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Penny Valentine

Penny Valentine

Penny was one of the first British pop writers of note, writing in the ’60s for DISC AND MUSIC ECHO, and then later for SOUNDS, CITY LIMITS and many other publications. She was also the first female pop writer in the British press. She co-wrote (with Vicki Wickham) Dancing With Demons: The Authorized Biography of Dusty Springfield. Penny died in January 2003.

Hear Penny talking in February 1968

Richard Williams' obituary

201 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

The Rolling Stones, Charlie Watts: Why I Want To Be A Writer — By Charlie Watts

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc, 26 December 1964

talking to PENNY VALENTINE ...

Them: Everyone wants to know about... that there Them group!

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc, 10 April 1965

...and here's the secret of their success — writes PENNY VALENTINE ...

Bob Dylan: Dynamic Dylan!

Report by Penny Valentine, Disc Weekly, 12 June 1965

IT IS A QUARTER to eight at the BBC studios in London. There is an audience of 300 but the place is very quiet as ...

Bob Dylan: 'Like A Rolling Stone' (CBS)

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc Weekly, 14 August 1965

AND NOW A SIX-MINUTE TREK THROUGH DYLAN-LAND ...

Sonny & Cher: The Mad Mad World of Sonny And Cher!

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc Weekly, 4 September 1965

SONNY and Cher had just arrived in their manager's office in Los Angeles. It was 2.30 p.m. and they had bounced happily back from a ...

Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw, Dusty Springfield: Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw: Under the Hair Drier!

Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc, 13 November 1965

What DO DUSTY, SANDIE and CILLA talk about when they're trapped? ...

Cilla Black: Cilla Sings a Rainbow (Parlophone)

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 23 April 1966

CILLA: A SUPER NEW LP ...

Cilla Black: Cilla on Marriage

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 23 April 1966

'THE QUEEN HASN'T DONE TOO BADLY – BUT IT'S NOT YET FOR ME!' ...

The Lovin' Spoonful, The Searchers, Dusty Springfield, The Vibrations: Dusty Springfield, the Lovin' Spoonful: Ready, Steady, Go!

Film/DVD/TV Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 23 April 1966

…and wasn't Dusty a gas on RSG? ...

Julie Driscoll, Tom Jones, Bob Lind, Keith Relf, Sandie Shaw, Percy Sledge, Them, Unit 4+2, Scott Walker: Singles from Them, Tom Jones, Percy Sledge et al

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 14 May 1966

Sandie's improved — this is a big hit ...

The Rolling Stones: Stones Single — Your verdict

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 14 May 1966

FRIDAY THE thirteenth of May — tomorrow — will be a red-letter day for Stones fans. It's the release date of the new Stones single ...

The Beach Boys: Beach Boy In Town... Cool, So Cool

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 28 May 1966

BRUCE JOHNSTON is 23 and has sandy hair and wears bright custard shirts. He used to be a record producer for CBS in America and ...

The Troggs: OOPS! A TROGG named PRESLEY! And his relations were furious.

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 28 May 1966

HAVE YOU ever come to wonder about Reg Trogg's surname being Presley? It's very strange really. ...

The Animals, Cilla Black, Jackie Edwards, Marianne Faithfull, Barry Fantoni, Freddie & The Dreamers, Billy Fury, The Roulettes, Ike & Tina Turner, The Yardbirds: Singles by Ike & Tina Turner, the Animals, the Yardbirds et al

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 28 May 1966

Subdued Animals — smash hit! ...

Paul Jones: How I went on Juke Box Jury — and LIVED!

Report by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 23 July 1966

Disc and Music Echo singles reviewer whose Jury appearance this week was recorded last Saturday. ...

The Walker Brothers: Walker Brothers: Does John Maus miss the cream?

Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 23 July 1966

THIS WEEK, into Disc and Music Echo's offices, appeared the following tome: "We have all had enough of Scott Engel. Even Gary gets more attention ...

The Beatles, Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers, Kim Fowley, Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, Napoleon XIV, The Righteous Brothers, Nancy Sinatra, Percy Sledge, The Small Faces, Edwin Starr, Ike & Tina Turner: New singles from the Beatles, Small Faces, Percy Sledge et al

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 6 August 1966

THIS IS THE BEST BEATLE SONG EVER! ...

The Troggs: Troggs: Why The Nasty Knocking?

Comment by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 27 August 1966

I WOULD like to defend The Troggs. ...

Mike D'Abo, Manfred Mann: Miked D'Abo: D'Abo Digs Dollies!

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 17 September 1966

MIKE D'ABO turned up ten minutes late, full of apologies but his cats Alfie and Dolly had been ill. ...

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, The Troggs, The Walker Brothers: The Walker Brothers, the Troggs, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Granada, East Ham, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 8 October 1966

They're Off! Walkers, Troggs, Dave Dee ...

The Supremes: Supremes smash phone records!

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 15 October 1966

NO MATTER where they happen to be — Japan or Germany, Australia or Andalusia — a phone call is put in to Mrs. Ross, of ...

The Beach Boys, The Dave Clark Five, David & Jonathan, Ken Dodd, Jackie Edwards, Bobby Hebb, Gene Pitney, The Righteous Brothers, The Shadows, Spencer Davis Group: New Singles, including Beach Boys, Spencer Davis Group

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 29 October 1966

BEACH BOYS' new single — and it's a work of art 'Good Vibrations': What can you say about a work of art other than stating ...

