Melody Maker
Melody Maker was for many years one of the leading UK weekly pop and rock music newspapers. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, and in the 1950s and 1960s gradually switched its focus from jazz to popular music. A serious decline in sales in the 1990s led to its absorption in 2000 by New Musical Express, one of its competitors which shared the same publisher – IPC Media.
4,498 articles
List of articles in the library
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 9 April 1977
THE GRANDLY-NAMED COLISEUM in Harlesden, London, turned out somewhat grander than most people expected. It's no fleapit, more a small local theatre — complete with ...
Alvin Stardust: Devil in Disguise
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 5 October 1974
Alvin Stardust hasn't looked back since he returned to the charts a year ago. But as Caroline Coon finds out, his 'untouchable' image isn't the ...
Olivia Newton-John, Suzi Quatro: Suzi Quatro & Olivia Newton-John: Dolly Mixture
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 20 July 1974
'What's ladylike?' asks Suzi Quatro. Olivia Newton-John should know – she was amazed in America when the audience ignored that she was wearing jeans on ...
Dana Gillespie: Big Girls Don’t Cry…
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 23 November 1974
Dana Gillespie talks to Caroline Coon ...
Queen: Freddie Mercury: Queen Bee
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 21 December 1974
THERE'S NOTHING like a dearth of hero-stars to make a media industry writhe with despondency. Film moguls, unable to find successors to Monroe and Gable, ...
Lynsey De Paul: Pop’s Leading Lady
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 4 January 1975
After only three years in the music business, Lynsey De Paul is already a hit. And she’s not yet reached the peak of her talent. ...
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975
Kiki Dee, sitting in the ritzy bar of the Hotel Metropol in Monte Carlo, is looking thoughtfully at the clinking ice cubes which she is ...
Elton John: I Want To Chug, Not Race
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 21 June 1975
IN AMSTERDAM LAST WEEK, while canals evaporated in the heat wave, eight musicians and three singers were stirring the sluggish air with an electric sound ...
Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music: Bryan Ferry: Putting On The Style
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 12 July 1975
The elusive Bryan Ferry, reviver of oldies and singer with Roxy Music, talks to Caroline Coon In 1971, when Bryan Ferry flew into the ...
The Bay City Rollers: Inside the Bay City Rollers' Camp
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 13 September 1975
"WHEN ANYONE slates us, you can bet they’ve never heard our own stuff – Derek is a brilliant drummer" ...
Andy Williams: Ol' Treacle Voice Is Back
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 4 May 1974
Darling of the soap-opera set, Goliath of the balladeer belt, Andy Williams is so very glad to be back in this wonderful country. Caroline Coon ...
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 15 November 1975
Cat Stevens, after a long personality crisis, has bounced back with a new album and tour. Caroline Coon meets him in Frankfurt ...
Peter Tosh: Rainbow Theatre/Venue, London
Live Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978
Tosh in monotone ...
Jimmy Cliff: A Pioneer Returns
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 3 February 1979
Jimmy Cliff, wholesome and handsome as a ripening ear of corn, radiates on the couch. The night before, he had made a triumphant return to ...
Queen, Thin Lizzy: The Year Queen Lizzy Shook America
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 19 February 1977
THE WINTER of 1977 was fierce on the East Coast of the USA, a thick layer of snow engulfing the territory between Boston and New ...
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979
I ALMOST didn't make it through the title-track. Two female trios do the I Threes jobs for Tosh, and here their effect is extra-irritating. They ...
Graham Parker and the Rumour: Squeezing Out Sparks
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 17 March 1979
AS FAR AS I'M concerned, Graham Parker is one of the great rock singers. I'd pay happily for a tape of him singing in the ...
Stiff Little Fingers, The Undertones: Consuming Passion: The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers
Profile by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979
IT seemed like they were the last gigs of the year. Summer’s coming. Exam requests for DLT, college partings for Anne Nightingale, End of the ...
Gladys Knight & the Pips: Memories of the Way We Were (Buddah); 20 Golden Greats (Motown)
Review by Barney Hoskyns, Melody Maker, 11 October 1979
GLADYS KNIGHT has been turned into the spinster of soul. Her generous face seems to invite desertion. Yet with almost maternal dignity, she translates this ...
The Velvet Underground: Pop Art/Art Pop: The Warhol Connection
Report and Interview by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, 16 February 1980
Like to be a galleryPut you all inside my show— David Bowie, 'Andy Warhol' Some people claim that only James Brown can match Andy Warhol's ...
The Clash: Clash in NYC - Waiting for Ivan
Report and Interview by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, 6 October 1979
ACCORDING TO reports, it was a hot, dead, airless summer in New York City. With nothing much happening on the local music scene, excitement centred ...
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 20 July 1991
LFO are a perfect example of the kind of thing that makes fogeys furious. They hit the charts from nowhere while still in their teens, ...
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 20 July 1991
Into the dressing room of the Manchester International comes a figure in tight yellow tartan flares. "The chicks love these strides, man. Ha ha. Anyone ...
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 26 October 1991
Stereolab are onstage. There are seven of them tonight; five male (two guitars, bass, drums and keyboard) and two female (singing). They are supporting, so ...
William Orbit/Bassomatic: Inner Space
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 4 January 1992
It's four in the afternoon, which is a bit early in the day for William Orbit, especially as he awoke with a migraine. ...
PJ Harvey: Sex and Bile and Rock and Roll
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 8 February 1992
IT'S SUNDAY AFTERNOON, grey and bitter and it looks like rain. Your flatmate, Lisa, and her gangly boyfriend, Ben, are in her room. They're burning ...
Pavement: Surreally Saying Something
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 20 March 1993
In America, pavement don't seem any more surreal than drive-in burger joints, gun-toting grocers and Manhattan cable TV. ...
Jane Siberry: Rhyme and Seasons
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 9 May 1992
"It's not art, it's a power struggle. It captures me and I capture it back," says Jane Siberry at the start of one of her, ...
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 16 October 1993
At the open air theatre on the THE sun-blasted campus of San Diego State University, the golden-limbed teens in the box-fresh sneakers and blue and ...
Massive Attack: Wheeling In The Years
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 22 February 1992
BRITAIN IS CRAP, we decide over lunch in a Bristol restaurant where we're waiting for Massive Attack. The food is cold, the service is virtually ...
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 4 July 1992
Tanya Donnelly and I have met before. She was a nervous, skittish platinum blonde then who kept leaving the room to be ill, clutching her ...
Bark Psychosis: Ghosts In The Machine
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 26 September 1992
0 minutes 01 seconds 'Scum' begins. ...
Saint Etienne: St Etienne: Let's Be Avenue!
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 17 October 1992
I wanted to talk to St Etienne because I don't like their records as much as everyone else seems to. I don't believe that they're ...
Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 29 January 1994
At last count Tricky owes me two stereos and an eardrum. Yup, when the bassline to 'Aftermath' thunders into your life your woofers are history, ...
Spiritualized: Young, Gifted and Tongue-Tied
Interview by Jim Arundel, Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, 17 August 1991
JASON PIERCE is the man who makes Marcel Marceau seem positively gobby. You'd get more anecdotes out of a house-brick, they told us as we ...
Nirvana: Kurt Cobain 1967-1994
Obituary by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 16 April 1994
In Bloom — The Musical Legacy of Kurt Cobain ...
Van Morrison: Jamming with George Benson
Report by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 9 April 1977
LOS ANGELES: VAN MORRISON made a rare TV appearance on the Midnight Special filmed last Monday at the NBC studios in Burbank. The show, which ...
Bob Seger: Cruisin' with Seger
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 15 October 1977
Detroit rocker Bob Seger, who starts his first British tour tomorrow (Friday), talks to Harvey Kubernik in Los Angeles ...
Little Feat: The Roxy, Los Angeles
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 8 May 1976
In Southern California this year, Little Feat have presented their musical wares opening shows for ELO, the Who and Dave Mason. Consequently, 1976 has seen ...
Report and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 5 January 1978
STEELY DAN WILL compose and perform the title track for FM, which is scheduled to begin filming this week at Universal Studios. Denny Rosencrantz, vice-president ...
Albert Collins, George Thorogood & The Destroyers: Thoroughly Bluesy George
Live Review by Bill Millar, Melody Maker, 24 March 1979
George Thorogood, Albert Collins: Electric Ballroom, London ...
Link Wray: A Link With The Past
Interview by Bill Millar, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979
Tag; the jet-black hair, dark shades and gaunt Shawnee Indian cheekbones evoke an image of prowling malevolence which was crystallised by 'Rumble' but still some ...
Marvin Gaye: The Meek Shall Inherit... The Bankruptcy Court
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 6 January 1979
RING out the trumpets! Roll out the carpets! Marvin Gaye’s released his first studio album for two years! I’m tempted to add, Bring On The ...
The Selecter: Survival Inna Suburbia
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 23 February 1980
IT TOOK HIM ages to get the lapel of his jacket off. The scissors kept on cutting the cloth instead of the bits of stitching, ...
The Gladiators: Naturality (Virgin/Front Line), Presenting The Gladiators (Studio One)
Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979
NOT A great week for the Gladiators, all round. First of all, the lead singer, Albert Griffiths, is shattered to learn over the phone that ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 1994
The Stooges (Elektra)Fun House (Elektra) FUN HOUSE is, no contest, the greatest rock'n'roll album of all time. And its prequel, The Stooges, is the tremor ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 1994
Pink Flag (Harvest/EMI)Chairs Missing (Harvest/EMI)154 (Harvest/EMI) ...
Robert Wyatt: Going Back A Bit - A Little History of Robert Wyatt (Virgin)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 1994
AT LAST, a long-overdue anthology of stuff and nonsense by one of the great eccentrics of English art-rock, Robert Wyatt. A miscellany of bits and ...
Big Black: Steve Albini: Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 21 November 1992
Big Black (1981-1987) were one of the most influential bands of the Eighties. Industrial music, 'skronk' rock, New York noisecore, British indiepop, Nirvana, Ministry, Suede, ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 24 June 1995
"I had this psychic drawing done," says Tricky, sucking greedily on the first of the four joints he's to consume in the next hour. Behind ...
Manic Street Preachers: Rock'n'Roll Suicide
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 20 July 1991
CAN YOU FEEL IT? A creeping paralysis accompanying every advance in the obese accumulation of "good music", a seeping slide into the mire of eclecticism. ...
De La Soul: Malice In Wonderland
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 25 May 1991
With their new album, De La Soul Is Dead, the founders of the hippy hop movement have turned their back on peace, love and positivity. ...
The Doors: Jim Morrison: The Anatomy Of Madness
Essay by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 13 April 1991
This year's superstar is a bloated, bearded would-be poet who died 20 years ago. SIMON REYNOLDS investigates the dark influence and deep fascination JIM MORRISON ...
Nirvana: The Coliseum, New York City
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 27 November 1993
IF THERE WERE any doubts that Nirvana had truly connected with America's rock heartland, the sight of the crowd tonight dispels them. It's a sea ...
Kate Bush: Heaven’s Kate: Kate Bush
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 6 November 1993
ENGLAND MY LION HEART KATE BUSH AN ENGLISH original. In 1978, that wavering, starburst voice seemed to come out of nowhere, but only because it's ...
Nirvana, Pearl Jam: Pearl Jam Versus Nirvana: The Final Countdown
Essay by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 25 December 1993
IF NUMBERS COUNT for anything, Pearl Jam wiped the floor with Nirvana. In its first week of release, Vs sold five times as many copies ...
Pavement: Some Enchanted Evenings
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 18 July 1992
The post-Nirvana deluge of grunge guitar bands is threatening to stifle rock. Only a handful of genuine mavericks and freaks are holding out against the ...
The Prodigy: Touched By The Hand Of Prod
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 16 July 1994
"So I've decided to take my work back underground... to stop it falling into the wrong hands." ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 27 November 1993
Aphex Twin is unusual. He likes tanks. He hates sleeping. And he pours tea on his cereal. SIMON REYNOLDS meets the rave-age Mozart in a ...
Retrospective by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 4 March 1995
IF ANYONE remembers Fleetwood Mac's Tusk at all, it's as the surprise flop sequel to 1977 Rumours. A soft-rock masterpiece (gorgeous melodicism charged with the ...
Elastica: Twang Twang, You're Cred!
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 25 March 1995
This week, ELASTICA’s debut album has achieved the greatest double whammy of critical and commercial success since Parklife and Definitely Maybe, final proof that Britpop’s ...
Massive Attack, Portishead: Trip Hop Don't Stop: Massive Attack and Portishead
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 17 September 1994
Imagine a cross between ambient and hip-hop. Imagine a Brit version of Cypress Hill or Gravediggaz's spooky Gothic Hop. Imagine the sound of 'bombs exploding ...
Charlatans, The (UK): The Charlatans: Glory Days
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 22 December 1990
1990 could well go down in the rock almanac as the year The Charlatans stole the initiative from The Stone Rose. While the figureheads of ...
Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie: Prophet Or Dead Loss?
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 2 April 1994
Primal Scream’s new LP, Give Out But Don’t Give Up, has split the voters. Some think it’s retro-rockist rubbish, others believe it’s the ultimate good-time ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 1 June 1991
BOBBY GILLESPIE reckons that his new single, 'Higher Than The Sun', will revolutionise pop in the Nineties in the same way as the Pistols' 'Anarchy ...
Stereolab: Separation Terrorists
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 16 July 1994
Subversive MOR may sound like a contradiction in terms, but it’s the best available description of Stereolab’s new single, ‘Ping Pong’, the most brilliant example ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 11 September 1993
By now, you must all know about Moby, the techno nutter who's a Christian vegan, doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs. And you'll have heard ...
Suede: The Best New Band In America?
Report and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 19 June 1993
SUEDE have already proved themselves in the UK, both critically and commercially. The next step is for the fab four to cross the Atlantic and ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 12 October 1991
What’s the bond between rap and metal? What’s the ‘black holocaust’? Why are Public Enemy angrier than ever? SIMON REYNOLDS meets CHUCK D to discover ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 10 November 1990
This year, singer, downtrodden writer and all-round wasted boozer PAUL WESTERBERG has given up drinking, abandoned his band and is trying to look on the ...
Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 13 December 1977
LISTEN, going to the movies is cheaper than going to Jamaica. Am I right or am I wrong? As Dillinger used to say before he ...
Junior Murvin: Steal Away With Success
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 22 November 1976
JUNIOR MURVIN’S ‘Police And Thieves’, currently bubbling under the chart and selling up to 1,000 copies a day some five months after its release, a ...
Butthole Surfers: The Butthole Surfers: Deeper & Down
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 8 December 1990
AFTER OVER A YEAR OF SILENCE, the Butthole Surfers have re-emerged only to suffer the indignity of being topical. With uncanny punctuality, their cover of ...
The House Of Love's Guy Chadwick
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 19 October 1991
If there was ever any doubt that it’s tough at the top, one need only look at what happened to GUY CHADWICK. Feted, eulogized, deified ...
Nirvana: Kilburn National, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, December 1991
THE ONLY EXPLANATION is that a lot of people didn't realise how angry and alienated they really were. Once in a blue moon, a group ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 24 August 1991
MERCURY REV's debut album has been hailed as one of the albums of the year. SIMON REYNOLDS talks to the band in New York about ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 12 January 1991
After a year of rumours about Dinosaur splitting and retiring from music altogether, J Mascis finally returns with a major label contract, a new single, ...
Husker Du: Why Aren’t They Massive?
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 27 June 1987
IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA, the Replacements play me a tape of Husker Du’s live appearance on The Joan Rivers Show. It’s more than a little mindblowing. ...
The Verve: live at Manchester Roadhouse
Live Review by John Robb, Melody Maker, June 1995
YEAH, we know that Richard Ashcroft can talk a good campaign and that The Verve are the nearly men of the great northern rock thing, ...
Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 21 July 1979
"To talk of life today is like talking of rope in the house of a hanged man." Where will it end? ...
Profile and Interview by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 6 January 1979
IT’S a truism to say that you have to decide which is real – you or Los Angeles – but like most truisms, it has ...
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 4 November 1978
A week is a month and you could be forgiven for thinking that the times would catch up with Pere Ubu (and overtake them) as ...
James Brown: Studio 54, New York City
Live Review by Roy Trakin, Melody Maker, 17 April 1980
Despite the recent hip upsurge in his popularity, James Brown has for over a year studiously avoided playing a live gig in Manhattan. Pity that, ...
Roxy Music: Roxy in the Rock Stakes
Profile by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 August 1971
A CURIOUS FEATURE of modern rock music is the way it's taken potential artists away from other spheres. Men who might have become poets, painters, ...
John Coltrane:The Other Village Vanguard Tapes
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 9 April 1977
The combination of affection, respect and awe in which his fans held the late John Coltrane is given to few people in any walk of ...
Thomas A Dorsey: The Father Of Gospel: Thomas A. Dorsey
Profile and Interview by Steve Turner, Melody Maker, 14 May 1977
He likes his stories does Thomas A. Dorsey, and with a 77-year-old mind in charge of the telling, they do tend to crop up more ...
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 ...
Steve Young: Pickin’ with the Renegade: Steve Young
Interview by Richard Wootton, Melody Maker, 25 April 1981
IT’S a depressingly familiar scenario. An American musician who’s acquired a strong cult following over several years with a string of excellent but hard-to-get albums ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 July 1978
July 2002 intro: Supertramp play at Hyde Park this month, a sure sign they have lost none of the fans who made them huge with ...
New York Dolls: Standing in the Shadow of Rock: Shadow Morton, Pt. 1
Interview by Lenny Kaye, Melody Maker, 2 March 1974
"I don’t consider myself a good producer. I’m one of the best." Shadow Morton, producer of the New York Dolls, talks to Lenny Kaye. ...
The Rolling Stones: Goat’s Head Soup?
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 August 1973
"GOAT'S HEAD SOUP," said Mick Jagger pacing about the room. "I might change it. A lot of people don't like it. Too bad." A typically ...
Van Morrison: These Dreams of You (So Unreal, So Untrue)
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 February 1979
OUTSIDE THE ROYAL GARDEN HOTEL, a blizzard raged. Inside, snowflakes dripped and melted into the plush carpets. Waiters scurried while rich Americans and Arabs mulled ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, April 1977
WHEN Isaac Hayes was at the peak of his success, some five or six years ago, he told me of his great ambition to write ...
George Harrison: The Concert For Bangla Desh
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1 January 1972
If you buy only one LP in 1972, make it this one ...
Smokey Robinson: The Way You Do The Things You Do
Essay by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1 January 1972
THERE’s a new Smokey Robinson album out in the States, called One Dozen Roses. The natural reaction is to ring E.M.I. and ask them when ...
Dave Mason, Traffic: Traffic: Dave Quits, But Traffic Keeps Moving
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 December 1967
DESPITE THE INTENDED departure of songwriter and sitarist Dave Mason, Traffic wheels are turning with renewed vigour. ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 July 1968
JOHN MAYALL HAS taken a great leap forward with his Bare Wires suite which takes up one side of his latest Decca album. ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1969
A DOUBLE ALBUM can often prove a boring disappointment these days, with the gimmick presentation becoming more important than the quality of the music. Pete ...
Cream: Background to a Break-Up
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 July 1968
CREAM ARE breaking up. The world-famous trio that features Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce are to go separate ways in the autumn. Said ...
King Crimson, Pete Sinfield: Pete Sinfield Has A Nose For Success
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 May 1973
PETE SINFIELD is a poet, and such men do not abound on the music scene. There is Pete Brown of course, and many a lyricist ...
Elton John Steps Into Christmas
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 November 1973
ELTON JOHN is a happy man as 1973 draws to a close. He has established himself not merely as an elitist's delight and king of ...
Yes: Time And A Word (Atlantic)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1970
IT'S NICE to have those great Yes arrangements like ‘Then’, ‘The Prophet’ and ‘Astral Traveller’ on record at last. One of the great playing bands, ...
Eric Clapton: Danish Blues Power: Eric Clapton
Review and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 29 June 1974
"WE WANT Buddy Holly!... I AM Buddy Holly!" ...
Boz Scaggs: Big Boz Man: Boz Scaggs
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 June 1973
BOZ SCAGGS is the cult hero with the strongest claim to wider fame. He’s in Britain all summer to play and record...he talks to MM’s ...
Aerosmith, Kansas, Styx: American revolution: Aerosmith, Boston, Kansas and co.
Overview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 February 1978
LIKE A FOREST fire, the flames of the new wave roared across the British rock scene, leaving behind a charred and blackened landscape. A few ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 13 July 1991
CONSOLIDATED ARE the new militants of American rock. Their debut album, The Myth Of Rock, agitated against rock’s regressive impotence, its spurious rebellion and disengagement ...
Tom Robinson Band: The Tom Robinson Band: Lyceum, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 December 1977
IT WAS undoubtedly one of the best gigs I have seen this or any other year. The combination of two excellent bands, the Tom Robinson ...
Pete Townshend, Ronnie Lane: The Return of You Know Who: Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 September 1977
PETE TOWNSHEND is back — with a new album accompanied by his old mate Ronnie Lane, and with trenchant views on punk. ...
Retrospective by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 13 January 1973
Richard Williams reviews the Cameo recordings, recently reissued on two double albums, which made Philadelphia the 'Crap Capital of America' ...
The Sex Pistols: Punk Rock: Rebels Against the System
Report and Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 7 August 1976
JOHNNY ROTTEN looks bored. The emphasis is on the word "looks" rather than, as Johnny would have you believe, the word "bored". His clothes, held ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 March 1978
2002 Prologue: This interview would have come on the back of an MM editorial conference, Ray Coleman at the helm, sarcastic bastards around the table, ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 June 1978
2002 Prologue: I remember this interview with massive warmth. I knew me and Kate were obviously getting onside ‘cos this was done at the family ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978
2002 Prologue: KATE IS famous now. WELL famous, right across Europe and to celebrate that, EMI are launching Lionheart, the second album, in a castle ...
Nirvana: Come As You Aren’t: Nirvana at Isle Of Calf Festival, Oslo
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 25 July 1992
THEY DON'T DESERVE THIS. Forget any reports you may have heard that rock is alive and kicking. The world’s only credible arena rock band is ...
Joni Mitchell: Joni Still Feels The Pull Of The Country
Report and Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 10 January 1970
CANADIAN FOLK singer Joni Mitchell this week denied rumours that she would be retiring after her Royal Festival Hall concert on January 17th. ...
Happy Mondays, Jane's Addiction: Jane's Addiction/Happy Mondays: Madison Square Garden, NYC
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 11 May 1991
IT MUST HAVE seemed an inspired notion to pair these unabashed champions of drug culture, but inside sources tell me that it's turned out to ...
Professor Longhair: The Professor of Rock
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 8 September 1973
THE PROFESSOR, THEY SAY, influenced just about every musician in New Orleans. And it’s not a claim he’s about to deny. "I taught most of ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1972
HERE'S ONE that won't disappoint anybody at all. Suddenly the Beach Boys are back in fashionable favour, and they've produced an album which fully backs ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 15 June 1991
THIS FOUR-CD mega-anthology reveals that there are actually two James Browns. The first is JB the patrician and patriarch: the disciplinarian who fined his musicians ...
Report and Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 27 April 1974
Mud. They’re a pure pop band, no pretentions, but a lot of fun. Caroline Coon goes on the road with the boys who bridge the ...
Brian Wilson: From Surf To Symphony
Profile by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 15 June 1974
BRIAN WILSON was 19 years old when, in 1961, the Beach Boys committed his first song, 'Surfin'', to tape. ...
Rory Gallagher: Play For Today, Tomorrow You Die
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1975
Rory rocks back to a supersonic reception in California. Harry Doherty is there... ...
Ten Years After: Recorded Live
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1973
WHERE IN 1973 will you still hear a band blowing over a chord structure that sounds not unlike 'Cat Squirrel' and song lyrics that refer ...
Rory Gallagher: The Rory of the Crowd
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 October 1976
RORY GALLAGHER looked ruffled, most annoyed indeed. He cast a reflective eye across the current mode of pyrotechnical wizardry in rock and was not happy ...
Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones: An Outlaw At The Ritz: Keith Richards
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 January 1979
In which Keef holds up the price of Smirnoff shares, little Marlon holds up his Dad, Anita Pallenberg holds up the interview, and CHRIS WELCH ...
Humble Pie, Steve Marriott: Humble Pie: Pulling In The Soul Audience
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 23 June 1973
THE STORY SO FAR: Steve Marriott, one time leader of pop idols the Small Faces and now boss of "progressive" rock and rollers Humble Pie, ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: In The Studio With The Wailers
Report by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 23 June 1973
THE ROLLING STONES are upstairs in Studio 1, where they've been for the past five weeks. ...
Jethro Tull: So Who's Too Old To Rock?
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 15 May 1976
. . . certainly not Tull's Ian Anderson, who tells Harry Doherty that change keeps him going. ...
Jethro Tull: The Jethro Tull Story
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 September 1975
"I want to justify the place on my passport where it says 'Occupation: musician'. I feel that I've not yet really justified that" Harry Doherty ...
Jack Bruce: The Heavy Burdens Of Jack’s Shoulders
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 January 1970
HIGH COURT Judges have often been heard to observe that pop stars have "grave responsibilities." However, they are usually referring to suspected powers of influence ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 5 July 1992
YOU KNOW, MAYBE the Scene wasn’t so bad after all. Sure, it churned out rapture by rote, but grunge has similarly turned rage into a ...
Rick Wakeman, Yes: Rick Wakeman: Why I Said No To Yes
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 29 June 1974
RICK WAKEMAN has a grand design afoot that could result in one of the most extraordinary, epic concerts in ye history of popular music. ...
Fad Gadget, Frank Tovey: Cult Heroics: Frank Tovey
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 28 June 1986
No longer Fad Gadget, his sights firmly focused on Saturday Superstore, FRANK TOVEY tells a skeptical Simon Reynolds that he’s out to corrupt the youth ...
Lou Reed: The Velvet Undertaker: Lou Reed at the Palace Theatre, Manchester
Live Review by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 28 March 1992
A CURSORY listen to Lou's latest, Magic And Loss, and you'd be forgiven for thinking that Tragic Old Toss might have been a better title. ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 22 March 1986
LISTENING TO THIS vast, volatile music, up in its power and space, I suddenly realised that these attributes are the precise opposite of the experiences ...
The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: Staying Home: Brian Wilson
Report and Interview by Derek Grant, Melody Maker, 21 November 1970
"IT WAS A MISTAKE but I had to try it. After about half an hour I realised I couldn't go on. My ears hurt, I ...
Leonard Cohen: Haunted By Spector: Leonard Cohen
Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 5 January 1980
Leonard Cohen’s voyage to the bottom of his soul is over. He’s back on top and is finding rock’n’roll fun too... ...
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 ...
Kansas: Wayward Sons in Slot Machine City: Kansas
Report and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 25 February 1978
TWO DAYS in Las Vegas and your grip on sanity begins to slip. You can even buy a T-shirt there emblazoned with the gem: "I've ...
Tyla Gang: Moon Proof (Beserkley)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978
THERE ARE certain musicians whose burden in life is to carry the can for mediocre past. Sean Tyla, late of Ducks Deluxe, is suffering from ...
Steve Winwood: 'I'm Gonna Do an Album a Week!'
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 May 1973
IT'S BEEN MANY a long year since Steve Winwood has made impact as an individual on the English rock scene. ...
Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, Summer 1985
LIFE has gone full circle for Alex Chilton. Seventeen years old in 1967, up to New York City from hometown Memphis where he fronted the ...
Larry Williams: A Bad Boy Blown Away
Obituary by Bill Millar, Melody Maker, 19 January 1980
SOME PEOPLE nurture memories of the first time they copped a feel or saw the New York skyline. For me, it's hearing Larry Williams' 'She ...
The Clash: Electric Ballroom/Lyceum London
Live Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 1979
CLASH GIGS these days aren't the backs–against–the wall experience they used to be. The political tensions and confrontations they once represented are now just so ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: A Lost Leader? Bob Marley & the Wailers’ Babylon By Bus
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978
THE BEST RECORD Bob Marley ever made was the live single version of ‘No Woman, No Cry’. The reasons for its success were complex, but ...
Profile and Interview by Mick Gold, Melody Maker, 27 July 1974
JOHN CALE is sitting in a preview theatre, cowering in the shadow of the London Hilton to see a screening of this movie hes scored ...
Half Japanese, Moe Tucker: Moe Tucker/Half Japanese: Powerhaus, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 8 April 1989
THEY’RE ALL HERE tonight, convened in a spirit of slackwitted sentimentally: Morrissey (summoned, rumour has it, by the "great lady" herself, who admires his work), ...
Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 6 January 1979
I SUPPOSE I should be grateful to the new Marvin Gaye album for something – I did a very surreal drawing in pencil while wading ...
Morrissey: Songs Of Love And Hate
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 12 March 1988
I THINK I'VE MET THEM ALL NOW. For me, there are no more heroes left. And no new ones coming along, by the look of ...
Report by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 21 July 1973
LIKE THE WEATHER, the music at London’s White City on Sunday was a mixture of fair and foul. ...
Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 29 December 1979
INSIDE THE CLASH'S new rehearsal studio, under a railway bridge somewhere in South London, Joe Strummer is singing a slow country blues about rolling boxcars, ...
Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 1978
PATTI SMITH'S first album, Horses, was a bolt out of the blue, a lightning stab at the very top of the tree, one of the ...
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 26 January 1980
"I'LL NEVER be a man in a man's world". As the Pretenders' album and single rise in the charts, Chrissie Hynde discusses with old friend ...
The Redskins: Red On Arrival: The Redskins
Report and Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 8 December 1984
"TUC LEADER Norman Willis tells Arthur Scargill a few home truths," they said on Channel 4 news last night (and this is the Left Wing ...
Genesis, Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel Quits Genesis
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 August 1975
THE MELODY MAKER last week front-paged the growing doubts about Gabriel's future in the band. Reports, denied by the management of Genesis, indicated that Gabriel ...
The Beach Boys: Beach Boys: A Reappraisal
Retrospective by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 22 May 1971
IT'S PROBABLY pouring with rain by now, but the sunny days we were vouchsafed by the Almighty last week prompted me – and almost certainly ...
David Bowie: Bowie's Free For All
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 27 October 1973
Chris Welch describes the weird and wonderful scenes when Ziggy returned to London's Marquee Club ...
Van Morrison: Gonna Rock Your Gypsy Soul
Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 July 1973
"IT'S SHOWTIME, ladies and gentlemen! And here's the one you've been waiting for – the Caledonia Soul Orchestra with ... VAN MORRISON!" ...
Pink Floyd: The Great Pink Floyd Mystery
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 August 1967
AS THOUSANDS IN ballrooms and assorted hell-holes across the country are deafened and blinded nightly by the Pink Floyd, the well-known psychedelic group, thousands might ...
Genesis, Phil Collins: The Trick of the Tale: Phil Collins Talks
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 July 1976
PHIL COLLINS IS A spry, restless man with seemingly limitless amounts of energy and intense drive. It is this drive that has made him one ...
The Lemonheads: Car Button Cloth
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 19 July 1996
NO RADICAL new departures for Evan, then. No jungle. No trip hop. No techno. No baggy. No "slo-fi", even. Thank f*** for that. A band who ...
Elvis Costello: Costello Beats Anaesthesia
Comment by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979
ELVIS COSTELLO spun the discs for a couple of hours on Radio One's Star Special last week, and the result was the kind of radio ...
Ciccone Youth: The Whitey Album (Blast First)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 14 January 1989
NEXT to the brittle plangency and luminous, labyrinthine depths of Daydream Nation, the first (and last?) Ciccone Youth album is an irrelevance. ...
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas: Martha Reeves: Martha's Moving On
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 17 February 1973
A FEW WEEKS AGO Martha Reeves cleared out her apartment in Detroit, piled her possessions into a U-Haul trailer, and set off along Route 66 ...
Evan Dando, The Lemonheads: Lemonheads
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 11 July 1992
JULIANA SCREAMS. SHE SOUNDS PETULANT, ANNOYED FRUSTRATED: "I JUST WANT A BIT PART IN YOUR LIFE! I JUST WANT A BIT PART IN YOUR LIFE!" ...
Eric Clapton: Clapton: Driving Sideways Again
Live Review by Steve Turner, Melody Maker, 8 October 1979
DEAR Eric, On Sunday I came up to Staffordshire to see your warm-up concert with the new band. When you came out dressed in that ...
Interview by John Robb, Melody Maker, 24 August 1991
As they prepare for their appearance at this weekend's Reading Festival, Veteran art rock terrorists talk to Johnny Robb ...
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 3 September 1977
SOMETIMES you feel so...er, hypocritical. Let me explain. The project in hand was an interview with The Only Ones, who over the last couple of ...
Inner Circle: reggae's final breakthrough?
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 24 February 1979
Bobby the Em aside, JA roots music has achieved no significant market penetration outside its own country. VIVIEN GOLDMAN suggests that, by 'going disco', the ...
U2: At The Homecoming: U2’s Unforgettable Fire
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 1985
THIS HAS BEEN a long time coming, and there have been signs of strain. War, U2's last album of new material, was released more than ...
Profile and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 13 May 1978
Ian Birch introduces Ohio's latest 'overnight sensation', Pere Ubu ...
Judee Sill: Judee Sill (Asylum)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1971
JUDEE SILL IS one of those breed of American girls who’ve taken to singing who one supposes were previously engaged in quietly knitting at home ...
Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 24 September 1977
IT CONFOUNDED all expectations. Cross a children's pantomime with a Charlie Chaplin movie and filter it through a gawky highschool kid who mimes awful ...
The Cure: Robert Smith's Wish List
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 19 December 1992
FIFTEEN years on, THE CURE are post-punk's hardy perennial. Of all their peers, they're virtually alone in making it to stadium level without pandering or ...
The Pretenders: Say a Prayer for the Pretenders
Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 17 February 1979
The way tongues are wagging, though, they might not need them. Mark Williams profiles a Next Big Thing who actually look like delivering. ...
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978
LAST Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio, the bona fide booji were out in force on the street. In America, any event (however minor) is invariably heralded ...
The Band: A Melody Maker Band Breakdown
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 29 May 1971
FEW ROCK AND ROLL concerts can have been so eagerly awaited as those which The Band are due to play at London's Royal Albert Hall ...
Buddy Holly: The Complete Buddy Holly
Review by Bill Millar, Melody Maker, 29 December 1979
NO PROBLEM here. Charly’s compendium of Ronnie Hawkins Toronto out-takes isn’t released until next month (I checked) and, however might the music, their oft-reissued Jerry ...
The Beach Boys: Holland (Brother/Reprise)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1973
YOU HAVE JUST a fortnight to save up before this record hits the stores – and buy it you should, for it contains more fun ...
Happy Mondays: The Rock Garden, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 2 May 1987
HAPPY MONDAYS is where the repetition-repetition-repetition of post-Velvets jangle-drone meets the repetition-repetition-repetition of '70s funk. Imagine a cross between the Blue Orchids and Hamilton Bohannon, ...
Talking Heads: De Montfort Hall, Leicester
Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 1 December 1979
THE apres-gig lig is, as usual, gruesome. ...
Report and Interview by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 28 January 1978
Penny Valentine reports from the Talking Heads tour ...
Eurythmics: The Ministry Of Truth
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 4 May 1985
AMONG THE CRASH of crockery and the hubbub of tea-slurping customers, Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox sit unobtrusively at a table in the Waldorf Hotel. ...
Leo Sayer: Sayer: “L.A. is Music's Capital, New York second, London Only Third”
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 September 1975
"I FEEL I’m at my peak, I’m doing my best work ever now." Little Leo Sayer is back. The location is London’s Cunard International Hotel ...
James Blood Ulmer: Tales Of Captain Black (Artists House)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 26 January 1980
IT WON'T be long, I guess, before someone describes James "Blood" Ulmer as "the new Hendrix", so you might as well be forewarned. ...
The Beach Boys, Dennis Wilson: Wilson Returns!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976
A NEW studio album is in the works, Brian Wilson is back in business and the Beach Boys are planning to visit England in late ...
Dr. Feelgood: Just What The Dr. Ordered: A New Guitarist To Replace Wilko In The Feelgoods
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 May 1977
IT'S BARDOT'S, Canvey Island, formerly Cloud Nine, former weekly haunt of Dr. Feelgood. It's Thursday, almost midnight, and Wilko Johnson has well and truly joined ...
The Small Faces, The Who: A Face in The Who: Kenny Jones
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1979
ZERO HOUR approaches. Soon the Who will be back on stage, and the whole world will be watching. Kenny Jones doesn't mind admitting that he's ...
Genesis: The Ghost That Haunts Genesis
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 February 1976
YES, PETER IS PAST, but the legacy remains. And Tony Banks, keyboards' player with Genesis, is finding it difficult to swallow that. Peter Gabriel has ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 27 January 1979
ARE THE WHO haunted by ghosts? Is the spectral figure of Tommy now joined by the cackling spirit of Keith Moon? ...
Gang of Four: Entertainment (EMI)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 6 October 1979
THE Four are ambitious; and so they accept the process. ...
MC5, Wayne Kramer: Wayne Kramer Forgets The Motor City
Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 17 March 1979
"SOMETIMES we used to pass the Milan jail when the MC5 were driving to gigs outside of Detroit, and I used to look up at ...
Jackson Browne: Jackson's Song For Everyman
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 17 November 1973
JACKSON Browne arrived half an hour late. He'd been figuring out how to repair the plumbing at his house, and had finally succeeded in getting ...
Pete Townshend: Empty Glass (Atco)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 26 April 1980
TO MOST people, it's probably always been obvious that Roger Daltrey was simply Pete Townshend's mouthpiece, the hired vocalist who put the professional gloss on ...
The Who: Townshend: Still No Touring
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 May 1979
What next for the Who?Roger loved it, but Pete's not so sure...After their French concert last week, CHRIS WELCH eavesdropped on the Who's doubts and ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 2 May 1987
WIRE are pure luxury. Here are a bunch of superior sound technicians with an immaculate grasp of the sculptural and architectural possibilities of rock, who ...
Report and Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 18 December 1971
"No, we'll never work as hard as this again. It's killing the magic. And it's not doing us much good either" - Si Cowe, guitarist, ...
The Rich Kids: Music Machine, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978
UNTIL THE RICH KIDS get a few things into perspective – the rather misbegotten and amusing attitude, for instance, that their music goes above the ...
Alan Parsons: Parsons Knows: The Tale of Alan Parsons and Edgar Allan Poe
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 July 1976
THE CONCEPT ALBUM, contemptuously rejected by many critics as the great bore of rock, has returned, and this work of producer Alan Parsons, supported by ...
Electric Light Orchestra: Look At Me Now: The Electric Light Orchestra
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 April 1977
ELO: MORE than a classical gas. "It’s not classical rock. It never has been, but when it started, it needed a name. It had to ...
Harry Chapin: Short Stories of Harry Chapin
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 May 1974
SHORT STORIES is the most apt title for Harry Chapin's new album, for Chapin is not so much a singer as a storyteller, an artist ...
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 16 August 1975
ANAHEIM: Forty miles from Los Angeles, Johnny Cash sits in the Royal Inn Hotel. Cash is in town to promote his autobiography, Man In Black, ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 July 1979
NICK GILDER does arrange meetings in the oddest places. Our first introduction is sealed amid snow-storms and the threat of frostbite in mid-February Milwaukee. Four ...
Elvis Costello And The Attractions: Punch The Clock (F Beat)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 1 September 1983
PHEW, for a moment there I thought the penny wasn't going to drop in time. Luckily, after a further batch of circumnavigations of the turntable, ...
Jethro Tull: Rocking In The USA
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 October 1971
This week, Jethro Tull flew out to start their eleventh tour of America. Like other top British Rock acts, they are reaping the rich rewards ...
Marvin Gaye: Here, My Dear (Motown)
Review by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 1 December 1993
ALMOST SILENTLY, Motown have finally issued this all-but-forgotten masterpiece on CD. ...
Boomtown Rats: The Boomtown Rats (Ensign)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 August 1977
OH CHRIST, what will we label them? Rock 'n' Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Pop/New Wave? All tags apply. But no one alone totally fits the ...
Report and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 11 March 1978
THEY SEEMED to come out of nowhere: Dire Straits, that is. Suddenly last year London's bitter-and-Number-Six grapevine was buzzing with the name. Everyone wanted to ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1976
Ry Cooder, cult figure and esoteric guitarist, tells CHRIS CHARLESWORTH in New York why he's now into Tex-Mex music ...
The Who: The Mod Revival, Yes…
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 12 May 1979
The Who: Rainbow, London ...
Tim Buckley: Digging Deeper to the Roots
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1973
IN A WORLD that seems grossly over-populated with singer/songwriters whose crotchets and quavers reflect their personal attitudes and experiences, Tim Buckley stands out like the ...
B.B. King: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, April 1980
A SLY old dog who knows all the tricks, B. B. King is capable of making you realise that the blues is rather more than ...
The Only Ones: Even Serpents Shine (CBS)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 1979
SINGLES can often be deceptive signposts for forthcoming albums. When ‘You've Got To Pay’ slipped out a few weeks back, it didn't augur well for ...
Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers (Imp)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 1980
COSTELLO BUFFS will undoubtedly be familiar with this generously-stuffed collection of His Master's Voices from its previous existence on cassette. On the other hand, they ...
The Kinks: Muswell Hillbillies
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 25 December 1971
SUPERSTARS may come and go but the Kinks keep marching on. They don't change as much as musical styles change around them; not for them ...
The Everly Brothers: Everly Brothers: Bye Bye Love
Report by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 July 1973
IT'S ALMOST eleven years since the first serious rumours suggesting the breakup of the Everly Brothers appeared. What with that, and a much-noted coolness between ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 25 August 1979
NOT ONE OF the great Wembley encounters, we decided, as the car crept another couple of feet in the late Saturday evening jam. ...
Jonathan Richman: In Love With The Modern World
Profile by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 17 September 1977
On the eve of Jonathan Richman's first British tour, Ian Birch traces his career ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 June 1978
IT'S THOSE damned shades that frighten me so much. What goes on behind them? Where are his eyes? Has he got eyes? The imagination runs ...
Eurythmics: Be Yourself Tonight (RCA)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 4 May 1985
AMONG their assimilations, borrowings and treatments, Eurythmics remain outsiders. "I'm a looker, a viewer of things," said Annie Lennox. Their Sweet Dreams album nailed the ...
Neil Young: Legend Of A Loner (part 1)
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 7 September 1985
NEIL YOUNG is one of rock's most enduring heroes. From Buffalo Springfield to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to his own brilliant, if erratic, solo ...
Neil Young: Legend Of A Loner (part 2)
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 14 September 1985
He's back! In part two of Adam Sweeting's definitive epic, NEIL YOUNG explains the gentle art of growing old gracefully. ...
Bruce Springsteen: Brighton Centre
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 6 June 1981
TRYING TO WRITE about a Bruce Springsteen concert without reinforcing the man's reputation for scarcely believable stage performances is like trying to cross the Atlantic ...
Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Neil Young: Stills and Young
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 10 January 1970
"DON'T BUILD me up into a pop star. I'm no different from you or anybody else. It's just that, because I'm a musician, I can ...
Joni Mitchell: Dog Day Afternoon: Joni Mitchell
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 4 January 1986
THEY'VE ALL all been coming out of the woodwork this past year, the artists who'd never deign to speak to anyone - ole Neil, Dylan ...
Roxy Music: The Sound Of Surprise
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1 July 1972
PAUL THOMPSON's tom-toms ground slowly to a shuddering halt as Eno's synthesiser simulated the sound of Firestone Wide Ovals being pushed past their limit around ...
Comsat Angels: The Comsat Angels: Selling Sheffield By The Pound
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 20 August 1983
UNLIKE BOXING, there is no knockouts when art and commerce enter the ring, though the least we can do is award points. ...
The Fall, Inspiral Carpets: Insprial Carpets and Mark E. Smith: Manchester United
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 26 February 1994
Inspiral Carpets team-up with Mark E. Smith! For a one-off collaboration called ‘I Want You’! Psychedelic optimism meets psychedelic miserabilism! ...
Soft Cell: Soft See Cell Warfare
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, January 1982
The Soft White Underbelly of Soft Cell ...
Robert Fripp, King Crimson: Robert Fripp: Why I Killed the King
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 5 October 1974
KING CRIMSON finally abdicated last week. But the end came with a whimper, an official statement merely commented that the band had "ceased to exist". ...
Joy Division: University of London Union
Live Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 16 February 1980
AH, THE HORROR, the horror... where's Colonel Kurtz? Somehow the demented Brando figure is there, spiritually leading the new dance. Like him, today's purveyors have ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 11 January 1986
With last year's album Low-life, NEW ORDER finally laid the ghost of Joy Division and emerged as one of this nation's saving graces with a ...
Alice Cooper: Alice's Tasteful Nightmare
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 12 April 1975
THE NEW Alice Cooper Revue, which opened in Chicago last week and moved on to Detroit and Cincinnati, is yet another step forward in the ...
New Order: North London Polytechnic, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 30 January 1982
FIRST THE RESOUNDING echo of the cumbersome mythology surrounding this group, then the subsequent, inevitable dismissals and sneers. Now, perhaps for the first time, it's ...
Alice Cooper: Alice Is Still Swinging — By The Neck!
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 18 November 1972
THE KIDS AT GREEN'S PLAYHOUSE, GLASGOW, were yelling "Alice, Alice, Alice" at the top of their voices in deafening unison as the object of their ...
Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry: What Have They Done To My Roots, Ma? Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley
Comment by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 October 1971
WHEN JOHN LENNON ended a recent epistle to Mailbag with a line saying "LP Winner: I’d like Chuck Berry, please," he wasn’t joking. Modern rock ...
Robert Fripp: Do you want me to sell you an album…or a treatise on neg-entropy?
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 21 March 1981
Robert Fripp lectures Lynden Barber ...
Scritti Politti: Enigma Variation
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 5 March 1988
Break out the dictionaries and Post-Structuralist text books, pop's most perfect intellect, GREEN GARTSIDE, is back with a new SCRITTI POLITTI single ready for release ...
Phil Collins: Facing Up To New Values
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 7 February 1981
URPASSING even The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and Crossroads in the bus-stop yapping stakes, the national adult pastime of watching Tiswas every morning of ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 12 February 1972
BINGO IS THE SCENE most nights at the Granada, Wandsworth Road, London SW8. Fruit machines line the foyer and there's a big sign with lots ...
Tom Verlaine: Slurs From The Front
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 19 June 1982
Tom Verlaine: The Venue, London ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 1981
IT'S AN IRONIC twist of fate that Pere Ubu's latest visit to the UK should be prefaced by Rough Trade's reissue of the band's debut ...
Jason & The Scorchers: Jason and the Scorchers: Fervor
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 28 July 1984
WITH MUCH contemporary sound becoming more than a tad anaemic (they know who they are), we must turn our eyes to the West for a ...
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 17 November 1984
SPK bang on pieces of metal and go spot-welding. Lynden Barber wants to know why ...
New Order: The Almighty New Order
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 7 January 1989
New Order: G-Mex Centre, Manchester ...
Joy Division: From Safety To Where?
Comment by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 14 June 1980
ABOUT MIDDAY on Sunday, May 18, Ian Curtis was found dead by his wife in the kitchen of his house in Macclesfield. Although the exact ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 April 1972
2005 note: As well as being their drummer and resident comedian, Keith Moon was the Who's PR man. Journalists unfamiliar with the group may have ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979
While 'Heart Of Glass' seems about to repeat its British success in America, via the disco connection, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein stay home in ...
Blondie, Mud, Suzi Quatro, Sweet: Chinn & Chapman: Ballroom Blitz & Hearts of Glass
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, March 1979
Mike Chapman began with Mud and Sweet, disappeared when glitter-rock went cold, and came back to make the new wave palatable for America with the ...
The Band, Rick Danko: Rick Danko: Solo, But Not Alone
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 2 October 1976
WITH THE possible exception of Robbie Robertson, the individual members of the Band have enjoyed a remarkable anonymity that belies their status as one of ...
Report by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 2 October 1976
THE 600-STRONG line, which last Monday straggled across two blocks outside London's 100 Club in Oxford Street, waiting for the Punk Rock Festival to start, ...
Thin Lizzy: Deutschland Liebt Lizzy
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979
Phil and da boyz invade Germany. HARRY DOHERTY went on the sortie and watched Lizzy win over what had once been an alien audience. ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978
"We don't need nude tarts to sell records. Thus spake Wire, the most ruggedly uncompromising band HARRY DOHERTY has met for, oh, at least a ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 February 1979
In which UFO try for world domination...HARRY DOHERTY followed them round the concert circuit ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978
Fighting their reputation and their record company, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme turn defence into attack. ...
Public Image Ltd: PiL: This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get (Virgin)
Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, July 1984
JUST when you thought you had the bugger pinned down as a spent force, a wasted opportunist and black and white photocopy of a colourful ...
Johnny Thunders: Nothing Is Forever
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 October 1978
Maybe you sneered at the New York Dolls; so maybe you missed a Distant Early Warning of the new wave. Johnny Thunders is back in ...
The Stranglers: Stranglers: Something Better Change?
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1979
Lots of people would like to start by changing the Stranglers. Surprise, surprise...they've done it themselves. Hugh Cornwell tells HARRY DOHERTY how they've dragged themselves ...
Interview by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 12 January 1985
'Some of you (the Freemason pederasts) may be a trifle confused or even annoyed by the packaging and name of this record. For all your ...
Graham Bond, Pete Brown's Piblokto: Graham Bond/Pete Brown's Piblokto: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 October 1969
BOND NEARLY blew it. The extravagant return of the Great Graham almost turned into a fiasco – but happily everything came out all right. ...
Graham Bond: Holy Magick (Vertigo)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 January 1971
ACCORDING TO ancient Druidic and Celtic legend, King Arthur will return in this age of Aquarius to sustain us. And man, he's going to blow ...
Scritti Politti: The Sweetest Groove
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 29 May 1982
Everything's gone GREEN, the voice of SCRITTI POLITTI tells Lynden Barber ...
Cabaret Voltaire, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Nico, The Pop Group: The Pop Group/LKJ/Nico/Cab Voltaire
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 21 October 1978
Disorder by juxtaposition. Subversion by paradox. Nothing is as simple as we're told. New feelings. ...
Lindisfarne: We Can Swing Together: A Day In The Life Of Lindisfarne
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 26 April 1972
SIMON COWE ordered a pint of cider and told me he hadn't eaten anything for two days. He'd had plenty of cider though. ...
The Pixies Facing The Fire Squad
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 3 November 1990
The pixies are the best band on the planet. Discuss. ...
Ginger Baker's Airforce: Ginger Baker's Airforce (Polydor)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 May 1970
GINGER BAKER HAS led a long tough career. He has worked hard, stuck to his musical guns at all times. ...
The Triffids: Kangaroo Courting
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 18 May 1985
LATE AFTERNOON, the wind’s beginning to whip up a little. Two Triffids sit on the balcony of an Italian cappuccino bar taking in the passing ...
Band of Susans: Repeat & Frayed
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 28 May 1988
AT THEIR UTMOST Band of Susans make one of the most spiritual and uplifting rock sounds around. ...
The Pixies: Speaking In Tongues
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 19 March 1988
THE HOLLERING IS ALL. The Pixies are what's left when all the frustrations and absences that once prompted rock'n'roll into being have faded away or ...
The Fall: Funfair For The Common Man
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 3 March 1990
IN A CHEAP INDIAN RESTAURANT IN LONDON'S BRICK LANE Mark Smith's eyes begin to glint. His bony figure leans forward and stiffens. From deep in ...
Flying Lizards: The Flying Lizards: The Flying Lizards (Virgin)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 2 February 1980
WHY DID THE hit maker make an LP? Because it was expected of him. Slips down easy. ...
David Bowie: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 August 1972
MUSIC FROM A Clockwork Orange heralded the spectacular performance staged by David Bowie at London's Rainbow Theatre on Sunday night. "At least it makes a ...
Jack Bruce, King Crimson, Roy Harper: King Crimson/Roy Harper/Jack Bruce: Hyde Park, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 September 1971
JUDGING BY THE weather this week, the title of Saturday's free concert in Hyde Park – "Farewell To Summer" – was a little premature. And ...
Genesis: The Band Who Want To Be Booed
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 September 1972
A PARTICULAR quality of certain successful groups has been their ability to create moods, to take an audience a little further than the surface excitement ...
Genesis: In The Beginning There Was... Genesis
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 April 1971
GENESIS ARE going to cause outrage and chaos in the coming year. Already they are breaking through with a blend of showmanship and original music ...
Roxy Music: Roxy Music (Island)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 24 June 1972
KARI-ANN STARES, with lustful expectancy, teeth bared and surrounded by frosted deep pink lips. She reclines on a counterpane of silvery satin in a halternecked ...
Rory Gallagher: Rory Gets The Acoustic Bug
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 July 1975
RORY GALLAGHER made two startling discoveries during his week at the Montreux Festival. One was that Swiss beer has remarkably potent characteristics, despite its deceptively ...
Report by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 12 May 1973
STAYING AT THE George V is one of life's great experiences, at least to a traveller who savours his changing environments. ...
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 29 July 1972
ALMOST a year ago to the week, Bryan Ferry sat in a council flat in Shepherds Bush and explained his timetable for the next year. ...
Cat Stevens: Cat's Back With The Cream...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 July 1970
LAST WEEK SAW the return of Cat Stevens to the MM chart after a disappearance act worthy of Houdini. It is 12 months since the ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 April 1974
IT HAD TO BE said. The gentleman with the black, slicked-back hair, Charlie Chaplin moustache and thoroughly English cricket pullover, in no manner resembled a ...
Morrissey: Songs of Love and Hate, Part 2
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 19 March 1988
"Did that swift eclipse torture you?/A star at 18 and then – suddenly gone/down to a few lines in the back page/of a teenage annual/oh ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 July 1973
IT GIVES ME NO pleasure to report upon this recording. In fact I cannot recall an album by a British rock band that has given ...
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 26 May 1979
ANOTHER YEAR, another record. Like Burroughs, David Jones, rootless, looks for unconventional commitment: Burroughs found it in junk, control-systems and predatory homosexuality; Jones found it ...
David Bowie, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Generation X, Marc Bolan: Bowie and Bolan Get It On
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, September 1977
"OH THAT'S REALLY Polaroid! You've gotta keep the ending!" David Bowie rocked with laughter and Marc Bolan wiped away the tears that had threatened to ...
Sly & the Family Stone: Sly Stone: Super Sly
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 June 1974
HE EXTENDED A HAND but looked elsewhere. Who could tell where his eyes focused beneath those silver shades? He gripped and I felt pain through ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978
DISCO, THE People's Music, is the modern blues: the truest expression of a generation's thoughts, bitter sweetness with a backbeat. The old blues celebrated the ...
Bette Midler Just Wants to be Loved. It's the Least a Legend Can Expect
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978
LOOKING AFTER Bette Midler's career, says her manager and former lover Aaron Russo, is like being the navigator of a plane en route for California. ...
B.B. King: BB King: The Las Vegas Tax Deductible Blues
Interview by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978
PETE WINGFIELD played with B.B.King seven years ago, on one of the guitarist's less celebrated albums. They met up again last week – only this ...
Emerson Lake and Palmer: England's Robbing Us!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 27 July 1974
WHEN THE alarm bells ring at "Whyte Eagles," it's not a warning of imminent fire or pestilence, just a reminder to Carl Palmer to turn ...
Obituary by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978
ON THE RADIO they were playing a tribute to Keith Moon. They put on 'My Generation' by the Who. We heard the line that now ...
Keith Moon: Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
Obituary by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978
SOMETIME IN 1972, when my admiration for the Who was at its most passionate peak, I spent an afternoon at Keith Moon's house in Chertsey. ...
Steely Dan: Band Breakdown: Steely Dan
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 June 1974
STEELY DAN, in their short time together, have been hailed as one of the best bands to emerge from America in a long time. They ...
Throbbing Gristle: D.O.A. (Industrial)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 23 December 1978
THE UNDERGROWTH OF pop...Take the mechanics of the situation as being something like this: you have a multi-million dollar industry, which has established channels whereby ...
Allen Toussaint: Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky
Profile and Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 21 July 1973
THEY KNOW, of course, which one is Dr John. The Swiss photographers huddle around the stage, clicking their Nikons like American tourists determined to capture ...
Cowboy Junkies: Horse Latitudes
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 24 February 1990
"MOST OF THE SONGS, there's a grain of hope in there. The characters are always striving for something else. They're in a situation which is ...
Blondie: Parallel Lines (Chrysalis)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 September 1978
BLONDIE'S third album seems designed to cater for two distinct requirements: a) to satisfy the near-hysterical cries for the pure pop of the band's debut ...
Profile and Interview by Bill Millar, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978
YOU CAN ENJOY Etta James as a throwback to the rockin' Fifties. You can admire her as the apotheosis of Sixties soul performing ghetto clubs ...
Doll By Doll: Entropy Is Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978
"If you go walking in the street today/be sure and listen what the young boys say/they know the colour of speed is red/you don't become ...
Mahavishnu Orchestra: Music Of The Gods
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 June 1973
Mahavishnu Orchestra: Free Trade Hall, Manchester ...
George McCrae's Last Chance – A Smash
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 20 July 1974
STRANGE how chance plays its part in the record business. If George McCrae hadn't decided to have one last try at making a hit record ...
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 22 June 1974
WE'RE just talking, comparing favourite singers, when Boz Scaggs happens to mention Bobby "Blue" Bland. ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 3 November 1973
WHERE DOHENY DRIVE cuts Sunset at the edge of the Beverly Hills estate, there's a tobacconist shop that carries all makes and brands. It's called ...
Eric Clapton: King Of The Blues Guitar
Profile by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 October 1973
WHO IS THIS man Eric Clapton, of whom they speak so highly? Is he the world's greatest guitarist? Is he now a victim of rock ...
Joe Walsh: The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1 September 1973
MAY I TAKE just a couple of seconds to make my position clear? I thought, and still do, that the James Gang were a very ...
Public Image Ltd: Public Image
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978
"I don't agree with bands who make records to please audiences." (Johnny Rotten.) ...
Isaac Hayes: Chronicle/For The Sake Of Love
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978
IT'S MY CONTENTION that, whatever bizarre circumstances caused the flurry of lawsuits circulating round Isaac Hayes prior to the demise of Stax Records, and the ...
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 ...
Peter Tosh: The Bush Doctor's Dilemma
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978
GAME-RULES for life: tall people have a natural advantage. Or look at it this way: tall people stand out. They're obvious targets. If you're very ...
Dr. John: Dr John: City Lights
Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978
DR JOHN is clean (and mean) and on the scene; so Hail on Mac 'cause it's a stone fact (y'all), the gritty gumbo hustler's back. ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978
IF NOTHING ELSE, at least the sun shone undisturbed for the duration of the Stranglers' long-awaited London gig on Saturday afternoon ("They're trying to strangle ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 August 1973
WHEN APPRAISING an artist of the stature of Stevie Wonder, there seems nothing worse than to hark back to previous triumphs and make comparisons. ...
Frank Zappa: Outrage And Invention
Profile by Michael Gray, Melody Maker, 6 July 1974
FRANK ZAPPA is the only West Coast musician who emerged in the 1960s without giving free promotion to the California Tourist Board. ...
The Darling Buds: Move Over Darlings
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 23 April 1988
SOWING SEEDSSO WE WON'T compare them to a summer's day, then. Summer days are the longest, the most languorous. The Darling Buds are flecked with ...
King Crimson: Robert Fripp…Super Stud?
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 18 August 1973
"I AM," MUSES Robert Fripp, "already a living legend."The light breeze ruffles his curly locks. He settles back in the plastic garden chair, sips his ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 June 1974
IS IT AS GOOD as Yellow Brick Road? That will be the cry, where 'ere Elton John fans congregate and exchange notes. ...
The Jackson 5: Madison Square Garden, NYC
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 10 August 1974
NEW YORK: There's something about Michael Jackson that is almost frightening to behold. How can it be possible for a kid that age to be ...
Profile and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 2 December 1978
"A Colchester farmer on his own accounts for 10,000 of the 400,000 advance orders of Boney M's 'Mary's Boy Child'. George Story heard the single ...
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 ...
Stevie Wonder: Further Fulfillingness
Interview by Wayne Robins, Melody Maker, 9 November 1974
STEVIE WONDER had to know: should he, could he, release part two of Fulfillingness' First Finale at the end of November? ...
Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Charisma)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 November 1974
I WISH that rock musicians would learn the importance of self-editing. A few golden, miraculous notes, and some choice pithy words are worth all the ...
The Bay City Rollers: Kings Of Pop!
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 9 November 1974
IN THE same week that Muhammad Ali regained his heavyweight boxing title, the featherweight crown of pop, too, has changed hands. ...
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 17 November 1973
TRAFFIC, ON OCCASIONS, have the ability to sound like the most demanding and mature rock band in the world. Trouble is, each time they've reached ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978
UNE NUIT A PARIS...The intention behind visiting France with the Motors seemed a good one: the circumspection of their intriguingly varied curriculum could be more ...
Punishment Of Luxury: Dishing out Punishment
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 9 September 1978
"It's really crazy to think you've got to get crazy to be happy. I don't think you can be so logical as to estimate your ...
Blondie: From Blondie With Love…
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 September 1978
CLEM BURKE offers a rather intriguing analogy about his band: Blondie are now playing the roles patented earlier this decade by Gary Glitter, T. Rex ...
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 2 December 1978
THIS IS AN important album for the Jacksons – now five again, with a small letter at least, Jermaine's defection having been balanced by lil' ...
Steely Dan: Get Dan And Get With It!
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 May 1974
Steely Dan: Palace Theatre, Manchester ...
Dr. John: Doctor John: Doctor Feelgood!
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 14 July 1973
COULD THAT possibly be Mac Rebennack peeping through the Dr. John persona? Just like, say, Sly Stone and Sylvester Stewart. ...
Pulp: Non Stop Erotique Cabaret
Report and Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 4 June 1994
"I WAS WONDERING", says Jarvis Cocker. "There was a baboon in the top floor of a flat behind where we played in Paris last night." ...
Scritti Politti: Intellectual Hooliganism
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 2 March 1991
"SO YOU USE the language of dreams and you toy around for the micropolitical effect of the goosebump. I like that – the goosebump as ...
X-Ray Spex: Germ Free Adolescents
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978
"I WANNA BE A FROZEN PEA!" Does Poly Styrene finally make it? Will she really dehydrate? Does she turn into a Teasmade? Will she... ...
Sly & Robbie: The Reggae Heartbeat – Freedom Into Form
Profile and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 23 December 1978
"Mr. Bassie, please sing your song to me." – Horace Andy, Rasta Rabbi in his own words ...
The Rolling Stones Hit The Road…
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 4 August 1973
...and at every date the promoter is expected to provide 50 security men, five limousines, a doctor, ten dozen roses, two bottles each of whisky, ...
Smokie: Exiles On The Reeperbahn
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978
LAST NIGHT, IN Hamburg, Smokie played to 6,000 people and tonight they'll repeat the process in the fishing port of Kiel. It brings to an ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 March 1972
SHE HAS JUST been discoursing on her past activities as lerpatologist when her attention was distracted. "That's the same man who was lying on the ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 9 December 1972
MORE SONGS OF transient euphoria and stabbing loss, played out against an ambiguous background of relentless fatalism and constant hope, mingled in approximately equal proportions, ...
The Darling Buds: Beyond The Valley Of The Blondes
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 24 September 1988
BudismTHERE ARE SOME people, believe it or not, who don't like The Darling Buds. They don't recognise this music as the very Taj Mahal of ...
Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, The Yardbirds: The Yardbirds: Only Jimmy Left To Form The New Yardbirds
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 October 1968
WHATEVER HAPPENED to the Yardbirds? One of the great mysteries of our time, ranking with the Devil's footprints, the Marie Celeste and the Five Penny ...
Yes in New York: Swings And Roundabouts
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978
"EXCUSE me, but what are you writing?" I'm just making notes about the concert and I'm trying to listen to the piano player. ...
Allman Brothers Band: Allman Brothers Reform For LP, Tour
Report by Richard Wootton, Melody Maker, 9 September 1978
THE FOUR SURVIVING members of the original Allman Brothers Band – Gregg Allman, Dickie Betts, Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson – have reformed for ...
Jefferson Airplane: Plane Sailing
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 23 June 1973
A LITTLE GIRL on a bicycle, who couldn't have been older than 12, overheard me asking the way to Olympic Studios last Wednesday night. I'd ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 November 1973
"I SUPPOSE I've sold-out, because I do cabaret. Isn't that what they say?" Alan Price said that recently in his dry, laconic way, understanding full ...
Profile and Interview by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, 2 December 1978
THE POLICE are not punk. The Police are not disco. The Police are not heavy metal. The Police are not power pop. The Police are ...
Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin: Jimmy Page: The Power And The Glory
Profile by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 March 1974
WHEN THEY showed Antonioni's classic film of the 'sixties, Blow Up, on TV last week, apart from evoking the real or imaginary spirit of "Swinging ...
KC & the Sunshine Band: KC & Sunshine Band: Let The Sunshine In
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 14 September 1974
ALTHOUGH it has yet to register in the US Top 100, 'Queen Of Clubs' by K. C. and the Sunshine Band represents the second big ...
The Beach Boys: Stepping Out Of The Surf
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 21 December 1974
LOS ANGELES; "Last week in Vancouver we sold out the Canadian National Exhibition Hall twice. We had 17,500 for each show and over 5,000 additional ...
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. ...
Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: Pete Shelley is a Sensitive Artist... and Buzzcocks Have no Guilt
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978
Every successful new wave band experiences a backlash, and Buzzcockes are no exception. HARRY DOHERTY sympathises ...
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 8 April 1995
Radiohead: The Forum, London ...
The Voices of East Harlem: The Black Pride Of 13 Hip Kids
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 22 August 1970
BLACK PRIDE, as a kind of more inner-directed companion to Black Power, is rapidly becoming a force in our musical world. "Black Is Beautiful" was ...
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: Gary Puckett: How We Split The Gap
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 20 July 1974
"YEAH I GUESS you could say I was kinda surprised when I got the news. But the funny thing is that I kinda predicted it ...
Pop Will Eat Itself: No One Likes Us, We Don't Care
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 11 March 1995
SO NO ONE likes Pop Will Eat Itself, and they don't care. Not strictly true, of course – after all, they've enjoyed a good dozen ...
Jack Bruce, West, Bruce & Laing: Jack Bruce
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 7 July 1973
JACK BRUCE has turned full circle. The best bass guitarist Britain has produced, whose career has merged jazz and rock to the extent where he ...
Rockpile: Rock Around With Philip Marlowe
Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978
THE TROPICANA MOTEL sits disconsolately on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, an area that looks uncomfortable sandwiched in between the clinical sky-scrapers of Century ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 June 1973
IT BEGAN TO OCCUR to me that this was very poor music indeed. ...
Kate Bush: The Sensual World (EMI)
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 14 October 1989
"WHEN LAUREN WAS a small girl, she would stand in the field and call the cats. One by one they would come to her through ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 September 1971
OFTEN ABUSED BY critics and disc jockeys, Deep Purple have won through during the past two years to become one of this country's top groups. ...
Eric Clapton: Portrait Of The Artist As A Working Man
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978
IT HAS OFTEN been said that one of Eric Clapton's major problems over the years has been to find his own identity, a role in ...
The Miracles: Miracles Never Cease…
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 23 November 1974
LOS ANGELES: "I really loved touring with the English groups, back in 1963 and 1964. We used to tour with the Rolling Stones and people ...
Arthur Lee, Love: Arthur Lee: Forever Changes
Interview by John Tobler, Melody Maker, 29 December 1973
REMEMBER Arthur Lee and Love? Love was the first rock band to sign with Elektra Records, which they did in late 1965. In approximately their ...
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 8 July 1989
TC: "Poor innocent me. And all this time I thought you were a bona fide blonde."Marilyn: " I am. But nobody's that natural. And incidentally, ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 November 1972
KIM FOWLEY'S looking for love. "Well," he says, snuffling into a wad of Kleenex, "I'm real entertaining and I have some nice human qualities...and I'm ...
Frank Zappa, The Mothers Of Invention: Frank Zappa: Reviled, Revered Mother Superior
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 October 1968
FEAR OF THE abnormal isn't a trait confined to Americans, but they do seem to express their fears more vociferously than most. ...
American Music Club: 'Club for Zeroes'
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 27 March 1993
AMC MAKE MUSIC for losers, loners, early-hour fuck-ups and late-night wasters. Perfect for us, really. ...
New Order: Brixton Ace, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 26 March 1983
THE OMENS WERE poor. Judging from the new single, 'Blue Monday', you could be forgiven for supposing that New Order are simply the latest Factory ...
Obituary by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 September 1970
"JIMMY HENDRICKS," was the name scribbled on a notepad, when Chas Chandler rang the MM towards the end of 1966. "You must come and see ...
Essay by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 26 September 1970
THE IMPORTANCE of Jimi Hendrix as a musician was sometimes forgotten behind the man's sexuality and the flamboyance of his act and appearance. ...
Nicky Hopkins: Sixth Stone Rolls Alone
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 August 1973
THE NEWS THAT the Rolling Stones are to tour next month without their long serving pianist Nicky Hopkins will come as a surprise to those ...
Fairport Convention: The Banana Convention
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 30 June 1973
THE WAY DAVE PEGG sees it, what America needs is Fairport Convention's High Banana Content Programme. ...
The Darling Buds: Confetti Junction
Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 18 February 1989
Saturday11:20 IT'S SATURDAY MORNING kiddie time, and The Darling Buds are shining out of the telly. After Bruno Brookes and the Red Arrows display team, ...
Island Records: Reggae to Riches
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 November 1972
IF YOU WORK for Island Records, nobody minds if you take your dog into the office every day – or even if it misbehaves on ...
Cocteau Twins: Dreams of Consciousness
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 11 September 1993
ROBIN IS NOT HERE today. He is housebound with chicken pox, "covered in spots from head to foot, it's fucking terrible. I got it from ...
The Everly Brothers: Creators Of Country Pop
Retrospective by Michael Gray, Melody Maker, 10 November 1973
THE EVERLY BROTHERS – Don and Phil – first emerged in the rock 'n' roll market in 1957, with a unique harmony-vocal sound, a modern ...
The Carpenters: It's Plane Sailing!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 29 September 1973
HEAD DOWN THE Santa Ana freeway, turn off on San Gabriel, make a couple of rights and you're in Downey, a right-wing, unpretentious suberb of ...
David Ackles: Just A Handful Of Songs
Interview by John Tobler, Melody Maker, 16 February 1974
DAVID ACKLES has got a great house in Pacific Palisades, a few miles west of Los Angeles, and thereby close to the ocean, although the ...
Thunderclap Newman: The Crazy World Of Thunderclap Newman
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 July 1969
WHO IS THIS strange, Pickwickian character, rumbling and bumbling gaily into the pop scene? ...
Overview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 10 November 1973
"You just can't live in Texas if you don't have a lotta soul" – 'At The Crossroads' by the Sir Douglas Quintet, 1969. ...
Elton John: Elton's Finest Hour!
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 15 September 1973
Elton John: The Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles ...
New Order: Technique (Factory)
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 28 January 1989
IT BEGINS. IT THUMPS with glee, it swirls with lackadaisical intensity. "You're much too young to be a part of me, you're much too young ...
Paul McCartney, Wings: All Paul: Paul McCartney
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 December 1973
WHEN THE Prime Minister, Royalty or a Rear Admiral makes a tour of inspection of a naval establishment, there is a flurry of activity among ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 16 November 1974
IN THE current era, when groups and artists come and go with alarming regularity, the continuing success of the Pink Floyd is a peculiar state ...
Elton John: Elton Storms The States
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 26 September 1970
AL KOOPER, talking about Elton John's last album: "That album's really got me screwed up. It's just the perfect album, and I carry it around ...
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' ...
Brian Auger: Straight Ahead Again
Interview by Michael Gray, Melody Maker, 27 July 1974
BRIAN AUGER has been stomping round the commercial radio stations as part of his duty in promoting his latest album Straight Ahead by the Brian ...
The Jesus & Mary Chain: Chain Reaction
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 17 June 1995
"I MUST REMEMBER," says Jim Reid, "never to come here again." ...
Osibisa: Beat The (African) Drums For Osibisa
Profile by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 22 August 1970
IT MAY BE that, having endured the painfully stilted and emotionally lukewarm playing of most rock drummers for the last decade, audiences are waking up ...
Frankie Miller: Dingwall's, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 September 1978
FRANKIE MILLER would have been recognised as a major rock singer with a major rock audience three years ago had it not been for his ...
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978
THE LEAD SINGER sweats redly, tuffness of the strategic stud decorations unable to blind the look of uncertainty in his eye for the camera as ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 29 September 1973
FLUSHED from their success in the MM Pop Poll, the all-star musicians of Yes held a remarkable summit conference this week. Gathered round the board ...
Phil Ochs: Home Thoughts Of Phil Ochs
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 19 January 1974
ALTHOUGH I'M typing this in Greenwich Village, New York City, this story really begins 3,000 miles away in Los Angeles. ...
American Music Club: Psycho Thriller
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 25 March 1989
MARK EITZEL, OF American Music Club, a self proclaimed 'fuckin mess', a man who's spoken before of being 'doomed to sing' and living in terror ...
Jethro Tull: Ian Anderson Tulling It Like It Is
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 September 1970
"THEY SAY I don't stand on one leg as much as I used to." Ian Anderson stretched out on a sofa and gazed quizzically at ...
Neil Young: Neil Gave Everything — And They Asked For More
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 6 March 1971
Neil Young: Royal Festival Hall, London ...
Eric Clapton at the China Garden
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 April 1974
A TURN UP for the books, and as it transpired, a turn up for the stomachs, when Eric Clapton announced his return to active service ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 August 1973
THE 'PHONE DOESN'T stop ringing in Eric Burden's room at the Holiday Inn at Swiss Cottage. So many people, explains Katie from Island Records, are ...
Electric Light Orchestra: Themes and Variations on ELO
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 May 1978
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA's forthcoming British tour, which includes a run of eight nights at Wembley Empire Pool, will be the band's last appearances here ...
Love Affair: A Love Affair To Remember…
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 January 1968
IT'S EXCITING, it's fun, it's new – it's the Love Affair! ...
McDonald and Giles: McDonald & Giles: Outside The Court Of The Crimson King
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 21 November 1970
THERE ARE, YOU understand, these two musicians, both having played in one of our very best bands, who're sitting at home doing virtually nothing at ...
Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Love The One You're With!
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 10 August 1974
MILE HIGH STADIUM, as the name implies, is 1,760 yards high. That's a mile above sea level, but even so it sits at the foot ...
Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: Love Bites
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978
UMMMMM, ON THE cover of their new album the Buzzcocks look yummy enough to wrap up and take home. Love Bites, it's called, but no ...
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 25 February 1995
IF NOTHING ELSE, it's one of the better conjuring tricks of the age. Sleeper, as a musical entity, are resolutely standard issue, yet are hailed ...
Edgar Winter: Great White Wonder
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 27 July 1974
EDGAR WINTER shoots pool pretty good considering he's as blind as a bat. The green ball gives him trouble because that's the same colour as ...
Carole King: King Is The Queen
Live Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 28 July 1973
Carole King: Hammersmith Odeon, London ...
Steve Winwood, Traffic: Stevie Winwood: Sixties Soul Survivor
Profile by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 8 June 1974
"STEVE'S only 25 you know. When people criticise him and say he's not as good as he used to be in the old days, they ...
The Ramones: Ulster Hall, Belfast
Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978
IT WAS A TRICKY confrontation. John Ramone stepped out of the hotel lift and after a brief moptop nod of recognition dived into the obvious ...
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 ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 September 1977
TAPE RECORDER OFF, Roy Wood typically loosens up, revealing a few of his franker thoughts. "I've written something like 30 hit songs, you know," he ...
The La's: Interview with the La's
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 10 June 1989
THE LA'S ARE NOTHING if not perfectionists. After two years work they've just completed their debut LP - no wonder they look knackered as they ...
My Bloody Valentine: The Excellence of Ecstasy
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 30 January 1988
WHERE SHALL WE BEGIN? "When we first started we had this image thing, right, all Sixties haircuts and really setting out to do the pop ...
Jackson Browne, Laura Nyro: Laura Nyro: Laura's London Triumph
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 13 February 1971
Laura Nyro/Jackson Browne: Royal Festival Hall, London ...
