and money on their latest album (earthshatteringly entitled Volume 4) the ...

Dr. Feelgood: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 28 September 1974

FORGET THE Yardbirds, forget J. Geils. Last Thursday, Dingwalls had the real demolition men in. Name of Dr. Feelgood; they're what rhythm and blues is ...

Love: Forever Changes

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 28 September 1974

IN 1965 Jac Holzman, then head of Elektra and master of good taste, pulled a young man and his group out of an L.A. club, ...

Sparks

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 9 November 1974

THINGS COULDN'T really have got off to a worse start for Sparks. First their coach broke down in Barnsley – of all places – which ...

Tangerine Dream: Is This The End Of Rock As We Know It?

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 16 November 1974

EVER HEARD of a group who would rather not be visible to their audience and let the music work on its own? Seems peculiar even ...

Daryl Hall & John Oates: Hall & Oates: War Babies

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 23 November 1974

DARYL HALL and John Oates are acquiring something of a cult following in this country. ...

Love: Reel to Real

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 7 December 1974

A LOT OF people are going to be highly disappointed with this album, Lee's first with the new but not improved Love. Not that he ...

Moby Grape: Great Grape

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 7 December 1974

COINCIDING with their decision to reform comes this compilation of Moby Grape, not a greatest of hits but a personal faves number allotted to Bill ...

Bryan Ferry: Tired of that same old anorak?

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 21 December 1974

Achieve the Country Life look in a Komfi-twede blazer. By Ferrari of South Kensington. ...

Sparks

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 21 December 1974

CONTRARY to popular belief, Santa Claus – alias Saint Nicholas – is alive and well and living in Amsterdam. ...

Bryan Ferry: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 28 December 1974

THE ALBERT HALL is teeming, brim-full with the beautiful awaiting the first solo airing of his master's voice in the Capital. ...

Fumble, Rock Bottom: King's Road Theatre, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 28 December 1974

ON SUNDAY, at the ratty end of Chelsea, the King's Road Theatre opened its doors for a double bill of rock'n'roll; pretty disastrous it was ...

Gary Glitter: Ballroom Dancing With The Big G

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 28 December 1974

GARY GLITTER is sensibly ensconced in a very old fashioned smart hotel where the only thing liable to disturb his peace-of mind is a nutty ...

Santana: Latin Limbo Dancing Over Hot Coals

Retrospective by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 28 December 1974

OF ALL the really big American bands perhaps Santana remain the most enigmatic, the least publicised – yet, ironically, enduring the test of time and ...

Brian Protheroe: Pinball

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 4 January 1975

IF YOU LIKED the instant, stylised commercialism of 'Pinball', with its dilettante finger poppin'; then the album of that name might be just up your ...

Bryn Haworth: Let The Days Go By

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 4 January 1975

SO UNASSUMING IS Bryn Haworth's Let The Days Go By that I was initially tempted to dismiss it as just another singer/songwriter effort, but having ...

The Doors: Strange Days

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 4 January 1975

WAS THIS ALBUM WEIRD? You bet yer snakeskin mitts it was. ...

Mike Oldfield and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Tubular Bells

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 11 January 1975

AS IT ALREADY appears that every other person in Great Britain possesses a copy of this much-venerated work, I doubt if it's necessary to explain ...

Ozark Mountain Daredevils: It'll Shine When It Shines

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 11 January 1975

THINGS ARE STIRRING in Jefferson City, Missouri. It'll Shine When It Shines is The Ozark Mountain Daredevils' second album and mighty fine it is too. ...

John Cale: Cale and Eno Horror Story…

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 8 February 1975

CO-STARRING ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL CHOIR ...

Blue Öyster Cult: That's Right, Another Bunch Of Neo-Fascist Heavies

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 February 1975

"We're pain, we're steel, we're a plot of knives...we're obsessed with the technology of matter...our symbol is a swastika substitute..." ...

Essra Mohawk: Essra Mohawk

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 February 1975

AHA! ESSRA Mohawk, formerly plain ol' Sandy Hurvitz. You may remember her as the original Uncle Meat in F. Zappa's late sixties circus until she ...

Montrose, Rapping with the Ring of Confidence

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 February 1975

RONNIE MONTROSE hates doing interviews. When I arrive at Warner's hideout I'm apologetically informed that Ronnie is too shattered to talk after driving down from ...

The Kursaal Flyers: Today Central Poly – Tomorrow The World?

Report by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 22 February 1975

"I'VE ONLY GOT the five shirts, so I just take 'em off and leave them to dry. It's no good washing them too much, they ...

Raspberries: The Raspberries - Starting Over

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 22 February 1975

I DON'T KNOW why but it always seems odd when American groups try to sound English, although the reverse is quite acceptable. ...

Tom Rush - Ladies Love Outlaws

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 22 February 1975

IN THE PAST Tom Rush has been hailed as a great interpreter, someone who can lift a number by nuance and feeling. His latest album ...

Tim Buckley: Greeetings From L.A.

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 1 March 1975

WAY BACK in the dim and distant, old Tim had to sing for his supper, along with the likes of Steve Noonan and Jackson Browne, ...

Tim Buckley: Greetings From LA

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 1 March 1975

WAY BACK IN the dim and distant, old Tim had to sing for his supper, along with the likes of Steve Noonan and Jackson Browne, ...

Milk 'n' Cookies: Mlk'n'Cookies: Sweetness & Light With Milk & Cookies

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 8 March 1975

IF I TOLD you that the latest band to ride the grapevine from New York to London, Milk'n'Cookies, are three guys from the affluent suburban ...

Franco Battiato: Clic

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 March 1975

READING THE CREDITS and titles to Franco Battiato's Clic you'd be forgiven for thinking that here was just the latest example of technoflash absurdia masquerading ...

Genesis: Gabriel's Cosmic Juice

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 March 1975

"I believe in getting art out of the galleries and onto the streets. Status Quo are so cultural, so Wagner..." ...

Blue Oyster Cult: On Your Feet Or On Your Knees

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 22 March 1975

FIRST OF ALL let me tell you about the art work that John Berg has concocted for the Blue Oyster Cult's most extreme venture to ...

Johnny Mathis - The Heart of a Woman

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 5 April 1975

JOHNNY BRISTOL'S RISING reputation as an ace producer hasn't, as far as I can see, resulted in any really solid product to back up the ...

Lou Reed at the Hammersmith Odeon

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 5 April 1975

THERE'S AN ILLUMINATED sign outside the Hammersmith Odeon that says: "It's all too much. Lou Reed in Concert." Wry humour or someone taking a subtle ...

Iron Butterfly - Scorching Beauty

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 12 April 1975

SEEMS LIKE 1968 all over again, doesn't it? ...

The Dictators - The Dictators Go Girl Crazy

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 12 April 1975

PSSST. WANNA BUY a dirty record? ...

Loudon Wainwright III - Unrequited

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 19 April 1975

THE WORST THING that ever happened to Loudon Wainwright III was being branded The New Dylan, kiss of death to any self-respecting artist who hopes ...

Phil Manzanera: Head hunting in darkest Acton

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 19 April 1975

YOU'VE GOT TO be quick to catch a Manzanera. No sooner has it left America than it's off to sunny Hawaii to sojourn, returning home ...

Steve Harley at the Hammersmith Odeon

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 19 April 1975

INSIDE THE HALL you could tell it would be one of those nights. Row upon row of bowler-hatted disciples clutched onto their Harley scarves in ...

Kansas: Kansas

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 26 April 1975

KANSAS ARE THE latest group to hoist the Dixie flag, though thankfully they don't seem anxious to broadcast the fact that "the South is gonna ...

Sweet: The Sweet: No Longer Unfashionable

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 26 April 1975

ROCK SNOBBERY. THAT'S what it is. A prevailing attitude that anything commercially successful in terms of the charts must therefore be top-twenty hype, not suitable ...

Billy Joel: Piano Man

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 3 May 1975

THE GRAPEVINE WHISPERS Billy Joel is going to be a superstar. ...

Mickey Jupp: The Lost Legends of Southend Rock

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 3 May 1975

Down where the fag-end of London slopes into the sea, there lies the forgotten land of Southend, home of the whelk stall and source of ...

The Amboy Dukes - Journeys and Migrations

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 3 May 1975

THIS MOST RECENT collection of The American Amboy Dukes, taken from the first three albums, is strictly one for masochistic archivists. Amusement value only. If ...

Arthur Lee, Love: Arthur Lee: 'I've been black all the time,' admits controversial star

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 17 May 1975

He also admits to a severe case of baldness. Otherwise it's still ARTHUR LEE, back in Britain with a new Love ...

John Cale: Slow Dazzle

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 17 May 1975

THE FIRST TRACK on John Cale's Slow Dazzle is so excellent that I played it eight times before I could bring myself to continue. ...

Love: The Lyceum, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 24 May 1975

COVENT GARDEN HAD its second major rock venue re-opened last Thursday for a series of regular concerts by bands not big enough to warrant an ...

Frank Sinatra: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 7 June 1975

Forever doobeedoobee beedoobeedoo ...

John Cipollina, Man, Quicksilver Messenger Service: John Cipollina

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 7 June 1975

JOHN CIPOLLINA, he's the real thing. Smallish, wiry, hair tied back, nicotine stains up to his elbow and the confident loquaciousness of a man who ...

Sailor - No sex please we're Russo-Nordic

Profile by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 7 June 1975

TWO HAIRDRESSERS, a parachutist and a tortured poet; a band called Sailor, dressed in nautical gear, including a Ruskie prince and a member of the ...

The Beach Boys: Wild Honey and Friends

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 7 June 1975

IN THE GRAND old tradition of milking every last drop from The Beach Boys' catalogue comes this double coupling of the '67-'68 albums Wild Honey ...

Loudon Wainwright III - at Victoria Palace, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 14 June 1975

YOU MIGHT HAVE noticed that Loudon Wainwright III has been in Great Britain recently, completing the second lap of his tour; you might have noticed ...

Pavlov's Dog: Pampered Menial

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 14 June 1975

UNLESS PAVLOV'S DOG prove to be a figment of Sandy Pearlman's crazed imagination, then their debut album must make them great white hopes for the ...