Lorraine Ellison, Haydock's Rockhouse, Jonathan King, Alan Price, Otis Redding, Sandie Shaw, The Small Faces, Truth, The Who: Singles from the Who, Otis Redding, Small Faces, Lorraine Ellison and more

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 12 November 1966

WHO PLUS BATMAN: A MINI BONANZA! ...

Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers, The Easybeats, The Four Tops: Blowing their TOPS! The Four Tops, Easybeats, Cliff Bennett: Saville Theatre, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 19 November 1966

The 'Reach Out, I'll Be There' boys hit town and cause a sensation among the stars and fans at their concert ...

The Association, Cream, The Escorts, Tim Hardin, The Move, Cliff Richard, The Troggs, The Walker Brothers, The Who: New singles from the Who, Cream, Tim Hardin, the Walker Brothers et al

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 10 December 1966

WHO AND THE HAPPY WORLD OF PETE TOWNSHEND 'Happy Jack' (Reaction) — Happy Who, happy us, happy world of Pete Townshend! ...

Cat Stevens: Cat: What A Drag It Is Being Young

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 21 January 1967

THE LYRICS IN Cat Stevens’ songs would imply that he was a simple person involved with the simple things in life. Working for a rotten ...

The Monkees: The Monkees (RCA)

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 21 January 1967

CATCHEE MONKEES — on their first great LP ...

Madeline Bell, The Four Tops, The Merseys, The Remo Four: The Four Tops, Madeline Bell, the Merseys, the Remo Four: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 4 February 1967

Ball at the Albert Hall ...

Johnny Rivers: This Johnny is a cool customer

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 18 February 1967

JOHNNY RIVERS is the sort or name they've been throwing around with abandon in the hippie homes USA-style for some time now. ...

Jimi Hendrix, Engelbert Humperdinck, Cat Stevens, The Walker Brothers: Walkers — Humperdinck — Stevens — Hendrix... on a 25 — Day Rave!

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 1 April 1967

Blast-off for THE big four is this Friday — Here's Disc's curtain-raiser by the stars themselves ...

Manfred Mann: That Mobbing Scene Is Over

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 8 April 1967

MICHAEL D'ABO burst into song, sitting in the sun outside a London pub, and signed two autograph books proffered by two slightly embarassed fans. ...

Pink Floyd: They're all in the PINK!

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 8 April 1967

THE PINK Floyd burst on to the London club scene in a kaleidoscope of colours some months ago. Literally, because colour, shapes and light gave ...

The Rolling Stones: Swedes Riot For The Stones While Jagger Plans A Fresh Tour Draw...

Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 8 April 1967

HALFWAY through their Continental tour last week the Rolling Stones were experiencing scenes of fantastic fan fervour, riots and galloping policemen. ...

The Alan Bown Set, Bo Diddley, Ben E. King: Bo Diddley, Ben E. King, Alan Bown Set: Saville Theatre, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 22 April 1967

BO and BEN: the rock-soul truce men! ...

Dusty Springfield: Talk Of The Town, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 13 May 1967

DUSTY A WOW IN CABARET ...

Jimi Hendrix, Garnet Mimms: Jimi Hendrix Experience, Garnet Mimms: Saville Theatre, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 13 May 1967

Hendrix turns on the heat ...

Jeff Beck, Cream: Cream, Jeff Beck: Saville Theatre, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 8 July 1967

Cream — just beautiful! ...

Cream Crackers

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 15 July 1967

THE CREAM are all things bright and beautiful. They have suddenly arisen from the depths of a mediocre music scene, like a splendid awakening Kraken. ...

Sandie Shaw: Bella Ragazza

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 5 August 1967

SANDIE SHAW was engaged in something of a friendly battle with an Italian waiter at the Palace Hotel, Viareggio, when I finally caught up with ...

Dusty Springfield: Searching so hard to find herself...

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 9 September 1967

Close up on a pop giant... by Penny Valentine ...

Procol Harum: Procol: "It's nice to think they're copying us..."

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 30 September 1967

'A WHITER Shade Of Pale' has sold four million copies. A fact which would have most jolly groups leaping about in joy, but which Procol ...

Dusty Springfield: Where Am I Going? (Philips 33s. 6d.)

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 18 November 1967

Dusty: so worth the wait ...

Gladys Knight and the Pips: Gladys Knight: How It Took Miss Knight 14 Years To Get A Hit

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 9 December 1967

GLADYS KNIGHT And The Pips have been together for 14 years — a fact made all the more unbelievable when you consider that Gladys herself ...

Love: 'Alone Again Or' (Elektra)

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 20 January 1968

CERTAINLY THE best of the West Coast groups, I have always loved Love's ability to combine progress with strong melody and a certain indefinable something. ...

The Small Faces: We excite ourselves say Small Faces!

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 20 January 1968

ONCE KNOCKED for being merely a bunch of mini noise-makers with spots and gravelly voices who were not exactly listed among people you would most ...

Tim Rose: Meet Tim Rose, Man Who Helped To Put Jimi Hendrix On The Hit Trail

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 24 February 1968

TIM ROSE is an American in the odd position of having been responsible for two of pop's standard classics — without actually having a hit ...