My Bloody Valentine: Glide on Time
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 28 April 1990
MY BLOODY VALENTINE are sitting in the basement rehearsal studio they've just rented. I am wandering around upstairs walking into lots of offices and insisting ...
Colosseum: The Secret Of Their Success – Good Music
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 November 1970
COLOSSEUM are now rated as one of Britain's and Europe's most popular and creative bands. In two years of furious activity and hard work, the ...
The Sex Pistols: Bootleg Albums
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978
The Sex Pistols: Gun Control/Live at the Rodeo ...
Pete Townshend, The Who: Pete Townshend: March Of The Mod
Profile by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 18 May 1974
IT MAY WELL have been pure chance that produced the most visually exciting guitarist in rock. If Peter Townshend hadn't been born with a big ...
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 ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 7 April 1973
GEE, YOU GUYS from Roxy sure do have style. Mmmmmmm, yummy yummy. what I couldn't do to that Bryan Ferry if he dropped around my ...
Mark Eitzel: Dark Side of the Loon
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 26 January 1991
"YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER JUST LEFT. He made me laugh, he said Americans don't like having their photo taken and I'd better act for the camera. I ...
Tanita Tikaram: Say Halo Wave Goodbye
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 9 February 1991
AS EVERY HAIRDRESSER worth their shears will tell you, a radical change of hairstyle usually heralds an equally radical shift of persona. Tanita Tikaram's new ...
Marc Bolan: Why Marc Won't Be Giving Up
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 September 1973
DESPITE the critical savaging that Marc Bolan regularly receives – he ain't gonna do a Jethro Tull and give up. Marc was accused of being ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 October 1973
GENESIS have lain dormant throughout the summer, at least as far as the public was concerned. Then came the sensational appearance at Reading Festival, when ...
The Guess Who: Guess Who's a smash!
Profile and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 28 December 1974
"I WANTED to buy some records, so I went collecting for UNICEF on Halloween and took the money," recalls the 26-year-old lead singer for the ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 November 1975
I'M P---- OFF listening to the bloody album," mutters a weary Roger Taylor, confronted once more with hearing a new Queen album, four months ...
Live Review by Van Gosse, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979
FIRST time here, in February, the Clash were merely grand. The energy was awesome but the music was more volume than anything else; in the ...
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 May 1974
A NEW album release by David Bowie is today looked on with as much awe as a release by the Beatles in the sixties. Later ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 23 June 1973
UNTIL a year ago, Graham Gouldman was going through what he calls his "why not?" period. ...
Deep Purple: A New Bassman — But Still No Singer
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 14 July 1973
"PAUL RODGERS was asked to join us, but there were just too many things in the way. Apart from just the contractual side of it, ...
Bram Tchaikovsky: The Marquee, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978
FOR THOSE CONFUSED, angered and alienated by the Motors' continuing divergence from their original hard rock base, the movements in the Bram Tchaikovsky camp at ...
Eric Clapton: The Lost Weekend
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 December 1978
THE ERIC CLAPTON MOVIE – LOCATION: A darkened Glasgow street, swept by freezing wind. TIME: Friday night, just after the Burns Howf has closed. ...
Chris Farlowe, Colosseum: Colosseum: Farlowe That!
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 September 1970
CHRIS FARLOWE and Colosseum – the mind boggles! One of the country's most powerful vocal talents has joined the most explosive force in groups to ...
Report and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978
"Because Fay and I are going out together, when you have a group argument it invariably gets personal. Things that you dislike about people become ...
Frank Zappa: Past Flops And Future Shocks
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 August 1973
HIS ARMS AROUND a red-haired girl whose ample chest was covered with a Mighty Thor t-shirt, debonair Frank Zappa (32) sank deeper into the couch, ...
David Bowie: Birth Of The New Rock Theatre
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 June 1974
A FEW THOUSAND lucky Canadians witnessed a completely new concept in rock theatre last weekend when David Bowie opened his North American tour in Montreal ...
The Darling Buds: Petal Music Machine
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 26 May 1990
POP SAID "BECAUSE we're in Newport and because we're in love and because the sun is shining and everyone has disappeared, lost among the flowers, ...
Deep Purple: The Smashing-Up Bit Is Valid!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 September 1970
WHEN DEEP PURPLE smashed up their equipment on a TV show recently, here were howls of protest throughout the land. A flood of complaints hit ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978
SINCE THEIR appearance in 1975, Third World have always seemed the most likely candidates to follow Bob Marley through the gates marked Reggae/Pop Crossover. ...
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band: Alex Harvey: Absence Makes The Art Grow Older
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978
Alex Harvey: The Venue, London ...
The Who: 'The Least I Could Do Was Smash a Guitar'
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 June 1974
Chris Charlesworth reviews the Who's return to New York — and talks to Pete Townshend ...
Electric Light Orchestra, The Idle Race: Electric Light Orchestra: Light And Bitter
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 9 February 1974
BRUNEL UNIVERSITY, FRIDAY: The film man wants to know the running order of the show tonight. ...
The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols Bootlegs
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978
Sex Pistols: Indecent Exposure (It's A Dirty Business) (Rotten Records – bootleg album)'Anarchy In The U.S.A.'/'Belsen Was A Gas' (Rotten Role – bootleg single). ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Skynyrd's First And…Last
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978
ROCK 'N' ROLL REQUIEMS usually denigrate rather than enhance the reputation of the deceased, which is as sound a reason as any to approach this ...
Peter Frampton's Camel: A Galloping Success In The States
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 July 1973
PETER FRAMPTON made a flying visit to London last week. But the boss of Frampton's Camel couldn't stay long – too much excitement is happening ...
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Buffy St Marie: Buffy Breaks Away
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 6 July 1974
"HI, IT'S Buffy St. Marie here. How are you?" The call came through some 48 hours after it was expected, rousing this writer from a ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 10 November 1990
YOU WANT TO know how I feel when I listen to Espero, the new three-track EP from Portsmouth's Cranes, right? You want to know whether ...
Captain Beefheart: Lick My Decals Off Baby
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 2 January 1971
ALREADY, I'M THINKING that this is the Captain's most satisfying album to date. ...
Gary Moore: Back On The Streets
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978
GARY MOORE is one of the best rock guitarists in the world – a conviction reinforced by his gymnastic feats on his instrument on this, ...
Blood Sweat & Tears: New Sweat
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 18 August 1973
THE WIND of change that spread through Blood Sweat and Tears a year ago is beginning to make itself felt at last. Their forthcoming album ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 August 1973
"YES ARE LIKE an amoeba. Now an amoeba works on the principle of..do you know, I've no idea how it f***** works!" Jon Anderson grinned, ...
Pop Will Eat Itself: We're Not Serious Artists
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 23 January 1993
THE GIGTHE FIRST-TIME I see Pop Will Eat Itself, It is nine o'clock on Wednesday, Clint is wearing baggy white pyjamas, Graham is fiddling with ...
The Bay City Rollers: Strangers In The Wind
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978
IT WOULD indeed be wonderful to report that, after a lengthy break, the Bay City Rollers have returned to remind us that they were really ...
Gryphon: The 13th Century Slade
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 August 1973
"EARLY ENGLISH music? Gah – give us Slade and T. Rex!" Thus one can imagine the reactions of lads and maidens today as they dance, ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 4 May 1974
"JEEZ, I HOPE the sound guy is straight tonight." said Al. "The guy who did it last night didn't have a clue. Might wind up ...
New Order: The Reading Festival
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 9 September 1989
NEW ORDER have to be blinding, have to be gorgeous and maverick and wise, if we're to leave with any sense of napalm in our ...
Electric Light Orchestra: The Electric Light Orchestra: In The Hall Of The Mountain Lynne
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 August 1973
"WHEN I LISTENED to Greig's 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King', I thought our version was much heavier." Jeff Lynn wasn't boasting. He was ...
Roxy Music: We're Not Killing Ourselves In America
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 18 May 1974
BRYAN FERRY was exhausted. Utterly. Not much lounging for the lounge lizard this week. All go. Up at dawn to another city. Another round of ...
Elvis Costello: Brutal Youth (Warner Bros.)
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 26 February 1994
PRAY TO GOD that Elvis Costello never writes a song about you and relationships. Rather Mike Leigh or Ken Loach documents you, rather a fly ...
Fields Of The Nephilim: The Nod Corner
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 23 December 1989
THE MOMENT IS breathtaking. One minute, he's Nod, drummer of Fields Of The Nephilim, chatting placidly of a pint of Flowers Best. Next minute, he's ...
The Human League: Romantic Antics
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 15 September 1990
THE HUMAN LEAGUE are back among us, more serious than ever, not for a last gasp, but completely reinvigorated and rewired – after what ...
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 1 May 1993
THERE'S SOMETHING TREMENDOUSLY reassuring about the fact that The Fall, and Mark E Smith, exist. ...
Stiv Bators: Stiv Bator and Michael Monroe
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 1985
STIV BATOR: "THERE'S an old saying in the American Mid-West that whoever you spend New Year's Eve with, you spend the rest of the year ...
Manfred Mann: Manfred Michael Say's — 'It's Like Selling Fish And Chips'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 July 1968
IS THE era of the pop idol dead? Are the days when Mick Jagger's face could launch a thousand screams over? ...
Grand Funk Railroad: Funk On A Grand Scale
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 4 May 1974
RINGING EARS are a symptom of excessive listening to loud rock and roll. When the ears tingle after a gig, you know the band in ...
Elvis Presley: Revolt Into Style
Essay by Michael Gray, Melody Maker, 9 March 1974
ELVIS PRESLEY. The giant among giants, and yet also that strange kind of comic-book hero, Mr Reverso Man. ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978
RADIO STARS' aspirations are anything but modest. They have visions of themselves as a major (Hammersmith Odeon-Earls Court-Knebworth) band and Holiday Album is the vehicle ...
Oasis: They Thought It Was All Over
Report by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 21 September 1996
THE ANNOUNCEMENT came on Friday, 24 hours of nail-biting drama. Oasis, after all, were not going to split. ...
Allman Brothers Band, Gregg Allman: Gregg Allman
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 26 January 1974
GREGG ALLMAN picked up an old Gibson acoustic guitar and allowed his nimble fingers to slide over the six new strings. He tuned it and ...
Jimi Hendrix: Wild Man Of The Guitar
Retrospective by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 December 1973
AS A ROCK HERO Jimi was one of the best, one of the greatest. Lying on his back playing flaming guitar with his teeth. Fanitastic! ...
The Damned, UK Subs: Dreaming Of A Punk Christmas
Report by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 2 January 1982
"COME HERE," cried an excited Captain Sensible from the corner of the backstage lounge. "I've just discovered what this is like! It's like the Generation ...
The Lemonheads: It's A Shame About Ray
Review by Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, 26 June 1992
WHAT DO THE Lemonheads want from you? Unlike Nirvana, who want to raise your awareness, or Buffalo Tom, who want you to feel the hurt, ...
Soundgarden: Camden Underworld, London
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 21 March 1992
CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP, swallow swallow grimace. The sound of a music journalist eating his own words. Good job my writing's normally so tasteful. Yum. Gobble ...
Mark-Almond: No Drums For Almond And Mark
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 August 1970
WHEN JOHN Mayall led the revolt against volume by dispensing with a drummer in his line-up, he also paved the way for what promises to ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 21 December 1974
I DOUBT very much whether Lynyrd Skynyrd, those Southern rock and rollers who take the stage to the strains of a tape of 'Dixie', could ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 December 1974
Tex Comer (bass guitar), Fran Byrne (drums). Bam King (rhythm guitar), Phil Harris (lead guitar), Paul Carrack (organ, piano). Producer John Anthony. ...
Rory Gallagher: Life With Last Year's Model
Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 12 September 1981
THEY WERE IN Manchester. It was 8:30 in the morning, and the hotel was quiet. The Rory Gallagher Band and their crew were peacefully sleeping ...
The Police, Sting: Sting: A Policeman's Guide To Good And Evil...
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, September 1982
YOU MIGHT NOT have noticed, but there's been little activity on the Police front recently. This year, apart from a few sporadic live appearances, has ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 December 1974
Chris Squire (bass guitar), Jon Anderson (vocals), Patrick Moraz (keyboards), Steve Howe (guitar), Alan White (drums), Produced by Yes and Eddie Offord. Recorded on Eddie ...
John McLaughlin, Mahavishnu Orchestra: John McLaughlin: It Was Natural Evolution
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 2 February 1974
NEW YORK: Although John McLaughlin's decision to disband the Mahavishnu Orchestra came as a surprise in the closing weeks of 1973, further reflections point to ...
Jimmy Cliff: From Reggae To Riches
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 17 November 1973
IT MUST BE almost three years since the last hit record. God, that's an artistic lifespan for many people, but somehow he manages to suggest ...
Foo Fighters, Nirvana: Foo Fighters: The Chosen Foo
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, November 1995
THE FOO FIGHTERS Melody Maker interview takes place in the lobby of some swank hotel in Madrid, Spain. Outside, gun-toting cops keep the hookers at ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 February 1974
MUCH LOVED Maggie is back in action, and ringing changes in her career that will reverberate around rock. Miss Bell has been quiet in the ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 9 March 1974
UP ON THE 37th floor of a Park Avenue office block which faces north and thus commands an extensive view of New York's Central Park ...
Foo Fighters, Placebo: Placebo & Foo Fighters: Hallo Spaceboys
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 15 February 1997
THE SETTING: Placebo's dressing room, backstage at Madison Square Garden. David Bowie is halfway through his 50th Birthday Concert. Two of his special guests are ...
The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols: Rotten To The Core
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
"I had absolutely no interest in singing. I was more interested in being obnoxious." ...
The Eagles: Eagles: Where Eagles Dare…
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976
WHAT'S it like, I asked, being an Eagle? Glenn Frey, a perpetual talker, paused to consider the question and the silence lasted almost a minute. ...
Average White Band: Cut The Cake (Atlantic)
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 19 July 1975
Hamish Stuart (guitar, vocals), Alan Gorrie (bass, vocals), Onnie Mclntyre (guitar), Roger Ball (keyboards, alto and baritone saxophones), Malcolm Duncan (tenor saxophone), Stephen Ferrone (drums, ...
Blodwyn Pig: Blodwyn: It's Blodwyn, Not Piggy Banks!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 August 1970
WHAT HAPPENED when the Pig got up and slowly walked away? A new group emerged simply called Blodwyn, with the added new power of guitarist ...
Slowdive: Younger than Yesterday
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 2 March 1991
"A LOT OF BANDS are so precious about influences, thinking they're massively original. I don't think we are." ...
Screaming Trees: Ashes To Ashes
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 13 July 1996
WE'RE LUCKY Screaming Trees, peers of Nirvana, are still here, given mainman Mark Lanegan's excess-all-areas past. We're especially lucky because the Trees have just recorded ...
Fields Of The Nephilim: Attractions Fatalist
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 20 May 1989
THE THING I most enjoy about Carl McCoy is his refusal to jump through the traditional music industry hoops. ...
Lou Reed: How Lou Saw The White Light
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 18 December 1976
LOU REED, the crafty old rock 'n' roll fox, is alive and kicking. In fact, he's standing in the lobby of the Los Angeles Hyatt ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976
ABBA: Frida Lyngstad and Anna Faltskog (vocals), Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals) with Ola Brunkert and Roger Palm (drums), Janne Schaffer, ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 2 February 1974
DOWN ON COTTON Avenue in Macon, Georgia, lie the offices of Capricorn Records, slotted between a funeral parlour and a beauty salon that's anything but ...
Blondie: Your Instrument Is Your Body
Interview by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 22 December 1979
PEOPLE REMEMBER the face as they see it in photographs, that's axiomatic. And her face possesses that photographic stillness even in life – not as ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 6 March 1976
IT IS, I GUESS, the third time around for Dobie Gray who, at the present moment, is stretched out full length on a bed on ...
The Band's Robbie Robertson: "The Struggle Has Gone"
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 3 January 1976
ROBBIE ROBERTSON: "We'd been around so long that we couldn't take a name seriously. So we made the first album and we called ourselves the ...
Elton John: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 January 1975
MAYBE IT WAS the pre-Christmas spirit or the entire packet of chocolate I had just consumed, but a lump rase in my throat during the ...
Baker-Gurvitz Army: Baker-Gurvitz Army (Vertigo)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 January 1975
WHAT BETTER WAY to start a new year than with an album that truly evokes a sense of occasion and excitement. ...
Profile by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 January 1975
BY FAR THE biggest ensemble to be visiting Europe on the Warners tour is Tower of Power, the Oakland based blues and soul outfit whose ...
The Beach Boys, Chicago: Beachago: The Beach Boys meet Chicago
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 21 June 1975
PERHAPS THE MOST the most interesting side-effect of the depression in the United States has been the decision of two potential headliners to go out ...
Ritchie Blackmore, Deep Purple: Blackmore: I Was Getting Lazy
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 28 June 1975
RITCHIE BLACKMORE'S DEPARTURE from Deep Purple comes as no surprise to followers of Deep Purple who have watched their activities closely over the years. For ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 January 1975
A CURIOUS MARRIAGE of convenience. That is how the link between American lead guitarist Tommy Bolin and British speed rock band Deep Purple might appear ...
Profile by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 June 1975
AMERICAN BANDS USUALLY fall into one of two categories. They are either denim-clad cowpokes, bearded, laidback to the point of collapse, drinking corn liquor from ...
Colosseum: Jon Hiseman: Why I've Re-formed Colosseum
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 July 1975
DRUMS HAVE BEEN rumbling down in darkest South London, underneath the railway arches. Drums and guitars competing with the rumble of trains overhead, and grim ...
The Chieftains: Montreux Music Festival, Switzerland
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 July 1975
THE CHIEFTAINS MADE much of contemporary rock music sound a shallow fraud, when they took the stage of the Montreux Music Festival in Switzerland last ...
Procol Harum: Palladum, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 16 August 1975
IT COULD WELL have been two different bands appearing at the London Palladium on Sunday. The first was a shambling, incohesive bunch whose dull, plodding ...
James Taylor: Universal Amphitheatre, LA
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 16 August 1975
JAMES TAYLOR'S UNIVERSAL Amphitheatre gig, though predictable at times, established new beginnings for the folkster as he returned to the Southland for the first time ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 August 1975
HOWEVER ERIC CLAPTON spent his couple of years in isolation from the world, he returned to active performing refreshed and revitalised. ...
Leo Sayer: Winter Gardens, Bournemouth
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975
LEO SAYER IS in danger of losing fans if he persists in forcing his personality on audiences, as he did when his British tour opened ...
Supertramp: 'Tramp On The March
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975
FOR ALL THAT has been heard of Supertramp during the past six months, you could be forgiven for doubting their very existence. ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 December 1975
PHIL HARRIS, OF Ace, suddenly perked to attention on the edge of his chair and made a compassionate plea. "We love Britain, 'onest," he craved. ...
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 24 January 1976
"I WAS NERVOUS but I looked forward to playing overseas because I had this feeling there was an audience for my kind of music, especially ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Gimme Back My Bullets (MCA 2744)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976
FOR SUCH A great continent, America has given the outside world very few real rock and roll bands. ...
Be-Bop Deluxe: Sunburst Deluxe
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976
BILL NELSON, IF popular opinion is to be believed, is destined to become something of a superstar in the coming year. And the new Be-Bop ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 7 February 1976
AS AGATHA CHRISTIE discovered to her considerable advantage, everybody loves a mystery. The subject of this mystery is Leon Redbone, a musician whom we can ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976
IT IS NOW ten months since Wishbone Ash packed up their troubles and settled in the USA, choosing a spot in Westport, Connecticut, that is ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 March 1976
IT WOULD BE a shame if this album were overlooked because it is ascribed to the drummer in a famous band (Yes) and is one ...
Mahavishnu Orchestra: Inner Worlds (CBS 69216)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976
THE NAKED BODY of John McLaughlin, surmounted by a beaming face, hints, on the album cover, of purity, devotion and honesty. ...
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 6 March 1976
LEONARD COHEN'S GREATEST Hits is an interesting album to contemplate when one remembers that Cohen was in his mid-thirties when he began to make records, ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 March 1976
"I'M SURE YOU were all as surprised as I was to find that Rick wasn't here, when we arrived tonight..." Brian Lane, manager, smiled uneasily ...
Peter Frampton: Frampton Comes Alive
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 March 1976
THIS IS THE best set of live performances heard for some time, and it marks the evolution of Peter Frampton into a major rock figure, ...
Deep Purple: Empire Pool, Wembley
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 March 1976
THIS REVIEW SHOULD have been written in the white heat of anger after seeing Deep Purple play at the Empire Pool, Wembley, on Friday night. ...
Wings: Wings At The Speed Of Sound (Capitol)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 27 March 1976
PAUL McCARTNEY HAS a brilliant knack of taking an ordinary, daily statement and imbuing it with intrigue. ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 27 March 1976
NICE TO SEE Osibisa back in the news and making some chart action after a difficult spell when it seemed they had lost their grip ...
Camel: Fairfield Hall, Croydon
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976
AS BILLY CONNOLLY would say, it was sheer magic, the night Camel broke through into that indefinable sunlit area where a group becomes a supergroup. ...
Rick Wakeman: No Earthly Connection(A&M AMLK 64583)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976
RICK ORIGINALLY PLANNED an album dedicated to the gods of ancient myth, but shelved that when he became intrigued by the origins of man on ...
Led Zeppelin: Presence (Swan Song)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 April 1976
THERE IS A MAN I know, a college lecturer, for whom there is only one rock band. ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 April 1976
WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that the total eccentricity of approach, the gross make-up and the blanket heavy metal music would have eventually ensured that Kiss ...
Genesis: Beacon Theatre, New York
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 24 April 1976
WITH THE RELEASE of A Trick Of The Tail Genesis demonstrated that, on record at least, they could carry on at the same degree of ...
Diana Ross: New Victoria, London
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 24 April 1976
WHEN WILL THE real Diana Ross sing up and be counted? ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 April 1976
I NEEDED CONVINCING that the legendary Sixties were really the rich, golden colour painted by those lucky enough to have experienced the action. ...
Jethro Tull: Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die! (Chrysalis)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 May 1976
ROMANTICISING THE WORKING LAD as a cult hero is a popular theme with rock musicians. They have oft flirted with, or observed at close hand, ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 8 May 1976
RETURNING HOME TO England has always been a bit of a comedown for Gentle Giant. ...
Elton John: Here And There (DJM)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 May 1976
DO NOT FEAR a rip-off, for this is a worthy selection of live performances from two major concerts which will long serve as a reminder ...
Elvis Presley: Long Beach Arena, Los Angeles
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 8 May 1976
DESPITE MEDICAL PROBLEMS Elvis Presley's show at the Long Beach Arena proved that he still has the voice and romantic quality that established him as ...
AC/DC: Nashville Rooms, London
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 8 May 1976
AC/DC'S SINGLE 'IT'S A Long Way To The Top', has a lot to answer for. First, since its weird, bagpipe-drone of a break sounded unusually ...
ABBA, Silver Convention: Europe: The Future Of Pop?
Overview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976
AS IT WAS Stockholm, and as the ever-witty 10cc were playing there, Eric Stewart thought it'd be nice to pay a little tribute to a ...
Kiss: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976
MAN, KISS HAD everything; every single effect in the book. They had a perfect lighting system; dry ice; smoke bombs; a fire-eater; a huge lighted ...
David Essex: Earl's Court, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976
FOUR TIMES AT his Earls Court, London, show on Saturday night, David Essex strikingly fused the electric atmosphere of theatre with rock. The effect was ...
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 13 March 1976
"THE THING IS," confides Billy McIsaac, Slik's 26-year-old keyboards player, "we have a positive attitude to everything." He is speaking with the advantage of hindsight. ...
CBGBs, Max's etc: Underground Overground
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
"PUNK ROCK? What's that supposed to mean? The bands that play at my club aren't punks. They might wear leather jackets, chew gum and try ...
Tanita Tikaram: The Sweet Keeper
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 27 January 1990
THE CONNECTION between pop stars and new towns in the Eighties – someone should have done a thesis on it. We had Depeche Mode in ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 October 1976
THIN LIZZY: Johnny The Fox (Vertigo 9102 012). Phil Lynott (bass, vocals), Brian Downey (drums, percussion), Scott Gorham (lead guitar), Brian Robertson (lead guitar). Produced ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 15 May 1976
LOUNGING IN HIS suite at the Pierre Hotel, an opulent home for the wealthy, once owned by Paul Getty, Boz Scaggs completes a picture of ...
The Clash: Down And Out And Proud
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
THREE WEEKS AGO at London's ICA, Jane and Shane, regulars on the new-wave punk rock scene, were sprawled at the edge of the stage. Blood ...
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
AL STEWART, who plays London's New Victoria Theatre on December 2, is now enjoying greater success in America. ...
The Bay City Rollers: Rollers' American Civil War
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 September 1976
THE STATE TROOPER, with his tall hat perched firmly on a head with very little hair, seemed to be in control. One hand grasped a ...
The Isley Brothers: Isley Brothers: Heat's Still On Isleys
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975
LOS ANGELES: The Isleys' latest album, The Heat Is On, recently hit number one in America, but for as long as there's been rock and ...
The Adverts: Reading The Adverts
Profile and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 6 August 1977
THE NEW WAVE scythe has brought about a dual personality in programming for a lot of the more established clubs. ...
Steve Harley Says It Loud: 'I'm Back And I'm Proud!
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 7 February 1976
SO LONG AS the braggadocio who boasts "I'm the greatest" or "I'm a star" continues to climb up the success ladder, sceptics and critics are ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 28 August 1976
WHAT'S A MIDDLE-of-the-road singer like Neil Diamond doing with the Band's Robbie Robertson? Making a hit album, Beautiful Noise, that's what. The two first met ...
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976
IT WASN'T easy to book a plane from Los Angeles airport on Thanksgiving to fly up to San Francisco for the Band's farewell live concert ...
Janis Ian: Society's Child Grows Up
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 12 June 1976
ONE JOURNALIST WHO knew Janis Ian in 1969 thought she was the snottiest kid he'd ever met, "the cocky, pretentious product of an 'old Lefty' ...
Buzzcocks, Gang of Four: Buzzcocks/Gang Of Four: Club 57, New York, NY
Live Review by Van Gosse, Melody Maker, 8 September 1979
THIS IS the year that the New Wave, or at least its more retrograde element, has finally hit the U.S. charts. Everybody English and short-haired, ...
Ike & Tina Turner: Tina Turner: Acid Queen
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975
"WE TOURED FOR years with all the English groups and I always liked what they were singing about. ...
Led Zeppelin: Jimmy Page: Past, Presence & Future
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 March 1976
JIMMY ENTERED a whole hour late. But Abe, who was accompanying him, was not in the least embarrassed by the delay. He muttered an obligatory ...
The Band, Eric Clapton: Eric Clapton: A Hero Comes To Town
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 20 July 1974
PITTSBURGH, PA. – The tint on the TV screen gave the newscaster a peculiarly reddish face, almost as if he was genuinely quite excited about ...
Al Kooper, Lynyrd Skynyrd: Al Kooper: Sweetheart Of The South
Interview by John Tobler, Melody Maker, 2 March 1974
AL KOOPER is presumably in accord with Bob Dylan more often than not, as his playing on some the latter's best albums, like Blonde On ...
Duane Eddy: The Guitar Man Twangs Back
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 6 October 1973
THE FIRST REAL guitar superstar of the rock and roll age sits in an office no larger than a bathroom on North Vine off the ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 27 March 1976
WITH THE SUNSHINE on his shoulders and the mountain water in his veins, John Denver is an enigma surrounded by moonbeams, a v friendly postman ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 November 1974
ROD ARGENT is a nice chap. Not one of your violent illiterates of rock prone to throwing pints of Guinness over the heads of passers-by, ...
Joan Armatrading: Burning Like Fire
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 14 August 1976
THE SOUTH LONDON side-street is unimposing and still. Neat houses face each other, their windows opaque, like rows of black eyes shielded by the reflecting ...
John Lennon Gets His Ticket To Ride
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 7 August 1976
NEW YORK: John Lennon has won his five-year battle against the immigration authorities in the United States. ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 24 April 1976
"I'M A ROCKER. I'm a Roller, too, honey..." Did you know that West Hampstead, London, is within spitting distance of the M1? Phil Lynott lives ...
Led Zeppelin: John Bonham: Over The Hills And Far Away…
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 June 1975
GOSSIP IN THE village was running riot. John up at the farm was going to buy The Chequers. The American in the bar of another ...
Comment by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
BY NOW we must all, surely, regard the coming of rock's New Wave as beneficial. Whether the currently fashionable bands prove to be the real ...
Leftfield: Release The Pressure!
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 5 December 1992
CRITICAL ACCLAIM means bugger-all in clubland. Here, an act's reputation is better measured by the number of others sampling them. And, right now, it's impossible ...
Pop Will Eat Itself: Porn to be Wild
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 2 June 1990
NEITHER THE Football Association nor, astonishingly, FIFA's UK representatives are entirely sure who will be presenting the 1990 World Cup to the winners in Italy ...
Cliff Richard: Cliff Brings Good News To Belfast
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 October 1976
CLIFF RICHARD wasn't smuggled into Belfast on Saturday night in the back of a furniture van. Nor was his appearance marred by a background of ...
Art Garfunkel: Art For Art's Sake
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975
ART GARFUNKEL cut an odd dash at the Top of the Pops rehearsals last week. Slotted between Pan's People and Mud and closely followed by ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 October 1976
HOWARD BUNKER looked down at his instrument panel and spoke softly into the radio. There was no point in looking through the plexiglass canopy, for ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 August 1976
THOSE PUZZLED by the Status Quo phenomenon should beware. AC/DC, from the same rock family, could wreak similar havoc, but they will only realise their ...
Peter Frampton: How Frampton Came Alive
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 July 1976
WHAT WAS it about the Fifties that encouraged the birth of so much talent? Was it the result of H-bomb testing or increased sunspot activity ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 13 April 1974
ALTHOUGH IT'S quite incidental to the story that follows, let's begin by explaining the meaning of the term Steely Dan. It has nothing to do ...
Demis Roussos: Onassis Of Rock
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 26 June 1976
TWENTY miles east of the Arc de Triomphe, across the Seine as it meanders north, and a fast drive through grimy Paris suburbs, there looms ...
Bill Haley: The Guardian Of Rock 'N' Roll
Profile and Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979
MARCH 1979, and rock king Bill Haley's in town, almost a quarter of a century since he recorded 'Rock Around The Clock', and 22 years ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 February 1974
AS YES PLAY one of the most prestigious concerts in their career, at Madison Square Garden, New York, this week both their British and American ...
Brian Auger: Fear Not For The Trinity!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 March 1969
QUESTION – What happened to Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll and the Trinity? Answer – a lot! ...
The Primitives: Before The Crash
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 2 September 1989
Lazy 86-88. Paul: "WELL, THE FIRST FOUR SONGS ARE crap for starters! That first record goes for £30 now, those four songs made up our ...
Report and Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 2 March 1985
IF IT'S TUESDAY, this must be Paris. How about Europe so far, girls? ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976
IN THE basement of a South London shop, a group rehearses. They're loud, ever so loud. A rat crawls from behind an amplifier, its ears ...
The Moody Blues, Patrick Moraz: Moody Blues: Yes To The Moodies
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978
"I THOUGHT I was God. Then I realised I was just the drummer in a rock 'n' roll band." Graeme Edge and Caligula had the ...
Randy Newman: 'I'd Like to Have a Hit'
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 15 June 1974
Randy Newman may have an image problem — but he's got an impeccable track record. America's great songwriter talks to Robert Partridge ...
Deep Purple: Who'll Be Purple's New Voice?
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 30 June 1973
THE NEWS that Ian Gillan is to leave Deep Purple comes at a time when the group are on the crest of world-wide acclaim. Yet ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978
"RELEASE, Release!" is one of the most significant chants on this happy musical event. It is the hook-line on the fastest, funkiest, piece of rock ...
Elton John: He's Got The Whole World In His Hands
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 14 August 1976
THE WHOLE FAMILY was there. Mum, dad and three children all waited patiently by the elevators in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency hotel on ...
Eddie & The Hot Rods: Eddie and the Hot Rods: "Punk? — We Just Do It"
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 September 1976
ENERGY, LIFE, YOUTH, ROCK 'N' ROLL! What are these strange ingredients that have suddenly injected themselves into the creaking old rock scene? "We're just DOIN' ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 February 1974
HAPPY CHILDREN – maybe. Realistic and dedicated musicians – certainly. For beneath the jolly image of Osibisa, there beat sensitive hearts. ...
David Bowie: Ringing The Changes
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 13 March 1976
"I'M JUST DOING this tour for the money. I never earned any money before, but this time I'm going to make some. I think I ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 December 1973
"IT'S NOT A concept," says Paul McCartney, but there is a thread to Wings' newie Band On The Run. The feeling expressed throughout is one ...
Jethro Tull: Why Tull Called It A Day
Report by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 1 September 1973
JETHRO TULL's manager Terry Ellis this week accused rock critics of "taking advantage of their unassailable position to be abusive." ...
Yes: I'm Not Jumping Into Wakeman's Boots…It Will Be Different
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 August 1974
"THE TEXTURES are so rich...and they work so fast..." Patrick Moraz slipped a sidelong glance across the top of an amphitheatre of keyboards, a mixture ...
Elkie Brooks: Has Elkie Souled Out?
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 13 December 1975
WHEN VINEGAR JOE broke up two years ago, another brilliant British vocalist retired from the road. Elkie Brooks never actually wore the Queen of Rock ...
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 ...
Roy Orbison: 1960's Man Of Integrity
Profile by Michael Gray, Melody Maker, 9 March 1974
ROY ORBISON seems fated to be Mr. 1960. That's when he began a cascade of hit singles. That's when he became a star in Britain. ...
10cc: We Don't Want To Be Superstars…
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 April 1976
IT'S CRAZY, totally unpredictable, this life with 10cc. ...
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Ray Sawyer: Hooked On Country And R&B
Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, 2 February 1980
RAY SAWYER isn't Dr Hook, but he does have an eye patch – a real one – and a pirate persona. He also had an ...
Sutherland Brothers and Quiver: Conquering Quiverlands
Profile and Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 17 November 1973
FOR NINE WEEKS now, the Sutherland Brothers and Quiver have toured America with Elton John. Their single, '(I Don't Want To Love You But) You ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 January 1974
MARC BOLAN is a star. Still. However much heavy water has passed under the bridge of rock and roll sighs, Mr B. commands respect. And ...
Sparks: Hometown Heroes At Last
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 2 November 1974
IT WAS a typical day in Los Angeles, hot and smoggy. 18-year-old Jeff exclaimed with glee clutching his autographed Sparks album, "They went to my ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 15 May 1976
"I DON'T feel I have to defend myself to you, and I won't take your criticism either. I'd take the criticism of a fan, though. ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 September 1976
BRIAN MAY remembers Queen's first-ever free gig well. It was in London, five years ago, when the band invited 120 people along to a lecture ...
Aswad, The Cimarons: British Reggae: Prejudiced Vibrations
Comment by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 9 October 1976
ON THE SURFACE it looks as though there has been something of a major breakthrough for reggae in Britain. ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: Greg Lake: Rock Will Go Back To Its Roots
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 August 1974
GREG LAKE'S London home is a rare and impressive sight. A light glows outside a town house in a quiet street that takes you back ...
Mahavishnu Orchestra: John McLaughlin: Natural High…
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 June 1973
WITH A BAND playing music as tense and demanding as the Mahavishnu Orchestra's, one might be forgiven for expecting them to be (a) nerve wracked ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978
"BRAKES ARE locked. The steering is jammed!" Peter Robinson wrestled with the steering wheel as he drove like a Dalek around Bristol City centre last ...
Graham Central Station, Larry Graham, Sly & the Family Stone: Larry Graham: Platform For Station
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 January 1975
OAKLAND: Few people can ever have listened to a Sly Stone record without experiencing a gut feeling as the bass guitar runs through its paces, ...
Joan Armatrading: Joan Armatrading (A&M)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 14 August 1976
REPUTABLE SOURCES assure me that this new record album is, in fact, by the same Joan Armatrading who almost died of fright during her London ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975
IT'S NO MERE coincidence that an Ozzie Osbourne song on the new Black Sabbath album is called 'Am I Going Insane?' Ozzie, who professes that ...
Bad Company: Kings Of The Castle!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 26 October 1974
CLEARWELL CASTLE, Gloucestershire, Thursday – Mick Ralphs, clad in blue jeans, tee-shirts with Texas written on the front and dirty white fur-lined coat, hovers around ...
New York Dolls: The New York Dolls: Broken Dolls
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 7 September 1974
NEW YORK: The many critics of the New York Dolls will doubtless be pleased to hear that their fortunes recently have spiralled downwards. Unless a ...
Report and Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 8 May 1976
NEVER IN THE history of rock 'n' roll has it been more difficult for bands to get the exposure they need to break big and ...
Scott Walker Comes In From The Cold
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1970
IN 1970 Scott Engel's career appeared to grind to a halt. He practically vanished from the scene. He seemed to be forgotten, discarded, after a ...
Jefferson Starship: Starship's Enterprise
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976
ONE BY ONE the group drifts into Wally Heider's recording studio for a mixing session. Marty Balin is absent but his presence fills the air. ...
Yes, 5,000 Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong!
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 27 April 1974
"I HEAR we're playing the next gig in My-Rand," said Rick Wakeman, leaning heavily on the bar in the George Cinque Hotel. ...
Daryl Hall & John Oates: Hall and Oates: The Palladium, NYC
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 18 December 1976
NEW YORK: Like it or not, Hall and Oates are currently running the distinct risk of becoming just too perfect for their own good. At ...
Horslips: Rock in Ireland: Rock in the Dark Ages
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 15 May 1976
IF OXFAM WERE to adopt the same stategy towards rock starvation as they do towards the plight of the world's hungry, then one of the ...
Sly & The Family Stone: The Palladium, Los Angeles
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 10 November 1973
HOLLYWOOD: Will he? Won't he? Will he? Won't he? Sly Stone's reputation is too firmly etched for these questions not to be asked when he's ...
Slade: America Feels The Noize
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 3 November 1973
NO COMPROMISE says Noddy. No compromise at all. America will just have to go crazee, feel the noize and get their boots off Just like ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 March 1974
IN A ROCK world where folk tend to babble nonsense at the drop of a hat, blither platitudes, and indulge in half-baked philosophising, it is ...
Laura Nyro: Christmas And The Beads of Sweat
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971
EACH OF LAURA Nyro's four albums has had its own distinct personality. ...
The Cure: Emerald City, Philadelphia
Live Review by Van Gosse, Melody Maker, 26 April 1980
THE CURE HAVE just made their American debut at Emerald City, a huge "rock disco" outside of Philadelphia. Beside Jefferson Starship playing the Roxy, it's ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 May 1976
"THEY'VE gotta name for you people." Eric Bell settled back in a speeding Volkswagen as we wound through the West Cork countryside, and addressed the ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 16 March 1974
From 'Hang On Sloopy' to the Winter Brothers – and now Rick Derringer's got a hit US single and album ...
Little Feat: Real Dixie Chickens
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 January 1975
LITTLE FEAT come to Europe with a high reputation to live up to. While the Doobie Brothers headline one of the two nights at each ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 September 1976
"HI. Y'ALL COME in now..." Ronnie Van Zant, two minutes out of the sack, wears a stetson, strengthening the popular theory that he was born ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 January 1974
MARC BOLAN returned to the British stage on Monday night and it was as if he had never been away. There were the fans, mostly ...
Slik: We're Like A Scapegoat For The Rollers
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 July 1976
TEARS TRICKLE down her 12-year-old cheeks. She's speechless, overcome by the emotion of the moment. She has, after a stubborn battle, won the right to ...
The Who: Bingley Hall, Stafford
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975
LIKE MOUNTAINEERS tottering on the brink of some huge ravine, the Who crashed into their first tour in over two years at the weekend and, ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 9 November 1974
"PEOPLE THINK I'm an ogre at times. Some girls hissed at me in the street...'You devil.' They think we're really nasty. But that's only on ...
Marvin Gaye: For Once In A Lifetime
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 21 February 1981
AFTER NEARLY two hours in that bedroom, Lydia finally gave up. By any standards she'd waited long enough for her Marvin Gaye interview – a ...
Alice Cooper: Fangs Ain't What They Used To Be
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 23 March 1974
AT THE END of the second evening of this three-day trip to London, after a grueling schedule of interviews for the press radio and TV, ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 September 1976
OF ALL the guitar heroes to emerge from the British blues boom of the mid-Sixties, Jeff Beck has been the most slippery to follow. There ...
Loudon Wainwright III: Loudon Wainwright: I Like To Be Laughed At
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 14 September 1974
...which is as good a reason as any for Loudon Wainwright to play a role in the weekly comedy TV series, Mash. He spoke to ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976
SILVER DISCS paper the walls of Ralph McTell's new eight-roomed Putney castle. There's going to be a studio upstairs, he says, directly above where the ...
The Clash: Joe Strummer Answers The Call-Up
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 13 December 1980
WORKING ON THE theory that if you give him enough rope he'll either hang or save himself, the following pages are left basically for the ...
Jack Clement: 'Cowboy' Jack Clement: The Nut With The Midas Touch
Profile and Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, 13 October 1979
RECENTLY, the successful Nashville-based record producer and songwriter, sometime singer, and failed movie mogul. Jack Clement, made his first visit to Europe. At the age ...
Emmylou Harris Makes Up Leeway
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 25 September 1976
IT CAME as something of a surprise to learn that Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band were in town last week. To be precise, they ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 3 November 1990
"JOHNNY ROTTEN telephoned me within hours of splitting The Sex Pistols," begins Jah Wobble, acknowledging the fact that there's a fascinating background story to tell ...
Black Sabbath: Sabbra Cadabra!
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 23 February 1974
THE GRINDING riff sears through the eardrums, ripping the senses and dulling with monotony. It crashes through the PA system, hurtling itself towards the back ...
Manfred Mann: Mann Of The Moment…
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 September 1976
ARGUMENTATIVE and brittle, Manfred Mann has long been notorious as a man not likely to suffer fools gladly. He has terrorised managers, journalists, publicists and ...
Public Image Ltd: John Lydon: Apocalypse New
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 24 May 1986
SOMEBODY told me John Lydon liked a drink. And this was indeed a large crumb of comfort. Suddenly, it was possible to establish some common ...
Buddy Holly: The Legend Lives On
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 September 1975
"DEAR BUDDY, I have several records of yours and my favourite is 'Oh Boy'. Please send me a picture with your autograph." With the constant ...
Beck, Bogert and Appice: Heavyweight Champions Of The World
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 29 September 1973
TAKE A LONG guitar lead. Sit as far far away from the studio as possible. And record some of the funkiest sounds ever laid down ...
Public Enemy: Fear of A Black Planet
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 21 April 1990
BACK IN BLACK ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 28 August 1976
FEW ARTISTS have quite as much faith in themselves as Ted Nugent, the Midwestern rocker and former leader of the Amboy Dukes. He is getting ...
Pink Floyd, Soft Machine: Pink Floyd/Soft Machine: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 November 1973
PINK FLOYD and Soft Machine stunned fans with two sensational shows at London's Rainbow Theatre on Sunday night. It was a splendid evening of rock-co-operation, ...
The 101'ers: Keys To The Legend
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 28 February 1981
ON THE WAY out of that pub, last Friday afternoon Joe Strummer suddenly gripped my elbow, and propelled me urgently away from the rest of ...
Steve Miller: Flying Like An Eagle
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 3 July 1976
STEVE MILLER seems to be the kind of guy who would act first and ask questions afterwards, a tough-looking Texan brought up on bands and ...
Maggie Bell: Queen of the Night
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 16 February 1974
MAGGIE BELL'S first solo album is with us at last. It's been a lengthy wait and there have been countless rumours concerning who would be ...
Bruce Springsteen: Not The Me-Me-Me-Me
Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 9 May 1981
STACKED on the left of the typewriter are two blank cassettes which should contain the voice of Bruce Springsteen. But like Kevin Rowland and Elvis ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
YOU PROBABLY haven't heard of Heart – apart, perhaps, from their excellent 'Magic Man' single – yet they've soared from obscurity in the States to ...
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 31 March 1990
"I thought I'd play a couple of numbers from the Tin Machine album... wait, wait, where are you going...come back!" ...
Sleepy LaBeef: Rockabilly's Tower Of Power
Profile and Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979
IF WALT DISNEY had decided to make an animated cartoon of the rock 'n' roll story he would have needed a rockabilly character, and I ...
Daryl Hall & John Oates: Hall and Oates: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 June 1976
IT WAS ONE of those historic, electrifying events that punctuate the cavalcade of rock, one of those nights that fans will long recall..."Do you remember ...
Thin Lizzy: Unlikely Lads With A Lead For Lizzy
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 July 1976
THE MAN IN Black from the City Of The Angels, Los Angeles, is still dazed by the unbelievably swift rise of Thin Lizzy and chats ...
Joe Ely: Texas Country Rock: Texas Twisters
Overview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, 25 November 1978
THE ECHOES of rock get older; and likewise those consumers who, like me, retain an interest in them – rather than giving in to the ...
The Rolling Stones: Rolling Stones: Jagger – It's Time For A Change
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 August 1974
"SORRY I'm late." "It's all right Mick." "No – it's not all right." ...
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band: Alex Harvey: Harvey's History Lesson
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 August 1976
ALEX, WHAT would your reaction be, apart from grabing me by the throat, if I said the music and image of the Sensational Alex Harvey ...
Peter Frampton: How I Cracked America
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 24 April 1976
"IT'S ALL QUITE unbelievable really. I don't want to think about it too much. I know it's great and it's made me really happy, but ...
Mott The Hoople: The Ballad Of Mott
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 8 September 1973
IAN HUNTER is a great romantic, torn by doubts and secure only in the knowledge that the will to succeed usually bears fruit. ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 June 1976
A SPACESHIP, perhaps better described as an earth ship, forms the basis of a bizarre and fantastic story that is the central theme of Jon ...
Rod Stewart: I Dream Of A Solo Concert
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 31 August 1974
"ANYTHING I say is not meant to be a blot on anyone's character...or trousers." ...
Bruce Springsteen: Palais Des Sports, Lyons, France
Live Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 2 May 1991
COME ELECTION time, even the President of France must sometimes have to make speeches. And when the President makes a speech, nothing gets in his ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 August 1976
THERE IS an aura of faded grace and decaying dignity about Crystal Palace, set upon the heights of Norwood in South London. Perhaps it stems ...
The Clash: Safe in a European home
Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 6 June 1981
STANDING BY the toilet door, the kid recognised him instantly. The hair piled up in a scraggy mess. The white leather jacket. The beautiful punkette ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 28 September 1985
"WHAT KIND of strings do you use on your axe, man?" ...
Ian Hunter: There Are More Important Things In Life Than Hit Records
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 1 May 1976
LOS ANGELES: In the afternoon I arrived at his hotel, and for a while we drank red wine and watched I Love Lucy reruns on ...
The Faces, Humble Pie, The Small Faces: The Small Faces
Retrospective by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 January 1976
WELL – WHAT do you make of it lads? There's Rodney, jetting round the world with his blonde bombshell, the very lovely Britt Ekland. ...
Doobie Brothers: Doobies — With Added Skunk
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 January 1975
KALAMAZOO: Over thirty guitars, mostly Gibsons, sit on racks in one dressing room and a wooden packing case in another contains suits of clothing that ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 10 August 1974
Bad Company's formation has been a shot in the arm for Paul Rodgers – and he's raving over the band's tour of the States as ...
Rick Wakeman: Liszten To Rick!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 August 1975
Lisztomania is quite a movie, says Rick Wakeman. He plays Thor in the film, as well as producing the music, and he tells Chris Welch ...
Joe Walsh: Barnstorming the USA
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 29 September 1973
THINGS ARE starting to happen for Joe Walsh. In the corridors of rock and roll where informed people discuss what, where and when, elbows are ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 7 September 1974
From the Turtles via the Mothers and T. Rex to their own radio show. Chris Charlesworth meets Flo and Eddie in New York ...
Ten Years After: Ten Year Itch
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 June 1973
WHEN DOES a band become a juke-box? And when does it cease to be a creative musical force? These are the questions that have been ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer: ELP: The Show That Never Ends?
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 August 1976
WHATEVER happened to ELP? One of Britain's most successful and popular bands has been surrounded by a wall of silence as impenetrable as the Kremlin ...
Bruce Springsteen: The River (CBS)
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 11 October 1980
LISTENING to Bruce Springsteen's The River is like taking a trip through the rock 'n' roll heartland as you've never experienced it. It's a walk ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 March 1975
AIN'T IT just like the February sunshine to play tricks with the mind? Here I am, sat aboard the Long Island Railroad Express, rattling out ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 March 1975
It's a busy time for JOHN LENNON – hit singles, a new album of oldies and recording with Elton John and and David Bowie. Plus ...
Jonathan Richman: Rock Poet Of Lower Middle-Class Suburbia
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 23 October 1976
I'm in touch with the modern worldI'm in love with the modern worldI got the radio on(Radio on) ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 12 April 1975
MINNIE RIPERTON is as fizzy as a soda bottle shaken on a hot summer day. Life, it is reassuring to know, can be enjoyed even ...
Doug Sahm, The Sir Douglas Quintet: Tex Mex Makes Your Feet Smile
Overview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, 22 March 1980
MARTIN HAWKINS uncovers the Tex-Mex mix that gives the roots to the San Antonio sound. It's time to discover the music of Sahm, Fender and ...
The Faces, Rod Stewart: Rod Stewart
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 August 1973
"GOOD LUCK Rod!" People like Rod Stewart. And he likes the people. As he stood forming a queue outside ye old Marquee Club (home of ...
Tammy Wynette: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 14 June 1975
THREE MONTHS ago Tammy Wynette was little more than cowboy fodder in Britain, appealing only to a small body of country freaks. But, one smasheroo ...
Jethro Tull: Live – Bursting Out
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978
SECRETIVE lot, Jethro Tull. This "live" double set was NOT recorded at Harold Rumsey's Lighthouse, nor at the Manor, nor on Ronnie Lane's mobile, but ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 12 April 1975
HOLLYWOOD: On a clear day Glenn Frey can see from his living room right out to sea, right across the Pacific to Catalina, the island ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 February 1974
"HYPE, BILGE, lies, rubbish!" These are the epithets often hurled when a band appears on Top Of The Pops weekly, and soars chartward with a ...
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty: Tuning up the criminal kind
Report and Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 13 June 1981
BENMONT TENCH remembers the day well. "It was April Fool's Day 1974 when we drove to L.A.," he recalls. At the time, keyboardsman Tench, guitarist ...
Mack Allen Smith: The Last Of The Great Unknowns
Profile by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, 20 January 1979
MARTIN HAWKINS searched the Mississippi delta and found Mack Allen Smith ...
Queen: Brian May – The Power Behind Queen's Throne
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 December 1975
FREDDIE MERCURY steps out of the spotlight, Brian May moves in to seize the opportunity to deliver the most sizzling guitar solo. ...
The Band, Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan & The Band: Knocking On Heaven's Door
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 9 February 1974
THEY CHEERED and clapped and waved for fifteen minutes even though the house lights were up and 'Greensleeves' was playing through the PA system and ...
Wings: Paul McCartney: Abbey Road Revisited
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 31 May 1975
WINGS flew over Soho this week. But these were of musical origin and did not belong to the rather grubby pigeons that haunt London's home ...
Led Zeppelin: Robert Plant: Recording's No Race For Us
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 February 1975
WITH WEEKS of the current Led Zeppelin tour under his belt, Robert Plant is feeling the strain. One show has been cancelled because he caught ...
Stealers Wheel: Wheel Of Fortune
Profile and Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 5 January 1974
JOE EGAN used to be in a band called the Mavericks. Nothing much, just a young band from Paisley, a tough industrial town on the ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 27 December 1975
BOBBY WOMACK is the kind of guy who lights up a room when he enters, and this suite in the Plaza Hotel is no exception. ...
Ronnie Lane's Circus Comes To Town
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 8 June 1974
"CHAOS!" said Ronnie Lane, crinkling his expressive face into a smile against the sunshine raining on his caravan. "Courage," I thought, gazing at the Big ...
Dion, Phil Spector: Phil Spector: He's A Rebel
Report and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 31 May 1975
THE OCCASION is Professor Phil Spector's guest lecture at the Sherwood Oaks Experimental College record-producing seminar. Last time Phil talked at the school was in ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976
FEW ARTISTS have experienced such a turbulent – yet short – career as Phoebe Snow, whose second album, just released, is already on its way ...
Curved Air, Hawkwind, Status Quo, The Strawbs: Status Quo: Quo Storm The Castle
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 July 1976
Rock festivals in Wales always tempt providence, as many a Marley or 10cc fan can attest. But at Cardiff Castle last Saturday, the sun shone ...
Tammy Wynette: Going UP Country
Report by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 14 June 1975
How come a seven-year-old single, re-issued for the fifth time, made it to number one? Robert Partridge gets the full story behind Tammy Wynette's 'Stand ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 17 November 1973
Carlos Santana is in Britain this week with a new vocalist, a new name and a new energy – thanks to the divine intervention of ...
The Faces, Rod Stewart: Rod Stewart: Sorely Taxed
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 August 1975
The Faces may split ...
Steeleye Span: Steeleye Sold Out?
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 8 November 1975
WHEREFORE art thou, Span? The cry persists: "They've sold out." The denials continue. But Steeleye Span's drift towards "commercialism," especially on the new album, All ...
The Prisonaires: Five Beats Behind Bars
Retrospective by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, 11 January 1978
With doo-wop increasing in popularity, MARTIN HAWKINS reveals the 'inside' story of the Prisonaires, one of the South's finest vocal harmony groups. ...
Linda Ronstadt: Linda's Liberation
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 24 November 1973
WHEN THE film industry was at its peak and the Hollywood Hills beamed down on the Babylon city in its celluloid wrapper, someone decided that ...
Report and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 8 March 1975
LOS ANGELES: In the last six months, he's jammed with Ray Manzarek at the Whiskey, played with John Sebastian at the Troubadour and recently, at ...
Barclay James Harvest: Barclay Bank On The Future
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 October 1976
BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: 'If you want to be a musician and play the type of music you want – you've gotta cruise.' ...
Doobie Brothers, Little Feat: Doobie Brothers/Little Feat: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 January 1975
CURIOUSER and curiouser. There was no denying the deserving nature of the ovation that greeted Little Feat the boogie band that plays more music than ...
Weather Report: The True US Art Form
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 31 July 1976
"PEOPLE ARE beautiful everywhere," says Josef Zawinul. "I think a real open person, I don't care what music he is playing, is going to be ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 27 December 1975
"YES," SAID Graham Gouldman without any hesitation, "we are deadly serious to break over here." ...
Rick Wakeman, Yes: Rick Wakeman: British Groups Have Gone Over The Top
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 April 1974
The American tour was the last of the long ones ...
Santana: Guitarists Bore Me To Tears
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 20 September 1975
OF ALL the great groups to have emerged out of San Francisco since the mid-sixties, Santana have retained a musical credibility that surpasses their home ...
Genesis: The New Face Of Gabriel
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 October 1974
Don't lose hope, Genesis fans! Their tour may be cancelled, but there's a new album on the way. And the new-look Peter Gabriel has given ...
Thin Lizzy: The Irish Question
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975
DESPITE the homely sentiments echoed in Philip Lynott's 'Dublin' a few years back, Thin Lizzy did leave Dublin, and Ireland. But the fond memories of ...
Grand Funk Railroad: Isn't Life Grand!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 10 November 1973
THEY said it would never happen. ...
Shalamar: The Second Time Around
Profile and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 18 December 1982
LATE LAST March, under the advice of a close friend, Jeffrey Daniels, one third of a group called Shalamar, took a walk down the Kings ...
Dr. Feelgood: Dr Feelgood: Where There's a Wilko…
Report by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976
FEELGOODS' WILKO JOHNSON: 'I work for one hour a day and get paid about £2,000. That's why I want a television in my room.' ...
Iggy Pop, The Stooges: Iggy Pop: Iggy Breaks Out Of His Cage
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 6 October 1973
IGGY POP swam out to sea, his wiry frame floating over the waves of Manhattan Beach, his dyed blonde head bobbing along the ripples, his ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 26 June 1982
"THERE'S 70 million people on earth." "Where are they hiding?" ...
The Mekons: Blows Against Individuation
Profile and Interview by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, 3 February 1979
The Mekons insist they're just a by-product of confusion. But 'intervention', a.k.a. 'going commercial', looms. ...
Captain Sensible, Dolly Mixture: Captain Sensible & Dolly Mixture: Sense and Sensibility
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 10 July 1982
SHE DIDN'T look a day under 75, but she recognised him instantly. Up to her elbows in pie and mash and jellied eels, the woman ...
Report and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975
LOS ANGELES: "We sold out two houses in Detroit at 12,000 each and were the biggest thing to hit the city since the Beatles. People ...
Earth Wind and Fire: Earth, Wind & Fire: Maurice White's Band of Hope
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979
There's more to America's biggest soul band than bread and circuses. VIVIEN GOLDMAN followed them to Staffordshire to talk about the Bible, spinal fluid, reincarnation, ...
A Flock Of Seagulls: Beaks On Broadway
Report and Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 19 June 1982
"AND THAT was a Flock with 'Space Age Love Song' here on K-ROQ Los Angeles. For those of you who don't know yet, that's A ...
David Essex: Essex Dons The Motley Again
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 29 May 1976
DAVID ESSEX: 'I'm going to do a kind of rock revue in a West End theatre. It'll be incredible – I've got so many bizarre ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 March 1974
"OH LORD please don't let me be misunderstood" was the classic line Eric Burdon sang with the Animals. It could almost have been written for ...
Badfinger: Fickle Fate Of Badfinger
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971
"EVERYONE who interviews us wants to talk about the Beatles. Sure, we were influenced by the Beatles, like ten million other groups. ...
Culture: The International Dub
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 24 March 1979
Like Bob Marley before him, Culture's Joe Hill is spreading Jah-message, international-style. But how long can he keep his roots pristine in the hotels and ...
Genesis, Peter Gabriel: Genesis to Revelation
Obituary by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 August 1975
AS PETER GABRIEL QUITS GENESIS, CHRIS WELCH RECALLS A GREAT BRITISH BAND ...
The Bee Gees: Nights on Broadway
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976
BEE GEES: "The Beatles influenced us in the early days and before that Neil Sedaka. Now we let Stevie Wonder influence us." ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 29 March 1975
NO QUESTION about it. Styx were stuck. Their second album had lain on the record warehouse shelves for two years doing nothing but gather dust. ...
The Undertones: Putting On The Anti Style
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979
...are the Undertones, Derry's nosethumb to the star system. HARRY DOHERTY helped them bury a few rock myths. ...
Peter and the Test Tube Babies: More Bottle Than Brains
Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 19 June 1982
Carol Clerk cracks a tube with PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES ...
Michael Nesmith: Mike Nesmith: Monkee in the Countryside
Profile and Interview by John Tobler, Melody Maker, 26 January 1974
Do me the gracious favour of not pointing me out as the most talented Monkee ...
Hot Chocolate: Everyone's a Moneyspinner
Profile and Interview by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 13 January 1979
GREAT POPULAR music is generally not a cynical or synthetic product, but something personal to one individual that many, many others find appealing. ...
Chelsea: Spring Time for October
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 3 April 1982
I DON'T know why it had to happen to Chelsea. Clawed by the press, mauled by the dim-witted forces of fashion, the four-man disaster team ...
Captain and Tennille: Captain Fantastic
Profile and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 26 July 1975
IN SEPTEMBER 1973, two Chatsworth residents recorded a song, 'The Way I Want To Touch You'. Subscribing to the Phil Spector school of self-distribution, they ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 6 November 1976
Steve Stills tells Chris Charlesworth in New York why he's touring solo after all these years... ...
Robin Scott: Now Pop For Pure People
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979
M is for mirror, says Robin Scott, whose single, 'Pop Muzik', realises the potency of the disco/punk fusion. And that mirror reflects the present, he ...
Leonard Cohen: Cohen's New Skin
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 1 March 1975
LOS ANGELES: "For a while, I didn't think there was going to be another album. I pretty well felt that I was washed up as ...
Daryl Hall & John Oates: Hall and Oates: A Bigger Splash
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
JOHN OATES: 'I find the audiences in Europe more intelligent and receptive – music in Europe and England still retains its mystique and excitement.' ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 10 July 1982
THE AIRPORT at Minneapolis is surprisingly big, considering the town itself is hidden away up towards Canada in the big blank heart of the mid-West. ...
Dennis Brown: Enter A Good Man
Profile and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 26 May 1979
Dennis Brown comes of the race of Joseph; and he means that seriously, 'I am Joseph, here to do the things Joseph has done in ...
Status Quo: 'We're Not Musicians — We're Players!'
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 10 January 1976
STRIDING into his road-manager's sitting room, Francis Rossi quips, "no comment " and then spins on his heel as if a fast retreat is on ...
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 10 April 1982
AN INTERRUPTION. You can forget your Bananajamas and their shrink-wrapped kharma, stuff your paedophiliac slobbering over little Lolita Grogan – wipe that saliva away, it's ...
Gang of Four: Dialectics Meet Disco
Essay by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, 26 May 1979
This is the year of the second coming of British art-rock – although the new art-rockers won't admit it. MARY HARRON strips away the modish ...
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 3 April 1982
ON THE first bright day of '82, two tramp-like figures lounge on a bench outside the South Bank complex overlooking the Thames. The sun is ...
Wings: Paul McCartney: Pressure Cooking
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 27 March 1976
Paul McCartney reveals a new national achievement – the first British cooking on record! – and discusses the proposed Beatles reunion with CHRIS WELCH ...
Dave Mason: Why Dave Mason Is Trying To Go The Paul Simon Route
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 15 September 1973
THE VERY fat man with a pony tail who sat himself down next to me twitched almost uncontrollably as the Englishman with the red Stratocaster ...
Al Green: Tired Of Being Alone
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 25 August 1979
Al Green's London concerts last week were a puzzling mixture of the brilliant and the banal – and VIVIEN GOLDMAN discovered that his verbals are ...
The Bluebells: Everybody's Somebody's Bluebell
Profile and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 12 June 1982
MATTERS FINALLY came to a head after the show that night. In the cramped dressing room, Ken McCluskey, the Bluebells' harmonica player, picked up a ...
Donovan: Flower Child's Second Bloom
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 7 August 1976
FEW ARTISTS evoke memories of the Sixties as much as Donovan who, even in this enlightened age, still clings resolutely to the styles that developed ...
Yes: Tales From Topographic Oceans (Atlantic)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 December 1973
CHANTING VOICES lead us into 'The Revealing Science Of God', and the marathon Yes epic that has occupied so much of their time throughout the ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 January 1979
Hope I die before I get old? The Jam's Paul Weller knows he can't write teenage anthems any more. HARRY DOHERTY sympathises. ...
British Electric Foundation: Music Of Quality And Distinction Volume One (Virgin)
Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 10 April 1982
BRIEFCASES bulging with credentials, the boardroom men of the BEF decided last year to live up to their status as "production company" within the mighty ...
Little Feat, The Outlaws, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, The Who: The Who: Who-ray!
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 June 1976
"Will the people on the lighting tower please get-off because it's very dangerous and we are afraid that tower might go" – Nicky Horne, Capital ...
Report by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979
Lots of people thought that Operation Julie was a bit of an anachronism. Who, in the late Seventies, could be dropping all those tabs? It ...
Funkapolitan: Funkapolitan (London)
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 8 May 1982
ON PAPER the chemistry looked fine. Take a young, English funk band with obvious American leanings, pair them off with the cool, experienced hand of ...
The Charlie Daniels Band: The South Rises Again
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 February 1975
Southern bands like the Allmans, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Wet Willie have smashed their way to the top of American rock. Now add a new name ...
Eddy Grant: Living On The Ice Block
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 7 July 1979
How far can a black musician control his own destiny in white society? Surprise, surprise, not all the way, says the man in the front ...
Overview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 3 April 1982
TIMELESS music...a rare and precious thing...hard to find ...even harder to create: that's Motown music when it was in its heyday. It was a music ...
Bruce Springsteen: Springsteen Turns On The Heat…
Profile by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 9 February 1974
HE STANDS there looking like a cross between Elvis Presley and a reject from Sha Na Na with faint Dylanesque overtones and a battered Fender ...
Cabaret Voltaire: Venue, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 19 June 1982
SOME shock, this. Hatched in the dreariest industrial crucible, Cabaret Voltaire have always crawled, and snivelled down their own dubious paths, hacking away in their ...
Sister Sledge: We Are Family (Cotillion U.S. import)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979
I WAIT for new work by Chic's Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers in the way that I once waited for the latest items from Phil ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley In His Own Backyard
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 11 August 1979
AS YOU DRIVE through the white-pillared gates into the grounds of 56 Hope Road, the first thing you notice is that the road doesn't have ...
Overview by Dave Laing, Melody Maker, 21 June 1975
In this exclusive extract from a major new rock book, The Electric Muse, Dave Laing investigates the post-Woodstock singer/songwriter syndrome, and charts the rise in ...
The Beach Boys: Good Vibrations In The Rain
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 December 1973
The Beach Boys: Convention Centre, Anaheim, California ...
Interview by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 3 February 1979
Yes, it is. For behind Chic's rags-to-Regine's success lies an understanding of style as cool as their musical intelligence. ...
This Heat: King's College, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 19 June 1982
TRAGICALLY snubbed by both press and public in this country, This Heat may have played their final gig. ...
The Pasadena Roof Orchestra: Pasadena Uber Alles!
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 December 1975
"ALL OVER Germany the people are freaking out...it's their cool English sense of humour...they have to beat off the groupies with sticks." ...
Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 29 September 1973
AND HELLO Elton John all set to smash a path to the top of the album chart with this superb new collecion of songs. He ...
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 3 April 1982
DESIGNED BY computer, hand-built by robots...Completely calculated, thoroughly contemptible, Asia is very bit as hollow, shallow and nasty as anyone had a right to expect. ...
The Pop Group: First Steps In The Primal Skank
Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 24 March 1979
Tribal customs live on, even in the era of Afterpunk. RICHARD WILLIAMS investigates The Pop Group. ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 January 1976
From Face to farmer, Ronnie Lane has never been yer typical star. Now he's thinking of quitting rock ...
Brownsville Station: Smokin' Out America's Slade
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 2 March 1974
FIRST PLACE the tip of the digit finger on the first fret of the third string, then place the second finger on the second fret ...
Horslips: The Man Who Built America (DJM)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 January 1979
HORSLIPS' RECORDING career has been, to say the least, erratic: moments of inventive brilliance meshed with frequent mediocrity. But, at long last, they have emerged ...
The Damned, Ducks Deluxe, Rockpile: The Damned, Rockpile, Ducks Deluxe: Venue, London
Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 13 January 1979
DESPITE THE eleventh hour location change, the Venue was packed. ...
UFO: Strangers In The Night: A Double Live Album (Chrysalis)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 January 1979
THE LESSON to be learned from this album is undoubtedly that the natural habitat of a heavy metal band is in concert. The proof comes ...
Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 20 January 1979
WAR WAS a multi-platinum album act in America with such classic Top 40 streetfunk singles as 'All Day Music', 'Cisco Kid', 'The World Is A ...
Marvin Gaye's Here, My Dear: A Masterpiece after all?
Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 20 January 1979
EDITOR'S NOTE: A couple of weeks ago, Vivien Goldman trashed Marvin Gaye's new album in these columns. A dissenting voice pleads to be heard – ...
Roddy Radiation & The Tearjerkers: Tears and Radiation
Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 3 April 1982
ONE THING'S certain. Roddy Radiation, with his new band the Tearjerkers, could hardly have travelled further away from the sound, the style, the mood and ...
The Human League: The Cyclic And Random Lyric Organisation System
Profile and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 24 February 1979
CARLOS for short. IAN BIRCH talks to the Human League, Sheffield Novorockers with a weakness for torch ballads. ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 April 1976
WHEN CAMEL became the MM's Brightest Hope in last year's Poll, it caused organist Peter Bardens a wry smile because he had become "an overnight ...
Madness: The Italian Nutty Brigade
Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 25 October 1980
All aboard the trans-Europe express as Madness go from Rome to Amsterdam, by Paolo Hewitt ...
Rough Trade Records: The Humane Sell
Report and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 10 February 1979
Rough Trade aim to break down the barrier between the consumers and the consumed. ...
Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains The Same
Film/DVD/TV Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976
THE FOUR members of Led Zeppelin received standing ovations at the premiere in New York last week of their film The Song Remains The Same. ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 March 1974
FOCUS HAVE been through some changes in recent months, and happily for fans of this Dutch band with an international reputation for fine music – ...
Attila the Stockbroker: The Ultimate Hooligan
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 19 June 1982
STANDING against the kind of pastel sea and sky only seen in Turner paintings and south-coast resorts is a dog-eared set of leather and denim ...
The Ramones: You're Not The Same. Are They?
Report and Interview by Van Gosse, Melody Maker, 25 August 1979
Will the Spector of big things gone by give the Ramones the platinum sound that has so far eluded them? ...
Jess Roden: The Jess Roden Band: Jess Keeps His Hat On
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 August 1976
"I JUST couldn't wait to get out of my stage uniform and into a pair of jeans...I may have wasted time, but I sing what ...
Sheer Elegance: By Sheer Chance?
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 January 1976
From obscurity to a hit in two moves...just luck? Not true, Sheer Elegance tell HARRY DOHERTY ...
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 – ...
The Bee Gees: Spirits Having Flown
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 3 February 1979
MOST OF the tracks on Spirits Having Flown would fit snugly enough onto Saturday Night Fever. The Bee Gees have stuck to their disco formula: ...
Sailor: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976
ABOUT A year ago, Sailor made their live debut in front of about 50 people at London's little Collegiate Theatre. The reaction was mediocre, and ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 13 October 1973
"I'M TELLING ye mon, there was this bird in 'ere and she can't 'ave been more than fifteen mon, and she's telling me she's wearing ...
Electric Light Orchestra: ELO: Live in Philadelphia
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 5 January 1974
WE ARE gathered together, ladies and gentlemen, for a recital by that promising septet of young British musicians who call themselves the Electric Light Orchestra. ...
Rick Wakeman: Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 January 1974
SHEER ENTERTAINMENT, that was Rick Wakeman's highly successful solo concert at London's Festival Hall on Friday last week. Rick, the keyboard whizz of Yes, brought ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 23 February 1974
Black Oak Arkansas are UK bound and MM's man in America, Chris Charlesworth, warns: watch out for the sexiest thing since Jim Morrison ...
Gregg Allman: Carnegie Hall, New York City
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 20 April 1974
GREGG ALLMAN, the usually shy keyboards wizard, emerges into the limelight at last. Chris Charlesworth was there... ...
Supertramp: The Philosopher and the Realist
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979
In Supertramp's first interview for two years, songwriters Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies tell HARRY DOHERTY how their immense success in America has widened the ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 December 1976
THE PUBLIC has a strange image of rock and roll musicians. Most imagine them to be public school educated, with a passionate dedication to the ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 January 1975
LOS ANGELES: For Montrose this is their second visit to the UK having played here as support act on a Status Quo tour earlier this ...
Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 26 June 1982
IT SEEMED like a good idea at the time. Meet The Business, knock back a pint or two, set off on a disco crawl...and find ...
The Jam: Invasion of the Riff Snatchers
Report and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
Can a bunch of ordinary guys repeat the British Invasion? IAN BIRCH watches the Jam take on America. ...
John Miles: Learning To Be A Star
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976
...
Allman Brothers Band: Leavell Headed Allman
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 16 February 1974
PIANIST CHUCK Leavell is the least heralded member of the Allman Brothers Band, a musician first and a talker second. ...
Little Feat, Lowell George: Lowell George: The Rock'n'Roll Doctor
Obituary by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 July 1979
Of all the hundreds of white boys who fell in love with the blues, few used the idiom with such brilliance as Lowell George. Singer, ...
Angelic Upstarts: Mensi's Marauders
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 8 May 1982
"COME HERE you!" bellowed Mensi across a crowded and quite respectable lounge bar. The reverberations thundered over the heads of the lunchtime clientele, their salads ...
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 3 April 1982
THERE'S SOMETHING invisible about the Mothmen. Oh yes, they've included a picture of themselves here and their names are all written down for inspection...but the ...
Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 13 October 1979
Wire don't sit comfortably in the publicity man's gullet. They're not easily categorised, seemingly spurning the hype-market. But they do conform in one way; they ...
15, 16, 17: Living For The Weekend
Profile and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 20 January 1979
15, 16, 17 are the best-known of British reggae's new crop of female vocal trios. ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 31 July 1982
UNDER THE nuclear shadow, something stirs. Looking west, it decides to reject the old men's fear and guilt. If the sands of time are turning ...
Chron Gen: Chronic Generation (Secret)
Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 10 April 1982
WELCOME TO the chronic generation, and a glimpse into the past, present and future of Chron-Gen on their debut album. ...
Angelic Upstarts: Still From The Heart (Zono)
Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 10 April 1982
EXTRAORDINARY. Quite extraordinary. This has got to be the most astonishing thing I've heard in months; a shock so devastating that I'm shaking still. ...
Altered Images: Pinky Blue (Epic)
Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 8 May 1982
IF THE jolly-jolly blancmange and Jellytot frills on the cover of Happy Birthday didn't, like the kid at the party who stuffed all the eClares, ...
The Doors, Ray Manzarek: The Doors: When The Music's Over
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 13 October 1973
HELPING HIMSELF to one of my British cigarettes and inhaling deeply, Ray Manzarek coldly and without emotion spoke about why The Doors finally decided to ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 December 1973
NOTHING IS more satisfying for a successful artist than helping the less fortunate. Elton John has had his chance to set matters aright for at ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976
IF YOU were haunted by the cry of the Snowgoose last year, and cheered by the success of Camel in the MM's Readers' Poll (they ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 December 1973
A DISTURBING night for a Yes fan at London's Rainbow, when the group unveiled their new work Tales From Topographic Oceans. For despite, the applause ...
Eric Clapton: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 December 1974
Clapton duels with Wood ...
Elton John: Belle Vue, Manchester
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 8 December 1973
FOR THE first time since Bill Haley's motion picture triumph Rock Around The Clock, played at the now-demolished Queen's Cinema, Catford, in 1956, the urge ...
Genesis: Drury Lane Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 January 1974
GENESIS'S WEEK at London's Drury Lane Theatre, proved that rock and theatre can mix and have a validity outside of mere exhibitionism. The band arc ...
Colosseum II: Strange New Flesh
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 June 1976
THERE COMES a moment during 'Dark Side Of The Moog', when the clamour of the strident arrangement fades away, and Jon Hiseman begins a simple, ...
Canned Heat: Live At Topanga Corral
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 June 1976
WHITE PLAGIARISTS almost killed the blues as a vital force in popular music. The perpetual rip-off of Elmore James' phrases, and the piquant cries of ...
Rod Stewart: A Night On The Town
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 June 1976
IT'S A long way from Gasoline Alley. Young Rodney is up in the world, aye 'appen. He's going out with a classy lady, he's worth ...
Anti-Nowhere League: We Are…The League
Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 8 May 1982
THERE'S ONLY one League in my life. It's not the Human League, for sure. It's not the Ivy League either, or the League of Gentlemen. ...
Squeeze: Sweets From A Stranger (A&M)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 8 May 1982
CELEBRATED FOR their willingness to look the slings and arrows straight in the eye, Squeeze return with more observations and scars from the battle zone. ...
Gang of Four: Songs Of The Free (EMI)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 22 May 1982
AND SO the most highly-evolved piss artists in "rock" came to release their third LP. ...
The Skids: Theme For War Movies and Romantic Losers
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 April 1979
THE LOCATION: Basing Street Studios, London.THE EVENT: The World Premiere of 'Masquerade', starring the Skids and produced by Bill Nelson.THE AUDIENCE: The Skids – Richard ...
Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979
Can Nina Hagen become Germany's most important contribution to radical pop culture since Brecht? CHRIS BOHN learns about growing up on the wrong side of ...
Profile and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 24 March 1979
That's the Cure, the no-image band who do more with less to charismatic effect. IAN BIRCH probed the mystery. ...
The Beach Boys, Christine Perfect/McVie, Dennis Wilson: Dennis Wilson Loves Christine McVie
Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 24 March 1979
The Beach Boys love good karma ...
We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 15 November 1986
They sing! They dance! They make jokes! They play with bar-bells! They dye their hair! They talk in Brummy accents! They've got a new single ...