The Beach Boys, The Eagles: The Beach Boys and The Eagles at Wembley Stadium

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 28 June 1975

"HI, WE'RE THE Eagles from Los Angeles." Well that was a fact as predictable as the set those five gentleman dished up, a kind of ...

Larry Coryell: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 12 July 1975

YOU COULD tell it was Jazz night at Dingwalls. ...

Todd Rundgren: Man, Myth Or Rabbit?

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 19 July 1975

THE BOY FROM Upper Darby is pressed into the corner of a Blake's Hotel settee. He looks so much like a very glum rabbit that ...

Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 26 July 1975

TOYS IN THE Attic, is Aerosmith's third record. No one here knows that much about Aerosmith, except that they're a straight-ahead Eastern seaboard band with ...

Tom Scott: Tom Scott In LA

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 26 July 1975

NAT HENTOFF really should know better. Having, in the past, written liner-notes for the very best (Davis, Trane) he now finds himself eulogising the "scope ...

Armageddon: Armageddon

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 2 August 1975

THE NAME GIVES it away, really. ...

The Flamin' Groovies: Acid Hurt My Brain

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 2 August 1975

WHEN, TOWARDS the tail-end of 1969, the Flamin' Groovies' first Epic single 'Rockin' Pneumonia' crashed the American Hot 100 at No. 27 (with a bullet), ...

Howard Werth And The Moonbeams: King Brilliant

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 13 September 1975

AUDIENCE WERE ALWAYS a band which threatened massive stardom. That they never made the final breakthrough wasn't for want of trying. They made four excellent ...

Bob Seger: Beautiful Loser

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 20 September 1975

THE LATEST IN a long line of good albums from the largely ignored Bob Seger sees him returning to Muscle Shoals, scene of the Back ...

Santana: Carlos Santana: I Can Almost Materialize... If I Think Real Hard…

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 20 September 1975

...be still for I bring peace, love, and a new Santana line-up. ...

Earth Wind and Fire, Santana: Santana and Earth Wind and Fire at Hammersmith Odeon

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 20 September 1975

ONE OF THE ironic features of Columbia's prestigious double billing, Earth Wind And Fire/Santana is that in America right now the kudos for star spot ...

David Bedford

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 27 September 1975

"THE THING ABOUT concept albums is that they're never done successfully except mine of course," So speaks modest avant garde composer David Bedford, Virgin luminary ...

Felix Cavaliere: Destiny

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 27 September 1975

BACK IN 1965 there was this group called the Young Rascals who, along with Vanilla Fudge and the Lovin' Spoonful, formed the big "New York ...

Howard Werth And The Moonbeams: Howard Werth

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 27 September 1975

"SEE, THE 'THE' is actually a joke, an abbreviation of the first word. It's not really 'King Brilliant' it's '...King Brilliant' that we ever got ...

The Doors Consumers' Guide, Part 1

Discography by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 4 October 1975

"There are things that are known and things that are unknown; in between are the doors." ...

The Doors Consumers' Guide, Part 2

Guide by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 11 October 1975

"This is the strangest life I've ever known" ...

The Outlaws - The Outlaws

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 1 November 1975

CLIVE DAVIS COULD sell Chesty Morgan a subscription to Mark Eden. Consider previous adventures of his with Copperhead and the Rowan Brothers, two acts who ...

Pavlov's Dog: Walking The Dog

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 13 December 1975

WANT TO HEAR a shaggy dog story? O.K. Once upon a time there was a completely unknown band who were so exciting that ABC Records ...

Santana: Lotus

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 20 December 1975

OVER ONE HUNDRED Santana fans coughed up the full twenty pounds for this triple live album when it first appeared on import. ...

The Faces, Rod Stewart: The Faces Dossier: An Everday Saga Of Mick&Rod&Keef&Ron&Mac

Report by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 27 December 1975

MARCH, 1973. ...

Todd Rundgren - Another Live

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 10 January 1976

POOR OLD TODD'S taken a lot of stick of late, not least in this paper, for adhering to his mystical mind games in the face ...

Quicksilver Messenger Service: Solid Silver

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 14 February 1976

YOU MAY REMEMBER Quicksilver Messenger Service as one of the most enigmatic West Coast bands from the acid-soaked sixties, and not just because they never ...

Bonnie Raitt

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 3 April 1976

AT FIRST SIGHT, Bonnie Raitt isn't the world's most startling human being. In fact, she seems pretty damn ordinary. Quiet; medium height; plain; unkempt red ...

Eddie & The Hot Rods: Tasty, Urban Tension Classics…

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 3 April 1976

MAX BELL says, "Kids, you gonna drive me to drinkin'. If you can't get next to HOT ROD thinkin'" ...

Pavlov's Dog: At The Sound Of The Bell

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 17 April 1976

Condition your reflexes the Pavlov way! ...

Kiss: Destroyer

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 24 April 1976

IF EVER A GROUP have made it huge in America by carefully manipulated saturation in terms of records, concerts and promotion then Kiss are that ...

Steely Dan: The Royal Scam

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 8 May 1976

DEFINITION: SCAM – THE scenario for a confidence trick. The lowdown on same. The stage preparatory to the heist or sting. ...

David Bowie: The Man Who Fell Into Sinatra's Suit

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 May 1976

IT'S HALF PAST five on Sunday afternoon and I still don't know how to start this thing. Only David Bowie could return like the Prodigal, ...

Jesse Winchester: Learn To Love It

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 May 1976

THIS IS BOTH Jesse Winchester's third album and his third good album. ...

Kiss: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 22 May 1976

THE LADY on the door was most persuasive. "Would you take a Kiss mask? Please...go on have a couple, we're trying to get rid of ...

Boz Scaggs: Silk Degrees

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 19 June 1976

THIS BOY certainly eats up producers. ...

Ted Nugent: Ted Nugent

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 19 June 1976

ONCE UPON A TIME the idea of liking Ted Nugent and The Amboy Dukes was considered remarkably unhip. Poor old Ted and his boys were ...

The Flamin' Groovies: Flamin' Groovies: Shake Some Action (Sire)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 26 June 1976

MAX BELL provides sleeve-notes for the new album ...

Little Feat, The Outlaws: Little Feat/The Outlaws: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 26 June 1976

THE OUTLAWS ARE really pretty much your standard ranch stash. Three lead guitars primed to shit-kicking yee-ha, mighty purty 'n' all but lame beneath the ...

Aerosmith: Rocks

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 3 July 1976

AEROSMITH HAVE GOT the whole situation psyched. ...

Spirit: America: The Titanic Might Be Sinking, But There Are Plenty Of Lifeboats Left

Essay by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 3 July 1976

BACK IN this very spot, Mick Farren pulled out his critical cudgels and delivered a sorely needed attack on the current state of rock'n'roll. ...

J. Geils Band: J Geils Band: Blow Your Face Out (Atlantic)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 3 July 1976

FOR A BAND who've been as ludicrously misrepresented by their critics as the incomparable J. Geils Brew, Blow Your Face Out must be the best ...

The Beach Boys: 15 Big Ones (Reprise)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 3 July 1976

WHAT THE little deuce coupe is goin' on round here? ...

The Flamin' Groovies, The Ramones, The Stranglers: Flamin' Groovies/The Ramones/The Stranglers: Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 10 July 1976

MAYBE IT WAS no accident that the hottest, steamiest, dirtiest night of the year was reserved for July 4. It's not every day that we ...

The Crusaders: Crusaders: New Victoria, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 17 July 1976

THE HELL WITH it, let's be dogmatic and lay down a truth that was already manifest before their historic visit. When it comes to pumping ...

The Flamin' Groovies: Flamin’ Groovies: It Ain't Much Fun Bein' In The Import Bins' Blues

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 17 July 1976

SOMETIMES DEJA VU gets to choke you up. After ten years of trying to prove themselves the Flamin' Groovies must be wondering just what the ...

The Ramones: 'Waitin' for World War III' Blues

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 17 July 1976

JOEY RAMONE is wandering around the empty Roundhouse, looking vacant and clutching a brand new camera under his arm like a teddy bear substitute. A ...

Grateful Dead: The Grateful Dead: Steal Your Face

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 24 July 1976

SURPRISE, SURPRISE. THE new Dead album is coming in for the most monumental panning. Seems that for the past four years (at least) they've been ...

Spirit: Farther Along

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 31 July 1976

How Kapt. Kopter kept coming back California, a bona fide genius guitar hero. Who says so? Max Bell says so. ...

Boz Scaggs: Central Park, New York

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 14 August 1976

STROLLING THROUGH New York's Central Park on a hot and sultry Friday afternoon was pretty much like reliving a David Peel song. The paths and ...

Blue Oyster Cult

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 21 August 1976

Nectar of strychnine! Seminal psychedelic trip-wire rock'n'roll! Geometric chaos! Neo-nuclear Pearl Harbour precision! Flash-pod explosion! Blood-on-snow controlled fury! Boot-heeling dangerous! ...

Diga Rhythm Band: Diga

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 11 September 1976

AFTER MY initial listening to this album I was going to take the easy way out, fob off with a few jokes about the Raga ...

J.J. Cale: Troubadour

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 25 September 1976

THERE ARE only a few things you need to know about J.J. Cale. ...

Rick Derringer: This Man Is Aiming To Kill

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 25 September 1976

Excuse the pun – it's Rick Derringer, of course, knockin' 'em down with hardnose rock'n'roll. ...

The Dictators: The Handsomest Man In Rock And Roll

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 16 October 1976

You may have been ready for Patti 'n' the Pistols 'n' the Ramones, but are you as ready as MAX BELL for The DICTATORS and... ...

Spirit: If You Value Your Life, On No Account Read This Headline...

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 30 October 1976

...because if you do you'll have to read the feature which is about RANDY CALIFORNIA of SPIRIT. He's a very far-out person. He says so. ...

Boz Scaggs: Bar-Room Brawls Are Out Man — I've Gotten Sophisticated

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 13 November 1976

Yes, this is one for the, err, cognoscenti. It's BOZ SCAGGS man – but coming on strong like Bryan Ferry's wardrobe. Admirer MAX BELL talks ...

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (Shelter, import)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 1 January 1977

DONT KNOW much about these guys except that they breeze out of Los Angeles, have a great image and play very good '70's rock'n'roll which ...

Tower Of Power: Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 1 January 1977

THIS IS essentially transitional meat from Oakland, Soul City's finest. ...