The Peddlers, Lou Rawls: Lou Rawls, the Peddlers: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 25 May 1968

Lou Rawls — staggered ...

The Rolling Stones: 'Jumping Jack Flash' (Decca)

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 25 May 1968

Yes! Yes! Stones flash back with a No.1 ...

Simon & Garfunkel: 'Mrs. Robinson'

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 6 July 1968

I HAVE A strange and nice feeling that this is going to be the record to break the Simon & Garfunkel chart silence in Britain. ...

Tim Hardin Talking Of Life's Raw Deal...

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 20 July 1968

THAT TIM HARDIN actually arrived in London last week to embark on his first concert tour is a history-making event in itself. ...

Jack Good: Blasting British Pop TV

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 5 October 1968

T.V. whizz-kid Jack Good flies in to make a spectacular and says: "I don't want the masses; they can go watch Coronation Street" ...

Dusty Springfield: Five Great Years of Dusty

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 2 November 1968

ON NOVEMBER 5, 1968, Dusty Springfield celebrates five years as a solo star. ...

The Beatles: The Beatles (Parlophone)

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 9 November 1968

73 bob is the cost of the Beatles' LP. Pay up and smile THE BEATLES GETS AWAY FROM SERGEANT PEPPER ...

Lulu: A tiger in her £20,000 cage… Lulu at home

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 30 November 1968

ITS ALWAYS news when pop stars move into houses — so few have permanent homes of any kind because they're always on the move. ...

Canned Heat, Dusty Springfield: Dusty Springfield: 'Son Of A Preacher Man'; Canned Heat: 'Going Up The Country'

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 30 November 1968

Dusty: this might be that elusive smash... ...

Crosby Stills and Nash: It's A Revolution

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 7 December 1968

IN A SMALL TOP-FLOOR flat off Bayswater, London, a music revolution is taking place. ...

Chicken Shack, Christine Perfect/McVie, Fleetwood Mac: A Perfect Marriage: Christine Of Chicken Shack And John Of Fleetwood Fame

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 18 January 1969

BLONDE, GRITTY Christine Perfect not only bears the distinction of being lead singer of the famed Chicken Shack blues band, but is also married to ...

David Bowie: 'Space Oddity'

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 10 July 1969

DAVID BOWIE – AMAZING SOUND! ...

David Bowie: Chart Control to David Bowie: The "Human Oddity" Interviewed

Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc, 11 October 1969

DAVID BOWIE IS 22 years old, thin, with a halo of fair hair, a delicately soft face and two cold eyes. One is pale kitten ...

David Bowie Says Most Things The Long Way Round!

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 25 October 1969

ON HEARING a new LP called David Bowie, someone remarked: 'Well it's very nice, but do you think he's a lasting talent?' ...

Chicken Shack, Christine Perfect/McVie: Christine Perfect part 1: Who's Perfect? Christine's Rise From Shopgirl To Stardom

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 8 November 1969

WHEN CHRISTINE Perfect was 19 and studying to be a sculptress in Birmingham, she was roped into playing bass for a local group that didn't ...

Christine Perfect/McVie: Christine Perfect part 2: Perfection In Married Life, By Christine And John...

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 15 November 1969

HER VOICE IS dry with a tinge of North Country humour in it; she's not conventionally pretty – but she is pleasant and warm and ...

Desmond Dekker

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 29 November 1969

DESMOND DEKKER had a pretty nasty experience the other day when fans got hold of his scarf and nearly strangled him. He was unconscious for ...

David Bowie: Big Week For Bowie: A new star shoots upwawrds

Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, February 1970

DAVID BOWIE has had a good week. ...

Stephen Stills keeps fighting — against violence in pop music

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 28 February 1970

STEPHEN STILLS is possibly the most underrated musician and musical force of our time. But he’s no demi-god. It is one of those strange ironies ...

Ginger Baker

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 11 April 1970

GINGER BAKER is 31 years old and you DON’T ignore him. You can’t. He has accumulated a monstrous reputation over the past 10 years that ...

Bread: Bread's Coming Of Age

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 10 October 1970

IT HAS taken the amazing Bread over a year to 'break nationwide' – or for that matter to break anywhere on a really large scale. ...

Elton John, Fotheringay: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Penny Valentine, Sounds, 10 October 1970

PUTTING ELTON John second billing to Fotheringay at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday night was a taste of mistaken booking if ever there was ...

The Faces, Rod Stewart: Rod Stewart: Rod Remains a Face

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 10 October 1970

GASOLINE ALLEY is Rod Stewart's second solo album. Out here this month it has already, in America, put him streaks ahead in the solo champ class. ...

The Who: Roger Daltrey: The Sounds Talk In

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 10 October 1970

DO YOU feel your position as a singer with the Who is as influential as you'd like it to be? ...

The Band, Bread, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, The James Gang, The Move, Laura Nyro, Edwin Starr, James Taylor, The Who: The Week's Singles: Laura Nyro, James Taylor, Eric Clapton, The Band et al

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 10 October 1970

Magnificent, dynamic Nyro ...

Bread: Revolution Club, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 17 October 1970

AT THE end of Bread's London appearance at the Revolution club on Thursday night they were called back to do two encores and treated to ...