UK Subs: No Change For UK Subs
Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 18 August 1979
Finding that tribal punk is still alive...and kicking ...
Slade: Ambassador Theater, St. Louis, MO
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 16 February 1974
ST LOUIS: The wide Missouri River flowed beneath the hotel window and a few paddle steamers, now tourist traps or floating restaurants, were securely tied ...
Stephen Stills: Carnegie Hall, New York City
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 23 February 1974
NEW YORK: There's really no substitute for experience in rock music and there are few musicians around with as much experience as Steve Stills who ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 March 1974
STEVE MARRIOTT – hair flying, jaw set at an aggressive angle, knees akimbo and arms flailing over his jutting guitar – is one of the ...
Third World: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 22 May 1982
OBVIOUS I know, but it seemed more than a coincidence that Third World should kick off their opening night in London on the first anniversary ...
Rip Rig and Panic: I Am Cold (Virgin)
Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 19 June 1982
THINK OF Rip Rig And Panic and think of wily freedom, wit and dazzle, a flurry of mayhem to disrupt these days of a rapidly ...
Rick Wakeman: Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 April 1974
IN CLASSICAL music terms, this composition might be described as "lightweight" or of "little consequence." But as far as popular music is concerned, Rick's composition ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 November 1974
A MYSTERIOIUS lack of bubble seems to be affecting Master Marc Bolan's latest offering, the Zip Gun Boogie, as it is known to those who ...
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 ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 29 April 1978
FORGIVE the blasphemy, but I reckon God must have been way out of his little box when he deposited Tom Waits among us. Mr. Waits ...
Alvin Lee & Co: In Flight (Chrysalis)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 November 1974
CLAP YO' hands and stomp those feet, here's some funky music, you can't beat. ...
Bad Company: City Hall, Newcastle
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 7 December 1974
BAD COMPANY were big before they were born. Any band that included Paul Rodgers in its ranks and a bassist with the talents of Boz ...
Baker-Gurvitz Army: Baker Gurvitz Army: Hearts On Fire
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 June 1976
NOW REDUCED to four members as Peter Lemer, the keyboard player, has left, the Baker Gurvitz Army are more economically deployed, and where songs require ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 July 1976
AMERICA HAS until now avoided a head-on confrontation with the big British production or stage bands. ...
Roger McGuinn: Bottom Line, New York City
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 25 September 1976
NEW YORK: Roger McGuinn is an institution in American rock music and, like all institutions, he seems to crop up at least once a year ...
Jess Roden Band: Drury Lane Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976
IT WAS no use. The smartly attired attendant (he may well have been the manager) just could not get the kids to sit down. ...
Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 24 July 1982
IT WAS in the winter of 1978 that vocalist Lee Drury had his first traumatic encounter with the cruel forces of fate. At the time, ...
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 May 1979
After last week's Rainbow triumph the Who continued their return in France at the weekend with an open-air concert and the premieres of their two ...
Percy Sledge: The Venue, London
Live Review by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, 14 April 1979
THE SIMPLISTIC idea that the fundamental difference between country and soul in the Sixties was that one music was made by poor whites in the ...
Dire Straits: Bottom Line, New York
Live Review by Dave Marsh, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979
LIVE, DIRE Straits are precisely what they are on record: a throwback to the kind of unassuming funk that hasn't enjoyed much popularity since Delaney ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979
MEDALS FOR bravery should be struck for Billy Idol and his mates in Generation X. Would you, dear reader, like to stand on a stage, ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 March 1975
ALVIN LEE is getting into self-sufficiency. Along with many fellow Britons, alarmed at the daily news, he is determined to make full use of the ...
Genesis: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 June 1976
SO MUCH was happening on stage during the first sensational concert by Genesis at Odeon Hammersmith on Wednesday last week, that one needed stereoscopic earsight ...
Review by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 13 March 1971
THIS IS A particularly difficult album to come to any firm conclusion on. For one thing the reaction it produced depends very much on the ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 1 May 1972
JOHN MARTYN told me about Nick Drake in ecstatic terms and so it seemed the natural thing to do, bag the album when it came ...
Sham 69: Jimmy Pursey: The People's Champ
Interview by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979
JIM POPS down the betting shop to bung twenty quid on a 10-1 shot in the 3.10 at Newbury, so I give his records the ...
Report and Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979
After a lengthy period on the ground, Paul McCartney's redesigned Wings are taking a few exploratory hops. MARK WILLIAMS' verdict: no metal fatigue. ...
Swervedriver: Chrome Sweet Chrome
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 1 December 1990
This year, Creation broke the mould and signed their very first kick-ass rock'n'roll animals – a hard-edged, bone-rattling death machine called SWERVEDRIVER. With their second ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 13 April 1991
THEY'RE NOT doing themselves any favours, putting out another cover version. ...
Back Street Crawler: Second Street
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 June 1976
A CAPTAIN Midnight character adorns the cover, but he's no way as snobby as a similarly named person who writes in the Sunday Times. ...
Thin Lizzy: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 July 1976
THE PREVALENT mood that hung over this Hammersmith Odeon gig on Sunday night, that this would be the occasion to herald once and for all ...
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 ...
Alternative TV: Vibing Up The Senile Man (Deptford Fun City Records)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979
WHEN MARK Perry gave up editing Sniffin' Glue, he started a band that has turned out to be a logical extension of the famous punkzine. ...
Santana: Carlos Santana: Oneness: Silver Dreams/Golden Reality (CBS)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979
AS THE sleeve makes abundantly clear, this is Carlos Santana's equivalent of Pete Townshend's Meher Baba solo album: a dedication to Sri Chinmoy, the guru ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 February 1979
ONE OF THE MOST pleasant incidents I recall from last year was an afternoon spent in a summery open-air cafe in Notting Hill with Steve ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 February 1979
THIS COULD HAVE BEEN an unholy disaster. A group of Los Angeles session men forming their own band could have been the signal for God-knows-what ...
The Sex Pistols: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 24 February 1979
"WHAT NEEDS UNDERSTANDING is the state of paralysis everyone is in..." ...
A Guy Called Gerald: Wicked Guy!
Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 25 March 1995
A GUY CALLED GERALD is at the forefront of junglist innovation and future-shock technological experimentation. A guy called SIMON REYNOLDS joins him in virtual space. ...
Jack Bruce: Jack's Sound of 1979
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 February 1979
IT SEEMED like the end of an era when we discovered, last week, that Jack Bruce and the Robert Stigwood Organisation have parted company. ...
Van Morrison: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979
VAN MORRISON has a special kind of communication with his followers that is reserved for only a favoured few. It's not an hysterical or violent ...
Joan Armatrading: Bottom Line, New York
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 18 September 1976
PERHAPS IF Joan Armatrading had opened for an artist less popular than Richie Havens, her U.S. debut would have been more fruitful. At the Bottom ...
Crosby and Nash: Crosby & Nash: Central Park, New York
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 18 September 1976
NEIL YOUNG and Steve Stills may have blown out their tour in a flurry of sore throats and, reportedly, short tempers, but the "other half" ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
ROCK LYRICS aren't usually worth printing on the sleeve, but most bands display their adolescent poetry as if Homer played rhythm guitar, and Dostoyevsky was ...
UFO: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979
"UFO! UFO!" The chant blasts across the stalls, and security men blench at the prospect of a mass invasion. ...
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 24 July 1982
IF THERE's one song that Donna Summer should be singing right now it's our current number one, 'Fame'. Tailor made for her, 'Fame' is glossy, ...
Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 21 August 1982
Carol Clerk collars confident Blackpool punksters The Fits in a fact-packed foray ...
The Bay City Rollers: Bay City Rollers: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 25 September 1976
SOME TIME ago, David Essex remarked that he was fed up with critics reviewing his audiences when they should have been more concerned with the ...
Eddie & The Hot Rods: Eddie and the Hot Rods
Profile by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 9 October 1976
THE STORY of the Hot Rods is one to warm the hearts of those who still believe in the essential simplicity and drive of rock ...
Climax Blues Band: Victoria Palace, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 November 1976
AFTER A succession or strangely dissatisfying gigs in the giant aircraft hangars of rock (ie Empire Pool, Wembley), how sweet it was to hear some ...
Barclay James Harvest: Octoberon
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976
I GET the impression from this new BJH album that the band were in a particularly mellow mood when they finally got around to recording ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976
WHEN I sat upon my mother's knee during the years of austerity, being spoon-fed National Health bubble and squeak, and listening to the Light Programme, ...
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 ...
The Scorpions: Scorpions: Lovedrive
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979
NOW THAT the new wave has been institutionalised and tamed by the Establishment, heavy metal is once more basking in a glorious and celebrated comeback, ...
Joan Armatrading: Apollo Theatre, Manchester
Live Review by Idris Walters, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979
HER PEOPLE should market a badge that says, "JA From JA Is For Everyone". The hack was expecting the worst – high feminism on parade, ...
Bad Company: Jogging Back to Happiness
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 31 March 1979
Two years ago, Bad Company lost their collective bottle after a gruelling American tour. CHRIS WELCH hears how it took Paul Rodgers three months to ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 15 December 1984
An unlikely star and a reluctant one, but SADE ADU is the most successful female artist of the year. The life and times of a ...
Sparks: Too Much Too Soon Again
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979
Sparks discover disco – but did the critics discover it first? HARRY DOHERTY smooths the ruffled curls. ...
Joni Mitchell: Joni, The Seagull From Saskatoon
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 September 1968
TALKING TO Joni Mitchell about her songs is rather like talking to someone you just met about the most intimate secrets of her life. Like ...
Nirvana: Kurt Cobain: I Hate Myself And I Want To Die
Obituary by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 16 April 1994
AND SO, to quote his mother, the only person who appears to have been actively concerned about his well-being in the last few days of ...
Tammy Wynette: Stand By Your Record Producer
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978
Tammy Wynette, over here for a short tour, lectures COLIN IRWIN on how to be an Average Superstar... ...
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 9 March 1996
BOSTON. IT'S COLD. Covered in snow. Twee. In the rarefied, tourist part of the city centre, fairy lights twinkle on the gaudy exterior of Doc ...
Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, March 1973
IT IS TWELVE noon, and in the smoky sunshine of a London afternoon a group of German longhairs are unloading a huge Mercedes truck full ...
Bill Nelson: The Sound Of Household Appliances
Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 24 March 1979
From frayed denim through guitar heroics to novorock, Bill Nelson's career has been plagued by accusations of plagiarism. MARK WILLIAMS listens to the disclaimers. ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 September 1975
A HATCHET-wielding psychopath was on the loose in the next room. In the circumstances, it was beyond comprehension how Lol Creme could present a gleaming ...
The Stone Roses: Shooting From The Lip
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 3 June 1989
THE STONE ROSES are the latest instalment in the resurrection insurrection. ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 15 June 1991
CALIFORNIAN band HOLE sit around my Hollywood hotel room in various degrees of drunkenness. ...
Mike Oldfield: High On The Ridge
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 24 August 1974
Toy gliders, house-hunting and a jam with a harpsichordist in a restaurant. It's all happening on the Welsh Marches where Karl Dallas meets Mike Oldfield. ...
The Moody Blues: It's A Wonderful Life
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 May 1979
The rich are not like you and me, said Fitzgerald. That's right, Hemingway replied: they have more money. Just in time for cocktails, CHRIS WELCH ...
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 8 February 1975
IT'S CURIOUS that Maggie Bell still hasn't got her name up there in lights. ...
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975
DON COVAY'S resurrection as an artist was one of the brightest events of last year. His 'It's Better To Have' made number 21 in the ...
Status Quo: Whisky A Go Go, Los Angeles
Live Review by Harold Bronson, Melody Maker, 16 February 1974
LOS ANGELES – Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Rory Gallagher, and Manfred Mann's Earthband all graced the Whisky opening night to welcome Status Quo's second Los ...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 18 July 1970
ROY HARPER is a sort of Gerald Scarfe of music. Like the cartoonist, what he does isn't always pretty, it isn't always enjoyable, but by ...
Overview by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, 8 December 1979
Okay, so there isn't an R&B revival around the London clubs – but there are certainly a whole lot of bands borrowing their material from ...
Earth Wind and Fire: Earth, Wind & Fire: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979
PITY THE poor reviewer covering a show of the astonishing calibre of Earth, Wind & Fire's weekend extravaganza at the Empire Pool. ...
Bootsy Collins: Bootsy's Rubber Band: This Boot Is Made For Fonk-n (Warners)
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 7 July 1979
THE WORLD'S zaniest bass-player is back, whatever the truth of reports about a nervous breakdown; or, as he tells us himself: "I dug the concern ...
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979
WRAPPED IN an abstract minimal geo-deco sleeve (all straight lines and waves, pastel shades), with its own label and a "free" 45, the third Wire ...
New Barbarians: The Forum, Los Angeles
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 26 March 1979
IN THE foyer of LA's vast concrete amphitheatre, you could buy T-shirts promising "nothing less than ear-to-ear violence" in lettering supposed to resemble dripping blood. ...
Frank Zappa: Carry On Composing
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 January 1978
No Edgar Varèse trip for Frank Zappa, who's just sold out four shows at the Hammersmith Odeon (not bad for a hippie in '78, eh?). ...
Nirvana, Tad: Tad and Nirvana: The Larder They Come
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 17 March 1990
This was a tour not for the faint-hearted. Everett True witnesses the chaos & carnage caused by Tad & Nirvana as they rampaged through the ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 8 March 1975
Recordings between 1969-1971 including material from Yes and Time And A Word. ...
Pete Wingfield: Breakfast Special (Island)
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 26 July 1975
THE ONLY question this album leaves unresolved is why no one thought of recording Pete Wingfield before. ...
Manfred Mann: Angel Station (Bronze)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1979
MOST OF us potter through life without any clear aims or objectives. Somehow we imagine that having heaved the cat out of bed and wiped ...
Herman Brood: Brood Back On The Nest
Report and Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979
German rock star Nina Hagen's upset because her Dutch rock 'n' rolling boyfriend, Herman Brood, has disappeared. Will our intrepid CHRIS BOHN track him down? ...
Bob Dylan: Slow Train Coming (CBS)
Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 26 August 1979
DYLAN HAS switched roles once too often. We've followed him patiently through his phases as rebellious folk singer, rock and roll outlaw, musing mystic, contented ...
Profile and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 22 September 1979
REVILLOS OR Rezillos or...whatever. Fay Fife and Eugene Reynolds have got a new set of backing players (?) and some fledgling singers behind them. What ...
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, ...
Dennis Brown: Words Of Wisdom (Laser)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1979
THE WHITE listener who came to reggae through Bob Marley may have been puzzled by the emergence of Dennis Brown, who at first seems to ...
Status Quo: Whatever You Want (Vertigo)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 October 1979
THE TITLE may be construed in some areas as Status Quo's capitulation to their critics, who've been claiming for donkey's years that the band's appeal ...
Led Zeppelin: In Through The Out Door (Swan Song)
Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 11 August 1979
THE GRAND illusion was popped way back when I was taking my O-levels. Then Led Zeppelin 2 fulfilled the noble function of releasing all the ...
Cheap Trick: Dream Police (Epic)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 September 1979
IT'S IRONIC that Cheap Trick, having recorded a song called 'ELO Kiddies' on their debut album almost three years ago, should now be setting themselves ...
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, ...
The Sugarcubes: Sugarcubes: Yule Never Björk Alone
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 24 December 1988
THE SUGARCUBES' BID FOR WORLD DOMINATION IS ALMOST COMPLETE. FOR CHRISTMAS THEY'LL BE RETURNING HOME TO ICELAND TO START RECORDING THE FOLLOW-UP TO THE LIFE'S ...
Richard Thompson: The Guitar Hero as Mystic Recluse
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 7 October 1978
Richard Thompson is one of the world's finest guitarists, but a few years ago he "got cheesed off" and packed it all in. Now he's ...
Nirvana: 'In My Head, I'm So Ugly'
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 18 July 1992
In the frankest and most comprehensive interview he's given since Nevermind blasted Nirvana into the rock super league, Kurt Cobain talks to EVERETT TRUE in ...
Mike Oldfield: Boy Genius "Not Broke" Shock
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 29 December 1979
Things haven't been going smoothly for Mike Oldfield. Tours have lost money, expensive gear has been scrapped and he's had a dispute with his label ...
Primal Scream: No More Yesterday
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 29 August 1987
Primal Scream look back to look forward. Simon Reynolds retracts a few statements but still argues the toss. ...
John Martyn: Martyn's Identity Papers
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 December 1980
ACCORDING to the official biog, John Martyn was born in New Malden, Surrey, but was brought up for the first 15 years of his life ...
Bad Company: Straight Shooter (Island)
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 29 March 1975
BAD COMPANY were the most remarkable success story of 1974. The band hit number one in the American charts with their first album, became headliners ...
National Health: Of Queues And Cures (Charly)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979
THE HEALTHY Ones have been through a whole ring-cycle of changes in recent times, with Dave Stewart out and Alan Gowen back in again. We ...
Luther Grosvenor aka Ariel Bender: Ariel Bender: Hot Ariel
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 October 1974
Chris Welch meets ex-Mott guitarist Ariel Bender, now going solo ...
Sly Dunbar: Sly, Wicked And Slick (Virgin Front Line)
Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979
REGGAE'S ONE of the youngest contemporary musical forms, but it's growing up fast, and in all sorts of directions. ...
Gary Numan: Apollo Theatre, Glasgow
Live Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979
THE FACE of '79 doesn't belong to a mod, punk, or to anyone so sectarian, but to Gary Numan, and it's time we faced up ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979
THE CARS emerged last year as pace-setters in the American new wave. The platinum status of their debut album probably surprised the band as much ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 September 1979
Does Britain need a Blondie? Will Wendy Wu be on your bedroom wall next month? Is this fair? HARRY DOHERTY discovers why most of Britain's ...
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 ...
Loudon Wainwright III: Loudon Alone
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 1 June 1974
THE PR MAN in the coffee lounge of the Hotel Russell was anxious about the Loudon Wainwright's appearance. "Is he cleanshaven or bearded." he wanted ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976
The American singer/songwriter – currently touring Britain – who has made his name by writing constantly demanding, complex and mysterious songs, talks to COLIN IRWIN ...
The Eagles: Hotel California (Asylum)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976
Don Henley (drums, vocals), Glenn Frey (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Don Felder (guitar, slide guitar, vocals), Joe Walsh (guitar, keyboards, vocals). Randy Meisner (bass, vocals). Produced ...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 May 1975
SEVEN YEARS ago, Desmond Dekker was a raw, gangling boy from St Thomas, Jamaica. ...
Dawn, Glen Campbell: Live in Las Vegas: Dawn and Glen Campbell
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1 December 1973
"HANG ON tight," said the man in the next seat on the Western Airlines jet. "Landings in Las Vegas are the roughest in the world." ...
The Merton Parkas: Deals On Wheels
Profile and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 11 August 1979
The Merton Parkas, the first New Mod chartmakers, tell PAULO HEWITT that life's a lot easier in a Ben Sherman button-down than in a ripped ...
Narada Michael Walden: Awakening (Atlantic)
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 19 May 1979
SERENE MR WALDEN, Sri Chinmoy disciple and erstwhile drummer with the all-clad-in-white Mahavishnu Orchestra, surely knows which side his cosmic bread is buttered. Seems like ...
Live Review by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, 19 May 1979
FASHION NOTES first. The band, of course, were in their sharp suits, looking less like matching mods, though, than a good old group in uniform. ...
The Kinks, Ray Davies: The Kinks: Low Budget (Arista)
Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979
THE TROUBLE with Ray Davies is that since he forsook the stark, three-chord spleen of 'You Really Got Me' and 'All Day & All Of ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 22 September 1979
ROGER SCOTT, Britain's only disc-jockey (no, that's not a misprint – it's a fact) put this into what they call "heavy rotation" last week. It ...
The Isley Brothers: Winner Takes All
Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979
3 + 3 DON'T MIND they just keep on jamming. Strings and horns? Uh-uh. They just go up to Bearsville. Ernie puts down the drums ...
The Tourists: The Tourists (Logo)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 July 1979
A DIFFERENT sort of rock album, this, and one that will perhaps confuse many people. The Tourists have a set of values that, on record ...
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 ...
Bobby Womack: Roads Of Life (Arista)
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 26 May 1979
THE FORTUNES of gravel-voiced soul vet Bobby Womack have taken a dip of late. ...
Patti LaBelle: It's Alright With Me (Epic)
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, June 1979
I GUESS it's all of eighteen years since I first heard 'Down The Aisle' by Patti Labelle and the Bluebelles – and when I put ...
Blondie: Pinecrest Theater, Shelton, Connecticut
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 July 1979
BLONDIE'S US tour should provide some interesting results when it ends in eight weeks' time. It could, for instance, determine just how willing American audiences ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 August 1979
DAVITT SIGERSON was right a couple of weeks ago when he described Squeeze as the new-wave ELO. ...
Van Morrison: Into The Music (Mercury)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 25 August 1979
NOWADAYS, PEOPLE don't so much discover Van Morrison as grow old with him. ...
Georgie Fame: Right Now! (Pye)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1979
"WELL, WELL, well, hello there, it's been a long, long time." Doesn't that introduction to 'Funny How Time Slips Away' take you back? I address ...
Albert Collins: Ice Pickin' (Sonet)
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, March 1979
IN THE game of guitar-hero one-upmanship during the blues boom days of the mid-late Sixties, Albert Collins' was the name to zap 'em with. Through ...
Maria Muldaur: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 July 1975
THE TROUBLE with Maria Muldaur is that she is so Goddamn talented it could make you sick. At Ronnie Scott's London, she was all the ...
The Runaways: You Sexy Things!
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 October 1976
"AW, C'MON, you guys at the front. Sit down and give the rest of the lads a view of the girls..." And that passionate request, ...
Crazy Horse, Neil Young: Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Palladium Theatre, NYC
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
NEW YORK Only an artist with the charisma and talent of Nell Young could perform with a lacklustre band such as the current Crazy Horse ...
Faust: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, June 1973
LONDON'S RAINBOW looked like a Berliner Ensemble production of a rock musical version of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5. The stage backdrop had been raised, revealing ...
Alexis Korner: Why Alexis Won't Join The Stones
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975
ALEXIS KORNER laughed, his suntanned face creasing up into laughter lines, his body rocking very gently back and forth. "Oh," he said. "No way." ...
Kiki Dee, Queen: Queen: Hyde Park, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 25 September 1976
AT LAST, the Seventies have arrived, and in majestic style, when, at London's Hyde Park on Saturday, Queen, born of this decade's rock generation, played ...
The Bay City Rollers: Dedication (Bell)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 September 1976
Leslie McKeown, (lead vocals and background), Eric Faulkner (lead guitar, rhythm and acoustic guitars, vocals), Stuart Wood (bass and vocals), Derek Longmuir (drums, percussion, vocals), ...
Michael Jackson: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 26 July 1997
All You Need Is Glove ...
Buzzcocks, Joy Division: Buzzcocks/Joy Division: Rainbow, London
Live Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 17 November 1979
ON CURRENT FORM, Joy Division should have been the best thing happening on Friday night, and the Buzzcocks camp knew it too. Consequently, they treated ...
Leonard Cohen: Cohen Down the Road
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976
GOD'S IN his heaven, all's right with the world. The words, surprisingly enough, came from Leonard Cohen, and he was making the first of several ...
The Stylistics: Sing, Baby, Sing!
Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 2 August 1975
ABUSE COMES too easily. The Stylistics are the masters of sweet soul, the kings of lush sentiment, and the lords of overstated romance. Even their ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 21 October 1989
Everett True Thrashes It Out With The Latest Wizards From Seattle's Sub Pop Label Who Arrive In Britain Next Week ...
Mike Oldfield: This Is The Year Of The Expanding Man...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 25 November 1978
What Scientology did for Chick Corea (and John Travolta), Exegesis is doing for mild, retiring Mike Oldfield. He puts the stare on KARL DALLAS ...
Slade: Your Public Is Your Judge
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 19 October 1974
THEY CAME out of Wolverhampton. Failed skinheads who became the loudest, most aggressive stomping band in the land. A year ago nobody questioned it – ...
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 30 June 1979
Yesterday's Sound Tomorrow ...
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 18 March 1989
A RUSH OF BLOOD? Lush are nearly as good as their name, which is high praise indeed. ...
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 11 August 1990
ONE THING that's always bugged me about The Pixies is the universal acclaim for their LPs – how come no one ever gripes about the ...
Kim Fowley, The Runaways: The Runaways: Runaway Girls
Profile and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 17 July 1976
RUNAWAYS: the Natalie Woods, Brigitte Bardots and Ann-Margrets of rock. ...
Scott Walker, The Walker Brothers: Scott Walker: No Regrets
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 14 February 1976
IT'S ONLY mid-afternoon, but the curtains are drawn and the lights are out. The room is in darkness and at first it looks empty. "Hi, ...
Sandy Denny, Fotheringay: Fotheringay, The Sea and Sandy Denny
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 27 June 1970
A FEW months ago Fotheringay was a pretty name for a group of musicians who happened to play together. Today it is the name of ...
Rick Wakeman: Wakeman On The Attack With His Birotron
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 July 1976
RICK WAKEMAN is one of a very exclusive breed – the International Heroes of the Electric Keyboard. For Rick's meteoric career has been bound up ...
Steeleye Span: How a Goon Came To Play Ukelele
Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 26 October 1974
IT WAS like the coming of a new Messiah. Everyone sat around nervously awaiting the arrival of HIM, the man who was gonna make this ...
Tangerine Dream: Twilight of the Dream
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976
TANGERINE DREAM seem to have strange ideas about off-duty entertainment. ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 15 December 1990
NIRVANA'S NEW single, 'Sliver' weighs in at a fraction over two minutes and is one hell of a pop song. No messing. ...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 5 June 1976
TOM WAITS, currently appearing at London's Ronnie Scott Club, talks to Karl Dallas. ...
Queen: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 6 April 1974
FREDDIE MERCURY glares thunderously from beneath the beam of the spotlight. Anger and hostility ooze from his mouth. He pumps his right fist vigorously skywards ...
Billy Preston, The Rolling Stones: Billy Preston: Like a Rolling Stone
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 2 August 1975
"We're a family," says Billy Preston of his current tour of the U.S. with the Stones. And in addition to that, he's just released a ...
Nirvana: Station To Devastation
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 2 November 1991
On their recent European tour, Seattle's masters of chaos, Nirvana, managed to set their tour bus alight, upset the Pogues and The Ramones, piss into ...
Hunter-Ronson, Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson: Hunter-Ronson: Good News From Nowhere
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979
Nowhere being the most expensive studio in New York, scene of the Hunter-Ronson comeback with a startling new album. HARRY DOHERTY investigated the Geminian partnership ...
The Police: Reggatta De Blanc (A&M)
Review by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, 22 September 1979
ONLY A year ago I had to talk the editor of this paper into taking a feature on the Police. I don't recall who got ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975
SHE CAME down to London from fields afar, a cute little northern lass who was gonna be Britain's new first lady of rock. They all ...
C.W. McCall: McCall Keeps On Trucking
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976
JUST IMAGINE the scenario: a thousand massive trucks, a petroleum-driven army, hurtling down the highway in a strict convoy formation, all the drivers linked together ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976
YIHAAHS RANG in the ears when the cowpokes came to town on Saturday night. Huge beefy men burst out of their jeans and hammered away ...
Dexys Midnight Runners: Dexy's Midnight Runners: Don't Stand Me Down
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 7 September 1985
COMPROMISE, as Kevin Rowland so sharply observes on the opening verse of this remarkable album, is the devil talking. ...
Juliana Hatfield, The Lemonheads: Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield: Is She Really Going Out With Him?
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 13 November 1993
Evan Dando likes to avoid relationships. Juliana Hatfield is a self-confessed virgin. And yet, whatever their sexual orientation, Ev and Jules are indieland's second most ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 19 October 1974
THE MAN once dubbed the "Face Of '68" sat in the cafe, quietly reflecting on his home country. He was once the most screamed at ...
Maria Muldaur: Maria's Magic Moment
Profile and Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 10 May 1975
ENCORE time at Stony Brook, Long Island. Maria Muldaur had just finished an impressive set and the kids were yelling out for more of the ...
Elvis Costello: Live in New York
Live Review by Roy Trakin, Melody Maker, 14 April 1979
Palladium & Great Gildersleeve's, NYC ...
The Breeders, Nirvana: Kurt Cobain and Kim Deal: Sleepless In Seattle
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 25 December 1993
For a concert spectacular to be broadcast worldwide on New Year's Eve, MTV went to Seattle, where they'd but together a bill featuring Cypress Hill ...
Report and Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 15 March 1980
Today the UK. Tomorrow the USA? Next week, the world? Are Madness about to get everybody up and dancing again? MARK WILLIAMS sits down and ...
Tavares: Madame Butterfly (Capitol)
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979
MADAME Butterfly opens with the familiar dance floor sounds – brass riff, flowing strings punched out guitars, tightly strung percussion – but this isn't really ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 29 July 1989
It's been two years since we last heard from Bobby Gillespie's indie darlings, but the Galswegian Motormouth is finally back with a new single, 'Ivy ...
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 April 1968
TIM BUCKLEY made a guest appearance at the Incredible String Band's packed Royal Festival Hall concert last Saturday and amply illustrated the difference in approach ...
Suzi Quatro: Your Momma Won't Like It
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 25 January 1975
...but black leather isn't all there is to Suzi Quatro explains KARL DALLAS ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 16 February 1974
NEW YORK: They say that heavy rock is on the decline and it's become fashionable to put down bands whose music is based on a ...
Nirvana: Crucified by Success?
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 25 July 1992
In the second part of his exclusive NIRVANA interview, Everett True meets the band in Stockholm and finds Kurt Cobain, Chris Novoselic and Dave Grohl ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 26 July 1975
A CLUTCH of nubile girls are usefully spending their school holidays hanging around outside the Bell Record Company offices in the hope of a glimpse ...
Seals and Crofts: Two's Company
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 17 May 1975
JIMMY SEALS is wearing an extremely smart tweedy outfit like he's an advert for Hardy Amies. He's got those granny spectacles and he leans back ...
Elton John: Elton's Bitter Sweet Album
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 10 May 1975
Chris Charlesworth in New York previews Elton John's new album Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy – and talks to the man himself... ...
The Faces: Lewisham Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 November 1974
"NOW THIS is serious," said the dazzling figure of Rod Stewart, calling for order. "Me brother and sister are here and I'd like you to ...
Queen: A Day At The Races (EMI)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976
QUEEN: A Day At The Races (EMI EMTC 104). Freddie Mercury (vocals, piano), Brian May (guitars, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), John Deacon (bass). Produced ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976
"HAVE WE ever come close to splitting? My God, HAVE we! It's very incestuous, our band, y'see. We're all interdependent and to work out your ...
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 26 July 1975
Drummer Ed Cassidy talks about the new-look Spirit – and explains why a band of '67 is still hunting the big-time ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 31 May 1975
Judy Collins – back in the MM chart with a hit single, 'Send In The Clowns' – talks to Chris Charlesworth in New York ...
Smokie: Smokey: No Smokey Without Fire…
Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 2 August 1975
THE NEWS that Chinn and Chapman had signed a new band was predictably greeted by the music business with one big yawn. What would this ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 27 April 1974
TODD RUNDGREN loped into Bearsville's offices on East 55th Street the other day with a South American raccoon on one arm and a lady dressed ...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 8 February 1975
STOMU YAMASHTA was looking pretty chipper for someone who's been getting just two hours sleep a night for the past month. For a man who ...
Nirvana, Screaming Trees, Tad: Screaming Trees, Nirvana, Tad: Pine Street Theatre, Portland, OR
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 3 March 1990
IT SEEMS incredible people still miss the point of Tad. Most (heavy) rock bands play for the sheer hell of it, and, sure Tad do ...
Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie And The Banshees: Join Hands (Polydor)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 1 September 1979
(IT'S MY party and) I'll mystify if I want to! ...
Bruce Springsteen: The Palladium, New York
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 6 November 1976
IT MAY rain or snow, and the temperature in New York might even drop below freezing-point this weekend, but so long as Bruce Springsteen is ...
Kate Bush: Paranoia and Passion of the Kate Inside
Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 4 October 1980
Kate Bush talks to Colin Irwin in Munich... ...
The Skids: Scared To Dance (Virgin)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 24 February 1979
PREPARE yourselves for a thorny contender. The Skids are a relatively new four-piece from Scotland who, apart from their current single 'Into The Valley', have ...
Electric Light Orchestra: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 June 1978
HONESTLY, when you find yourself actually applauding the stage at the end of a gig, then you suddenly realise that you've just witnessed a very ...
Roxy Music: Manifesto (Polydor)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979
AN INAUSPICIOUS time for the old heavy-weight to take the gloves off the shelf and clamber back into the ring? ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 September 1976
Rollers, Quo, Wakeman – just three targets for ace satirists Supercharge ...
The Eagles: The Spectrum, Philadelphia
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 14 August 1976
SPECTRUM, Philadelphia: You can't get much more Los Angelean than the Eagles. Right down to the faded jeans and slightly wrinkled tee-shirts, the fuzzy moustaches ...
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 2 March 1974
Rick Wakeman said it: the MM's Yes concert at Madison Square Garden was the best yet. ...
The Breeders, The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, L7, Nirvana: Nirvana: Cobain't That Peculiar
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 24 April 1993
Last week, Nirvana, L7, The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy and The Breeders staged a massive benefit for Bosnia at San Francisco's Cow Palace. Everett True ...
Maria Muldaur: Maria Hangs Loose
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 2 August 1975
Maria Muldaur, the American singer who has just completed a highly-successful week at London's Ronnie Scott Club, talks to KARL DALLAS ...
Siouxsie & The Banshees: The Giraffe Looked At Siouxsie
Report by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 17 February 1979
"WHAT DO you think of it, then?" sneered Siouxsie Sioux as we slipped into the Kurfurstendamm, Berlin's notorious main strip, which is like Oxford Street ...
Thin Lizzy: Lizzy's Cocky Rebel
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 November 1976
"Cocky Rocky's a rock and roll starGot the talent to take him far..." ...
Peter Frampton: Empire Pool, Wembley
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976
"PEDER! Cor what a man," came the strangled gasp from two young chaps in the foremost rows. "Ain't 'ee sexy!" ...
The Byrds: Strictly for The Byrds!
Report by Derek Taylor, Melody Maker, 17 July 1965
THE BYRDS happened. Suddenly, with little enough warning for any of us. For me, it started a couple of days after I arrived in Hollywood ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 2 August 1975
IT'S A BIT disconcerting when you're having a perfectly innocent conversation and the guy you're talking to suddenly brandishes a knife beneath your nose. Not ...
Jethro Tull: Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 16 November 1974
RISE SIR Ian of Flute, for thou hast indeed redeemed thyself. The critics have had their way, the Passion Play has been forgotten and Jethro ...
Dire Straits: Communiqué From a Washeteria
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 June 1979
A million quid from record sales can buy you the love of a multinational, but can it pay for the freedom to wander up the ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: Wailin'
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 July 1975
After two amazing gigs last week in London, Bob Marley is being universally hailed as reggae's first superstar. Karl Dallas watches the Wailers in action ...
Rod Stewart: Atlantic Crossing (Warner Bros.)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 August 1975
Producer: Tom Dowd. Musicians include Barry Beckett (keyboards), Steve Cropper (guitar), Duck Dunn (bass), Al Jackson and Nigel Olsson (drums), and Memphis Horns (brass). ...
The Eagles: The Long Run (Asylum)
Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979
THE POLITICS of pop have always been anathema to me. I cannot, and will not, shift my allegiances from an underrated or up-and-coming band when ...
The Bee Gees: The Bee Gees, Larry Pryce (Panther)
Book Review by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979
Oh what a boring book we see When Larry practises to Bee Gee ...
Mr. Fox, Steeleye Span: Mr. Fox and Steeleye Span: Electric Folk – The Second Generation
Comment by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 9 January 1971
NOW WE'VE had a chance to hear Mr. Fox and Steeleye Span properly, it is clear that we are already into the second generation of ...
Aerosmith: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 October 1976
AFTER MANY years studying the phenomenon of the rock concert, I have made a discovery that might well be hailed as a scientific breakthrough in ...
Rick Wakeman: Next Stop – The Gods
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 April 1975
RICK WAKEMAN on ice! It takes a cool nerve to launch a rock extravaganza in an area normally the preserve of pantomimes and hockey, but ...
Bruce Springsteen: Reborn and Running Again
Report by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 10 June 1978
EVEN BEFORE the two brilliant concerts at the Spectrum earlier in the week, Bruce Springsteen could have been the Mayor of Philadelphia if he had ...
Sailor, Sparks: Sparks: Big Beat (Island);Sailor: The Third Step (Epic)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976
SPARKS: Big Beat (Island ILPS 9445). Russell Mael (vocals), Ron Mael (keyboards), Jeffrey Salen (guitar), Sal Maida (bass). Billy Boy Michaels (drums). Produced by Rupert ...
Siouxsie & The Banshees: Kaleidoscope (Polydor)
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 26 July 1980
STRANGE TO think that, as the Banshees' contemporaries head off for the fourth or even fifth time in the studio, Kaleidoscope marks only the third ...
Loop: A Gilded Eternity (Situation Two)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 20 January 1990
IT'S CLEAR now that Loop peaked with their magnificent brace of EPs in 1988, Collision/Thief Of Fire and Black Sun/Mother Sky. Last year's Fade Out ...
Stereo MCs, U2: Stereo MCs: Zooropean Sons
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 26 June 1993
Stereo MCs are already one of the biggest (dance) bands in Britain. By the end of the summer, after touring Europe with U2, unarguably the ...
Don McLean: How A Hobo Could Save McLean From Endless Pie
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 March 1975
THE BIZARRE tale of a black hobo with one leg who fell from a Dallas bound train in the early part of this century and ...
Doll By Doll: Remember (Automatic Record Co.)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 24 March 1979
AS OFTEN happens, the rock 'n' roll romance blows hot and then cold before it settles down to a realistic affair. ...
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Hook, Line And Sinker
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 16 March 1974
"HEY MAN, that was really great. They really hated us out there. There was a guy at the front who kept shouting 'you suck' all ...
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 2 November 1974
ABOUT ONE year ago this week Dick Clark, in his infinite wisdom, decided to host a ten year anniversary edition of his TV rock show ...
Genesis, Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel: Behind Peter Gabriel's Mask
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 December 1975
PETER GABRIEL'S departure from Genesis was one of the biggest shocks of 1975 for those who admired, nay loved, the combination of perverse talent they ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 19 May 1979
A FEW weeks ago in New York, I saw the greatest transition since Jesus changed the water into wine. ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: Survival (Island)
Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979
SOME PEOPLE mellow as they get older. Bob Marley gets angrier and wiser. Following the relaxed, self-fulfilled Exodus and Kaya, Survival marks a surprising but ...
Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, February 1974
AMERICANS tend to pronounce the word "boogie" with one "u" and a couple of "g's". It comes out sounding "buggie" and it's heard a lot ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 March 1975
HARRY CHAPIN, the singer who tells stories rather than sings songs, has recently moved his craft a giant leap forward with the opening of The ...
Kate Bush: 'What I Did On My Holidays' by Kate Bush, As Told To Ian Birch
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, June 1981
LATE LAST year not even jump leads would have revitalized the Kate Bush batteries. She was so exhausted that she took the only sensible course ...
Be-Bop Deluxe: Nelson's Column
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 October 1976
"HELLO, I'm the man with two noses....." ...
Eddie & The Hot Rods: Pier Pavilion, Hastings
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 31 July 1976
BARRY MASTERS, Eddie And The Hot Rods' front man, drove his band down to Hastings from London himself – a sweaty, draining, three hour bang. ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976
Midge Ure (guitar, vocals), Jim McGinlay (bass, vocals), Billy McIsaac (keyboards, vocals), Kenny Hyslop (drums, vocals). Produced by Phil Coulter at Mayfair Studios, London, during ...
Billy Lee Riley: Red Hot Riley
Profile and Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, 21 July 1979
The volcanic music of Billy Lee Riley never quite erupted; Martin Hawkins tells how the talent remains hot. ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 12 April 1975
Top-rated guitarist JOE WALSH – due in Britain in June – talks to Chris Charlesworth in Iowa ...
Madness: Dublin Castle, London
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 13 June 1979
THE NAME says it all. ...
Jon Anderson, Yes: Yes: When We're Perfect, We'll Stop
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 September 1975
"IT'S BEEN a marvellous year for us, and hopefully it will get even better in 1976, but although we aim for perfection, I hope we ...
The Undertones: The Undertones (Sire).
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979
FOR SOME reason, this album reminds me of a scene in Kate Bush's live show, the part where she plays a rifle-toting trouble-shooter on 'James ...
Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 19 July 1975
I'M SATISFIED with this album, but I wish I could be more enthusiastic as Stephen Stills has both created and had a hand in creating ...
Junior Giscombe: Secret Life of a Streatham Soul-Boy
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 8 May 1982
Paolo Hewitt rides the Soul Train to L.A. with Junior Giscombe ...
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 12 June 1982
HOW COULD they have known? The caption under the BBC1 column in the Sunday Times television listings for May 30 was unmistakeable. "6.10. Sense And ...
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979
WAVE IS a much better record than I expected, but to explain why I'll have to go back a bit. ...
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 1 September 1973
"Hey, shout summertime bluesJump up and down in blue suede shoes" ...
Hunter-Ronson, Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson: Hunter-Ronson: Till Death Us Do Part
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 14 June 1975
Forget all the rumours, Hunter-Ronson are still happily married, as they tell Chris Charlesworth ...
The Pretenders: Moonlight Club, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 10 February 1979
NO APOLOGIES for following Mark Williams' review of the Pretenders at the Moonlight last week with an instant replay. Now is the time to catch ...
Leo Sayer: Leo Raises His Glasses
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 May 1975
LITTLE Leo Sayer leaned across and asked with his usual charm and courtesy: "Have you got any matches?" A surprising request from a non-smoker, but ...
New Asia: Ian Little: Gateway to Asia
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 10 July 1982
CHECK THE scarf then consider all points east. Face more than slightly swarthy, eyes coffee dark, Ian Little could easily turn out to be a ...
Thin Lizzy: Black Rose (Vertigo)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 April 1979
YOU build 'em up... ...
Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, September 1980
Tymon Dogg has nothing against success, but he wants it on his own terms, he tells COLIN IRWIN ...
Deep Purple: Stormbringer (Purple Records)
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 2 November 1974
'Stormbringer'; 'Love Don't Mean A Thing'; 'Holy Man'; 'Hold On'; 'Lady Double Dealer'; 'You Can't Do It Right'; 'High Ball Shooter'; 'The Gypsy'; 'Soldiers of ...
Jimmy C. Newman: Jimmy 'C' Newman: Cajun Music And The Big Beat
Profile and Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979
Jimmy 'Cajun' Newman tells MARTIN HAWKINS: 'Cajun music has two speeds – off, and full-blast'. ...
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979
WHAT DO you buy when you buy Lou Reed, and do you still need to buy him? ...
Dire Straits: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979
The end of innocence ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 12 October 1974
Chris Charlesworth has a round – of golf, that is – with Alice Cooper in New York and finds the ghoul of rock is a ...
Nina Hagen: Nina Hagen Band (CBS)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 26 May 1979
SAY HELLO to the next Euro cult sensation. ...
Dr. John, Lloyd Price: Ace Records: Dealing Aces Vols. 1 and 2
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 13 January 1979
THESE TWO volumes, together with the indispensable Huey "Piano" Smith and the Clowns collection in the same series (Ace CH 9) represent the first time ...
The Stone Roses at Spike Island
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 9 June 1990
When The Stone Roses announced their plans for a gig at Spike Island the concert was eagerly heralded as the event of the year. Everett ...
Blue Oyster Cult: We Copped A Lot From Sabbath
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976
EVEN THE hardest of hearts must soften sometime, and so it is with Blue Oyster Cult, whose fifth album Agents of Fortune offers a degree ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 August 1976
IT IS heartening in these disturbing times (as the poet Cedric observed in his massive volume, Away, Dull Cares), to find there are still men ...
Rory Gallagher: Calling Card (Chrysalis)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 October 1976
His first venture into the land of overdub and experimentation – and an unqualified success ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 28 August 1976
THOUGH Tavares are scoring for the first time in Britain with 'Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel', the quintet of brothers has been together as ...
Dave Mason, Elton John, John Miles: Elton John, Dave Mason, John Miles: Schaeffer Stadium, Boston
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 July 1976
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: The sheer pageantry of Elton John's Stars and Stripes bicentennial show here on Independence Day had the power alone to earn a standing ...
Billy "The Kid" Emerson: Billy 'The Kid' Emerson: Red Hot And Still Rocking
Profile and Interview by Martin Hawkins, Melody Maker, 19 July 1980
MARTIN HAWKINS talks to the 'resurrected' Billy 'The Kid' Emerson, a blues legend in his own lifetime. ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 December 1973
SOME POP stars like to rock. Some pop stars like to roll. But little Ronnie Lane has got the gypsy in his soul. ...
Gary Wright, Peter Frampton, Yes: Yes, Peter Frampton, Gary Wright: JFK Stadium, Philadelphia
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 June 1976
PHILADELPHIA: As rocket shells burst overhead and mortars roared only feet away, a lone Englishman with a dapper moustache smiled with delight as he stood ...
Overview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976
SOME come, others go, but the name lives on for ever...10cc set no precedent by splitting in half last week, but the decision by Graham ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 January 1974
PETER GABRIEL, man of a thouand faces, is now also a man of several voices. One at least swoops upwards into the stratosphere, gibbers madly, ...
Fleetwood Mac: Mac Bounce Back
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 12 June 1976
THE LAST YEAR has brought Fleetwood Mac a platinum LP – Fleetwood Mac – their eighth album for Reprise records, from which two top ten ...
Rick Wakeman: Sentimental Journey
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 January 1974
After two years' work, RICK WAKEMAN'S Journey to the Centre of the Earth will be premiered in London tomorrow (Friday). Rick talks to CHRIS WELCH ...
Climax Blues Band: Climax Get It Right
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 October 1976
COLIN COOPER and PETER HAYCOCK: 'We're playing more of what people call funk today, but it's all rooted in the blues.' ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 13 April 1974
DESPITE substantial success in the United States, Loggins and Messina have remained an unknown quantity in the U.K. ...
John Sebastian: Welcome Back With A Half Hour Hit
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 26 June 1976
"YES...I can understand that people in England might have felt that I'd given up music or something, but the fact is I haven't at all. ...
Genesis: Apollo Theatre, Glasgow
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 July 1976
HEAT, DUST, smoke, lasers and Genesis combined to turn the Glasgow Apollo into a replica of Dante's Inferno when the band descended on the city ...
Starland Vocal Band: Starry-eyed
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 31 July 1976
NEW YORK: As each summer rolls by it brings with it an easily identifiable summer hit which is almost always a catchy vocal treatment of ...
Gallagher & Lyle: Gallagher and Lyle: Breakaway Boys
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 15 May 1976
GALLAGHER AND LYLE: 'Art Garfunkel's version of 'Breakaway' did us a hell of a lot of good. We were preparing to record the album and ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 2 November 1974
THE FORTUNES of Deep Purple have taken strange paths over the past 12 months. But changes in line-up and strange stories about their antics in ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
"THE TIMES they are a-changin" ...and David Essex is changing with them. ...
Baker-Gurvitz Army, Ginger Baker: Ginger Baker: Ginger Recruits An Army
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 November 1974
...and they're going into battle shortly with a new album and tour. Ginger Baker, ace drummer and member of the Lagos Polo Club, explains his ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 18 September 1976
RANDY CALIFORNIA: re-formed Spirit after picking pineapples and advice from a fortune teller ...
Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt: Steve Van Zandt: Miami, Bruce, and Roots
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 6 November 1976
LOS ANGELES: Miami Steve Van Zandt has been in Bruce Springsteen's band for over a year now, and also finds time these days to guide ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 8 April 1967
A show which proves pop still has something up its sleeve ...
Bob Dylan: Jacques Levy: Dylan's Write Hand Man
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 24 January 1976
THOSE WHO have already acquired a copy of Dylan's new album, Desire, will have noticed at least one difference between this and other Dylan records ...
Dusty Springfield: I Just Look For A Song That Suits Me
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 April 1966
"YOU PUT a smell on me!" sang Dusty Springfield and Madeline Bell to an audience consisting of a monkey in a box. ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 6 November 1976
FOR A band that was formed virtually by accident one night on a European tour four years ago, Orleans have now come a long way, ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 23 October 1976
EARLIER this summer, Bob Seger appeared in concert at Pontiac Stadium, a giant indoor arena on the outskirts of Detroit, attracting some 70,000 crazed Michigan ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 30 September 1995
Read this, it's great! ECHOBELLY, who are Number Three at the time of going to press with their new album, On, have a habit of ...
The Monkees: Why All This Hoo-Ha About The Monkees?
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 January 1967
OH, THE bitchiness! Oh, the arguments! Oh, the rows! It's amazing how pop can still cause furore and uproar from one side of the Atlantic ...
The Associates: Wild and Lonely
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 24 March 1990
THE FIRST TIME I heard the Associates was when I saw 'Party Fears Two' on Top Of The Pops. It was one of those moments ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 12 January 1991
ONCE UPON A time (the early '80s), there was something called "new pop". For about a year Morley's pipedream of a chartbusting music that combined ...
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976
HOW DOES it feel to be a pop star?" The Italian journalist eagerly thrust his microphone at the glamorous vision stumbling out of his limo ...
Ian Hunter: You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic (Chrysalis)
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979
I GROANED when I saw what this record was called. Modish madness and the wrong joke anyway – shouldn't it be "You're Never Alone If ...
Steve Winwood, Traffic: Stevie Winwood: 'I'm Gonna Do An Album A Week!'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 May 1973
IT'S BEEN many a long year since Stevie Winwood has made impact as an individual on the English rock scene. ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 March 1967
A RIGHT phantasmagorical experience was created by the combined powers of the Small Faces and Roy Orbison at the opening of their tour at Finsbury ...
Maxine Nightingale: Maxine — Right Back At The Top
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1 May 1976
NEW YORK: Maxine Nightingale, who comes from Wembley, seemed neither over-awed nor surprised that her record 'Right Back Where We Started From' was topping the ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 July 1976
SO MANY bands have broken up in the past, or experienced ill-feeling within the ranks because some of the members have felt restricted, tied-down, perhaps, ...
The Lovin' Spoonful: Spoonful — The Most On The Coast...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 April 1966
TEAM O' genuine hillbillies flew into London last week and if the Lovin' Spoonful didn't actually tote 12-bore shot guns, they looked as if they'd ...
Depeche Mode: Crushing The Wheels Of Industry
Report and Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 7 January 1984
SPARKLERS. That's how German audiences display affection and appreciation. Sparklers, plus the odd lone klaxon crying out like a wolf with a peg on its ...
Loudon Wainwright III: Whimsical Wainwright
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976
NEW YORK: The smart way to begin a story about Loudon Wainwright III would be to concoct some snappy couplet not unlike those that form ...
Dusty Springfield: Theatre Royal, London
Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
IT WAS a significant week for Mary O'Brien. Not only did she turn 40 but, after endless cancellations of provincial dates due to sparse ticket ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
FEW BANDS have enjoyed the stability of Chicago, those rather dull "pioneers of jazz-rock" whose 'If You Leave Me Now' not only tops the charts ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976
A WARM HANDSHAKE, twinkling eyes and black hair grown thicker than he has allowed for some while – Jimmy Page arrived at his London office ...
Wings: Wings Over America (EMI)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 December 1976
An exhausting triple set which had the making of an exceptional double album ...
Sylvester: Stars (Fantasy, U.S. import)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
AS A POP 45, Sylvester's symphonic recasting of 'I (Who Have Nothing)' has been a slow starter. Even coming off the massive crossover success of ...
The Heavy Metal Kids: Heavy Metal Kids: Kid's Stuff
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 July 1974
JUST HOW heavy are the Heavy Metal Kids? They peer at us from advertisements clad in top hats, patched jeans, braces, big boots and flat ...
Village People: Go West (Mercury)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
FRONTIER experiments rise and fall, but showbiz pop goes on forever. It's always been that way, and there's nothing to suggest that the Eighties will ...
The Scorpions, UFO: Scorpions: Stateless and Fighting Back
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 April 1979
German heavy metallurgists Scorpion, fronted by ex-UFO lead guitarist Michael Schenker, are set to conquer the world the English-speaking one, that is. HARRY DOHERTY talked ...
Rick Wakeman, Yes: Rick Wakeman: Quitting Was An Obvious Move
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 29 June 1974
A SQUEAL of tyres, a cloud of dust and Rick Wakeman and wife Ros, drew to a halt outside the "Valiant Trooper," an excellent boozer, ...
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976
PONTIAC Stadium rises out of the Michigan earth like a four-walled town. ...
Jon Anderson: Olias Of Sunhillow (Atlantic)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 July 1976
An unashamedly romantic solo album that combines grace, taste and power ...
Red Krayola: Red Crayola: Soldier-Talk (Radar)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
IN A CURRENT context of confusion, Soldier-Talk appears to be a good idea. ...
Joe Ely: Down On The Drag (MCA)
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
THIS TIME last year Joe Ely played the Wembley Country Festival and toured Britain as Merle Haggard's bemused support. I saw him in the Brighton ...
Genesis: What Genesis Did On Their 'Holidays'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 July 1973
NOT MANY groups conduct their rehearsals squashed together in a Morris Mini. But if you are in the habit of strolling around the backwaters of ...
Widowmaker (UK): Widowmaker: Make — Or Break
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 August 1976
WIDOWMAKER almost busted up the other week. ...
The Sex Pistols: Club De Chalet Du Lac, Paris
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 11 September 1976
PARIS: The Sex Pistols believed the myth that it all happens in Paris. The fans who drove over specially to see the band's first appearance ...
Bad Company, Led Zeppelin: Bad Company: Led Zep Join The Company
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 29 May 1976
It was a night to remember...when Robert Plant and Jimmy Page jammed with Bad Company on stage in Los Angeles. ...
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes: Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes: Southside Of The Tracks
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 6 November 1976
SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: Springsteen protege from Asbury, so-named because he sounds like a Chicago Southside blues singer. ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 8 January 1983
Colin Irwin visits the strange world of TYMON DOGG, former Paul McCartney protégé, Clash sidekick, and enemy of Safeway People ...
Electric Light Orchestra: The Electric Light Orchestra: A New World Record (Jet)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976
Jeff Lynne (lead vocals, lead, rhythm and slide guitars), Bev Bevan (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Richard Tandy (keyboards, backing vocals), Kelly Groucutt (bass, vocals), Mik ...
Slade, Sensational Alex Harvey Band: Earls Court, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 7 July 1973
IT'S MONDAY morning and my ears are still ringing. The night before, I'd been among the 20,000 fans who packed London's Earls Court to prove ...
Georgie Fame: Fanning the Flames
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 August 1974
TEN YEARS HAVE elapsed since Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames pioneered a brand of funky jazz in the sweating cellars of Soho and fought ...
Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
IN A YEAR already generous with good R&B albums comes Ray Parker's second release, and it may be the best of all. ...
Wishbone Ash: New England (MCA)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
Andy Powell (guitars, mandolin and vocals), Laurie Wisefield (guitars and vocals), Martin Turner (bass and lead vocals), Steve Upton (drums). Recorded at Mart's Place, Laureledge, ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 September 1976
David Paton: now one-half of Pilot, a band trying to rid itself of teenybop associations ...
Allman Brothers Band: Elected! Rock and US Politics
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
After Jimmy Carter's victory in the U.S. Presidential elections, Chris Charlesworth in New York investigates the role of rock in American politics... ...
Thin Lizzy: Remembering, Part 1, featuring Eric Bell and Gary Moore (Decca)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 August 1976
Philip Lynott (bass, acoustic guitar, vocals), Brian Downey (drums), Eric Bell (lead guitar and vocals), Gary Moore (lead guitar and vocals). Produced by Nick Tauber. ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 January 1967
CHRIS WELCH ANALYSES THE WORK OF BAKER, BRUCE AND CLAPTON ...
Cream: Pop Think-In with Ginger Baker
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 January 1967
MODERN ART: I still paint occasionally, and I've got a big sculpture I've been working on for 18 months. It's got a steel frame with ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 June 1976
TELL US, O beefy cowboy with a stetson drawn over the eyes and a bottle of Jack Daniels old time malt liquor grasped between the ...
Bill Bruford, Genesis: Bill Bruford: 'It's all Ringo's fault!'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 April 1976
THERE HAS been a lot of stunning lately. I was stunned when Peter Gabriel quit Genesis. And stunned once more when Bill Bruford joined Genesis. ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 5 June 1976
AFTER TEN years of trial and error – with eight of them spent in England drifting in and out of Spooky Tooth – Gary Wright ...
The Lemonheads: The Longhorn, Stuttgart
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, March 1991
NICE CHAPS. I realise that this in itself isn't much of a recommendation when it comes to making music which fires the belly and fills ...
Rory Gallagher: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 June 1978
RORY GALLAGHER'S return to London, with two shows at the Hammersmith Odeon at the weekend, emphasized the sway the eternally youthful Irish guitarist holds over ...
The Rolling Stones: Stones In Exile
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 24 April 1971
CANNES is a strange place. It sits on the Cote D'Azur beckoning the rich to part with their dollars, pounds and francs in glorious sunshine. ...
Sandy Denny: The North Sea Grassman and the Ravens (Island)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 August 1971
WE ALWAYS knew Sandy Denny had the capacity to make a brilliant record, and we were right. ...
The Four Tops: Four Tops Plan a Motown Choir
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 February 1967
SWINGING London was practically rocked off its hinges the first time the famous Four Tops descended among us last year – the year of 'Reach ...
Jimi Hendrix, The Who: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 February 1967
Jimi Hendrix-Who battle at Saville ...
The Pasadena Roof Orchestra: Up On The Roof
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 January 1975
MAYBE it's a sign of the times, as the Seventies increasingly take on the atmosphere of gloom and uncertainty that pervaded the late twenties and ...
Ry Cooder: Into The Purple Valley (Reprise)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 12 February 1972
THE COVER of Ry Cooder's second album features the guitarist and his lady posed in and out of a mid-Forties model Dodge convertible. It's straight ...
Vanilla Fudge: Fudge Slow Down To Hang On To Success
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 October 1967
JIMI HENDRIX slowed down 'Hey Joe', previously always recorded as an all-out tear-up, and came up with a giant hit. Then Vanilla Fudge slowed down ...
Cream, Edwin Starr: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 February 1967
GINGER BAKER played one of the finest solos in his career at London's Saville Theatre on Sunday night. ...
The Beatles, George Martin: The Beatles: Produced By George Martin
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 21 August 1971
GEORGE MARTIN is probably the most shadowy character in rock and roll history. His influence has been immense, yet few people outside the immediate circle ...
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 31 May 1986
Pulp are from Sheffield and make rather outrageous records. Paul Mathur talks to them of dogs, wheelchairs, Nazis and baked beans. ...
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 August 1971
The First Lady Goes Electric ...
Art of Noise: The Art Of Noise: In Visible Silence (China Records)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 19 April 1986
SO it's THE Art Of Noise now is it? Addition of the definitive article does not hide an alarming slump into powerpop abandon and things ...
Huggy Bear: The Powerhaus, Islington, London
Live Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 8 January 1994
SHOULDN'T HUGGY Bear have split up by now? ...
Jimi Hendrix: Mitch Mitchell: 'We're Only Friendly Little Gnomes After All'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 9 September 1967
MITCH MITCHELL TALKS ABOUT HIS IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA ...
The Move: Disgusting, That's Our Stage Act
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 February 1968
"IS OUR stage act sexy? It's disgusting! There's no doubt about it, it's vulgar and obscene, and if I was a father I wouldn't let ...
Greenslade: Greenslade Warming Up
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 November 1974
THERE'S DEVIL'S work afoot in the world of rock (and indeed roll). Wot wiv the price of petrol and motorway chips it's a wonder there ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 April 1968
WE HAVE seen group wars and feuds before, but nothing like the battle for fans between the Bee Gees and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick ...
Big Brother & The Holding Company, Janis Joplin: Janis Joplin: Lock Up Your Sons
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
SHE WEARS a micro-length dress with a neckline plunging down to the navel. She swoops around the stage like some kind of female bat about ...
Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks: Dan Hicks Strikes it Rich
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
ROBERT PLANT was the first Dan Hicks fan I ever knew. A couple of years ago he broke up an interview session by playing a ...
Electric Flag: A Long Time Comin' (CBS)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 August 1968
'Killing Floor'; 'Groovin' Is Easy'; 'Over-Lovin' You'; 'She Should Have Just'; 'Wine'; 'Texas'; 'Sittin' In Circles'; 'You Don't Realise'; 'Another Country'; 'Easy Rider'. ...
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 16 July 1988
WIRE HAVE probably not played to 100,000 people in total as they've skimmed their precious stones across the edges of a strange pop history. And ...
Joe Cocker: Soul Sheffield Style
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 October 1968
WHICH pop star uses the Mario Lanzo method? You're wrong – it's not Tiny Tim, it's our old blues shouting, Beatle bellowing mate Joe Cocker! ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 August 1968
'White Room', 'Sitting on Top of the World', 'Passing the Time', 'As You Said', 'Pressed Rat and Warthog', 'Politician', 'Those Were The Days', 'Born Under ...
Tyrannosaurus Rex: Marc Bolan: The Man Behind Tyrannosaurus Rex
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 May 1968
AGE AND world wearyness are the enemies of pop. Marc Bolan has youth and enthusiasm. His are the qualities which must be the saviours of ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 24 April 1971
PEACE AND brotherhood, truth and happiness. These are words which crop up constantly in conversations with Osibisa, the creeds by which they attempt to live ...
The Rolling Stones: How I Survived Beggar's Banquet
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 December 1968
THAT custard pies would one day be hurled by the Rolling Stones at the gentlemen of the press was fairly inevitable. ...
Funkadelic: It's Just To Get People's Attention
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 May 1971
EVER since Keith Emerson set fire to an American flag on the stage of London's Royal Albert Hall, the banning of groups from that particular ...
Genesis, Lindisfarne: Lindisfarne, Genesis: Dublin Stadium, Dublin
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
TO BE CASUAL is to be Lindisfarne, but even the most relaxed of bands have a hard time putting over a set of new numbers ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 December 1968
A FANTASTIC and highly emotional send-off for the Cream almost gave the group second thoughts about breaking up after their brilliant final performance at London's ...
Arthur Brown: I Am The God Of Hell Fire
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 July 1968
"WHO ARE you then?" inquired the pretty young barmaid, as she served the fifth pint of foaming beer, to the customer with shoulder-length hair, clutching ...
Cream: Eric Clapton: Back To The Blues
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 May 1968
CHRIS WELCH picks his way through the chicken feathers in darkest Chelsea to chat up the guitar star of the Cream ...
The Herd: Move 'Em Out It's The Real Herd
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 April 1968
A POACHED egg is many things to many people. To advertising copy writers, it is a symbol of health and efficiency. To the savages of ...
The Nice: 1968 The Year Of The Nice
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 July 1968
NICE ARE now one of Britain's top groups, ranking with Cream and Jimi Hendrix's Experience. And as Cream aren't working and are on the edge ...
The KLF: Pranks for the Memory
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 16 February 1991
They can't help having hits, they can't come to terms with fame and they can't keep out of trouble! DAVID STUBBS witnesses THE KLF's dawn ...
Public Image Ltd.: The Factory, Manchester
Live Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 18 June 1979
A Quick One While No-One's Thinking ...
The Move: Five Really Nice Guys
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 9 March 1968
Despite what you may think, the Move are really five nice guys – or so they say... ...
Chicago: One Date Only For The Chicago Seven
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 May 1971
WITH THE news that Chicago will play just one concert at London's Royal Albert Hall on June 1, instead of two as they planned after ...
Frank Zappa, The Mothers Of Invention: Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention: The Coliseum, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 December 1970
PROBABLY only Frank Zappa and his musicians could properly review their concerts at London's Coliseum on Sunday. So much happened in each two-hour segment, one ...
Bob Dylan: We May Never See Him Perform Again
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
BOB DYLAN is unlikely ever to appear in concerts again. This is my considered opinion after two weeks talking with his friends and business associates ...
Soundgarden: The Mutate Gallery
Profile and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 10 June 1989
EVERETT TRUE MEETS THE MOST AGGRESSIVE METAL MARAUDERS TO ESCAPE FROM THE SUB POP LABEL, WHOSE NEW SINGLE, 'FLOWER', SOUNDS LIKE DAS DAMEN COVERING BIG ...
Melanie, Tyrannosaurus Rex: Tyrannosaurus Rex/Melanie: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 January 1969
A HANDFUL of musical fairydust was thrown into the air at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall on Monday, which baffled some and choked others. ...
Wendy And Lisa: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 6 May 1989
WOMEN IN unison. A glaring gaggle. A terrifying prospect. Wasn't it in fact Dorothy Parker, theoretically one of their own, who wrote, "I hate women. ...
Report and Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 9 January 1988
THE TRIFFIDS HAVE GRABBED CRITICAL ATTENTION WITH THEIR CALENTURE ALBUM AND A REPUTATION FOR REINVENTING ROCK IN ALL SORTS OF WIGGLY WAYS. PAUL MATHUR GRABS ...
Steppenwolf: On Politics and Pop
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 July 1970
FOR YEARS popular rhythm artists have expressed often in fairly heated fashion, or occasionally with affected languor, political opinions. ...
The Sugarcubes: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 2 January 1988
LIKE EVERYONE else. I expressly came to worship, to be defeated, to drench their names in a prolix of hopelessly imprecise euphoria. Unhappily, though, it ...
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 18 August 1990
MOST ENIGMATIC and downright peculiar of the 1990 Manchester shockwave are World Of Twist. All they have in common with their Manc contemporaries is that ...
The Doors: Jim Morrison: Is He The American Mick Jagger?
Profile by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 3 August 1968
LOOK OUT, England! Jim Morrison is coming to get you! ...
Salt 'n' Pepa: Look Ma Top Of The World
Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 26 March 1988
SALT 'N' PEPA WILL DO ANYTHING TO HAVE EVERYTHING. WITH THEIR NEW SINGLE, 'PUSH IT', ACCELERATING UP THE AMERICAN CHARTS IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THEIR ...
Mississippi Fred McDowell: Church House, Farnham
Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 8 March 1969
"I'M NOT a rock and roll singer. The only way you make me rock is by putting me in a rockin' chair. But if you ...
The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Red Hot Chilli Peppers: The Clarendon, Hammersmith, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 5 March 1988
SO THE Clarendon faces closure, and yes it's a sad day for rock, another step in the drawn-out death of the London gig circuit, and ...
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 24 October 1992
THE ORB are on the road and mayhem reigns. PUSH joins in the jollities ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 26 March 1988
"BOBBY Maggot was a big attorney/Through the courtroom down to hell he'd journey/Baldheaded piece of garbage that he was/He'll defend you if your money's honest/Do ...
The Incredible String Band: Once Again, Is It Folk?
Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 16 March 1968
WHEN poet Pete Brown, lyric-writer for the Cream, heard the new Incredible String Band LP, The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, he said: "That's what the Rolling ...
Happy Mondays: Yes Please! (Factory)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 5 September 1992
NO THANKS ...
The Rolling Stones: Will Charlie Watts Wake Up The World?
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 June 1968
BEACH BOYS, Beatles and Donovan chased round the world after the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in search of spiritual peace. ...
Nick Cave, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Nick Cave: Lizard of Oz
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 23 January 1988
AFTER A YEAR AWAY, NICK CAVE RETURNS FROM THE WILDERNESS WITH ANOTHER LADELFUL OF PEARLS AND PESSIMISM. CHRIS ROBERTS MEETS THE MAN WHO SEES EVERYTHING ...
Funkadelic: The Speakeasy/The Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 May 1971
Fun with Funkadelic ...
Sinead O'Connor: Olympic Ballroom, Dublin
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 12 March 1988
THE IDEA of pretending it was Hazel without her wig or Tom without the gags struck me as an astronomical corker for about a minute, ...
Tim Hardin: The Legend of Tim Hardin
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 26 January 1974
A CHUNKY, muscular figure. Penetrating eyes. Wispy black hair ever so slightly receding. What the hell is a legend supposed to look like anyway? "The ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 14 January 1995
1995 is set to be SLEEPER's year. The latest leading lights in the ongoing resurgence of Britpop brightened up last year with a string of ...
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 26 March 1988
FOLLOWING THE PHENOMENAL SUCCESS OF 'CHINA IN YOUR HAND', T'PAU HAVE LEAPT FROM THE PAVEMENT TO THE PENTHOUSE. WHAT IS THE SECRET OF THEIR SUCCESS? ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer, Humble Pie: ELP In America
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 8 May 1971
BLOOD streaming from his head, a middle-aged man, white, well-dressed, staggered into the headlights of the battered Yellow Cab. The Puerto Rican driver, grinned and ...
Grateful Dead: American Beauty (Warner Bros)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971
THE BEST adjective I can think of to describe the Grateful Dead is "disarming." They're beautiful because, unlike so many bands, they never overwhelm you. ...
The Wedding Present: Best Defence
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 27 February 1988
THE WEDDING Present were born in 1985, achieved the level of quite exciting, and now have had greatness thrust upon them with worrying prematurity. Recent ...
The Who: Tackling The Most Serious Project Of Their Lives
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 9 November 1968
"THAT'S A nasty letter. What's all that about?" inquired a menacing, dramatically dressed Roger Daltrey, clutching a copy of the MM and noting a communication ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971
MARC BOLAN became a star and T. Rex supergroup on Monday. Over 2,000 jammed London's Lyceum. And they cheered. ...
Lee "Scratch" Perry: Lee 'Scratch' Perry: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 16 January 1988
SOMETIMES there are concerts that leave your mind so thoroughly evacuated, that the only way to galvanise your diminished sense of being is to work ...
Sylvester: No Business Like Show Business
Essay by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 7 July 1979
ON HIS RECORD sleeves, Sylvester is definitely svelte. A pink shirt and a red rose. Spectacles and a cool look, like Arthur Ashe. My favourite ...
Electric Light Orchestra, The Moody Blues, The Move, Spencer Davis Group, Wizzard: Brum Beat
Overview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 26 January 1974
"Liverpool today – Birmingham tomorrow. That's the forecast for the beat business in rock music. Yes, the Brum Beat is all set to take over ...
Pere Ubu: The Tenement Commandments
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 19 March 1988
BEAMING BACK FROM HIS ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE, DAVID THOMAS LEADS PERE UBU'S MANIC WALTZ INTO THE DANGER ZONE. DAVID STUBBS TRACKS DOWN THE REFORMED AND REVITALISED ...
Marmalade: No Peel For Marmalade
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 29 June 1968
THEY DON'T like Peel in Marmalade. The well-known voice of hippery has frequently expressed opinions that the Scots lads once known as Dean Ford and ...
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 3 November 1973
EVEN THOUGH everyone involved is tremendously excited about the Band/Dylan tour (reported on page one), 1973 still has some time left and The Band have ...
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 11 August 1979
IT'S IRONIC that Little Feat were never adjudged sufficiently commercial to have headlined a concert at Los Angeles' massive Forum, since the place was bursting ...
Donny Hathaway: Everything Is Everything (Atco)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971
A USEFUL glossary of soul terms occurs during the title track, a warm, friendly if somewhat meaningless piece of philisophy. ...
Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull, The Rolling Stones: The Rolling Stones: Rock and Roll Circus
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
IT WAS a group fan's dream, when the giants of pop held a three hour jam session, while rehearsing for the Rolling Stones' Rock And ...
All About Eve: The Garden Of Eden
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 20 February 1988
WITH A DEBUT ALBUM AND A NATIONAL TOUR ABOUT TO EXPLODE, DREAM LOVERS ALL ABOUT EVE TEACH CHRIS ROBERTS ABOUT JEAN COCTEAU, CILLA BLACK, OPTICIANS, ...
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Cosmo's Factory (Liberty)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 August 1970
The flaw in Creedence's brilliance ...
Leonard Cohen: Crocodile Tears
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 2 January 1988
LET'S TALK misconceptions. Like the one about Cleopatra being Egyptian (she was Greek), Christmas being a time for giving (take take take), Ben Elton and ...
The Small Faces: Steve Marriott: Putting A Brave Face On Things
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 August 1968
STEVIE MARRIOTT is not too horrified by the slow progress of 'Universal', the Small Faces' latest vital waxing. ...
The Byrds, The Dixie Flyers, Rita Coolidge: The Byrds, Rita Coolidge: Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 15 May 1971
THE BYRDS are like an institution. They seem to have been around as long as the Houses of Parliament with their own particular style of ...
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 12 March 1988
"WHERE IS my mind?" smirks huggable Black Francis, and you can't help but rattle your jewellery. If "bloody your hands on a cactus tree/wipe it ...
Sinead O'Connor: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 2 January 1988
SO, NINA SIMONE'S 'My Baby Just Cares For Me' – the clubland secret, the cult trophy – went High Street provincial, Top Ten Top Shop. ...
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 13 February 1988
Aztec Camera have just completed their first tour for four years and are gradually steering their way back into the nation's heart and soul. Paul ...
Doug Sahm: Arise, Sir Douglas is Blowing Up A Storm
Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 6 October 1973
THE FUNKY SOUNDS of 'Texas Tornado', Doug Sahm's latest single, blasted out of the stereo in the office of Atlantic Records' co-ordinator of A&R, Mark ...
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, May 1977
THIS IS THE ALBUM we have been waiting for since Sandy left Fairport Convention for the second time at the end of 1975. Over six ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 14 July 1990
HOW TOUGH is Johnette Napolitano? Maybe here's a clue. Bloodletting, as Mat Smith noted, is an intensely personal LP, cruelly close to her, but for ...
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 1 September 1973
THE FIRST word out about Jo Jo Gunne raved about their looks – "gorgeous" said those into masculine beauty. An emphasis on appearance always makes ...
The Herd, Love Affair, The Tremeloes: The Tremeloes: War Of The Groups
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 February 1968
Pop, crackle, snap – there's friction in the air! ...
Hot Tuna: Hot Tuna (RCA Victor).
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 August 1970
FIRMLY IMPLANTED in my mind is the image of Hot Tuna as an amazingly good, all electric jam band. This follows their appearance at Bath ...
Report and Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 12 September 1998
The original Bratpoppers, ASH, are back! We meet them in Sweden and hear about Ian Paisley, the nuclear-tastic new album and Charlotte's death-threats ...
Bobby Brown: Goodbye Cruel World
Report and Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 10 June 1989
THE ALL-SINGING, ALL-DANCING WUNDERKIND IS CURRENTLY THE FASTEST RISING STAR IN AMERICA WITH HIS DEBUT ALBUM DON'T BE CRUEL. AT ONLY 20 HE IS SET ...
The Animals, Eric Burdon, Zoot Money: Eric Burdon and Zoot Money
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 June 1968
ERIC BURDON belongs to a fast vanishing breed. He is the last of the outspoken men of Pop, and the Animals are the last of ...
N.W.A.: Straight Outta Compton (Priority/Ruthless)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 8 July 1989
THE SLEEVE of Straight Outta Compton, the debut LP from N.W.A., depicts one of the members of this Los Angeles rap group pointing a pistol ...
Review by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 5 September 1998
COURTNEY LOVE is performing the most outrageous and unexpected act of an outrageous, unexpected life: surviving. Her rewriting of 'Miss World' on Hole's last tour ...
Blind Faith: Eric, Or Little By Little
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 April 1969
IT'S SOUNDING good, the Eric Clapton, Stevie Winwood, Ginger Baker Band. Forget about Cream. This is a new group with a new sound. ...
Mudhoney: Sub Pop, Sub Normal, Subversion!
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 11 March 1989
SUDDENLY SEATTLE IS THE CENTRE OF ALL THINGS GRUNGE. EVERETT TRUE TRAVELS TO THE HOME OF THE ANTI-HITS TO MEET MUDHONEY WHO RECENTLY TRADED SONGS ...
Alexis Korner, Family, King Crimson, The Rolling Stones: The Rolling Stones et al: Hyde Park, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 July 1969
CHRIS WELCH SAYS: 'Somehow the magic worked' ...
Marsha Hunt Says – I Do What I Dig
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 May 1969
MARSHA Hunt's trouble is she made one boob too many on TV recently. In fact two boobs too many. She caused a great outcry by ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 17 September 1988
WITH THEIR NEW SINGLE, 'MAKE ME LAUGH', ANTHRAX CONTINUE TO LEAD THE HARDCORE CHARGE AGAINST TRADITIONAL HEAVY METAL. SIMON REYNOLDS HITCHES A RIDE ON THE ...