Elvin Bishop: Hometown Boy Makes Good

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 January 1977

YES INDEED I do believe we've got ourselves a good one here. Elvin Bishop has resisted the slightly formulaic limpness of Struttin' My Stuff ...

Kiss: Rock And Roll Over (Casablanca Import)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 January 1977

The Red Carpet, but no Heat Treatment ...

Starz: Starz

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 January 1977

PREDICTABLE BOYS from the Rock Steady stable with Jack Douglas production. ...

Spirit: Future Games — A Magical Kahauna Dream (Mercury Import)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 19 March 1977

THE RETURN of Tab, Hunk and Dr. Sardonicus — more outrageously smooth than ever before. A new Spirit album is not only becoming a frequent ...

Iggy Pop, The Stooges: IG and Super IG — Iggy Pop: The Idiot (RCA); The Stooges: The Stooges/Fun House (Elektra)

Review by Max Bell, Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 2 April 1977

Igs past and present collide in sonic fury as NICK KENT & MAX BELL once more grasp for the identity of the enIGma, quest for ...

Asleep At the Wheel: The Wheel (Capitol)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 14 May 1977

I'D BEEN beginning to think there wasn't that much happening on the live front until I saw Asleep At The Wheel at Hammersmith last week. ...

Little Feat: Time Loves A Hero (Warners)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 21 May 1977

MIGHT AS WELL jump in at the deep end and ask you to indulge in some consumer advice research. ...

Grateful Dead: Terrapin Station (Arista)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 30 July 1977

Dead Still Riding The Rods of the Celestial Train ...

Big Star: Big Star Burns Real Slow

Overview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 6 August 1977

For almost ten years now, Alex Chilton has resolutely resisted successive attempts by the rock press to deify him. ...

The Beach Boys: CBS Convention: Beach Boys Party

Report by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 6 August 1977

BEACH BOYS PARTY FOR CHOSEN 1,600 ...

The Beach Boys: The Brothers

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 6 August 1977

A long-running family saga continues: California fnurgs dump on U.K. public... ...

Steely Dan

Retrospective by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 13 August 1977

While the poor people sleep-in with the shade on the light While the poor people sleepin' all the stars come out at night – 'Show ...

MC5, Wayne Kramer: Wayne Kramer: Broke, Busted, Disgusted, Agents Can't Be Trusted

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 20 August 1977

Former MC5 guitarist WAYNE KRAMER live from Lexington Penitentiary, talks to MAX BELL about times past and time passing ...

Iggy Pop: Lust For Life (RCA)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 27 August 1977

GOG AND MAGOG?! No, Dog And Maindog. A Pure Pop Person Pleads Sanity. MAX BELL Was At The Hearings. ...

The Only Ones: I Have Seen The Future Of…etc. pt 52

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 27 August 1977

"FLARED TROUSERS...FLARED TROUSERS...", the audience at the Marquee taunt brightly. On stage, the Only Ones are sticking together the kind of set that makes most ...

Lowell George, Little Feat: Fear and Loathing in Little Feat?

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 3 September 1977

LOWELL GEORGE IS NOT HAPPY. BILL PAYNE IS BEING DIPLOMATIC. THRILLS IS ALL EARS. ...

Boz Scaggs: Portrait of The Image as a Reality

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 14 January 1978

The elusive BOZ SCAGGS picks up the phone in deepest America and suavely refutes all allegations of artifice. 'My image is no pose man – ...

Clover: Love On The Wire

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 21 January 1978

TRY AS I might I never could nestle up to Clover's last album (their English debut). There were several ingredients missing, elements that jarred on ...

Ozark Mountain Daredevils: Don't Look Down

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 21 January 1978

Second Cut is the Lowest ...

Blue Oyster Cult: The Cult Occult And The Disco Nightmare

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 4 March 1978

ALLEN LANIER sits down for a pleasant chat about bikers, Burt Bacharach and band ideology. ...

Spirit: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 18 March 1978

DO YOU BELIEVE in magic? Me, I'm still dreaming, lost in the welter of sensory impressions that seeped into the Rainbow the minute Spirit dripped ...

Joe Sample: Rainbow Seeker (ABC Import)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 1 April 1978

SEARCH AND DEPLOY ...

Cheap Trick

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 8 April 1978

Meet Tricky Ricky and the Denim Deliverers. Ricky Neilson and CHEAP TRICK, to be more precise, who're currently wowing the Heavy Metal Hordes and MAX ...

Allen Toussaint, Lee Dorsey: The Meat And The Motion

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 April 1978

Allen Toussaint: Motion (Warner Brothers Import)Lee Dorsey: Night People (ABC) ...

The Real Kids, Scruffs, Shoes: Real Kids: The Real Kids/Shoes: Black Vinyl Shoes/The Scruffs: Wanna Meet The Scruffs?

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 22 April 1978

THERE IS nothing especially new about this power pop hullaballoo, y'know. As a sub-genre it has existed in a succession of shapes and guises for ...

Todd Rundgren: Hermit of Mink Hollow (Bearsville)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 22 April 1978

AND JUST when we all thought that Todd Rundgren had finally disappeared into the darkest recesses of his cosmological inner sanctum he comes back at ...

Jerry Garcia Band: Cats Under The Stars

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 6 May 1978

UNCLE JEROME'S fourth foray into the solo light gets some of that old Dead sound back to base. Just in time I guess. ...

Big Star: The Big Star Story, Take 4

Retrospective by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 July 1978

THE BIG STAR story seems to have taken up a considerable part of my writing life. This is the fourth time in three years that ...

The Cars: The Cars

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 July 1978

I'M NOT at all sure about this band. Their roots place them in the Boston, Massachusetts region which, not being New York or LA, guarantees ...

Asleep at the Wheel: Collision Course (Capital)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 12 August 1978

STRANGE TO relate but not everything that emerges in the new release racks this week will bear the mark of androids in overalls. And disco ...

The Only Ones: The Bristol Community Free Festival, Ashton Court, Bristol

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 12 August 1978

ANOTHER BOY, ANOTHER BLOODY GUITAR HERO ...

The Only Ones: Peter Perrett Picked A Peck Of Pickled Peppers

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 19 August 1978

LAST MONTH, Peter Perrett won himself a Concorde ticket to Brazil. The loot for the trip came not from playing rhythm guitar but poker. ...

Larry Carlton: Larry Carlton

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 23 September 1978

LARRY CARLTON, super side-man should need no introduction. The weeping, fluid style that Carlton rings from his 335 has become a definitive sound on albums ...

Grateful Dead: The Grateful Dead's First Annual Pyramid Prank

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 30 September 1978

"There were no sets. Sometimes we'd get up and play for ten minutes and all freak out and split. We'd just do it however it ...

Blue Oyster Cult: Some Enchanted Evening

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 7 October 1978

NOW THAT Blue Oyster Cult have a patented studio style of their own, neatly quashing any lingering doubts that they had softened up in the ...

Mickey Jupp: Micky Jupp: Juppanese

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 7 October 1978

MICKEY JUPP has always been nearly famous, and even then it's been by default. ...

B.B. King: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 21 October 1978

IF ONLY B.B.King had let his fingers, and not his likeable but oversized ego, do the talking then I would have enjoyed his return to ...

R. D. Laing: Vinyl Head Shrinker Tells Of Life Before Death…

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 21 October 1978

R. D. LAING – psychologist, psychiatrist, author, lecturer, institutional therapist and now rock star? ...

Weather Report: Mr. Gone

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 21 October 1978

WEATHER REPORT are suffering an identity crisis which has completely mitigated the potential of Mr. Gone. Their unwillingness to pursue the avenues of progression opened ...

Jona Lewie, Lene Lovich, Mickey Jupp, Rachel Sweet, Wreckless Eric: Stiff Records: Be A Killer Or Be A Real Stiff…

Report by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 28 October 1978

W. C. FIELDS would have hated the "Be Stiff" tour. A sixteen year child star who toured with Mickey Rooney? A performing punk dwarf called ...

Santana: Inner Secrets

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 11 November 1978

HOLY KRISHNA! His beneficence returns to the fold of lesser mortals for the annual Santana lesson, that quest whose purpose is boundless, ineffable. Wondrous Santana, ...

Robert A. Johnson: Got Mah Ego Workin'

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 25 November 1978

When the Buffalo of Immodesty stomps the tender talent-plant 'neath its cloven heel, the result, as Confucius noted, is "rampant megabullshit, and I don't mean ...

The Cars: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 2 December 1978

THE CARS took the stage to a backing tape of revving engines, the principal mode of presentation for this Boston-based five piece. The house was ...

Aerosmith: Live! Bootleg

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 9 December 1978

THE INEVITABLE live double from Aerosmith rolls inexorably into the American "Christmas like a fat Thanksgiving turkey". ...

The Shirts: Shirts Appeal – Loosen Your Choler

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 9 December 1978

THE SHIRTS from Brooklyn reckon they've been mistreated. Right from the moment their name went on CBGB's lavatory wall. They are angry. But not beaten ...

Todd Rundgren: Back To The Bars

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 9 December 1978

THE ONE obstacle between Todd Rundgren and a successful live album comes at the stage when he has to rely on other musicians. ...

The Doors: The Morrison Legacy

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 23 December 1978

JIM MORRISON'S body may lie a-moulderin' in his grave but his soul goes marching on. ...

The Pointer Sisters: Pointers To The Future

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 27 January 1979

NOSTALGIA, so the old song hath it, ain't what it used ta be. ...

The Inmates: City Rhythms and Jailhouse Blues

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 3 March 1979

BILL HURLEY, lead singer with The Inmates, was definitely built for the job. Bill Hurley clocks in six foot solid from the ground, a hard ...

Roxy Music: Manifesto (Polydor)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 10 March 1979

EXACTLY SEVEN years ago — March 1972 — something stirred in the basement at Command Studios. ...

The Only Ones: Something Slithery This Way Comes

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 17 March 1979

THE DRESSING room at Hurrah's is buzzing with electricity – reason being that inside this converted New York discotheque it's damn near as cold as ...

Toto: Toto (CBS)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 17 March 1979

WILL THESE people never learn? In the time-honoured Hollywood tradition of foisting ambitious super-sessioners upon that large portion of the American public bereft of a ...