Elton John: The Great White Hope

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 17 October 1970

CALL ELTON John what you will. The most brilliant singer/pianist we have ever produced, one of the best artists on record or on stage you ...

Humble Pie Get Back To Steve's Roots

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 17 October 1970

HUMBLE PIE have got back to what could ostensibly be called Steve Marriott's roots. Today their musical approach involves a good solid line in basic ...

The James Gang

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 17 October 1970

PETE TOWNSHEND, who usually has an eye and an ear for the musically arresting and is no man to argue with, could be said to ...

The Voices of East Harlem: Voices of East Harlem: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 17 October 1970

IF THE Albert Hall had been full to its capacity audience of 8,000 on Friday night then the Voices of East Harlem could well have ...

Emerson Lake And Palmer, The Nice: Emerson Lake & Palmer: Here Comes Another Orgasmic Peak

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 31 October 1970

KEITH EMERSON is, to say the least, very upset at the release of old Nice tapes currently flooding the market. ...

James Taylor Comes To Town

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 31 October 1970

JAMES TAYLOR was in town and you could tell it by the buzz in the air and the musicians who walked around muttering his name ...

James Taylor, Joni Mitchell: Joni Mitchell in with James

Report by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 31 October 1970

JONI MITCHELL flew into London last Sunday – with James Taylor the man with whom she is being romantically linked. ...

T. Rex: I'm A Pop Star On Any Level Says Marc

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 31 October 1970

MARC BOLAN – whose voice has been known to bring some people out in an allergy and others to their knees in supplication – has ...

Badfinger: No Dice (Apple SAPCOR 16)

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 19 December 1970

BADFINGER ARE one of Apple's natural phenomena who continue to sound disturbingly like the early Beatles. I say "disturbingly" only because the comparison is almost ...

Elton John: Tumbleweed Connection

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 1971

IT IS ALL too easy to go overboard with praise about Elton John. I am guilty of doing it – frequently. But then, when faced ...

Elton John: The Record Rise Of A Superstar Called Reg

Essay by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 1971

IN APRIL 1970 an album was released that was to whisk Reg Dwight of Pinner into Elton John. It was, quite simply, titled Elton John, ...

David Bowie: Bowie, Music And Life

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 6 February 1971

DAVID BOWIE has never been a conventional anything. Certainly he is no run of the mill product of the music business, something rather that was ...

Tim Hardin: Contemporary Songwriters: Tim Hardin

Profile by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 27 February 1971

MANY SONGWRITERS could be said to expose a little of their soul during the course of their writing, but there can't be anyone in the ...

Cat Stevens

Profile by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 20 March 1971

CAT STEVENS is very rare amongst the British writer syndrome in that a vast percentage of his work stems from his environment. He is a ...

The Rolling Stones: Rolling Stones: 'Brown Sugar'/'Bitch'/'Let It Rock' (Rolling Stones Records)

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 17 April 1971

IF ANYONE had been led to believe by the rumours feverishly circulating in the past couple of months that the Rolling Stones were about to ...

The Faces: Here Comes Britain's Biggest Rock And Roll Band

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 17 April 1971

Penny Valentine talks to a Face and makes a prediction ...

David Bowie: Contemporary Songwriters: David Bowie

Profile by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 1 May 1971

THE WORK of songwriters is conditioned by many things. Their environment, their childhood, their brushes with love, their hopes and dreams, their disillusionment. And they ...

Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Four Way Street (Atlantic)

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 1 May 1971

I HAVE to admit at the start of this review that I'm generally not over keen on live recordings. Although occasionally they show that an ...

Cat Stevens in the Talk-In

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 22 May 1971

You're very rare in music today in that you managed to virtually disappear for two years when you were ill and then came back ...

Cat Stevens: Teaser And The Firecat

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 1 August 1971

Singer, musician and songwriter. As such, in the opinion of many, Cat Stevens is one of the most brilliant and worthwhile talents to have emerged ...

Rick Wakeman: Just Another Yes Man

Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 28 August 1971

WHEN HE was six years old, Rick Wakeman's father dispatched him to a very fine lady piano teacher in Harrow. Two lessons later the infant ...

Cat Stevens: Teaser And The White Hot Cat

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 25 September 1971

"I built my house of barley rice, green paper walls and water ice, tables of paper wood, windows of light and everything emptying into white." ...

The Rainbow Theatre: Cheap Seats In Pot Of Gold

Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 16 October 1971

"ROCK audiences now are interested in having a comfortable place to sit and really listen to music. The days of freak out dancing to anything ...

Cher Is Back

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 30 October 1971

FIVE YEARS ago a stocky guy with hair to his shoulders and a fur coat round his shoulders and a slim, stunning girl who wore ...

Elton John: Madman Across The Water (DJM)

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 30 October 1971

IT'S AN ODD fact that the British tend to malign their own products to the point of insanity. We managed to ignore Joe Cocker, almost ...

T. Rex: Fairfield Hall, Croydon

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 30 October 1971

MAGIC IS a hard thing to summon up on a Sunday after-lunch afternoon audience. So if anyone deserves the award of the month it's Marc ...

Yes: Making It Last

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, December 1971

BRITISH MUSIC now seems to have a quality of holding onto its stars, and it’s maybe only once a year that anyone manages to surface ...