The Faces: The Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 May 1971
IF ANYONE still doubts that the Faces haven't yet "made it," talk to one of the 2,000 or so who visited Thursday night's show at ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: The Equinox, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 19 February 1994
SNOOP IS in the house, and so are we, finally. The pre-match build-up is a work of art, a triumph of modern mythology and marketing. ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Ruff Justice
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 5 February 1994
SNOOP DOGGY DOGG is America's most controversial performer, taking the street-tuff credentials of previous gangsta rappers to new extremes of 4 Realness. His album, Doggystyle, ...
Jeff Beck: When The 'Big Break' Leads To Disaster...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 March 1967
CHRIS WELCH GOES BEHIND THE GLAMOUR AND GLITTER OF THE POP WORLD TO FIND TRAGEDY ...
Free, Mott The Hoople: Fairfield Hall, Croydon
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 19 September 1970
FAIRFIELD Hall, Croydon, has seen some amazing scenes since it became South London's home of rock, but I doubt whether the old faithfuls at the ...
Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Warp)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 5 March 1994
The prodigious, prolific and increasingly eccentric Richard James brings us two and a half hours of his unique muse. SIMON REYNOLDS is bewitched on our ...
Report by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 12 September 1970
Jacoba Atlas reports on the street where she lives – Laurel Canyon, Hollywood, home of the rock stars... ...
The Nymphs: Nymphs: The Asylum Siren
Report and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 15 February 1992
When singer Inger Lorre first heard Patti Smith, she knew she had to become a rock'n'roll star. When she heard the Velvet's 'Heroin'. She got ...
Primal Scream: The Ritz, New York NY
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 29 February 1992
Days Of Future Past ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 19 September 1970
JOHN SEBASTIAN brought a little sunshine into a gloomy Hyde Park, London, on Saturday. ...
The Beatles, John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John & Yoko (part 1)
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 6 December 1969
"We had to do a lot of selling out. Taking the MBE was a sell-out for me". Part 1 of a new series by RICHARD ...
John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John & Yoko (part 2)
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 13 December 1969
"People prefer a dead saint to a living annoyance like John and Yoko. But we don't intend to be dead Saints for people's convenience". Part ...
John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John & Yoko (part 3)
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 20 December 1969
"We're always together, like 24 hours a day. We're never apart by more than a 100 yards". RICHARD WILLIAMS concludes his exclusive series ...
Overview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994
What is JUNGLE? And where does it fit into the new dance scheme? SIMON REYNOLDS reports ...
Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 11 February 1989
'EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORN' WAS NUMBER ONE IN AMERICA OVER CHRISTMAS. THE OPEN UP AND SAY...AHH! LP CRUISED INTO THE US TOP 10 AND ...
Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 25 March 1967
ONCE AGAIN LOVE PROVE THEIR GREAT ORIGINALITY ...
Jane's Addiction: Embassy Theatre, Los Angeles
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 14 January 1989
IN THE LARGER-than-life (and therefore, strictly speaking, lifesize) city of Zen yuppie angels and drive-by crucifixions, it is New Year's Eve. At nine Perry Farrell ...
Jeff Dexter: From Twist Demonstrator... To Dance Band Singer... To High Priest Of Hits...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 September 1970
Chris Welch tells the strange story of DJ Jeff Dexter ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 11 February 1989
ABOUT TO TOUR BRITAIN WITH LIVING COLOUR AS SUPPORT, ANTHRAX TELL DAVID STUBBS HOW THEY PLAN TO BE AS BIG AS U2 WITHOUT SELLING THEIR ...
The Darling Buds: International, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 28 January 1989
FROM SIMON Reynold's held-back vituperative vitriol to Chris Roberts' rapturous rivers of rhapsodies, there's no denying the sheer weight of wise or wondrous words that ...
Humble Pie, Peter Frampton: Dee Anthony: Dee Works!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 9 February 1974
From doing impersonations of Al Jolson for 20 bucks a night to managing Humble Pie – that's the story of Dee Anthony. He talks to ...
Throwing Muses: Daughters Of The Fatherland
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 28 January 1989
THEIR HUNKPAPA ALBUM IS WIDELY REGARDED AS THEIR MOST ACCESSIBLE YET. THEY'RE SOON TO TOUR BRITAIN WITH THE SUNDAYS. THEIR CARD TRICKS ARE CRAP. DAVID ...
Cat Stevens: A Rather Cool Cat
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 January 1967
CAT STEVENS won't purr if you poor him a saucer of milk. But if, as a reward for his sensational leap up the chart with ...
Deep Purple: The Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 May 1971
ALTHOUGH it wasn't one of Deep Purple's best nights on Friday, it was certainly one of the best nights of the Camden Festival with London's ...
Devo: We Are Devo. We Are The Next Thing
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 25 February 1978
Ian Birch talks to an American band with heavy friends – like Eno and David Bowie ...
Pink Floyd: Now It's Pink Floyd Plus The London Phil
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 May 1969
CHRIS WELCH FINDS OUT WHAT BRITAIN'S TOP 'OVERGROUND' GROUP ARE PLANNING ...
Brian Eno, Talking Heads: Talking Heads: More Songs About Buildings And Food (Sire)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 15 July 1978
David Byrne (singing, guitars, synthesized percussion); Chris Frantz (drums, percussion); Jerry Harrison (piano, organs, synthesizer, guitar, background vocals); Tina Weymouth (bass) and Brian Eno (synthesizers, ...
Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant: Robert Plant: Down To The Roots
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 12 September 1970
ROBERT PLANT lives in an old, rambling farmhouse near Kidderminster, on the edge of the Black Country, with his wife Maureen, baby daughter Carmen, dog ...
Salt 'N' Pepa: Sat 'N' Pepa: The Showstoppers
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 5 November 1988
'To Know Us Is To Love Us' claim Salt 'n' Pepa, one of rap's most unlikely success stories, whose A Salt With A Deadly Pepa ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 June 1969
Following Blind Faith to the shores of a lake ...
The Beach Boys: A Brave New World – Through Pop
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 April 1968
IT'S GOING to be a Brave New World through pop. That's the hope of men like George Harrison, Donovan and Mike Love, bearded, humourous hell-raiser ...
Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 5 March 1994
M PEOPLE are the darlings of hip clubbers and pop kids alike, recent Brits winners, and THE crossover band from club culture who can simply ...
Primal Scream: SCREAMADULLICA – Primal Scream: Give Out But Don't Give Up (Creation)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 26 March 1994
Pre-modernism! Culture pundits reckon art, architecture and literature are all trying to return to classical values. Why should rock be left out? Primal Scream wanna ...
Bernard Butler: People Move On (Creation)****
Review by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, 4 April 1998
YOU KNOW the story. March 25,1992 and there in block capitals, the stuff legends are made of: "Suede – The Best New Band In Britain". ...
Jimi Hendrix at the Pop Think-In
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 28 January 1967
FREAK OUT: Well, whatever the word means to you, add a few musical notes to that. Each to his own. I think for a new ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 29 January 1994
In 1990, ROYAL TRUX released Twin Infinitives, a double album once described as one of the 'most hallucinatory avant-rock sprawls ever'. Then they got even ...
Jeff Beck: The Jeff Beck Group: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 January 1969
JEFF BECK'S band blew a solid set at London's Marquee Club last week to a packed house and proved why they have been so successful ...
Zapp: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 12 July 1986
ZAPP LIVE were perhaps the most extreme spectacle I have ever witnessed, with both band and audience abandoning inhibitions more extensively than at any rock ...
The Rolling Stones: Jagger In 3-D (part 1): The First Dimension – The Present
Interview by Keith Altham, Melody Maker, 15 March 1969
KEITH ALTHAM begins his three-part series on Mick Jagger by attempting to assess where he is now, the most controversial and greatest Anti-Hero of our ...
The Rolling Stones: Jagger In 3-D (part 2): Second Dimension — Jagger On Stage
Interview by Keith Altham, Melody Maker, 22 March 1969
KEITH ALTHAM looks into the past for the SECOND DIMENSION in his series on Mick Jagger to discover the strengths and weaknesses in the Rolling ...
The Rolling Stones: Jagger In 3-D (part 3): Third Dimension — The Future
Interview by Keith Altham, Melody Maker, 29 March 1969
"BUT HE can't go an being a Rolling Stone for ever, can he?" asked Joe Public spitefully. ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 15 February 1992
They've been nominated for a Brits award as Best International Newcomers, and their new single, 'Reality Used To Be A friend Of Mine', is a ...
Jimi Hendrix: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 March 1969
The legend comes to life: Chris Welch catches Hendrix in action ...
The Faces, Rod Stewart: Rod Stewart, The Faces: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 12 July 1986
BIG NOSE STRIKES AGAIN! ...
Spencer Davis Group, Steve Winwood, Traffic: Stevie Winwood: Why I Quit
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 March 1967
MM EXCLUSIVE: CHRIS WELCH probes the Great Break Up and finds the Spencer Davis-Stevie Winwood split inevitable ...
Pavement: R U Ready 2 Unrock?!
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 12 February 1994
PAVEMENT have mutated from being the weirdest band on Planet Pop to the '94 version of Easy Listening Gods, Steely Dan. EVERETT TRUE meets mainman ...
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 23 May 1992
STEREOLAB, to me, were always one of those anonymous State Of The Art bands which so needlessly cluttered up the pages of the music press, ...
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 25 February 1984
Carol Clerk and MARILYN parry ideas about love, life and sex and the single girl. ...
Fairport Convention's Martin Lamble: Previous Occupation — Child
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 May 1969
THEY WERE playing 'Meet On The Ledge' at London clubs last week. It is a tune people most associate with Fairport Convention. ...
Hanoi Rocks: Danceteria, New York
Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 14 April 1984
IT WAS a particularly nasty little flu bug, the sort that devastates every function of the human body and turns you into the most miserable ...
Pentangle: The Many Talents Of The Pentangle
Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 18 May 1968
ANSWER THE following questions to win five points: Which group is playing at the Cambridge Jazz Festival one weekend in July, and at the Cambridge ...
Spear of Destiny: Spear & Loathing
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 21 January 1984
SPEAR OF DESTINY'S KIRK BRANDON bares his soul to Adam Sweeting ...
Aphex Twin: 'Phex And Drugs And Rock'N'Roll
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 12 March 1994
APHEX TWIN is the first superstar of ambient, the crossover King of innovative pop. Which is why Seefeel, Saint Etienne, The Boo Radleys, Curve, hell, ...
Thomas Dolby: The Flat Earth (Parlophone)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 11 February 1984
ANYBODY WHO'D put Magnus Pyke in one of their videos has to be a gimmick merchant, right? Though Thomas Dolby scored a hit in all ...
Diana Ross, The Supremes: Diana Ross: A Talking Instead Of Just A Walking Doll
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 November 1968
DIANA ROSS is a living doll. But as an all-talking living doll, her new image came as quite a surprise to the pop scene last ...
Judy Collins: Judy In Disguise
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 1 September 1973
Judy Collins film director? The singer – songwriter has taken a year out of her life to make a movie with a strong Womens' Lib ...
Sandy Denny: Sandy Fights Back
Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 12 November 1977
"IF I HAVE TO SING 'Matty Groves' one more time, I'll throw myself out of a window... I'll be doing a lot of stuff from ...
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 21 January 1989
WITH A TOP 10 SINGLE IN HER NATIVE AMERICA, EDIE BRICKELL AND HER NEW BOHEMIANS LOOK SET TO MAKE A HUGE IMPACT IN 1989. CHRIS ...
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 19 August 1989
STONED, LOADED. It's both a mental and a physical bliss. Everything is nothing but an abandoned blur. Minutes away from a blackout, from a sweet, ...
Cream: Sweet 'N Sour Rock 'N Roll
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 July 1966
A THUNDER of blues in a church hall complete with Brownies and caretakers was the bizarre setting for the first tentative creations of the Cream ...
Garry Bushell: The Most Evil Man In Pop
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 10 May 1986
Scourge of the Looney Left, creator of Oi and prime exponent of the dreaded 'Sunspeak', GARRY BUSHELL makes a clean breast of it to Prof ...
Report and Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 16 March 1996
Ever been to a CAST gig? Total entertainment. Ever been to Amsterdam? Druggy hedonism meets sensual abandon. So what happens if you put Cast and ...
The Mothers Of Invention, Frank Zappa: Mothers Of Invention: Freak Out! (Verve)
Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 4 March 1967
Freak Out with the Mothers ...
The Shamen: In Gorbachev We Trust (Demon)
Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 4 February 1989
THE SHAMEN may indeed, as Steve Sutherland said, be a band whose time has come. For over three years now they've been drilling away, obsessed ...
Jimi Hendrix: Who Says Jimi Hendrix Can't Sing? (He Does!)
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 April 1967
JIMI HENDRIX can't sing! "Oo sez so?" outraged Hendrix fans will demand, at this startling statement. But before MM readers who dig the sounds of ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 14 April 1984
Suddenly, yesterday's men Dead Or Alive are pop Stars. Here, flamboyant PETE BURNS tells Adam Sweeting about fame and dressing up. ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 October 1967
GREAT THUNDERING jackanapes! An all-round good show at the Saville: No goofs, no curtains falling down, great music, a nice audience and even, wonder of ...
Yes: Swiss Rolling And Rocking With Yes
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 December 1969
CHRIS WELCH reporting, with a little Alp from his friends ...
Obituary by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 7 April 1984
With the death of MARVIN GAYE, black music lost one of its most eloquent voices. Colin Irwin documents a brilliant but tempestuous career. ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 July 1969
A ZEPPELIN attacked the City of Bath on Saturday, and gassed 120,000. Airship Commander Jimmy Page kept the most fearsome dirigible in progressive blues aloft ...
The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead (Rough Trade)
Review by Nick Kent, Melody Maker, 14 June 1986
THIS IS NEITHER the time nor the place to indulge in trivial banter; suffice to say that The Smiths' peculiar career manoeuvres, which have caused ...
Bonzo Dog Band: Viv Stanshall, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, at the Pop Think-In
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
FISH: I'm trying to become a pisceculturist. I'm less interested in fish than I am in turtles really. I like evil fish of archaelogical interest ...
Earth Wind and Fire: Earth, Wind & Fire: Flying Sorcerers
Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 February 1978
Earth, Wind & Fire are the biggest soul group in the world – their albums now go platinum. But Britain will have to wait until ...
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 14 April 1984
THE MOST simple consideration of live performance throws up two basic types; those shows that define musical experience, are the quintessential medium for the music ...
The Who: Bus Ride Back To Pop 30 For Who
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 September 1968
THE STATES are where the Who now have their biggest hits, most fan fever, and excitement. Pete Townsend, Keith Moon, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle ...
Blur: Modern Life Is Rubbish (Food)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 15 May 1993
CONTEMPORARY FAULT – ADJUST YOUR MIND-SET ...
Leonard Cohen: Songwriter Who Got Into Folk By Accident
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 February 1968
WHEN THE new album by the uncrowned queen of the non-folk, Judy Collins, is issued this month a lot of people will start talking again ...
The Redskins: Keeping On And On
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 11 February 1984
Adam Sweeting weathers a storm of political invective from THE REDSKINS ...
The Doors: The Doors (Elektra)
Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 13 May 1967
THE RAVING R&B musical content of their first single, 'Break On Through To The Other Side', falls well short of the high standard the Doors ...
The Clash: The Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 17 March 1984
ONCE UPON a time when we were a little more naive than we like to admit, The Clash seemed pretty important, like they were the ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 June 1969
Watching With Mothers: Chris Welch survives a week with Frank Zappa ...
Luther Vandross: The Language of Love
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 14 February 1987
So what does LUTHER VANDROSS, sex god to millions, do on a date? Does he even date at all? And what the hell happened when ...
Ten Years After: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 October 1967
TEN YEARS AFTER are currently drawing huge applause and crowds at London's Marquee Club on Friday nights, and it is not difficult to see why. ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 14 March 1987
WHEN I THINK of U2, I don't think of America, I don't think of stadia, sweat, pumping fists, auxiliary hair. I think of fresh air, ...
Desmond Dekker: On The Trail Of Desmond Dekker
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 August 1967
A FEW years ago Bluebeat, that simple jogging West Indian pop, was all the rage among the mods of Britain. ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 31 January 1987
ANITA BAKER, the new queen of soul, discusses the dos and dont's of the bigtime with a sympathetic Caroline Sullivan. ...
Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 10 July 1982
THIS IS ALMOST another case of "eat thy words", hard on the heels of Allan Jones' revelatory viewing of the Stones at Wembley. I didn't ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 April 1968
When the Stones were rollin' – for £10 a gig ...
Big Audio Dynamite: V For Victory
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 7 February 1987
Another tour, another single, another video and still BIG AUDIO DYNAMITE are special. Chris Roberts had dinner with MICK JONES and discovered sense and sensitivity ...
Pink Floyd: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 July 1969
A SILENT, attentive crowd, joss sticks waving, a huge gong booming, and the Pink Floyd looning. It was strange inside the Royal Albert Hall, London, ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 18 April 1987
BLUR. The boys from Happy Mondays skitter past us on the rob down the Arndale. Loose limbs and flares kick dust into everybody's eyes. ...
Ian Anderson, Jon Anderson: Shake A Leg, Jock: Ian Anderson, Jon Anderson and the Scottish Ballet
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 February 1979
VISIONS OF HIGHLANDERS in hobnail boots and tartan tutus shouting "Hey Jimmy!" were inspired by a rare invitation to drinks with the Scottish Ballet last ...
Eddie Floyd: Knocking On The Wrong Wood
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 December 1967
EDDIE FLOYD IN A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY ...
Misty In Roots: The Price Of Hate
Report by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979
Among the casualties of last week's confrontation between the police and anti-racist demonstrators in Southall was the Peoples Unite Centre, a haven for local musicians, ...
Elastica: From Hype To Eternity
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 8 October 1994
ELASTICA were voted Best New Band in our Readers' Poll almost before the band had released a note. Why? Because you could tell just by ...
Nirvana: Cow Palace, San Francisco
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 1 May 1993
LET'S GO BACK a few years. Rock – as an innovative and thus creative form – is dead. I'll temper that. Rock, as created by ...
John Mayall: O, Come And Join All Ye The Blues Faithful Crusade
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 October 1967
ROLL UP! Get your Bluesbreakers masks here. Peter Green 2s 6d, Eric Clapton five bob... ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 3 March 1984
Adam Sweeting gets all smoochy with Eighties Renaissance Man THOMAS DOLBY. ...
Beck, Sebadoh: Beck and Sebadoh: It's Saturday, It's Two O'Clock and It's... Slackerjack!
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 26 November 1994
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Get BECK, the blue-eyed, wigged-out Californian space baby whose slacker anthem 'Loser' topped the American charts, ...
Jimi Hendrix: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 October 1967
THE OTHER (WRESTLING) SIDE OF JIMI HENDRIX ...
The Style Council: The Cost Of Loving (Polydor)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 7 February 1987
A REMARKABLE fellow, this Paul Weller. It's a strange journey he's made over the last decade, but stranger still is that he's managed to take ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 4 November 1989
IN THEIR SHORT CAREER THE RAPPERS HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATED BY THE FBI, CONDEMNED BY THE CONGRESS FOR RACIAL EOUALITY, BANNED BY TV AND RADIO AND ...
Jefferson Airplane: The Isle of Wight Pop Festival
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 September 1968
A SMALL bronze medal should be struck and presented to all the survivors of the Isle of Wight Pop Festival. They are the brave men ...
Schoolly D: Schoolly D (Schoolly D Records)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 23 August 1986
SCHOOLLY D is from Philadelphia and appears to be some kind of hoodlum, with an unhealthy interest in the status trinkets of high life, drugs ...
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 21 June 1986
No more Sammy's tits on page three! Unthinkable! More Sammy songs on Top Of The Pops! Even more unthinkable! While the world wrings its hands ...
The Verve: The Boston T-Shirt Party!
Report by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 29 November 1997
Welcome to the beauty of the new soul rebels. We join THE VERVE in America and discover the Wigan warriors are ready to take on ...
Material: Secret Life (Jungle)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 23 August 1986
STRANGE TIMING for this double album retrospective, considering how totally the alternative scene has renounced the ambitions of 1979-82, all the rhetoric about Eurofunkactivism, Sex, ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 March 1969
...IS A REASONABLY good programme by Free, a group often dismissed as "just another blues band." ...
Jeff Beck: When Jeff Was Scared To Go On Stage
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 February 1969
JEFF BECK is a complicated person. He can appear lazy, sullen and difficult. He has an expressive face that appears to give away his every ...
Charlie Mingus: Charles Mingus's Sound of Love
Obituary by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 20 January 1979
Charles Mingus died in Mexico on January 5, of amytrophic lateral sclerosis, a condition also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. He had been in Mexico ...
Alex Chilton, Big Star: Big Star: 'Whatever Was There, I Drank It Or Took It...'
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 21 August 1993
...So says Alex Chilton, inspirational genius behind Seventies legends BIG STAR, whose brief but influential career embraced three classic albums and more drugs, booze and ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 October 1967
IT WAS AN explosive opening night For the Traffic-Tomorrow-Fudge tour at London's Finsbury Park Astoria on Wednesday of last week. The Fudge came off the ...
Berlin, Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Berlin: G-Mex Centre, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 17 January 1987
MR HOLLY Johnson is right, shooting stars never do stop, more's the pity. Instead they tumble entropically to the back of beyond, hollering, hooting and ...
Tom Rush: Rush Reaches For The Pop Audience
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 13 January 1968
TOM RUSH walked into my office shortly after he had arrived to record a BBC-2 colour TV show with Julie Felix and John Renbourn last ...
Taj Mahal: At Last — A Welcome New Voice
Profile by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 March 1969
A NEW VOICE on the music scene and a very welcome one, belongs to Mr Taj Mahal a young blues singer and guitarist from Massachusetts. ...
Janet Jackson: Complete Control
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 21 March 1987
"WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, I USED TO TALK TO THE ANIMALS... THEY'RE GOOD LISTENERS, AND I ALWAYS FELT THEY UNDERSTOOD." SO SAYS JANET JACKSON, IN ...
Ghostface Killah, Method Man, RZA, Wu-Tang Clan: Wu-Tang Clan: Martial Lore
Special Feature by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 24 May 1997
Public Enemy's fall from grace left hip hop without a heroic focus. Enter WU-TANG CLAN, a crew from Staten Island whose ever-changing line-up has produced ...
Marilyn Manson: Alternative Cult Star
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 20 September 1997
He's seven-foot tall and rips his stomach to shreds with a half-broken bottle on stage. But, heh, he's still little Brian to his mum. We ...
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 6 September 1997
Mart For Art's Sake ...
The Durutti Column: Without Mercy (Factory)
Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 8 December 1984
SO MUCH contemporary music strives to conquer eager hearts and incite itchy feet with bombastic crescendoes and prolific sloganeering, substituting the possible with the obvious, ...
Syd Barrett: Confusion and Mr Barrett
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 31 January 1970
SYD BARRETT is a happy, creative if somewhat confused young man, who gave the Pink Floyd hits and headaches when still in the group of ...
John Lennon, Julian Lennon, Yoko Ono: Julian Lennon: The Lennon Legacy
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 13 October 1984
Four years after a madman took out his father, JULIAN LENNON launches his own career in music. In his first major interview he tells Colin ...
Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: The Notorious Zig-A-Zig-Ah!
Profile by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 16 August 1997
THERE'S NO ducking it. The Spice Girls are undoubtedly the most successful British teenypop act. Their album, Spice, has sold over seven million albums in ...
Soul II Soul: Songs In The Key Of Life
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 16 December 1989
WITH A STRING OF SUCCESSFUL SINGLES AND A STUNNING DEBUT ALBUM, SOUL II SOUL HAVE SPEARHEADED THE DANCE REVIVAL OF THE LATE-EIGHTIES AND LOOK LIKE ...
Melanie's Looking For A Bag Of Her Very Own
Profile by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 19 April 1969
YOU CAN'T BE neutral about Melanie. She's one of those people who comes along and creates new dividing lines in the scene, setting people at ...
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 13 October 1984
Kidnapped heiress Patti Hearst is said to have listened to him incessantly during her captivity and the hip-hop crowd regard him as a guru. His ...
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 28 August 1993
The very mention of THE THE inspires visions of musical doom, fretful soul-searching and a general air of unreconstructed gloom. But does MATT JOHNSON really ...
Coldplay: 'Brightness and Hope and Devotion'
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 19 July 2000
THAT'S COLDPLAY'S MOOD, POST-'YELLOW'S' GLORIOUS SUCCESS. WE MEET THE BAND WHO ARE FAST PROVING HOW NICE GUYS CAN FINISH FIRST ...
Arrested Development: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 1 October 1994
IT TAKES A while, but I finally work out what it is they remind me of. ...
Blind Faith, Bread and Freedom – Now For The Sweet Music
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 August 1969
BLIND FAITH have not only gained a fine bass player in Rick Grech, who left Family to complete the super group, they also have an ...
Curiosity Killed The Cat: Filthy Rich These Cat Chaps
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 18 April 1987
Too naughty to be teeny-boppers, CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT are nonetheless attracting attention for all the trad reasons – goodlookers, dressers, er mates of Paula ...
Report and Interview by Geoffrey Cannon, Melody Maker, 5 June 1971
NO DIFFICULTY KNOWING when you've just finished hearing a great rock concert. Because you'll be in the middle of a great crowd of people standing ...
Green Day: Stick 'Em Up, Punks!
Interview by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, 4 October 1997
Those loveable American punk rockers GREEN DAY are back. We join them in Milan to find out if they're still punk at heart. Guess what? ...
Al Stewart, Joni Mitchell: Joni Mitchell, Al Stewart, The Johnstons: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 5 October 1968
OPENERS AT Roy Guest's "Festival of Contemporary Song" at the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday, the Johnstons, finished their set with Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides ...
Johnny Thunders: The Marquee, London
Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 1 September 1984
WHEN JOHNNY came marching back to London this time around, he took us all by surprise. ...
Buffalo Tom, Pavement, Sebadoh: Buffalo Tom/Pavement/Sebadoh: The Cattle Club, Sacramento
Live Review by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 13 June 1992
ERIC IS STRANDED alone onstage behind his drum kit. Sebadoh have been announced but it's clear that the rest of the band aren't even in ...
Rory Gallagher: Rory on the Road
Report and Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 8 July 1972
RORY GALLAGHER changes out of his striped tee shirt, folds it neatly and places it in his zipper case, exchanging it for an equally familiar ...
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 4 November 1972
NOW YOU'D EXPECT Mike Patto to be sardonic, and embittered after five years in various guises and never really making it. ...
Steve Peregrin Took: Down in Ladbroke Grove: Steve Took
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 8 January 1972
"You live high in your apartmentSee people turn to machines,I'm scratching hard to pay my rent,I hope to God I die naturally." ...
Michael Des Barres, Silverhead: Silverhead Savage
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 9 June 1973
MICHAEL DES BARRES, the ultimate rock and roll star sits drinking decaffeinated coffee in the health food-come-curio shop on the Portobello Road, London. He's swamped ...
Emerson Lake And Palmer, Yes: Ready, Eddie? An Interview with Eddie Offord
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 12 February 1972
EDDIE OFFORD SITS in his penthouse flat, way above the traffic that thunders down the Vauxhall Bridge Road past Victoria. ...
The Who: Who Needs To Take Pop Seriously? Asks Pete Townshend
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 December 1967
PETE TOWNSHEND is as unpredictable as a badly made Roman candle. He fizzes and spurts, showers light and occasionally explodes. ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 16 August 1986
GWEN GUTHRIE, currently burning 'em up with 'Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent' explains to David Stubbs the genesis of 'Fly Girl' ...
Gallon Drunk, PJ Harvey: PJ Harvey: The Academy, New York NY
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 10 July 1993
FROM GRUNGE'S "castration blues" to the glutinous gloom of Come/Red House Painters/Mazzy Star to tonight's support band Gallon Drunk (with their cliché-encrusted homage to Nick ...
Screaming Trees: Riverside, Newcastle
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 16 November 1996
FOR A gig you might've expected to be a pissed–up, beery slop, all bum–notes and chaos, it's all in the subtleties of feel. This is ...
Soundgarden: Apollo, Manchester
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 28 September 1996
PERFECT. AS only the superficial can be. ...
Foo Fighters: Have We Got Foos For You
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 6 April 1996
Foo Fighters are back with a new single, 'Big Me', and a fresh determination to not let adulation force them into a Nirvana–type corner. Melody ...
Graham Coxon: The Leadmill, Sheffield
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 11 July 2000
MAYBE THE whys and wherefores don't matter. Maybe it's pointless trying to figure out the real reasons for people coming here. Nobody could really have ...
Tiny Tim: When Tiny Tim Started To Sing In A High Voice, Even Dear Father Said 'Cissy'
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 November 1968
Chris Welch comes face to face with Tiny Tim ...
Afrika Bambaataa: Play It Again Bam
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 20 October 1984
Leader of the Zulu Nation. Godfather of hip-hop. Overlord of funk. Black youth guru. Creator of the most influential record of the Eighties. All this ...
Natalie Imbruglia: Shredded Treat!
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 13 December 1997
Why NATALIE IMBRUGLIA? Because her debut single 'Torn' is f***in' brilliant, and she's gorgeous and she drinks! Wahey! We invite Nat out for a beer ...
Area Code 615: Area Code 615 (Polydor)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 3 January 1970
AREA CODE 615. 'Southern Comfort'; 'I've Been Loving You Too Long'; 'Hey Jude'; 'Nashville 9-N.Y.1'; 'Lady Madonna'; 'Ruby'; 'Crazy Arms'/'Get Back'; 'Why Ask Why'; 'Li'l ...
Suede: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 22 May 1993
THIS IS happening with our permission. We wanted it to happen. We virtually willed it to happen. Suede are this season's singing saviours because we ...
Phil Ochs: America's Fieriest Songwriter
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 September 1966
LAST TIME American singer/songwriter Phil Ochs was here he stormed around from gig to gig, ending up in a four-letter-worded altercation with a St Pancras ...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976
TOM WILSON is an elegant, very tall (6ft 4in) black American, a former Harvard man who talks a little like Bill Cosby but whose pencil-thin ...
Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 3 February 1996
The new TORTOISE album, with its radical approach to rock, dub, trip hop and avant-Techno, will blow your mind. SIMON REYNOLDS heralds the future ...
Davey Graham: Les Cousins, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 10 September 1966
THE big question is: why isn't Davy Graham booked into Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club? He has as much to say as his fellow guitarist and ...
The Style Council, Wham!: Wham! Style Council: Miners' Benefit, Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 15 September 1984
Pit-Head Ballet ...
Dusty Springfield, Mickie Most, P.J. Proby, Spencer Davis Group: Right Then, Who's Backing Britain?
Comment by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 January 1968
IF BRITAIN is going to the dogs, it is obvious a large section of the (older) community are convinced that sinful pop stars are prime ...
Butthole Surfers: Swamp Things
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 2 April 1988
THE BUTTHOLE SURFERS ARE THE MONSTER SOUND OF THE EIGHTIES, A SWELLING CULT WHO PULL THEM IN IN DROVES AND HAVE TO TURN AWAY JUST ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 4 June 1994
Before PAUL LESTER travelled to Detroit and came into contact with PANTERA, currently America's fastest, loudest, most popular and OTT speed metal band, he looked ...
Megadeth: So Far, So Good... So What! (Capitol)
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 5 March 1988
THE DEATH MACHINE ...
Felt: The Strange Idol Pattern And Other Short Stories (Cherry Red)
Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 3 November 1984
THERE IS A singular atmosphere to Felt's music. Their dreamy guitar excursions are a pure extension of mood, not intent, and as such have no ...
Otis Redding: Mr Cool and The Clique From Memphis
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 17 September 1966
OTIS REDDING is unbelievably cool. Or is it just travel-weariness. Who knows? When he landed on English soil last week to introduce himself and prepare ...
Electric Light Orchestra, The Move, Roy Wood, The Small Faces, Wizzard: Don Arden: The Hit Man
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 9 March 1974
He's been called the Al Capone of pop, and the reputation's, shall we say, a little heavy. A nervous Robert Partridge talks to Don Arden... ...
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Axe of Faith
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 26 September 1992
THE DISPOSABLE HEROES OF HIPHOPRISY don't piss about like most groups who claim to be 'political'. The Disposables just get on down and do something ...
The Artwoods: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 September 1966
IT WAS AN exciting but nerve-racking night for the Artwoods, one of London's finest groups, when they made their Marquee Club debut last week. ...
Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra: The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra. Vol. 1. (Fontana)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 10 January 1970
'Heliocentric'; 'Outer Nothingness'; 'Other Worlds'; 'The Cosmos'; 'Of Heavenly Things'; 'Nebulae'; 'Dancing In The Sun'. ...
Frank Zappa: Hot Rats (Reprise)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 March 1970
Hot Rats is hot stuff! ...
Cream, Ginger Baker: Ginger Baker: The Ginger Man
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
PETER "GINGER" BAKER will be 29 soon, and after 13 years of beating drum kits into submission, he is at last able to relax and ...
Jobriath: Superstar or Superhype?
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 12 January 1974
"If hype means projecting your artist, I'm going to produce the biggest hype ever" – Jerry Brandt talking to ROBERT PARTRIDGE about his latest discovery, ...
Material, Nona Hendryx: Nona Hendryx: Labelle-d By The Funk
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 16 January 1982
Paolo Hewitt sees eye-to-eye with NONA HENDRYX ...
Frank Zappa, The Mothers Of Invention: Frank Zappa RIP
Obituary by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 18 December 1993
FRANK ZAPPA, who died last week at the age of 52, has long been regarded as one of the most important figures in rock, a ...
The Fall: Hex Enduction Hour (Kamera)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 6 March 1982
OF COURSE, YOU don't actually review a Fall LP. You hover in the shadow of the aura and attempt to catch some of the sparks ...
Chic: Bernard Edwards 1952-1996
Obituary by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 4 May 1996
BERNARD EDWARDS of CHIC died last week. Paul Lester celebrates the life and work of a massively influential musician, producer and songwriter ...
Public Enemy: Strength to Strength
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 17 October 1987
PUBLIC ENEMY PLAY BRITAIN IN NOVEMBER AND SIMON REYNOLDS TAKES A LONG HARD LOOK AT THE SURVIVALIST PHILOSOPHY BEHIND SOME OF THE TOUGHEST NOISE OF ...
The Rolling Stones: Back Door Men
Interview by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978
Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman aren't exactly garrulous types. But behind the... er... stony facade lies a commitment which has kept them pumping up the ...
Eric B. & Rakim, Public Enemy: Public Enemy/Eric B And Rakim: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 12 December 1987
PUBLIC NUISANCE ...
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 22 June 1996
BECK is back. But is the slacker guru's new opus a celebration of eclectic musical styles or just an aimless shambles? ...
Otis Redding: Otis, The King Of Soul
Report by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 16 December 1967
OTIS REDDING, voted as the worlds number one male vocalist in this year's MM Pop Poll, died in an air crash on Sunday night. A ...
Overview by Push, Melody Maker, 24 December 1988
AT THE BEGINNING of this year a House record would have cleared the majority of London's dancefloors. ...
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 6 October 1990
BEFORE WE start, one thing: 'Dreams Burn Down', eh? What a stormer! Breathtaking, sickening, walls collapsing all around you and oh look the gazelles are ...
Kenickie: Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 20 June 1998
HEY, LITTLE rich girl, where did you go wrong? The 'Nick should never have moved to London. Left home, met all these glittery chuckleheads, built ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 June 1969
SOME WEEKS ago, I went horse riding with Thunderclap Newman. ...
Terence Trent D'Arby: The Great Contender
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 1 August 1987
TERENCE TRENT D'ARBY isn't modest. But, as he's quick to point out, he has very little to be modest about. Two hit singles, a number ...
Metallica: ...And Justice For All (Phonogram)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 10 September 1988
THE KILLING MACHINE ...
Humble Pie: Exclusive! Marriott & Frampton present HUMBLE PIE
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 May 1969
When a new group is born naturally the Melody Maker is the first to know about it ...
Danielle Dax: Return Of The Wolf Girl
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 30 May 1987
DANIELLE DAX, A FREE SPIRIT AND A PRETTY STRANGE LADY, EXPLAINS THE MEANING OF 'INKY BLOATERS' TO A MIGHTILY IMPRESSED CHRIS ROBERTS. ...
Daft Punk: Plastique Fantastique
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 29 March 1997
It's taken a while, but mainstream America is finally welcoming dance music with open aims. Now they're going crazy over the Chemicals and are poised ...
The Beastie Boys, Run-DMC: Run DMC/The Beastie Boys: Brixton Academy, London/Brighton Centre
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 6 June 1987
PHALLUS & FALLACY ...
Tyrannosaurus Rex: ...But The Bopping Imp Keeps Bopping
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 October 1969
CHRIS WELCH UNCOVERS THE TYRANNOSAURUS SPLIT ...
The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu: 1987 — What The F**k Is Going On (The Sound Of Mu)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 20 June 1987
LICENSED TO THRILL ...
Hole: My Body The Hand Grenade (City Slang)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 11 October 1997
COURTNEY LOVE reigned supreme in 1995 – and didn't we know she knew it. Now, with the release off a new album, well, it's all ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers, Toots & The Maytals: Reggae: Black Gold of Jamaica
Report by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 September 1972
Reggae – in its more commercial form – has won the battle for mass acceptance, and has gone on to influence rock and soul musicians ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 26 June 1982
From the pits of Yorkshire to the industrial might of Seattle, SAXON have taken tea to the world. Colin Irwin earnestly believes it's the new ...
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 29 August 1987
MATALLIC KO ...
The Rolling Stones: The Stones Roll Again
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 June 1969
How Mick's facing up to the brave new world of getting the show back on the road: MICK JAGGER talks to Chris Welch about the ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979
DAVID PAICH has the grizzly, rough-hewn features of a particularly underhand heavyweight wrestler. The image is blown by a hugely infectious grin that recurs frequently, ...
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 27 May 1995
"There is no name yet for the places he or his voice can't go..." They said that about Sixties archangel Tim Buckley and they're saying ...
Sly & The Family Stone: Fresh (Epic)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 June 1973
I LIKE A little mystery, don't you? 'Course you do. So here's one: the finished version of Sly's new album, in the shops at last, ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 October 1969
WHEN A TOP musician becomes an unpaid press and public relations man for a group, it can be fairly assumed that the group must have ...
McAlmont & Butler: The Band That Likes To Play... 'YES'!
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 3 June 1995
DAVID McALMONT used to be in the lavishly praised but commercially unsuccessful THIEVES. The he formed the even more lavishly praised, though still commercially unsuccessful, ...
Thin Lizzy: Lizzy Break 'Em Up
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976
THERE WE STOOD. Dumb-founded, we stared in stark amazement at the spectacle. It's Liverpool Stadium and the mashed wood strewn around the floor had earlier ...
Angelic Upstarts: Someone Else's Fight
Report and Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 18 August 1979
INTOLERANCE FALLS like a heavy pall over the Angelic Upstarts – only they won't lie still and let it settle. Follow them round for a ...
Veruca Salt: Saline of the Century
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 7 January 1995
Since the release of their brilliant debut single 'Seether', VERUCA SALT have become the fastest rising band on the indie scene, both here and in ...
John Mayall: Mayall's Bare Wires = a progression in attitude
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 July 1968
JOHN MAYALL has taken a great leap forward with his Bare Wires suite which takes up one side of his latest Decca album. ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 6 June 1987
Good lads and all that but are Go West any more than the sum of pop's mediocrity? David Stubbs takes a gander ...
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 10 June 1995
Radiohead's The Bends is one of the albums of the year. We already know this. We also know that Thom Yorke is the next richeykurt ...
The Rolling Stones: Mick Decides To Play It Cool
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 August 1967
"STONES CASH IN on psychedelic craze! Read all about it!" This was the dramatic headline that swam into Mick Jagger's vision as he answered newspaper ...
Marc Almond: The Astoria, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 2 January 1988
WHERE HAVE these vulpine goths acquired their taste for this Brechtian melodrama? A brush with The Collected Isherwood? ...
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 24 June 1995
NOW HERE'S what you know about Björk. She's tiny, elfin, mad as a rabbit, childish, arty, trendy and Icelandic. ...
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 4 February 1995
"THE THING IS, we won't let anyone down." ...
The Replacements: The Rebel Yell
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 16 May 1987
Describing their relationship to pop as being like 'a dirt road through an emerald city', The Replacements get Simon Reynolds all hot under the collar ...
John McLaughlin, Santana: Carlos Santana & Mahavishnu John McLaughlin: Love Devotion Surrender
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 June 1973
Jamming in the spirit of Coltrane ...
Therapy?: Penetration Terrorists
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 29 July 1995
THERAPY? ALMOST lost their minds back there, OD'ing on women and drugs. So they changed – no more cartoon punk behaviour for them. Instead, as ...
The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Red Hot Chili Peppers: The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 12 March 1988
SO THIS is where all the funk went. The Red Hot Chili Peppers have triumphed in a medium I thought you could only blunder in ...
Iron Butterfly, Yes: Yes and Iron Butterfly: Allies of Rock
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 January 1971
Chris Welch with Yes and Iron Butterfly in Holland ...
Prince, Wendy And Lisa: Wendy & Lisa: Revolt Into Style
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 15 August 1987
WENDY & LISA USED TO BE PART OF PRINCE'S REVOLUTION. NOW THEY'RE STORMING THE BARRICADES WITH A SOLO CAREER. PURPLE RAIN OR JUST A DAMP ...
Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force: Pink Elephant, Luton
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 13 October 1984
THE CABBIE, waiting in the foyer, hadn't been too impressed. Now it was different when Demis Roussos and Johnny Mathis played here. Sounded just like ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 21 January 1995
From a tiny town outside Bristol came last year's best album, the piercing, lovelorn and sexy-as-f*** Dummy by PORTISHEAD. EVERETT TRUE meets the band to ...
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 1 August 1987
Wide-eyed and reckless, Kim Wilde has discovered sex. At least, she writhes a bit on the vid of the new single. Paul Mathur talks dirty ...
Grateful Dead: The Grateful Dead: Dead on Arrival
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 May 1970
The Grateful Dead fly into Britain ...
Can: The Can: Monster Movie (United Artists)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 May 1970
THINGS ARE certainly beginning to happen in Germany. ...
Joni Mitchell: Let's Make Life More Romantic
Profile and Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 20 June 1970
JONI MITCHELL is a poet whose time has come. Because she uses the vehicle of music, her words and thoughts reach out to countless minds. ...
John Phillips: John The Wolfking of L.A. (Stateside)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 20 June 1970
INSIDE THE Mama's and the Papa's, something better was waiting to get out – and this is it. ...
Pink Floyd: Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 9 November 1974
"WELL, WE ARE here and you are here so let's get started," announced a slightly apprehensive but essentially laid back Roger Waters from the stage ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 4 July 1970
Beatlemania-type Free-fever grips Britain. CHRIS CHARLESWORTH reports from the front line ...
Wild Man Fischer: An Evening With Wild Man Fischer (Reprise)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 July 1970
Frank Zappa's "It had to be done" experiment finally released after some 18 months. Many will already have heard import copies of this two album ...
Led Zeppelin: Sounds Like Another Platinum!
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 June 1970
Chris Welch flies with Led Zeppelin as they cut their third LP... ...
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 9 November 1974
"WELL, we are here and you are here so let's get started," announced a slightly apprehensive but essentially laid back Roger Waters from the stage ...
Radiohead: Meeting People Is Easy
Film/DVD/TV Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 14 November 1998
...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 2 September 1989
WITH TWO NUMBER ONE SINGLES ALREADY UNDER HIS BELT, MARK MOORE WAS FINALLY CROWNED AS THE SVENGALI OF ACID SAMPLING WHEN PRINCE ASKED HIM TO ...
The Temptations: Psychedelic Shack (Tamla Motown)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 20 June 1970
SHAME, SHAME, shame... Motown's sold its soul for a spoonful of wah-wah guitar. Actually that's not quite true, because you can't totally obliterate the true ...
Hole, Courtney Love, Nirvana: Courtney Love: Hole in One
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 19 February 1994
Hole are, to all intents and purposes, Courtney Love. And Courtney Love is a one-woman spite factory, spewing out bile and savaging anyone who dares ...
Led Zeppelin And How They Made 37,000 Dollars In One Night
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 13 September 1969
LED ZEPPELIN and the adjective "heavy" are practically synonymous. They were made for each other, and it's difficult to think of one without immediately associating ...
Overview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 20 September 1979
If Los Angeles is the future, how come its bands all sound so backdated? MARK WILLIAMS puts the case for the defence ...
This Heat: This Heat (Piano Records)
Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 1 September 1979
THIS Heat takes you to ten movies in the space of a one-year-old album. ...
Primal Scream, Andrew Weatherall: Primal Scream: Spring Loaded
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 10 March 1990
The former darlings of indie rock may lose some deities with their new house-orientated single 'Loaded', but Primal leader Bobby Gillespie is determined to use ...
Jimi Hendrix: Band Of Gypsys (Track)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 June 1970
ANY ALBUM from Jimi is such a rare event, one can only be pleased to see his name back on the new releases' rack. Here ...
The Who: Would You Let Your Daughter Marry A Venusion?
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 May 1968
TYPICAL WHO sound blasted in stereo from a battery of speakers – screaming guitar, vocals, bass and drums. But Roger Daltrey, John Entwhistle and Keith ...
The Watersons: 'Entertainment' Isn't Enough For The Watersons
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 4 February 1967
BIGGEST bombshell to hit the folk scene since Dave Swarbrick left Ian Campbell was my news in last week's MM, that the Watersons are to ...
Bruce Foxton: Camden Palace, London
Live Review by Dave Thompson, Melody Maker, 15 September 1984
THE EIGHTEEN months since You Know Who finally called it a day have been reasonably kind to Brother Foxton. So he's not quite at ...
Fairport Convention: Full House (Island)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 July 1970
AYE, GATHER round me bully boys – once there was a time when Fairport albums were as hard to obtain as a Grope O'Shanter at ...
Ice Cube / Gravediggaz: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 10 September 1994
TRY AND tie down hip-hop with yer baggage and it always finds a way to bust loose. Never mind asking "Has Rap Gone Too Far", ...
The Monochrome Set: Snakes and Ladders
Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 2 March 1985
Martin Aston plays cards with THE MONOCHROME SET currently clambering chart-wards with 'Jacob's Ladder' ...
Grace Jones: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 7 April 1990
IT'S THE second of Grace Jones's first London shows for almost 10 years and everybody's hoping there won't be a repeat of the appallingly unprofessional ...
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 15 May 1993
BEETHOVEN WAS indeed deaf. And, Lord, upon looking at the CD panel and realising that after a full prison stretch of maudlin warbling that there ...
Spear of Destiny: World In Action
Interview by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 6 July 1984
KIRK BRANDON is experiencing a new burst of energy with SPEAR OF DESTINY. He braved the mud and bottles at Milton Keynes, he's been playing ...
Booker T & The MGs: McLemore Avenue (Stax)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 20 June 1970
NICE IDEA – they play all the tunes from Abbey Road, and imitate the sleeve of that album by picturing the four MGs crossing McLemore ...
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 11 September 1982
UNDER THE premise that the Great British Public instinctively turns its nose up at anything that's a little unexpected, or which doesn't meet its carefully ...
Kenickie: Kamikaze! Karaoke! Kenickie!
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 9 November 1996
KENICKIE may barnstorm through life like kamikaze karaoke kids, but there's sadness in their madness ...
Miles Davis: What Made Miles Davis Go Pop?
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 13 June 1970
Richard Williams talks to bassist Dave Holland in New York. ...
Big Star, Alex Chilton: Alex Chilton: Alex's Wild Years
Interview by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 2 November 1985
If anybody can really claim to be a living legend, ALEX CHILTON is the guy. From the Box Tops to Big Star to the booze, ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 May 1970
AFTER SUCH a long gap in recording from this legendary West Coast band, among the first of the new wave American groups which emerged in ...
The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 28 May 1988
AS SIMON Reynolds said last time they tripped over here, The Red Hot Chili Peppers are totally WRONG. This alone makes them great. The mix ...
The Beatles: Two Magical Mystery Tours
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 September 1967
'Ringo stood on my foot,' said one girl helpfully. 'But I don't know where they've gone!' ...
Adrian Sherwood, On-U Sound System: On-U Sound: Circus Attractions
Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 13 April 1991
This week, the On-U Sound takes its show on the road with 36 acts and five hours of murderous rhythm every night. IAN GITTINS joined ...
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 16 February 1991
THE WILD FRONTIER ...
Psychic TV: Holloway Road, London
Live Review by Julian Henry, Melody Maker, 18 August 1984
TONIGHT'S UNPUBLICISED appearance of Psychic TV at an old disused music hall off the Holloway Road was some "event". ...
Cypress Hill, Ice Cube: Cypress Hill: Do Believe The Hype
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 16 September 1995
CYPRESS HILL's self-titled debut album changed the face of hip hop. Their second, Black Sunday, was the rap crossover LP of the early Nineties. But ...
R.E.M., Radiohead: R.E.M./Radiohead: Meadows Music Theatre, Hartford, CT
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 21 October 1995
SCARY 'MONSTERS' AND SUPER 'CREEPS' ...
Sigue Sigue Sputnik: The Underworld, Croydon
Live Review by Julian Henry, Melody Maker, 17 August 1985
Space race ...
Led Zeppelin: Page on Zeppelin III
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 October 1970
Jimmy Page gives a track by track background to Zeppelin's new album. ...
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin III
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 October 1970
Zeppelin III is pure magic! Track by track review of the new album from the World's Top Group (MM Pop Poll 1970) ...
Run-DMC: Run DMC: Serious Rap Attack
Report and Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 13 September 1986
With their Raising Hell tour putting the frighteners on many a major American town and their Rapping Metal single, 'Walk This Way' scaring the pants ...
Bomb The Bass: Unknown Territory (Rhythm King)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 17 August 1991
WE NEED a new category – something like "progressive dance", or prog funk – to describe the new post-aciieed groups like 808 Slate, Bass-O-Matic and ...
Queens Of The Stone Age: We Pride Ourselves On Giving You A Night You'll Never Remember
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 29 November 2000
WE JOIN QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, ROCK'S ULTIMATE HEDONISTS, ON THE ROAD IN THE UK FOR TALES OF DRUGS, DRINK AND ONSTAGE PENIS SHRINKAGE. ...
Quintessence: Quintessence (Island)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 11 July 1970
A BRILLIANT group in many respects, Quintessence unfortunately manage to alienate many potential enthusiasts through the expression of their religious and spiritual sentiments. ...
Ry Cooder: The Name To Watch In 71...
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 19 December 1970
Jacoba Atlas talks to the States' hottest new guitarist ...
Dilated Peoples: 'Hip-Hop Culture Has Suffered. We Want To Reverse That'
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 4 October 2000
IT'S NOT JUST PUNK AND METAL THAT ARE KICKING OFF STATESIDE — SO IS HIP-HOP AS DILATED PEOPLES TELL US ...
Graham Bond: Commissar Bond Is Back In Business
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 October 1969
"WE DON'T want any of that around here," threatened an elderly lady shaking a palsied fist from one of the ancient alleys of Cambridge, as ...
Felt: Too Much Monkey Business
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 9 December 1989
THE RECENT ME AND A MONKEY ON THE MOON LP WAS FELT'S LAST SHOT, THE COMPLETION OF A 10-YEAR PLAN, THE PRE-DESTINED END OF THE ...
The Beatles: Abbey Road (Apple)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 27 September 1969
Natural Born Beatles ...
Bikini Kill, Huggy Bear: Riot Grrrl: The Riot Girls And Bender Boys Tour
Profile and Interview by Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, 20 March 1993
It really is happening! The Daily Star said so! Yup, one year after The Maker first reported on this new phenomenon, the whole world has ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 16 January 1993
FREE KITTENEXACTLY 12 MONTHS AGO, blonde terrorist Kim Gordon of avant-grungers Sonic Youth and white panther Julie Cafritz, once the glamour and guitars in Pussy ...
Comment by Mick Farren, Melody Maker, 3 October 1970
WHEN I first brought home Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry albums my parents didn't much like it. They made the mistake of thinking rock was ...
Swing Out Sister: Dog Day Afternoon
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 1 April 1989
TWO YEARS AGO THEY HAD TWO TOP 10 SINGLES AND A NUMBER 1 ALBUM. THEN THE TRIO OF SUAVE POPSTERS DISAPPEARED. CAROLINE SULLIVAN REPORTS ON ...
Dr. Dre, Eminem, N.W.A: Dr. Dre: 10 Reasons Not To Forget About Dre
Comment by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 15 November 2000
THOUGHT DR DRE HAD SLIPPED OUR MINDS, DID YA? NOPE — US MUTHAF***AS WERE JUST ACTING LIKE WE HADN'T REMEMBERED THE HIP-HOP POWERHOUSE. HERE'S WHY ...
Hot House: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 18 March 1989
THERE ARE, oh, a thousand or so people in London who know that Hot House have nothing to do with Chicago, or with Liam O'Maonlai ...
Miles Davis: Rock Is A White Man's Word, Says Miles
Report and Interview by Al Aronowitz, Melody Maker, 17 October 1970
NEW YORK — Junior Mance was working the bandstand at New York's Top of the Gate and you had to put your ear to Miles ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 14 November 1970
THIS IS presumably Buckley's last album for Elektra, being recorded (so I'm told) at the same time as Happy/Sad and before his first Straight album, ...
Britney Spears: Baby One More Time (Jive)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 6 March 1999
I WOULDN'T, actually. Jailbait. Pastels. Popsox. Mall rat. Sure, all the obvious jokes cover up the fact that this is a document of pure venality. ...
Quicksilver Messenger Service: Happy Trails (Capitol)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 26 July 1969
INTROSPECTIVE exploration of themes is the general idea on this album from one of America's top underground groups. ...
Deacon Blue: The Reluctant Tourist
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 8 April 1989
AFTER THE SUCCESS OF THEIR DEBUT ALBUM, RAINTOWN, AND A STRING OF HIT SINGLES INCLUDING THE RECENT 'WAGES DAY', RICKY ROSS AND HIS BAND LOOK ...
De La Soul: 3 Feet High And Rising (Tommy Boy/Big Life)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 18 March 1989
THE DAISY AGE ...
The Rolling Stones: Beggars Banquet (Decca)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 30 November 1968
THE STONES, like the Beatles, have the same, problems, i.e. surpassing their original inspirations. But as the Stones have always set their sights on the ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 8 April 1989
PUSH TALKS TO THE BIGGEST RAP SENSATION SINCE PUBLIC ENEMY AND DISCOVERS WHAT LIFE'S LIKE ON PLANET SCREWBALL. ...
Rita Coolidge: Now The Delta Lady Is Out On Her Own
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 1 May 1971
DURING THE Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour, Joe Cocker each night would take the microphone and announce "Here she is, our own Delta Lady, Rita ...
The Beatles: The Beatles (White Album) (Apple)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 30 November 1968
WITH OVER a million quid already in the coffers for this latest two-LP set handed down from the Liverpudlian heights, it is difficult to put ...
Chic: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 27 January 1979
Cheers for Chic ...
East of Eden: A Good Time East of Eden
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 17 October 1970
"IF I HAD a choice of playing a technically perfect set or giving people a good time," says Dave Arbus, "I'd definitely give them a ...
RZA, Wu-Tang Clan: RZA: The Digital Revolution
Interview by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 28 November 1998
One minute RZA's producing the Wu-Tang Clan, the next he's writing as his alter ego Bobby Digital, then he's off to star in the movies. ...
PJ Harvey: Is This Desire? (Island)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 26 September 1998
IT NEVER rains, it pours. The release of Is This Desire?, PJ Harvey's fifth album, comes hot on the heels of releases by such former ...
John Mayall: Blues From Laurel Canyon (Decca)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 30 November 1968
THIS IS John's least interesting album for a long time, and the reason is quite simple, and explained best in his own words on the ...
Scott Walker: I'm Going To Japan By Train
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 May 1968
IS SCOTT Walker a monster? This is his image among some of the pop fraternity. Is he a helpless innocent, buffeted by pitiless probings of ...
Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons: Gram Parsons: Parsons Knows...
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 7 April 1973
Gram Parsons, former member of the Byrds and Burritos and now the proud owner of a solo album, talks to Loraine Alterman in New York ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 30 January 1999
It's million-selling records, a 24-hour media circus and a limo in every city for HOLE, but does Courtney Love want even more success? Oh yes... ...
Blodwyn Pig: Ahead Rings Out (Island)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 26 July 1969
Impressive debut album from Blodwyn Pig ...
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 10 April 1999
20 Minute Party People ...
Interview by Lenny Kaye, Melody Maker, 9 March 1974
Part two of the Shadow Morton story by Lenny Kaye ...
Ed Rush & Optical: Quantum Drum'n'Bass
Interview by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 30 January 1999
IN CONTACT, Jodie Foster climbs into the capsule, straps herself in, and mentally prepares for the impending voyage. The aliens have kindly given Earth/the US ...
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 18 September 1971
THE AMERICAN media has been hammering into people's heads that the solo singer/guitarist/songwriter is "in" and loud, exuberant rock is "out." But, the media forgot ...
Live Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 8 September 1979
Angst in an East Lancs wasteland ...
The Move: Move's Ace Kefford: If I Hadn't Left
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 27 April 1968
ONE OF THE older clichés in pop, exercised whenever a star cracks up, is "it was too much, too soon." ...
Edgar Winter: How Winter Went Glam and Created A Frankenstein Monster
Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 30 June 1973
EDGAR WINTER, his wife and his band live in a 13-bedroom white clapboard mansion at Sands Point, overlooking Long Island Sound. 30,000 dollars a year ...
Slayer: Always Crashing In The Same Carnage
Interview by Neil Perry, Melody Maker, 9 November 1991
Are SLAYER Satanic High Priests who revel in gore or misunderstood philanthropists to a nihilistic generation? NEIL PERRY joins them in the London Dungeon and ...
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 21 September 1991
CURRENTLY THE focus of much cultish enthusiasm, Pavement exemplify all that's groovy and all that's grievous about American underground rock right now. ...
Throwing Muses: Storm Troupers
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 19 March 1988
THROWING MUSES' REBUILDING OF POP'S DARK SIDE IS WINNING THEM LOTS OF NEW FRIENDS. PAUL MATHUR AMBLED ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO TALK TO SINGER KRISTIN ...
The Rolling Stones: Oh, What? Own Up! Just Groove!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 September 1968
MICK JAGGER, vintage 1968. ...
Alex Taylor, James Taylor: James and Alex Taylor: And He Played Real Good For Free
Report by Al Aronowitz, Melody Maker, 10 April 1971
CHILMARK, MASSACHUSETTS.The Island Children's School gave its first annual benefit concert here last January 12 and if you've read The Vineyard Gazette then you know ...
Diamanda Galás: The Demon Diva
Interview by Mark Sinker, Melody Maker, 7 January 1989
As the AIDS epidemic spreads and all pop can do is turn a blind eye, Diamanda Galas is the only singer left to stand and ...
Elton John: "It's Not All Down To Elton..."
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 January 1975
...he's just part of a band'. And that's the way Elton John's always wanted it, drummer Nigel Olsson tells CHRIS WELCH, in a rare behind-the-scenes ...
Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Wild Man Fischer: Frank Zappa: Listen With Mothers
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 July 1970
FRANK ZAPPA has emerged as one of the most interesting, lucid, energetic, entertaining and creative figures in contemporary music. He has frequently complained of being ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 May 1979
ONE OF Alfred Hitchcock's most memorable finales comes at the end of Strangers On A Train, when a huge carousel goes into overdrive and runs ...
Morrissey: Civic Centre, Wolverhampton
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 7 January 1989
MORRISSEY COMES to the Midlands to play eight songs, two of which receive their first airing tonight, and only 1,700 followers adorned with the Stephen ...
Scarlet Fantastic: Phantasmagoria
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 January 1988
ARE SCARLET FANTASTIC LEADERS OF THE NEW GLAM MOVEMENT OR MERELY HIPPIES DRESSED IN SATIN AND SEQUINS? CAROLINE SULLIVAN SEPARATES THE MAGIC FROM THE MANIFESTO. ...
David Cassidy, Mick Ronson: David Cassidy & Mick Ronson: Cassidy Lights Up With Ronson
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 23 October 1976
DAVID CASSIDY is to form a band with Mick Ronson, the British guitarist whose services as a freelance player are much in demand these days. ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 6 February 1988
AND IT SEEMS like they never went away. The Pere Ubu revival has burst through like mushrooms in your airing cupboard, and somehow, this re-release, ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 21 January 1989
THEIR HARD ROCK LP, NOTHING'S SHOCKING, CONVERTED MANY TO THEIR CAUSE. THEIR OUTLANDISH APPEARANCE IS ATTRACTING COMMENT WHEREVER THEY GO. THEY'RE DUE HERE FOR A ...
Big Country: Talk About The Passion
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 21 January 1989
Big Country are on tour again, playing to more people in bigger places, taking Peace In Our Time to the masses. Ian Gittins catches up ...
Stewart Copeland: The Rhythmatist
Review by Dave Thompson, Melody Maker, 1 June 1985
COME ON, Stewart! Personal expression is all very well, and we all know that, beneath those candy floss classics you make with the rest of ...
Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin: Robert Plant: The Song Remains The Same
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 30 January 1988
Over the past three years Led Zeppelin have been used and abused by everyone from The Cult to the Beastie Boys. On the eve of ...
Procol Harum "At An All-Time Low", says Organist Fisher
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 January 1968
"I THINK the group position is at an all-time low. People are saying: 'Okay, they've had two hits. Now what else can they do?' " ...
Jethro Tull: Can 72,000 Fans Be Wrong?
Report by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 4 August 1973
I DON'T KNOW how it is in England, but in this country the minute you get too big, too powerful, people start gunning for you. ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 12 March 1988
LOOPHOLES AND repression being what they are, an Alabama county recently admitted that according to local legal dictates, it was illegal for any baby in ...
Bobby Keys, The Rolling Stones: The Rolling Stones: Bobby Keys
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 May 1971
"IT'S BOBBY Keys, the greatest saxophone player in the world," said Mick Jagger. And Bobby smiled modestly towards me. ...
Traffic: Stevie's Back On The Beer Again
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 January 1968
ALL IS not lost! Stevie Winwood is drinking beer again! It is pleasing to report the Traffic boss was observed entering a London ale house ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
IT'S EASY to acknowledge it in retrospect, but Badfinger were a great band who suffered the classically clichéd fate of being criminally ignored in Britain. ...
Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians: The Marquee, London
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 4 February 1989
THE MESSY BEAT Angels were well and truly bushed after a week of post-Dali wassailing, but the sight of Edie Brickell's band was as startling ...
Nasty Rox, Inc., Pop Will Eat Itself: Pop Will Eat Itself/Nasty Rox Inc: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 11 February 1989
NASTY ROX INC look like slobs but have a beat which cuts it. Their rock/hip hop amalgam makes all the right moves, yet never manages ...
Ginger Baker's Airforce: Scramble Here Comes Ginger's Airforce
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 January 1970
"SCRAMBLE!" Ginger Baker, Marshall of the Airforce, rapped out his orders with the cool aplomb of a man in charge of a powerful attacking force, ...
Leo Sayer: One Man Band No Longer
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975
WHEN LITTLE Leo Sayer does his Michael Crawford impersonation and becomes disaster prone Frank, protective instincts are aroused, and folk cluster around to prevent him ...
Jethro Tull: Too Old To Rock And Roll, Too Young To Die
Film/DVD/TV Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976
Dull Tull's big mistake ...
Tom Robinson Band: The Tom Robinson Band: TRB Two (EMI)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979
Just Easing The Liberal Guilt ...
Manfred Mann: Manfred Still Has That Chart Touch
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 27 January 1968
BOB DYLAN and Manfred Mann have never met. Yet there is a bond between them. Manfred gets hits with Dylan songs, and the songwriter approves ...
The Small Faces: Small Faces: Is All Still Well With The Faces?
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 January 1968
"MAC LEAVING? No — of course not!" groaned Stevie Marriott and Ronnie Lane in unison. ...
Report and Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979
IAN GOMM is short, not quite stout, and has had his straw-coloured hair fashioned a la mod from the first time it was fashionable. His ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
THIS MUST MEAN something. Driving home last week-end, I flicked on the radio, to the Alan Freeman Show, and was greeted by a piece of ...
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 26 May 1979
Steve Cropper/Pop Staples/Albert King: Jammed Together (Stax 3009) Booker T & The MGs: Time Is Tight — The Best Of… (Stax STX 3007) The Emotions: ...
Genesis: Wind And Wuthering (Charisma)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 December 1976
Phil Collins (voices, drums, percussion), Steve Hackett (electric guitars, nylon classical 12-string, Kalimba, auto-harp), Mike Rutherford (basses, electric and acoustic guitars, bass pedals), Tony Banks ...
Leo Sayer: Endless Flight (Chrysalis)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
Leo Sayer (vocals, harmonica). Ed Greene, Steve Gadd, Rick Shlosser, Jeff Porcaro, Nigel Olsson (drums), Andy Muson, Bill Bodine, Willie Weeks, Bob Glaub, Lee Sklar, ...
Rory Gallagher: Music For Belfast: Rory Gallagher
Report and Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 8 January 1972
BELFAST GOT A rock'n'roll concert on New Year's Day in the City's notorious Ulster Hall. Heading the bill was Rory Gallagher. It was the first ...
David Bowie: Cha...Cha...Cha...Changes — A Journey with Aladdin
Report and Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 12 May 1973
CHARING CROSS STATION, London, 9.10 pm: And when he arrived they screamed and they cried, and they rushed, and gushed forth and beat their feverish ...
Leonard Cohen: Cohen, Cohen, Gone: Leonard Cohen
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 24 February 1973
"LET'S sing a song, boys. . . . This one has grown old and bitter"– fragment from Songs of Love and Hate ...
Bjorn Again: Tribute Bands: Send In The Clones
Report by Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, 29 August 1992
What the hell's going on? BJORN AGAIN are on at Reading, ABBA are more popular than they have been for years and tribute bands devoted ...
Soundgarden: Horticulture-Shock
Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 6 June 1992
Soundgarden provide proof positive that you can be a successful metal band without being sexist and racist dickheads. Seattle's finest have already conquered the US ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976
After deserting their homeland to live in the States, they're back — but they've not been forgotten… ...
Report and Interview by Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
To get on L7's shitlist, all you have to do is be a member of the Moral Majority or dis women. To get off the ...
Report and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 23 October 1999
IT'S A SPARKLY autumnal London morning. In a back road off Oxford Street, a band are huddled in a radio production company recording an interview ...
John Lydon: Psychobabble: John Lydon
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, June 2000
NOTE: When the Filth and the Fury film was released in 2000, Lydon agreed to do three press interviews, of which Melody Maker, for some ...
Matthews' Southern Comfort: Second Spring (UNI)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 July 1970
IAN MATTHEWS' band, slightly changed, steam into their second album, as refreshing and attractive as their first. ...
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 13 June 1992
THEY'RE ALL elbows and angst, are Radiohead. They want to gouge their mark so deep into us yet don't truly know How To Do It. ...
King Crimson: Zoom Club, Frankfurt
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 24 April 1971
AFTER MORE than a year off the road, King Crimson slid quietly back into public performance last week with a hush-hush four-day stint in Germany. ...
Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 16 July 1977
SANDY DENNY looked radiant. Yes, one is always supposed to say that about ladies when they're pregnant, but in this case it was true. She ...
Neil Sedaka: Sedaka's Rocket to the States
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976
NEIL SEDAKA does not look like a wealthy entertainer, not even when he's surrounded by the splendour of his rented luxury apartment above Fifth Avenue ...
All Saints: Post Spice Hip-Hop
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 23 August 1997
THERE ARE certain things in life you can be sure of. Rain on Bank Holidays, never having enough money, Alan Shearer getting injured when it ...
Burt Bacharach: Bacharach to the Future
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 21 October 1995
As grey-haired, 67-year-old composers go, Burt Bacharach is pretty f***ing cool. Paul Lester interviews the melodic inspiration behind Oasis, Stereolab and Pulp. ...
James Brown: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 20 March 1971
The clockwork king of soul? ...
Van Der Graaf Generator: Melody Maker Band Breakdown: Van der Graaf Generator
Report and Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 1 May 1971
If it's Thursday, it must be Ormskirk. ...
Catatonia: New Adventures In Sci-Fi
Profile and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 24 January 1998
CATATONIA's last single was about "mobs" — no it's sci-fi doodlings! We hotfoot it to Wales and ask them what the hell's going on ...
Allman Brothers Band: Idlewild South (Atco)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971
A HAPPY and clean sound kicked off with the unison guitars of Duane Allman and Dicky Betts on 'Revival'. ...
Bill Graham: The Man The US Kids Love To Hate
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 14 November 1970
BREAKFAST at London's Savoy Hotel with Bill Graham. The man, who has the high cheekbones and thick mouth of an American Indian, and the thundering ...
Climax Blues Band: Climax Chicago Blues Band: A Lot of Bottle (Harvest)
Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 19 December 1970
THERE LIES on this album one of the most exciting, imaginative guitar solos I've heard for a long time from Pete Haycock on 'Seventh Son', ...
Juicy Lucy: Lie Back and Enjoy It (Vertigo)
Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 17 October 1970
JUICY LUCY have come a long way from 'Who Do You Love' and young ladies smothered in fruit. ...
The Stooges: Fun House (Elektra).
Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 26 December 1970
NEXT TO GRAND Funk Railroad, this is the worst album I've heard this year. In truth it's a muddy load of sluggish, unimaginative rubbish heavily ...
Alan Price, Georgie Fame: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 December 1970
An evening of Pricey nostalgia ...
Ben Folds Five: The Wax Inspectors!
Report by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 20 July 1997
Jeez, the things you find out when you take an American band — BEN FOLDS FIVE — to a London tourist attraction — Madame Tussaud's ...
Stereophonics, Tom Jones: Tom Jones and the Stereophonics
Profile and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 1 March 1999
LOOKING OUT across the affluent Silverlake area of Los Angeles stretching out below us, this is not your usual house. Perched high on a hilltop, ...
Black Sabbath: Paranoia — As The Fans Go Wild For Sabbath
Report by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 31 October 1970
Mark Plummer on a one night stand with the 'Paranoid' hitmakers ...
The Dixie Flyers, Rita Coolidge: The Dixie Flyers
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 15 May 1971
THEY'VE BEEN called the best rhythm section in the States — don't ask me who called them that, but I figure the guy who did ...
Allman Brothers Band: The Allman Brothers Band: Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East (Atlantic)
Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 18 September 1971
QUESTION: GIVEN 76 minutes 26 seconds of the day to do sweet flaming all, what would you do (a) attend one and a bit funerals ...
Deep Purple, Keef Hartley, Keith Moon: Various, Drum Bash: Bumpers Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 March 1971
DEAFENING fun! That was the all-star drum conversation held at London's Bumpers Club last week. ...
Profile and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 17 October 1998
THROUGH THE idle pre-gig chit-chat, four lads wend their way from the rear of the venue towards the stage. As the singer politely picks his ...
Dr. Feelgood: 1975 Orange Festival, France
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 23 August 1975
ON PAPER, Saturday evening looked to be the least attractive evening of the festival but it was, in fact, a triumph for Dr Feelgood, who ...
Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Fillmore East, New York NY
Live Review by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 13 June 1970
Flowerpower returns to the Fillmore ...
Shuggie Otis: Here Comes Shuggie Otis (CBS)
Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 16 May 1970
IF SHUGGIE Otis is this good midway through his teens, what's he going to mature into? ...
Stone The Crows: Maggie Rings The Bell
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 24 October 1970
Roy Hollingworth talks to the girl with the hottest new voice in rock... ...
Retrospective and Interview by Jack Barron, Melody Maker, 13 March 1999
It was the scene that produced some of the best bands the world had ever seen. Now, with the Happy Mondays reforming end The Stone ...
Interview by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 20 June 1970
CROSBY, STILLS, NASH and YOUNG finished their week-long, triumphant stint at the New York Fillmore and were joined for a huge celebration party at the ...
Derek & The Dominos: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (Polydor)
Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 12 December 1970
Beauty and boredom from Eric ...
Guns N' Roses: Guns N'Roses: Knockin' On Britain's Door
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 30 May 1992
As GUNS N'ROSES' gigantic European tour kicks in and their single, 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door' storms the Number One slot, the most talked-about band in ...
Embrace: Psychobabble: Embrace
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 27 October 1999
One wants to be microwaved, the other's ready to shoot a cow. Get on the couch, EMBRACE fellas! ...
Gomez: Barrowlands, Glasgow ****
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 27 October 1999
IT ALWAYS happens like this. You send your wee boys off to college, or indeed to war, and they come back big, strapping men. Yeah, ...
Sheila E.: Sheila E: Romance 1600 (Paisley Park/WB)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 7 September 1985
Fun and games ...
David Bowie: Oh, You Pretty Thing: David Bowie
Profile and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 22 January 1972
DAVID BOWIE, rock's swishiest outrage; a self-confessed lover of effeminate clothes, Bowie, who has hardly performed in public since his 'Space Oddity' hit of three ...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 27 March 1971
STORIES ABOUT Syd Barrett are legion. That he became overbearingly egotistical, impossible to work with. That he was thrown out of The Pink Floyd. That ...
Eric Burdon, War: War: Carrying A Heavy Burdon For Peace
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 3 October 1970
EIGHTEEN MONTHS ago in Los Angeles, Eric Burdon, six coloured guys, and a Danish harp player declared war on everything detrimental to mankind, except flesh ...
Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa: The Beefheart-Zappa Talk-in
Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 8 November 1969
Frank Zappa breezed into London last week in an orange tee-shirt. His aim was to launch the British end of his record label, Straight, who ...
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 24 November 1999
Skate-punkers BLINK 182 come clean on snot, boobies and why they're not the bad boys of rock ...
The Deviants: Disposable (Stable)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 30 November 1968
ONE IS with the Deviants in spirit and one applauds the efforts of Mick Farren and Steve Sparkes who produced this second "underground" album, but ...
Gilbert O'Sullivan: Working Class Hero: Gilbert O'Sullivan
Profile and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 9 October 1971
WHOEVER WOULD have thought it? Gordon Mills, manager of Tom and Engel, those popular, polished professionals, taking a shine to an odd young Irishman whose ...
John Lydon, The Sex Pistols: Johnny Rotten on the Sex Pistols' 20 Wildest Moments
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, June 2000
With The Filth & The Fury coming your way, John Lydon AKA Johnny Rotten, recalls how the Sex Pistols became the most exciting band ever ...
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979
THE CONCEPT of Joni Mitchell singing Charles Mingus, the late and very great jazzman, is eccentric but not illogical. For her it is the culmination ...
The Edgar Broughton Band: Edgar Broughton: Meet Edgar The Agitator
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 January 1970
BOUNCERS ARE one of the bad old traditions of pop music, with roots reaching back through the 'Rock Around the Clock' riots to the Sinatra ...
Richie Havens: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 31 January 1970
CHARISMA: a rare kind of animal magnetism, frequently wrongly attributed to popular artists who don't possess it. ...
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 14 January 1989
Late last year, Chris Roberts stumbled upon the Sundays playing a support gig in one of London's many watering holes. Stunned by their brilliance, he ...
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup: The Angel, Godalming
Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 28 February 1970
ARTHUR "BIG BOY" CRUDUP finally made it to the Angel, Godalming, on Sunday, where he was due to appear on the opening night of his ...
Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 19 June 1999
"Psychoanalyse me, baby, one more time," she asked, and so it was that Britney Spears ended up on the Psychobabble couch ...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 September 1973
ALL IN ALL, it's been a funny sort of year for Sandy Denny. She hadn't performed in this country before last Christmas though she's worked ...
Review by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 19 October 1996
The first Baby Bird-as-a-band album is hideously lovely... ...
The Faces: New Faces In The Old Band
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 February 1970
A SOUND not unlike a braying mountain goat echoed across the West End of London this week. The Faces — no longer Small — were ...
Eric Clapton, Howlin' Wolf: Howlin' Wolf: Wolf Gathers His Flock In London
Report and Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 16 May 1970
WHEN THE early 1960s gave birth to the R&B boom in Britain, it was artists like Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters ...
Lou Reed, The Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Lou Reed Joins Pistols Furore
Report and Interview by uncredited writer, Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 26 March 1977
LOU REED claims he has been banned from the London Palladium because of the continuing controversy surrounding the Sex Pistols and punk rock. ...
Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 19 March 1977
The Clash: there's a riot goin' on... ...
Merle Haggard: The Fightin' Side Of Me (Capitol)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 17 October 1970
MERLE HAGGARD is a tough ol' boy. While Johnny Cash broods about it, you have the feeling that Haggard might just get it done. ...
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 10 January 1998
Idlewild, Edinburgh's best kept secret, will floor you with their brain rushing brand of noise pollution ...
David Bowie: From Brixton To Berlin
Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, February 1978
Michael Watts reports from the German film set where David Bowie is making Just A Gigolo ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 21 January 1989
"I HAVE two heads." Kristin Hersh starts Hunkpapa with these words. ...
New Model Army: Happy Families
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 11 February 1989
On the eve of their British tour, and with 'Stupid Questions' their highest-ever chart entry, New Model Army take time out in Strasbourg to explain ...
Harry Chapin: Short Stories (Elektra)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 9 February 1974
BY NOW IT should be deemed a case of criminal neglect that Harry Chapin's 'W.O.L.D.' is not in the top ten or even higher, because ...
Taste Split: Background To A Bust Up — How Taste Went Sour
Report and Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 17 October 1970
Exclusive report from Ireland on the break-up of a mighty successful band by Roy Hollingworth ...
Noel Redding: Redding, Willing And Able
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 20 May 1972
NOEL Redding looks a bit shell-shocked these days. ...
Meredith Brooks: Claws-out Bitchin' Pop
Profile and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 9 August 1997
MEREDITH BROOKS talks a lot. She lives in LA. She doesn't do sugar, cigarettes, alcohol or drugs. ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 31 January 1970
IT'S FUNNY, isn't it: this time last year Nico arrived in London, played two quiet gigs at the Roundhouse, and a bare handful of people ...
Massive Attack: Overland Attack
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 21 January 1995
Massive Attack made one of the great albums of the Nineties with Blue Lines. It took them three years to make the equally captivating Protection, ...
Morrissey: Empress Ballroom, Blackpool
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 18 February 1995
The Boxer Beat ...
Tony Joe White: This Here, Y'all, Is Tony Joe
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 5 September 1970
PEOPLE OFTEN ask what it's like to interview pop stars. Well like most things in life, there are the good times, and the bad times, ...
Report by Mark Plummer, Michael Watts, Chris Welch, Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 5 September 1970
MM's Richard Williams, Chris Welch, Michael Watts and Mark Plummer present a five-page report on an amazing weekend of music and other scenes... ...
10cc, Donna Summer, Jane Birkin, Max Romeo, Serge Gainsbourg: Banned — Why?: What Turns Censors On…
Report by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976
It's Donna Summer at the moment, but the Beatles, Stones even Lena Horne have all run into radio censorship. So this week, MM examines that ...
Bread: Central London Polytechnic, London
Live Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 19 September 1970
IT WOULD be totally unfair to deal harsh criticism on Bread's ludicrous first ever British appearance, at the Central London Polytechnic, on Friday night. Ludicrous, yes ...
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 14 December 1996
REIN STORM ...
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 14 November 1992
Their brilliant abstract guitar pop has lit up the year like a beacon of unpredictable genius and their new 'Watery, Domestic' single is another glorious ...
Carole King, Danny Kortchmar, The Fugs, James Taylor, Jo Mama: Danny Kootch: Danny Boy
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 24 July 1971
YOU GET this sweaty little record company office and you're issued with the regulation afternoon tea or coffee. Danny Kootch looks suitably bloated by both ...
Inner City, Kevin Saunderson: Inner City
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 20 June 1992
"DETROIT IS in a bad way. Recession, depression, whatever you wanna call it. There's a lot of crime, a lot of people out of jobs. ...
Oasis: Sheffield Arena, Sheffield
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 6 May 1995
JESUS pigf***ing c***bubble Christ on a three-way tandem, this is a great moment in life. ...
The Rolling Stones: The Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 20 March 1971
THE ROLLING STONES Circus came to town last Sunday, maybe for the last time. At least for their own sakes it should be. The fire ...
John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John and Yoko: A Press Conference at Apple
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 2 October 1971
THERE'S A GLINT of spectacles. Gathering recognition as the sandy hair, short and unfamiliar registers. Take in the smart grey trousers and the conventional shirt. ...
British Electric Foundation, Scritti Politti: Green Gartside and B.E.F.
Report and Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 5 October 1991
BEF (THE PART-TIME preoccupation of former Heaven 17 bods second Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh) have just released a Music Of Quality and Distinction ...
Manfred Mann's Earth Band: The Roaring Silence
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 October 1976
THERE COMES a point in a band's career when the jig is up, and unless all the pieces fit the puzzle, success will scatter to ...
Climax Blues Band: Gold Plated
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
IT IS AN extraordinary fact that even the most diligent rock researcher can develop a blind spot. They get quite paranoiac about it. ...
The Who: The Story Of The Who (Polydor)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 October 1976
Roger Daltrey (vocals), John Entwistle (bass, brass, vocals), Keith Moon (drums, percussion), Pete Townshend (guitars, keyboards, vocals). Various tracks produced by Kit Lambert Chris Stamp, Peter Kamerson, Glyn Johns and The Who, from 1966-75. ...
Simple Minds: Barrowland, Glasgow
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 2 January 1988
IMAGINE Rangers and Celtic combined, against Leyton Orient, for charity, in a hall the size of the Electric Ballroom. That's the sort of boiling partisan ...
Mick Ronson, Sandy Dillon: Sandy Dillon And Mick Ronson: Ronnie Scotts, London
Live Review by Dave Thompson, Melody Maker, 17 August 1985
FIRST some background. ...
Alice Cooper: Spectrum, Philadelphia
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 17 March 1973
THE ROCK WORLD today mourns the death of Alice Cooper, who was accidently killed last night when the safety screws failed on the guillotine he ...
Simon Dupree and the Big Sound: Simon Dupree Doesn't Want To Be A One Hit Wonder
Report and Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 27 January 1968
"THE MAIN THING is to get the next record off the ground," said Simon Dupree. "We've got to make sure we aren't one-hit wonders. ...
Tamla Motown: Munch, Munch, Munch
Comment by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 February 1969
Chris Welch discovers what it's like to eat his own words… ...
Cardiacs: The Cardiacs: The Marquee, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 7 February 1987
TIM SMITH dribbles over his guitar and gesticulates with one or two fingers. ...
Pete Townshend, The Who: Pete Townshend: Picking Up The Pieces
Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 14 October 1978
"ROGER AND I have really got to get together and thrash out... not a compromise, but what is really gonna work. And if we can't ...
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 25 February 1995
America Beckons ...
Leonard Cohen: Songs Of Love And Hate
Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 2 January 1971
LEONARD COHEN in a deeper emotional trough than he's ever been in, more hypnotic, more melancholic than ever, and without doubt the least musical stuff ...
The Nice: Will Nice Get Lost Among The Commuters?
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 March 1969
WILL BRITAIN'S heaviest group, the Nice, conquer America? After the Cream and Jimi Hendrix, the Nice must be our most spectacular band and well in ...
Kenickie: 'We Think We're Bulletproof!'
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 1996
...and KENICKIE may well be right. The coolest, funniest, sharpest, rockingest all-girl-and-boy band in Britain to The Maker out for a night on the tiles and left ...
The James Gang: Home James: The James Gang
Report and Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 14 August 1971
IT'S USUAL procedure to interview Americans as they come into the country – not as they're going out. ...
John Phillips, The Mamas and The Papas: John Phillips: At The Bitter End
Report and Interview by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 12 September 1970
IN THE mid-60s, when lots of weird and strange sounds were filtering across from California and the West Coast of America, one very hip vocal ...
Frank Zappa: The Mothers Are Dead, But Zappa's Still Very Much Alive
Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 October 1969
THE MOTHERS are dead. Killed by a public apathy towards a style of music which the rest of the world will catch up with maybe ...
Boomtown Rats: Dominion Theatre, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 March 1985
IT'S INTERESTING to speculate how responsible Geldof's recent visibility is for landing the Rats two sold-out nights at this 2,000-seater. ...
Manfred Mann: Mighty Mike Of The Manfreds
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 February 1968
MEETING MICHAEL D'ABO is to slip back through the years to a long since shattered age of grace and reason. ...
LL Cool J: LL Cool J: 14 Shots To The Dome (Def Jam)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 17 April 1993
THE CAREER of LL Cool J, which began almost 10 years ago with the first Def Jam release, has been a helter skelter of ups ...
Jamiroquai: Hat's Entertainment!
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 20 March 1993
Jamiroquai are Jay Kay, basically, a serious 22-year-old west Londoner with serious political ideas, a serious love of funk and a seriously funky voice. PUSH ...
Pink Floyd: Empire Pool, London
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 March 1977
GLC fuck-ups at Empire Pool ...
Guns N' Roses: The Rocky Horror Show
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 3 September 1988
When Guns N' Roses were interviewed just before they performed at Castle Donington last week, guitarist Slash said, "The kids need to have that one ...
The Byrds: Byrd Watching (part 1)
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 8 May 1971
Roger McGuinn: into the mystic ...
The Byrds, The Kentucky Colonels: The Byrds: Byrd Watching (part 2)
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 8 May 1971
THE COUNTRY consonants of Clarence White's guitar have fooled a lot of people — me included — into thinking that the man must have come ...
The Byrds: Colston Hall, Bristol
Live Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 8 May 1971
A PINCH of snuff, the eucalyptus stabs the eye. McGuinn fastens the tin and slips it into his suit pocket. The rest of the guy's ...
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 1996
"FRIED." "Deep-fried." "Crispy." "Lo-fi." "Super lo-fi." ...
Sly & The Family Stone: 'Everyday People' (Direction)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 January 1969
IT WAS A pity their first British visit was such a mess up, for Sly and Co seem like a most unusual and interesting group, ...
Faith No More: King For A Day… Fool For A Lifetime (Slash)
Review by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 11 March 1995
Faith No More apparently expect us to take their funk-metal Queen-isms seriously. Not CAITLIN MORAN. When the shit hits the fan, they just make her ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 5 August 1989
Just when you thought Public Enemy had pushed as far as it could go, just when you thought rap outrage had peaked, along come N.W.A. ...
Amon Düül: Amon For All Seasons
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 12 December 1970
IN THE BEGINNING there was Amon Duul, and A.D. was a musical community of about a dozen people of varied musical backgrounds. Gradually, some of ...
Bob Mould, Sugar: Sugar: Big Rock Candy Mountain
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 8 August 1992
Sugar are Bob Mould's New Band. Bob Mould used to be in Husker Du. Without Husker Du, maybe Nirvana would never have happened. Andrew Mueller ...
Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 9 October 1971
All we need is Lennon ...
Leftfield: On Your Marks, Get Set, Gauche: Leftfield: Leftism
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 21 January 1995
Who the f*** are LEFTFIELD? Giant pandas of techno positivism, faceless bores who had a hit with Johnny Rotten, or VR sex pervs? Don't bother ...
Profile and Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 1996
BEYOND BEDLAM strikes me as a good place to start. We are not dealing with half-assed melancholia here. Nor are we dealing with the chaos ...
Alan Price, Georgie Fame: Price and Fame: The Name Game
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 10 April 1971
THERE I WAS sitting interviewing Messrs Fame and Price — or should it be Price and Fame — when this lady walks into the room. ...
The Pasadena Roof Orchestra: Pasadena Roof Orchestra — Live
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 March 1976
ONE OF MY happiest nights in years was spent in a dark, sweltering and cramped club in Hamburg towards the end of 1975. It was ...
Alan Parsons: The Alan Parsons Project: Tales Of Mystery And Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976
FOR THREE weeks I've played this album almost constantly and probably the greatest compliment I can pay it is that it has lost little of ...
The Bellamy Brothers: Bellamy Brothers: Flowing Bellamys
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 5 June 1976
A CHANCE encounter with Larry Williams, one of Neil Diamond's roadies, during a studio session with Diamond's rhythm section led to the Bellamy Brothers recording ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976
JON HISEMAN produced this album for Ian Carr, and between them they have certainly got the bite and attack of the current Nucleus without losing ...
Geoff Bradford: Jeff Bradford: Bradford Boogies Again
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 December 1975
ROCK MUSIC has taken its toll both of lives and careers, the victims either unable or unwilling to cope with the demands and temptations of ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976
GENESIS ARE an enigma, an unknown quantity to the rock business and public at large, mainly because they are among the last of that old ...
Shirley Bassey: The Soul Of Showbiz
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 18 September 1971
EVEN BEFORE she stuck out her bottom and waggled it provocatively at the crucial moments on 'Big Spender', yes, even before she and Eartha Kitt ...
Profile and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 2 December 1989
"THIS IS TOTALLY weird," says drummer Brendan Canty, pointing to a photograph of himself that appeared in Melody Maker the last time Washington DC's Fugazi ...
Live Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 25 July 1970
Good music, bad vibes at free Hyde Park ...
Wishbone Ash: Lucky Breaks For Wishbone
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 13 Fall 1971
JOHN PEEL: "I heard Wishbone Ash for the first time, and haven't been so impressed with a relatively new band for a long time. Their ...
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 18 September 1993
Curve's new album, Cuckoo is a blood-curdling riot of pain and paranoia. So, it would seem, are Curve's lives. As CAITLIN MORAN finds out when ...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 24 April 1971
In the three years since he first won the Top DJ title in the MM Poll, John Peel has been mocked and worshipped. Today he wipes the ...
The Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers (Kinney)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 24 April 1971
Bands come and go – but the Stones keep rollin' on ...
µ-ziq, Orbital: Orbital, µ-ziq: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 25 May 1996
Well-Rounded ...
808 State: Castlefield Amphitheatre, Manchester
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 6 July 1996
IS THIS THE way the future's really meant to feel? Or just 20,000 mutants standing in a cobbled amphitheatre? Either there's an extremely mad scientist ...
Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 30 March 1996
So Jarvis Cocker is innocent. But that doesn't mean he's got off the hook — we still want a word or two with Michael Jackson's ...
Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 2 October 1971
WELL, AS you may have guessed, a lot of us have fallen in love with this little band, and there are a load of reasons ...
Review by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, 22 November 1997
IT SEEMS LIKE Soundgarden's rich and fruitful career falls into two distinctive camps, reflected quite clearly on this, their first post-split release. ...
Thrashing Doves: The Marquee, London
Live Review by Julian Henry, Melody Maker, 8 March 1986
"DOES ANYONE here remember Biba's Basement in High Street, Kensington?" asks the singer of The Thrashing Doves towards the end of their set. God, despite ...
Pulp: Lower Refectory, Sheffield University, Yorkshire
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 19 December 1992
IT HASN'T BEEN a great year for the pop iconoclast. For most of '92, prime movers from Ashcroft to Robinson have defined themselves by the ...
Mazzy Star: Ghost Riders in the Sky
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 9 June 1990
HAUNTING, SENSUAL AND DESOLATE, MAZZY STAR'S SHE HANGS BRIGHTLY IS ALREADY A STRONG CONTENDER FOR ALBUM OF THE YEAR. EVERETT TRUE TALKS TO ITS AUTHORS, DAVID ROBACK ...
Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons: Gram Parsons, The Burrito Ego Man
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 25 July 1970
LOS ANGELES, Tuesday: Gram Parsons, founder of the Flying Burrito Brothers, was a Byrd, a southerner and a Harvard College Drop-out. With the formation of ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 9 May 1970
HAS LIBERACE been out-freaked by the hippies? In a word — scarcely. Anti-establishment, anti-materialist acid rock audiences could conceivably view him with distaste — a ...
The Chimes: Ringing In The Changes
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 26 May 1990
WITH THE TOP 10 SUCCESS OF THEIR COVER OF U2'S 'I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR', THE CHIMES LOOK SET TO JOIN SOUL ...
Ice Cube: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (Profile US import CD)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 2 June 1990
GANG BUSTER ...
The Jesus & Mary Chain: Water Rat, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 28 March 1998
THERE HAVE always been four steadfast rules regarding the Jesus And Mary Chain live experience. They don't talk, they never smile, they'd rather die than ...
Yoko Ono: Yoko's A No-No: Yoko Ono: Kenny's Castaways, New York
Live Review by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 3 November 1973
NEW YORK: I still haven't figured out what is "inside" everyone that makes them not only want to sing, but to so firmly believe they ...
Lee "Scratch" Perry: Lee 'Scratch' Perry: The 30 Year Itch
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 3 October 1987
"I AM the first black Jew you've ever seen," he says. Later he declares, "I am Hitler! I rule the swastika!" ...
Report by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 5 July 1997
So, you are back home again, tucked up in bed, bad dose of the snivels. Your shoes are f***ed, your bones a bit soggy. Well, ...
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas: No Place Like England Says Martha
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971
"I WANT you to tell everybody what a beautiful audience we had tonight. We haven't been over here in four years. We're professional but I ...
Ike & Tina Turner: What You Hear is What You Get (United Artists)
Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 18 September 1971
Torrid Tina ...
Vanilla Ice: To The Extreme (SBK Records)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 15 December 1990
UNTIL he hit number one with 'Ice Ice Baby', Vanilla Ice's major claims to fame were going to school with 2 Live Crew and looking ...
Manic Street Preachers: Richey Edwards: Vanishing Point
Report by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 31 January 1998
It's now three years since Richey James disappeared — and he's still "The Most Sadly Missed" in The Maker Polls. We trace his early, confused ...
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 23 September 1972
The story of Elektra, one of rock's most influential labels. As told to Loraine Alterman by founder JAC HOLZMAN ...
Report and Interview by Push, Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 18 August 1990
A couple of years ago, the success of DJ-based groups such as M/A/R/R/S, Coldcut, S'Express and Bomb The Bass heralded a new musical era. Now, ...
Paul McCartney, Wings: Paul McCartney: The Yellow Perils Of Paulie
Report by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 26 January 1980
The Nips nabbed Big Macca last week as he allegedly lugged half-a-pound of marijuana through the Japanese customs. Is the naughty 'former Beatle' set for ...
Joy Division: Closer (Factory Records FACT XXV)
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 26 July 1980
FROM THE beginning we were always dealing with something special. Joy Division, by the very nature of their set up, could never have been just ...
David Bowie: 'Space Oddity' (Philips)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 July 1969
DAVID IS A talented young man who has written many fine songs and now concentrates on mime shows. ...
Curve: The Bend Of The World As We Know It
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 14 March 1992
Their single 'Faît Accompli' is storming the Top 20, their debut album's waiting to make a bigger splash and even John Lydon likes them. Is ...
Supergrass: More Cock Than Doodle-Do
Interview by David Bennun, Everett True, Melody Maker, 11 February 1995
Oxford's SUPERGRASS put the POP! into apoplexy and inject hyper-charged glam into the Nineties Brit guitar thrill. Plus! Their second single — and first hit ...
Stone the Crows: Greens Playhouse, Glasgow
Live Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 23 September 1972
Crows — home is where the heart is ...
Walter/Wendy Carlos: The Walter Carlos Sonic Boom
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 23 September 1972
"There's music in the sighing of a reed; There's music in the gushing of a rill; There's music in all things, if man had ears; The Earth is ...
Elliott Smith: Acoustic Splendour
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 27 June 1998
CATEGORIES and pigeonholes and genres. They sure make our job easier. Everyone fits neatly in somewhere. Elliott Smith isn't too sure. ...
Deacon Blue: Dominion Theatre, London
Live Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 5 November 1988
I'LL BET whoever signed Deacon Blue thought they were signing the next Prefab Sprout. ...
Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Yes: Yes, Black Sabbath, Uriah Heap: Lyceum, London
Live Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 25 July 1970
YES MADE their comeback at the Lyceum on Friday, but what should have been a great occasion turned out to be rather mediocre. ...
Live Review by Roy Trakin, Melody Maker, 9 February 1980
EVEN THE decidedly old-wave, uptown industry water-hole Trax has caught the Funk Flu that's hit this borough like an epidemic. People are dancing to progressive, ...
Dr. Dre: The Dre Today: Dr. Dre Presents: The Aftermath (Interscope/MCA)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 30 November 1996
Don't be fooled by his past, DR DRE is a one-man Motown, a pop perfectionist for the 21st Century ...
Donny Hathaway: Donny's Return
Interview by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 24 February 1973
NEW YORK — DONNY HATHAWAY hasn't been around for several months, so it was nice to see him back in New York, looking good and recording ...
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 18 February 1995
These Animal Men, eat your heart out! Beatbox popsters EMF were Number One in America when their average age was 20, they were on the ...
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 16 November 1996
Snoop's poised defiance and masterful Gangsta cool, posthumous crap from 2Pac ...
Live Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 9 February 1980
EDDY EARNED his slot in my Militant Section by delivering this rap onstage: "As a black artist here in England I've seen it rough, and ...
The Stooges: Iggy & The Stooges: Pop Loses Sparkle: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 3 November 1973
LOS ANGELES: How low can rock and roll sink? This is a question that can never be answered as new depths will always be found ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994
I KNOW IT'S ONLY January but there's no way you will hear a more thrilling dance music album this year than Underworld's Dubnobasswithmyheadman. No fucking ...
PJ Harvey: Yeovil! Bum Rush The Show: PJ Harvey: To Bring You My Love (Island)
Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 25 February 1995
From Somerset with love? It came from the west. It sounds like the Deep South. Polly Harvey's third LP proper is one scary place to ...
The Jackson 5: Jacksons: All You Need For A Hit Is The Right Feeling
Report and Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 12 January 1974
MOWEST STUDIOS, the private recording facilities for Motown artists, are located in the heart of Hollywood, directly across the street from a high school's baseball ...
John and Beverley Martyn, John Martyn: Is John Martyn Still A Folk Singer Or Not?
Report and Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 28 February 1970
THIS IS A TOTALLY irrelevant question, and one which I'm glad I didn't bother to ask. For in this age of musical categories, John draws ...
Pink Floyd: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 April 1969
PINK FLOYD'S Festival Hall concert on Monday was artistry in pop technology. ...
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 11 August 1973
Wailers fail to catch afire ...
Stevie Wonder: Stevie Freaks Out
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971
LAST TIME Stevie Wonder was in Britain he promised that his next album would be the new-style him, with a deeper musical and lyrical feeling. ...
Iggy Pop: Empire States: Iggy Pop: American Caesar (Virgin)
Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 11 September 1993
WHERE THERE ARE the glowing embers of a fire to be stirred, you can trust Iggy Pop to be first with the gasoline. ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 9 October 1993
SHAMPOO are two alien teen snitches/Queen Bitches from Planet Peroxide who recently beamed down to south-east London. Their mission? To annoy the holy shit out ...
Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 26 December 1970
T. Rex goes funky ...
Michael Jackson: Michael In Wonderland
Interview by Stephen Demorest, Melody Maker, 1 March 1980
Michael Jackson: "black Sinatra for the '90s" or just looking for an escape to heaven? STEVE DEMOREST gets to talk to him via Janett [sic] ...
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 4 March 1995
Slash is probably as close to a rock'n'roll animal as we've got. He's also a rock'n'roller with a lot of animals – specifically cats and ...
Frank Barsalona Is Probably Rock's Most Successful Agent. His Wife Says It's Because He Really Cares
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
IT'S SUPER being a rock 'n' roll mogul. ...
Prince: And The Bland Played On: The Artist Formerly Known As Prince: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 18 March 1995
THIS could be bad. Why? ...
Duncan Browne, Lou Reed: Broken Reed? Lou Reed, Duncan Browne: Sundown Theatre, Edmonton, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
THE FACT is that his association with David Bowie has done Lou Reed no good at all. Despite the adulation from the audience at Edmonton's ...
Mazzy Star: Don't Talk Just Bliss
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 23 October 1993
Mazzy Star may make beautiful records, but they also make terrible interviewees. Chris Roberts extracts some sense from their silence and decides that the US ...
Grateful Dead: Dead on the Nile
Report by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978
Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Keith & Donna Godchaux, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Hamza El-Din, Bill Graham, Ken Kesey & The Merry Pranksters, the Sphinx, the ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 27 June 1970
A band who are slightly embarrassed by that long-awaited hit ...
The Jesus & Mary Chain: The Jesus And Mary Chain: Snaps Crack-Ups and Strop!
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 4 April 1998
To find out if THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN are really "cracking up", we meet them in a pub with three photos from the past ...
David Bowie: Carnegie Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
Can Bowie save New York from boredom? ...
Comment by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 16 October 1993
SIMON REYNOLDS casts a critical eye over MTV and what it stands for and comes to some surprising conclusions ...
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 28 November 1998
Did you know Tim's nickname at the scouts was "Timmy Testicle" or that Charlotte guzzles Vodka? We make each member of Ash leave the room ...
Monty Python's Flying Circus: Monty Python's Flying Circus (BBC Records)
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 19 December 1970
OF ALL THE comic programmes to arrive on the magic box, Monty Python's Flying Circus seems to be the one that most people talk about afterwards. ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 February 1970
SPIRIT IS one of those fine American groups which came to light following the Indian summer of 1967, and which have never really gained the ...
The Band: Civic Auditorium, Pasadena CA
Live Review by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 7 February 1970
LOS ANGELES, Tuesday: The Band, rapidly reaching the pinnacle of respect enjoyed by only a handful of groups in America, performed two sold-out concerts in ...
Method Man, Redman: Redman: Dare Iz A Darkside/Method Man: Tical (Def Jam/Island)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 14 January 1995
REDMAN'S Whut? Thee Album came out around the first Cypress Hill's and for those that investigated it was even more blunted to the bone, streaked ...
Courtney Love, Hole: Hole: Kith and Skin
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 12 September 1998
She's still angry, still got the "fire in her belly", still craving world domination for HOLE. We load up the tequila and discover that a ...
The Bluetones, Supergrass: Supergrass, The Bluetones: Caught By The Buzz
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 10 March 1995
Have you heard the new Maker motto? They're On The Cover On Tuesday, They're In The Chart On Sunday! First Portishead, then Sleeper, and now ...
Waylon Jennings: You Gotta Be A Man First, 'Fore You Can Be Anything...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 11 August 1973
Waylon Jennings, the cowboy who finally hit that golden trail. By MICHAEL WATTS in New York ...
Billy Preston: Rainbow Theatre, London
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 November 1973
AFTER A shaky start, Billy Preston tore London's Rainbow Theatre apart on Thursday last week, with a little help from his friends. ...
Fields Of The Nephilim: Graveyard Shifts: Fields Of The Nephilim
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 23 March 1991
Does the release of their new live album, Earth Inferno, mark the end of an era for Fields Of The Nephilim? Why does Carl McCoy ...
Alice Cooper: A Christmas Chiller
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 December 1973
The great Sherlock Holmes, cleverly disguised as MM investigator Chris Charlesworth, pulls his deerstalker over his eyes and sets forth on his most dangerous adventure. ...
Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 26 September 1998
REPUBLICA are now so successful that Cher asks permission to copy Saffron's hairstyle. We talk to them about their lengthy climb to the top, fame, ...
Elliott Smith: Elliott Gold: Elliott Smith: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 12 September 1998
WE'RE A sad bunch of buggers, us lovers of soothing, emotional country rock. ...
Chip E., Frankie Knuckles, Marshall Jefferson: Chicago House: Last Night A DJ Saved My Life, Part 1
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 16 August 1986
In the first of two instalments, Atlantic-hopping Frank Owen introduces DJ International, home of CHICAGO HOUSE music, the finest club beat of the moment ...
Candi, Darryl Pandy: Chicago House: Last Night A DJ Saved My Life, Part 2
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 23 August 1986
At the centre of the House stands the figure of the deejay. But the Chicago Sound is not all cross-fading, mixing and sampling, as Frank ...
Spooky Tooth: Spooky Two (Island)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 29 March 1969
HEAVY STONED rock music, typified by intense, dramatic riffs repeated ad infinitum, or at least until the engineer cuts off the electricity. That's the impression ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 14 December 1974
"I TELL YOU... England is the most exciting and beautiful country I have ever seen," says George McCrae, now two and a half weeks into ...
Harry Chapin: Avery Fisher Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 14 December 1974
NEW YORK: The trouble with Harry is that he's such a goddam regular guy. The way he handles himself onstage, for instance. Like a scoutmaster, ...
Special Feature by Simon Reynolds, David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 20 June 1987
B-BOYS, Yo-Boys, listen up good, cos a new sound's rappin' up the neighbourhood! Yo, it's the Maker's very own rappin' post-structuralist, the chin-scratchin' semiotician about to ...
Guns N' Roses: Appetite For Destruction (Geffen)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 25 July 1987
OF COURSE they're dreadful. What's more surprising is that so many members of the press, who on most other days of the week could be ...
Placebo: "We're falling apart at the seams"
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 17 November 1999
BRIAN MOLKO tells us about Internet porn, his festival experiences and the third PLACEBO album in the Melody Maker Interview ...
Nina Simone: Carnegie Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 22 May 1971
Nina the leader ...
Anthrax, Public Enemy: Read My Apocalypse: Public Enemy/Anthrax: The Apollo, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 18 January 1992
IF POWER is a turn-on and intelligence is an aphrodisiac, then Public Enemy are surely one of the sexiest groups on the planet. ...
Dave and Ansell Collins, Desmond Dekker, Alton Ellis: Reggae
Report and Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 22 May 1971
"Send a reggae band for my wedding reception" said Mick Jagger. The unpredictable move by a Stone symbolised the final acceptance of the music as ...
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 20 February 1992
Like Nirvana and Jane's Addiction before them, PEARL JAM look set to become this year's big US rock event. With Top 20 single 'Alive', they've ...
Jackson C. Frank: Frankly Speaking
Retrospective by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 22 March 1975
MM's series on the underrated musicians of yesterday. This week: JACKSON C. FRANK ...
Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack: Roberta Flack: Carnegie Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 22 May 1971
I KNOW I'VE said it all before, but here we go again: Roberta Flack's concert at Carnegie Hall was so enjoyable. Visually, when she starts ...
Marilyn Manson: "I suffered for Columbine, but everyone's responsible"
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 20 November 2000
No stranger to guns, Marilyn Manson tells us about Columbine, Courtney and Holy Wood in the Melody Maker interview ...
Charles Lloyd: Why Lloyd Wants To Play With The Stones
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 23 January 1971
CHARLES LLOYD doesn't want to be known as the first jazzman to play the rock halls, Fillmore and Avalon. He says that categorization is demeaning, ...
Sleeper: Digbeth Institute, Birmingham
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 21 October 1995
INDIE IS IN Birmingham. Indie goes down a rapturous storm. Indie makes everyone happy tonight. Indie is lovely. Indie is the fleetfooted reduced to leadboot ...
The Auteurs: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, September 1996
PITY POOR Luke Haines, a man weighed down by the burden of talent. It's odd to think that this sneering bundle of cynical intelligence was ...
Carolyn Hester: Not Ashamed To Do Some Folk Rock
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 October 1966
INTO BRITAIN last weekend flew Carolyn Hester, the American folk singer with the fantastic range, for a tight schedule of ten TV dates and two ...
Madonna: Damsel In Distress?: Madonna: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 9 October 1993
"DO YOU think she's lonely?" The question comes halfway through a butt-bumping take on 'Deeper And Deeper'. ...
The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J and Def Jam: Escape From New York
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 8 February 1986
New York's superhip Def Jam label has burst upon the Great British Public via a distribution deal with CBS. Frank Owen, tireless beatbox gumshoe, endured ...
Davey Graham: Midnight Man (Decca LK 4780)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 13 August 1966
DON'T JUDGE Davey Graham's latest LP, Midnight Man (Decca LK 4780) on the basis of one hearing alone or, like me, you'll decide it's not up to ...
Baby Washington, The Intruders, Wilson Pickett: Wilson Pickett: Apollo Theatre, New York NY
Live Review by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 22 May 1971
EX-TEMPTATIONS man, Eddie Kendricks, now solo, was due to open and debut his act at The Apollo but at the eleventh hour he cancelled out saying "the ...
Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell: Marvin Gaye: With The Solo Success Comes A Little Sadness
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 5 April 1969
MARVIN GAYE PHONES FROM DETROIT AS 'GRAPEVINE' HITS No. 1 ...
Just Ice: Sleeping Bag Records #1: Sleeping Around
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 20 September 1986
In New York City, centre of sexual paranoia, Frank Owen tracks down JUST ICE, Sleeping Bag recording artist and hip hop's numero uno misogynist guy ...
Dinosaur L, Arthur Russell, T La Rock: Sleeping Bag Records #2: Sleeping Around
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 27 September 1986
Last week Frank Owen unearthed the warped machismo of JUST ICE. Now, in the second part of his investigation into SLEEPING BAG RECORDS, he corners ...
Chumbawamba: 69 Club, Wolverhampton
Live Review by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 8 February 1992
CHUMBAWAMBA leap on stage and say "We're Chumbawamba and we're from Leeds". ...
Shakespears Sister: Idol Fantasies
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 20 February 1992
With their single, 'Stay', high in the charts and their astonishing video fuelling pub conversation throughout the land, PAUL LESTER meets SHAKESPEAR'S SISTER, learns about ...
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 19 December 1970
ONE OF THE criticisms levelled at Free since their final acceptance earlier this year is that many of their songs sound very much alike. With ...
Nina Simone: Nina's The Medium For The Message
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 19 April 1969
NINA SIMONE, the artist, is the High Priestess of Soul, the blues singer and the jazz pianist. Nina Simone, the person, is compelling, formidable, and ...
Schoolly D: Triumph Of The Ill
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 15 November 1986
SCHOOLLY D arrived in Britain for his tour with BAD with a fearful reputation. He was reputed to take a Magnum along to interviews, once stalked the streets with ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 14 March 1992
As massive an influence on modern dance as Kraftwerk and James Brown, CHIC have finally come back after years producing records for likes of Madonna ...
Barry White: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 28 March 1992
BARRY WHITE has based an entire career on his notion of himself as a 100-horsepower love machine. ...
Steely Dan: Art For Art's Sake…
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 19 June 1976
In the space of five albums in four years, Steely Dan have created arguably the best rock music, and certainly the most erudite, of the ...
Randy Newman: The Man They All Dig Doesn't Dig Himself
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 25 January 1969
BEATLE PAUL McCartney phoned to say how much he likes his work; Frank Sinatra wants him to write an album but the man himself doesn't ...
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 25 January 1986
StreetSounds supremo and entrepreneur of the modern dance MORGAN KHAN thinks the Welfare State sucks, that charity begins at home and that the Union Jack ...
The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Red Hot Chili Peppers: Lost In Spice
Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 21 March 1992
CATHI UNSWORTH travelled to Liverpool to join the Peppers on their current UK tour and found out just how the band's mammoth jaunt around the ...
Ian McCulloch: Africa Centre, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 8 February 1992
SO MAC'S BACK. Again. ...
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 15 March 1969
Stevie's a big star now ...
Super Furry Animals: "I like the idea of creating cultural havoc"
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 19 January 2000
Wide open spaces, mountains and free-thinking cultural revolutionaries — no wonder SUPER FURRY ANIMALS love Spain's Basque country. What's more, the feeling's mutual. ...
Duran Duran, Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Swiss Franks
Report and Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 25 May 1985
Finally, FRANKIE relaxed and invited Helen FitzGerald to chase them round picturesque Montreux. So what did happen in that brothel in Frankfurt? What do Frankie ...
Barbra Streisand: Face To Face With The Funny Girl...
Report and Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 25 January 1969
SHE SWEPT into her press reception at London's Dorchester Hotel like a queen. ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: The First Genius of Reggae?
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 24 February 1973
BOB MARLEY, slightly-built and quiet to the point of diffidence, is a leader. He's the master of Reggae, the man who's about to give it ...
Robbie Williams: University of East Anglia, Norwich
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 10 October 1997
WELL, I'd shag him. And if you believe the tabloids, I already have. And been indicted in the hedonistic disruption of a man who lives ...
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin (Atlantic)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 29 March 1969
Jimmy Page triumphs! Led Zeppelin is a gas ...
Led Zeppelin: How They Got Led Zeppelin Off The Ground...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 5 July 1969
OUT IN THE wilds of Willesden, a not-so-salubrious part of North London, Britain's heaviest band are cutting tracks for their second album before they return ...
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 15 November 1986
Hard core rapper JUST ICE is out on bail following a murder charge. Frank Owen talks to him and investigates the background to the case ...
Gregg Allman: Felt Forum, New York NY
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 14 December 1974
Greg — mining the blues ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 1 November 1997
THESE ARE the sort of men my mother warned me about as a small child, and — metaphorically, at least — they want me to ...
Profile and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 19 July 1986
Out of the subway and into the charts, hip hop is stronger than it's ever been, with dazzling new talents like LL Cool J and ...
Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 13 September 1997
No Doubt have went from garage band to worldwide stardom. But is it the end of the band as we know it? We join them ...
Essay by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 19 July 1986
Simon Reynolds ventures down hip hop's mean streets and finds something nasty lurking in the shadows — something that guilt-ridden white liberals might prefer to ...
Slowdive: Dive Bomb: Slowdive: Just For A Day (Creation)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 31 August 1991
WHEN SLOWDIVE gave us their astonishingly lovely eponymous debut single in last December, it sounded, to these ears at least, like the most auspicious debut ...
Fela Kuti: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 29 November 1986
COSTUME DRAMAS ...
Jimmy Page, Screaming Lord Sutch: Screaming Lord Sutch: Heavy Friends Help The Lord's Comeback
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 11 April 1970
LORD SUTCH is back! The perennial rocker has come screaming back on the rock scene, after two years of abdication in America, through the help ...
Mick Jagger: Performance: A Victory For The Directors
Film/DVD/TV Review by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 11 April 1970
IT'S DANGEROUS and more than slightly unfair to review a film before its final cut; but Performance is too exceptional to wait. I was fortunate enough to ...
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 6 December 1986
To hip hop or not to hip hop, that is the question. With their new album, Music Madness just in the shops, Frank Owen travelled to NYC, home of MANTRONIX, to ...
Blink 182: Enema Of The State (MCA) *****
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 16 October 1999
BOTTOMS aren't supposed to have hot shots of water blasted up them. They're not really supposed to dribble toxic effluent into a pool of bowel-cleansed ...
Kate Bush Christmas Special: Kate (BBC)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 12 January 1980
WITH 1979 over and no Kate Bush album in more than a year, a television special by the lady that introduced six new songs was ...
Microdisney: Liverpool Polytechnic
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 7 May 1988
HAVING RECOVERED from Edward Barton screaming at us that he's got no chicken but he's got five wooden chairs, seeing Microdisney was yet another shock. ...
Anthony Wedgwood Benn: Listening To The New Generation
Essay by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 24 October 1970
Former Technology Minister Anthony Wedgwood Benn replies to Mick Farren's analysis of Rock as a political force. ...
Limp Bizkit: Is This Metal's Answer To Puff Daddy?
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 9 October 1999
The Maker gets rapping with LIMP BIZKIT's Fred Durst, the ex-tattooist who has become the most powerful man in metal and a big name in ...
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 25 October 1997
MISSY "Misdemeanour" Elliott has been an invisible but insistent pivot of the pop world. ...
Profile and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 11 April 1987
YOU MAY KNOW ARTHUR RUSSELL FOR HIS WORLD OF ECHO ALBUM. THEN AGAIN, YOU MAY REMEMBER DINOSAUR L OR THE NECESSARIES OR... WELL. FRANK OWEN TAKES US ON A TRIP ...
The Primitives: The Royal Court, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 7 May 1988
IN MY FAR off youth, I was once most insulted when a friend dismissed 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker' as "Bubblegum". The good thing about ...
Report by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 21 July 1973
Scores of reggae records sell enough copies to qualify as pop hits. But you won't see them on the charts and you won't hear them ...
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 21 July 1973
War declared at Shea Stadium. ...
Salt 'N' Pepa: Salt-N-Pepa: Femme Fatales
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 3 January 1987
If you thought rap was misogyny central, listen up. SALT-N-PEPA are bitchin' back on behalf of the gals. Frank Owen gets an earful. ...
All Saints: Gangster Grippin': All Saints: Opera House, Blackpool
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 1 May 1999
"IS Blackpool in the house?" The dreadlocked DJ isn't making too much sense, but the little girls with the whistles don't care. ...
Chet Baker: The Man Who Came Back From The Dead
Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 21 July 1973
The Return of Chet Baker ...
Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 15 May 1999
Korn's angst-ridden Jonathan Davis is the nearest thing America has to Richey Manic. We meet him on the road in the States and hear tales ...
Robbie Williams: Life Thru A Lens (Chrysalis)
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 4 October 1997
"WHAT'S HE ever done that's actually been any good?" ...
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 28 March 1987
The Bangles seem permanently on the road. Carol Clerk met up with them during a London stop-over to get all the scam on Prince, old ...
Marvin Gaye: Glad To Be Gaye: Marvin Gaye: Apollo Victoria, London
Live Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 27 June 1981
APART FROM the odd dash of Las Vegas, a little hammed up stage behaviour, and a constant projection of distracting holiday snaps of our hero ...
David Ruffin: Feelin' Good (Tamla Motown)
Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 18 April 1970
IT WAS expected that David Ruffin would be able to stretch out away from the confines of the Temptations and his first solo single and ...
Peter Sarstedt: Girl Dentist Put Peter On The Road To Fame!
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 8 March 1969
PETER SARSTEDT would probably still be tramping footsore and penniless around Europe if it wasn't for a Danish dental student named Anita who stopped songwriter ...
Hole: Whole Lotta Love: Hole: Camden Underworld, London
Live Review by Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, 30 November 1991
WHAT THE F*** is happening now? ...
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 14 February 1998
Voted Best New Band in The Maker's Readers' Poll, Stereophonics are set to seriously f*** up 1998. We join them in Berlin and hear how ...
Public Enemy: Hip Hop Wig Out '87: Public Enemy – Def Not Dumb
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 21 March 1987
In the first of a series of reports from New York, Frank Owen steals the rhythm of the moment as he surveys hip hop's newest ...
Interview by Frank Owen, Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 28 March 1987
IN THE SECOND REPORT FROM NEW YORK ON HIP-HOP'S LATEST ULTRA-NOW TALENTS, SIMON REYNOLDS SURVEYS THE MONSTROUS AND MIND-BLOWING TALENT OF THE SKINNY BOYS WHILE ...
Cutmaster DC, King Sun: Hip Hop Wig Out '87 #3: The Harlem Shuffle — King Sun and Cutmaster DC
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 4 April 1987
IN THE THIRD OF OUR REPORTS on rap's now explosion of new talents, Frank Owen journeys to Harlem to bring you the news on happening ...
Dusty Springfield: Dusty In Memphis (Philips)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 26 April 1969
DUSTY'S AMERICAN LP is her best yet! Eleven great tracks most of them beautiful, soulful ballads with Dusty sounding all the better for holding herself ...
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 14 September 1996
I'VE JUST BEEN informed by that porridge-faced wanker, Simon Mayo, that Kula Shaker are "the next Oasis". Of course, the obvious questions don't even get ...
Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 15 October 1994
The Arch-Uberfuhrers of Satanic Rockabilly Camp aka The Cramps are back! With their best album for eight years! Talkin' 'bout the ejaculatory properties of rock'n'roll! ...
Profile and Interview by Tony Russell, Melody Maker, 12 February 1972
A FAMILIAR blues story is the one of the musician who held his first guitar almost before he clambered out of the cradle. As the ...
Review by Geoffrey Cannon, Melody Maker, 29 January 1972
Harvest is surely come: Geoffrey Cannon previews NEIL YOUNG's new album Harvest, released next month ...
The Beastie Boys, Oran "Juice" Jones, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Slayer: Def Jam: License to Thrill
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 20 December 1986
RICK RUBIN and RUSSELL SIMMONS are the creative mavericks behind the outrageous antics of THE BEASTIE BOYS and RUN DMC and a whole host of ...
Oran "Juice" Jones, Run-DMC, Slayer: Def Jam #2: World Domination Enterprises
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 3 January 1987
In the second part of his investigation into DEF JAM records, the world's hottest label, Frank Owen charts the careers of RICK RUBIN, RUSSELL SIMMONS, ...
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
"JACKIE WILSON said… it was reet petite." Now as it happens, Jackie Wilson doesn't really need Van Morrison's approbation. But he's flattered by it all ...
Morrissey: The Last Of England: Morrissey: Viva Hate (HMV)
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 19 March 1988
FOR TOO LONG, a faction around here feels, the fey, blithe Morrissey has been allowed to saunter through pop history unchecked, fawned upon even — ...
The Foundations: Foundations Aren't Going To Desert The British Public
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 29 March 1969
THE FOUNDATIONS aren't going to permanently desert these shores for the richer pickings across the Atlantic even though they're only now losing the title of ...
Kylie Minogue: Kylie Minogue (Deconstruction)
Review by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 1 October 1994
WHY HAS THIS perspex bubble, this one-way mirror, this empty shop window, this unfilled gilt frame, this unformed lust, this shapeless beauty, this Kylie, become ...
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 1 October 1994
Hey, everyone, meet SHAMPOO! They've had three debut singles! The last one sold over 150,000 copies! They're not lesbians! They talk in their own secret ...
Catatonia: Tipsy Narco: Catatonia: Warwick University, Coventry
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 8 November 1997
YOU LEAVE more alive than you came. You leave with your secrets not just repeated but monumentalised. You never wanna leave. Catatonia are better. ...
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 13 June 1981
THEY'D JUST FLOWN IN from the States, seen Springsteen the previous night, and gave Aylesbury a taste of what it's like to be totally wired ...
Pop Journalism: Write or Wrong?
Overview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 24 May 1986
Is it pop we're disillusioned with, or pop journalism? Is Paul Morley the curse or the saviour of the scribbling classes? Frank Owen takes a ...
Bonzo Dog Band: Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band: Dedicated Idiocy
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 9 December 1967
THE BONZOS' POLICY PAYS OFF ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 August 1967
I've got those Seventh National Jazz And Blues Festival blues ...
Caroline Coon: The Underground Angel Of Mercy...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971
Michael Watts talks to CAROLINE COON of Release ...
Live Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 8 November 1997
HOW IS IT that this cherub before us can be Tricky's uncle? ...
Schoolly D: Philadelphia Story
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 9 May 1987
ON THE EVE OF HIS BRITISH TOUR AND WITH A CRACKING SECOND ALBUM ON THE WAY, SCHOOLLY-D SHOWS FRANK OWEN AROUND HIS HOME TOWN. PICS: JANETTE BECKMAN ...
Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 23 May 1987
BRONX AGE MEN ...
Chicago ...Moving From Jazz-Rock To Classical-Rock
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 31 January 1970
STEVIE WINWOOD'S 'I'm A Man', the 1967 hit for the old Spencer Davis group, has brought the jazz-rock combination of Chicago to the puzzling British ...
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 31 January 1970
IT'S BEEN three years since a soul tour of such importance has been to Britain. Then, in the spring of 1967, it was Otis Redding ...
Metallica: "Good Day For A Battle"
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 5 June 1993
Metallica, the titans of terse doom-metal, return to the UK this weekend, on the final leg of an epic tour that has taken them to ...
Tupac Shakur: A Load Of Bollock: 2Pac: Me Against The World (Interscope)
Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 1 April 1995
Ner-ner, ner-ner slammm!!! And another one! Is 2Pac (sorry, make that 1Pac) just the shot in the balls rap so sorely needs, or a monorchid ...
Adam & The Ants: Prince Charmless: Adam Ant: Astoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 9 October 1982
LAST YEAR Adam Ant became a Dexys Midnight Runners fan. He went to their shows, always gave them name-checks in the press and even sent ...
Jacques Brel: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 November 1966
THE ALL-PERVADING perfume of Gauloises and an audience that went hysterical at the beginning, climax and end of each song reminded me of the atmosphere ...
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 9 October 1982
IN WHICH THE message from the apple-stretching New York would seem to read: don't get caught in a rap rut, move on and expand. Whether ...
The Beach Boys: Verdict On Pet Sounds
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 30 July 1966
The most progressive pop album ever? Or as sickly as peanut butter? Pop people reply. ...
Review by Nick Jones, uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 6 August 1966
Single minded blues men ...
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 15 May 1993
Verve were last year's second most likely contenders for world domination after You Know Who. At which point they threw several spanners in the works ...
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 13 June 1987
WITH BIGGER AND DEFFER, HIS SECOND LP, LL COOL J HAS INFLATED THE BOUNDARIES OF MEGALOMANIA. FRANK OWEN MEETS THE SELF-ACCLAIMED WORLD'S GREATEST RAPPER TO ...
GWAR! What Is It Good For? GWAR: The Longhorn, Stuttgart
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 10 October 1992
THIS IS utter f***ing madness. ...
Cherrelle, Alexander O'Neal: Cherrelle and Alexander O'Neal: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 8 March 1986
IN THE LATEST edition of Monitor, Chris Stubbs suggests that soul music's fading calling card is now sex music. And it's certainly true that the ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 April 1971
A MASTERFUL album. While it goes without saying this is their best yet, there is a quality in the performance and production here that sets ...
The Walker Brothers, Scott Walker: Scott Walker: A Lot Of Pressures And A Personal Problem
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 September 1966
SCOTT WALKER, for the first time, talks about the incident that ended in hospital ...
Blind Faith, Family, Traffic: Ric Grech: Traffic's One Big Happy Family
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 10 October 1970
IT WAS good to see Ric again. We talked in melancholic tones of hazy days when gangster Grech, cigarette hanging from his lips, pumped out ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 24 December 1966
Cream working to produce a great album ...
Radiohead: Creep Show: Radiohead: The Tramshed, London
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 19 October 1996
IN THE CORNER of this wretched party for the beautiful people hangs a photograph of Thom Yorke, pointing an accusing finger around the room; he's ...
Pamela Des Barres: No Holds Barres
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 19 December 1996
Carol Clerk reports on the latest book from groupie supreme, Pamela Des Barres ...
The Jesus & Mary Chain: Jesus & Mary Chain: Barrowlands Ballroom, Glasgow
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 7 May 1988
APOCALYPSE NOW! ...
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Roland Kirk: Doesn't Fit Into The Avant Garde
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966
JAZZ snobs have been hit hard by the arrival of Roland Kirk the Magnificent. Roland's music lurches crazily, but creatively from the humorous to the ...
Live Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 6 August 1966
A washout, but still swinging ...
Profile and Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 23 October 1999
Passionate angst rock ...
Wu-Tang Clan: Clan-destined: Wu-Tang Clan: The Rocket, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 3 May 1997
OK, YA WANNA KNOW what the new LP sounds like, right? Oh, man, oh Jesus, it's the bomb, baby. It's incredible. It's the LP that's ...
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 19 March 1983
LAST SEPTEMBER a very strange thing happened. Three unknown scruffy Scottish urchins took the indie charts by storm with, a debut album, called Garlands, an ...
Paul Butterfield Blues Band: Butterfield's Blues Men Aim To Spread Their Gospel In Britain
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 22 October 1966
THE PAUL Butterfield Blues Band, in London this week for an extensive tour with Georgie Fame and Chris Farlowe, aims to spread its blues gospel ...
Van Der Graaf Generator: Oh What A Boar!
Report by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 20 March 1971
SATURDAY morning. The Van der Graaf Generator truck speeds and wobbles along the motorway, northbound. It's a clear day, around lunchtime, and we're beginning to ...
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 3 May 1997
"DREAMS", she ruins. It's extended, distended, f***ed-over — sacrificed upon the all-consuming altar of crowd participation. ...
Elliott Smith: Alas Smith And Moans
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 8 May 1999
On the road in the US, we find the unassuming ELLIOTT SMITH still likes a drink, has put drugs behind him, but can't manage a ...
Jayne County: Old Queens Never Die… They Just Change Sex
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 24 September 1983
Carol Clerk shows an unhealthy interest in the bodily development of JAYNE COUNTY. ...
The Who: A Quick One (Reaction)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 December 1966
The Who fulfilled and a mini-opera, yet! ...
Van Morrison: His Band And The Street Choir (Warner Bros.)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971
Has Van Morrison eased up? ...
Essay by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 28 June 1986
All this talk about indiepop, about the death and resurgence of an underground, an alternative to chart pap. But is there really life beyond the ...
Talulah Gosh: Ladybirds & Start-Rite Kids
Report by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 27 September 1986
Is there more to jumble-sale chic than saving precious pennies? Simon Reynolds thinks so and spots an asexual revolution unfolding within the indie scene. So ...
Chris Isaak: Only The Lonely: Chris Isaak: Wicked Game (WEA)
Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 5 January 1991
"You can hold yourself back from the suffering of the world: this is something you are free to do and is in accord with your ...
Manic Street Preachers: All That Glitters…
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 29 January 1994
It's been eight months since The Maker met the Manic Street Preachers, and they haven't cheered up in that time. On the eve of a ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 26 April 1969
Both sides of the great Elvis Presley, orchestral pop from the Brothers Ryan ...
Transvision Vamp: Wendy's Boat Comes In
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 30 March 1991
Shy, unassuming Wendy James and her pop terrorists TRANSVISION VAMP are back from a year's sabbatical with a new single and a big box of ...
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 27 July 1985
The column that straps the pop wallahs to the psychiatrist's couch. ...
Al Green: Heaven Up Here: Al Green: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 16 July 1988
WHAT WAS I saying about letting the shiver do all the work? Just the other day? Oh me, oh my. Al Green, The Last Soul ...
Joe Cocker, Leon Russell: Leon Russell: King of the Delta Rockers
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 29 August 1970
Top US session man LEON RUSSELL talks to Mark Plummer. ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 May 1972
WISHBONE ASH are one of the nation's better bands. In the search for constant improvement, they have come up with a third album that many ...
Mazzy Star: Give 'Em Enough Hope
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 5 January 1991
Mazzy Star's debut album, She Hangs Brightly, was voted one of the Top Ten albums of 1990 by the Maker writers. This year they look ...
Frank Sinatra: The Godfather Of Swing: Frank Sinatra: The Capitol Years (Capitol)
Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 12 January 1991
"HEY KIDS, dig the first takes/Ain't that some interpretation/When Sinatra sings against Nelson Riddle strings/Then takes a vacation" (Van Morrison: 'Hard Nose The Highway') ...
Bette Midler: The Shape (40-22-36) Of Things To Come
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 17 February 1973
Roy Hollingworth meets the divine Miss Midler ...
Erma Franklin, Wilson Pickett: Wilson Pickett/Erma Franklin: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 27 September 1969
A Vote For Wilson (Pickett That Is!) ...
Sergio Mendes: Brasil '66 Bring A Taste Of Latin Rock
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 18 January 1969
WE'VE HAD just about every kind of rock you can imagine — rock and roll, rocksteady, hard-rock... but now there's a new one and it's ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 13 August 1966
Dylan rocks through 4 great sides ...
Mariah Carey: Mariah Carey (CBS)
Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 15 Spring 1990
MARIAH CAREY is a very very pretty girl and she has a very very wonderful voice and her debut album is an absolute dog. Comparisons ...
Slayer: I Talked With A Zombie
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 29 September 1990
As Britain trembles with anticipation of the "Clash Of The Titans" tour, Ian Gittins meets the metal monsters and hears tales of death, despair and ...
Miles Davis: Bitches Brew (CBS 66236)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 27 June 1970
Bitches Brew an aural acid trip from Miles ...
The Rolling Stones: One Plus One (Dir. Jean-Luc Godard)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 19 July 1969
SYMPATHY For The Devil, re-titled One Plus One, is the Jean-Luc Godard film which features the Stones as they were before Brian's death — enough ...
A Tribe Called Quest: Storm Warnings
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 2 February 1991
Besides achieving Top 20 success with their new single, 'Can I Kick It?, A Tribe Called Quest have also been heavily involved with the re-recording ...
Spice Girls: The Spice Is Right: Spice Girls: Spiceworld (Virgin)
Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 8 November 1997
You've quaffed the cola and scoffed the crisps — now read the review ...
Max Roach: Evolutionary Forces
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 23 August 1980
A prime mover in the Bebop era, Max Roach knows all about revolution. He tells KARL DALLAS that revolution without foundation is doomed, and warns ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 August 1966
IT WAS AN historic evening at London's Marquee on Monday night when Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated made their first appearance there for nearly four years. ...
Fleetwood Mac: Sold Out? Gerroff!
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 1 March 1969
PETER GREEN defends Fleetwood Mac ...
Daft Punk: The Astoria, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 20 November 1997
UNDERGROUND/OVERGROUND, spectacle/black-out, in-yer-face/faceless, pop/music. Dance has to make its choices. Either it believes in its own unique power, rejecting stages, identification, authenticity and the audience/artist ...
Super Furry Animals: "We've never taken acid"
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 13 July 1996
…So why is Super Furry Animals' new video set in a multi-coloured chemistry lab? How come their ancestors wore pointy hats on visits to castles? ...
Jimmy Witherspoon: Ramjam Club, Brixton, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 April 1966
JIMMY WITHERSPOON'S appearances at R & B clubs like Brixton's Ramjam might seem out of place. But he cuts across the music barriers with his ...
Johnny Winter: Johnny Winter And... (CBS)
Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 17 October 1970
OH YES! Great stuff, funky, pumpy, loud and brash and damned uncouth — which is the way R&B should be played. ...
The Mothers Of Invention: Mother's Union
Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 5 December 1970
TELL ME, Mr. Zappa, what do you think of the critical reaction to your work over the past five years? ...
Steve Hackett: Defector (Charisma)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, July 1980
THIS IS THE album we knew Hackett was capable of making: powerful heavy and relevant. It's the first of his four solo efforts to succeed ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 November 1966
ANY DOUBTS ABOUT the Cream's ability to perform as a group and not just three star soloists were dispelled by their sensational set at London's ...
Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 29 November 1997
OK, they're pretty, cool and main players in the New Pop Explosion but do they have any songs? ...
Menswear: The New Squad Of New Mod
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 19 November 1994
IT HAS BEEN DECIDED, already, that Menswear are going to be famous. All the stars (well, Shampoo and Pulp) turned up for their debut gig ...
Public Enemy: Shoot-Out In The Fantasy Factory
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 28 November 1987
Public Enemy have been hailed as hip hop's hardest hardliners. Jonh Wilde joined them on tour to discover the sense and nonsense behind their no-holds-barred ...
Womack and Womack: Soul Wars: Womack And Womack: The Dominion, London
Live Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 21 September 1985
TEXTURING INTIMACIES with the grain of their extraordinary, conflicting voices, Womack And Womack have almost singlehandedly rescued the dramas and gestures of love from the ...
Stevie Wonder: Carnegie Hall, New York
Live Review by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 17 February 1973
GODAMN IT! You would think the President of a record company would know better — especially the President of Motown Records. ...
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: The East Wing, Brighton Centre
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 15 October 1994
JON SPENCER has something he would like to tell us all about. ...
The Pixies: Tyranny And Mutation
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 10 August 1990
A PIXIES album that isn't drenched in murder, mutilation, death, crucifixion, blood, evil and barbarism? It's hard to imagine, but that's exactly what the band ...
David Bowie: Lets Dance!: David Bowie With La La La Human Steps: Dominion Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 9 July 1988
BEAUTY will be compulsive or not at all. ...
Johnny Nash: Wise Guy With A Difference
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 26 April 1969
POP IS A precarious business as so many artists will tell you. The fame and fortune that arrives overnight can disappear at an even faster ...
David Bowie: Stranger in a Strange Land
Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 24 February 1973
Aladdin Sane is the punning title of David Bowie's next album. It's more remote, more spacey, than anything he's done before says MICHAEL WATTS, who ...
Jimi Hendrix Experience: Blaises, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 31 December 1966
JIMI HENDRIX, a fantastic American guitarist, blew the minds of the star-packed crowd who went to see him at Blaises Club, London on Wednesday. ...
The Flock, Johnny Winter, Steamhammer: Johnny Winter, Flock, Steamhammer: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970
ANY AMERICAN rock act is guaranteed a standing ovation at London's Royal Albert Hall these days. Johnny Winter deserved one on Friday night at the ...
Soft Machine: Robert Wyatt: A Child of the Pop Scene
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 14 February 1970
ROBERT WYATT is the member of the Soft Machine you're most likely to be watching while you listen to their music. Tousle-haired and athletic behind ...
Bobby Brown: Star Gazing: Bobby Brown: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 16 June 1990
BOBBY BROWN may be less obsessively single-minded than Prince (he doesn't write/produce/sing/play every last note on his records), and Michael Jackson surely beats him jewel-encrusted ...
The Who: The Upper Cut, Forest Gate, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 31 December 1966
AN INCREDIBLE new club called the Upper Cut under the auspices of famous boxer Billy Walker opened at Forest Gate, London, with the grand clamour ...
Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 28 February 1998
All we wanted was to have a few laughs, japes and capers in Venice. But oh no, SHED SEVEN say they're now serious musicians. Aha, ...
Circle Jerks: Wild In The Streets (Faulty Products)
Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 19 June 1982
LOOK, here they come now, swaggering round the corner: mouthfuls of curses; knuckledusters; leathers scraped with the scars of street battle; chains in the pockets; ...
Digital Underground: Space Oddities
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 16 September 1989
"LOTS OF PEOPLE have said we're similar to De La Soul simply because we're with the same record company in America and we both have ...
Allen Toussaint, Lee Dorsey: Lee Dorsey: Lee's Back — Thanks To The Talented Mister Toussaint
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 30 April 1966
YOU PROBABLY first heard of Lee Dorsey after you asked the DJ what that record was he just played with the gun banging in it. ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 29 October 1966
A GREAT SHOW and a puzzling audience reaction. That was the net result of the first night of the Georgie Fame package tour at Finsbury ...
Jane's Addiction: Over The Top
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 8 October 1988
ONE QUARTER THE SWEET, ONE QUARTER MC5, ONE QUARTER GANG OF FOUR AND ONE QUARTER THEMSELVES — THAT'S HOW JONH WILDE SEES HIS IDEAL JANE'S ADDICTION. THE ...
Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground: Loaded (Atlantic Super)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 13 March 1971
The most important album since Tommy? ...
Jeff Dexter: Dexter's Job — Creating Good Vibes
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 24 April 1971
"WELL, who else could do it? Maybe Jimmy Savile because he's got lots of blond hair as well," replied Jeff Dexter when asked why he ...
Schoolly D: The Royal Holloway College, Egham, Surrey
Live Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 16 May 1987
"AN ULTIMATE character," is how David Stubbs has labelled Schoolly-D. Bad, badder, baddest, and baddest most ill. "My name is Schoolly-D and I'm running amok. ...
Cream, Mountain: The Ascent Of Mountain
Interview by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 15 May 1971
MOUNTAIN ARE Felix Pappalardi on bass, Leslie West on guitar, Steve Knight, keyboard, and Corky Laing on drums. ...
Run-DMC: Run DMC: Homeboy's Home Truths
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 23 May 1987
ON THE EVE OF THEIR BRITISH TOUR, RUN DMC EXPLAIN TO FRANK OWEN THE STRENGTH OF SILENCE, THE POWER OF GOOD EXAMPLE AND THE WAY THE HISTORY ...
Burt Bacharach: Portrait In Music (A&M)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 13 March 1971
REMEMBER HOW far-out 'Anyone Who Had A Heart' sounded in '63? All those cliff-hanging stops and starts, and that incredible arrangement... almost as weird as ...
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 16 May 1987
SLAM DANCE ...
The Small Faces: The Many Faces of Steve Marriott
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 29 April 1967
POP STARS and the Establishment seem to be ever at loggerheads. Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley used to be accused of corrupting teenage morals. Quite ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 6 May 1967
SUBTLE KINKS HEADING FOR CHART SUCCESS ...
The Stone Roses: Bonfire of the Inanities
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 9 December 1989
When The Maker put Ian Brown and his reluctant heroes on the cover six months ago, they were regarded as just another bunch of hopefuls. ...
Ride, Slowdive: Forever Now: Ride/Slowdive: Academy, Manchester
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 9 March 1991
RIDE, perhaps, are just too much. Too soon, too quick, too assured, too contemporary, too praised, too openly derivative to even be insulted by being ...
Simon & Garfunkel: Simon And Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Waters (CBS)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 February 1970
IT'S BEEN 18 months since the release of Simon and Garfunkel's last album, and for much of its length Bridge Over Troubled Waters makes the ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 23 December 1995
Forget Blur vs Oasis — this was PULP's year. Two Number Two singles, a Number One album, triumphant festival appearances, the MM hacks' LP and ...
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 5 September 1970
Rock's most influential guitarist on music, drugs, politics, and his plans for a new big band ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970
Beautiful Day a beautiful band ...
The Verve: Northern Soul Asylum
Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 15 July 1995
The Verve have split the voters ever since they appeared in '92 as The Band Most Likely To after Suede. Some loved their experimental prog-rock ...
Ike & Tina Turner: Ike and Tina Show Comes To Town — All Nineteen Of Them
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 1 October 1966
CARRYING a valet, two secretaries, the Ikettes — their three girl backing singers — two male singers Jimmy Thomas and Prince Albert, plus the Kings ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 1 October 1988
Harry Crews are an all-woman band featuring Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth and Lydia Lunch. They're destined to "combust after the next three days". But ...
The Action, Arthur Alexander: Arthur Alexander, London; The Action, Sussex
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 16 April 1966
Arthur Alexander: Marquee Club, London ...
Live Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 8 April 1989
WORDS FLY LIKE bullets from a scatter gun. They call Jalal Nurridin the "Godfather of Rap", but he's much more than that. ...
Quincy Jones, Sarah Vaughan: Music In The Making: Quincy Jones — Sarah Makes It All Worth While
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 12 October 1963
Quincy Jones, who spent last week in London enjoying the sights and sounds by day and night, is one of music's all-rounders. Bandleader, composer, arranger, publisher, ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 19 April 1975
Stylistics, Sweet Sensation, Chi-Lites — all top names in the world of sweet soul music. But there's only one boss — AL GREEN. And no ...
The Incredible String Band: Incredible String Band: Incredible Incredibles
Profile and Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 30 September 1967
AS THE beautiful, unrelenting success of their second album so justly affirms the Incredible String Band are something incredible. ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 6 May 1967
TECHNICOLOUR DREAM STIRS UNDERGROUND ...
Pulp: Working-Class Heroes: Pulp: Different Class (Island)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 28 October 1995
Jarvis Cocker, sexual outlaw, professional eccentric, godlike television personality and master of idiosyncratic dance steps you already know and adore. SIMON REYNOLDS heralds the entrance ...
Report by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 10 December 1994
The MTV European Music Awards happened last week. You might have seen them on the telly. Lots and lots of famous stars winning prizes for ...
The SOS Band: SOS Band: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 13 December 1986
WE WEAVE a path through the wellie-wearers, unable to grasp how speechlessly bad this is. The beauty is beaten into beastliness and enjoys the experience; ...
The Gun Club: Gun Fun: The Gun Club: Fire Of Love (Beggars Banquet)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 19 June 1982
THE GUN CLUB are direct descendants of a ferociously-subversive rock 'n' roll tradition fired by the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, and most successfully embodied ...
T-Bone Walker: Thorny Problem Of Mixing The Blues With Modern Jazz
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 17 December 1966
I HAVE always looked on T-Bone Walker as being more of a jazz-blues singer than a folk or country-type artist. In other words, as a ...
The Move, Pink Floyd, The Who: The Who, The Move, Pink Floyd: The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 7 January 1967
Psychedelicamania at Roundhouse ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974
IT WOULD be difficult to count the number of musicians who have eulogised about Little Feat over the past year. This little known band from ...
Leonard Cohen: New Skin For The Old Ceremony (CBS)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974
LEONARD COHEN is an artist who worries a great many people. Dismissed on the one hand as pretentious, on the other as a plain old ...
Review by John Robb, Melody Maker, 3 December 1994
Forget the Riot Grrrl politics — if you must. Huggy Bear are/were a brilliantly confrontational punk rock band, much-maligned and misunderstood. Much like JOHN ROBB, ...
Blur: The Return Of The Fab Four
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 12 August 1995
That rumble at the earth's core can only mean one thing — BLUR are back! With new single, 'Country House', out in ten days and ...
Blur: The Return Of The Fab Four: Part Two
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 19 August 1995
Last week, BLUR talked long and hard about, well, everything, really. Everything, that is, except new LP The Great Escape, the R.E.M. date at Milton ...
Colenso Parade, Pulp: Pulp/Colenso Parade: 100 Club, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 13 December 1986
COURAGE IS the key word. Pulp throw out sudden drum rumbles and savage violin wails, lazy guitar twiddles and keyboard stabs, all wrapped around vocals ...
Sippie Wallace: Very Much Alive And Singing...
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 8 October 1966
MEETING SIPPIE Wallace suddenly, after all these years of gazing at her name on ancient Okeh records, is an experience roughly comparable with running into ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 30 September 1967
MOTHERS — ALMOST A FREAK OUT, NOT A LOVE IN, DEFINITELY A SEND-UP! ...
Grateful Dead: Live Dead (Warner Bros.)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 14 March 1970
I WASN'T expecting too much from this, having been bored silly by the Dead on their previous three albums. But all the fuss is clarified ...
Brinsley Schwarz: From Kippington Lodge to the Empire State
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 18 April 1970
BRINSLEY SCHWARZ, the band born out of the small time frustrations of Kippington Lodge, are the outfit the whole of the rock media were taken ...
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 19 January 1991
"I KNOW THAT this is the right time for Denim — I've spent a year plotting. It has to happen now." ...
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers: Rockin' And Romance (Rough Trade)
Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 29 June 1985
IF JONATHAN RICHMAN'S single, 'That Summer Feeling', isn't a hit this year, you can only blame it on the Met Office. Richman, eternal cult figure, ...
Sarah Vaughan: Madame Butterfly
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 21 September 1963
MAX JONES talks to a new-look SARAH VAUGHAN ...
Gene Vincent: Vincent, The Great Rock And Roller is Back
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 15 November 1969
...
Prince: The Legendary Black Album (Warners 9362-45793-2)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 10 December 1994
BETWEEN THE critically revered Sign O' The Times and the underrated psychedelic funk feast of Lovesexy came The Black Album, withdrawn from release by Prince ...
Interview by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, 22 November 1997
Well, we couldn't take them out on the piss all night, could we? We take HANSON to Laser Quest in Reading and zap their little ...
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 12 November 1988
In Manchester "shit" means great. Yet a year after Happy Mondays' shit debut album, Squirrel And G-Man, some critics have already written off the band. ...
Michael Jackson: The Bowl, Milton Keynes
Live Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 17 September 1988
THE SUMMER'S grand parade of American megastars has finally come to an end with the last great gasps from Michael Jackson. And so, now, must ...
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 22 March 1986
Dr Frank Owen returns with the backbeat on MANTRONIX, another pair of boys from the land of hip-hop. Is this finally the end of live ...
The Cramps: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 22 March 1986
The Living Dead ...
Traffic: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 30 September 1967
AFTER CENTURIES in hibernation Traffic left their country womb last Sunday to make their debut at London's Saville Theatre, and certainly in potentiality they must ...
Tammy Wynette: Truckers' Choice
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 19 April 1975
No-one captures the ideals of Middle America quite like Tammy Wynette. And she's got the hits to prove it — an astounding 24 Number Ones. ...
Tomorrow: U.F.O.: Who Killed Flower Power?
Report and Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 28 October 1967
U.F.O. the Flower power mecca has closed. Did it die a natural death — or was it murdered? And if it was... ...
Velvet Underground: Gerard Malanga: Screen Test
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 12 February 1972
Interview with poet GERARD MALANGA, former associate of Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground ...
Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 29 August 1992
In last week's Great Metal Debate, L7 just couldn't f***en believe there are people out there so moronic that they can't tell these gals from ...
Rod Stewart: An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (Vertigo)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 14 February 1970
AT LAST Rod The Mod has his chance! ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 14 January 1967
Stones old firm back in strength ...
Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band: Trout Mask Replica (Straight)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 15 November 1969
THIS YOU will either love or loathe, and we love it. Beefheart is a true original, and this double-album is testimony to his wayward genius. ...
Stevie Wonder: The In Place, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 29 January 1966
FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD Stevie Wonder is already a mature performer, and no mean raver. He has a far from diminutive voice, great charm, and a lot of ...
Dave Brubeck: Teo Macero: 'It May Be What Jazz Needs, The Psychedelic Touch'
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 9 September 1967
TEO MACERO, American Columbia A&R man, arranger, and composer of experimental music, is becoming a regular visitor to Britain. Last week he was with us ...
U2: Let There Be Satellite: U2: Earl's Court, London
Live Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 6 June 1992
THE ROOM IS SPINNING. U2 are detonating 'Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World'. Bono, doing a passable imitation of the Lord's Anointed, swanks ...
Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 20 November 1997
In our occasional Tour Diary series, we find out why Dave Grohl of FOO FIGHTERS always chews gum onstage, loves punk rock and why he ...
Sun Ra And The Arkestra: Sound Of Joy (Delmark DS-414)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 21 March 1970
'El Is A Sound Of Joy'; 'Overtones Of China'; 'Two Tones'; 'Paradise'; 'Planet Earth'; 'Ankh'; 'Saturn'; 'Reflections In Blue'; 'El Viktor'. ...
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976
Punk! On stage! ...
Overview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 13 June 1970
Richard Williams takes a Common Market-minded guess at a future trend in pop... ...
Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 4 November 1967
Exclusive! Nick Jones listens to seven secret tapes ...
The Walker Brothers, Scott Walker: The Walker Brothers: Walker Plans
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 13 May 1967
AFTER THE SPLIT: NICK JONES PINPOINTS THREE NEW CAREERS ...
Skunk Anansie: "We're Clitpop, not Britpop"
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 19 August 1995
Anger. Energy. Passion. Aggression. And that's just the journalist after spending a day with Skunk Anansie, the angriest, most Hi-NRG, in-yer-face, passionate and aggressive live-and-direct, ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 8 February 1986
John Lydon, a cartoon character no longer, is back with a single which looks like being a bit of a hit, and an album called ...
LL Cool J: Radio On: LL Cool J: Radio (Def Jam)
Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 8 February 1986
LABEL OF THE MOMENT Def Jam's first album release in this country is the debut of the newest star in the hip hop firmament, 18-year-old ...
The Waterboys: That Sinking Feeling: The Waterboys: Room To Roam (Ensign)
Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 15 September 1990
OH DEAR. Let's establish this from the start. This is not The Waterboys' record we've been waiting for. This is not the way we wanted ...
Cream: Clapton Revs Into A New Gear
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 15 October 1966
NICK JONES talks to the loner who came in from the cold. ...
Dave and Ansell Collins: 'Double Barrel' — A High Calibre Hit?
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 8 May 1971
CRITICS PUT it down, musicians loathe it — and mention reggae to a progressive music fan and a string of abuse will follow. It appears ...
Paul Butterfield Blues Band: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 19 November 1966
THE PAVEMENT outside and the hallway inside were deserted. London's Marquee Club appeared dead and empty. The attraction was the Paul Butterfield Blues Band from ...
All Saints: Saint Misbehavin'!
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 7 February 1998
If you believe the tabloids, ALL SAINTS are a bunch of tune-nicking, three-in-a-bed romping, manager-bashing, Spice Girl wannabes. But is that bollocks? We join the ...
Can: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976
VIEWED IN isolation, Can's recent singles seem like some kind of sell-out. What, after all, is a "serious" German rock band, whose members include former ...
Report by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 12 October 1963
BLUES IN Croydon may strike a funny note to enthusiasts steeped in the lore of Mississippi and Chicago's South Side. ...
Profile and Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 9 September 1967
"QUICKLY BECOMING the latest rave" is the kind of statement most groups, especially the unknown ones, would dearly like to hear echoing in their egos. ...
Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 18 November 1967
STILL THE BEATLES OLD SOUL AND FEELING ...
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 15 August 1992
THE TEE-SHIRT READS "Madstock"; the reality sporadically veers from such cheery celebration. Somewhere in the fun and the frolics, the grubbiness of moronicism smears the ...
Timmy Thomas: Tomorrow's Golden Oldie
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 24 February 1973
IT REMINDED me of hearing Booker T's 'Green Onions' for the first time, all those years ago. You know: that fantastic feeling of listening to ...
Bodines,The, New Order: New Order, The Bodines: Verdun Auditorium, Montreal
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 13 December 1986
CANADIAN CLUB ...
Stevie Wonder: Mr Harmonica Man
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 29 January 1966
"STEVIE'S GOT A Monster," scream the adverts in American papers. They are referring, of course, to his hit record, 'Uptight (Everything's Alright)' which looks like ...
The Stone Roses: "Coming" In The Eire: The Stone Roses: Féile '95, Cork
Live Review by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 19 August 1995
OH YEAH; some other people played as well. Damon hung around all weekend so he could see Elastica play (aww, sweet); Terence Trent D'Arby insists ...