Popol Vuh: Nosferatu

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 5 May 1979

POPOL VUH'S extended title for this soundtrack to Werner Herzog's remake of Nosferatu is 'On The Way To A Little Way'. That says a lot ...

J. Geils Band: Return Of The Hard-Drivin' Man

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 19 May 1979

"I'm a creature of the night. I don't wake up till it gets dark. D'ja wanna drink?" PETER WOLF of the J. GEILS BAND is ...

Nina Hagen: The Euro Woman Cometh

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 9 June 1979

THE LOBBY OF Blake's Hotel in Kensington is a hive of useless activity. As I walk through the open glass doors with the just-so scrolling ...

The Cramps: Marquee, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 16 June 1979

Look Out! The bogey men are coming… ...

Ted Nugent: State Of Shock (Epic)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 23 June 1979

Ted On Arrival ...

The Pop Group: Idealists in Distress

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 30 June 1979

They are young. They are talented. They are committed. They are now without a record company. "So what seems to be the problem, boys?" asks ...

Blue Oyster Cult: Mirrors

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 7 July 1979

DEMOCRACY IS A wonderful thing in theory, even if the practice is not always assured of success. And that self-same philosophical trait is a rare ...

Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures (Factory)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 14 July 1979

JUST WHEN the year's vitality was threatening to be expunged by a non-stop parade of rehashed fashions, 'ordinary geezers' with French Riviera yachts and the ...

Talking Heads: Les Talking Heads a la Carte

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 28 July 1979

THE SCENE: Paris, France, July 10. Bastille Day looms, Talking Heads and their 'guests' The B52s have just completed a mini-European jaunt minus Great Britain. ...

Taj Mahal: Recycling the Blues

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 11 August 1979

"I'm goin to the river goin to sit down on the ground/I'm goin to the river goin to sit down on the ground/And let the ...

Tom Verlaine: Tom Verlaine (Elektra)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 1 September 1979

Mr Verlaine Unwraps ...

Pere Ubu: New Picnic Time (Chrysalis)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 September 1979

PERE UBU is the type of band that enjoys banging its head against a concrete art-form – it makes an interesting sound and a crazy ...

Judas Priest: Unleashed In The East (CBS)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 22 September 1979

WHAT IS this thing called Judas Priest? A heavy metal band? Who says? If this is really Judas Priest live they'd be hard pushed to ...

The Crusaders: It's A Street Life In The Crusaders

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 22 September 1979

IT'S THE MID-1950s in Houston, Texas, east of Galveston Bay and west of the River Colorado, and some of the local folks are having themselves ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Damn The Torpedoes (Backstreet)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 3 November 1979

IT'S BEEN a good two years since Tom's last sortie into the vinyl jungle, but even then You're Gonna Get It! was released to widespread critical apathy. ...

Neil Young: Live Rust (Reprise)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 24 November 1979

"My, my, hey hey, rock and roll is here to stay/Hey hey, my my, rock and roll can never die." ...

Randy Newman: Dominion Theatre, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 8 December 1979

RANDY NEWMAN was wandering around backstage at the Dominion gazing disconsolately down. "Why doesn't anyone like my ELO song?" he kept asking no one in ...

Tim Buckley: The Fantastic Voyage of a Starsailor

Retrospective by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 22 December 1979

"I'm as puzzled as the newborn child I'm as riddled as the tide Should I stand amid the breakers Or should I die with death my bride? Come hear ...

George Jones: My Very Special Guests (Epic)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 5 January 1980

A VETERAN OF over 50 albums, second cousin to the Nashville addiction, cheap booze, paid dues and bad blues, George Jones continues his flirtations with ...

The Ramones: End Of The Century (Sire)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 5 January 1980

1-9-9-9 Phil 'N' Da Brudders Do Just Fine ...

The Durutti Column, Jorma Kaukonen: The Durutti Column: The Return Of The Durutti Column (Factory); Jorma Kaukonen: Jorma (RCA Import)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 12 January 1980

West Coast comeback shock ...

The Durutti Column: the Emaciated Line Between Art and Ambience

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 2 February 1980

Max Bell spends a day at the Factory with The Durutti Column ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Call Tom Petty The New Springsteen And He'll Cut You!

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 March 1980

THE PICCADILLY Hotel in Manchester is an anonymous modern structure slipped neatly inside a multi-storey car park — an injection of glass and concrete at ...

Buzzcocks, John Cooper Clarke, The Invisible Girls, Joy Division: Phantom of the Factory — It's Martin Hannett! A legend in his own town!! Didsbury!!!

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 19 July 1980

Bassist with Arnie Prole's Blues Band! Founding member of John Cooper Clarke's Curious Yellows! Close friend of Eric the Ferret! Producer of Spiral Scratch, Jilted ...

Cristina: a Queen for Today?

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 26 July 1980

JIVE OF THE JADED ...

The Bongos, Bush Tetras, The dB's, The Fleshtones, Material, The Revelons, Secret Rocker: Greetings from NYC: My Week As A Worm In The Big Apple

Report by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 6 September 1980

AS LUCK would have it, my plane ticket to New York City's JFK Airport is open and coincides with the two major jawing topics obsessing ...

Blue Oyster Cult: Night Of The Locusts

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 13 September 1980

THE GOLDEN AGE of hotrod and dragster racing is over but the USA is still littered with its mythology. One such relic is Lebanon Valley ...

Dr. Feelgood: Dr Feelgood: A Case Of The Shakes

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 27 September 1980

YOU HAVE to admit that Dr Feelgood know their own measure – no kowtowing to trend from this lot. Would you believe this record was ...

Talking Heads: Remain In Light

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 25 October 1980

THE DESIRE to (re)discover the African continent has been burning deep in the bowels of curious imagination ever since the New York Herald packed Mr ...

Bow Wow Wow: > C•30 > C•60 > C•Shanty Go!

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 6 December 1980

Max Bell charts an old sea dog's a blinga a blanga a bippity bop ...

The Belle Stars: Rock Garden, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 31 January 1981

THE BELLE Stars are five-sevenths of the former Bodysnatchers: Stella, Penny, Judy, Sarah-Jane and Miranda. The new girls in the key places taken by founding ...

Black Uhuru: Red (Island)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 23 May 1981

Tolerance, Peace, Life ...

Echo & The Bunnymen: Long Day's Journey Into Oslo — Tales From A Norwegian Wood

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 27 June 1981

MAX BELL TRAVELS TO NORWAY WITH THE BUNNYMEN ...

Arthur Lee, Love: Arthur Lee: The Daily Planet Revisited

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 8 August 1981

ARTHUR LEE, THE PSYCHO OF '60s PSYCHEDELIA AND FORMER LEADER OF LOVE, BREAKS HIS SILENCE TO KEEP A RARE APPOINTMENT ON PLANET EARTH ...

David Byrne, Talking Heads: David Byrne: First Degree Byrne

Interview by Max Bell, The Face, June 1983

FOR SOMEONE WITH such an aversion to limelight, fame and wild applause, David Byrne certainly puts himself about a bit. Ever since he formed Talking ...

Gil Scott-Heron: Shooting from the Hip: Gil Scott-Heron

Interview by Max Bell, The Face, June 1983

With verse and music slung from his belt, GILSCOTT-HERON is making his stand against the Cowboy. Some people accuse him of being right on. But ...

Echo & the Bunnymen: The Gathering Hall, Portree, Isle of Skye

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 7 July 1983

THE GATHERING Hall, Portree, has resounded to many a meeting of the clans in the last 100 years but it can seldom have witnessed such ...

Eurythmics, Annie Lennox: Eurythmics' Annie Lennox (1983)

Interview by Max Bell, Rock's Backpages audio, August 1983

The Eurythmics' front woman covers subjects from veganism to feminism, via marriage, class, the nature of success, and anything else she can think of.

File format: mp3; file size: 24.9mb, interview length: 27' 12" sound quality: ****

Eurythmics, Annie Lennox: Eurythmics' Annie Lennox (1983) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Max Bell, Rock's Backpages transcripts, August 1983

This is a transcript of Max's audio interview with Annie. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Dr. John: Dr John: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 5 August 1983

DESPITE AN unfortunate illness, rumours of Dr John's early retirement have been greatly exaggerated. As if to emphasize his recent recovery New Orleans's favourite white ...

Barry Manilow: Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 29 August 1983

IN ONE OF the season's most outrageous pieces of theatre Barry Manilow, the boy from Brooklyn, played his weekend concert before forty thousand people at ...

Culture Club: Brighton Centre

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 27 September 1983

SUCCESS STORIES abound in the fickle pop world, but the rise of Culture Club is genuinely deserved. The band and their androgynous singer Boy George ...

Annie Lennox, Eurythmics: Annie Lennox: MaSQUERaDE!

Interview by Max Bell, The Face, October 1983

THE EURYTHMICS used to rehearse in a room above a picture framers in Camden Town. Now, with money in the bank and record sales approaching ...

Boy George, Culture Club: Culture Club's Boy George (1983)

Interview by Max Bell, Rock's Backpages audio, October 1983

The Culture Club icon on his travels through Europe: druggies in Amsterdam, efficient Germans, and European art and fashion.

File format: mp3; file size: 21.4mb, interview length: 23' 24" sound quality: ***

Wham!: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 31 October 1983

WATCHING WHAM! perform live confirms the suspicion that 1983 has marked the return of the teenybopper. Wham! fans, the majority young girls, possess all the ...

Culture Club: A Boy For Europe

Interview by Max Bell, The Face, November 1983

THE BEST thing about the Culture Club is that anybody can join. Membership isn't exclusive. Jon, Roy, George and Mikey have managed to come up ...

Culture Club, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Paul Haig, John Hiatt: Culture shock as Bob Dylan is outshone by the Boy Wonder

Review by Max Bell, The Times, 5 November 1983

Culture Club: Colour By Numbers (Virgin V2285); Bob Dylan: Infidels (CBS 25538); John Hiatt: Riding With The King (Geffen GHS4017 Import); The Doors: Alive, She ...

Aztec Camera: Growing Up In Public

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 19 November 1983

"HOW MUCH LONGER CAN THE PUBLIC REMAIN OBLIVIOUS TO AZTEC CAMERA?"ASKS MAX BELL. "GOOD QUESTION"SAYS RODDY FRAME. ...