Stevie Wonder: Music Of My Mind (Tamla Motown)

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 4 December 1971

THIS HAS been hailed as Stevie Wonder's final "coming of age", but I think this album is more important and will certainly have more important ...

The Faces: A Nod's as Good as a Wink to the Faces...

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 22 January 1972

IT'S BEEN a long hard rest for Ronnie Wood — as indeed it has been for the rest of the Faces. Days when there wasn't ...

Billy Preston: I Wrote A Simple Song (AM AMLH 63507).

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 22 January 1972

WARMTH ...

Isaac Hayes: Black Moses (Stax Super 2628 004)

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 22 January 1972

HAYES HAS got to the stage now where "genius" is a word liberally applied to just about everything he does and, certainly, he has reached ...

Joe Cocker: Why The Cut in Cockerpower?

Report by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 22 January 1972

WHEN JOE Cocker came back to Brit­ain at the end of 1970, went back home to Sheffield and word got around to a stunned music ...

Stevie Wonder: Stevie's Moog Music...

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 22 January 1972

"I never did realise it would take me so long to lose that 'Little' Stevie Wonder tag. There are times when I wish I'd only ...

Billy Preston: Billy's Feelin' Real Good

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 29 January 1972

A BROOKLYN friend of mine who had this uncanny knack of being able to spot a rising star at 100 yards said to me a ...

"Mama" Cass Elliot: Cass Elliot: Cass Elliot (RCA)

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 29 January 1972

CASS'S FIRST SOLO ALBUM for her new company shows that the lady has always had much more to offer in terms of phrasing and feel ...

Bloodstone, Curtis Mayfield: Curtis Mayfield, Bloodstone: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 29 January 1972

CURTIS LOSES BUT WINS ...

Curtis Mayfield In The Talk-In

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 5 February 1972

WHEN YOU first used strings on your early work with the Impressions it was something of a breakthrough in soul music. Did you find any ...

David Geffen: David's Talented Asylum

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 5 February 1972

Penny Valentine talks to America's leading manager David Geffen ...

Helen Reddy: Weekend Ever Reddy

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 5 February 1972

A VERY HEAVY Ameri­can biography on Helen Reddy comes on with excessive amounts of material on the super­natural, her beliefs in ESP and parapsycho­logy* until ...

Elton John: Start of a New Era

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 26 February 1972

MIDNIGHT ON Monday evening and in his luxury ranch-style house in Surrey, where the carpet grows deep and the huge knife-edged plants threaten to eat ...

Procol Harum: Procol Back On The Pedestal

Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 8 April 1972

PROCOL HARUM’S new album — not the extravaganza that comes out this week with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra but the one Gary Brooker and Keith ...

Manassas, Stephen Stills: Stephen Stills' Manassas: Manassas (Atlantic K60021)

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 29 April 1972

OF ALL the members of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young it's been Stephen that seems to have had the roughest passage going it alone. Critics ...

John Denver, The Moody Blues: The Moody Blues, John Denver: Empire Pool, Wembley, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 29 April 1972

MOODIES: HEROES AT THE POOL ...

Valerie Simpson: Exposed (Tamla Motown STML 11194)

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 29 April 1972

THIS FIRST solo album by songwriter Valerie Simpson could be subtitled Motown's answer to Carole King. Certainly there are many facts that tie in between ...

Joni Mitchell: Royal Festival Hall, London,

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 13 May 1972

Saturday night was Cup Final day in London and – in passing – the last time the crowd joined for ‘Abide With Me’ at Wembley. ...

Joni Mitchell: An Interview (part 1)

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 3 June 1972

THE LADY WHO walks on eggs is sitting in her hotel suite overlooking St. James' Park with her legs tucked up, her chin resting on ...

Joni Mitchell: An Interview (part 2)

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 10 June 1972

LAST WEEK Joni Mitchell spoke for the first time in over two years about why she virtually "retired" from the music scene during a period ...

Procol Harum: Reid Between The Lines

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 12 August 1972

"I HAVE A VERY bad reputation," says Keith Reid thoughtfully. "Especially with the men who hold all the money in this business". I'm quite sure ...

Family: Chappo Chats

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 26 August 1972

"I DON'T THINK we've ever had a particular status. I think we're a band a lot of people underestimate and in many ways I think ...

Donny Hathaway: Everything Is Everything (Atlantic K40063)

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 9 September 1972

DONNY HATHAWAY, the young black writer/producer/arranger/keyboard player who has worked with Mayfield, Flack, Jerry Butler, Staple Singers and Carla Thomas, comes up here with his ...

Ray Charles: A Message From The People (Probe SPB 1060)

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 9 September 1972

RAY CHARLES has apparently wanted to do an album like this — where the songs reflect a series of ideas, soft protests and pain at ...

Joe Cocker: 'With A Song In Your Heart'

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 18 November 1972

JOE COCKER has had a pretty heavy day of it so far. Two Australians had been gritting their teeth at him... 'Was it true that ...

Cat Stevens: A Cat Breaks Free

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 9 December 1972

Penny Valentine takes a jaunt to see Cat Stevens ...