Bill Evans: Living Time With Evans
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 9 December 1972
NONE OF THE other diners appeared to recognise the pianist, but to anyone with jazz inklings he was unmistakable. The long, thick hair, cut page-boy ...
Ride: We Can Be Zeroes: Ride: Going Blank Again (Creation)
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 29 February 1992
AND YOU THOUGHT Nowhere was one of the worst album titles of all time! You almost have to hand it to them for having the ...
Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced? (Track Records)
Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 20 May 1967
Yes — this is the real Jimi Hendrix ...
Interview by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 25 July 1970
FOR SO LONG London has been the undisputed capital of Britain's music industry, that it is almost unthinkable to suggest that its position could be ...
Live Review by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 1 August 1970
Incredible night of string bands ...
Robert Johnson: King Of The Delta Blues Singers
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 24 September 1966
'Crossroads Blues'; 'Terraplane Blues'; 'Come On In My Kitchen'; 'Waltzing Blues'; 'Last Fair Deal Come Down'; '32-20 Blues'; 'Kindhearted Woman Blues'; 'If I Had Possession ...
The Supremes: Tamla Blueprints
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 24 September 1966
WITH THE Supremes at No 6 in the Pop 50 after a rapid climb, all the signs are that we're in for a sustained attack from ...
Nirvana: Postcard From The Edge: Nirvana: Unplugged In New York (Geffen)
Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 29 October 1994
When Nirvana embarked upon MTV's Unplugged session last year, no one dreamed it would be their last-ever album. Now, handicapped as it is by the ...
Cay, Muse: Muse/Cay: Make Mine A Double…
Report and Interview by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 31 July 1999
There's nothing we like better than brilliant new bands. So what could beat joining a booze-fuelled double-bill of MUSE and CAY on the road? ...
Frank Chickens: Educating Frank
Interview by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 6 September 1986
Mixing kimonos with pink socks, FRANK CHICKENS are the ultimate culture shock. Now they sometimes forget they're not English and are firmly intent on changing ...
Big Audio Dynamite, Schoolly D: Big Audio Dynamite/Schoolly D: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 22 November 1986
BEAT ROOTS ...
Aretha Franklin, After Her Hammersmith Odeon Clambake — What Do You Want To Tell Me About That?
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 25 May 1968
MELODY MAKER EXCLUSIVE BY MAX JONES ...
Rita Coolidge, Kris Kristofferson: Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 20 May 1972
Kris the casual pro ...
The Move: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 29 October 1966
PSYCHEDELIC sounds came to London in a new — and explosive — dimension, as the Move continued their Thursday night residency at the Marquee Club ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 25 March 1995
THE ORB, the first band since Pink Floyd to transfer ambient noodling and stunning visuals from clubs to stadia, return this week with a new ...
Janet Jackson: Luscious: Janet Jackson: Janet (Virgin)
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 5 June 1993
IT can be done. Pop music in 1993 can be big, beautiful, frisky, proud, mellow, brash, subtle, motivating, sassy, plush and irresistible. Janet Jackson is ...
Mobb Deep, Redman: Redman/Mobb Deep: Digbeth Institute, Birmingham
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 30 September 1995
TWO GIGS separated by a fortnight, linked by a common grievance. As illustrations of the two ways a hip hop gig can go, they're pretty ...
Live Review by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 8 October 1994
Only a couple of weeks out of hospital, and Richey James is back on a stage, scarred, skinny, bloodshot, but still beautiful. It's a dangerous ...
Max Romeo: 'It's Not A Dirty Song At All,' says Max Romeo
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 5 July 1969
THE ENGLISH have got dirty minds, thinks Max Romeo, the young 19-year-old singer from Kingston, Jamaica, whose provocatively-titled single 'Wet Dream' is currently in the ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 10 May 1996
Jarvis Cocker predicts big things for them. Rock'n'roll bible The Independent called them Britain's best new band. Clearly, the dizzyingly eclectic MOLOKO can't fail ...
Mose Allison: A Chunk Of Indian Music In 'I Got Rhythm' Isn't A Jazz Influence
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 29 January 1966
LONDON — MOSE ALLISON, Mississippi piano player now ending a two-week cabaret season at Annie's Room in London, is not quite the figure you expect ...
Wizzard: The Wonderful Wizzard of Wood
Profile and Interview by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 10 February 1973
ROY WOOD is one of those rare musicians who has never lost sight of the excitement and imagination that make rock worthwhile. ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 July 1969
ROLLING STONES: 'Honky Tonk Women'/'You Can't Always Get What You Want' (Decca). An important single for the Stones, but a disappointment for us . ...
Lindisfarne, Traffic: Traffic, Lindisfarne: Academy of Music, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974
Terrible Traffic ...
David Byrne, Hugo Largo: David Byrne With Les Miserables/Hugo Largo: Cambridge Theatre, London
Live Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 9 July 1988
EVEN BEFORE THE safety-curtain rose to reveal David Byrne sitting on a tree stump, there were some willing highlights. ...
Pink Floyd: Hits? The Floyd Couldn't Care Less
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 9 December 1967
GIVING POP journalists a hard time is the blood sports of groups. It's one of the occupational hazards of the job, as anyone who's ever ...
Jimi Hendrix: With Jimi, The Music Is 3-D! The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Axis: Bold As Love (Track)
Review and Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 9 December 1967
NICK JONES ON THE NEW HENDRIX LP ...
Buddy Guy: The Men Who Make The Blues: Buddy Guy
Profile and Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 5 July 1969
BUDDY GUY is one of the younger generation of blues-men who is helping to carry the music to the younger generation of listeners. ...
Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, MC Shan: Cold Chillin' Records: The Big Chill
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 April 1988
COLD CHILLIN' HAVE COMPILED A ROSTER TO CHALLENGE DEF JAM'S HIP HOP SUPREMACY. CAROLINE SULLIVAN MEETS A TRIO ON THE WAY TO THE TOP ...
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 18 November 1995
IT'S A GREAT NAME, obviously. Daft Punk are a young French duo who support the Chemical Brothers and come as close as is feasibly possible ...
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 16 December 1995
Green Day's major label debut LP sold more than Nevermind, Vitalogy, Monster and Zooropa. Their new one isn't doing too badly, either. Andrew Mueller meets ...
The Beatles, George Harrison: The George Harrison Interview
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 2 September 1967
"You may think this interview is of no importance to me," said George Harrison across a table in NEM's Enterprises Mayfair offices. "But you'd be ...
The Beatles, George Harrison: The George Harrison Interview (part 2)
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 9 September 1967
George Harrison, Beatle, human being and musical innovator, spoke of God, LSD, the Hippies and Haight Ashbury last week in the first of these two ...
Otis Spann, Muddy Waters: Otis Spann: All Alone Otis Is Feeling No Pain
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 5 July 1969
ON OTIS Spann's last visit to this country, with Muddy Waters in November, I wrote that the Waters-Spann partnership would soon be ended. ...
Curve: Radio Sessions (Anxious)
Review by Pete Paphides, Melody Maker, 5 June 1993
THE TROUBLE WITH a lot of these session albums is that they don't appear to offer you anything tastier than slightly less slick versions of ...
10,000 Maniacs, Natalie Merchant: 10,000 Maniacs: Merchant Banquet
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 23 April 1988
WHILE 10,000 MANIACS ARE UP, UP, AND AWAY, SINGER NATALIE MERCHANT IS IMMERSED IN SOME GRAND DIVERSIONS OF HER OWN. SHE TAKES A SPRINGY STEP OFF THE UP ESCALATOR TO ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 August 1967
STONES — CONSIDERABLY TOO MUCH ...
Bobby "Blue" Bland: Bobby Bland: Whisky A Go Go, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 8 February 1975
LOS ANGELES: At a time when today's music seems to be suffering from forced theatrics, and a lack of talent disguised in glitter and gold, ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Afro American: Snoop Doggy Dogg: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 14 May 1994
THEORY HAS IT that an artist gets the audience he deserves. So what the f*** the theory would make of Snoop Doggy Dogg at Brixton ...
The Incredible String Band: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 July 1968
Time to get off the Incredible String Band's mystery tour ...
Half Man Half Biscuit: TV And Biscuits
Interview by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 4 January 1986
'The Continuous Cremation Of Hattie Jacques' is a song by Birkenhead phenomenon HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT, championed by Peel and already local celebrities. Penny Kiley ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 9 January 1965
"THE WHO", appearing each Tuesday at London's Marquee Club, should be billed not only as "Maximum R&B" but as "Far-out R&B." ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, The Hollies, The Mindbenders: Scrubbers – The Facts
Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 10 December 1966
ALAN WALSH investigates the WORLD OF THE FEMALE POP FAN ...
STEVIE WONDER explains the latest sound from Tamla... FUNKEDELIC!
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 15 March 1969
AT THE AGE of 19, Stevie Wonder is something of a soul business veteran. But after meeting and seeing him in action, it's easy to ...
Bert Jansch: Moonshine (Reprise)
Review by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 24 February 1973
BERT JANSCH'S music has matured into predictable shapes. The combination of traditional and self-composed songs which makes up the major proportion of his repertoire, the ...
The Beastie Boys: The Filofax Of Life
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 25 June 1994
Beastie Boys have recovered from years of being f***ed about by record companies to build their very own self-contained business empire. They've also just made ...
GWAR Is Hell: GWAR: The Dome, London
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 20 July 1991
THE IDEA BEING THAT the bloke in the spiked chainmail and extended cod-piece gets to chop off the heads off all his various enemies — ...
Limp Bizkit: Master Of Paris!: Limp Bizkit: Salle Maubert Mutualite, Paris *****
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 13 September 2000
WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE of a war zone. It's us versus them, love against hate, the frenzied adrenalin rush of excitement facing up to the ...
OutKast: This week's best new band is… Outkast
Profile and Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 6 December 2000
INCENDIARY HIP-HOP MISCHIEF ...
Blur: This Is The Modern World?
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 7 May 1994
BLUR believe themselves to be the most modern of bands, a four-man amalgamation of Nineties Britain. DAVID BENNUN reckons they're clever throwbacks, feeding on a ...
Little Walter: King Of The Blues Harmonica
Obituary by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 9 March 1968
IT IS A sad work indeed to have to write of the death of Little Walter, outstanding harmonica player and fair blues singer, who came ...
Oasis: Certainly Probably: Oasis: Definitely Maybe (Creation)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 27 August 1994
OASIS — Don't Believe The Hype? Well, that depends on whether you've been waiting for a Nineties dream hybrid of The Beatles and The Stones, ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 8 October 1966
THE DUSTY Springfield tour opened last Tuesday at London's Finsbury Park Astoria with Dave Berry and the Fortunes filling the large gap vacated by the ...
The Smiths: Home Thoughts From Abroad
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 27 September 1986
While THE SMITHS tour America, controversy still rages over their single, 'Panic'. Does the refrain 'hang the deejay' really harbour racist tendencies? Frank Owen tracks down ...
Full Force, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam: Full Force/Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 1 November 1986
MAY THE FARCE BE WITH YOU ...
Frank Sinatra: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978
"SINATRA IS Sinatra, and this is perfect," someone once wrote about one of his movies. That sentence would, I imagine, sum up the feelings of ...
Louis Armstrong: Tell Them Satchmo Is Feeling Great, Looking Pretty And Blowin' Great!
Profile and Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 13 April 1968
LOUIS ARMSTRONG, ON HIS PERSONAL HOTLINE FROM MIAMI BEACH, TALKS TO ALAN WALSH ...
Tammy Wynette: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978
SO ENTRENCHED is the tradition of slick showmanship and synthetic sincerity among buxom country goddesses that we should no longer be surprised or nauseated by ...
The Groundhogs, Howlin' Wolf: Howlin' Wolf, The Groundhogs: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 15 November 1969
THERE WAS nothing new about Chester Burnett's routine at the Marquee Club on Thursday, but the Wolf, nearing the end of his third British tour, ...
Frankie Knuckles: Groovemaster No.1: Frankie Knuckles
Profile and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 20 June 1987
IN 1980, Chicago was the centre of the anti-disco campaign that was, at that time, sweeping America. Two local DJs, Steve Dahl and Jerry Meier, ...
Lenny Kravitz: All You Need Is Love
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 19 May 1990
Lenny Kravitz is well on his way to becoming an international rock superstar. But is he really anything more than a hippy throwback with a ...
Felt: Bubblegum Perfume (Creation)
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 30 June 1990
WHEN IT COMES TO individuality and wilful peversity, Lawrence's only rival is Prince. In ten years he guided Felt through ten LPs and ten singles, ...
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 14 June 1986
AS if he hasn't got enough on his plate, what with producing Motorhead and Fourth World funking all over the place, BILL LASWELL's gone and ...
Ike & Tina Turner: Race Riots Drive Ike & Tina to Britain
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 27 April 1968
THERE'S A good chance the Ike and Tina Turner band and the Ikettes will be spending some time in Europe this summer... because of America's ...
Jo Ann Kelly, T. Rex: T. Rex, Jo Ann Kelly: Lyceum, London
Live Review by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 25 July 1970
Magical Marc! ...
Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin: The Age of Atlantic: Jerry Wexler
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975
Max Jones talks to Jerry Wexler, famed producer of Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Maggie Bell, among others — and a vice-chairman of Atlantic ...
The Age of Atlantic: Making Tracks, Charlie Gillett (W.H. Allen)
Book Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975
Robert Partridge reviews a major new book about one of America's most important record labels. ...
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 26 May 1990
BLUR are precisely that. The antics of their vocalist have to be seen to be believed. ...
The Stone Roses: Where Angels Play
Report by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 26 May 1990
It may not seem it to non-believers, but it's been a mighty long time since the Stone Roses last played a gig. That was at ...
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 8 October 1966
Blues by three in the worst possible setting ...
Lush: Automobile For The People
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 18 June 1994
LUSH are back! Cue multiple VATs and strawberry daiquiris. But no! Lush's hard-drinking, hard-socialising days are behind them. They've gone all introspective and solemn. And, ...
Louis Jordan: A First Class Original
Obituary by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975
MAX JONES pays tribute to a fine blues singer/alto player ...
Sly & the Family Stone: BANNED! Top Of The Pops Drop Sly & The Family Stone
Report and Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 September 1968
SLY AND The Family Stone, still a chart force with 'Dance To The Music', were supposed to appear on BBC-TV's Top Of The Pops last ...
Pink Floyd: A Saucerful of Secrets (Columbia)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 10 August 1968
Hear the Floyd — it's not so painful ...
Supergrass: Lycanthropissed-up!: Supergrass: I Should Coco (Parlophone)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 13 May 1995
A scary rock 'n' roll wolfchild who roams the streets, high on drugs and booze, in search of whatever cheap thrills the night has to ...
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 3 January 1976
THE LINK between these two artists is by no means absolute, but the somewhat eccentric tastes of each have produced intriguing and offbeat albums. ...
Run-DMC: Run DMC: Raising Hell (London)
Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 19 July 1986
BOYS FROM THE COUNTY HELL ...
The Four Tops: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 November 1966
TREMENDOUS TOPS SCORE AT SAVILLE ...
Janet Jackson: Fondle With Care: Janet Jackson: Ahoy, Rotterdam
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 25 April 1998
IT'S WHEN THE camera catches the screen and doubles her back to infinity. It's when she's frozen silent by the spotlight, in the teeth of ...
Canned Heat: Coming from the States in September — A Hard Blues and Rock Group
Profile by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
CANNED HEAT, who crept into the bottom of the chart last week at 28 with 'On The Road Again' are a hard blues and rock ...
The Chemical Brothers: The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 20 January 1996
Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands aka THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS are the Stooges of techno — freaky, raw and seriously hip. Like The Orb, The Prodigy, ...
Bikini Kill: Stars and Gripes: Bikini Kill: Reject All American (Kill Rock Stars)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 6 April 1996
BIKINI KILL. Prime movers in 1992's Riot Grrrl scene. Agitators, manipulators, punk rockers, irritants. They're back! And EVERETT TRUE still loves 'em ...
The Jesus & Mary Chain: Psychocandy (Warners)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 23 November 1985
THE NEGATIVE VIBES ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966
Beach Boys get lads going! ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 22 November 1986
THE CANKER & THE CURE ...
Profile and Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 1996
Isn't BECK the slacker king and self-proclaimed 'Loser'? So how come he's the hardest working man in showbiz? Why has Noel Gallagher chosen new single ...
Bomb The Bass: Seasonal Adjustment
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 13 July 1991
TIM SIMENON shuts his eyes, shakes his head and through gritted teeth describes the last Bomb The Bass single, 'Love So True', as "a total ...
Jimi Hendrix: "I Felt We Were In Danger Of Becoming The U.S. Dave Dee" — Jimi Hendrix
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 20 July 1968
THE ELECTRIFIED hair has been shortened somewhat, but it was unmistakably still Jimi Hendrix. He loped into his manager's Gerrard Street office, grinned slyly, shook ...
The Fugees: Ready Or What?: The Fugees: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 2 November 1996
THREE NUMBERS. Over some 40 minutes prior to the encore, that's all they manage to play. Three numbers in full. And two of them are ...
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966
A TRIUMPH — there is no other word for the reception Judy Collins and Tom Paxton received at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday. The ...
Can: Tago Mago (United Artists)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 29 January 1972
AS DUNCAN Fallowell says in his sleevenotes, Can could not be anything but German. ...
Echobelly: Get Yer Sonya Ya's Out!
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 15 October 1994
You may have read about ECHOBELLY before, but you won't have — seen them clambering on a roof in Manchester! Watched them in a courtroom ...
Pink Floyd: The Final Cut (EMI SHPF 1983)
Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 19 March 1983
JUST PICTURE IT: over on the left there's wacky old Jack-the-lad Tony Ashton bobbing and weaving away beneath his dad's mangy cloth cap like Kevin ...
O.C. Smith Fights For Poor People
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 6 July 1968
THERE was a familiar face at the head of last week's Poor People's March in Washington, USA,the protest on behalf of America's underprivileged classes led ...
Iggy Pop, The Stooges: Lock Up Your Daughters, Iggy's Here
Profile and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 1 April 1972
AS MARC BOLAN swung his hips for the benefit of Ringo Starr's camerawork, did any of the 9,000 upturned faces notice the auburn-haired American fifth ...
Robert Wyatt: Diving for Pearls
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 4 June 1983
Adam Sweeting talks to ROBERT WYATT about shipbuilding, pop music, the Eurovision song contest, and revolutionary ideologies. ...
Pink Floyd: The Dome, Brighton
Live Review by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 29 January 1972
NOBODY WHO'S involved in present day music is going to deny that the Pink Floyd have contributed some classics. But having become accustomed to them ...
Don Covay: Blaises Club, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 9 April 1966
DON COVAY is another of the American soul singers at present on our shores. ...
Ash: Better Cremate Than Ever?: Ash: LA2, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 2 September 1995
IT'S POURING OFF ME. Pure f***ing rage. See, the enemy isn't hoary rockers. It isn't Britpoppers, soul-sincerity dullards or synthetic chart popsters, although they all ...
Wayne County & The Electric Chairs: Wayne County: Eric's, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 19 May 1979
...and then he was she ...
Manic Street Preachers: Manic… depression!
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 29 May 1993
This is the MANIC STREET PREACHERS' first interview of 1993. That's the good news over with. Now for the bad: RICHEY believes that "ninety per ...
Alex Chilton: London University
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 10 March 1990
WHAT BECOMES a legend most? Taking drugs helps. Being renowned for a certain volatile temperament that involves smashing up studio consoles and putting your hands ...
Bert Kaempfert: 'Bye Bye Blues' Man Kaempfert Was First To Record Beatles
Profile and Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 29 January 1966
BERT KAEMPFERT is something of a musical paradox. This German musician/arranger/composer is thought of in Britain — even among sections of show business itself — ...
Live Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 26 May 1979
FOUR DIVERSE samples of current Mancunian Factory products: dopey comedian John Dowie; a cute pop duo called Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark; A Certain Ratio ...
Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 12 August 1967
Fresh Beach Boys for the summer months ...
Captain Beefheart: The Spotlight Kid (Reprise)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 29 January 1972
THE FURTHER adventures or the Captain, Zoot Horn Rollo, Rockette Morton, Drumbo, and their new friends Ed Marimba and Winged Eel Fingerling are, somewhat surprisingly, ...
Jonathan Richman: Having A Party With… (Cheree)
Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 18 January 1992
SINCE Modern Lovers '88, Richman's career appears to have run to seed, each subsequent release an ever fainter reminder of the days when his idiosyncratic ...
Don Cherry: Black Gypsy, Folk Dreams
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 22 September 1979
Probably the only person who isn't surprised to find Don Cherry playing on the Slits' tour is Cherry himself. Since his apprenticeship with free-jazz guru ...
The Sugarcubes: Joyriders On The Storm
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 1 February 1992
"The shock of the renewed" is how ANDREW MUELLER magnificently greets Stick Around For Joy, The 'Cubes' return to the forefront of the fray. Hang ...
Mazzy Star: Starred For Life: Mazzy Star: Among My Swan (Capitol)
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 2 November 1996
Mazzy star's new album sounds exactly like... Mazzy Star. Which is a blessing. ...
Amanda Lear: Who's Afraid of Amanda Lear?
Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 10 February 1979
She lived with Brian Jones, and was Salvador Dali's protégé. She took David Bowie to see Metropolis, and watched him turn Fritz Lang into hit ...
Andy Williams: I Owe This Hit To Frankie Valli
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 20 April 1968
ASK THE average pop fan about politics, and he'll recoil in horror. Lots of people in pop, and outside it, believe that politics and pop ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 7 October 1995
GARBAGE, the band formed by Nirvana producer Butch Vig, are like a black cloud looming over the fluorescent landscape of current pop and their current ...
The Byrds: Younger Than Yesterday (CBS)
Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 13 May 1967
No other word for the Byrds but beautiful ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 10 March 1990
Push reports on The KLF, Bill Drummond's new band who're at the forefront of the ambient house movement. After The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu ...
Cilla Black: Brian Epstein: It's Impossible To Put My Feelings Into Words — Cilla
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 9 September 1967
"WHEN I HEARD the news of Brian's death I just felt utterly alone. There was no consolation from anyone." Cilla Black, at her parents' new ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 25 March 1967
STAX — THE RAVE SHOW TO END 'EM ALL ...
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 12 February 1972
THE MC5 don't want to be stars, if you can dig that. They reason that they are there with you to fill the air with ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Salt 'N' Pepa: Short Back and Asides
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 28 April 1990
SALT 'N' PEPA are about to curl up and dye. The first of their chain of Salt 'N' Pepa beauty salons will soon open at ...
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 24 March 1990
IT'S LIKE stumbling back in time. As yet another rap package rolls across the land of the Mounties, De La Soul find themselves in the ...
Betty Wright: Getting It Wright
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 15 March 1986
BETTY WRIGHT is back with 'Pain', but she doesn't feel any because she's got religion. Frank Owen is in two minds. ...
The Clash, Mikey Dread, Joe Ely: The Clash, Joe Ely, Mikey Dread: Electric Ballroom/Lyceum, London
Live Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 23 February 1980
Fings ain't what they used to be ...
John Lydon, Malcolm McLaren, Public Image Ltd, The Sex Pistols: Rotten v. McLaren: No Winner
Report by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 24 February 1979
AS JOHNNY Rotten savours his first victory in the Lydon-Glitterbest case, Public Image Ltd. prepare to record a second album with a new drummer, the ...
Report by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 25 November 1967
NICK JONES SORTS OUT THE NEW U.S. SOUNDS ...
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: Bang! Bang! You're Cred
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 5 October 1996
They're rude, they're raw, they love rock'n'roll, they're The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Just don't call them cabaret, that's all ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 November 1967
HUBBLE, BUBBLE, toil and trouble, and wowee Jimi Hendrix! The Hendrix-Move tour thundered off on its trip round Britain with a deafening start at London's ...
Babes In Toyland: The Boardwalk, Manchester
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 27 May 1995
I MISS Ligament cos (I was gonna come up with an excuse as contrived as my mate, who was late for school one day cos ...
Sun Ra: Squat Theatre, New York NY
Live Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 22 September 1979
Panto time with Sun Ra ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 7 June 1975
THE TWO guitarists, one long and lean and the other short and cuddly, twizzle forth in a grinding motion that reminds me of a curious ...
The Beatles, George Harrison: Beatle George And Where He's At
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 16 December 1967
For many people, the Beatles have long passed the stage where they are merely a pop group. The first indication of this development was probably ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 25 March 1967
A SUSPICIOUS audience confronted the Byrds when they played their only gig, an informal affair at London's Speakeasy Club, last Tuesday — no doubt recollecting ...
Nina Simone: Lady Trashes The Blues
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979
Nina Simone's concerts are almost as nerve-racking as her turbulent personal life, which makes it easy to see her as a weird, tragic mixture of Billie Holiday and Judy Garland. KARL ...
Buzzcocks, Joy Division: The Buzzcocks, Joy Division: Mountford Hall, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 12 October 1979
OF IMAGES AND IDOLS ...
Last Exit: Bill Laswell's Last Exit: Paradiso, Amsterdam
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 31 May 1986
SUCH IS Fourth World Funker Bill Laswell's anonymity that few of us know which of this combo was actually him. It turned out to be ...
The Roots: Illadelph Halflife (Geffen)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 1 February 1997
HIP HOP RULE NUMBER 4080: "live" instrumentation and hip hop don't mix. Hip hop rule Number 4081: except for The Roots. The exception, the exceptional, ...
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 22 February 1997
...here they come! REPUBLICA, that is, the UK post-punk techno-pop band who are currently taking America by storm ...
Ariwa Posse, The Mad Professor: Ariwa Posse and The Mad Professor: The Wild Bunch
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 15 March 1986
Keen young sociologist Frank Owen grabs a stetson and pursues ARIWA POSSE and their mentor THE MAD PROFESSOR. Reggae will never be the same again. ...
Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
THE LATEST episode in the Mama's and Papa's will-they-split-or-won't-they saga is a single by mammoth Mama Cass which seems certain to be a monster hit. ...
Report by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
Friendly and polite or mean and bigoted? Even transferred to North London, the country music audience reflects the ambiguous small-town mentality. MARY HARRON heard Tammy ...
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 November 1969
TUESDAY OF last week was Big Blues Night at London's 100 Club where a large, good-humoured crowd was afforded almost non-stop entertainment by the Killing ...
Live Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 17 March 1979
Diddley grandaddy ...
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 31 March 1990
Three months ago, no one had heard of Ride, yet now they're fast becoming the most sought-after band in Britain, providing positive proof that music ...
The Chemical Brothers: The Lucifer-y Freak Brothers: The Chemical Brothers: The Academy, Manchester
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 2 November 1996
THE BOY ONSTAGE looks surprisingly calm and bright eyed. He gazes out at the mass of seething bodies, hunches his shoulders in a quietly at-one ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 29 November 1975
LAST MONTH they caught Patti Hearst — and so ended the biggest man (or woman) hunt in the history of the US. ...
Eddie Boyd Names Europe's Best Blues Guitar
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 24 February 1968
WHEN EDDIE Boyd, American blues pianist and singer, first came to Britain with the Folk Blues Festival in 1965 he was surprised to find such a ...
Wanda Jackson, George Jones: George Jones, Wanda Jackson: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 27 September 1975
GEORGE JONES is one of the major stars of American country music but, without the help of a chart single to attract the MOR audience, ...
Samantha Fox: The Best Girls Are Always In The Maker!
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 20 July 1985
Dumb blonde or shrewd businesswoman? Whatever your viewpoint, you've got to envy Sun Page Three girl SAMANTHA FOX. Still a teenager, she stands to earn ...
Aretha Franklin: Who's Zoomin' Who? (Arista)
Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 27 July 1985
SINCE HER Atlantic heyday, critics have bemoaned Aretha's descent into the rhetoric of showbiz glamour. They want her to return to the transcendent flights and ...
En Vogue: Style Be There: En Vogue: EV3 (east west)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 21 June 1997
Forget the bargain basement girl power of The Spice Girls — EN VOGUE are sexier, sassier and downright funky… ...
Dodgy: What's So Funny About Peace, Love & Understanding?
Report and Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 24 August 1996
People thought DODGY were barking when they turned down an offer to play with Oasis at Loch Lomond and Knebworth. But they had more serious ...
Overview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 24 January 1976
Richard Williams introduces the Latin sound that comes into London this week ...
Charlie Mingus: Charles Mingus: Beneath The Underdog (Penguin paperback 75p)
Book Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 24 January 1976
Mingus hits out ...
The Beach Boys: After The Maharishi What Next For The Beach Boys?
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 1 June 1968
AN UNEXPECTED bonus came out of the collapse of the Beach Boys' abortive tour with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. After the Indian mystic split the trek, ...
Little Walter: Little Walter (Marble Arch)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 18 May 1968
Walter — guv'nor of the harp ...
Take That: That's All Folks!: Take That: Greatest Hits (RCA)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 23 March 1996
That That have split. David Bennun laments the passing of the "greatest pop group in the world" ...
The Bluetones: We Have Lift Off!
Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 10 February 1996
When Melody Maker first put THE BLUETONES on the front cover last September, most people wondered who the f*** they were. Now, of course, everybody ...
Fela Kuti: The Republic Of Kuti
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 3 December 1983
FELA KUTI gives Lynden Barber a lecture in African culture. ...
The Smiths: Liverpool Polytechnic
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 5 November 1983
WHAT ARE you to think when the group come on stage and start throwing flowers into the audience? On this occasion, a practical response seems ...
The Rolling Stones: Jagger and The Shape Of Things To Come
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 January 1967
HOW DO YOU foresee the progress of the Stones in 1967? ...
Aretha Franklin: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 18 May 1968
America's soul sister Aretha conquers Britain ...
Geoff Muldaur: Blues Is The Basis
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 22 February 1975
You're probably more familiar with Maria — but Geoff Muldaur has an impressive track record of his own, taking in the legendary Blues Project, the ...
The Osmonds: The Osmonds by Paul H. Dunn (W. H. Allen, £2.95)
Book Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 January 1976
Osmonds inside out ...
Supergrass: Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 24 February 1996
Almost exactly a year ago, when The Maker put them on the cover for the first time, SUPERGRASS were pop's likeliest lads, cheeky young upstarts ...
Supergrass: Interrogation Terrorists
Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 2 March 1996
Last week, we gave you The Return of SUPERGRASS. This week, we open psycho-bible The Book of Questions and fling some brain-frazzling enquiries at The ...
Foo Fighters: Foo Do You Love: Foo Fighters: Foo Fighters (Roswell/Capitol)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 24 June 1995
Nirvana may have been heroes to many but they never meant shit to some. And, overburdened though it is by the weight of recent history, ...
Pink Floyd: All Saints Church Hall, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 20 October 1966
LAST FRIDAY the Pink Floyd, a new London group, embarked upon their first "happening" — a pop dance incorporating psychedelic effects and mixed media — ...
John Martyn: Solid Air (Island)
Review by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 3 March 1973
HOW DO you begin to describe a guitarist as sensitive and accomplished as John Martyn? Every new album expands one's appreciation of his ability. ...
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 1 June 1968
MICKEY DOLENZ reveals their plans for a change of image in the future ...
Guns N' Roses, Jane's Addiction: Guns N' Roses: The Subterraneans
Report and Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 6 June 1987
Something's crawling from the gutters of Los Angeles, something bright and proud and bad, something making claims on setting a scene. Jonh Wilde took a ...
Bert Jansch: An Everyday Story of Funky Folk
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 17 January 1976
NOW THAT Bert has returned from the Continent, where he has been touring these months and more, he will have to find somewhere else to ...
Stereo MCs: High and Mighty: The irresistible rise of Stereo MCs
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 6 February 1993
Are they Prince times six? A Sly & The Family Stone for the Nineties? The best "new" dance band in Britain? ANDREW SMITH flies to ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 25 June 1994
THREE YEARS AGO this month, an unboxed demo tape marked only "Thieves" arrives at The Maker offices. ...
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 19 November 1983
Lynden Barber hero-worships SUN RA ...
Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall: Beyond the Blues Horizon
Profile and Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 13 January 1968
THE EVER-growing acceptance of blues during the Sixties has decisively affected the direction in which the popular music business has travelled in country. On the ...
Madonna: Um, Forgettable: Madonna: Something To Remember (Maverick/Warners)
Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 11 November 1995
She's trying to get all sophisticated in her old age, isn't she? Record company supremo, new cultured, metropolitan image, and a collection of her slower, ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 27 January 1996
For 25 years, DAVID TOOP has been writing about making music that breaches all musical boundaries. Now he's compiled a CD that sets out to ...
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 3 May 1969
B.B. KING SPELLS OUT THE BLUES ...
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 26 May 1979
pragVEC'S THIRD visit to Liverpool, and a quiet Thursday night at Eric's. A handful of people were scattered around the club to watch Penetration (playing ...
Bob Dylan: Will The Real Bob Dylan Please Stand Up?
Report and Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 14 May 1966
Max Jones meets the mystical mister Dylan ...
Tears For Fears: Talking in Riddles
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 26 November 1983
Adam Sweeting tolerates the serious posturings of TEARS FOR FEARS. ...
Canned Heat, The Group That Refused To Be A Juke Box And Got Fired
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 14 September 1968
AFTER THE tensions and hatred of America, Canned Heat, who claim they are the only white country blues group in the world, have found London ...
Live Review by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 7 December 1974
NEW YORK: Graham Central Station kicked off the show at the Felt Forum last Sunday with their brand of Sly funk They aren't really like ...
Profile and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 7 December 1974
When Billy Swan cut a solo single, things started to happen — and they kept on happening until he reached the American No 1 spot... ...
Soft Machine: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970
THOSE WHO imagine that Ronnie Scott is selling out by inviting the Soft Machine to play for a week at his club are in for ...
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 24 October 1998
Virtually unknown a year ago — 12 months later Cerys Matthews is voted the sexiest woman in rock in a Maker poll. How'd that happen!? ...
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 22 November 1986
THE ART of the re-mix was perhaps debased forever by the whole Frankie fleece-the-punter exercise. Re-mixes have subsequently come to be cold-shouldered to isolated corners ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 November 1967
THE MOST remarkable show ever held at London's Saville Theatre on Sunday — the Bee Gees with awe inspiring 30-piece orchestra, combining advanced pop with ...
The Seahorses: Put An Annelid On It: The Seahorses: Do It Yourself (Geffen)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 24 May 1997
Question A: What the hell does John Squire think he's doing? Question B: Why is he doing it with THE SEAHORSES? Oh dear… ...
Louis Armstrong: The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, Part 1
Report and Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 29 June 1968
MAX JONES reports from Batley ...
Louis Armstrong: The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, Part 2
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 6 July 1968
"I'VE BEEN trying to follow you for 20 years," a trumpet player was saying to Louis Armstrong in Batley the other day. Louis raised his ...
Louis Armstrong: The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, Part 3
Report and Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 13 July 1968
SATCH SAYS THANKS FOR THE THRILL ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 July 1968
Bonzo's brilliance steals the show ...
Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Columbia) ****
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 3 October 1998
IF, SAY, Embrace were to sit around in the studio talking about paper rounds and puberty and stuff, they'd never dream of recording snippets and ...
Little Feat: Philosophy of the Feat
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 3 May 1975
"LITTLE FEAT are flukes," says Lowell George, "and the flukes just can't be stopped. In the end they balance out the monstrosities of 'formula' music." ...
Don Williams: Silence Is Golden
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 13 October 1979
THE FOYER of London's Royal Garden Hotel is an amusing monument to opulence. Arabs glide around as if they own the place, and they probably ...
Ben Folds Five: The Men From U.N.C.O.O.L.
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 20 June 1996
BEN FOLDS FIVE are on a mission (impossible) to make Seventies radio pop so hip it hurts ...
Prince, Mavis Staples: Mavis Staples: Time Waits For No One (Paisley Park)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 10 June 1989
NINETEEN EIGHTY nine has been a year for bumping into old friends, what with the spate of reissues, relaunched careers, and general rehabilitation. Back in ...
Status Quo: In Search Of A Concrete Image
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 24 February 1968
STATUS QUO are worried men. Their problem: a follow-up to their first chart hit 'Pictures Of Matchstick Men'. ...
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 4 November 1967
THE BLUES roll on, as we're often told, and last Thursday they rolled up to the shores of Hammersmith in the form of the 1967 ...
Profile and Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 1 November 1975
THE CHOCOLATE-smothered Rice Krispies cup cake lay half-eaten on the plate, neglected after the first bite. Tanya, it seemed, was not in the best of ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sutherland Brothers and Quiver: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1 November 1975
IF PROOF was needed that Lynyrd Skynyrd have broken Britain's back, then a visit to Hammersmith Odeon on Monday night would have persuaded the harshest ...
Robbie Williams: Robbie Fowl!: Robbie Williams: I've Been Expecting You (Chrysalis) **
Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 31 October 1998
SINCE Life Thru A Lens appeared last September, a lot has happened to fat Bob. Mind you, a lot happened to him before Life Thru ...
Grace Jones: "Born To F*** — I should get a tee-shirt saying that"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 7 April 1990
THE ICE QUEEN MAY BE MAKING A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO MELT HER IMAGE AND BECOME MORE FEMININE, BUT SHE WAS STILL HARD ENOUGH TO BURY ...
The Replacements: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 7 June 1986
A SECRET shame, this weakness of mine for The Replacements. Their beery rowdyism and refusal to take nuthin' serious represents everything I abhor and their ...
The Pale Fountains: Fountains of Youth
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 17 March 1984
Helen FitzGerald swoons in the company of THE PALE FOUNTAINS, back with a new album after a fruitless search for the ideal record producer. ...
The Rolling Stones: UFOs Are Landing In My Garden Says Keith Richard
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 15 June 1968
KEITH RICHARD, Rolling Stones guitarist and co-writer of songs with Mick Jagger, believes that he lives on a UFO landing site. ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Eric B & Rakim: Paid In Full: Platinum Edition (Island) *****
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 31 October 1998
IN THE LATE EIGHTIES, Eric B & Rakim were, simply, the coolest sonic and lyrical innovators hip hop had ever seen: street-level poets and musical ...
Profile and Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 21 July 1973
"WE LIKE TO think of every song as a composition in itself, a composition in the more orthodox meaning. ...
Jimmy Smith: Hobo Flats (Verve VLP9039)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 12 October 1963
Big band backing lifts organ tracks ...
Lydia Lunch, Sonic Youth: University Of London Union
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 7 June 1986
HUMBLE PIE time. Just when I'd neatly dismissed them from my mind as Grand Funk Railroad with a degree in Modern Art and a copy ...
Comment by Everett True, Melody Maker, 27 February 1993
Ever since HUGGY BEAR released their debut EP, Rubbing The Impossible To Burst, the band have been educating, irritating and agitating with their confrontational "girl ...
The Specials: Hurrah, New York NY
Live Review by Roy Trakin, Melody Maker, 2 February 1980
Up to you ...
Blood Sausage, Huggy Bear, Linus: Huggy Bear: Will Not Be Televised!
Report by Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, 27 February 1993
friday 9.40pm: one of the herd at The Word ...
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 January 1966
HOOKER RECORDS abound, but the latest from Chess, John Lee Hooker Plays And Sings The Blues (CRL4500) is a more than usually satisfying set. ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 12 December 1987
DINOSAUR ARE AT THE VANGUARD OF THE NEW GUITAR NOISE THREATENING TO RUPTURE THE CONVENTIONAL FABRIC OF ROCK. SIMON REYNOLDS MEETS THE RELUCTANT VOICES BEHIND ...
The Electric Prunes: Putting Electricity into the Electric Prunes
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 2 December 1967
THE Electric Prunes landed in Britain from the States last week to recharge the British club circuit with electricity — from natural sources. ...
Ivor Biggun, Duffo, The Lurkers, Tubeway Army: Beggars Banquet: Where Taste is a Dirty Word
Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 31 March 1979
Nick Austin and Martin Mills are the perpetrators of Duffo, Ivor Biggun and the Lurkers. They may have traded in their Jags for Cortinas. but ...
Dexys Midnight Runners: Music Machine, London
Live Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 2 February 1980
THREE GUITARS, three brass, one keyboard and drums and we have the... Next Big Thing. At present Dexys Runners may not have the repertoire that such an ...
Urge Overkill: Life Is A Dry Martini
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 25 July 1992
Chicago's URGE OVERKILL are so cool, they don't even sweat. Some dunderheads think they they're a retro joke, but Dean Martin's a fan of their ...
Blur: Colditz A Knockout!: Blur: The Great Escape (Food)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 9 September 1995
If you thought 'Country House' meant BLUR were playing it safe, you haven't heard The Great Escape. Damon has laced his tales of commuter belt ...
Live Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 10 October 1987
The Funk Absurd ...
Retrospective and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979
The Man Who Sold The World ...
Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark (Asylum)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 26 January 1974
OF ALL THE female writers and singers post-dating Joan Baez in pop music, Joni Mitchell seems to me to have arrived at the most complete ...
Ray Charles: Backstage With Ray, 'The Genius'
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 28 September 1968
RAY CHARLES, singer and pianist among other things, and his team of 16 musicians, four Raelets, manager Joe Adams and sundry helpers, flew into London ...
The Byrds: Flamingo Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 August 1965
FANS GO COOL OVER TOO-COOL BYRDS ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976
THINGS WERE so bad in Scandinavia, an MM reader there informed us some months ago, that Abba were regarded as a progressive rock band. ...
EMF: Ballroom Blitzed! EMF: Cha Cha Cha (Parlophone)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 18 March 1995
EMF are famous for putting citrus fruits up their foreskins and getting drunk. For some peculiar reason, DAVID BENNUN doesn't think this, in itself, is ...
Wendy James: This Year's Model: The Second Coming of Wendy James
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 6 February 1993
The last time we spoke to WENDY JAMES, she made a lot of typically outrageous claims for herself. She would be the biggest name in ...
Retrospective and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979
EARLY IN July, 1978, the office of Glitterbest Ltd. at 90/98 Shaftesbury Avenue, which is the centre of London's Theatreland, received the following letter. ...
Roy Orbison: Orbison — Friendly American With A Soft Spot For Britain
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 11 March 1967
ROY ORBISON is one of the unfathomable elements in British pop. He weathered the turbulent years of the beat boom singing dramatic ballads in the ...
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 10 February 1973
A GROUP like the O'Jays is, to be honest, only as good as the producers and writers it works with. It may have a lead ...
Daniel Johnston: Tell Laurie I Love Her: Daniel Johnston: Artistic Vice (Shimmydisc)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 8 February 1992
"EVERYTHING is so much better/Now that we are back together/I did what I had/To make you mine" ('I Feel So High') ...
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 4 May 1985
Helen 'fat is a feminist issue' FitzGerald gets greedy with the FAT BOYS, who are turning rap into pap... or pop. ...
The Communards: Heaven, London
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 6 July 1985
GAY'S THE WORD ...
James Brown, Isaac Hayes, Taste: Albums from Isaac Hayes, Taste and James Brown
Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 10 January 1970
Isaac Hayes: Hot Buttered Soul (Stax) Tremendously successful in the States, this is the first solo album from Isaac Hayes, better known as the hit songwriter with Dave ...
Retrospective and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 30 June 1979
WHEN HE WAS LYING, HE WAS MORE INTERESTING THAN MANY MEN TELLING A STORY TRULY. ...
Billy Paul: The Jazz Soul of Billy Paul
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 10 February 1973
IT'S ODD to hear a black singer from North Philadelphia, who topped the US soul and pop charts a few weeks ago, admit that it ...
Report and Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 26 October 1968
"I LOVE England but I'm never coming there again," said blind singer/guitarist Jose Feliciano. ...
Marilyn Manson: Freak Showmanship: Marilyn Manson, Brixton Academy: London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 31 May 1997
YOUNG BOYS. HALF-NEKKID. COVERED IN MAKE-UP. GULP. It's heaving in here and I can't tell if it's down to a pilgrimage of worship or just ...
Juliana Hatfield: No Fun Girl Three: The Juliana Hatfield Three: Become What You Are (east west)
Review by Pete Paphides, Melody Maker, 31 July 1993
SHE'S KIND OF complicated, our Juliana. Like in the way most people are complicated. ...
Imagination: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 7 June 1986
FOR ME, the high point of the set by this precision-dancing disco collective was the moment when Leee slipped off his gold lame jacket to ...
Bert Jansch: St. Pancras Town Hall, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 22 October 1966
TAKE ONE of our most introspective folk singers and put him alone on a stage for nearly three hours. It sounds like madness, but when ...
Otis Spann, Muddy Waters: Muddy Waters and Otis Spann: End of the Soul Half-Brothers
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 7 December 1968
I WAS playing some records with Otis Spann and S.P. Leary in their hotel on London's Cromwell Road last week. ...
Allen Toussaint: Southern Nights
Profile and Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 3 May 1975
Way down yonder in New Orleans, ALLEN TOUSSAINT is an ace hitmaker. He's had a hand in such classics as 'Mother-In-Law', 'Land of 1,000 Dances' ...
Richard and Linda Thompson: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 3 May 1975
IT WAS a night steeped in nostalgia. One of those occasions when the event was more important and ultimately more memorable than the music. Lots ...
Huggy Bear, Skinned Teen: Ready Teddy Go: Huggy Bear/Skinned Teen: Notre Dame Hall, London
Live Review by John Robb, Melody Maker, 10 July 1993
BREAKING THE SILENCE following the white-hot furore surrounding them earlier in the year, Huggy Bear are a band under pressure. For some, they are the ...
Simon & Garfunkel: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 25 March 1967
TWO people, one guitar, gave a concert of overwhelming beauty, compassion, and entertainment at London's vast Royal Albert Hall, last Saturday, where enormous crowds flocked ...
Ride: Eight-legged Snooze Machine: Ride: Tarantula (Creation)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 9 March 1996
Who will mourn RIDE, now gone the way of all flesh? Not NEIL 'Bites Yer Legs' KULKARNI, that's for sure ...
Bronski Beat: The rage dissent: Bronski Beat: Hundreds & Thousands (Forbidden Fruit)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 14 September 1985
I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE we should approve of this sort of thing. When a band of status splits up it's general record company policy to ...
Traffic's Life of Isolation Ends in London
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 30 September 1967
THE TRAFFIC'S splendid isolation in the wilds of Berkshire has temporarily ended. Pressure of success has forced the group into town and now they share ...
Gil Scott-Heron: Black Interpreter
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 17 May 1975
NEW YORK: "I hear they're asking Rockefeller to investigate the CIA. Well now, in my opinion that's stupid. Asking Rockefeller what's wrong with the CIA ...
The Carter Family, Johnny Cash: Johnny Cash: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 27 September 1975
Cash — the legend lives on ...
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 19 June 1993
East 17 are the Take That it's okay to like, the pop-rap posse from Walthamstow admired by alternative types and screaming teenies, and — fact ...
M People: M-People: La Villette, Paris
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 17 July 1993
THE 20TH anniversary party for Europe's premier radical newspaper, Liberation, and even Pepe Le Punk would have been silenced by the fun. ...
Charles Keil: Urban Blues (The University Of Chicago Press)
Book Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 22 October 1966
THE BLUES AS AN URBAN NEGRO CULTURE ...
Pink Floyd, Rick Wright: Big is Beautiful: Rick Wright
Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 4 November 1978
HAVING JUST divested himself of his first solo album, Rick Wright has a second project roaring and ready to go. But he reckons it will ...
Joni Mitchell: Glimpses of Joni
Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 19 September 1970
SCENE IN A television studio: a girl in a long pink shift, which catches at her ankles when she walks, picks hesitantly at a few ...
New Order: Goldiggers, Chippenham
Live Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 1 September 1984
A VITAL GLEAM ...
Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 9 April 1994
DESPITE WHAT WE read in the live pages, many gigs these days are sterile, perfunctory affairs. Bands arrive, playing the roles they're comfortable with and ...
Suede: New Tower Generation: Suede: The Empire Ballroom, Blackpool
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 3 June 1995
I'D ARRIVED WITH half an idea that maybe Suede had stopped mattering, that they'd wandered off into irrelevance, thanked for the memories but not really ...
Fun Lovin' Criminals: Mob Rule!
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 3 October 1998
Supermodels on their Ds, Norweigan brandy parties, British pop star girlfriends "kickin' Swedish ass": it's all part of the Fun Lovin' Criminals' life on the ...
LL Cool J: Walking With A Panther (Def Jam)
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 1 July 1989
RUMOUR HAD it that this was a bad record — as in crap, not bigger and deffer. Rumour was wrong. ...
Bobby Womack: Poetry in Motion
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 6 October 1984
Lynden Barber puts a face to the music of BOBBY WOMACK, a genuine soul legend who remains virtually unknown to the majority of the Great ...
Nils Lofgren: Training To Do A Guitar Flip!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 17 May 1975
NEW YORK: "It's not that I don't like playing with Neil Young," said Nils Lofgren between shots on the pool table in A&M's office last ...
Horace Silver: Eyes for the Writing Scene
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 23 November 1968
"I'D like to mention a new direction in my career." This was Horace Silver, talking at a Blue Note reception given for him at Ronnie ...
The Nice: Whitla Hall, Belfast
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 November 1968
BELFAST'S annual music festival, organised by Michael Emmerson of Queens University, was opened by the Nice in a highly successful "pop" concert at the Whitla ...
U2: Under A Blood Red Sky (Island Mini LP IMA3)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 26 November 1983
IT WAS only a matter of time before U2 released a live disc of some sort, since gruelling road-work has earned them a firm base ...
Amen Corner: Rock 'N' Roll Is On The Way Back! — Say Amen Corner
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 3 February 1968
ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW, lead singer of the Amen Corner is a placid sort of bloke. But he blows his cool if you ask him about ...
Michael Jackson: The Man In The Mirror (hyuk, hyuk): Michael Jackson: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Sally Margaret Joy, Everett True, Melody Maker, 8 August 1992
WE'VE SEEN JESUS, kids. And he ain't a pretty sight. ...
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 21 May 1994
THE AUTEURS make witty, literate, even barbed and bitchy pop. None of which explains why mainman LUKE HAINES is dressed like an extra from some ...
Live Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 26 November 1983
WHAM! TRAP! ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 15 October 1966
Temptations have got a big seller ...
Cat Stevens: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 9 December 1972
Bad nerves dog Cat ...
Ian Dury & the Blockheads: Do It Yourself (Stiff SEEZ14)
Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 19 May 1979
Dury: the tra-la days are over ...
Chet Atkins: The Day Elvis Split his Pink Britches
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 8 March 1969
WHEN ELVIS Presley recorded 'Heartbreak Hotel', the record that launched him to adulation level in Great Britain, he really tore the studio apart. ...
Korn: "I once did coke off The Bible"
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 17 May 2000
Before Korn's huge shows this week, we got them to tell us their favourite tour stories. It's not all fruit up drummers' arses and drugs. ...
Steve Miller: The Steve Miller Band: Sailor (Capitol ST 2984)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 January 1969
THE LATEST trend among packagers of records is to make absolutely certain the least amount of information is available for the public to glean from ...
Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love: All You Need Is Love: Face to Face with Kurt and Courtney
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 19 December 1992
Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love are the most controversial rock couple since Sid and Nancy. Critics of their relationship have cast Courtney as a scheming, ...
Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love: Kurt and Courtney: Love and hate and the whole damned thing
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 2 January 1993
In the concluding part of our exclusive interview, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love attempt to explain the truth behind their controversial relationship and how distorted ...
Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 26 November 1983
TO HELL AND BACK ...
The Temptations: Temptations...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 24 January 1970
...talking to Royston Eldridge ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 1 September 1990
MARK MOORE, the man behind chart terrorists S'Express, is a man of mystery, a svengali with scarcely any profile. SIMON REYNOLDS tracks him down to discover ...
Chicken Shack: O.K. Ken? (Blue Horizon 7-63209)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 January 1969
SOLID GOOD humour abounds on Chicken Shack's O.K. Ken? (Blue Horizon 7-63209) of a British variety which makes it so more bearable and strangely authentic, compared to ...
Mudhoney, Soundgarden: School of African and Oriental Studies, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 20 May 1989
THERE'S NO containing the capricious belligerence of Seattle's Soundgarden. Vocalist Chris Cornell — part monkey, part Adonis and all of a doodah — is stripped ...
Joni Mitchell: Wild Things Run Fast
Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 27 November 1982
I LISTEN TO Joni Mitchell's voice these days with a fleeting pang of nostalgia. Flitting from one plaintive note to another, fluttering up and down ...
The Beatles: Revolution: That's What The Beatles Are Planning With This (picture of an apple)
Report and Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 1 June 1968
APPLE, THE Beatles' artistic mindchild, is a feeling, an effort and a purpose. ...
Eddie Floyd, Isaac Hayes, David Porter, Sam & Dave, Johnnie Taylor: Stax: The Soul of a City
Interview by Richard Wootton, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979
RICHARD WOOTTON talks to David Porter about the life and tempos of Stax ...
Black Sabbath: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1 November 1975
FOR SOME bizarre reason, 3,000 kids got off on Black Sabbath's antics at Hammersmith Odeon last Wednesday night. Ozzie Osbourne and cohorts had the fans ...
Live Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 3 September 1994
READING.It's like acid; once you've tried it you swear you'll never be back for more, and yet you always are. Perhaps it's because this festival ...
Ike & Tina Turner: Town Hall, High Wycombe
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 22 October 1966
A SECOND, longer look at the Ike and Tina Turner rhythm and excitement band show at their first appearance off the Rolling Stones tour at ...
Travis: I Was Sitting in Bed, Just Crying
Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 5 April 2000
THE TRAVIS interview ritual is now, it seems, set in stone. You can ask whatever you want, whenever you want, but first you must bond. ...
Book Excerpt by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 24 December 1994
Blur had a brilliant 1994 — their album, Parklife, entered the charts at Number One and spent the rest of the year blaring from every ...
Linton Kwesi Johnson: Roots Inna Inglan?
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979
Linton Kwesi Johnson, black poet and activist, sees the Rasta dream of Ethiopian exodus as irrelevant ganja-talk. His life and his art deal with reality: ...
Jethro Tull: Now Jethro Tull Aim For The Pop Thirty
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 10 May 1969
UNDERGROUND GROUPS as a rule aren't concerned about the singles charts. ...
Bobby "Blue" Bland: Lone Star Café, New York NY
Live Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
Two nights of Bland magic ...
Procol Harum: Procol Harum (Regal Zonophone)
Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 19 August 1967
Worried about Procol Harum? Just wait till you hear this! ...
The Beatles: Paul McCartney: 'We Have a Handful of Songs and a Band Called the Beatles'
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 8 June 1968
PAUL McCARTNEY, new-style businessman of Apple, took time off from creative planning last week and talked about the Beatles recording plans. Paul spoke to the MM the ...
Albert King: Born Under A Bad Sign (Stax)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 8 June 1968
'Born Under A Bad Sign'; 'Crosscut Saw'; 'Kansas City'; 'Oh, Pretty Woman'; 'Down Don't Bother Me'; 'The Hunter'; 'I Almost Lost My Mind'; 'Personal Manager'; ...
theaudience: theaudience (Mercury/eLLeFFe)
Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 15 August 1998
THEAUDIENCE have sure ruffled some feathers in the short time they've been around. They could have slipped under the wire unnoticed; instead, they've added an ...
Freddie King: Freddie Takes a British Cold Back Home
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 22 March 1969
"I DIDN'T have it tonight," said Freddie King after a hard workout at Art Saunders' Wood Green club on Tuesday last week. ...
Nips, The (aka The Nipple Erectors): The Nips: Ain't That a Shane?
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 2 February 1980
"ROCK 'N' ROLL is just a load of boring old rubbish. The people who play it think it's so fucking important and it's not. it ...
Report and Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 8 February 1992
SETANTA HAS PROVED to be a prolific nurturing ground for new talent lately, with acts like Power of Dreams, Into Paradise and the Frank and ...
Taste: Trio Gives Taste More Challenge
Report and Interview by Richard Green, Melody Maker, 25 March 1970
TASTE ARE JUST starting to become a very hot property in England and on the continent, already having conquered the Irish fans. All the trappings and ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 6 August 1966
CUTE & POTTY RINGO ...
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 13 April 1968
LONDON'S Speakeasy must be the most difficult gig for any folk-type artist, and when Roy Harper sang there on Sunday, sandwiched between an old Mae ...
Profile by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 4 February 1967
NICK JONES GETS BEHIND THE TV-SMASHING MOVE IMAGE ...
Buddy Miles: The Buddy Miles Express: Expressway To Your Skull (Mercury 20137 SMCL)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 January 1969
EXPRESSWAY TO Your Skull is dramatic, intense music from the ugly hero of the drums, who once powered Electric Flag. His band is more or ...
Penetration: Mountford Hall, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979
Pauline in the safety zone ...
Sinead O'Connor: Dominion Theatre, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 11 June 1988
PRIVATE CONFLICTS ...
Prefab Sprout: All The Way To Memphis
Report and Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 30 January 1988
THE BEARD HAS gone. Yes, squeamish sartorial onlookers will be relieved to note that Paddy's shrubbery has been shorn, that his shapely chin now positively ...
Savoy Brown Take on a New Identity
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 1 February 1969
WHEN THE Savoy Brown first started the only other band on the British blues scene was John Mayall... but that was four years ago before ...
Interview by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 22 May 1999
Rave/punk crossover genius MOBY is known as the most clean-living and politically correct pop star an the planet. The Maker met him in a karaoke ...
Report and Interview by Roy Trakin, Melody Maker, 15 March 1980
The Raybeats and Joe Bowie's Defunkt are working on New York's newest fusion: a post-No Wave music in which James Chance's punk meets George Clinton's ...
The Attack: Hammersmith College, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 December 1966
HOLY SENSATION! It's Richard's Attack, a new group who had fans fighting with excitement at Hammersmith College on Friday last week. ...
Live Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 24 November 1984
"YOU'RE SO UGLY honey, in fact I wouldn't even fuck you with his dick." ...
Oasis: What's The Story (Morning Glory) (Creation CD C-CRE189P 12tks/50mins/FP)
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 30 September 1995
TALE ENDING?After effortlessly conquering all our hearts with their singles-stacked, stellar debut, Oasis now face the K2 of their career, that difficult second album. Question ...
The Family Cat: Purrfect Timing
Report and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 12 August 1989
Of all the new bands attracting attention this summer, the Family Cat look among the fittest to survive. Everett True brushes up on a few ...
Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 25 October 1986
"THE THING is, you can always get upset about things which you are physically incapable of doing anything about. So if you think about yourself, ...
Albert King: Talking to the King
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 8 November 1969
IT HAS taken a long time for Albert King to get to this country. But now he is among us there can be little doubt ...
Ofra Haza: Yemen They Couldn't Hang
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 14 May 1988
AFTER ERIC B AND RAKIM ABDUCTED HER EXOTIC VOICE FOR THEIR HIT SINGLE 'PAID IN FULL', EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT OFRA HAZA SOUNDS LIKE. CAROLINE SULLIVAN ...
Muse: Around the World in 50 Dates
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 23 August 2000
...BUT IT'S NOT ALL FUN ON THE ROAD WITH MUSE. HERE THEY TELL US ABOUT THEIR WORLDWIDE FESTIVAL HIGHS AND LOWS ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 April 1968
BOREDOM, HIGH JINKS AND CHAOS ...
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 13 July 1996
COULD I just get this out of the way? I mean, Kenickie are wonderful for what they are, not what they aren't, but I'd just ...
Marion: I Hate Myself and I Want to Cry
Profile and Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 7 October 1995
Culture Of Despair alert! Since their rise to prominence, MARION have lost their friends and gained loads of ghoulish groupies. IAN WATSON tries to cheer ...
The Temptations: Uris Theatre, New York NY
Live Review by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 7 December 1974
NEW YORK: The Temptations at The Uris on Broadway should have been an event — but instead it was a backwards step, just like going ...
Jerry Lee Lewis: What a Fave Rave in Othello!
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 8 March 1969
JERRY LEE LEWIS, one of the legenary rock names of the past decade, is true to his image. ...
Jack Nitzsche, Graham Parker: Jack Nitzsche: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Interview by Joel Selvin, Melody Maker, 23 December 1978
Pop legends don't come much more elusive than veteran producer Jack Nitzsche, who apprenticed himself to Phil Spector. After his success with Mink DeVille, he's currently ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 31 May 1969
An extremely tasteful pop opera ...
Throbbing Gristle: Astoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 11 June 1988
NEVER GO back. So why is he doing this, the inspired maniac? Just to show there's still air in his lungs? Chris & Cosey are ...
Report and Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 18 September 1999
Worried that they mere a little, y'know, pop, we take HEPBURN to an indie club in Manchester, get flirted with, discover all about their rampant sexuality ...
Simply Red: Goldsmiths College, London
Live Review by Julian Henry, Melody Maker, 9 February 1985
I'VE ALWAYS wondered what sort of groups have the music industry slobbering over them prior to any form of public acclaim and Simply Red are ...
Johnny Nash and the Need for a New Image
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 14 September 1968
AMERICAN SINGER Johnny Nash flew into London last week with a problem: his act. "For a start, I've got no charts (arrangements) with me," he ...
Fabulous Thunderbirds: The Fabulous Thunderbirds: Fab Funbirds
Profile and Interview by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, 15 March 1980
Playing R & B isn't a passport to instant fame and wealth. The Fabulous Thunderbirds play R&B that makes everyone go wild. JOHN PIDGEON caught them in ...
Report by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 10 October 1992
Fiddling with their jockstraps, lacing up their boots, THE SHAMEN face the Gooners at Highbury and come away with a 0-0 draw. DAVID STUBBS joins ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 October 1969
Led Zeppelin rock Lyceum ...
James Chance: The Contortions: Buy — The Contortions (ZE ZEA 33-002. U.S. import)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 5 January 1980
Let's twist ourselves ...
Area Code 615: Now — Funky Country!
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 29 November 1969
That's the sound on Area Code 615, a new album by Nashville musicians who have backed Dylan. It could be as significant as Music From ...
Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Kate and Anna McGarrigle: Kate and Anna Face the Music
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 5 March 1977
IT WAS once my considerable misfortune to own a part-time job, forced on me by financial hardship, that required knocking on people's doors inviting them ...
Supergrass: "It Felt Really Smart to be Doing it Again"
Report and Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 22 December 1999
A BLINDING THIRD ALBUM. A WORLD TOUR. COLLABORATIONS WITH THE MUPPETS AND ALI G. ALL IN A YEARS WORK FOR SUPERGRASS, AS GAZ COOMBES TELLS ...
Soul II Soul: Voice of the B Jive
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 16 June 1990
JAZZIE B HAS ALREADY BEEN CREDITED WITH CHANGING THE FACE OF DANCE MUSIC IN THE LATE-EIGHTIES. SINCE THE RELEASE OF CLUB CLASSICS VOL 1 LAST ...
Bert Jansch: Jack Orion (Transatlantic TRA 143)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 September 1966
BERT JANSCH has always been an interesting performer, and he has been the nearest thing Britain has had to offer to compare with the crop ...
Stevie Wonder: It's Not Such a Drag Being Blind
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 14 October 1967
STEVIE WONDER, here for a tour of Britain, talks to NICK JONES ...
Clinic: Smells Like Surgical Spirit
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 25 October 2000
CLINIC TELL US WHY THEIR RUMBLING, AVANT-GARDE INDIE CONTRIBUTION TO THE NEW LEVI'S AD IS NOT SELLING OUT... ...
Report and Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 11 July 1998
SHE MAY LOOK like an angel, but behind the exterior lies and acidic tongue, waiting to be unleashed. We meet Shirley from GARBAGE on the ...
Manic Street Preachers Take No Prisoners!
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 1 June 1991
Guitarist Richey carving the words '4 REAL' into his forearm with a razorblade last week was just the latest stunt from this year's most contentious ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 November 1967
FANS WENT wild for both houses of the Who-Herd-Traffic-Tremeloes tour when it hit Walthamstow Granada on Saturday. ...
Joe South: A Kaftan and Cups of English Tea
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 24 May 1969
Royston Eldridge catches up with Joe South over breakfast at the May Fair ...
Haysi Fantayzee: The Cheeky Double Fantasy
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 30 October 1982
Carol Clerk shouts "Up yer bum!" as she discovers the sexual side of HAYSI FANTAYZEE ...
The Bluetones: Feeling Supersonic, Here Comes 'Bluetonic'!
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 23 September 1995
THE BLUETONES have neatly dodged 'new Stone Roses' tags to become the first, and arguably the best, Britpop band from Hounslow. EVERETT TRUE reckons they're the ...
Fairport Convention: Fairfield Hall, Croydon
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 18 October 1969
THERE'S only one question in my mind after having heard the Fairport Convention's superlatively excellent performance at the Fairfield Hall last Friday: why the hell ...
Babes In Toyland: The Astoria, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 11 January 1992
IF WE'RE TO have anger in rock, then let it boil like this. Babes In Toyland's fury is intimidating. They were never more than a ...
Nancy Wilson: Nancy, Bread and Butter Singer
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 9 March 1968
IT SEEMS as though Nancy Wilson is always making flying visits to this country in order to appear in television programmes. Once she came here ...
The Redskins: The Insanity Clause
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 29 June 1985
Back on the road and with their new single 'Bring It Down' receiving accolades from all directions, THE REDSKINS are demonstrating that there's still life ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 22 October 1966
FIRST DISAPPOINTMENT to tour-goers on Saturday evening was the tell-tale notice board in the foyer of Aldershot ABC. It stated the Small Faces were unable ...
Prince: Lovesexy (Paisley Park)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 14 May 1988
LEXICON OF LOVE ...
Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine: Carter USM: Sex Mechanics
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 6 August 1988
"I DUNNO, REALLY. We just looked at a pot of jam on the table and thought, 'Let's call it Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine'. No, ...
Lewis Taylor: Jazz Cafe, London
Live Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 14 September 1996
OH DEAR. Mick Talbot's here. Perhaps as an innocent punter, perhaps as an Emissary from Pope Paul Weller. My only fleeting concern with "white soul ...
B.B. King: B.B. Brings the Story of Lucille to the Rescue
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 3 May 1969
EVERYONE KNOWS — everyone, that is, who knows much about the blues of the younger generation — that B.B. King is among the most original ...
Marilyn: Gentle Men Prefer Blonds
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 5 November 1983
Friend of the stars MARILYN expounds on the delights of Chanel No. 5 and pink lipstick to Helen FitzGerald ...
Soundgarden: Daylight Shrubbery
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 5 October 1991
With their Badmotorfinger LP being hailed as a classic, SOUNDGARDEN tell PUSH that this is their time ...
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 19 May 1979
WHEN YOU'RE as old and grizzled as these two, making records is more a chore than anything. The routine trip to producer Owen Bradley's barn; ...
The Pogues: The National, Kilburn
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 13 December 1986
"WE WANT CAIT, we want Cait," chanted the barmy army at the front rather ungraciously before it all began, and I have to say I ...
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 7 December 1996
STARSPOTTING. Robbie Fowler. Good. Hollyoaks cast. Bad. After the gig, back at the hotel, I get in the lift. Brett Anderson's pressing the button for ...
Cream: Disraeli Gears (Reaction)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 11 November 1967
THE CREATION OF PURE ENERGY FROM THE CREAM ...
DJ Shadow: The Penumbra of the Beast
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 26 October 1996
The way Portishead took dance into uncharted territories in 1994, the way Tricky took chances in 1995, so DJ SHADOW is pushing back the envelope ...
Ken Dodd: It's Tattifalarious! Ken Dodd's The New 'In' Name!
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 11 September 1965
The Diddy People march on the Pop 50 ...
Lee "Scratch" Perry: Bed Jamming Is A Must!
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 16 February 1980
While the great "Is Lee Perry Nuts?" debate rages on in JA, ol' Scratch is jiving away in Amsterdam, houseguest of Black Star Liner Records, busy with plans to recreate the universe and hijack the Earth with ...
The Moody Blues: Moody Blues: In Search Of The Lost Chord (Deram)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 August 1968
AFTER YEARS of singing 'Jump Back Baby, Jump Back', it all gets a bit difficult when stalwart veterans of the Beat Era have to start ...
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 15 October 1988
THE LORD'S PRAYER ...
Miracle Legion: The Boardwalk, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 22 July 1989
MIRACLE LEGION don't fulfill any of the obligations of my current agenda, being neither a total gross-out bludgeon nor a comatose drift. 'Storyteller' doesn't strike ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 November 1969
FANS OF DAVID Bowie have for years been expecting him to make some proper impact on the music scene. If a reasonable position in the ...
David Bowie: Why does David Bowie like dressing up in ladies' clothes?
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 April 1971
A straight answer to Chris Welch ...
The Wedding Present: From Russia With Love
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 22 April 1989
How have four normal people from Leeds become the most successful indie band of the late-eighties? Why have the trusty punksters just released an album ...
Red House Painters: Ocean Beach (4AD)
Review by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 25 March 1995
WELL THEY say the abused always turns into an abuser... and if men who whine about the weather, their ex-girlfriend(s), their f***ing mothers and how ...
Suede: Underworld, Camden, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 11 January 1992
OH MY WORD. Proud survivors of a transformation, Suede stalk the Underworld stage like a snarling, growling rock beast. Now one guitarist lighter, they've compensated ...
The Cranberries: Old Trout, Windsor
Live Review by Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, 13 July 1991
ONE DAY, quite soon maybe, you'll get to hear the whole story. Part of it will be about how one sophisticated London gent took it ...
"Brother" Jack McDuff: Silk and Soul (Transatlantic PR 7404)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 11 November 1967
BENNY GOLSON arranged some of the eight tracks on Brother Jack McDuff's SILK AND SOUL (Transatlantic PR 7404) for organ and big band, complete with ...
Essra Mohawk: Just Baiting for Laura Nyro
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 8 September 1973
THIS IS a slightly strange situation to be in. Over there, in the corner of the room, Sherry Bo Berry, a member of the Cockettes-derived ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 January 1969
CHRIS WELCH meets the new-look Jimi! ...
Wendy And Lisa: Wendy & Lisa: Satisfy Yourself
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 5 August 1989
AFTER THEIR JUICY FRUIT AT THE BOTTOM LP GOT THE ECSTATIC REVIEWS IT SO RICHLY DESERVED, IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE WENDY AND LISA ...
Just-Ice: The Sophisticated Thug
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 20 May 1989
"FORGET IT, MAN. I ain't gonna talk about those things. Don't ask nothing about that. You won't get no answers. Those things are very personal, ...
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 2 April 1988
DO YOU EVER get to see daylight, Mark? ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Salt 'N' Pepa: Hot, Cool And Vicious (Next Plateau)
Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 31 January 1987
THE SPICE IS RIGHT ...
Clarence "Frogman" Henry: Henry's Back For A Hit
Profile and Interview by John Broven, Melody Maker, 22 December 1973
CLARENCE (Frogman) Henry hasn't had a top-selling record for more than 12 years, but he is still managing to pull the crowds in to hear ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 12 November 1988
Loop's free-falling acid rock is now a luring black hole, sucking in a host of trance disciples. Their new single, 'Black Sun', and forthcoming tour ...
Pink Floyd: Freaking Out with the Pink Floyd
Report and Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 1 April 1967
BEING ASKED to interview the Pink Floyd is an ordeal I would have wished only on my worst enemies. I was shaking like a leaf ...
Lush, Pale Saints: Pale Saints, Lush: Warehouse, Leeds
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 9 December 1989
Saint Errant ...
Talking Heads: Rock Garden, London
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 21 May 1977
IN AN unpretentious, un-hyped way, the Talking Heads' UK debut — two warm-up nights at the Rock Garden, Covent Garden, prior to their tour with ...
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 6 1992
"IT'S FUCKING CRAZY. It's completely fucking mad. We can't stop celebrating. We've been off our fucking heads since Thursday." ...
Talking Heads: Talking Headquarters
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 21 May 1977
Talking Heads, the latest New York new wave band to tour Britain, talk to Caroline Coon ...
Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 20 January 1996
In 1990/91, LUSH were the original Female Fronted Rock Band, godmothers of Sleeper, Elastica and Echobelly, all spiky guitars and Oxfam glamour. Then Suede and ...
Marv Johnson: Part-time Hitmaker from the Grocery Shop
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 22 March 1969
THE STORY behind the success of Motown man Marv Johnson — one of the host of Tamla invaders in the chart — reads like a ...
Ella Fitzgerald: Queen of Song
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 3 May 1975
Ella Fitzgerald — who has just completed a week at London's Ronnie Scott club — talks to MAX JONES ...
Fun-Da-Mental: Turban Warriors
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 9 May 1992
"FORGET THE IMAGE of Asians as passive, happy people," begins Prince Haq, MC with Fun-Da-Mental, a Bradford group who are fast making a name for ...
Ivor Cutler: Bloomsbury Theatre, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 24 May 1986
FUNNY PECULIAR ...
Junior Wells: Coming At You (Vanguard SVRL 19011)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 22 March 1969
A GOOD TASTE, if not a feast, of modern Chicago blues is offered by the explosive Junior Wells on his latest from Vanguard (perhaps his ...
Report and Interview by Pete Paphides, Melody Maker, 21 August 1993
One day last week, THE BMX BANDITS — those hardy Scottish indie perennials — got caught up in a rather bizarre incident involving diminutive Antipodean ...
Brenton Wood: Brenton, Fastest Man in the Chart
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 3 February 1968
BRENTON WOOD must be one of the few singers to dance for hours at his own press reception. He outlasted all the journalists and was ...
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 18 April 1992
TRUST FLOWERED UP to come up with the name "Debauchery" for the unofficial launch party for their new single, 'Weekender'. And trust them to take ...
Dory Previn: Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 May 1977
DORY PREVIN arouses my sympathy, but she doesn't excite my empathy. However much I may agree with what she is telling us about woman's condition ...
The Valentinos, Womack and Womack: Womack & Womack, The Valentinos: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 24 January 1987
WOMACK AND WOMACK AND WOMACK ...
Ry Cooder, Flaco Jimenez: Flaco Jimenez: Viva los Accordion
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 12 February 1977
THE DIATONIC accordion is basically a fairly rudimentary instrument. Like a mouth organ, it plays one note as you pull it out and another as ...
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
ORGANIST JIMMY SMITH TELLS MAX JONES ABOUT HIS FIRST LOVE ...
The Cranberries: Eire To The Crown
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 26 October 1991
After months of anticipation, the Cranberries are finally releasing their debut single. Everett True travelled to Limerick to find out more about the much-heralded Irish ...
Julie Burchill: The 'Sweetest Girl'
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 2 November 1985
JULIE BURCHILL has torpedoed more sacred cows than a pop star has brain cells, though she likes (among other things) Sade and the Maker. Caroline Sullivan ...
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 3 January 1987
THE MAN HAS become the bane of my life. He telephones me every day, usually more than once. I meet him in the haze of ...
Art Ensemble of Chicago: The Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 31 March 1979
PROBABLY THE only unanswered question by now for most of their followers on this side of The Big Moist, is how they look when they ...
Cookie Crew: The Cookie Crew: Boardwalk, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 27 May 1989
WITH TITLES like 'Black Is The Way', The Cookie Crew envince a compelling need to have their say, to disseminate informative missives on a whole ...
American Music Club: 'I'm An Ant'
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 3 September 1994
Yup, Sultan of Sorrow and Mr Low Self-Opinion Mark Eitzel of American Music Club — arguably the most exquisitely miserable band on the planet — ...
Bob & Earl: Bob and Earl Mystery is Solved
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 10 May 1969
AS THE ancient 'Harlem Shuffle' made pop history by jumping into the top ten six years late, American due Bob and Earl arrived in Britain ...
Live Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 16 January 1971
PATTO ARE better than most rock bands for two reasons – they play without any sense of snobbery (no boring ego jams), and secondly because ...
Soundgarden: Sex and Guns and Rock 'N' Roll
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 7 October 1989
"WE SIGNED WITH A&M about eight months ago, at around the same time our Ultramega OK album was released by SST. We'd been talking to ...
The Passions: Eric's, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 26 January 1980
THE PASSIONS' return to Liverpool was a pleasant surprise after their last visit, when inauspicious circumstances had clouded their performance. And another contrast was provided ...
Babs Gonzales: Gone — Babs Gonzales
Obituary by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 9 February 1980
BABS GONZALES, who died of cancer on January 23, was one of those frantic Forties bebop hipsters who seem to broom but fractionally ahead of ...
Herman's Hermits, Elvis Presley: Herman's Hermits: The Day Herman Met Elvis
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 28 August 1965
"He was so nice... just sort of walked in and said: Hello Herman" ...