Duran Duran: Apollo, Manchester

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 8 December 1983

Trapped in idolatry ...

Einstürzende Neubauten, Prefab Sprout: ICA, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 9 January 1984

THIS YEAR the I.C.A.'s excellent and well-established Rock Week event went under the banner "Big Brother Is Watching You". He certainly got value for his ...

Madness by Madness

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, February 1984

IT'S FIVE years and 18 hit singles since Madness first ran riot on Top of the Pops and straight into the nation's hearts. ...

The Smiths: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 14 February 1984

DESPITE THEIR PROSAIC NAME, the Smiths are very much the band of the moment. Six months ago this Mancunian four-piece were breaking out of the ...

Genesis: NEC, Birmingham

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 28 February 1984

WHEN GENESIS first came to prominence, some 12 years ago, they were regarded as leaders in the rock-as-theatre movement. The combination of their former vocalist ...

Prefab Sprout: Faith, Hope & Glory?

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, The Face, March 1984

"IF ALL THIS HADN'T worked out, I was resigned to being a librarian. That's what I wanted to do." Thus speaks Paddy McAloon, brains in ...

Sandie Shaw, The Smiths, Tracey Ullman: Blind Date: Sandie Shaw meets Tracey Ullman‚ the Generation Game

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 19 May 1984

SANDIE SHAW WAS ONE OF BRITAIN'S TOP SINGERS IN THE '60s. NOW SHE'S BACK IN THE CHARTS WITH THE '80s SOUND OF THE SMITHS' 'HAND ...

Gregory Isaacs: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 31 May 1984

SUCH IS the flexibility of Gregory Isaacs's vocal prowess that he does not deserve to be typecast to a particular style. Isaacs is first and ...

The Special AKA: Still Special (After All These Years)

Interview by Max Bell, The Face, June 1984

Jerry Dammers appeared on the cover of the first ever issue of THE FACE. The General, as he was nick-named then, led his group The ...

James King & the Lone Wolves, Orange Juice, Jonathan Richman: Orange Juice, Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers, James King & the Lone Wolves: Hammersmith Palais, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 23 June 1984

WHILE THE big names are sweating it out at the annual round of festivals, beginning with Glastonbury this weekend, the main event of midsummer night ...

Tom Verlaine: Tom Foolery: Tom Verlaine

Interview by Max Bell, The Face, July 1984

CAN IT REALLY be ten years now since we first heard about Television and the infamous New York scene of 1974? Those days, laughingly referred ...

Echo & The Bunnymen

Interview by Max Bell, The Face, August 1984

PARTHENON DRIVE, Norris Green, is one of Liverpool's quieter backwaters. The road, with its leafy gardens and council houses, is not scarred by graffiti or ...

Sade: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 2 August 1984

SADE IS CURRENTLY the hottest new voice in town. Her Diamond Life album has been highly praised and her jazz diva's image, allied to a ...

Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Chain Reaction

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 4 August 1984

Frankie Goes To Hollywood are what's been happening while we've been away. They've been at Ho. 1 with 'Two Tribes' and at No.2 with 'Relax'. ...

The Associates: Wild Man

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 11 August 1984

MAX BELL INTERVIEWS BILLY MACKENZIE, GREAT BRITISH VOCALIST, AS THE ASSOCIATES RETURN WITH 'LOVE BOAT' ...

Heaven 17: The Heaven 17 Manifesto

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 1 September 1984

Once upon a time, Heaven 17 presented themselves as the dynamic young businessmen of pop. But now they've crossed sides to support the miners, the Labour ...

Culture Club Say War — Watch Yourself!

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 29 September 1984

CULTURE CLUB ARE BACK WITH A VENGEANCE — 'THE WAR SONG' TO BE EXACT. BUT HOW HIGH IS THE PRICE OF THEIR FAME? AND WILL ...

Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Welcome To The Pleasuredome (ZTT IQ1)

Review by Max Bell, The Times, 3 November 1984

Frankie say pleasure can pay ...

Floy Joy: Wag Club, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 5 November 1984

JUDGING BY the packed house for Floy Joy's debut London date, the word is already out on this charming new jazz funk outfit. Though they ...

Frankie Goes to Hollywood: The American Dream: Frankie Goes To America, The Diary

Report by Max Bell, No. 1, 1 December 1984

Max Bell joins Frankie Goes to Hollywood for a week of high excitement on the road in the U.S.A. ...

Frankie Goes to Hollywood: The Holly Johnson Interview: "You've Got Fifteen Minutes, Christians."

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 1 December 1984

HOLLY JOHNSON keeps himself to himself for much of the tour. ...

Billy Mackenzie: Ronnie Scott's, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 12 December 1984

The odd twist ...

Culture Club: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 20 December 1984

OF ALL THE SUPERGROUPS currently vying for public attention Culture Club and their lead singer Boy George seem the most vulnerable. The title of their ...

ZZ Top: Top Hat and Tales

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 12 January 1985

STAR WEARS: Those sharp-dressed men ZZ Top explain the art of mix'n'matching Fila tracksuits, tuxedos and 14-inch beards. ...

Depeche Mode: Boys Keep Swinging

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 19 January 1985

Pop groups come and go, but Depeche Mode keep on getting bigger and better. Max Bell joined them on tour in German — and if ...

Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Relax, It's Only A Rock Group: Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, The Times, 14 February 1985

CARL GUSTAV JUNG, in one of his lighter moments, once wrote: "Liverpool is the pool of life". A year after Jung's death his words were ...

The Jesus & Mary Chain: Some People Never Understand

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 9 March 1985

"The most revolting and disgusting group I've ever heard" — that's one description of The Jesus And Mary Chain. Some jealous rival maybe? Nope — ...

Depeche Mode: Private Lives: The Depeche Mode Story, Pt. 2 – Martin Gore, The Decadent Boy

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 11 May 1985

In the second part of our exclusive Depeche Mode series Martin Gore talks about his steady progression from milkmaid to bank clerk to popstar in ...

The Jesus & Mary Chain: The Jesus and Mary Chain: Jesus Wept

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, The Face, June 1985

ACCORDING TO MR Geoff Travis, chief of staff at the born again, doubly hip Rough Trade records (purveyors of high class pop to the gentry), ...

Prince: Around The World In A Day

Review by Max Bell, The Times, 1 June 1985

PRINCE, THE CURRENT court jester of American hippy soul, once wrote a song called 'Ronnie, Talk To Russia', a good message number that indicated this ...

Scritti Politti: The Sweetest Boy

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 6 July 1985

BLACK MUSIC, ARTY IDEAS AND WORDS, WORDS, WORDS. THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT INFLUENCE THAT WELL-KNOWN CLEVER CHAP GREEN. OH, AND CHOCOLATE, OF COURSE. MAX BELL ...

George Clinton, Thomas Dolby: Dog-Gone Dolby

Report and Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 3 August 1985

Max Bell yaps with Thomas Dolby and George Clinton. ...

Madness: 21 Today

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 2 November 1985

It's just over six years since those young nutty boys hit the Top 20 with 'The Prince'. Now Madness have just notched up their 21st ...

Kate Bush: What Kate Bush Did Next

Interview by Max Bell, Sunday Express, Fall 1985

INQUIRIES ABOUT why Kate Bush has been off the recording scene for three years–an age, in pop–met with a chilly and defensive response from her ...

Madness: Suggs on Women, Romance, Sexism and Growing Up

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 1986

CAN MEN be feminists? ...

Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Robert Cray, Microdisney, Yma Sumac: Microdisney: The Clock Comes Down The Stairs; Albert Collins et al: Showdown!; Yma Sumac: Legend Of The Sun Virgin

Review by Max Bell, The Times, 1 February 1986

Irish quirkiness and venom ...

Depeche Mode: "Four people is the right number for a pop group. Five looks wrong and three is plain stupid."

Report and Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 22 February 1986

FOR DEPECHE Mode, Berlin has become a second home. It's a city which suits their temperament and throws a reflection across their music. Berlin is ...

Rosanne Cash, The Judds, George Strait: The Judds: Rockin' with the Rhythm (RCA); Rosanne Cash: Rhythm and Romance (CBS); George Strait: Something Special (MCA)

Review by Max Bell, The Times, 1 March 1986

Leaving the old wagon wheels behind ...

Depeche Mode — A Black Celebration

Live Review by Max Bell, No. 1, April 1986

MAX BELL TAKES A LOOK AT DEPECHE MODE before, during and after their Black Celebration! ...

Suzanne Vega: Oh Suzanna!

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 12 July 1986

Max Bell meets Suzanne Vega. Pretty cosmic. ...

The Blow Monkeys: What's Up Doc?

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 19 July 1986

Max Bell questions Dr Robert on, er... just about everything! ...

Terence Trent D'Arby: Intimate Details

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 21 March 1987

Name: Terence Trent D'Arby. It's completely Anglophile. Terence is English, Trent is Scottish and Darby is Irish. I added the apostrophe. ...

Madonna: Whisper: Madonna Exclusive

Report by Max Bell, No. 1, June 1987

MADONNA LOUISE Ciccone finally relented last Tuesday, June 9, when she appeared on a chat show for the first time. Madonna, nobody's fool, chose The ...

Tiffany: Intimate Details

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 6 February 1988

NAME: JUST call me Tiffany. I don't use a surname for professional reasons. I'll get into real trouble if I tell you now! It'll come ...

The Bangles: It's Those Hazy Crazy Bangles!!

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 5 March 1988

Yep, Debbi, Vicki, Michael and Susanna are back with 'Hazy Shade Off Winter'. Max Bell spoke to them. ...

Michael Jackson: Moonwalk (William Heinemann)

Book Review by Max Bell, No. 1, 7 May 1988

Michael Jackson... the Howard Hughes of pop... the only person to believe that a man's best friend is his chimp... the most secretive star in ...

U2: The Face Interview: Bono

Interview by Max Bell, The Face, December 1988

For many he's a rock messiah, a man with a message and all the answers. Perhaps that's why BONO did no interviews to promote what has become Britain's fastest-selling album ...

Roachford: Who's a Cuddly Boy then? Andrew Sylvester Roachford, that's who!

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 1 February 1989

He used to live in a house with 23 cats! His uncle learns to play the sax in one of those v. trendy lager ads! ...

