Steven Wells

Anthrax, Public Enemy: Anthrax and Chuck D: Noise From The Black Stuff

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, June 1991

Five years after Run DMC's groundbreaking rap reworking of Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way', rock is finally repaying the compliment with ANTHRAX'S astonishing take on Public ...

Apache Indian: Big Bhangra Theory

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, January 1993

He's been called the voice of Asian youth, the pop Gandhi and a politician but, according to APACHE INDIAN, his music just reflects the sound ...

Ash: Turn Up, Check In, Rock Out!

Report by Steven Wells, Vox, December 1995

These days, most teenagers leave school and sign on. But not ASH – they play loud punk rock, trash hotels and party till they puke. ...

Bad Boys Inc: Naughty By Nurture

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, July 1993

It's easy to be cynical about 'manufactured' Pop Stars, how it's all so easy for talentless young upstarts to get fame and fortune beyond their ...

Buju Banton: Young Slack Teenager

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, August 1993

Two years ago, BUJU BANTON caused a furore with his single 'Boom Bye Bye', advocating the killing of homosexuals, a controversy further fuelled when his ...

Beastie Boys, The: The Beastie Boys: Rap Around The Cock

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, January 1987

THE BEASTIE BOYS take a long, slow ride into the sewers of their minds, accompanied by a fascinated hack, one STEVEN WELLS. They do it ...

Johnny Cash: Old, Gifted And Black

Report and Interview by Steven Wells, NME, April 1991

A C&W star for longer than most people have been alive, you'd expect JOHNNY CASH to be a down home, redneck good ol'boy. Hell no! ...

Catatonia: Feds And Rockers!

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, February 1998

Mulder & Scully. Horses' heads in people's beds. Selfish genes. Blimey what are those crazy cats CATATONIA singing about? Well, don't bother asking the band. ...

Chemical Brothers, The: The Chemical Brothers: Octagon Theatre, Sheffield

Live Review by Steven Wells, NME, December 1997

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS: A couple of girly-haired posho Oxbridge medieval language student chancers who claim that their 'big beat' mobile disco can knock any rock ...

Phil Collins: Ugly Bald Bastard Speaks (to Phil Collins)

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, March 1990

• He leaves the toilet seat up! He does stuff in the privacy of his own house! He's worth 22 million! He's not a rich ...

Cowboy Junkies: Steers Beers and Pointy Ears

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, March 1992

Q: Who killed John Wayne?A: Burt Lungcancer.– Cowboy drug joke, trad. ...

Cult, The: The Cult: Bill and Ian's Excellent Adventure

Report and Interview by Steven Wells, NME, February 1992

Free-wheelin' through the Deep South, peddling their Bible Of Dangerous Rawk to innocent kids and getting chased by magnum-toting sheriffs...Yeah, THE CULT are still up ...

Daisy Chainsaw: Drivin' Miss Daisy

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, January 1992

In less than eight years, Daisy Chainsaw will be crushed to death by a giant rock from outer space. So shut up! Listen! We haven't ...

Eels: The Freak Shall Inherit The Earth

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, March 1997

The EELS are the band currently treating Britain to the joys of geek power with their hit single, 'Novocaine For The Soul'. And leading their ...

Fields Of The Nephilim: The Marquee, London

Live Review by Steven Wells, NME, January 1988

NEPHI-PHLEGM ...

Flux of Pink Indians, Chumbawamba, Crass, Poison Girls: Veg Wedge

Overview by Steven Wells, NME, May 1987

With Crass, Poison Girls and Flux in either retirement or a state of change, and Conflict in trouble, the anarcho-punk movement is in tatters. STEVEN ...

Fun-Da-Mental: Bummer Holiday

Report by Steven Wells, NME, July 1995

The last time FUN-DA-MENTAL took a journalist to Pakistan, the writer came home a jibbering wreck and the band split. A return trip anyone? Bribes/blackmail/strict ...

Garbage: Litter from America!

Interview by Steven Wells, Vox, April 1996

SAN FRANCISCO: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is being projected onto the fire curtain while the stage is being prepared for Garbage. The soundless ...

Garbage: Return of the Muck!

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, March 1998

Take some scary spiders, a few mad mutts, a sound akin to the Pet Shop Boys on downers and, er, eye of Shirley Manson, and ...

Hanson: Swells Interviews Hanson

Interview by Steven Wells, playlouder.com, March 2004

...

Huggy Bear: Ready, Teddy, Go!

Special Feature by Steven Wells, NME, March 1993

You've seen HUGGY BEAR smash up mainstream complacency on The Word, you've been baffled by a load of biased ranting on some kind of new ...

Jesus Jones

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, July 1989

THERE IS a sound where pop meets chaos and rides its fury and when I heard it I fall in love... ...

Marilyn Manson: The Afterlife Of Brian

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, August 1992

You may think that MARILYN MANSON (or Brian to his mum) is just a spooky goth who smokes human bones and sings about scabby angels ...

N.W.A.: Niggers With Attitude: Straight Outta Compton (4th And Broadway LP/Cassette/CD)

Review by Steven Wells, NME, September 1989

PAINT IT BLACK ...

Offspring: The Offspring: Spawn To Be Wild

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, February 1997

• Californian punk rockers THE OFFSPRING are hated by the American 'underground'. Why? Well, they love 70s disco, one of them is saving for his ...