A Guy Called Gerald, Happy Mondays: Happy Mondays and A Guy Called Gerald Hit the Northern Lights
Report and Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 30 March 1990
They came, they saw, they got wrecked and the police were called. Last week, Andrew Smith travelled to Reykjavík with both bands and witnessed scenes ...
Art of Noise: State Of The Art: The Art of Noise
Report and Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 19 May 1984
Zang! Zang! Zang! go Lynden Barber's art-strings as he meets pop cryptographers ART OF NOISE. ...
The Frank and Walters: Making a Splash
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 9 January 1993
"WOW! WILL you look at that now? Isn't that just crazy?" ...
Culture Club: Kissing To Be Clever (Virgin V2232)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 9 October 1982
The lust patrol ...
No Doubt, Symposium: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 4 October 1997
A DEAD CERTAINTY ...
The Action: Shoreline Club, Bognor Regis
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 3 September 1966
PLAYING TWO jumping sets at Bognor's Shoreline Club — one of the most switched-on scenes on the South Coast — the Action again proved that ...
Report by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 21 October 1972
New York Report by Roy Hollingworth ...
Fleetwood Mac: How to Upset the Blues Purists
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 March 1968
AMONG BRITAIN'S young blues fans Eric Clapton was once hailed as a god, then discarded by the ethnics when he left John Mayall's Bluesbreakers for ...
Sex Pistols: America Learns to Loathe the Pistols
Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 21 January 1978
Michael Watts reports on the Memphis hotel set-up (was it the CIA?); the two suspicious cowboys (were they big-time dope dealers?); the sociologists' poll (where ...
Report by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 29 March 1980
PENNY KILEY on the demise of Liverpool Eric's — the city's rock 'n' roll heart. ...
Overview by Push, Melody Maker, 23 June 1990
To mark their 10th anniversary, the famous cassette label ROIR has released a compilation album featuring artists like Television, MC5 and The Buzzcocks. PUSH reports. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 6 May 1989
THE NEWS Of The World was uppermost in my mind as a deafening, amphetamined version of the Batman theme presaged Yazz's arrival. Did you see ...
Chris Farlowe & the Thunderbirds, The Manor House, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 August 1965
CHRIS FARLOWE and the Thunderbirds blew up Bluesville at the Manor House, London, last Friday. Chris kept numbers short and punchy, and sang powerfully 'Mr. ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 11 March 1978
Colin Irwin reports on New York's latest cult success: a weird duo called Suicide ...
Led Zeppelin: Why Led Zeppelin Took Off in America and not Britain
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 March 1969
A REACTIONARY anti-love movement in Britain is the disturbing development noted by guitarist Jimmy Page on his return from a long spell in America with ...
Report by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 15 August 1992
It's Glastonbury on wheels, a mobile Reading, the lovechild and legacy of ex-Jane's Addiction frontman and all-round chap, Perry Farrell. It's LOLLAPALOOZA, in its second ...
Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 12 January 1985
SNOOKER EVERY time you switch on TV, the predatory growls of British Rail staff upon being asked for assistance, the ludicrously tasteless album sleeves of ...
U2: Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 3 May 1997
SLOW DEATH IN VEGAS ...
Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young: Joni and the Laurel Canyon Mob
Comment by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 18 September 1971
SO YOU wanna be a rock and roll star, right? Well, our advice is to head out Laurel Canyon way. Take a tip from one ...
The Raincoats: New Raincoats Don't Let You Down
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 1 December 1979
Following the sun, Palmolive washed her hands of the Raincoats. But they're back on the road, singing and playing. VIVIEN GOLDMAN took a long time ...
Report and Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 1993
AFTER LESS than a year in the recording business, Jason Kay, the man who is Jamiroquai, has developed an understanding with the press. They are ...
Georgie Fame with the Harry South Orchestra: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 April 1966
Fame and South — what a marvellous swinging mixture ...
The Sex Pistols: Goodbye — and Good Riddance: The Sex Pistols, Winterland, San Francisco
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 21 January 1978
Harvey Kubernik's personal view of the Pistols' last U.S. gig at Winterland in San Francisco ...
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 10 July 1993
NEXT TO ME stands Corey (Touch & Go), mouth agape. Next to him is Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), bobble hat bobbing deliriously. A few kids scatter-dance, ...
DJ Hollywood, The Sugarhill Gang: The Sugarhill Gang: Freak of the Week
Report by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 15 December 1979
DESPITE A rhythm track that mangles Chic's 'Good Times' (they settled out of court), 'Rapper's Delight' by the Sugarhill Gang has been the season's biggest-selling ...
Public Image Ltd: Metal Box (Virgin Metal 1)
Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 24 November 1979
Confessions of a pop performer ...
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 25 August 1990
A Russian, a go-go dancer and a Japanese DJ is hardly the combination you'd expect to be making the most exciting dance sounds around but, as ANDREW ...
Graham Bond Organisation: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 August 1966
"GO JOHNNY GO!" is the cry echoing round the club circuit as new face Jon Hiseman blows up a storm on drums with the Graham ...
Miles Davis: You're Under Arrest (CBS)
Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 15 June 1985
JUDGING BY the cover shots of Miles looking studiedly dangerous with a sub-machinegun, and judging by the music too, the great man is after the ...
Herman's Hermits, Lulu, Mickie Most: Mickie Most: Making Hit Records for the Government
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 18 January 1969
ALAN WALSH TALKS TO MICKIE MOST, THE MAN BEHIND THE HIT MAKERS ...
Bernard Fowler, Sly & Robbie: Sly & Robbie: Hand in Glove
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 10 August 1985
Paul Mathur, scribe about town, ambles on down to the Kensington Hilton to meet Jamaica's supreme rhythm team, SLY DUNBAR and ROBBIE SHAKESPEARE. Rock, reggae ...
Natalie Imbruglia: The People Who Shook the World in 1998, March: Natalie Imbruglia
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 19 December 1998
"WHEN YOU wish upon a star," sang some old bloke many, many years ago, "make no difference who you are." And, boy, did he know ...
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 3 September 1966
Sonny and Cher fail to communicate ...
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1 August 1970
RORY GALLAGHER is King, days Mailbag most weeks, and Taste are the new Zeppelin/Cream/Beatles/Shadows. The queue around the Marquee one night last week, where the ...
Debbie Harry: Rockbird (Chrysalis)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 22 November 1986
FIVE YEARS is nigh on an eternity in pop, and Debbie Harry has returned to a changed world — a world in which the Lower ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 28 February 1987
STUMPTHE BAND THAT REACHES THE PARTS OTHER BANDS WOULDN'T WANT TO REACH STUMPA NOISE YOU THOUGHT WOULD NEVER GET SIGNED TO A MAJOR STUMPDAVID STUBBS DOES SOME ...
Suicide: Suicide (Red Star RS1, import)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 21 January 1978
Suicide is a solution ...
Jimmy McGriff: McGriff An Organ Player For All Ears
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 27 January 1968
WILD — THAT was the reaction to U.S. organ star Jimmy McGriff when he played his first-ever appearances in London this week. ...
Bill Monroe: Grand Ole Opry, Newmarket, Suffolk
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 3 May 1975
EVERYONE SAID we'd gone to the wrong concert. The second of Monroe's two bluegrass concerts at Newmarket's Grand Ole Opry on Sunday was the one ...
Bleach (UK): Bleach: The Cube, London
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 20 October 1990
SWEET AND SCOUR ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 7 October 1967
SUNDAY'S SAVILLE bill was most groovy, opening with the Fairport Convention who are beginning to find their way, followed by American Tim Rose who was ...
Judy White, Josh White: Josh & Judy White: Josh and his Singing Family
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 21 October 1967
SOMETIMES IT seems as though Josh White brings a different member of his family every time he visits us, and every one is a singer. ...
Dope Smugglaz Allstars: Toke Implosion: Dope Smugglaz Allstars
Report and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 6 September 2000
THERE ARE some moments in life when you have to take a good look around. Some moments that hurt when you pinch yourself because, in ...
Art Ensemble of Chicago: The Art Ensemble of Chicago: Dressing Up To Play
Interview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 30 August 1980
The Art Ensemble's percussionist, Famoudou Don Moye, levels, bevels and revels in costume. BRIAN CASE sits and watches ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 24 February 1968
PETER GREEN'S FLEETWOOD MAC: Fleetwood Mac (Blue Horizon). One of the group events of last year for blues fans was the formation of the ex-Mayall guitarist Peter Green's ...
Manhattan Transfer: Cafe Carlyle, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 February 1975
NEW YORK: While nostalgia for the 'fifties seems to have run its course, nostalgia for the 'thirties has taken a jolt in New York with ...
Hue and Cry: Ronnie Scotts, London
Live Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 26 September 1987
"YOU'D find more soul in a billiard-ball," muttered some disgruntled passer-by and, despite myself, I wondered whether to shit, scream or scram. ...
Jimmy Witherspoon: A New Look For Spoon And Back To Authentic Blues
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 12 April 1969
IT WAS clear at first glance, when Jimmy Witherspoon and his wife walked into the MM offices last week, that I was confronted by a new-look Spoon. ...
Bandulu: Infonet Possibilities
Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 10 July 1993
"NONE OF BANDULU started out as musicians or DJs. We started as record collectors. Going back a few years, we thought nothing of bunking off ...
Dana International: Eurovision: Hanging Out at the Euro Shenanigans
Report by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 23 May 1998
WE WUZ robbed. Christ, not the UK, I mean Belgium. Did you hear the gorgeous Melanie Cohl's gasping sigh of Saint Etienne-style cine-pop, 'Dis Oui' ...
Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 8 November 1969
JOHN LEE HOOKER'S absence from the American Folk, Blues & Gospel Festival was without the consequence that at first seemed likely when the tour opened ...
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 8 September 1973
SANDY, FROM HERE on you can do no wrong as far as I am concerned. On Monday at London's Howff you did what I've always ...
Blubber, Elastica, Shed Seven: Elastica, Shed Seven, Blubber: Zap Club, Brighton
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 17 September 1994
ALL RICH kids should be in bands. Consider it a duty. ...
Willie Dixon: The Men Who Make the Blues: Willie Dixon
Profile by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 12 April 1969
...
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 8 September 1984
CRISTINA may live in luxury, but she's no pampered butterfly, as Helen FitzGerald finds out ...
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 8 October 1994
THE FIVE YOUNG men lounging about in the hotel bar after their storming sell-out performance seem to be having the time of their lives. They're ...
Depeche Mode: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, October 1998
CITED BY MANY electronica artists as an early influence, Depeche Mode began life as chirpy synth-poppers in the early '80s before moving into superb clangers ...
Fields Of The Nephilim: Shoot It Up: Fields of the Nephilim
Profile and Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 13 September 1986
THE FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM – hardly a moniker you can shoot from the hip. They wear Stetsons and describe their music as "Spaghetti Metal!" ...
The Move: The Speakeasy, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 24 December 1966
MIDST OF A smog of smoke bombs, smashed TV sets, smashed people, and the psychedelic decor — well, who would settle for anything else — ...
Mahalia Jackson: Why Mahalia's Still In The Book
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 31 May 1969
AFTER HER extravagantly successful Albert Hall concert the other Sunday, Mahalia Jackson sat back in her dressing-room chair looking pretty flaked. ...
Graham Parker: The Venue, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978
GRAHAM PARKER was the perfect choice to open The Venue, Virgin boss Richard Branson's new club in the shell of the old Metropole Cinema hard ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 29 December 1979
Mike Chapman began with Mud and Sweet, disappeared when glitter-rock went cold, and came back to make the new wave palatable for America with the ...
The Lemonheads: Evan Dando: Whole In One
Profile and Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 22 September 1990
"Came to the end once again/Start over now, just can't win/Do it all again Gotta learn to fight ... /Slide right to the bottom Climb back ...
Bananarama: Girls Together Outrageously
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 28 July 1990
Ten years on from their ramshackle beginnings, BANANARAMA are the most successful female pop group in the world. They've got wit, flair and great shoulders. ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 August 1966
ANY CONNOISSEUR of bad pop package shows would have been delighted by Radio England's "Swinging '66" opening at Lewisham Odeon on Friday, starring the Small ...
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 5 June 1982
HAVING SUCCESSFULLY thrown off the worst aspects of their twee post-punk amateurism with the release of the refreshing Odyshape last year. The Raincoats took several steps backwards ...
Sleater-Kinney: The Garage, London
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 8 May 1999
"BUT SHE sounds just like Cher," my companion beseeches me, as Sleater-Kinney run through the fine, staccato 'The End Of You' — Corin Tucker's voice ...
Della Reese and her Mean Uncle
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 26 October 1968
DELLA REESE, halfway through her stint as special guest artist on the Tom Jones tour, rested in London on Monday and looked forward to a ...
Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 3 August 1974
Long before Beatlemania hit Britain, JOHNNIE RAY was the idol of the screamers and fainters. His highly emotional stage act included breaking down in tears ...
Pink Floyd Meet The Orb: David Gilmour and Dr. Alex Patterson
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 27 March 1993
JUST ABOUT everything anybody has ever told you is wrong. Take, for a very mundane example, the music you listen to. Most likely, there are ...
The Pop Tarts: Downtown: Life After Death
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 17 January 1987
Downtown New York is where people are famous for being famous, but you're only famous if you're on the guest list. Downtown is the home ...
Drums of Rasta: Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 3 May 1975
THEY START with a simple, slow double beat on the drums. There are between 20 and 30 of them spread across London's Roundhouse stage, all ...
Cilla Black: Prince of Wales Theatre, London
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966
FRANKLY, although Cilla Black is one of the stars, Way Out In Piccadilly just isn't a show for the pop fans. It's really the Frankie Howerd Show, ...
Syl Johnson: Johnson — A Rough Gem
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 8 February 1975
AFTER HIS first visit to Britain, guitarist-singer-songwriter Syl Johnson returned last weekend to his home, outside Chicago. His final gigs were at Barbarella's in Birmingham ...
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: The Trials of Tom Petty: Petty gets it…
Report and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 8 March 1980
Washed clean by legal wranglings, Tom Petty is settling down to write good rock 'n' roll songs. "That's all I want to do," he tells ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976
IT WAS with a little disappointment that I discovered at the weekend that Heart's stage act isn't as impressive as their debut album, Dreamboat Annie. ...
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 18 October 1969
A NICE WEEKEND BY RICHARD WILLIAMS! ...
The Pharcyde: The Forum, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 3 August 1996
IT'S A SHAME ABOUT CABARET ...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 11 November 1967
FOLK FIDDLE virtuoso Dave Swarbrick will accompany guitarist-singer Martin Carthy when he returns to Britain in the New Year. But at the end of a ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 22 May 1999
SO SECOND ALBUMS are supposed to be difficult, then? Maybe someone ought to tell Travis, because The Man Who sounds like a thundering triumph. ...
Report and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 25 July 1998
Take an explosive mix of the Primals, The Verve and Billy Smart and, voila!, THE BETA BAND: proof that UK music is fighting fit and up ...
The Incredible String Band: The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion (Elektra EUK 257)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 2 September 1967
STRING BAND — NO LONGER FOLK SINGERS ...
The Style Council: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 15 June 1985
Top Shop ...
The Faces, The Small Faces: The Small Faces: At Least Mac Still Has His Sense Of Humour
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 June 1969
CHRIS WELCH meets the remnants of the Small Faces ...
Book Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 20 May 1967
IT ALL started with the Lomaxes — at least it often seems that way. Though there have been other American folksong collectors, before and since, ...
LeVert, O'Jays: The O'Jays, LeVert: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 20 February 1988
TWO GENERATIONS of soul — neither of which, on this showing, could work on a building of love or tear your playhouse down, or any ...
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 7 June 1997
ICE AND A SLICE ...
Brian Jones, The Rolling Stones: Brian, the Stone in the Headlines
Obituary by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 12 July 1969
BRIAN JONES is dead — and his death in the swimming pool of his Sussex home last week was as dramatic as his last five ...
Tenpole Tudor: Men of a Thousand Swords
Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 13 June 1981
Tenpole Tudor stun Colin Irwin. ...
T-Bone Walker: Stormy Monday Blues (Stateside Bluesway SL10223)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 17 February 1968
FIVE T-BONE originals, including his new version of the title song, are to be heard on Stormy Monday Blues (Stateside Bluesway SL10223), latest album from guitarist-singer T-Bone ...
Fishbone: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 14 January 1989
SCALING HEIGHTS ...
Family: Whatever Happened To...?
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 June 1969
Alan Walsh finds out what's been happening with the Family ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 February 1975
"I'M SORRY, sir, you can't smoke in here." A matronly figure approached a table, where the MM was partaking of sugar-free fruit cake and unsweetened tea, and ...
Womack And Womack: Starbright (Manhattan)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 10 January 1987
Rhyming Couplets ...
Autechre, L.F.O.: LFO, Autechre: Leisure Lounge, London
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 3 December 1994
IN PURSUIT OF ABANDON... ...
Family: Music In A Doll's House (Reprise)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 August 1968
LOATHE TO put their music into any category, the men of Family make it difficult for anybody else to adequately describe what they are attempting. ...
The Rolling Stones, Mick Taylor: Mick Taylor: The Other Mick...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 21 June 1969
MICK TAYLOR, 20-year-old ex-Bluesbreaker from Welwyn, and for just over a week the new guitarist with the group that first brought rebellion to pop. ...
Disco-Tex and his Sex-O-Lettes: How Disco-Tex Got Dancin'
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 February 1975
"MY FIRST single? Ha... ha... ha... that was about ten years ago. Wes Farrell wrote it in his car on the way to the recording ...
Live Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 24 May 1986
AN ODDBALL bunch, Pulp. A National Health-spectacles climbing frame inside a second-hand suit with a blissful deep-throated voice like a dark angel or at least ...
Cardiacs: Bunker Club, Rotterdam
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 14 November 1987
THE MANIAC, the idiot, the fop, the sultry and the forlorn, the one who defies description: six characters in search of a play. What do ...
The Family Cat: Furthest From The Sun
Review by Sally Margaret Joy, Melody Maker, 27 June 1992
"BUT AT LEAST they're enthusiastic," winced my conscience after I'd been rendered spiritually paraplegic by this album after the fifth listen and had to bite ...
Eels, Pulp: Pulp/Eels: Hereford Leisure Centre
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 17 November 1998
HAPPY! SAD. H-h-h-happy! Sad. You know those theatrical mask things, one with a smile big enough to house a Manic's packed lunch, the other with ...
Howlin' Wolf: The Men Who Make The Blues: Howlin' Wolf
Profile by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 29 March 1969
HOWLIN' WOLF is, as his name suggests, one of the "heavy" bluesmen. A 6ft 3in singer, weighing 280 lbs or more, he is as tough ...
The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour (Apple Corps/BBC)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 6 January 1968
WE HEAR a lot in the pop world about that magical mystery word "communication." ...
Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon: Apollo, Glasgow
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976
Jackson: after the deluge ...
The Equals, Eddy Grant: Equals Bring Back "Happy" Music
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 3 May 1969
THE INHABITANTS of the MM's Fleet Street HQ are pretty used by now to witnessing the more bizarre manifestations of Britain's pop scene. ...
Interview by Max Jones, Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 November 1973
Giorgio Gomelsky was a pioneer of British rock in the sixties. In the second part of an interview with MM he talks about managing Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll and his ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 24 August 1985
At last AMAZULU have a hit. But can they hang on to their sanity? Caroline Sullivan talks to Claire and Nardo ...
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 2 November 1968
Swinging down the aisles ...
Gallon Drunk: Tonite... The Singles Bar (Clawfist)
Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 16 March 1992
ONE FOR THE ROAD ...
Erroll Garner: Mr Garner and his New Brass Bed
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 17 May 1969
ERROLL GARNER arrived in London on Tuesday, last week, but not to appear in public. ...
Retrospective by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 January 1976
'SWING IS HERE' was the title of a 1936 recording by Gene Krupa and his All-Stars featuring the molten trumpet of Roy "Little Jazz" Eldridge. ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 2 June 1990
AFTER MONTHS BUILDING A REPUTATION AS THE WILDEST MAN ON THE HOUSE RAVE CIRCUIT, GURU JOSH SUDDENLY HIT THE BIG TIME EARLIER THIS YEAR WITH ...
Taj Mahal: Giant Step/De Old Folks At Home (CBS Direction S 8-63820, S 8-63821)
Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 22 November 1969
Mixed bag from Taj ...
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Eric's, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 23 February 1980
ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES are going to be big. It's the opening night of an important tour, on home ground (almost), and the message is there. It's there ...
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 4 February 1995
TECHNO PRISONERS ...
Mark Burgess: The Witchwood, Ashton-under-Lyne
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 30 May 1993
SO HERE IS is, then, Mark Burgess, former singer with the Chameleons, the great lost '80s band who prompt more letters to the Maker's Info ...
Nina Simone: The Fantasy World of Nina Simone
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
"YES, I'M happy that I've got a hit record. I'm happy because I like the song and because in the future I'll get some time ...
Family, Steppenwolf: Steppenwolf, Family: Lyceum, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 October 1969
ONE'S ATTITUDE to much of Steppenwolf's current material depends to a great extent on how one reacts to the rather simplistic propaganda and sloganising of ...
Manu Dibango, Gasper Lawal: Hammersmith Palais, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 24 September 1983
READING THE music papers in mid-'76, I'd suspected that the touted wave of punk groups resembled nothing so extraordinary as a cross between zealous youth ...
Stereolab: Refried Ectoplasm (Switched On Volume 2) (Duophonic D-UHF-CD09 13tks/65mins/FP)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 9 September 1995
WEIRD SCIENCE: By now, Stereolab's Marxis elevator music ('Ping Pong') and francophone Krautrock should have flirted with your consciousness. So here's your chance to catch up with their ultra-sexy ...
Obituary by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 18 October 1969
October 3, 1969 Dear Max, Skip James died this morning after a very long and painful illness. One of his finest memories was going to Europe in ...
Report by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978
THERE WERE two disco dancing championships in London on Sunday. The big one was the World Disco Dancing Championship 1978, sponsored by EMI Dancing and ...
3 Colours Red, Heavy Stereo, Super Furry Animals: Furry Tale of New York
Report and Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 28 September 1996
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Take Melody Maker out to New York with three of CREATION RECORDS' brightest new bands — 3 COLOURS ...
The Beatles: Album of the Month — The Beatles: The Beatles (White Album) (Apple)
Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 14 December 1968
'Back In The USSR', 'Dear Prudence', 'Glass Onion', Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', 'Wild Honey Pie', 'The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill', 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', 'Happiness ...
Orchestra Jazira: Nomadic Activities (Beggars Banquet BEGA 56)
Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 15 September 1984
WANDERING STARS ...
Billy Cobham, Horace Silver: Billy Cobham: The Pulse Behind the Horace Silver 5
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 December 1968
IT'S BEEN a very good year for drummers. ...
Bonzo Dog Band: Keynsham (Liberty)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 December 1969
BRAVO BONZOS! Never a band to take the easy course or rest on past successes, they continue to advance their unique musical properties with a ...
David Bowie, Mott The Hoople, Lou Reed, Mick Ronson: Tony DeFries: Bowie's MainMan
Profile by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 18 May 1974
Tony DeFries is Mr Big of today's rock —the 70s' Col. Parker. He deals in STARS, the most glittering of whom is David Bowie. He ...
Dave Van Ronk: Van Ronk Remembers
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 March 1981
Karl Dallas discusses asthma, cigarettes and the nature of music with blues veteran Dave Van Ronk ...
Little Feat: Down On The Farm (Warner Brothers K56667)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 24 November 1979
LITTLE FEAT'S final agonies were so prolonged and so well publicised that it's a surprise to discover in Down On The Farm a comparatively coherent ...
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994
HALFWAY THROUGH this supposedly low-key warm up for Elastica's appearance on The Word, Justine apologises for the amount of coverage the band have been getting. ...
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 21 June 1997
Forget irony, glibness and surface gloss — TRAVIS have. They're bursting with belief and unembarrassed about wearing their hearts on their sleeves. And they're going to be HUGE ...
John Cooper Clarke: The Salford Surrealist
Report and Interview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978
A poet and his roots ...
Joe Cocker: Why Did Cocker's White Soul Fail?
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 18 October 1969
ROYSTON ELDRIDGE TALKING TO JOE COCKER ON THE EVE OF AN AMERICAN TOUR ...
Blossom Toes, Muddy Waters: Muddy Waters, Blossom Toes: Revolution Club, London
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 14 December 1968
MUDDY WATERS and his Blues Band may not have been at their magic best at London's Revolution before they left — they weren't playing for ...
Deep Purple: In Live Concert At The Royal Albert Hall (Harvest)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 20 December 1969
THIS IS A live recording of the widely reported concert which took place recently when Deep Purple joined Malcolm Arnold and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ...
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 9 November 1968
BOB DYLAN'S John Wesley Harding album was probably the most eagerly awaited record of the year. ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 11 January 1986
THE MANDATORY credit to God is featured in the small print on the sleeve of Cameo's eleventh album and, when you consider how many cruddy ...
Profile and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 8 October 1988
TIMOTHY LONDON, the self-elected chairman of the board, pops his head in to say hello. But beyond that, he's happy to leave the talking to ...
Kurtis Blow: America (Mercury)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 11 January 1986
BLOWING OUT ...
The Nice: Ars Longa Vita Brevis (Immediate)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 9 November 1968
THIS SECOND Immediate album by the Nice, is not only a vast improvement on their first, but a major breakthrough in pop group experimentation. In ...
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 6 July 1974
— that's how the Americans describe those freaky New York bands like Wayne County and Teenage Lust. Chris Charlesworth, guided by photographer Bob Gruen, takes ...
Patti Smith, The Stranglers: Patti Smith: The Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976
Patti Smith: poet cornered ...
Profile and Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 2 October 1993
Once, MELVINS were the loudest, heaviest and slowest band on the Pacific West Coast, loved by few, feared by many. For years, they devastated audiences ...
Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland (Track)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 9 November 1968
...
Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 20 September 1986
HOW DO YOU handle the restrictions of being a straight rock band? You avoid perpetrating the obvious, divert energies down peculiar and radical directions, deviate ...
The Clash: Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976
THE ICA, that home of lively experiment in London's Mall, is fast becoming the badly needed workshop-cum-watering hole for the growing number of jolly ravers ...
Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Messrs Crosby Stills and Nash Enlarge the Company
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 9 August 1969
CROSBY, STILLS and Nash are no longer just the ex-Byrd, ex-Buffalo Springfield and former Hollie supergroup. They've added new partners to the rock band with ...
Inspiral Carpets: Surface Tensions
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 20 May 1989
IF THE WEDDING PRESENT ARE SMITHS' FANS SECOND FAVOURITE GROUP, THE INSPIRALS ARE PROBABLY THIRD ON THE LIST. EARLIER THIS YEAR, THE MANCHESTER BAND LOST THEIR SINGER ...
Smashing Pumpkins: Cardiff University
Live Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 2 October 1993
BILLY, DON'T BE A HERO ...
Maggie Bell, Led Zeppelin: Peter Grant: The Man Who Led Zeppelin
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 22 June 1974
With a background in wrestling, it's not surprising that Peter Grant is cast as a heavy. And as manager of Led Zep, the legend has ...
Stone The Crows: London School of Economics
Live Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 23 January 1971
MAGGIE BELL, with a lot of help from her friends in Stone The Crows, turned what could have been a disappointing evening at the London ...
Killing Joke: Armageddon Outta Here
Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 22 June 1991
The millennium is coming and Jaz Coleman is waiting. On the eve of the Joke's latest UK tour, he talks to CAROL CLERK about white ...
Lauryn Hill: Evening News Arena, Manchester
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 12 June 1999
EX OFFENDER ...
Victoria Spivey: Black Queen Spivey
Obituary by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976
Max Jones pays tribute to VICTORIA SPIVEY ...
The Four Tops, The Supremes: No Mo' Motown?
Comment by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 August 1968
CHRIS WELCH records the demise of a chart influence ...
Ned's Atomic Dustbin: Brainbloodvolume (Furtive 478330 11 tks/41 mins/FP)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 15 July 1995
TRASHED! We asked NEIL KULKARNI to review the new NED'S ATOMIC DUSTBIN LP. Instead, he's written one very long sentence, and one very short one. Well, ...
Van Der Graaf Generator: The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other (Charisma)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 February 1970
THIS IS one of those rare and precious albums which occasionally arrive to knock you flat on your back and make you think really hard, ...
Bomb The Bass: Into The Dragon (Rhythm King)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 15 October 1988
IT'S IMPOSSIBLE to know where to begin with Bomb The Bass. Tim Simenon, part joker, part scientist, part funny, furry hat, doesn't know either, even ...
The Move, Pink Floyd: Who's Psychedelic Now? MM Inquiry by Chris Welch and Nick Jones
Interview by Nick Jones, Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 January 1967
SPOTLIGHT ON THE PINK FLOYD AND THE MOVE ...
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978
The attention nowgiven to British reggae bandsis largely due to the pioneering work of Aswad, who invented live dub and played alongside the early punk bands. But, ...
Marlene Dietrich: Wimbledon Theatre, London
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975
MARLENE DIETRICH: what is there left to say about her, except that the Blue Angel is now bluing a little around the edges? But even ...
Cypress Hill: The Royal Court, Liverpool
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 26 February 1994
'POOL 'N' THE HILL ...
Manu Dibango: Manu: Breaking Out of Africa
Profile and Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 2 March 1974
Manu Dibango, No. 1 in Africa, has finally broken through in America. Robert Partridge met him in Paris... ...
Vanilla Ice: Licensed To Chill
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 15 December 1990
Having enjoyed Number One success on both sides of the Atlantic with 'Ice Ice Baby', VANILLA ICE, on the eve off the release of his ...
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson: 100 Club, London
Live Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979
CLEANHEAD MAY have lost his hair, but whisps of Charlie's Wig cluster about his alto. In fact, everything about his performance preserves the flavour of ...
The Action, Mighty Baby: Action Grow Into a Mighty Baby
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 December 1969
IS THIS the career for you? Twenty pounds a week, uncertain prospects and no luncheon vouchers. The life of a rock drummer is not necessarily ...
Oasis: The Oasis Story, Part 1: From Rain to Definitely Maybe
Retrospective by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 19 January 2000
With Oasis' return imminent, the first instalment of our four-part history of the band traces their rise, from the Noel-free live debut to the era-defining ...
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 10 March 1990
DEPECHE MODE have always been the poor relations of New Order and Kraftwerk, offering pedestrian, sometimes inconsequential variations on the electro-pop theme. Their simplified interpretations ...
The Faces: First Step (Warner Bros)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 February 1970
BACK WITH a bang are the Faces with Ronnie Wood (guitar) and Rod Stewart (vocals) added to the old line-up of Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan ...
Delta 5, Gang of Four, Pere Ubu: Gang of Four, Pere Ubu, Delta 5: Mountford Hall, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 21 March 1981
Firing on all Four ...
The Groundhogs, John Lee Hooker: Out of the Groundswell the New Groundhogs
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 14 December 1968
IF IT'S doing nothing else, the present blues boom is drawing attention to a number of singers and players who have been around the country's ...
The Special AKA: Memoirs of a Survivor
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 19 January 1985
Few artists are entitled to hold their heads as high as JERRY DAMMERS. He hasn't yet managed to free Nelson Mandela, but Dammers has managed ...
Phil Ochs: Phil Ochs In Concert (Elektra EKL 310)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 20 August 1966
Vicious, brilliant dynamite from Phil ...
Let's Active: Cypress (IRS IRSA 7047)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 15 September 1984
ACTIVATE ...
Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll: Brian Auger: DANGER: All Our Groups are Going Abroad
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 May 1968
GREAT NEWS for all diggers of Britain's most power packed duo this week, as Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll finally crack the chart problem. ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 May 1974
DISNEY WORLD, Orlando, Florida: You wouldn't catch the Rolling Stones gigging here, or anyone else who's even remotely associated with an anti-establishment following for that ...
Terry Edwards: Totally Wired Individual
Profile and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 18 January 1992
TERRY EDWARDS has long been true to the word "individual" he has tattooed along his neck. ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, April 1998
IT'S LIKE Last Night Of The Proms without the flags, pomp, and dubious patriotism and with infinitely better music. To my left, the first of ...
Overview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 19 October 1985
MILES DAVIS has been one of the single most influential figures in the history and development of modern jazz, not only through his playing and ...
Nina Simone: Nina Simone Sings the Blues (RCA Victor RD7S33)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 23 September 1967
NINA SIMONE'S singing is very much an acquired taste, and I have to confess that it is not my favourite brand. I recognise, though, the ...
The Damned: Damned Damned Damned (Stiff SEEZ 1)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 February 1977
Damned with faint praise ...
Anthrax, Living Colour: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 1 April 1989
FAVOURITE COLOURS ...
Nightmares in Wax: Bravado and Porn
Profile and Interview by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 22 March 1980
FOR ALL those who saw the Police on tour last summer and hated the support band because they weren't tasteful, here's another band you'll hate: ...
The Mothers Of Invention, Frank Zappa: The Mothers of Invention: Uncle Meat (Transatlantic)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 14 June 1969
A DOUBLE volume set of madness, absurdity, serious music, rock and roll, electronics and sprecht stimme by Frank Zappa. Suzie Creamcheese and the Mothers presents ...
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
We're tired of being dismissed as a teenybop band say the Wig Wam Bam men ...
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 26 January 1980
Gunboat diplomacy ...
Loop, Pussy Galore: Mean Fiddler, Harlesden, London
Live Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 23 January 1988
FASTER PUSSYCATS KILL KILL KILL ...
Johnny Johnson & the Bandwagon: Johnny Johnson: No Heartache for Rolling Bandwagon
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 23 November 1968
WHAT HAVE the Bandwagon got in common with their soul sisters the Supremes? ...
Dr. John: The Dr. John Story, Part One: Talking 'bout New Orleans
Retrospective and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 20 May 1972
DOCTOR JOHN is The Night Tripper, purveyor of Gris-Gris and Voodoo since 1967. ...
Melissa Etheridge: Places in the Heart
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 2 July 1988
AMID THE PRESENT GLUT OF FEMALE SINGER-SONGWRITERS, MELISSA ETHERIDGE IS PROVING HERSELF ONE STEP AHEAD OF THE PACK. PAUL MATHUR COMES OVER ALL ACOUSTIC AND ...
Oasis: The Oasis Story, Part 3: From Noel's Brief Exit to Be Here Now
Retrospective by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 2 February 2000
The third instalment of our four-part history of Oasis charts "the tabloid years", when they became more famous for their actions than their music. ...
The Pastels: 10 reasons to love… The Pastels
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, July 1993
1. "PASTELISM IS a force of good. It's a network which brings together formerly isolated and scattered geographically people. It's about networking, empowering, making people ...
Marvin Gaye: Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye (by David Ritz, Michael Joseph £6.95)
Book Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 7 September 1985
BIOGRAPHER RITZ, who was collaborating on a life of Marvin Gaye with the soul singer when events overtook him, was certainly in the cat-bird seat ...
Cast, Travis: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 26 July 1997
ONE LONE balloon bobs over Brixton Academy's mad-for-it crowd. It flicks and twists its playful way across the room, through the strands of blue light ...
The Beatles: The Beatles (White Album) (Apple)
Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 9 November 1968
Are the Beatles going backwards? ALAN WALSH PREVIEWS THE NEW BEATLES DOUBLE ALBUM ...
Lowell Fulson: A Name to be Reckoned With in Blues
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 24 May 1969
LOWELL FULSON has been a name to be reckoned with in blues circles ever since he began recording some 23 years ago. Oddly, though, people ...
The Specials: Too Much Too Young
Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 21 June 1980
PAULO HEWITT joined the Specials Seaside Tour expecting fun and frolics. He found a band grappling with self-doubt and the 2-Tone monster. ...
Northern Uproar: "The Teenage Oasis"
Interview by John Robb, Melody Maker, 14 October 1995
NORTHERN UPROAR are the latest rock 'n' roll delinquents from Manchester. JOHN ROBB — who produced the B-side to their debut single! — hails the ...
Linton Kwesi Johnson, Rico Rodriguez: Marquee, London
Live Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979
EVERY REFERENCE to cops getting hurt elicited cheers of approval from a largely white audience on Sunday. Is that the kind of solidarity that back-and-proud ...
Tears For Fears: Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 10 December 1983
THE LIGHT show was the best thing about it. But then a "computerised lighting display" is something to compete with. And if Tears For Fears ...
Flying Saucer Attack, Tortoise: Tortoise, Flying Saucer Attack: Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 21 September 1996
SOMEWHERE IN the paranoid corners of your mind, there are scientists trying to claim this music as their own. They erect cages of solemn reason ...
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross: Hendricks and Ross now Seek Fame...
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 13 April 1968
JON HENDRICKS, indelibly associated with the Lambert, Hendricks and Ross trio and the creation of a new form of jazz singing, has been experimenting with ...
Haircut 100: Favourite Cuts and Pelican Shirts
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 20 March 1982
HAIRCUT ONE HUNDRED suffer white line fever. Paulo Hewitt pops the questions. ...
Manic Street Preachers: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 13 January 1996
THE MANICS HAVE made a career out of keeping the most impossible of promises and breaking the simplest of trusts. They said they'd split up ...
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 27 May 1995
Starring: JARVIS COCKER as THE JUNKSHOP ROMANTIC STEVE MACKEY as THE PLAYBOY RUSSELL SENIOR as THE ALIEN CANDIDA DOYLE as THE CARE BEAR KID NICK ...
Family, Alexis Korner: College of Commerce, Manchester
Live Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 14 December 1968
MANCHESTER'S College of Commerce was packed out on December 4 for Family and Alexis Korner — along with a light show, two scantily-clad maidens, who ...
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 10 December 1983
A FEW days previously BBC 2 had scored a century with their brilliantly presented tribute to the "Soundies", the juke box visual clips of the ...
Shirley Collins: Shirley is a bit of a Good Fairy
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 25 May 1968
THE YOUNG man fitted together what looked like a short walking stick with holes and showed it to folksinger Shirley Collins. "That's what we call ...
The Bluetones: The X-rated Files: The Bluetones
Report and Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 1 August 1998
MARK MORRISS lifts up his shirt and winces. It's not a pretty sight – a jumbled wash of red, black and blue, like a colour ...
The Rockingbirds: Modern Lovers: The Rockingbirds
Profile and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 30 May 1992
"EVERY GROUP SHOULD be like a cartoon," says Alan Tyler, former philosophy student, tap dancer and bookies runner, now lead singer with the Rockingbirds. "If ...
Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 17 June 1989
TOURING THE COUNTRY, TEARING 'EM APART, BIRDLAND ARE FULFILLING THE POTENTIAL MM NOTICED IN THEM EARLIER THIS YEAR. IAN GITTINS JOINS THE YEAR'S MOST HYPERACTIVE TOUR AND ...
Junior Wells: It's My Life, Baby (Fontana TFL6084)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 17 July 1968
'It's My Life Baby'; 'It's So Sad To Be Lonely'; 'Country Girl'; 'You Lied To Me'; 'Stormy Monday'; 'Shake It Baby'; 'Checking On My Baby'; ...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 29 January 1972
SHE USED to be Dionne Warwick, and before that Dionne Warrick. The extra letter is important. The rules of numerology dictate it. Just as it ...
Phil Ochs: The War Isn't Over for Phil Ochs Yet
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 27 July 1968
WHEN PHIL OCHS arrived in England on his recent visit the immigration people almost didn't let him in. "They asked me did I want to ...
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 8 May 1999
MOST PEOPLE would have a raft of tunes. Andy Cato and Tom Findlay go one better. They're ain't called Groove Armada for nothing, you know. ...
Led Zeppelin: Carnegie Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 October 1969
THERE IS a sustained excitement about a Led Zeppelin performance I do not recall in any other group — apart from the Who. ...
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 2 May 1992
IT'S, UH, KINDA TRAGIC ...
The Mission, Pete Wylie: Hillsborough: You'll Never Walk Alone
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 13 May 1989
IN THE WAKE OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRAGEDY, THE MISSION, PETE WYLIE, MICK JONES AND THE LA'S PERFORMED AT LIVERPOOL'S ROYAL COURT THEATRE TO RAISE MONEY ...
Badfinger: Finger: Straight Up
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 March 1972
BADFINGER may be underrated in Britain — but in the States they're a bill topping band. Chris Charlesworth reports from New York... ...
The Velvet Underground: It's a Shame that Nobody Listens
Overview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 October 1969
THE VELVET Underground have made just three albums, none of which have sold particularly well in Britain. But that trio of albums constitutes a body ...
Dr. Ross, Lightnin' Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf: Albums from Howlin' Wolf, Dr. Ross and Lightnin' Hopkins
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 October 1966
RARE ITEMS FROM HOWLIN' WOLF ...
The Sugarhill Gang: The Venue, London
Live Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 1 March 1980
FLASHBACK: October 5, '79, at Barry's Stereo, a small midtown Manhattan record outlet that specialises in those mammoth portable stereo cassette-radio jobs that half the ...
Mark Owen: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 22 November 1997
BOOM, BAH-kaddah, boom-kaddah-dakka-dah, screeee!!! ...
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 15 October 1966
SEVENTY minutes of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass captivated a capacity 7,000 audience at London's Royal Albert Hall on Friday. Herb and his superb ...
Duke Ellington: Jazz's First Great Virtuoso
Obituary by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 1 June 1974
OFTEN, DURING my years of writing on the MM, I have used a phrase such as "there'll always be an Ellington" or "there's always been an ...
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 5 January 1991
Prefab Sprout's latest album, Jordan: The Comeback, was lavished with even more praise than their previous two classics, and their European dates are inspiring the ...
New Order: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 10 December 1983
BLUE COOL ...
Esther and Abi Ofarim: Esther and Abi's Audience — from Seven to Ninety
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 2 March 1968
IN THE summer of 1966, Munich's Circus Krone seethed with excitement as three thousand fans eagerly awaited the appearance on stage of the Beatles, making ...
George Clinton, Funkadelic, Parliament: George Clinton: The Mad Professor
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 8 January 1983
Paolo Hewitt gets funked by GEORGE CLINTON. ...
Pavement: Fluttering to Deceive
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 18 September 1999
Since lo-fi gods PAVEMENT have a passion for horse racing, we take them to the local William Hill for some gambling tips... But is everything ...
Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation: Doctor Dunbar's Prescription (Liberty LBL93177E)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 December 1968
SADLY BRITISH blues groups seem to have reached the end of their creative ability, and a short road it has proved to be. Recording quality ...
Van Der Graaf Generator: Van Der Graaf... Generating Good Music
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 14 March 1970
VAN DER Graaf Generator is a name that will probably be familiar to you, even if their music isn't. Through many trials and tribulations, they've ...
Canned Heat — Putting Blues Back on its Feet Again
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 31 August 1968
"WE ARE a country blues band. That's our main bag," said Bob "The Bear" Hite, lead singer of Canned Heat, the West Coast blues band ...
Patrick Adams, Musique: Patrick Adams: The Invisible Dance Master
Interview by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978
PATRICK ADAMS rides by night as SINE, Cloud One, the Universal Robot Band and Musique. He's a young New Yorker with ineffable self-confidence and a ...
Primal Scream, Andrew Weatherall: Andy Weatherall: Mixed Emotions
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 17 August 1991
In his first ever interview outside Bocca Juniors, ANDY WEATHERALL talks to PUSH about being the most sought-after remixing whiz-kid of the Nineties and his ...
Dr. Ross, John Lee Hooker, Big Joe Williams: Blues Bargains from Hooker, Dr Ross, Big Joe
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 29 October 1966
SOME good rocking samples of Hooker R&B are found on Driftin' Thru The Blues (Ember EMB3371) 17s 9d, from John Lee's early recording days. A few tracks ...
The Pointer Sisters: Pointer Sisters: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 18 May 1985
INTO THE HOT ...
Grandaddy, Super Furry Animals: Super Furry Animals, Grandaddy: Academy, Manchester
Live Review by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 23 May 1998
CREATURE COMFORTS ...
Simon Frith: The Sociology Of Rock (Constable. £7.50; paperback, £3.50)
Book Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978
FUN OR PROFIT? ...
Gil Evans: The Vision of Evans
Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 July 1973
NO, SAID Gil Evans, he didn't really want to be interviewed. Not until his new album was ready. But why not come round anyway, just ...
Lulu: Learning New Things About Life
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 December 1968
'AM I A TIGER?' ...
The Blue Aeroplanes: Preparing for Take Off
Report by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 19 May 1990
AFTER THEIR LONG SPELL AS UNDERNOURISHED LEADERS OF THE AVANT-GARDE, THE BLUE AEROPLANES FINALLY LOOK SET TO ENTER THE MAINSTREAM WITH THE RELEASE THIS WEEK ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 November 1967
A STRANGELY mixed bag of performers at London's Saville Theatre on Sunday. There was Irish folk, psychedelia, a few lights, a bit of hip wiggling ...
Donna Summer: Cats Without Claws (WE A 250 806-1)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 15 September 1984
TO BE honest I liked Donna better when she talked dirty to me. They may have been Giorgio Moroder records as much as they were ...
Report by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 12 December 1970
ALBERT AYLER, the revolutionary jazz tenor saxophonist, is dead at the age of 34. ...
Albert Ayler: Beyond This World
Obituary by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 12 December 1970
Richard Williams pays tribute to Albert Ayler ...
Thin Lizzy: Phil Lynott 1951-1986
Obituary by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 11 January 1986
Colin Irwin chronicles the rise and inevitable downfall of Phil Lynott, who died at the weekend. ...
Profile and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 2 October 1993
"THESE GUYS SAVED my life," begins Cranium HF vocalist Fisheye, nodding at his partners Kev and Ross. "I was really seriously ill when I first ...
Buddy Miles: Speakeasy, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 May 1971
BUDDY MILES at London's Speakeasy. All eyes, ears and cheers are on the sweating, grimacing figure stomping his sticks. ...
A-ha: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 10 January 1987
WHEN 3,000 prepubescent girls scream, pop analysis tends to gust into the dumper. Really, the scream is the only important thing, the moment when puffballs ...
Emerson Lake & Palmer: ELP in the Alps
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 December 1970
Chris Welch reports on a trip to Switzerland with rock's most controversial trio... ...
Nina Simone: 'Nuff Said (RCA Victor)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 8 February 1969
PROOF TO SILENCE THE CYNICS ...
The Mothers Of Invention, Frank Zappa: Frank Zappa: Meet the Boss Mother, Sussing Out Britain...
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 26 August 1967
IF AFFLUENCE and power is the Great American Dream, Frank Zappa is the Great American Nightmare. ...
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 9 April 1988
DAVID STUBBS MEETS MANTRONIX TO DISCUSS VOICES IN THE MACHINERY, STROBE FLASH, THE DECLINE OF HIP HOP, THE TRIUMPH OF ELECTRO-FUNK... AND SUNDIALS. ...
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 16 March 1996
Imagine Pulp, doomed to make obscure concept LPs about Seventies glam rock for all eternity. That's DENIM. Funnily enough, Denim are on the road with ...
Live Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 2 December 1978
IN THE collapse of trends, movements — individuals: when they combine, all the stronger. Tonight four bands moving forward, confidently or haltingly, but all with ...
Profile by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 14 July 1973
LITTLE FEAT'S Dixie Chicken is possibly the finest rock record to have come from the other side of the Atlantic since the Allman Brothers were unleashed on ...
Bobbie Gentry: Bobbie — On The Tallahatchee Bridge To Fame
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 October 1967
ALAN WALSH meets the 'Ode to Billie Joe' girl ...
Cream: Pop LP of the Month — Cream: Wheels of Fire (Polydor)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 September 1968
AN EXCITING AND REWARDING SET ...
Report and Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 19 January 1980
MARK WILLIAMS explodes the 2-Tone myth with the Beat ...
Cocteau Twins: Four-Calendar Cafe (Fontana)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 23 October 1993
FRASER JOLLY GOOD MELLOW ...
Roy Ayers: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 10 February 1979
THE WITTY, sham-fundamentalist introductions of trumpeter John Mosley were not the only examples of crowd manipulation at Roy Ayers' packed Hammersmith appearance. Despite no sets ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Doggy Dogg: Watch Out, Beagle's About
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 26 November 1994
SIMON PRICE meets SNOOP DOGGY DOGG, the Most Famous Rapper On Earth, whose murder trial comes up in three months, and asks him about Life ...
Allman Brothers Band: The Allmans are to America now what the Grateful Dead were in '67
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 25 August 1973
NOBODY TALKS at all about the deaths. Gregg seems too spacey, anyway, detached and oblivious behind his shades; maybe a few brief nods of acknowledgement ...
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: Union Gap
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 11 May 1968
"WE WEAR American Civil War uniforms to give the group an identity," said Union Gap lead singer Gary Puckett. The conversation took place over the ...
Elliott Murphy, New York Dolls: New York Dolls, Elliott Murphy: Academy of Music, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 23 February 1974
NEW YORK: A noticeable aspect of the current rock scene here is the number of artists who are very directly influenced by musicians of the ...
Mantronix: Mantronix: The Album (10)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 22 March 1986
NOISE NEVER never never annoys you know. Mantronix go for the paintstripper approach, burning away electro's lesser indulgences and leaving hard core hip hop of ...
New York Dolls: The New York Dolls: The New York Dolls (Mercury — import)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 18 August 1973
Dolls: Junior Stones ...
The Staple Singers, Pops Staples: MM Staple Singers special: Top of the Pops!
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 2 February 1974
THE STAPLE SINGERS, who gave one charging show in London on Friday, are one of America's most justly famed gospel groups. They have come a ...
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 7 August 1993
"THAT'S IT THEN," bellows the portly juggler, with some relief, on the train back to civilisation. "Done The Mode. Tick that one off." ...
Diamanda Galás: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 14 January 1989
DIAMANDA GALAS' AIDS trilogy Masque Of The Red Death draws a mixed bunch to the Queen Elizabeth Hall on New Year's Day — 50 per ...
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 11 September 1965
UNIT FOUR Plus Two, resplendent in new stage gear, stepped into the breach at the Marquee when the Moody Blues were unable to appear. Moody ...
The Staple Singers: From Gospel to Protest
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 2 February 1974
IT'S A LONG, long way in space and time, from Drew, Mississippi to the 23rd Floor of the London Hilton. Fourteen years of singing and ...
Steely Dan: Countdown To Ecstasy (Probe)
Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 18 August 1973
STEELY DAN'S first album was completely ignored in Britain. Yet it was a masterpiece. Can't Buy A Thrill contained conceptual songs that told stories with ...
Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back (Dir. D.A. Pennebaker)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 16 November 1968
TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT DYLAN ...
Robert Parker: Hit Making Tenor Man
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 8 October 1966
'COLTRANE MY INFLUENCE' SAYS ROBERT PARKER ...
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 23 November 1991
From out of Nowhere, California, to topping the English independent charts and headlining London, HOLE have been one of the year's most talked-about bands. A laughable hangover of the post-Sub Pop ...
Iggy Pop, UK Subs: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979
GIVE IGGY Pop a sense of occasion and he'll rise to it — magnificently. The difference between Friday's concert and the first London appearance of ...
The Beastie Boys: Paul's Boutique (Capitol)
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 29 July 1989
COCKS OF THE WALK ...
Jacques Brel: Brel, The Man Who Wrote The Hard-To-Get Rule Book
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 November 1966
CONCERT promoter Roy Guest rubbed his chin dubiously when I asked for an interview with Jacques Brel. the legendary French singer-songwriter whose Albert Hall concert ...
Andrea True Connection: True Story
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 5 June 1976
NEW YORK: After the success of Donna Summer's bump and grind discotheque-orientated single, 'Love To Love You Baby', it seems only natural that a girl ...
The Go-Betweens: Mysteries of Exile
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 1 October 1983
The GO-BETWEENS come from Australia, but you don't need a visa to love them. Lynden Barber suggests we drop our passport control mentalities and tune ...
Sleepy John Estes: Brownsville Blues (Delmark DL613)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 11 September 1965
Estes (voc. gtr), acc. on some tracks by Hammie Nixon (harmonica) or Yank Rachel (gtr), Ed Wilkenson or Ransom Knowling (bass) on three tracks. 1964/5. ...
Nightmares in Wax: Eric's, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 1 March 1980
IT'S THE Nightmares in Wax's second gig after a long break. The previous week's appearance (at Liverpool's Everyman Bistro) was a disappointment, marred by alcohol ...
The Shamen: The Pleasure Principle
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 3 June 1989
FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS OFTHEIR LAST ALBUM, IN GORBACHEV WE TRUST, THE EXPLOSIVE PSYCHEDELIC EXPLORERS HOPE TO EXPAND THEIR HORIZONS WITH THEIR NEW MINI-LP, PHORWARD. IAN ...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 June 1976
THOUGH SOUND recording celebrates its centenary next year, it is only in the past ten to 16 years that studio techniques have reached the present ...
Report by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 15 May 1971
"LAURA WANTS the monitor turned up please." ...
Howlin' Wolf: The Howlin' Wolf Album (Chess CRLS4543)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 26 April 1969
ON THE front cover of THE HOWLIN' WOLF ALBUM (Chess CRLS4543) is printed the message: "This is Howlin' Wolf's New Album. He doesn't like it. ...
Jayne County: The Pink Palace, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 8 September 1984
THE FIRST thing Jayne County has to say is "It's a bit short, can't you make it any longer?" And she was only talking about ...
Willie Nelson, Billy Swan: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 1 May 1976
Good and bad ol' boys ...
Cecil Taylor: A Piano is an Orchestra
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 16 August 1975
...says CECIL TAYLOR, a controversial figure ever since he erupted at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957 with his quartet, but even those who dislike ...
Lowell Fulson: The Men Who Make The Blues: Lowell Fulson
Profile by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 26 April 1969
LOWELL FULSON is one of the leading post-war blues-men, a trendsetting artist who has made and sold a great many records since he cut his ...
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 10 December 1977
HAVE YOU noticed how a new category is being synthesised in the press? It had to happen, now that disillusion with new wave/punk mark one ...
Sun Ra & his Arkestra: The Fridge, Brixton, London
Live Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 30 November 1985
IN A VAIN attempt to create something approaching a jazz boho ambience, someone had covered the walls of the Fridge with arty French slogans. One ...
Kenickie: To Hell With Teen Spirit
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 11 January 1997
KENICKIE may be young, they may use guitars, they may be supernaturally exuberant. But they are not, repeat NOT, a teen punk band. With their ...
Wu-Tang Clan: The Forum, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 17 September 1994
KARATE KICKS ...
Barry Manilow: From a Jingle to a Scream
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 February 1975
Chris Charlesworth in New York meets Barry Manilow, who made Number One in the States with 'Mandy' — and looks set for a hit in ...
The Who: The Price of Pop Art — The Who Count the Cost
Report by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 28 August 1965
THE WHO stand firmly for pop art. By their terms, pop art means how they behave and dress both on and off stage. On stage, ...
Smashing Pumpkins: Pumpkin Iron
Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 21 September 1991
SMASHING PUMPKINS look set to continue the trail-blazing guitar magic first pioneered by Jane's Addiction. CATHI UNSWORTH discovers why the Chicago-based band think Prince should ...
Jerry Lee Lewis: Marimba, Middlesbrough
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 5 November 1966
HE'S 31 AND, off stage just what you would imagine a Southern gentleman to be. But on stage, you'd better watch out because Jerry Lee ...
The Runaways: Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 9 October 1976
Runaways — the wild ones ...
Howard Jones: Civic Hall, Guildford
Live Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 7 January 1984
HOWARD JONES. The real thing or just another keyboard wizard with just enough talent to blaze a fiery but abruptly short trail through our memories ...
UNKLE: Psyence Fiction (Mo'Wax)
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 22 August 1998
SCI-FI ALLSTARS ...
Rufus: Chaka: I Feel Sexless on Stage
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 12 July 1975
CHAKA KHAN is a bit like a furry golly. She flops in front of the telly, cheering for Connors at Wimbledon, giggling and proudly displaying ...
Cream: Bruce Finds Himself via the Cream
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 5 November 1966
WELL THEY finally made it. The much publicised, talked-about, raved about, and listened to group — the Cream — are in the chart. ...
My Life Story: Jake's Progress
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 10 August 1996
More Pulp than Pulp, more divine than The Divine Comedy, the 12 members of MY LIFE STORY now bring you '12 Reasons Why'. Glory beckons. ...
Miriam Makeba: Miriam Makeba In Concert (Reprise RLP6253)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 13 January 1968
TODAY MIRIAM Makeba is a polished concert, cabaret and TV artist working on the fringe of folk song and popular music. ...
Stevie Wonder: Madison Square Garden, New York NY
Live Review by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 6 April 1974
Night of Wonder ...
The Style Council: Our Favourite Shop (Polydor)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 25 May 1985
Shopping spree ...
Live Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 10 January 1998
SOUTHERN MUTHAS DO HAVE EM! ...
Billie Holiday: Lady Day — the True Sound of Soul
Memoir by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 2 August 1969
MAX JONES writes on the tenth anniversary of Billie Holiday's death ...
The Action, Bluesology: Shoreline Club, Bognor Regis
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 5 November 1966
BOGNOR REGIS' Shoreline Club offered sweet refuge from lashing seas and freezing winds last Saturday, as it reopened under the watchful eye and new musical ...
The Heptones: Home of the Hits
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 17 February 1979
THE BIGGEST surprise of the week was the fact that the Black Echoes Reggae Awards started on time. Last year's was a typical reggaematic shambles: ...
Earth, Wind & Fire: Madison Square Garden, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
Fiery ELP of soul ...
Dead Or Alive: Youthquake (Epic)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 11 May 1985
Third degree Burns ...
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 13 October 1990
With rave reviews greeting their debut album release you'd think THE LA'S would be dead chuffed. So how come BOB STANLEY encounters a band drinking ...
R. Kelly: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 11 February 1995
VIBE DA JOINT ...
Ray Charles, Billy Preston: Billy Preston: Forget The Rumours — Billy Will Be Back
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 2 August 1969
ONE OF the few sure things about the music business is that rumours will fly around it. ...
The Rolling Stones: Stones Special
Interview by Michael Watts, Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 May 1972
MICK JAGGER talks to Michael Watts... and MICK TAYLOR talks to Chris Welch ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 20 February 1988
IT'S BEEN 12 MONTHS SINCE STUMP LAST RIDDLED THE WORLD WITH RIDICULE, AND THIS WEEK HERALDS THE RETURN OF THE BARED TORSO AND THEIR OFF-THE-BEAM ...
Denim: The Boardwalk, Manchester
Live Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 12 January 1991
JEAN GENIUS ...
Grandaddy: The Monarch, London
Live Review by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 21 February 1998
A LESSON in not listening to The Man, who would have you believe that bands like Grandaddy, stretching their thrift-store synths way beyond their limits ...
Son House: Father Of Folk Blues (CBS BPC62604)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 29 January 1966
'Death Letter'; 'Pearline'; 'Louise McGhee'; 'John The Revelator'; 'Empire State Express'; 'Preachin' Blues'; 'Grinning In Your Face'; 'Sundown'; 'Levee Camp Moan'. ...
Andrew Gold, Linda Ronstadt: Linda Ronstadt, Andrew Gold: Odeon, Birmingham
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
Linda warms to a Heatwave ...
The Ohio Players: Ohio Players: Ohio Fire
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 25 January 1975
With an album racing up the US charts, the Ohio Players are big timers. CHRIS CHARLESWORTH in New York meets the tour de force behind ...
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 5 December 1992
Failed ice-cream man Luke Haines of the Auteurs wants to rescue you from mindless grunge, and sees his heart-stopping new single, 'Showgirl', as a mini-screenplay. ...
Soft Machine: Fairfield Hall, Croydon
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 10 January 1970
IT SEEMS to me that this just might be Soft Machine's year. Having done things the unconventional way by finding first fame on the Continent, ...
Bobby Womack: So Many Rivers (MCA)
Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 14 September 1985
IS BOBBY Womack, in the words of his song, the only survivor left standing here? Soul has suffered a death rate comparable with early bebop, ...
Elliott Smith: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 15 May 1999
AT FIRST, THE hushed, respectful, masses can't believe their eyes. They've come to sit and worship at the feet of the man who redefined sensitive, ...
Roots Manuva: Brand New Second Hand (Big Dada) ****½
Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 1 May 1999
UK HIP HOP is only ever any good when it doesn't try to copy Americans all the time. A prodigious talent like Roots Manuva has ...
Ministry: Live at the End of the World!
Report and Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 14 November 1992
The Lollapalooza tour and the Psalm 69 album have turned MINISTRY into industrial metal superstars, the only band of their kind big enough to play ...
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: Elysees Montmartre, Paris
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 17 December 1988
TONIGHT THE Angel saw the Ass, and still isn't convinced. ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Eric B & Rakim: Bought and Sould
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 14 November 1987
WITH A HIT ALBUM AND THE TOP 30 SINGLE, 'PAID IN FULL', ERIC B & RAKIM HAVE FINALLY FOUND SUCCESS WITH THEIR UNCOMPROMISING BRAND OF ...
Graham Parker, The Rumour: Graham Parker & The Rumour: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1 May 1976
WITH SOME justification, Graham Parker is being touted as a major new British talent. But, though I witnessed Parker and his fine band, the Rumour, ...
Pacific Eardrum, Big Jim Sullivan: Big Jim Sullivan: Mister Guitar
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 July 1975
From Eddie Cochran to the Bay City Rollers, taking in Tom Jones, the Kinks, the Small Faces and hundreds of others. The career of BIG ...
Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Nucleus: Ronnie Scott's Club, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 10 January 1970
Rahsaan Roland Kirk at London's Ronnie Scott's Club ...
Duane Eddy: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 March 1967
DUANE EDDY and a band of faithful followers generated 'Some Kinda Earthquake' at the Saville London on Sunday. Not quite the enormous earthquake that was ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 26 August 1967
LONDON'S SPEAKEASY CLUB has been, as the fashionable columns would say, "in" for some time now. ...
Iggy Pop, The Stooges: Night of the Iggy
Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 12 February 1972
WHO IS IT who smashes a microphone in his teeth, tears flesh from his bare chest, leaps into the audience busting bones in all directions, ...
Aerosmith: Toys In The Attic (CBS 80773)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 July 1975
AEROSMITH BRING hope from America. They're not a new Steely Dan, or even yet another variation on the Doobie Brothers. Yet they are most people's ...
Toots & the Maytals: Toots Got Soul
Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 March 1976
FIRST BOB Marley and the Wailers. Then, Toots and the Maytals. ...
Alan Price: Klooks Kleek, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 March 1967
ALAN PRICE and his amazing dancing band blew up a storm at Klooks Kleek on Tuesday last week, and an all-star turn-out joined in for ...
Microdisney: Crooked Mile (Virgin)
Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 3 January 1987
OR ... Camping It Up With The Cops, the Disney's third album, their first with a major label and the first to really wrap their ...
Gallon Drunk: Pissed as Beauts
Profile and Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 24 October 1992
They've put quiffs and Hawaiian shirts back on the map. They've been compared favourably to the mighty Birthday Party. They like making one mutha of ...
The Meters: Fire On The Bayou (Reprise K45044)
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 16 August 1975
Meters set the bayou afire ...
Bobby "Blue" Bland: Bobby Bland: Blue Eyed Soul
Profile and Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 30 March 1974
BOBBY "BLUE" Bland is on stage now, smiling at Mel Jackson as he takes the microphone from him and swings into 'Reconsider Baby'. Then a ...
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 22 September 1990
After the critical and commercial disappointment of Walking The Panther, LL COOL J is back on more typically outrageous form with his new album, Mama ...
The Mothers Of Invention, Frank Zappa: The Mothers of Invention: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 November 1968
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THE MOTHERS COULD BE BORING? ...
Simply Red: Hammersmith Palais, London
Live Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 30 November 1985
AND SO the controversy continues. Inflammatory statements rage about our ears as the Mancunian soul-revivalists stand their ground and weather the cries of derision that ...
Biddu, Carl Douglas: Biddu's Indian Summer
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 23 August 1975
INDIA CONJURES up a variety of images in the mind of the British; steaming curries, turbans and saris, travel by elephant, and an accent superbly ...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 6 December 1969
THREE YEARS ago an unknown singer recorded what was to become one of the greatest soul ballads of all time. ...
The Gap Band: Aerobic Ancestors
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 10 January 1987
THE GAP BAND have been doing it since the year dot. Paul Mathur seeks the secret of eternal success ...
Saint Etienne: Saint No Mountain High Enough
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 1 May 1993
Who do SAINT ETIENNE think they are? One minute they're just the weekly music press' favourite pop group, the next they're working with Kylie and ...
John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band: Some Time In New York City/Live Jam (Apple)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
INEVITABLY, SOME Time is another giant step in the rapid polarisation of opinions concerning the moral and musical stance of John Lennon. ...
Chic, Diana Ross: Diana Ross: Diana (Motown STMA 8033)
Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 21 June 1980
WITH THE combined forces of the Chic Organization Ltd on the record, and with all the songs written, arranged, and produced by the Organization's Dynamic ...
Adeva: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 28 April 1990
IF YOU WERE there, you'd know. Even if you weren't, you could imagine. The sight of Adeva's generously proportioned body squeezed into a microscopic black ...
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 10 January 1987
Fed up with indie rigours and rituals, MICRODISNEY have signed to a major, but have they sold their souls? Helen Fitzgerald looks at a new ...
Terry Melcher: Confessions of a Byrd Watcher
Profile and Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 20 April 1974
...or a day in the lives of Terry Melcher, by Jacoba Atlas in LA ...
Love Unlimited, Barry White: Barry White, Love Unlimited: Shubert Theatre, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 12 April 1975
Too much love! ...
The Redskins: Central Polytechnic, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 4 January 1986
THE ONLY soul we got tonight was the pre-gig tape, sublime Seventies slices of Billy Paul, Fontella Bass, Womack... Personally, I was grateful — I ...
The Divine Comedy: Up the Dante — The Divine Comedy: Casanova (Setanta)
Review and Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 13 July 1996
Did the world misunderstand THE DIVINE COMEDY'S last LP? Now it's been reissued, and it's time to think again ...
Chris Spedding: Spedding to a Goal
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 January 1975
LIFE CAN GO speeding by as any rock and roller will tell you. When you are as good a musician as Chris Spedding, there is ...
P.P. Arnold, Delaney & Bonnie: Delaney & Bonnie, P.P. Arnold: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 December 1969
Back to rock 'n' soul with Delaney 'n' Bonnie ...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 6 December 1969
SELDOM HAS a group caused such a stir with a first album. America's Chicago became the most talked about band in Britain on the strength ...
Toots & the Maytals: Lyceum, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 27 March 1976
GOD, I JUST can't take it any more! Where is all this incredible music coming from? It's getting more than flesh and blood can stand, ...
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 9 May 1992
THOSE OF you by now wearied of the periodic meanders up the garden path you have made at this paper's behest will read this, as ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 September 1972
FRANK ZAPPA is back in Britain for the first time since the attack which nearly ended his career. On the eve of last Saturday's Oval ...
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 23 January 1982
Paulo Hewitt finds the spirit of IMAGINATION ...
Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 25 January 1992
Inspired by the boundless, new American rock of Nirvana and Soundgarden, PEARL JAM explain to CATHI UNSWORTH why their primitive approach is the way to ...
Glen Campbell: The Wichita Lineman is On The Line
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 15 March 1969
JIM WEBB'S wistful 'Wichita Lineman' has realised an ambition for guitarist-turned-singer Glen Campbell. ...
Generation X: Valley Of The Dolls (Chrysalis CHR 1193)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 3 February 1979
Style into junk ...
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 24 June 1989
I DON'T know if I can get across to you just how depressing it is to be standing, sweating in a tiny Parisian jazz club ...
Humble Pie: Ronnie Scott Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 August 1969
HUMBLE PIE were viewed with sceptical suspicion by the pop industry before their unveiling at a special press reception last week. However, with three encores ...
Altered Images, The Human League: Martin Rushent: The Genetic Method
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 6 February 1982
Studio Svengali MARTIN RUSHENT earbashes hungry hack Adam Sweeting. ...
Demis Roussos: It's all Greek to Britain
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 23 August 1975
COLIN IRWIN talks to Demis Roussos ...
Electric Light Orchestra: E.L.O.: Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 23 February 1974
AS A ROCK band the Electric Light Orchestra are successful enough. They have built a solid following, play value-for-money concerts, and get hit records. What ...
Taj Mahal: The Natch'l Blues (Direction 8-63397)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 March 1969
AMERICAN MUSICIANS have always scored over their British musical cousins, in their ability to RELAX, and still show off their mastery of whatever medium they ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 1 December 1990
Are L7 really Californian white trash bitches from hell or is EVERETT TRUE just having another wet dream? It's best you read on... ...
Lee "Scratch" Perry: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 3 October 1987
PRESIDENT Abraham Perry appears in full ceremonial dress. Long red socks, stars upon his breeches, fairy lights around his head, a mirror strapped to his ...
Tricky: Angels With Dirty Faces (Island)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 23 May 1998
Cherub Thumping! ...
Sonic Youth: A Thousand Leaves (Geffen)
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 16 May 1998
Leaf It Out! ...
Tool: The Boathouse, Norfolk, Virginia
Live Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 5 March 1994
RARELY HAVE a band been as misunderstood by their audience as Tool playing provincial America. If the seething, drunken mass of dubious humanity that turn ...
Obituary by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 14 August 1993
IT WAS ALWAYS impossible to tell Max Jones, who died this month aged 76, anything about jazz that he didn't already know, or indeed get ...
J. Walter Negro & The Loose Jointz: J. Walter Negro: The Writing on the Wall
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 2 January 1982
J. WALTER NEGRO shoots the pump with Paulo Hewitt. ...
Cristina: Cristina (Ze lLPS7004)
Review by Roy Trakin, Melody Maker, 29 March 1980
TAKE ONE graduate from a snooty Ivy League College, holding a degree in, say, Abstract Philosophy. Add a dash of new journalism, a patently fake ...
Live Review by Idris Walters, Melody Maker, 12 April 1975
ATLANTIC'S Supersoul On-Tour '75 (direct descendant from the sixties' Stax/Volt Review) hit the Manchester Opera House after a successful opening night at the Liverpool Empire. ...
Jimmy Reed: Jimmy Reed at Soul City (Joys-127)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 March 1969
IN SPITE of its title, Jimmy Reed At Soul City (JOYS-127), and the sleevenote's proclamation that the LP "is a fine study of the man ...
Arlo Guthrie: Cochrane Theatre, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 December 1966
HIS hair is a lot longer — just about as bushy as dad's used to be in his heyday — and he's an inch or ...
T. Rex: Will America Learn To Love Marc Bolan?
Report by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 23 September 1972
T. REX are making another attempt to win the hearts of young America. But it don't come easy, as MM's Roy Hollingworth reports... ...
Reverend Gary Davis: Rev. Gary Davis: Farewell to the Holy Bluesman
Obituary by Karl Dallas, Max Jones, Melody Maker, 20 May 1972
THOUGH I'M not what most people would call a religious man, when I heard that at the age of 76 and after several strokes the ...
Sisters of Mercy: The Sisters Of Mercy: The Devils Floorshow
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 15 January 1983
Adam Sweeting unravels the stream of consciousness gushing forth from the SISTERS OF MERCY. ...
Bukka White: Sky Songs (Fontana 688804ZL)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 23 April 1966
BUKKA WHITE is one of the important Mississippi blues artists, an old-school singer and guitar player admired by just about every blues collector and performer ...
Rufus: Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan (ABC)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 December 1975
NO DANGER of conveyor-belt soul setting in here, with the incredible Chaka Khan proving that blood and electricity are flowing through her sensual frame. ...
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 17 December 1988
"THERE IS no second encore." Sometimes, the humblest of phrases can take on unlooked-for importance. There is no second encore. What can I say? For ...
The Rolling Stones: When Irish Fans Are Punching
Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 11 September 1965
ALAN WALSH, MM MAN-ON-THE-SPOT, REPORTS THE STONES' IRISH TOUR ...
Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Bruce Springsteen: John Hammond: From Billie to Bruce
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 6 December 1975
John Hammond recalls his 40 years atthe forefront of popular music recording ...
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 13 June 1981
BOWIE (JOE) beats the Apple and subverts Paulo Hewitt ...
Luscious Jackson: The Jackson Four
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 11 March 1995
LUSCIOUS JACKSON are four luscious (Janet) Jackson-goes-hip hop Noo Yawk fly girlz whose scratchy white rap has been described as The Breeders-play-The Sugarhill Gang. SIMON ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 9 March 1974
Bolan's teenage dream ...
Bobby "Blue" Bland: Bobby Bland: Members Only (Malaco)
Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 1 February 1986
MEMBERS' ENCLOSURE ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 22 April 1967
WHO MOVE INTO A CLASS OF THEIR OWN ...
Soft Machine, Robert Wyatt: Soft Machine: Inside the Mind of a Machine
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 2 January 1971
Michael Watts talks to Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt ...
Report by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 5 November 1983
Helen FitzGerald has a nightmare... and finds herself at the first night of THE TUBE. ...
Mose Allison: Down Home Piano (Transatlantic PR7423)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 11 February 1967
MOSE ALLISON and his work are both pretty well known by now to jazz and blues lovers over here. This album, to set down first ...
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 5 May 1984
HOT NIGHTS IN GEORGIA ...
Iron Butterfly: Butterfly Break Out of the Iron Cocoon
Interview by Harold Bronson, Melody Maker, 9 January 1971
LOS ANGELES — It was a nervous experience for Iron Butterfly when, late last year, they found out things weren't quite right. Their music had ...
Chris Barber: Now They Can Tell The Difference
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 11 September 1965
CHRIS BARBER, who has been leading bands off and on for sixteen years, still approaches the business with youthful enthusiasm. In spite of beat booms, ...
The Blue Nile: Source of the Nile
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 28 April 1984
Helen FitzGerald goes in search of paradise and finds... BLUE NILE ...
Captain Beefheart: Strictly Personal (Blue Thumb S1)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 16 November 1968
(From One Stop Records, 40 South Moulton St., London W.1, or other import speciality shops) ...
Live Review by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
FOR ONE reason or another, Johnny Cash has a rather fearsome image. It's been tempered in recent times by some of the songs he's written ...
Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers: L.A.M.F. (Track 2409 218)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 15 October 1977
LET'S DISPENSE with some inevitables. One. Heartbreakers Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan were originally part of, the New York Dolls and, of course, we all ...
Prince Far I & Creation Rebel: Dingwalls, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 19 February 1983
Enough is enough ...
Vanilla Ice: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 6 July 1991
WHAT IS IT that makes Vanilla Ice simultaneously a great among pop's icons and one of its classic punchlines? I suspect it's the Robert Van ...
Cecil Taylor: For Cecil Taylor, It's Just Beginning...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 8 November 1969
EMERGING FROM the stage door of the Odeon, Hammersmith after his triumphal Jazz Expo concert on Friday night, the diminutive figure of pianist Cecil Taylor ...
John Fahey: The Transfiguration Of Blind Joe Death (Transatlantic TRA 173)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 16 November 1968
WHAT IS A guitarist's guitarist? Listen to John Fahey on The Transfiguration Of Blind Joe Death to find out. Originally recorded back in the early ...
New York Dolls: Band They Love To Hate
Comment by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 8 December 1973
I'VE SEEN the New York Dolls five times in New York, and London's Biba's last week made it six. ...
The Housemartins: Rough Rumours
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 13 June 1987
HOUNDED BY THE FLEET STREET RAGS, THE HOUSEMARTINS ALMOST THREW IN THE TOWEL AT THE TURN OF THE YEAR BUT NOW THEY'RE BACK WITH WHAT ...
Gil Scott-Heron: Manchester University, Manchester
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 February 1976
Gil's the word! ...
Marc Almond: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 10 October 1992
NIGHT IN SHINING AMOUR ...
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 3 August 1968
BUBBLEGUM music is making a lot of money for New York record producers Jeffrey Katz and Jerry Kasenatz. Yes, that's right, bubblegum music. That's what ...
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 7 May 1977
Television's Tom Verlaine talks to Caroline Coon in Houston ...
Johnny Marr, The Smiths, The The: Johnny Marr: Escape from Strangeways
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 30 September 1989
THIS WEEK, THE THE'S WORLD TOUR FINALLY HITS BRITAIN. ANDREW MUELLER JOINED THE TOUR IN AUSTRALIA TO TALK TO MARR ABOUT HIS ROLE AS ROCK'S ...
The Incredible String Band: Incredible String Band: Wee Tam And The Big Huge (Elektra)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 16 November 1968
THE INCREDIBLES' third album, The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter was rather subdued and introspective with Mike Heron leaning towards Robin Williamson's elegiac style. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 17 December 1988
THURSDAY, A PACKED Marquee. Onstage, four anoraky boys with jangling guitars. Mick Mercer's idea of Nirvana; my idea of no good reason to miss Neil ...