Guru Josh: The Guru Ain't Joshin'!

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 16 June 1990

And he ain't mincing his words either! Max Bell lends a conspiratorial ear as the Guru lets rip at Adamski, slags off Technotronic, supports the ...

Grateful Dead: Bring Out Your Dead

Report and Interview by Max Bell, Vox, November 1990

Hey, man. Whatever happened to the summer of love? It’s taking dedication a bit far when in a year, three fans die at Grateful Dead ...

The House Of Love: Burning Down The House

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, November 1990

The House Of Love became a house of ill repute as they binged, boozed and vindalooed their way through the tour that never ended, burning ...

The Replacements: All Shook Down (Sire)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, November 1990

THE REPLACEMENTS were always Paul Westerberg's outfit and on All Shook Down one can't help but deduce that this is a solo album with the ...

Van Morrison: Enlightenment

Review by Max Bell, Vox, November 1990

VAN MORRISON HAS TWO SONGS THESE DAYS. There is the casually crafted one which often climaxes with Van reciting the litany of great soul artistes ...

ZZ Top: Recycler

Review by Max Bell, Vox, November 1990

THE TEXAS TWISTERS RETURN with a vengeance for Recycler, pursuing their scorched earth policy on a record that's so hot it'll burn your eyeballs out. ...

Donald Fagen, Steely Dan, Walter Becker: Steely Dan: Desperate For Dan

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, January 1991

No, there won't be a Steely Dan reunion. But the good news for those still checked in at the Hotel California is that songwriting partners ...

Edie Brickell: Edie Rising

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, February 1991

After the unexpected and phenomenal success of her debut LP, Edie Brickell reinvented herself for Rolling Stone magazine but ultimately had to tell the truth. ...

Ocean Colour Scene: New Midland Talent: Ocean Colour Scene

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, Vox, February 1991

THE SAGA SO FAR: Manchester is out, Liverpool is in (again), Bristolians are as sore as ever and good London bands don't exist. Where this ...

Havana 3am — Our Man In Havana

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, March 1991

Ex-Clash man Paul Simonon doffs his skid-lid and steers his Harley onto the hard-rock shoulder for a bit of a chin about his new band, ...

Tanita Tikaram: Everybody's Angel

Review by Max Bell, Vox, March 1991

WHETHER IT'S by design or by some happy accident, Tanita Tikaram's third album finds the oddball girl-in-woman's-clothing locating her real voice at last. ...

Tanita Tikaram: All Grown Up with Nowhere to Go?

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, March 1991

TANITA TIKARAM DOESN'T think she is famous and can't bear to call herself a celebrity. ...

Chickasaw Mudd Puppies: 8 Track Stomp (Wing)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, April 1991

WE'VE GOT a weird one here. The Chickasaw Mudd Puppies, for those who don't know, take their name from a river running through Alabama, though ...

R.E.M.: Out Of Time (WEA)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, April 1991

THEY MUST have scratched their heads at Burbank when R.E.M. delivered Out Of Time. Far from capitalising on the success of Green, where America's most ...

Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991 (Columbia)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, May 1991

Sign Of The Times ...

Chickasaw Mudd Puppies: The Chickasaw Mudd Puppies: Puppy Love

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, Vox, May 1991

Pull the straw out of your teeth and take your pardners for a new kind of dance. The Chickasaw Mudd Puppies are here and they're ...

American Music Club, Mark Eitzel: Mark Eitzel: Tortured Soul

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, June 1991

MARK EITZEL, founding member of the American Music Club, stands before us accused of being "a melancholy angel of doom", a manic depressive with a ...

Nils Lofgren, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young: Nils Lofgren: Nils' Desperados

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, June 1991

A lovely guy, Nils Lofgren. Ask Bruce, Neil, Bob, Lou or Keef. Rock's shortest top sidekick tells Max Bell about life with the E Street ...

Sonic Youth: Dirty Boots (DGC)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, June 1991

WALKING ON MUDDY WATERS: Sonic Youth attempt to produce an easy listening album and fail gloriously. ...

Big Audio Dynamite II: The Globe

Review by Max Bell, Vox, July 1991

WORD IS THAT BAD II and Sony Music Entertainment are about to part company so I approached The Globe expecting to hear a contract-filling finale ...

Rain: Tougher Than Weather

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, July 1991

RAIN ARE A CLASSIC POP GROUP in the tradition of Liverpool's finest — four boys who play rock'n'roll and aren't afraid to think big. And ...

Rain: A Taste Of...

Review by Max Bell, Vox, August 1991

LIVERPOOL'S LIKELIEST LADS, Rain have been allowed to develop away from the parochial glare of current city-based hype, and their debut album is well hard ...

Taj Mahal: Like Never Before

Review by Max Bell, Vox, August 1991

TAJ MAHAL HASN'T BEEN HEARD in such a pristine setting since his Columbia heyday, and after too many years of his slogging for well-meaning but ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty: Into The Great Wide Open

Review by Max Bell, Vox, August 1991

NOW TOM PETTY has developed the taste, his second solo album finds him in experimental mood. The post-Byrds vein of downbeat romantic country pop is ...

Cath Carroll: Ronnie Scott's, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 2 August 1991

Idol threats and promises ...

Squeeze: Play

Review by Max Bell, Vox, September 1991

TEN YEARS AGO Squeeze released East Side Story, an album of obvious class and as English as the 'Go To Work On An Egg' slogan. ...

The Black Crowes: Nod's As Good As A Wink To A Black Crowe

Report and Interview by Max Bell, Vox, September 1991

Currently America's hottest new Faces, The Black Crowes have made a huge name for themselves with just one ass-kickin' LP, mucho slagging off of "the ...

Tom Waits: The Early Years Volume I (Edsel)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, September 1991

LONG BEFORE he became the rather self-conscious Harry Dean Stanton type he is today, Tom Waits used to intone straight-to-the-heart-of-the matter barroom blues, most of ...

Tin Machine: Tin Machine 2

Review by Max Bell, Vox, October 1991

FIRST THINGS first. Tin Machine now sound like an expensive hobby, though that may be what they are, since Bowie took his chums to Sydney ...

Dire Straits: On Every Street (Vertigo)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, November 1991

AND ON EVERY CD player...they wish. ...

Primal Scream: Politics of Ecstasy

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, November 1991

Bobby Gillespie met DJ Andy Weatherall on the road to Damascus (or was it Brighton?), and in a flash of blue light discovered a dance ...

Daniel Lanois, U2: Daniel Lanois and U2: Five Men and Achtung Baby

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, December 1991

The new U2 album — released on November 18 — is "rougher and harder-hitting than anything we've done before" …Producer Daniel Lanois talks to Max ...

Genesis: We Can't Dance (Virgin)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, December 1991

GENESIS'S 17TH album arrives some five years after Invisible Touch. As befits these sedate Home Counties chaps, We Can't Dance is the product of modest ...

Taj Mahal: Playing The Cosmic Blues

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, Vox, December 1991

BACK IN THE '60S when he was fronting the Rising Sons with Ry Cooder, they used to call Taj Mahal a cosmic intellectual blues player. ...

U2: Achtung Baby

Review by Max Bell, Vox, December 1991

BONO VOX once mentioned in passing that if and when he ever published a volume of his poetry, the title of said tome would be ...

INXS: The Lizard of Oz

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, January 1992

Blending cosmopolitan pretension, uptempo dance rock and smart media moves, Michael Hutchence has managed the impossible — to make INXS a world famous, high grossing ...

Lou Reed: Reed 'Em And Weep

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, February 1992

At the age of 48, Lou Reed is better disposed to write sedate six-string symphonies about mortality than feedback musings on the subject of scoring ...

MC5 Alive

Report and Interview by Max Bell, Vox, February 1992

THE recent reissue of MC5's incendiary live album Kick Out The Jams, with the contentious "motherfuckers" rap reinstated in place of the toned down "brothers ...

Moe Tucker, Velvet Underground: Velvet Underground: No Moe Reunions

Report and Interview by Max Bell, Vox, February 1992

MAUREEN TUCKER, drummer and mother of five, has scotched rumours concerning any further Velvet Underground reunions. ...

Cowboy Junkies: Black-Eyed Man

Review by Max Bell, Vox, March 1992

TORONTO'S CELEBRATED Cowboy Junkies have never seemed to pay fashionable music much at­tention. Back in '86 they recorded an extraordinary set of bluesy covers called ...

David Byrne: Blind Fury

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, March 1992

If you should bump into David Byrne on his forthcoming world tour, for God's sake don't mention the word "renaissance". Talking Heads are no more, ...

The High Llamas: Apricots (Plastic Records)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, March 1992

SEAN O'HAGAN, formerly of the admirable Microdisney but now pursuing a solo path with the latter's rhythm section in tow, is a man with much ...

k.d. lang: Ingénue (WEA 26840)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, April 1992

POPULAR OPINION has had it that, on her latest album Ingénue, k.d. lang has skirted the Country style as if it were an unpleasant cesspit ...

Little Village: Little Village

Review by Max Bell, Vox, April 1992

INITIAL REACTION to Little Village — a sort of super-ish group-type thing — leads one to ponder the question: why? Was this summit meeting of ...

David Byrne: More Songs About Psychos: David Byrne: Uh-Oh (Luaka Bop/Sire)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, April 1992

DAVID BYRNE has always enjoyed looking at the globe from the most unusual perspectives. He used to draw ephemeral pictures of the States on an ...

Annie Lennox: Beaten By The Curve Ball: Annie Lennox: Diva (RCA)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, May 1992

SOMETIMES you come home and they've moved the furniture. ...

Del Amitri: Hangin' With The Del Boys

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, May 1992

Fashion? Del Amitri – the most polite boot-wearing, outsize sideboard-toting popsters in the Northern Hemisphere – couldn't give a Flying Scotsman ...

PJ Harvey: Dry (Too Pure CDD010)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, May 1992

SHE WOULDN'T LET IT DRY ...

Glenn Frey: Strange Weather

Review and Interview by Max Bell, Vox, August 1992

The Eagles are up there with rock's all-time greats. Over the years they've sold some 80 million records, thanks largely to that polished Western fantasy ...

Julian Cope: A Rune With A View

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, September 1992

Powerful things, ley lines. They can make Julian Cope commune with rocks, and cause his old boss Bill Drummond to break the silence he's kept ...