Orbital: Corn Circle Jerks

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, September 1991

Techno-slaphead alert! Bow-tie-wearing aliens with enormo-ears from planet Proper Dance Music are writhing in our cornfields and masquerading as ORBITAL. Beam me up, Rotty, screams ...

Ozzy Osbourne: Big Oz I Love You

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, May 1989

Why does MR OSBOURNE bite the heads off small animals? Ozzy can. Get it? Is Oz a fat geriatric bastard who'd be better off playing ...

Pearl Jam: New Oyster Cult

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, March 1992

PROBLEM: A man knocks on the door of a Manchester hotel room and hands me a note which says: "Band been held up at knife-point. ...

Pink: Go Ahead Pink, Make Our Day!

Comment by Steven Wells, NME, May 2002

Be afraid Britney, Gwen and Kylie: there's only one candidate to be the new Madonna ...

Pop Will Eat Itself, Public Enemy: Pop Will Eat Itself (and Public Enemy): Scrapping With Rap

Report and Interview by Steven Wells, NME, October 1988

AS DEF JAM'S happy rap panto rolls through Europe, Pop Will Eat Itself and Public Enemy are getting on fine. Unfortunately the hordes of Belgian ...

Professor Griff: 100 Per Cent Prof.

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, March 1990

Accused of anti-Semitism, dissing the President, condoning Idi Amin and generally being a bit of a foam-flecked Rottweiler, Public Enemy's Minister Of Information PROFESSOR GRIFF ...

Queen, Metallica: Metallica: Het's Induction Hour

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, May 1992

JAMES HETFIELD likes weapons, Queen, women who aren't brain-surgeons, hates rap and looking like Lemmy, doesn't know all the words to 'Bohemian Rhapsody' but feels ...

Radiohead, Phil Spector: Steven Wells On Rock Snobs

Column by Steven Wells, playlouder.com, August 2003

The The Stages Of Pop-Man ...

Rage Against the Machine: Rage Against The Machine: Livid In The Material World

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, February 1993

From Comershop to Consolidated, politics is most emphatically back on the pop agenda. And throwing up the high-wire act between semtex and spandex to beat ...

Rage Against the Machine, Cypress Hill, Beastie Boys, The: Rage Against The Machine, Cypress Hill, Beastie Boys: Los Angeles Velodrome, CA

Live Review by Steven Wells, NME, May 1994

SHIRT UP AND DANCE ...

Red Hot Chili Peppers, The: Red Hot Chili Peppers: See You Later Ejaculator

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, March 1992

THINK OF one word to sum up the Red Hot Chili Peppers. COME ON! COME ON! Sex, right? Right. ...

Kid Rock: At Last! Could Kid Rock Be The Saviour Of Rock? Oops. Sorry.

Report and Interview by Steven Wells, NME, October 1999

"HEY, SCATLAND! R U ready for some medal!? How many of you guyz are gonna getta 'shag' tonite!?" ...

Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: Wembley Stadium, London

Live Review by Steven Wells, NME, July 1990

AS THE Stones plodded through crap recent album track after crap recent album track we became restless. We started shouting abuse at the fans. They ...

Seven Year Bitch: Smashed!, Islington, London

Live Review by Steven Wells, NME, February 1993

BOYS ARE BORING. The tedious parade of middle-class white males desperately trying to persuade us that they 'hurt', that they 'suffer' ...YAWNO YAWNO! But listen ...

Sex Pistols, The: The Sex Pistols: Crystal Palace Sports Centre, London

Live Review by Steven Wells, NME, August 2002

We Might As Well Be Proud Of Them ...

Shaggy

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, February 2001

He's boombastic, totally fantastic, he'll do anything for love but he won't do that. Re-introducing Shaggy, the '90s pop dancehall king whose rude rhymes are ...

Silverfish: Acid Louse Revival

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, February 1992

Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, punk rock and sex. SILVERFISH have snogged everyone in pop music, and dreamt that they've snogged everyone else. STEVEN WELLS ...

Sleater Kinney: Sleater-Kinney: The Hot Rock

Review by Steven Wells, NME, February 1999

The Ember Strikes Back ...

T'Pau: Crystal Tipps, Kicks to Kill

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, March 1988

All hail t'purveyors of t'power and t'glory that is T'PAU. STEVEN WELLS meets up with Caz Decker in Berlin. Swoon. ...

Underworld: The Rocket, London

Live Review by Steven Wells, NME, June 1998

WE GOT NO 'Born Slippy' with its killer "lager lager lager" chorus tonight because sensitive artist Darren Emerson is "fucked off with it". Well excuse ...

Cynthia Plastercaster: This Woman Has Handled The Biggest Things In Rock

Interview by Steven Wells, NME, July 1989

Twenty years ago The Plastercasters of Chicago were the most infamous groupies in America. Now, hardened professional CYNTHIA PLASTERCASTER is back with tales of naked ...

Groupies: Stars In Their Thighs

Report and Interview by Steven Wells, David Quantick, NME, March 1992

NME'S LOOK AT THE THINGS THAT GO HUMP IN THE NIGHT ...

Why Great Footballers Like Really Crap Music

Essay by Steven Wells, Guardian Unlimited, March 2003

WITH ALL THE current hoo-hah about how all gun crime in the UK is obviously caused by listening to gangsta chaps rapping about ho's and ...