Dusty Springfield: Talk of the Town, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 16 December 1972

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD'S return to the British music scene for her first live appearances for four years took place last week at the Talk Of The ...

Joni Mitchell: For The Roses

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 16 December 1972

IN A VAST, empty, wild beach a blonde girl sits in the breakers and watches the sea rolling endlessly into the sand. There are seagulls ...

Dory Previn: Surviving All Odds: Dory Previn

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 16 December 1972

WHEN DORY Previn wrote: "I no longer plead with heaven or go rummaging in books for the answers to the questions life contains", she had ...

Procol Harum: Procol's Triumph

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 1973

"MAKES QUITE a change for a Friday night at the Rainbow," said the guy behind me surreptitiously half-way through Procol Harum's appearance last week ...

Terry Reid: Terry’s Funky Steamer

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 1973

FOR A WEEK now in Los Angeles the local TV station have been running a series of old maestro W.C. Fields movies each morning. Today ...

Ronnie Wood

Profile by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 13 January 1973

RONNIE WOOD'S always been pretty modest about his guitar playing. Mention how good it's got over the past two years and he tends to look ...

Bette Midler: Trying To Be Free

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 17 February 1973

THE DIVINE MISS M. sparkles and shines like a great glossy cake trimmed up with rich icing. On stage, word has it, she is superbly ...

Joni Mitchell: The Voice of Woman: Joni Mitchell

Comment by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 17 February 1973

I am on a lonely road and I am travellingLooking for the key to set me free . . . ...

Fanny: The Crossroads Are Where Fanny Are At

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 24 February 1973

ALL RIGHT. So Fanny can play with due competence, can pull in and please the crowds, make chunky representative albums and they've got over the ...

The Demise Of Motown

Comment by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 3 March 1973

Penny Valentine mourns… ...

Steely Dan: Get Your Thrills Here

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 10 March 1973

THE MOST exciting new band to break from the States this year is Steely Dan. ...

Keith Moon: Bored Side Of The Moon

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 5 May 1973

Penny Valentine meets an old friend ...

Gordon Lightfoot's Mid-Day Madness

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 2 June 1973

IT'S MIDDAY in Toronto on Thursday of last week and Gordon Lightfoot is sitting back and reckoning that everything's getting just a touch silly. Which, ...

Cat Stevens' Subtle Love Affair

Review and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 14 July 1973

CAT STEVENS walks out of the burning sun, through the huge glass windows. It’s a surprise to see him. He seems as surprised to be ...

The Faces, Rod Stewart: Rod Stewart: Swashbuckler Rod

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 25 August 1973

ROD STEWART and I have been talking about the Liberal party and their chances in the next election. Now he's standing – one long green ...

Minnie Riperton: Perfect Angel In Flight

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 12 April 1975

As Minnie Riperton hits No. 1 in America Penny Valentine reports from New York ...

Gladys Knight & The Pips: Midnight Train To Harlem

Report by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 26 April 1975

Blowing it at the Apollo means you haven't really made it at all. After a heart-stopping false start, GLADYS KNIGHT went on to prove that ...

LaBelle: ...How The West Was Won — Nearly

Report by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 26 April 1975

A few days in the life of LaBelle. Penny Valentine reports from America's West Coast where the critics are a harder nut to crack than ...

Little Feat, Allen Toussaint: Little Theatre, New York NY

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Record Mirror, 10 May 1975

LITTLE THEATRE — once a rather seedy showcase home for acts that couldn't make the bigger circuits — has undergone a recent facelift and is ...

Bonnie Raitt: Bonnie Comes Marching Home

Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 12 July 1975

When Bonnie Raitt comes marching home to pack Carnegie Hall, Penny Valentine is there to talk to "the one woman who is a pure musician ...

Bonnie Raitt: Bonnie's Blues

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Let It Rock, August 1975

WHEN SHE SINGS 15 year old girls run out of the audience, down the auditorium, arms raised in a two fisted salute. What they are ...

Bonnie Raitt: Home Plate (Warner Bros.)

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, November 1975

BONNIE RAITT is an intriguing talent, firmly rooted in the music of men like Otis Rush and Fred McDowell whom she met and worked with ...

Bonnie Raitt: Home Plate (Warner Bros.)

Review by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 1 November 1975

BONNIE RAITT is an intriguing talent, firmly rooted in the music of men like Otis Rush and Fred McDowell whom she met and worked with ...

Nils Lofgren: Teenage Genius Grinned

Interview by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 1 November 1975

TEN years after he heard his first rock record: "I thought pop music was too simple, I could call out all the chords and analyse ...

The Who: Imagine a Life Full of Heroes & Villains & Fools

Essay by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 1 November 1975

THAT summer: Tolliday and I roaming Soho’s warm night streets, swapping stories, putting each other in roles, lingering outside sawdust-floored Italian food-stores, sniffing in the ...

Van Dyke Parks: Clang Of The Yankee Reaper (Warner Bros.)

Review by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 15 November 1975

ONE DAY I got this strange note from America. It said: "Thanks for the review of my single. It is the first good review I've ...

Cat Stevens: Numbers (Island)

Review by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 29 November 1975

THIS ALBUM is sub-titled 'A Pythagorean Theory Tale'. Pythagoras, you may remember, had a theory that the education system approved of, about the square of ...