Happy Mondays: ...Yes Please!

Review by Max Bell, Vox, October 1992

HAPPY MONDAYS' fourth album arrives in a cloud. The nest of vipers stirred by Shaun Ryder's interview with the NME last year is one factor ...

PJ Harvey: Harvey's Frisco Dream

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, November 1992

PJ Harvey hit the states for a lightening tour and took it by storm. "It's like a film," says Polly. "I think they're a bit ...

Lucinda Williams: Sweet Old World

Review by Max Bell, Vox, December 1992

LUCINDA WILLIAMS may have suffered from the songwriter's identity crisis in recent years. Her early work for Folkways hinted at a desire to investigate Country ...

Madonna: Erotica (Maverick/Sire)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, December 1992

NOW WE'VE ALL been in bed with Madonna, and studied her Sex, this Erotica business seems determined to encourage a few mind-games with the intent ...

Public Enemy, U2: Public Enemy and U2: The Chuck and Bono Show

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, December 1992

When U2's tour brought Public Enemy to the Deep South, where segregation is still an issue, Chuck D did his best to pour napalm on ...

Leonard Cohen: The Future (Columbia)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, January 1993

A PRESIDENTIAL term of office in the making, Leonard Cohen's The Future is designed to see all those buggers out. It will captivate those who ...

Neil Young: Young's Winter Warmer

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, January 1993

Twenty years after Harvest, Neil Young has released Harvest Moon. But don't look for parallels — there aren't any, he says. ...

Mick Jagger: Wandering Spirit (Atlantic)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, March 1993

REMEMBER THAT SCENE in Performance, where James Fox's Chas tells Mick Jagger's Turner: "You'll look funny when you're 40"? Well, the rock'n'roller's fear of that ...

Mica Paris: Jazz Cafe, Camden, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 12 March 1993

A passion for south London ...

Adorable: Against Perfection

Review by Max Bell, Vox, April 1993

PIOTR FIJALKOWSKI'S gloomy, doomed romantics are rock revisionists from the old school. Obviously inspired by the likes of Echo And The Bunnymen and The House ...

Living Colour: Stain

Review by Max Bell, Vox, April 1993

VERNON REID'S POSITION at the forefront of the Black Rock Coalition gave Living Colour's first two albums, Vivid and Time's Up, a biting, satirical edge, ...

Van Halen: Right Here, Right Now

Review by Max Bell, Vox, April 1993

THERE'S A CHINESE PROVERB which says that you cannot eat a steamed bun in one mouthful. In other words, don't bite off more than you ...

Aerosmith: Get A Grip

Review by Max Bell, Vox, May 1993

THE 'SMITH'S CONTINUED RENAISSANCE is so perfectly realised on Get A Grip you start to wonder what preservatives they put in their drugs. Giving up ...

Suede: Who Loves A Lad In Suede?

Report and Interview by Max Bell, Vox, May 1993

Suede were touted 'the best new band in Britain' before they even left the blocks, now, as they release their debut album, VOX delves behind ...

Dodgy: The Dodgy Album

Review by Max Bell, Vox, June 1993

DODGY HAVE BEEN TAGGED prime contenders in '93, and even if that prophecy proves a kiss of death, their debut album certainly makes lots of ...

Robert Plant: Fate Of Nations

Review by Max Bell, Vox, June 1993

FATE OF NATIONS is Robert Plant's seventh solo album. Must be some mystic significance there for you Zen and Manic Nirvana freaks. Robert too, judging ...

Donald Fagen: Kamakiriad (WEA 9362452302)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, July 1993

BEYOND THE STEELY DOME ...

Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground: "We Will Confront The Myth…"

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, July 1993

It was only rock'n'roll before The Velvet Underground brought potent drugs and pervy sex to the party. 25 years after their last live high, they've ...

U2: Zooropa

Review by Max Bell, Vox, August 1993

WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE in exchange for your soul? U2 bartered their time for a new album, made quickly. What started out as an impromptu ...

4 Non Blondes: Non Blonde Ambition

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, October 1993

Less than a year ago no-one had heard of San Francisco's 4 Non Blondes; now, sales of their debut LP are going crazy. Is there ...

Cocteau Twins: Botanic Rites

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, October 1993

Three years after their split from spiritual home 4AD Records, the Cocteau Twins return with a new album, Four Calendar Cafe, looking to eclipse the ...

Pearl Jam: Untitled

Review by Max Bell, Vox, November 1993

FACT: ROCK BANDS must find things to write about. Charting the righteous struggle between decency and depravity, the topic which seems to fuel Pearl Jam, ...

Charlatans, The (UK): The Charlatans: Return to Madchester

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, March 1994

After a few indiscretions, Manchester's adopted sons The Charlatans are keeping their motor running with the help of Ambient hippy Steve Hillage... ...

The Jesus & Mary Chain, Oasis, Primal Scream: Creation Records: Creative Accounting

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, April 1994

Primal Scream, Jesus And Mary Chain, Boo Radleys... Creation has nurtured a family of provocative rock rebels. Alan McGee looks back on the first ten ...

Primal Scream: Give Out But Don't Give Up (Creation CRE 146)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, April 1994

Dancing with Mr G ...

Dr. Feelgood: Lee Brilleaux: What the Doctor lauded

Obituary by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 14 April 1994

Lee Brilleaux, frontman of the legendary Dr Feelgood, died last week. MAX BELL remembers the pub rocker's pub rocker. ...

Shane MacGowan: Up For It Again and Still Never Normal

Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 4 June 1994

SHANE MacGowan assumes the position at the bar of his favourite north London watering hole, Filthy MacNasty's in Amwell Street, shouting his personal drinks order ...

Bernard Butler, Suede: Bernard Butler: Gentleman And Player

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, July 1994

When his father died last year, Bernard Butler used his guitar to assuage his grief. Now Britain's most important guitar hero since Johnny Marr has ...

The Lemonheads: I Get The Feeling I'm Being Bullshitted

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, August 1994

IT'S A SHAME about Evan. Maybe we have a case of wrong time, wrong place, but dark moods are written all over his scowling, handsome, ...

Take That: Bare cheek, but check out the talent — Take That: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 16 September 1994

Deafened by screams, but impressed by the cabaret, MAX BELL reviews Take That at Wembley Arena ...

Chrissie Hynde: "Guys in bands are pussies"

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, October 1994

Should Kurt Cobain have unplugged his fax or Evan Dando blabbed about crack? Should Brian Jones have smoked in public? Chrissie Hynde has the answers ...

Blur: Who needs a used Merc, anyway?

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, November 1994

Mr Cholmondley-Warner may not have rated Blur good enough for the Mercury Music Prize, but Damon Albarn isn't losing sleep over it — hit singles, ...

Eternal: Hammersmith Apollo, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 8 December 1994

Babes at work on the swingbeat ...

Sheryl Crow: Natural Born Thriller

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, January 1995

Sheryl Crow's songs provided the soundtrack for a killer road trip in Kalifornia, but she's got mixed feelings about Hollywood's continuing shoot-to-be-hip violence. Happiness isn't ...

Menswear: This Year's Model

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, April 1995

When record companies went window-shopping last year, they all wanted to buy Menswear. Without even releasing a single, the band's reputation stands more upon the ...

PJ Harvey: To Bring You My Love (Island)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, April 1995

POLLY JEAN HARVEY has never been afraid to let the masculine side of her personality underscore her feminine traits. The shock of the new most ...

Weezer: The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, April 1995

Weezer may have written a million-selling debut album full of sparkling punk-pop songs, but it means nothing to super-nerdy frontman Rivers Cuomo. He's 23; time ...

Pulp: Cocker The North

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, May 1995

Jarvis Cocker, the only kid in his Sheffield classroom who wore lederhosen, didn't have a girlfriend till he was 19. Now he's a pin-up and ...

Buffalo Tom: Sleepy Eyed (Beggars Banquet BB0177)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, August 1995

"SHE'S A tangerine, made in California. She's a sunny day." Bill Janovitz surely knows how to set a scene and now that Buffalo Tom mirrors ...

Pearl Jam, Neil Young: Neil Young: Mirror Ball (Reprise 9362 45934-2/4/1)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, August 1995

FIRST THINGS first. It's age before beauty. Young before youth. Finally, the worst kept secret in rock — that Neil Young was recording an album ...

Bush: America? They're mad for it

Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 20 January 1997

Four Londoners have conquered the American rock market: their new album is at number one and they outsell the Britpop crew combined. Have you heard ...

Blur: "We're an art school band and always will be"

Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 7 February 1997

Damon Albarn has re-invented Blur: they don't drink (much), they don't like New Labour and they certainly don't play Britpop. MAX BELL meets the capital's ...

Spirit: Randy California

Obituary by Max Bell, MOJO, March 1997

RANDY CALIFORNIA, THE GUITARIST AND songwriter of West Coast group Spirit, drowned after swimming off the Hawaiian island of Molokai on January 2. ...

Terry Callier, Beth Orton: Beth Orton: The next Dusty springs from the trailer park to centre stage

Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 19 March 1997

Beth Orton is an unlikely creature: a beautiful, long-limbed folk singer who's got the grapevine buzzing. Her pop comes from the American trailer park and... ...

Phish: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Max Bell, MOJO, April 1997

BECAUSE OF THEIR FOLLOWING, THE FACT that they laugh in the face of set-lists and encourage bootlegging, these Burlington blues boys are often compared to ...

Supergrass: In It For The Money (Parlophone)

Review and Interview by Max Bell, MOJO, May 1997

IT SEEMS UNLIKELY THAT SUPERGRASS will ever scale the wails of hype built around those British bands whose media inflated self-importance exceeds their artistic merit. ...

Jewel: A hot front from the frozen north

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 13 May 1997

She's just 17, hails from Arctic America and has been taken up by the likes of Dylan and Sean Penn. What more could a budding ...

Texas: Good News From Texas

Interview by Max Bell, GQ, August 1997

SHARLEEN SPITERI was free-climbing in the Cuillin Hills on the Isle of Skye a year ago, when she made two uncharacteristic blunders. Firstly, she fell ...

The Beach Boys: Beach Boys: The Pet Sounds Sessions

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, November 1997

The Beach Boys: tampering with the impact of time ...

The Doors: Box Set

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, December 1997

History of the LA group ...

Oasis: I Am Disturbance

Interview by Max Bell, GQ, February 1998

And so's my brother... but not for long. After four years of tours, scraps, hits and hedonism, Liam and Noel Gallagher are settling down, buying ...

Propellerheads: One giant leap for Big Beat

Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 3 February 1998

Everyone wants a piece of their music: Steven Spielberg, Shirley Bassey, Coca-Cola... but the Propellerheads have their feet firmly on the ground. MAX BELL meets ...

Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, The Who: Monterey International Pop Festival

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, March 1998

Four-CD box set of the 1967 Summer Of Love festival ...

Sagittarius, The Millennium: Sagittarius: Present Tense; The Millennium: Begin

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, March 1998

TO GET THE full scope of these groundbreaking recordings, released within weeks of each other in the summer of '68, it's vital to know that ...

Gary Barlow: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 24 March 1998

Stepping on the Gaz for the middle of the road ...

Spice Girls: Wembley Arena, London ★★

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 15 April 1998

Yes, yes, oh yes, the Five are Fab ...

Ian McCulloch, Spice Girls: The Spice Girls and Ian McCulloch: They're singing for England...

Report and Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 22 April 1998

It's the song of the summer and you'll hear it for the first time at the match tonight. MAX BELL speaks exclusively to the Spice ...

Grateful Dead: Ken Kesey: The prank outsider

Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 12 August 1998

In the Sixties the Beatles stitched him up. But chemically challenged cult novelist Ken Kesey still loves London in the summer. MAX BELL meets the ...

Jonathan Richman: There's Something about Jonathan

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, The Independent, 25 September 1998

Jonathan Richman introduced us to the abominable snowman in the supermarket. Now, like wow, he's a film star. ...

Gay Dad: Gay rites

Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 2 December 1998

The exceptionally named Gay Dad will headline the New Year's NME Brats night. And they're set for even bigger things, says MAX BELL ...

Lauryn Hill: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 8 February 1999

Sunsplashed homage to Bob ...

Lynden David Hall: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 19 March 1999

Sexy Lynden plays it cool and serious ...

Badly Drawn Boy: Drawn power

Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 31 March 1999

The new Beck, huh? MAX BELL meets Badly Drawn Boy, whose Idiosyncratic, low-fi sound provokes the strangest comparisons... ...

The Roots: Astoria, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 16 April 1999

Digging Roots ...

All Saints: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 4 May 1999

Shaznay and company pass the live-show test ...

Karen Dalton: Who Loves You The Best Now?

Retrospective by Max Bell, Sunday Telegraph, 8 May 1999

Karen Dalton was a chronic recluse who died in obscurity. But now she's being hailed as one of the most original folk singers of the ...

Shania Twain: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 9 July 1999

Sounds of the country from Nodding Hell ...

Brian Wilson, Wondermints: Wondermints: Bali

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, October 2000

UK RELEASE at last for second LP from Brian Wilson's "backing band." ...

Bob Dylan: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 5 October 2000

AS HE approaches his 60th year there are many people prepared to vouch for the fact that Bob Dylan hasn't been in such great shape ...

Finley Quaye: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 7 December 2000

Not as other men ...

Turin Brakes: Rock Musicians

Profile by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 4 January 2001

EVER SINCE Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian struck up a playground friendship in their Clapham primary school they seemed destined to work together. ...

Anastacia: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 11 June 2001

Short, sharp shock of soul ...

The Strokes, The White Stripes: Big riffs from across the pond

Profile by Max Bell, Stevie Chick, The Evening Standard, 5 July 2001

US garage rock is back, and Detroit and New York are where it's at. Stevie Chick and Max Bell look at the new breed chasing ...

Carina Round: Elbow Room, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 6 August 2001

Sweetness rules in the pool hall ...

Groove Armada: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 18 March 2002

Getting back in the groove ...

The Vines: Grape Expectations: The Vines: Highly Evolved (Heavenly Recordings) ***½

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, August 2002

Much-heralded thrashy Australians ...

Flying Burrito Brothers: Sincity — The Very Best Of The Flying Burrito Brothers (Universal)****

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, September 2002

ALTHOUGH THEY fit neatly into the silver-stitched seams on the patchwork quilt that became the country-rock heritage centre, The Flying Burrito Brothers were neither as ...

Willie Nelson: Stars & Guitars

Review and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, January 2003

Shotgun Willie recorded live in the country capital with a clutch of great names including Sheryl Crow, Ryan Adams and Emmylou Harris. ...

Lou Reed: The Raven

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, February 2003

Reed shows off "heavy bear" side on two-CD tribute to 19th-century poet ...

The Nazz: Open Our Eyes – The Anthology

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, February 2003

Comprehensive collection of Philly pop-soul boys, fronted by Todd Rundgren, who looked to Swinging London for inspiration and then blew up. ...

Evan Dando: Baby I'm Bored

Review and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, April 2003

The mighty Lemonhead gets seven-year-itch and returns a much-changed man. ...

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: Pig Lib

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, April 2003

Ex-Pavement kingpin condenses decades of rock'n'roll lunacy into one uneasy capsule ...

Kings of Leon: Crown Pretenders: Kings Of Leon: Youth And Young Manhood (HandMeDown Records) *****

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, August 2003

Fabulously fresh take on deep Southern white trash rock'n'roll ...

Lloyd Cole: Music In A Foreign Language

Review and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, August 2003

Cynical, articulate UK singer-songwriter sends home thoughts from abroad. ...

Kings of Leon: Almost Famous: Kings of Leon

Profile by Max Bell, Uncut, September 2003

Lauded Confederate rockers with an R&B, punk-junk difference ...

Pernice Brothers: The Pernice Brothers: Yours, Mine And Ours

Review and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, September 2003

EVER SINCE THE Scud Mountain Boys shot their way into our consciousness like the eponymous missile via their Sub Pop discs (still available as Massachusetts ...

Damien Rice: O (East West) ***

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, October 2003

Poll-winning singer-songwriter in his native Ireland, Rice is about to crack America ...

Iggy Pop: Skull Ring

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, November 2003

Ageless rock'n'roll motherlode reconvenes Stooges, toys with Green Day and hooks up with art-rapper Peaches. ...

Jerry Garcia: All Good Things – Jerry Garcia Studio Sessions

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, June 2004

Superbly packaged box set of all five Garcia solo discs, plus oodles of outtakes. ...

Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Frankie Says Come Again

Retrospective by Max Bell, Uncut, July 2004

The T-shirts. The gay sex imagery. That BBC ban for 'Relax'. Nine weeks at No. 1 with 'Two Tribes'. For one amazing year — 1984 ...

Elvis Presley: What if Elvis had never been born?

Retrospective by Max Bell, The Independent, 4 July 2004

Rock'n'roll exploded into new life 50 years ago tomorrow, says Max Bell, when some hick recorded 'That's All Right' in Memphis, thereby detonating the Big ...

Brinsley Schwarz: Andrew Lauder: Paradise Recalled

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, The Independent, 19 September 2004

Once, rock inhabited Eden. Man, Can and Beefheart were its fruit. Then the snakes in suits took over and music biz creatives like Andrew Lauder ...

Noel Harrison: Keep on Grooving

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, The Independent, 20 February 2005

By 1968, Noel Harrison – son of Rex – had done it all: landed the glitzy film roles, lived in Hollywood pads and cut 'Windmills ...

Ronnie Spector: Be My Baby?

Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, May 2006

When Phil Spector didn't have her under lock and key, she was being seduced by Lennon and getting wild with Bowie, Ronnie Spector, the ultimate ...

The Eagles: Eagles: Long Road Out Of Eden (Universal)

Review by Max Bell, Classic Rock, December 2007

WHEN STEELY DAN sang the immortal line "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbours are listening" on their mid-'70s sex-swinging party anthem 'Everything You Did', the ...

The Doors, Jim Morrison: L.A. Woman and the Last Days of Jim Morrison

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, Classic Rock, August 2010

Forget what you think you know. How Jim Morrison REALLY died, by the people who found the body, moved the body and buried him… ...

Beck, Bogert and Appice, Jeff Beck, Les Paul, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart: Jeff Beck talks about Rod Stewart and answers some questions for Classic Rock

Interview by Max Bell, Classic Rock, January 2011

JEFF BECK confirmed to Classic Rock that the two old buddies would renew a partnership that first saw light in the late 1960s when the two rock ...

Can: The Making of Tago Mago

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, Classic Rock, April 2011

SUMMER 1971. The five members of Can are huddled around a bottle of wine and a stereo suitcase Revox A77 tape recorder, listening to the ...

Arthur Brown: The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, Classic Rock, October 2012

THIS IS HOW it's supposed to happen. "Arthur will send his car for you driven by one of his young handmaidens. She will blindfold you ...

Derek & The Dominos, Bobby Whitlock: The strange tale of Derek, Gordon, George …and Bobby Whitlock

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, unpublished, Summer 2013

AUGUST 14. Summer of 1969. Oakland Coliseum. Eric Clapton, Rick Grech, Ginger Baker and Steve Winwood are on stage during the US tour to promote ...

Randy California, Spirit: California Dreaming: The Wild and Tragic Story of Spirit

Retrospective by Max Bell, Classic Rock, 18 June 2014

Led by mercurial guitarist Randy California, Spirit were buddies of Jimi Hendrix and praised by Led Zeppelin. But their promise would collapse in blur of ...

Canned Heat: The badass blues band that death couldn't kill

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, Classic Rock, January 2015

PICTURE THE SCENE: April 4, 1981, outside the World Famous Palomino Club in North Hollywood. The members of Canned Heat and their friends are smoking ...

The Soft White Underbelly: The acid-dazed days of the band that became Blue Öyster Cult

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, Classic Rock, 25 July 2015

The story of Soft White Underbelly ...

Ronnie Lane's Escape To The Country

Retrospective by Max Bell, Classic Rock, 31 December 2015

When Ronnie Lane quit the Faces, he swapped starry lead singers and showbiz bullshit for a new life down on the farm, and a new ...

Gordon Lightfoot: Gord's Gold

Interview by Max Bell, Record Collector, April 2021

  THE VOICE ON the other end of the line is hesitant. The hearing is none too good. Talking on the phone is a challenge. "Can ...

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