Emmylou Harris: New Victoria, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 29 November 1975

THE LIGHTS had just gone down, the musicians were just striking up when these two guys fell up the stairs singing loudly, "New York, New ...

Rufus: Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan (ABC)

Review by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 29 November 1975

AMERICAN BLACK music (that which is loosely termed 'soul') has been going through a disturbing period. It continues to do so. Where once the arm ...

Nils Lofgren: The Selling Of Nils Lofgren

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 29 November 1975

The chalked sign on the blackboard at Manchester University reads: Tonight – Nils Lofgren, and then in brackets Ex-Neil Young & Crazy Horse. The price ...

Joan Baez: Slack Time For The Revolution

Interview by Penny Valentine, Let It Rock, December 1975

JOAN BAEZ PUTS it bluntly: "If I'd done another political album at this point, I'd have been bankrupt. I had no money left. So I ...

Paul Simon: London Palladium

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 10 January 1976

PAUL SIMON is small and neat and nervous. His songs reflect him perfectly. They are small and neat and edgy. Paul Simon delivers his songs ...

Van Dyke Parks: The Clang of Van Dyke Parks

Profile by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 7 February 1976

"He deals in streams of consciousness and clicks someone’s brain on to accepting an abstract concept... he can grab those feelings and wrench them out ...

Godzilla and I

Comment by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 21 February 1976

THERE ARE three women writers on Street Life. We are generally treated with the same 'respect' as our male colleagues. In other words, if there's no ...

Joe Boyd: An Interview

Interview by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 21 February 1976

Penny Valentine talks to the man in between, Joe Boyd who has recently produced Toots Hibbert, Maria Muldaur, and the McGarrigles. ...

Joan Armatrading, Elkie Brooks, Kiki Dee, Carol Grimes, Linda Lewis: A Question of Survival: Rock'n'Roll Women

Overview by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 6 March 1976

THE NUMBER of women working in British music is pitifully small. You can count them on one hand. Why? ...

Maria Muldaur: Sweet Harmony (Reprise)

Review by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 6 March 1976

THE FIRST time I saw Maria Muldaur live she was magnificent. Which is unfortunate because it set a precedent she could never follow short of ...

Barry White: The Discreet Charm Of the Black Bourgeoisie: Barry White and Company

Review by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 6 March 1976

WHEN YOUNG American blacks threw off their jeans, gave them to the white kids, and emerged supercool in their three-piece suits, brogues and cashmere sweaters ...

Janis Ian: Aftertones (CBS)

Review by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 20 March 1976

"SOMETIMES IT'S all too much to say aloud...sometimes the words are painful to the ear." ...

Laura Nyro: Smile (CBS)

Review by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 3 April 1976

AS PEOPLE are attracted to evil I was always fascinated by Laura Nyro. The fascination was on two levels – as a musician she was ...

Bonnie Raitt

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 1 May 1976

FREEBO’S SHAGGY, morose head appears through the doors of the van: "There is no truth in the rumour," he shouts, "that when Bonnie Raitt arrived ...

Peter Frampton: The Rise And Rise

Interview by Penny Valentine, Creem, October 1977

IN WHICH THE PLAN IS REVEALED, ITS ARCHITECTS STEP FORWARD, AND ALL CONCERNED LOOK TO THE FUTURE ...

Traffic: Steve Winwood: Don't Call Him Stevie

Interview by Penny Valentine, Creem, November 1977

When Steve Winwood was 15 years old he was the child prodigy/focal point of the Spencer Davis Group. Singing with a soul voice experienced beyond ...

Talking Heads

Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 28 January 1978

Penny Valentine reports from the Talking Heads tour ...

Queen's Royal Flush

Interview by Penny Valentine, Creem, April 1978

Roger Taylor: We Will Trump you!"Blokes in the audience...think he (Freddie) is just weird, very weird." ...

Marianne Faithfull: Still Faithfull After All These Years

Interview by Penny Valentine, Creem, June 1978

REAL SURVIVORS are rare in rock 'n' roll. Those who live in the fast lane tend not to make it to 30, the rest are ...

Tom Robinson Band: Tom Robinson: Out Of The Closet And Into The Streets

Interview by Penny Valentine, Creem, September 1978

Summer Of '77A chance mid-week gig at a small London pub. ...

Bryan Ferry: The Bride Stripped Bare

Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978

WITH HIS USUAL panache (some may say pretensions), Bryan Ferry has taken his album title from a famous work by the surrealist Marcel Duchamp: The ...

Emmylou Harris: Profile…Best Of Emmylou Harris

Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978

UNDOUBTEDLY, Emmylou's success has been to make traditional country music acceptable to a rock audience. She has a lot to answer for, and in a ...

Joan Armatrading: Fragile Surfaces And Fast Getaways

Interview by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978

IN HER KITCHEN Joan Armatrading washes up the plates from a vegetarian meal we have just eaten. "You wouldn't think," she had said earlier with ...

Linda Ronstadt: Living In The U.S.A.

Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978

OVER HER PAST few albums and, curiously, ever since she won a wall full of awards, something has been happening to Linda Ronstadt's "interpretative" powers. ...

Ray Charles: Love And Peace

Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978

IT'S RARE FOR any artist to re-emerge successfully from a long period of musical sterility. Harder still, somehow, for black musicians, whose problems – brought ...

O'Jays: The O'Jays: So Full Of Love (Philly Int PIR 86066)

Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978

THIS IS an album that's already had two tracks pulled off as singles. Yet the real prize is lurking on the last track of side ...

Alice Cooper: From The Inside

Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978

ALICE NEVER really was a contender for the world's greatest rock musician or singer (that's why he had to "kill" chickens and babies every night ...

Peter Gabriel: The Lamb Brought Down In Paris

Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 23 December 1978

ON THE WAY TO Paris to meet a man I've never seen there is a white sign splashed across a motorway bridge: 'Vive Le Proletariat' ...

Roy Hill: Riverside Studios, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 3 February 1979

APPROACHING Roy Hill via one sub-Bowie single ('I Like, I Like, I Like') and a first album saturated in unsympathetic production, I was not – ...

Elvis Costello: Hammersmith Palais, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 10 February 1979

HAS Elvis Costello finally become an Establishment "star," or is he still mounting a concerted attack against the old-fart fortress? Taking the stage at Hammersmith ...

Lene Lovich: Bedford College, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 24 February 1979

EMERGING FROM the Stiff tour as little more than a suspicious record company packaging job with a clever line in Spanish lace, Lovich is now ...

Frankie Miller: Falling In Love (Chrysalis)

Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979

AT ONE time Frankie Miller looked as though he was going to do a Joe Cocker without the intervening period of success. Now he just ...

Raspberries: The Raspberries: Best Of The Raspberries (Capitol)

Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 17 March 1979

THE ONE clever thing that Eric Carmen's earlier outfit did was to put Overnight Sensation out in the summer, the one time the record could ...

Rachel Sweet: What Rachel Did Next

Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 14 April 1979

Rachel Sweet may follow Tanya Tucker's career with particular interest, but she really wants to be Bruce Springsteen. PENNY VALENTINE followed her on a tour ...

Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson: Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson: Waiting For The End Of The World

Comment by Penny Valentine, Creem, May 1979

TWO GOOD things about rock music: how it makes even cynics get emotionally involved when they least expect it; how the best moments are the ...

Bad Company: Desolation Angels Have Gastric Juices, Too

Interview by Penny Valentine, Creem, June 1979

Bad Company flee Screaming From Reality ...

Anita Ward: The Bell Rings and School's Out

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979

THIS VERY day, 'Ring My Bell' has made it to number one in the British charts. The boys at TK records (who function from the ...

Ian Dury & The Blockheads: Live at Hammersmith Odeon

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 11 August 1979

FIRST OF ALL I’d like to say I’ve always felt ambivalent towards Ian Dury. His work has always been, like his persona, male-orientated without being ...

Maria Muldaur: Open Your Eyes (Warner Bros)

Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 18 August 1979

MUSICIANS WHO return after a hiatus as long as Muldaur's – since the confusion of Sweet Harmony – face several problems, not least over-effort. It's ...

Nina Simone: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 22 September 1979

NINA SIMONE has never been a comfortable musician to see live. A powerful performer, she is formidably dedicated to her art. It's hardly surprising, then, ...

Richard And Linda Thompson: Sunnyvista (Chrysalis)

Review by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 22 September 1979

THIS THOMPSONS package tour is a fine irony. Its visuals signal a break from the couple's traditional melancholy, replacing it with a sarcastic, partially threatening, ...

Rachel Sweet

Interview by Penny Valentine, Creem, October 1979

IN HER TIGHT jeans and t-shirt her body looks like a 12-year-old's. Her face and her manner tell another story. Make-up across her broad cheekbones, ...

Flying Lizards: TV

Review by Penny Valentine, Creem, May 1980

IT LOOKS LIKE the Flying Lizards are going to have their third hit in a row with 'TV'. Out a few days and it already ...

Def Leppard: Letter from Britain: Iron Cookies From Island Nations

Column by Penny Valentine, Creem, August 1980

MY FRIEND Nigel looked at the queue winding its way two blocks round the Rainbow Theatre and made his pronouncement: "Bored punks who never got ...

Joy Division: Letter from Britain: The Exploding Psychedelic Inevitable

Column by Penny Valentine, Creem, November 1980

"YOU CRY OUT in your sleep/And all my failings exposed," mourns Ian Curtis on the extraordinary, emotional 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. This song, currently ...

Letter from Britain: Rock Papers For Brits

Report by Penny Valentine, Creem, June 1981

BEING A survivor of at least two British rock papers — one of them now slipped in the annals of time — a new arrival ...

Fun Boy Three, The Jam, The Special AKA: Letter From Britain: Jammed Up, Jelly Tight

Comment by Penny Valentine, Creem, June 1982

Struggle after struggleYear after yearThe atmosphere's a fine blend of ice.I'm almost stone cold deadIn a town called malice.— 'Town Called Malice', the Jam. ...

The Clash: Combat Rockers

Profile by Penny Valentine, The History of Rock, 1983

IF THERE WAS one band that successfully rose above punk’s swift and premature decline, it was the Clash. Although historically the Sex Pistols remain the ...

Elvis Costello: Punch The Clock

Review by Penny Valentine, City Limits, September 1983

"They put the numb into number — the cut into cutie — the slum into slumber — the boot into beauty." ...

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