TLC: Natural Burn Jillers — TLC: CrazySexyCool (LaFace)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 13 May 1995
TLC are three Scary Betties if ever we saw 'em. Arsonists, sexual predators and New Jill Swing superstars whose CrazySexyCool is Swingbeat Record Of The ...
Profile and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 5 April 1975
GLEN CAMPBELL, due in Britain next week for a major tour, and with a new album, Reunion, recorded with Jim Webb, talks to Harvey Kubernik ...
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 30 May 1987
STILL AVOIDING CATEGORISATION YEARS AFTER HER 'O SUPERMAN' HIT, LAURIE ANDERSON TELLS JONH WILDE ALL ABOUT HER MOVIE, HOME OF THE BRAVE. ...
Betty Carter: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976
A NEW EXPERIENCE awaits the visitors to Ronnie Scott's in London, this week or next, in the extrovert person of Betty Carter, a wholly original ...
Orange Juice: Crystal Palace Bowl, London
Live Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 6 October 1984
THE THRILL OF IT ALL ...
Primal Scream: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 4 April 1992
BOBBY DAZZLER ...
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 29 November 1969
THERE AREN'T many groups in Britain who fans will queue in the rain for Taste, a trio of Irishmen formed a little over a year ...
Pentangle: Sweet Child (Transatlantic TRA 178)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 16 November 1968
A BRILLIANT second album from the Pentangle and, being a two-record package, gives full rein to the group's tremendous ability, fine musicianship and remarkable flexibility. ...
Black Sabbath: Sabbath, Singles and the States
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 2 January 1971
TALES OF hardship and woe generally follow a group's first trip across the Atlantic. Many bands have returned to inform us that "it's not all ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 6 March 1976
NEW YORK: A four-act show always runs the risk of dragging, even when the organisation is as meticulous as it was last Saturday at the ...
Ornette Coleman: Focus on Sanity
Interview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 27 June 1981
The legendary innovator ORNETTE COLEMAN at the ballet. Up on his points in bright green tutu is Brian Case. ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 1 February 1986
SIX RATHER burly black men dressed in tattered wealth and screaming about the street. Awesomely unpleasant haircuts, little sense and yet... ...
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 28 November 1992
CHANNEL ZERO. Middle-class family with airbrushed children steps out of a Volvo. Mother takes one look at me and shouts "You need Jesus!" Torn between ...
Wu-Tang Clan: Fear of a Black-Belt Planet
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 12 August 1995
In the last two weeks. Method Man and Gravediggaz have divebombed into the British charts. At last, Staten Island's utterly insane-in-the-membrane WU-TANG CLAN — Horrorcore ...
Sebadoh: Psychobabble: Sebadoh's Lou Barlow
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 29 May 1999
He'd consider making a necklace from his toes, when he's dead he wants his body to be cut up and distributed to people... And he's ...
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey Robinson, Proving That Miracles Still Happen
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 14 February 1970
WILLIAM 'Smokey' Robinson is the lead singer of the Miracles, vice president of Motown Records and the man Dylan has described as "America's greatest living ...
Mary Coughlan: Angel With Dirty Phrases
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 27 September 1986
Seductive on vinyl, scathing in the flesh, MARY COUGHLAN tames the wild rover in Prof. Colin Irwin. ...
Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 15 January 1994
MARK LANEGAN, singer with Screaming Trees, America's premier country-grunge act, has just made a solo record which is even better than his band's stuff. Which ...
Freda Payne, The Stylistics: The Stylistics, Freda Payne: Cunard International Hotel, London
Live Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 26 July 1975
THE STYLISTICS came onstage around midnight and, judging by the yawns on many people's faces, it wasn't a moment too soon. London's Cunard International Hotel ...
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 4 May 1991
BRILLIANT, brilliant, f***ing brilliant!!! Ignore all those bands you read about in Sidelines: if you don't love AC/DC, you don't like Rock. They're that fundamental, ...
Butterscotch Caboose, Rufus Thomas: Memphis
Report by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 23 January 1971
Richard Williams in the Soul capital of America ...
David Ackles: Travelling Man with a Difference
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 5 October 1968
FIRST THING Illinois-born singer-songwriter David Ackles did when he arrived in Britain last week was to arrange to hear Julie Driscoll's next single, 'Road To ...
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 6 June 1981
Paulo Hewitt goes to New York and tries to find some common ground with BLACK UHURU's crucial three. ...
Suede: What's a Nice Band Like You Doing in a Field Like This?
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 29 August 1992
Since we scooped the lot and put SUEDE on the cover of MM back in April, the world has started falling at their feet. SIMON ...
Johnny Mathis: Talk Of The Town, London
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 30 July 1966
JOHNNY MATHIS' European cabaret debut at London's Talk Of The Town on Monday, confirmed that he's a superb song stylist though some of his nervous ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 14 June 1986
VANITY BELONGS to The Tribe Of Diana, that growing band of performers kneeling at the feet of Ms Ross and wondering how it is that ...
Cast: Dull and Duller — Cast: All Change (Polydor 12 tks/47 mins)
Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 14 October 1995
If the current boom in anything involving jangly melodies played on big Rickenbacker guitars means we have to listen to ultra-conservative, imagination-free trad porridge from ...
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 17 July 1993
...but what's it all about? SIMON PRICE listens as COURTNEY LOVE fills him in on the (w)Hole picture. ...
The Beatles: Revolver (Parlophone)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 30 July 1966
BEATLES BREAK BOUNDS OF POP ...
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 12 February 1972
"I STARTED singing my own songs because no one else was saying what I wanted to say," explains Helen Reddy, the Australian born singer who ...
Louise: Young, Gifted and Back!
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 11 October 1997
Yep, she's here again. When we asked who was the lass with the most class, LOUISE shot to the top of our sex poll. Now ...
Allen Toussaint: Southern Nights (Reprise K 54021)
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 12 April 1975
Testimony to Toussaint ...
Ice-T: Gangsta's Parad-Ice — Ice-T: Ice-T VI: Return of the Real (Virgin 21 tks/74 mins)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 25 May 1996
We like ICE-T, rap's renaissance man. He doesn't give a shit ...
Keef Hartley, John Mayall: John Mayall, Keef Hartley: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 29 November 1969
JOHN MAYALL must have fell like the father figure of British blues at the Albert Hall on Thursday as he surveyed Henry Lowther and Keef ...
Joe Cocker: Cocker Dies a Death
Report by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 15 June 1974
LOS ANGELES — There ought to be some delicate way of putting this, but there really isn't. Joe Cocker opened and closed at the Roxy ...
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 8 July 1989
IN 1977, GREIL MARCUS PUBLISHED MYSTERY TRAIN, ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF ROCK CRITICISM EVER WRITTEN. HIS NEW BOOK, LIPSTICK TRACES: A SECRET ...
Don Williams: Country Boy (ABC)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 15 October 1977
NOW LET'S get this straight from the outset. I'm a Don Williams fan of considerable ardour, and all the disappointments felt with this album are ...
Was (Not Was): Was (Not Was) (ZE/Island ILPS 7015)
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 27 June 1981
Was is not the Was that was ...
Ice Cube: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 13 April 1991
DRY ICE ...
Gloria Gaynor, Labelle, Barry White: Disco: "Kids Want Something Different — This Is It!"
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 5 April 1975
...so says Billy Smith, an expert on New York's booming discos. In a country where radio rules, it's an amazing phenomenon. CHRIS CHARLESWORTH reports... ...
Booker T & The MGs, Steve Cropper: MM in Memphis: Cropper Soul Picker Supreme
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971
Richard Williams with the first of a series of profiles from America's soul centre... ...
Horace Silver: Just Quit While You're Ahead
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 1 October 1966
ALREADY, AND in spite of the excessively rough luck of having his place of employment burned down on the opening night of his first British ...
Spencer Davis Group: The Spencer Davis Group: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 31 December 1966
IT WAS A night of comedy and merry making when the Spencer Davis Group held their Christmas party at London's Marquee Club last week. ...
Kylie Minogue: Docklands Arena, London
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 5 May 1990
KYLIE UNLIKELY ...
Denim: Jean Genius — Denim: Denim On Ice (Echo)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 24 February 1996
Lawrence, the man with a bizarre fabric fetish, is back, and he's railing against the kind of fantastically trivial stuff no one else has given ...
Sarah Vaughan: Searching For That Natural Soul Sound
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 17 November 1973
MARSHALL FISHER, Sarah Vaughan's husband and personal manager, indicated that if I were to call round at the Mayfair Hotel an hour or so before ...
The Lounge Lizards: Orchestrating the Apocalypse
Interview by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, 23 February 1980
With the Ayatollah snapping at America's ankles and the World tottering on the brink, the Lounge Lizards reckon they've found the palliative: 'fake jazz'. MARY ...
Jewell, The Lady of Rage, Nate Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound: Murder Dre Wrote
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 26 November 1994
DR DRE's G-normously successful DEATH ROW label is being hailed as a Motown for the Nineties. SIMON PRICE meets eargasm addict THE LADY OF RAGE, ...
Roy Harper: Sophisticated Beggar (Strike JHL 105)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 18 March 1967
THE TROUBLE with real innovators is that they make life very difficult for anyone who tries to emulate them. Bert Jansch and John Renbourn have ...
Wet Wet Wet: The Memphis Sessions (Phonogram)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 12 November 1988
IN A RECENT Wx3 feature in The Observer's Section 5, Simon Reynolds concluded that the Wets' perpetuation of soul music's traditional values is "an unhelpful ...
Bushwick Bill: Phantom Of The Rapra (Rap-A-Lot/Noo Trybe V0SS91)
Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 22 July 1995
"Honky can't stop what honky started/A ghetto is what you made" — 'Mr President' ...
Sly & the Family Stone: Sly Weds on Stage
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 15 June 1974
THE EVER-unpredictable Sly Stone married the mother of his nine-month-old son in front of 20,000 fans at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday evening. ...
Jimi Hendrix: Hendrix — on the Crest of a Fave Rave
Profile by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 21 January 1967
ALTHOUGH things are happening all around Jimi Hendrix — he doesn't choose to see them. It's all down to being cool. No pre-hatch counting of ...
My Bloody Valentine: Suicide Kisses
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 15 October 1988
A YEAR AGO, MY BLOODY VALENTINE WERE LINGERING IN SECOND DIVISION INDIE ANONYMITY. THEN THEY RELEASED THEIR EXTRAORDINARY YOU MAKE ME REALISE LP AND SUDDENLY ...
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 May 1971
Mutton dressed as Ram? ...
Trouble Funk: Town & Country, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 2 August 1986
TROUBLESHOOTERS ...
Blur: Park Psychosis — Blur: Parklife (Food /EMI F00D10)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 23 April 1994
Strike a light, guvnah. For thair fird al-bum, BLUR, the bin lids' faverits, 'ave gorn awl Lahn-dun on us, and no mistake. SIMON PRICE gave ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 May 1971
Chris Welch talks to a strangely unresponsive Buddy Miles. ...
The Stone Roses: Bad Loon Rising
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 8 April 1989
CHARTING A SIMILAR COURSE TO HOUSE OF LOVE, SINGER IAN BROWN NOW RECKONS HIS MANCHESTER-BASED BAND'S FORTHCOMING ALBUM WILL PROVE HIS BAND ARE THE BEST ...
Wayne County & the Electric Chairs: Music Machine, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 October 1978
WEIRD IS the word that immediately springs to mind; the detached weirdness of viewing a transvestite play hard rock, of being part of an audience ...
Above the Law, Michel'le, N.W.A: NWA, Above The Law, Michel'le: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 9 June 1990
GUNS OF BRIXTON ...
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 21 October 1972
LORAINE ALTERMAN talks to the group that's bringing 'smartness' back to rock ...
Manic Street Preachers: Drags to Riches
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 25 January 1992
Sacrilege! The Manics are re-releasing a single! SIMON PRICE watches the Welsh wastrels get all tarted up for a video and gives them grief over ...
Tom Paxton: Something In My Life (Mam)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 12 April 1975
THIS IS PROBABLY the most undistinguished album Paxton has ever made. Maybe it's no coincidence, but his first album on the same label as Gilbert ...
Nat King Cole: You're Listening To The Nat King Cole Trio (Music For Pleasure)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 11 February 1967
WE ALL SUFFER from blind spots, I guess, so I'll confess one of mine at once and admit that I'm almost totally proof against the ...
Aretha Franklin: Aretha — the True Professional
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 4 May 1968
IN ONE of the attractive middle-class homes which line the long streets of north west Detroit, passers-by often notice an attractive young woman dusting and ...
Barclay James Harvest, Caravan: Caravan, Barclay James Harvest: The Lyceum, London
Live Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 24 April 1971
Live and well? ...
Crass, Poison Girls, The Wall: Acklam Hall, London
Live Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979
A SPARSELY attended benefit for the Anarchist Black Cross Cienfuegos Press; a slow night — both the cause and its supporting groups (safely) out of ...
Curiosity Killed The Cat: Glamour Pussies
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 9 August 1986
Just when you thought the charts revolved around aging old crones, and the drab indie circuit offered the only alternative, along come CURIOSITY KILLED THE ...
Report by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 6 June 1992
Castlemorton was the site of the biggest illegal rave to date. But, as SIMON REYNOLDS discovered, it was only a prelude to what's to come ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 21 September 1985
Fat is a feminine issue ...
Johnny Shines, Sunnyland Slim: Chicago Blues are Dying
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 6 July 1968
and Britain's Mike Vernon tries resuscitation ...
Penguin Café Orchestra: an English Art Ensemble of Chicago
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 16 October 1976
ONE OF the constant pleasures of hearing new music for the first time is the range of emotions it can evoke: surprise, euphoria, disgust, enlightenment, ...
Suede: "Nothing Can Stop Us Now"
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 24 September 1994
When Bernard Butler left SUEDE, many assumed it was all over. Far from it. On the eve of the release of the long-awaited Dog Man ...
Mahavishnu Orchestra: Birds of Fire (America Columbia — import)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 10 February 1973
McLaughlin: the inner flame leaps higher ...
Kate Bush: Hounds Of Love (EMI)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 21 September 1985
Girl with stars in her eyes ...
Bleach (UK): Bleach: Camden Palace, London/Flip Your Wig, Brighton/Jericho Tavern, Oxford
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 20 April 1991
MAN OVERBOARD! ...
Larry Coryell: Long Distance Larry
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 21 August 1971
SINCE HE left Gary Burton and after that four-month stint with Herbie Mann — no one has been in much doubt that Larry Coryell has ...
Judy Collins, The Lovin' Spoonful: "All Folk Music Now" at Newport
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 30 July 1966
THIS YEAR'S Newport Folk Festival was more like a blues show or a pop show, with traditional folk music supported by a very small hard ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 August 1968
"ALL THIS needs is for John Peel to appear with three loaves and five fishes and he could feed the ten thousand," said an observer ...
Bros: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 July 1988
"I NEED a drink," my fellow Brosette whimpers urgently. It's the deafening interval 'tween set-end and encore. For an hour he'd gamely stood his ground, ...
Super Furry Animals: LA2, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 15 June 1996
KILLER WALES! ...
The Isley Brothers: For The Isley Brothers Better Late Than Never
Profile by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 9 November 1968
AFTER A tortoise-like two-and-a-half-year journey, the Isley Brothers' 'This Old Heart of Mine' has put the Tamla Motown insignia in the Pop 30 again. ...
New York Dolls: The New York Dolls: Music in a Doll's House
Report by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 24 November 1973
From America MM previews the New York Dolls, who start a British tour this week ...
Skip James: Skip James Today! (Vanguard SVRLI9001.)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 28 September 1968
IN BLUES and other Negro folksong, as in jazz, judgments are much a matter of individual taste, though certain aspects of an artist's work are ...
Mick Jagger, The Redskins: The Tube: Thank God It's Friday
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 23 February 1985
MALCOLM GERRIE is the man behind Tyne Tees' groundbreaking pop TV show The Tube. Lynden Barber went to Newcastle to investigate the programme and its ...
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 14 May 1994
2 UNLIMITED, the Amsterdamsters who introduced the word 'technotechnotechnotechno!' into the language, are — no contest — the biggest pop group in Europe. SIMON PRICE ...
GZA, Method Man: Method Man, GZA: Def Jam 10th Anniversary Party, Equinox, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 16 December 1995
DEF AND BLINDING ...
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 11 November 1995
Controversial New Jill megastars TLC are one of the biggest bands on the planet right now... and they're bankrupt. It's a long story, but SIMON ...
Buddy Holly: Norman Petty: How We Cut the Golden Hits
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 September 1976
"I THINK," said Norman Petty, carefully selecting his words, "that if Buddy Holly was alive today, he would be on an equal basis with Elvis ...
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 July 1975
IF ANYONE wants to know where the underground is, from which British rock is to get its next and much-needed injection of musical energy, they ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 2 January 1988
THEY'VE CONQUERED THE WORLD BUT STILL CAN'T WOO THE CRITICS. INXS ARE AN ENIGMA. CAROLINE SULLIVAN PONDERS THE RIDDLE WITH MICHAEL HUTCHENCE,'THE SEXIEST MAN IN ...
Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 5 October 1985
FROM HER early days with Labelle doing cover versions of the likes of 'Won't Get Fooled Again', to her collaborations with Talking Heads, Bill Laswell ...
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 12 September 1998
PREHISTORY IN THE MAKING ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 27 October 1973
Los Angeles Report by Chris Charlesworth ...
Nina Simone: Nina Hits With Hair
Profile by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 23 November 1968
NINA SIMONE provokes mixed reactions from the music critics of the world. Some hail her as a giant of the blues, while others, though grudgingly ...
Interview by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 18 May 1985
Drugs? Paisley shirts? Forget it, say L.A.'s RAIN PARADE, currently in Britain courtesy of friendly Island Records. Martin Aston wades through the beads and patchouli ...
Cindy Lee Berryhill, Living Colour: Living Colour, Cindy Lee Berryhill: The Marquee, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 16 July 1988
LUST FOR LIFE ...
The Shamen: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 17 October 1992
CHAS N'RAVE ...
Overview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971
Richard Williams on the European bands who are rejecting the traditions of Anglo-American rock. ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: Beacon Theatre, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976
NEW YORK: Bob Marley needs an enthusiastic audience to light his particular fire, but his show at the Beacon Theatre lacked this essential ingredient and ...
George Clinton, Thomas Dolby: George Clinton and Thomas Dolby: The Nut & The Nerd
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 20 July 1985
We're known as The Nut and The Nerd say George Clinton and Thomas Dolby, now together as DOLBY'S CUBE. Caroline Sullivan met this unlikely pair ...
John Lee Hooker: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 16 July 1988
EVERYONE SHOULD have three favourite bluesmen. It should be made compulsory. Like not wearing clothes in Central London. Or scraping the sides of Porches with ...
Leatherface, Therapy?: Therapy?, Leatherface: The Grand, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 3 October 1992
BALM BEFORE THE STORM ...
Hanson: The Kids Are All Bright!
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 14 June 1997
Their single is catchier than a cold sore and it's everywhere this summer. America's teen-tastic HANSON leapt straight outta nowhere into the Number One spot ...
Humble Pie: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 November 1969
HUMBLE PIE presented a quietly attractive show at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, last week. There was no flash showmanship or star presentation. The atmosphere was ...
Glenn Swings Out — Now It's Funky Shorts
Report by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 4 September 1976
Colin Irwin visits the Lacy Lady in Ilford, where deejay Chris Hill is leading a new disco trend. ...
Little Feat: The Last Record Album (Warner Brothers K56156)
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 8 November 1975
Feat on their knees... ...
Pink Floyd: Exclusive interview by Richard Williams
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1 November 1969
PINK FLOYD are a visionary group of creators. Their music flies so high and wild that it can bring a kaleidoscope of images to your ...
Sun Ra: Strange Celestial Road (Y Records Y19)
Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 5 June 1982
OFTEN IN Sun Ra performances I've found myself keeping the faith up to the mark with reminders of the bandleader's pioneering work to avoid concentrating ...
Was (Not Was): Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 July 1988
TWO JEWISH comedians backed by the JBs. There — that's as close as anyone will ever come to describing the Wases in seven words. Unless ...
The Beastie Boys: Super Fly Guys
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 4 March 1995
The Beastie Boys made MM's Album of the Year in 1986. That was pretty cool. And for about 12 months their unique brand of juvenile ...
Guide by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 4 September 1976
WHEN IT comes to buying records, what's a bargain? Probably the best value I ever had was paying a princely 75 pence for a mint ...
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: New Junk for Old
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 28 April 1984
ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK emerge from the shadows with a new album, Junk Culture. Helen FitzGerald hops on the Sealink to Belgium for a ...
Professor Griff, Public Enemy: Professor Griff: Putting America On Trial
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 3 November 1990
In the past year, Professor Griff has been thrown out of PUBLIC ENEMY, accused of being a racist, a Jew-hater and an American-basher. PUSH talks ...
Morrissey: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 27 July 1991
THE LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT ...
Horace Silver: Ronnie Scott's club, London
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 24 September 1966
Extension of the earlier quintet ...
Millie Jackson: Millie Jackson (Mojo)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 9 December 1972
NO 45 HAS hit me with more power in the last year than Miss Jackson's 'A Child Of God'. An unambiguous exposé of everyday immorality, ...
Obituary by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 21 August 1971
KING CURTIS, whose wailing tenor sax was heard on many hit records over the past decade, was stabbed to death on New York's West Side ...
Floy Joy: Into The Hot (Virgin V2319)
Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 29 September 1984
BURNING SENSATION ...
The Fugees: Fugees: The Score (Ruff House, 7tks/78mins)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 2 March 1996
THE SPECIALIST rap press is giving mad love to Fugees at the moment. ...
Ben Folds Five: It's Hip to be Square
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 8 March 1997
No guitars. Stevie Wonder cover versions. Three boys steeped in musicals. What are BEN FOLDS FIVE like? ...
Manassas, Stephen Stills: Stephen Stills: The Loner
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 11 March 1972
Step aside, open wide. It's the loner. ...
The Nashville Teens, Gene Vincent: Gene Vincent, Nashville Teens: Palladium, London
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 29 November 1969
GENE VINCENT COULD DO NO WRONG ...
Sarah Vaughan: Why Miss Vaughan Isn't Recording...
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 1 November 1969
IF SARAH Vaughan never sang another heavenly high note she'd have earned her place, and a top place, among the immortals of jazz singing. ...
Primal Scream: The Hacienda, Manchester
Live Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 5 August 1989
LAST TIME I saw Primal Scream they seemed in their death throes, wheezing and spluttering like a fine vintage car struggling to get up a ...
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 28 September 1996
CHUCK D is back with a new solo album and a new mission — to destroy gangsta rap. The Maker listens in ...
Vinegar Joe: Rock 'n' Roll Gypsies (Island)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 9 December 1972
THERE AREN'T many British groups I'd rather go and see live than Vinegar Joe. That's because they're one of the very few non-cerebral club bands, ...
The Doors, Jim Morrison: Jim Morrison: This is the End, Beautiful Friend
Obituary by Al Aronowitz, Melody Maker, 17 July 1971
Al Aronowitz on the death of Jim Morrison ...
Tricky: Pre-Millennium Tension (Island, 10 tks/42 mins)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 9 November 1996
2000 A SPACED ODYSSEY ...
Bonzo Dog Band, Cream: Cream, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 November 1967
IT WAS A night of great music and brilliant comedy, approaching genius in both departments, when the Cream and Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band starred ...
Report by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 4 September 1976
Special report from the first European Punk Rock Festival in the South of France by CAROLINE COON ...
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 4 November 1967
Engelbert replaces Ken Dodd as idol of the mums ...
Einstürzende Neubauten: North London Polytechnic
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 3 December 1983
THE MAKINGS of an iron foundry litter the stage. Austere men assume Stakhanovite postures, hammers posed momentarily before thundering metal-wards. Sparks shoots crimson from a ...
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 20 February 1993
THEY SAY we're repressed, us Brits, don't they? So the cliché goes — brilliantly personified by the encounter between Basil and Mme Peignoir in the ...
Louis Armstrong: Armstrong The Man...
Memoir by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 17 July 1971
THE ARMSTRONG STORY has been generously documented, on records and in print, and I'm doing my bit in the latter category. But I won't say ...
Bob Dylan: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 May 1965
Different Dylan ...
John Cale: The Academy In Peril (Reprise)
Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
WITH THIS album, John Cale continues to present a tantalising artistic persona, defying critical attempts to put his work into any concrete perspective. Vintage Violence ...
The Go-Betweens: Go-Betweens: Spring Hill Fair (Sire K925179)
Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 29 September 1984
TO SUMMARISE the Go-Betweens' appeal would be a destructive exercise, because the core of their charm is a moveable feast. From the lush beauty of ...
Gil Scott-Heron: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 5 July 1986
NORMALLY, I HATE protest pop, especially the born-again Methodism of the likes of Bragg and Moore with that heavy evangelical tone. So why do I ...
Lucinda Williams: Annadale Hotel, Sydney
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 6 January 1990
MICK FROM Weddings Parties Anything and Jon from Paul Kelly's Messengers are The Indigo Boys, the support act, and something I miss entirely except for ...
Bob Dylan: If You Want To Do It — Then Do It
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 23 May 1964
It's the rules that cause the trouble ...
Taste: A Taste of Free Form Rock and Roll
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 17 January 1970
THE ROCK revolution somehow missed France. While neighbours Germany and Scandinavia have followed similar lines to those developing here, the hip French have only recently ...
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 13 August 1966
THE COUNTRY is due for one of the most powerful package shows ever staged this Autumn, judging by the "pilot run" of the Fame-Farlowe concert ...
Barry Manilow: Troubadour, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 5 April 1975
Barry becomes a star ...
Kate Garner, Haysi Fantayzee: Kate Garner: Woman's Own
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 17 March 1984
KATE GARNER used to be known for taking her clothes off. Now she's keeping them on, even in the face of Adam Sweeting. ...
Cypress Hill And The New US Rap
Report by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 19 February 1994
IN AMERICA, rap is big, big business. ...
Melky Sedeck, The Roots: The Roots, Melky Sedeck: Astoria, London
Live Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 15 May 1999
R&B. WE HATE that schmaltzy shit, don't we? Well, no, not when it's as sassy and spiritually uplifting as Melky Sedeck. ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976
Simon's magical living room ...
T-Bone Walker: T-Bone — Showman and Guitar Pioneer
Obituary by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 5 April 1975
Max Jones pays tribute to T-Bone Walker ...
Ewan MacColl: Manchester Angel (Topic 12T147)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966
IT IS UNFORTUNATE that while Ewan MacColl has continued to develop as a singer, many of the available recordings were made long before he had ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 March 1969
BIG BEN, like the Tymes, swings but doesn't say much. At least George Williams, lead singer with the group which is just ticking over in ...
Gravediggaz: La Mort the Merrier — Gravediggaz: Niggamortis (Gee Street GEECDH 17tks/54mins/FP)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 17 September 1994
Rap: reflecting the brutal realities of life for urban American blacks or providing ghoulish and vicarious thrills for the eavesdropping cultural tourist? Maybe both, suggests ...
Judy Collins: Collins: A Singer, Period
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966
"I AM FINALLY beginning to see what my direction is. I'm a singer and songs like these are what I want to sing." Lovely Judy ...
John McLaughlin, Tony Williams: After Miles comes Tony's Lifetime
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 17 January 1970
THE IMPORTANCE of the use of rock rhythms by the Miles Davis Quintet is only now beginning to be realised. Like everything Miles does, it ...
Report by Richard Wootton, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978
The latest manifestation of rock & roll collection mania is the picture disc. What it means, as RICHARD WOOTTON explains, is that lots of people ...
Randy Newman: Born Again (Warner Bros K56663)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 25 August 1979
HOW IS IT that Born Again should be Randy Newman's worst album to date, and yet his most marketable? For a start, it is topically ...
Pete Seeger: Folk Music Live At The Village Gate (Verve VLP 5016)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966
PETE SEEGER is a man who could sing practically anywhere and give a good account of him self. On Folk Music Live At The Village ...
Overview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 15 October 1994
Ask yer proverbial suburban kid on the street, and chances are they won't be into Blur, Suede, Nirvana or Oasis — they'll be hardcore JUNGLE ...
Chrissie Hynde, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Suede: Suede: The Grand, Clapham, London
Live Review by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 24 July 1993
THERE'S A JARMAN... WAITING IN THE WINGS ...
Lightnin' Hopkins: Earth Blues (Minit MLL40006E.)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 28 September 1968
SAM HOPKINS, one of the great Texas bluesmen, is well represented on records but this new release of some of his early titles is an ...
Art Ensemble of Chicago: Lester Bowie: Gittin' to Know Y'all
Interview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 24 February 1979
LESTER BOWIE plays trumpet the way Leo Watson scats. His music is a funfair hall of mirrors with as many straight lines as a switchback ...
Manu Dibango: Hammersmith Palais, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 24 November 1984
IT TAKES TENOR TO TANGO ...
R.E.M.: Tales from the Black Mountain
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 27 April 1985
In which a rapt Helen FitzGerald hears stories from the background of MICHAEL STIPE of R.E.M., the Georgia boys who brought mystery back to music. ...
Teenage Fanclub: Diary of an LP
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 23 October 1993
It's that occasional series again: this time, a peep at the diary of TEENAGE FANCLUB's Raymond McGiniey during the making of Thirteen. TOM DOYLE is ...
Mighty Diamonds, U-Roy, Delroy Wilson: Mighty Diamonds, U Roy, Delroy Washington: Lyceum, London
Report by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 August 1976
THIS SHOULD be a review of the Diamonds' and U. Roy's appearance at London's Lyceum on Wednesday night, but back here in the tiny ghetto ...
Tom Jones: The Truth About Tom Jones: Part One
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 5 October 1968
FOUR YEARS ago, Tom Jones was working in a sawmill in Pontypridd, South Wales, and picking up extra cash singing with his group in the ...
John Lennon: How I Won The War (Dir. Dick Lester, starring John Lennon)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 October 1967
BEATLE JOHN Lennon reveals a talent for acting and a sense of bitter irony in the part of Private Gripweed in Dick Lester's How I ...
Bronski Beat: Dark Side of the Beat
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 15 September 1984
After the haunting 'Smalltown Boy' BRONSKI BEAT take sexual politics right to the edge with their daring new single, 'Why'. In America completing their debut ...
My Bloody Valentine: Loveless (Creation)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 2 November 1991
VALENTINE DAZE ...
Cypress Hill: Temple Of Boom (Ruff House 15 tks/67 mins)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 28 October 1995
CYPRESS HILL. Music for marijuana-addled bores and Top Cat fans, or what? Or what, gibbers DAVID BENNUN, as we stretcher him out of the Temple ...
The Stone Roses: The Long Goodbye
Memoir by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 9 November 1996
After their disastrous performance at this year's Reading Festival, the general consensus was that THE STONE ROSES should do the decent thing and split up. ...
Kylie Minogue: A Redesign for Life!
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 8 November 1997
She used to be in Neighbours, then came the pop career then Nick Cave then the bloody Manics! Now KYLIE is Indiekylie and she's cooler ...
Brian Eno, Roxy Music: Roxy Split...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 July 1973
"I was cramping Eno's style. Two non-musicians in a band is one too many. I think he'll do very well by himself" — BRYAN FERRY ...
Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 January 1970
CROSBY, STILLS, Nash, Young and Old gave a lengthy and often enjoyable concert at London's Royal Albert Hall last week. The "Old" was the age ...
Tom Jones: The Truth About Tom Jones: Part Two
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 12 October 1968
Tom Jones is a rare person. Adulation, money, fame — all these he has, yet they don't seem to have touched him fundamentally. He's still ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 21 October 1967
THEIR TRUTHS may shriek, whisper, caress or stab at the thread from which we hang, and scorch our fallen bodies in hot sun, dry them ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 19 February 1977
HEATWAVE, whose 'Boogie Nights' single is moving up the chart, talk to Colin Irwin ...
James: London School of Economics
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 5 July 1986
A HALL THE size of our front room, dug deep in a warren of classrooms. It brought an evening of quippy po stutter, some smallish, ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 23 May 1987
SWING OUT SISTER have made an album of pretty pop trifles. Ian Gittins asks if this is enough. ...
Massive Attack: London Arena, London
Live Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 19 December 1998
THE VICTORIOUS BIG ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 October 1968
The latest in an exciting series ...
Tom Jones: The Truth About Tom Jones: Part Three
Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 19 October 1968
For millions of Tom Jones' fans, the moment they feel closest to him is when he is on tour and they can actually watch his ...
Professor Longhair: I'm A Little Rowdy With My Playing
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 1 April 1978
Professor Longhair talks to Max Jones ...
Wham!: The Bigger They Come, The Harder They Bite
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 17 November 1984
In an historic encounter, Colin Irwin confronts WHAM! on such burning issues as sexism, politics, wallyism and taking your shirt off in public. ...
Michael Jackson: Dangerous (Epic)
Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 30 November 1991
KING OF FLOP ...
Juno Reactor, Traci Lords: Traci Lords: 1000 Fires (Radioactive RARD11211 10 tracks/55 mins/FP)
Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 8 April 1995
Let's be perfectly frances here — our Traci may be famous for a lot of things, but musical talent is not one of them. Shame, ...
Kylie Minogue: Kylie Minogue (deConstruction 12tks/50mins)
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 27 September 1997
Mission impossible: With yet another musical direction has Kylie finally found her niche? ...
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 11 May 1991
GOD OF THE HAMMERS ...
Dolly Parton: White Limozeen (CBS)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 29 July 1989
IF YOU NEED proof that we're dealing not with a mere singer, but a legend — nay, an icon — here it is: thrashy Class ...
Roger Troutman, Zapp: Roger Troutman: Empires & Dance
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 14 May 1988
SIMON REYNOLDS WAGS CHINS WITH ROGER TROUTMAN, THE MANDARIN OF SURREAL FUNKSTERS ZAPP, AND DISCOVERS WHY SCRITTI'S GREEN WAS SO DESPERATE TO RECORD WITH THE ...
Art Ensemble of Chicago: The Art Ensemble of Chicago: The Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 31 March 1979
PROBABLY THE only unanswered question by now for most of their followers on this side of The Big Moist, is how they look when they ...
Jessy Dixon, Paul Simon: Dixon Spreading the Gospel with Paul Simon
Profile and Interview by Steve Turner, Melody Maker, 19 August 1978
Jessy Dixon, who plays London's Rainbow on September 2, talks to Steve Turner ...
Tom Paxton: Paxton: Singing First
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966
AS HANK Locklin's recording of 'The Last Thing On My Mind' climbs into the charts, the man who wrote it, folksinger-writer Tom Paxton, is back ...
It's All Smiles at the Two-Week Old Cavern Again
Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 13 August 1966
TWO WEEKS after the barrage of publicity at the opening, it's all smiles at Liverpool's Cavern Club again. ...
Jimmy Witherspoon: Live (Stateside SL10232)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 28 September 1968
ON LIVE (Stateside SL10232), the rich-voiced Jimmy Witherspoon is heard in a typical club show accompanied by the Ben Webster quartet. ...
Thin Lizzy: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976
THIN LIZZY have reached that dangerous stage where they no longer nave to be good to provoke a maniacal response from their audience. ...
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 9 November 1996
WHAT... what... what the fuck is going on? Frenzied breakbeats and oppressive bursts of synth are emanating from the front of the venue, but the ...
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 18 January 1997
Last year's resurrection of SUEDE was almost as impressive a Lazarus job as the Manics' — a Number One album, two hit singles, and the ...
Jackson Browne, Phillip Goodhand-Tait: Roxy, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 17 November 1973
LOS ANGELES: It would be nice to be able to report in true nationalistic spirit that Phillip Goodhand-Tait swept the audience off their feet in ...
Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 21 March 1970
THE SLEEVE of the Velvet Underground's first album was dead right when it read "Nico: chanteuse." Not just "singer," because Nico is more than that, ...
Stevie Wonder: Tribute to Uncle Ray; The 12-year-old Genius Recorded Live (both Oriole)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 21 September 1963
LITTLE STEVIE Wonder is largely unknown in Britain. The main fact about him is that he's a 12-year-old American blind Negro who has just had ...
Charlie Watts Big Band: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 30 November 1985
PARTY TIME AGAIN ...
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 21 October 1995
Around these parts, we like a touch of evil. Artistic, mind. And one of the things that really fuels our tool is gangsta rap. Inventive, ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 December 1966
GENO WASHINGTON'S triumph is not so much a musical one, as a victory over the minds of elderly mods, who have seized upon the Ram ...
The Equals: Black Skin, Blue-Eyed Boys...
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 23 January 1971
Mark Plummer talks to EDDY GRANT ...
Daryl Hall & John Oates: Hall & Oates: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 17 March 1984
SWEET SOUL MUSIC ...
Anthrax, Public Enemy: Anthrax: Bohemian Rapsody
Interview by Neil Perry, Melody Maker, 22 June 1991
When metal meets rap in the form of ANTHRAX and CHUCK D, there's bound to be some trouble. NEIL PERRY hears about the fight for ...
Nas: Written Out — Nas: It Was Written (Columbia 14tks/59mins)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 13 July 1996
NAS is one of rap's supreme lyricists and vocal stylists. A pity, then, that his new album isn't worthy of his talents ...
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
Doing the Palladium slouch ...
Ral Donner: The Great Pretender
Retrospective by Bill Millar, Melody Maker, 14 October 1978
Some say that Ral Donner sang in Elvis's post-army style better than Elvis did himself. BILL MILLAR unveils the man behind rock 'n roll's most ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 17 July 1971
Mott: Britain's Grand Funk? ...
Sandy Denny, Fotheringay: Fotheringay: Sandy and the New Band
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 March 1970
FOTHERINGAY, the new band which has been formed by Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention and Trevor Lucas of Eclection, with Garry Conway (Eclection) and Pat ...
The Beatles, Mary Hopkin, Jackie Lomax: Has Apple Gone Rotten?
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 December 1968
HAS APPLE GONE SOUR? That's a question people are starting to ask as directors quit, and the film division virtually closes down. There are also ...
Vanilla Fudge, The Who: The Who, Vanilla Fudge: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 October 1967
Who, minus freak outs and smash ups ...
Bomb The Bass: Smiley's People
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 3 December 1988
THE PHENOMENAL SUCCESS OF BOMB THE BASS THIS YEAR HAS USHERED IN A PLETHORA OF DJ CUT RECORDS WHICH ARE NOW ASCENDING THE CHARTS. EVERETT ...
Live Review by Neil Perry, Melody Maker, 24 August 1991
METAL FATIGUE ...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 23 January 1971
"I'M FROM New York, but I don't like the scene. Why? Because there is none. At least, it's nothing to do with the music. It's ...
Menswear: 'We're Bringing Back the Generation Gap'
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 14 October 1995
Oh, how they laughed when MM plucked MENSWE@R out of obscurity and put them on the cover in February. The laughter stopped when the Swe@r ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 22 April 1967
THE AUDIENCE stole the show at London's Saville Theatre on Sunday, presenting their polished performance of Mass Idiocy — the new art form. ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 20 September 1969
RICHARD WILLIAMS TALKS TO THE DEVIANTS ...
Report by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
MAX'S KANSAS City stands on Park Avenue South, with 17th Street, New York City, downtown enough to be not so bright, and far less peopled. ...
John Lennon, Yoko Ono: An Evening with John and Yoko: Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Film/DVD/TV Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 20 September 1969
John Lennon — Genius or Just a Bore ...
Iggy Pop: The Factory, Manchester
Live Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
THE RETURN of the simian from oblivion: a club tour, much heralded by local media, ensures a leisure factory stretched to the limit of its ...
Savage Republic: Republican Party Reptiles
Profile and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 22 October 1988
IN THEIR SEVEN-YEAR CAREER, SEMINAL L.A. MUTINEERS SAVAGE REPUBLIC CLAIM TO HAVE INFLUENCED BOTH SONIC YOUTH AND SWANS. NOW THEIR ALBUMS ARE FINALLY AVAILABLE IN ...
Lesley Gore, Quincy Jones: Lesley Gore is Set For Stardom
Profile by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 21 September 1963
WHO IS the young pop artist most like to hit the highest spots this year? ...
Boston: More Than a Sensation...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 19 February 1977
...more like a fairy tale come true, as the band who came from nowhere take off in unprecedented fashion. Chris Charlesworth reports from New Jersey ...
Ella Fitzgerald: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 April 1974
'THERE'LL NEVER Be Another A You' sang the star and a ripple of appreciation warmed to her. By the end of her set, the ripple ...
Bo Diddley: The Men Who Make the Blues: Bo Diddley
Profile by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 20 September 1969
BO DIDDLEY was born in Mississippi, in or near McComb, on December 30, 1928. Like many bluesmen from the South, he made the journey up ...
Ronnie Scott, Scott Walker: Scott Walker: Fiesta Club, Stockton
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 August 1967
SCOTT SHEDS HIS POP WINGS IN STOCKTON... ...
Report by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 16 October 1993
SIMON PRICE endures the full horrors off 24-hour MTV. Could YOU handle it? ...
Hole, Veruca Salt: Mississippi Nights, St Louis, MO
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 19 November 1994
SWEET'N'SOUR ...
David Bowie, Chic, Duran Duran, Nile Rodgers: Nile Rodgers: Man of the Moment
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 4 October 1986
Buddies with Bowie, big pals with Duran, mate of Al Jarreau, is there no-one NILE RODGERS doesn't know? Adam Sweeting charts the changing life and ...
David Bowie: Cracked Actor (BBC 1)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 1 February 1975
I WOULDN'T care to examine the merits and de-merits of David Bowie on the strength of last Sunday's Omnibus programme on him. Titled Cracked Actor ...
Delaney & Bonnie talking to Jacoba Atlas
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 21 March 1970
DELANEY, BONNIE and Friends from the southern half of these here United States are home grown and home sown but they had to travel to ...
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 13 August 1966
Beaulieu — a real triumph thanks to the downpour ...
The Real Milli Vanilli: The Moment Of Truth (Chrysalis)
Review by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 18 May 1991
QUICK, RESERVE me a large box with a photo and a pun! ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 1 May 1999
IMAGINE, IF you will, "The Bible" performed in rhyme by young men in baseball hats. Breakdancing. It would have gone something like this. ...
Led Zeppelin: City Hall, Newcastle
Live Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 9 December 1972
ROY HOLLINGWORTH reports as Led Zeppelin open their giant British tour... ...
Reparata & the Delrons: "We're Getting Fat on Cakes and Sweets!"
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 20 April 1968
REPARATA AND THE DELRONS EAT THEIR WAY ROUND BRITAIN ...
Aztec Camera: Knife (WEA 240 483-1)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 29 September 1984
RAZOR SHARP ...
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 27 February 1993
Reality used to be a friend of theirs — now PM DAWN, the world's leading manufacturers of delicious hip hop soul, hate it with a ...
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 17 September 1994
So In Search Of Manny was the sassiest, coolest record called 'Jackson' since Off The Wall. But, you're gagging to know, can Luscious Jackson do ...
Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks (CBS)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 25 January 1975
DYLAN: Seeking gentler ground Special preview of Blood On The Tracks by MICHAEL WATTS ...
Iron Butterfly, Yes: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 January 1971
WHAT AN incredible rave-up when Yes and Iron Butterfly took off at the Albert Hall, London, on Monday. Apart from an audience who seemed to ...
The Beatles, John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John Lennon: "The Beatles' Wealth is a Myth"
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 20 September 1969
JOHN LENNON hasn't had a royalty cheque for two years. And, believe it or not, he's feeling the pinch. ...
Derrick May: Godfather of Techno: Derrick May
Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 20 June 1992
These are weird times for techno. It dominates the chart and provides the soundtrack to thousands of blissed-out lives, but there are battles building up ...
Massive Attack: Massive: Blue Lines (Circa)
Review by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 30 March 1991
RHAPSODY IN BLUE ...
War: California Ballroom, Dunstable
Live Review by Tim Lott, Melody Maker, 19 June 1976
CLICK, WHIRR. This isn't a group, it's a living disco. The Jukebox is War. The dive is the California Ballroom, Dunstable. Burly evening-suited men flanking ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 24 November 1973
I OWN TWO albums by Chet Atkins, both of which are old and scratched. One features country picking and the other is titled Chet Picks ...
Blue Cheer: Meet the Loudest Group in the World
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 26 October 1968
BLUE CHEER have been called the world's loudest group. This American trio first hit the American chart headlines some months ago with their version of ...
Overview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 5 October 1985
CECIL TAYLOR isn't easy listening, but he's unique in remaining committed to pushing back the boundaries of jazz at a time when his former contemporaries ...
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 21 May 1988
THE VAST majority of double albums are stuffed with excessive nonsense, material which a greater perspicacity would have assigned to personal libraries. He's The D.J., ...
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 3 June 1995
Fifteen years of experience has carried producer JOHN LECKIE from a-song-a-day sessions with John Lennon, to hours spent pouring over the endless noodlings of The ...
The Beach Boys: No More Beach Boy Gaps — Says Bruce
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 12 August 1967
'GOOD VIBRATIONS' took light years to complete — 'Heroes And Villains' is the Beach Boys' new single and it took a long time too. But ...
Beats International: A Family Affair
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 10 February 1990
SINCE LEAVING THE HOUSEMARTINS, NORMAN COOK HAS BEEN WORKING UP SOME SHARP DANCE GROOVES. PUSH INVESTIGATES HIS LATEST PROJECTS. ...
Dr. Dre: The Chronic (Atlantic)
Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 20 February 1993
IT'S OFTEN been said that if NWA's last LP had a saving grace, it was Dr Dre's eerie and innovative production work. As far as ...
Dannii Minogue: Dannii: Girl (Eternal 10 Tks/56 Mins)
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 20 September 1997
"DANNII, DEAREST," come the plummy tones of an Eternal Records exec. "Could you step in here a moment?" ...
Comment by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 19 February 1977
LOUIS JOHNSON, bass-playing Brother of that ilk, was quoted in a recent Downbeat on the subject of his favourite bassists: "Stanley Clarke... is the baddest ...
Patto: Bitter Patto: Two Years Ahead
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 23 January 1971
I FIRST met Mike Patto four months ago. With his agent he walked into the MM office, a gangling figure in high green leather boots ...
The Pixies, Throwing Muses: Throwing Muses, Pixies: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 14 May 1988
BATTLE OF THE BANDS ...
Tin Machine: The Tin Machine: Danger Signs
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 20 May 1989
WITH THE HELP OF HIS NEW BAND, DAVID BOWIE HAS AT LAST RECORDED AN ALBUM THAT REDISCOVERS THE DANGER AND EXCITEMENT THAT ONCE ESTABLISHED HIM ...
David Gray: Flesh (Hut 8 39770 24 10 tracks/45 mins/FP)
Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 17 September 1994
FLESH. HONEST title. Bare, bloody, real and sweaty. Neat choice from a man apparently on an endearingly Quixotic solo crusade to rescue the idea of ...
Return to Forever: Chick Corea: Forever Changes
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
...
The Who: Civic Hall, Dunstable
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 17 July 1971
MOUNTAINS MAY tumble and fall, supergroups come and go, but the Who will always be with us. And while they are they continue to wear ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 29 October 1966
SEDATE Fairfield Hall, Croydon, blew up with a wild pop package show featuring the Move, Jimmy James, VIPS, the Herd and Spencer Davis on Friday ...
Mudhoney: Mudhoney (Glitterhouse)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 28 October 1989
THE BLITZ PARADE ...
Future Sound of London: The Future Sound of Technology
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 25 June 1994
For Brian Dougan and Gary Cobain, THE FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON is the medium for pushing the frontiers of studio recording, live performance and video ...
The Groundhogs: A Hog For You Baby
Interview by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 8 May 1971
KEN PUSTELNIK is always ready to point out that Tony McPhee, Pete Cruickshank and he are quite ordinary people, and not so long ago there ...
Joni Mitchell: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 24 January 1970
A triumph for Joni ...
Paul Butterfield Blues Band: Mike Bloomfield: The Sad Chicago Blues Scene
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 29 October 1966
NODDING A shock of dark curly hair, and gesticulating madly as he puts a point over, Mike Bloomfield, young lead guitarist with Chicago's Paul Butterfield ...
Chet Baker: The Price Of A Golden Horn
Interview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 14 April 1979
If they gave rebates on overpaid dues, Chet Baker could buy Monte Carlo. BRIAN CASE found the Cool Generation's tragic hero still fighting off the ...
Sandie Shaw: Liverpool University
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 5 July 1986
A GIRL CALLED SANDIE ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 December 1966
A MARATHON four-hour show in aid of Oxfam was held at London's Royal Albert Hall on Monday and featured an all-star cast. ...
Taj Mahal: Still One Of The Hardest Rockers
Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970
A FANFARE of trumpets would have greeted Taj Mahal if the artist's British reception had been judged on his success. Instead he was quietly willing ...
Miles Davis: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 24 November 1973
WATCHING MILES Davis and his band perform is a fascinating exercise that provides much food for thought. One goes willing to cast out old ideas ...
Tom Waits: Swordfishtrombones (Island ILPS 9762)
Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 8 October 1983
WITH 15 TRACKS, this is sketchbook Waits and indicates the range of his writing gifts. Maybe it's the influence of writing music for movies, but ...
Smiley Culture: Pop-up Toaster
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 6 September 1986
Colin Irwin takes a trip into childhood with Tulse Hill's favourite son, SMILEY CULTURE. ...
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 18 March 1989
SO THIS IS what we're supposed to be getting so angry about. Tonight is my first proper pop concert, and it's bizarre. They're screaming! At ...
Guns N' Roses: Use Your Illusion I (Geffen)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 21 September 1991
THERE'S TWO schools of thought about Guns N'Roses. For some they're "the most dangerous band in the world"; for others, their brand of "danger" is ...
Al Stewart: Bedsitter Images (CBS 63087)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 25 November 1967
AL LEAVES THE RANKS OF FOLK FOR IMAGES ...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 8 September 1973
It's a long way from San Diego street corners to gold records. But War are still street people playing street music. MICHAEL WATTS reports... ...
Jerry Lee Lewis: It's Shakespeare and All That Rock for Jerry
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 29 October 1966
CAN YOU imagine Jerry Lee Lewis swinging his way through a musical version of Shakespeare's play Othello? You can't? Then get ready for a shock ...
Jimi Hendrix Experience: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 13 May 1967
THE JIMI Hendrix Experience is the kind of group you never tire of watching or listening to. ...
John Cage: National Theatre, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 24 June 1978
THE LIGHTS went down in London's National Theatre and a bearded, slightly stooped guy in blue denims came on, sat at a lecture table and ...
Curiosity Killed The Cat: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 2 August 1986
BLACK 501s and Joseph sweatwear. London popsoul that sounds kinda like latter-day Animal Nightlife or early Wham! or one of those other clubland consortiums. A ...
Joni Mitchell: The Hissing of Summer Lawns
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 29 November 1975
ON THE INSIDE sleeve of this album, Joni has a short, cryptic liner note stating that the record is "graphically, musically, lyrically and accidentally" a ...
Toerag Studios: 'Rag Against The Machine
Report and Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 17 June 1995
If you dig the sound off an unfettered rumble — be it Jon Spencer, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dick Dale or The Sex Pistols — then ...
New York Dolls: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 September 1973
Living Dolls ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970
KEVIN AYERS says that he wants to involve people in his music, and to make every gig more of a party than an ordinary job. ...
Ten Years After: Ten Years After (Deram).
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 November 1967
A BRILLIANT debut album by the blues group that has been building up a huge name for itself at London's Marquee Club. ...
Dave Davies, The Kinks: Dave Davies: "I'm Not Good Enough To Go Solo"
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 12 August 1967
DAVE DAVIES tells Alan Walsh ...
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 25 November 1978
Pretty soon, the whole Parliafunkadelicment troupe arrives in Britain — led by their founder, the black surrealist George Clinton. VIVIEN GOLDMAN witnessed Clinton's Clones on ...
Brian Eno, U2: The Life of Brian
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 29 September 1984
Helen FitzGerald, the Emerald Isle's most astonishing export, gets all mysterious with ambient whizz-kid BRIAN ENO, who talks about life after the bush of ghosts, ...
The Bangles: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 23 February 1985
CALIFORNIA DREAMING ...
The Rolling Stones, The Sex Pistols, The Stooges: Nick Kent: Hack From The Brink
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 28 May 1994
Wanna find out where MM acquired its taste for livid purple prose? Then let PAUL LESTER introduce you to legendary rock journalist NICK KENT, whose ...
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 17 June 1995
From four-track bedroom demos to finished masters. SUPERGRASS' debut LP, I Should Coco, has been guided by the hand of producer SAM WILLIAMS. TOM DOYLE ...
Live Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 2 August 1986
THE LITTLE audience gathers. Fred Frith, veteran ferryman between rock and the avant-garde has rolled up to perform a few odd jobs in the improvisation ...
Led Zeppelin: Whole Lotta Zeppelin!
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1 February 1975
Chris Charlesworth reports from Chicago ...
Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll: Brian Auger & Julie Driscoll: Open (Marmalade)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 November 1967
ONE OF THE album events of the year featuring two of Britain's more talented artists, organist Brian Auger and singer Julie Driscoll. Everything about it ...
Marc Almond: Open All Night (Blue Star)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 1 May 1999
OK, LET'S GET this straight: Nick Cave is a respected ex-Goth with no hit singles. Marc Almond has had five hit singles, was responsible for ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 17 September 1994
GRAVEDIGGAZ are into black magic. They want to dig up your mental graves. They list ways to commit suicide on their debut LP, Niggamortis. Hmm, ...
Bikini Kill, Huggy Bear: Huggy Bear/Bikini Kill: Our Troubled Youth/Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! (Catcall)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 6 March 1993
REBEL GRRRLS ...
Kajagoogoo, Limahl: Limahl: I Me Mine
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 9 June 1984
LIMAHL and his ego hold court. Credulous report: Helen FltzGerald ...
Live Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
"HOW CAN we refuse? We don't do this often — we're studio cats, you know what I mean!... ...
Grand Funk Railroad: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 23 January 1971
Grand Flunk Railroad ...
It's a Beautiful Day: The Best Kept Secret Is Out At Last
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970
UNTIL VERY recently, It's A Beautiful Day was one of the best-kept secrets in the music business — on this side of the Atlantic, at ...
The Dubliners: More of the Hard Stuff (Major Minor MMLP5)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 25 November 1967
QUESTION: HAS chart success spoiled the Dubliners? Answer: judging by their new album, More of the Hard Stuff (MMLP5) for Phil Solomons' Major Minor label, ...
Duke Ellington: When Duke Shared the Bill with the Cheeky Chappie
Retrospective by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 23 December 1967
THE JAZZ ARCHIVES: ELLINGTON AT THE PALLADIUM BY MAX JONES ...
Arrested Development: Jazz Cafe, London
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 11 July 1992
THE PROPS: wooden trunks and barrels. Suspiciously trim sacks marked "Beans", "Wheat", "Coffee". An olde-style Western Pacific railway board and a steamboat placard. A clothesline ...
Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick: Dionne Warwick — The Ability to Communicate an Emotion
Profile and Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970
DIONNE WARWICK'S beautiful performance in concert at London's Royal Albert Hall last week was a demonstration of how a rare talent overcomes any sort of ...
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 8 September 1973
THREE PLAYS and this record assumes the kind of easy familiarity usually expected from greatest hits albums. Eleven good cuts, and most of them potential ...
Siouxsie & the Banshees: Juju (Polydor POLD 1034)
Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 20 June 1981
Single file Siouxsie ...
Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 11 January 1992
The terrible trio from Belfast tell CATHI UNSWORTH all about their new Pleasure Death LP and why they are fascinated by the sound of vacuum ...
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 8 January 1994
KRS ONE IS, to all intents and purposes, Boogie Down Productions, although his late partner, DJ Scott LaRock, still oversees his work, "despite what others ...
Status Quo: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 March 1976
THE STURICO security team didn't know what hit them. Lined up, muscles flexed, and ready for the worst, they were swamped by denim as soon ...
Stevie Wonder: "Hah-the boy is getting MILITANT! You get back to 'Fingertips' now!"
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 February 1973
Talking Book is already tipped as one of 73's best albums. Here Chris Welch talks to its creator ...
Randy Newman: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 11 March 1972
WITH AN awkward shuffle and an embarrassed wave to the adulating audience, Randy Newman left the stage of the Festival Hall, London, on Monday night ...
Bronski Beat: St James' Church, London
Live Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 4 August 1984
SONGS OF PRAISE ...
Bruce Springsteen: Westbury Music Fair, Jericho NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 March 1975
NEW YORK: Bruce Springsteen, an artist whose talent has inspired respected critics to fawn like teenage groupies, took over the revolving stage of the Westbury ...
Duke Ellington: Guildhall, Portsmouth
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 11 February 1967
DUKE ALWAYS HAS A TRICK UP HIS SLEEVE ...
Gil Evans: Birth Of The Cool At 72
Interview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 20 October 1984
The film version of Colin MacInnes' classic Fifties novel, Absolute Beginners, has attracted a wealth of talent including Elvis Costello, Mick Jagger and American jazz ...
Kraftwerk: Barrowlands, Glasgow
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 20 July 1991
THEY SMILE. That's the first surprise. Dressed in black, the four Kraftwerk-ers briskly stride on stage to take their places behind the giant computer consoles ...
The Selecter: The Selector: Too Much Pressure (2-Tone CDLTT5002)
Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 9 February 1980
A GENT FROM a reggae shop asked me what I thought of 2-Tone. He informed me that since the advent of the checkerboard whirlwind, the ...
Stevie Wonder: Forum, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 14 December 1974
Stevie Wonder: painting in rock ...
Fats Domino, Gerry & the Pacemakers: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 April 1967
FATS HAS 'EM JIVING IN THE AISLES! ...
The Who: Metropolitan Opera House, New York NY
Live Review by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 20 June 1970
Ten-dollar seats for The Who! ...
Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction: Gossips, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 19 April 1986
MIND BENDERS ...
Dannii Minogue: At Home With... Dannii Minogue!
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 2 October 1993
Antipodean chart star! In the Melody Maker! Are you gonna argue 'bout it? No? Good. In the first off four special features, we send an ...
DJ Shadow: Endtroducing... (Mo'Wax 13tks/64mins)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 14 September 1996
Tricks of the Shade ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 4 October 1986
THIS MORTAL COIL have been called everything from post-punk pioneers to precious studio purists. Simon Reynolds meets IVO, the man behind the whole thing, and ...
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 20 June 1981
PRESENTING upwardly mobile uptown jazz/funk from New York, Defunkt are a sharp six-piece fronted by the ever-cool Joe Bowie, who plays trombone, conducts the band ...
Rita Coolidge, Kris Kristofferson: Kris Kristofferson: Young Blue Eyes is Back
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 8 April 1978
Kris Kristofferson was a hell-raiser. He also grabbed country music by the scruff of its neck and dragged it into the Seventies. Now he's to ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 29 September 1973
Neil joins Roxy music! ...
The Animals, Jimi Hendrix, Slade: Chas Chandler: Slade Driver
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
Chris Charlesworth talks to CHAS CHANDLER, ex-docker, ex-Animal, ex-manager of Jimi Hendrix and now manager of Britain's hottest band, Slade ...
Martin Carthy, Dave Swarbrick: Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick: Byker Hill (Fontana TL 5434)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 25 November 1967
MARTIN CARTHY and Dave Swarbrick's third album together, Byker Hill really marks a peak in the development of their partnership which is underlined by Dave's ...
Live Review by Pete Paphides, Melody Maker, 23 January 1993
TRANSISTOR LOVERS ...
Aretha Franklin: International Hotel, Las Vegas
Live Review by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 20 June 1970
Aretha's great re-birth ...
Pete Seeger: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 19 November 1966
HE DID it again! Every time Pete Seeger puts on a solo concert in Britain I wonder if he can pull it off, the unique ...
Ian Dury & the Blockheads: Dingwall's, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 March 1978
Down Dury Lane ...
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 30 March 1985
PLAINTIFF: H. FITZGERALD DEFENDANTS: GO WEST THE CRIME: HYPE! HYPE! HYPE! ...
Patti Smith: Punk Queen of Sheba
Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 15 January 1977
On stage, Patti Smith changes personality. One night she's Alexander the Great's daughter, the next the Queen of Sheba. But to Caroline Coon (reporting from ...
The Beach Boys: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 13 May 1967
ONCE AGAIN in their striped shirts the five Beach Boys opened the English part of their tour at London's Hammersmith Odeon last Thursday. ...
Son House: Blues Is Getting Bigger All The Time, Says Son
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 27 June 1970
"THIS IS MY last time over here. Yes, sirree. I do this visit and that's it." The speaker was Eddie James (Son) House, a tallish ...
Film/DVD/TV Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 10 February 1973
ISAAC HAYES, ROD STEWART and assorted FACES were at the preview of a new soul film. So was MM's RICHARD WILLIAMS... ...
Bonnie Raitt: Nick Of Time (Capitol)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 13 May 1989
BONNIE RAITT was a compatriot of Janis Joplin's; the pair were the Sixties' premier hard-drinking, hard-loving white blues chicks. Raitts's music has continued in this ...
Ice-T: Home Invasion (Rhyme Syndicate)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 20 March 1993
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ...
Amon Düül (I & II): Amon Duul II: Phallus Dei (Liberty).
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 21 March 1970
JUST TO prove that the Continent is taking some of the initiative, here comes a really interesting German band who appeared with the Nice and ...
Lou Rawls: Carryin' On (Capitol T2632)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 13 May 1967
LOU RAWLS is an energetic singer with a fairly rich voice and a hip sort of style influenced by blues, gospel and old and modern ...
Plastic, paper and petrol famine shakes the whole music scene — ROCK CRISIS!
Report by Colin Irwin, Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 1 December 1973
ROCK MUSIC is reaching a crisis point. The worldwide energy shortage threatens the future of the entire music industry while rock itself faces a ban ...
Massive Attack: The Leadmill, Sheffield
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 17 December 1994
ASSAULT AND FLATTERY ...
Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 25 March 1995
DICK DALE, man. Dick f***ing Dale. He's the King Of Surf Guitar. He taught Hendrix everything he knew. He breeds lions. They played his music ...
Linda Ronstadt: Don't Cry Now (Asylum)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 10 November 1973
LOOKING AS she does, an impossibly cuddly chicklet, it's easy to forgive Linda Ronstadt any musical deficiencies. But this album, in fact her first on ...
Aretha Franklin: The Gospel Truth From Aretha
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 1 August 1970
WHENEVER ARETHA Franklin comes to town, which is not all that often, I try to see her. Partly because she is a genuine unhyped star ...
Ike & Tina Turner: Hatchett's, London
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 4 May 1968
WITH NO hesitation at all I report that the Ike and Tina Turner revue with the Ikettes is the most exciting R&B act to visit ...
Pussy Galore: Dial M For Motherf***er (Product Inc)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 13 May 1989
PARTY LINE ...
Wu-Tang Clan: Forever (Loud/RCA 28tks/120mins)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 31 May 1997
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY Have the WU-TANG CLAN just made the greatest hip hop album of all time? ...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 29 November 1969
...on the current Reggae boom ...
Electric Light Orchestra: Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 14 December 1974
LOS ANGELES: Playing their largest venue in Southern California, the Electric Light Orchestra thrilled a packed Shrine auditorium with its own brand of rock and ...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 27 September 1975
Kraftwerk are happiest when surrounded with technology and artificial items. Karl Dallas reports ...
U2: The Unforgettable Fire (Island U25)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 6 October 1984
AT THE HOMECOMING ...
Reverend Gary Davis: Say No To The Devil (Xtra 5014)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 7 January 1967
THERE CAN be no doubting the emotional force of Gary Davis's music or the variety and strength of his guitar playing. He is among the ...
Suede: Camden Underworld, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 13 June 1992
PRETENTIOUS? CHAMOIS? ...
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 9 October 1993
In the second of an occasional series, TOM DOYLE takes a sneak look at the day-to-day making off an LP. This time, DEAN GARCIA talks ...
The Small Faces: 'Lazy Sunday' The Hit Stevie Didn't Want
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 4 May 1968
WHAM! — It's the Small Faces screaming back up the chart with one of their best-ever singles, the fun-packed, all-action 'Lazy Sunday', now at number ...
Allman Brothers Band: The Allman Brothers Band: Forum, Inglewood CA
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 29 September 1973
Allmans: hot rockers ...
Brand X: Band Breakdown : Brand X
Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 August 1976
WHEN YOU consider what a prestige gig of world class it is to play Ronnie Scott's, it may seem surprising, even a touch opportunistic, that ...
Mahalia Jackson: I Believe (GGL0367)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 9 July 1966
SEVERAL OF Mahalia Jackson's earliest Apollo recordings — and that means some of her most impressive singing — are included in the new Golden Guinea ...
Thelma Houston: Meet Thelma, the 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' girl
Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 29 November 1969
THIS TIME Thelma Houston did make it. ...
The Boothill Foot Tappers, The Pogues: Pogues, Boothill Foot Tappers: Mean Fiddler, Harlesden
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 4 August 1984
IT WAS not a night to be sober. ...
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 13 June 1992
SOMETHING HAS to happen to the Popguns soon. I've never pretended they were great favourites of mine, but every time I hear them, I'm taken ...
Report and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 4 October 1997
As UK techno's second wave engulfs America, we join 806 STATE, SYSTEM 7, BT, GROOVERIDER and our hosts LOOP GURU on the Big Top Tour, ...
The Fugees: Fugees: Subterania, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 9 March 1996
BLUNTED BY SUCCESS ...
Lonnie Johnson, Memphis Slim: Albums from Memphis Slim and Lonnie Johnson
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 1 October 1966
Memphis leads a bunch of blues ...
Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Women in Love
Profile and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 17 April 1976
Like Dylan, the Band and Randy Newman, the songs of Kate and Anna McGarrigle recall America in its pioneer days. With a fine debut album ...
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 10 November 1973
Roxy: an air of lush decay ...
MC5 — Still The Bad Boys Of Rock
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 8 August 1970
ONE THING that American rock bands can generally do better than their British counterparts is to channel their energy into the notes. ...
Fred Neil: Bleeker And McDougal (Elektra EKS 7293)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 16 November 1968
FRED NEIL is a name that won't be too familiar to British folk enthusiasts but his album Bleeker And McDougal (Elektra EKS 7293) should help. ...
George Clinton: Some Of My Best Jokes Are Friends (Capitol)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 14 September 1985
The joke's on you ...
Manic Street Preachers: "Everything Must Go!"
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 21 December 1996
'...Apart from the Super Furries album, and the Suede and Boos ones. Oh, and ours wasn't bad...' Since THE MANICS won MM's Album Of The ...
Stereolab: Space Age Bachelor Pad Music (Too Pure)
Review by Pete Paphides, Melody Maker, 20 March 1993
"BASICALLY, I want to change the world. I want to make people think about how they live every day, shake them a bit." ...
Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 1 October 1966
MM MAN-ON-TOUR with the Rolling Stones and Ike and Tina Turner, ALAN WALSH ...
David Essex, Adam Faith: Stardust (Dir. Michael Apted)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 12 October 1974
Stardust: the heavy side of pop ...
Cannonball Adderley: Cannonball — Sax Supremo
Obituary by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 August 1975
Chris Welch remembers Julian Adderley, who died on Friday ...
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 2 July 1994
HOUSE OF HOROWITZ ...
Lonnie Johnson — Bluesman Who Played Jazz
Obituary by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 27 June 1970
LONNIE JOHNSON, who died last week, was a rarity in the blues field — a man who, though a folk artist in certain respects, played ...
Adam & The Ants: Ants Out Of Bondage
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 12 January 1980
In which Adam and the Ants reconcile their apparent predilection for S/M with their desire to succeed as musicians without grovelling. PAULO HEWITT passes judgement. ...
Diana Ross: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 29 September 1973
DIANA ROSS may be a real superstar, as critics like Derek Jewell assert, but there's altogether too much of the "sooper" in her act for ...
Five Star: Between The Lines (RCA)
Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 26 September 1987
HANG ABOUT, I'm still picking the lumps of Crunchie from my Hampsteads, still salivating over the last Five Star squalls, still worrying over the way ...
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 20 July 1996
'Firestarter' has made THE PRODIGY the nation's favourite alternative alternative band: Chris Evans doesn't play them, they refuse to do Top Of The Pops, and ...
Kirsty MaCcoll: Electric Landlady (Virgin)
Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 22 June 1991
VERILY AND forsooth, but there is no mess sorrier than that made by the naturally supremely agile coming a clumsy cropper. ...
The Mothers of Invention: Burnt Weeny Sandwich (Reprise)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 March 1970
IT WAS ONE of the great tragedies of modern music when the Mothers broke up last year, but they leave behind memories of success and ...
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978
Manhattan cocktail ...
Elvis Costello: The Costello Show Featuring the Attractions & Confederates: King Of America (F-Beat)
Review by Nick Kent, Melody Maker, 22 February 1986
CROWNING GLORY ...
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 13 June 1992
JUST WHAT is it that's kept Galliano out of the charts? The Occult? Dodgy bar codes? Freak weather conditions? Every other funker, from the Young ...
David McAlmont: What The Butler Didn't See!
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 2 August 1997
Victimised as a child, DAVID McALMONT took years before realising he could sing. Then when he met his musical match, former Suede guru, Bernard Butler, ...
Obituary by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 12 October 1991
JAZZ TRUMPETER Miles Davis, who died last week in Santa Monica, was a 20th century genius on a par with Picasso in that he was ...
Dolly Parton: Confessions of a Power Crazed Wig-Model
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978
'Ah'd like to think ah've ADDED to what I had before.' With these words, Dolly Parton struck COLIN IRWIN dumb. And she's writing a song ...
Sonny Sharrock: Like No Other Guitarist Ever Born
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 27 June 1970
WARREN "Sonny" Sharrock created one of 1969's most extraordinary musical moments, during a track called 'Chain Of Fools' on Herbie Mann's big-selling Memphis Underground album. ...
Brian Eno, Talking Heads: Brian Eno: Energy Fails The Magician
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 12 January 1980
After spending the last decade redefining rock music, all Brian Eno wants now is an honest job of work and a place to lay his ...
Pet Shop Boys: Winter Gardens, Blackpool
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 8 June 1991
TENNANT'S EXTRA ...
Report and Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 2 May 1992
Ever since 'Enter Sandman' crashed into Top 10s around the world, Metallica have been reaping the dividends of a decade of scorched earth-style metal. CATHI ...
Chuck Berry, Del Shannon: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 February 1967
FREAK OUTS forget — it's rock riots yet! Those smashing days of the fifties are back, and for evidence see the pile of broken seats ...
Liza Minnelli: Winter Garden, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 19 January 1974
Sweet Liza ...
Curiosity Killed The Cat: Heaven, London
Live Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 30 August 1986
CAT DANCERS ...
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 3 July 1993
ONE DOVE have been hailed as the future of epic, melodic dance music, blending classic pop melancholia with club beats to produce a sound that ...
Essra Mohawk: Essra (Private Stock).
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 14 May 1977
THE LAST album (on Asylum) was simply called Essra Mohawk. Now, by way of Essra, a title whose warmer, more personal implication is complemented by ...
David Ruffin: Ruffin Walks Back
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976
"I ALWAYS believed and prayed that I could express myself and be understood. By having a hit single, a lot of people are hearing me ...
The Rolling Stones: Jagger in America
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 29 November 1969
ALL'S WELL with the Stones and Mick Jagger is at peace with the world. They have returned to tour America after three years and says ...
Gene Pitney, the Troggs: Finsbury Park Astoria, London
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 25 February 1967
GENE PITNEY strolled on stage on the first night of his last British tour last Friday at the Astoria, Finsbury Park and proved once again ...
Killing Joke: What's THIS For...! (EG Records EGMD5.50)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 20 June 1981
THIS UNLISTENABLE record has very little going for it apart from the spaces between the tracks. This may sound harsh, but let me explain... ...
Pop Will Eat Itself: At Weird's Bar And Grill (RCA)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 6 March 1993
SURPRISE, SURPRISE. The point of a Pop Will Eat Itself gig (of which this is a record) isn't, God forbid, the music, it's the sense ...
Macy Gray: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 2 October 1999
CRAZYSEXYCOOL ...
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 15 September 1973
Ex-Miracles leader, brilliant songwriter, Motown boss — Smokey Robinson is that rare thing in music: a legend in his own lifetime. He talks to MM's ...
Magna Carta, Pentangle: Pentangle, Magna Carta: Lyceum, London
Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 24 January 1970
SUNDAY'S LYCEUM played host to two reputable acoustic groups, Pentangle and Magna Carta. Which is great if you join the hard core of enthusiasts at ...
Psychedelic Pop — When The Freaking Out Has To Stop...
Report and Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 11 February 1967
AN ATTEMPT AT AN EXPLANATION BY NICK JONES ...
Mark Spoelstra: Jeanetta Cochrane Theatre, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 29 October 1966
THERE IS a soft centre at the heart of much of contemporary American songwriting in the folk or near-folk idiom which makes it difficult ever ...
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 21 September 1985
Helen FitzGerald cancels several modelling assignments to meet Lesley Hornby, alias the delectable TWIGGY. Once the Sixties clothes-peg, she now has a new single, 'Feel ...
The Cardigans: Swedish of the Day
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 2 December 1995
If you like St Etienne, Stereolab and Dubstar, you'll love THE CARDIGANS, Sweden's leading sugar-pop weirdos. SIMON PRICE hails their happysad music. ...
John Martyn, Danny Thompson: Danny Thompson: Man of Many Parts
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976
THE NEWS that Danny Thompson is getting back into jazz will please the many who have missed the big, fat tone of his bass during ...
The Move: Cadillac Club, Brighton
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 15 April 1967
A LOT OF people moan because they don't see a TV being axed into dust when they go to see the Move. There is a ...
Dr. Feelgood: Sneakin' Suspicion (United Artists UAS 30075)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 May 1977
Epitaph to Wilko ...
The Membranes: Gift Of Life (Creation)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 14 September 1985
MORE SPUNKY misdemeanours from the oddest thing to have come out of Blackpool since the road to Morecambe. Newly signed to Creation, this trio seem ...
Arthur Russell: The Kitchen, New York NY
Live Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 9 May 1987
RUSSELL, A fiery chameleon of a man, a nervous splutter of contradictions and paranoia, seems available to all interpretations and answerable to none. World Of ...
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 7 November 1992
Lawrence (no surname) spent the Eighties in "art underground" band, Felt. Now he's back in DENIM, with a record crammed full of Seventies pop hooks ...
Smog: Pea Super! Smog: Red Apple Falls (Domino 9 tks/43 mins)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 17 May 1997
You might not want him living next door to you, but Bill Callahan, aka SMOG, is surprisingly fine company... ...
Billy Preston, The Rolling Stones: Billy Preston: The Way Billy Planned It
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 1 September 1973
When The Stones hit the road this month BILLY PRESTON goes with them. Here, he talks to MM's MICHAEL WATTS in Los Angeles ...
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas: Martha & the Vandellas: Town Hall, Farnborough
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 16 April 1966
MARTHA AND the Vandellas performed a minor miracle last week. They almost — but not quite — evoked a big response from a dead audience ...
Jerry Garcia: Garcia (Warner Bros.)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 12 February 1972
I HAD, I CONFESS, expected something different. Two sides of 'Dark Star Revisited' would have perhaps been a predictable dosage. Instead, we get several very ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 5 September 1987
ANTHRAX ARE ANTI-VIOLENCE, ANTI-NUKE, ANTI-DESTRUCTION. BUT THEIR MUSIC IS VIOLENT, LOUD, AGGRESSIVE AND BRUTAL. SIMON REYNOLDS ATTEMPTS TO RESOLVE THESE CONTRADITIONS. ...
Fishbone: Truth and Soul (Epic)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 15 October 1988
FISHBONE'S PROBLEM is obvious. They're rooted in bitter redundancy and are trying to please too many of the people too much of the time. At ...
System 7: 777 (Weird & Unconventional/Big Life)
Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 20 March 1993
THOSE OF you with reasonably tolerable faculties or recall may remember my late '91 review of System 7's first album, (Are you taking the piss, ...
Dr. John: How Do Voodoo, I'm Doctor John
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 27 June 1970
DR. JOHN The Night Tripper is an original. Claiming to be a high priest of voodoo, Mac Rebennack (his given name) is also one of ...
The Supremes: Supreme Supreme: Will Diana Ross Go Solo?
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 16 October 1965
"NO COMMENT," said Diana Ross of the Supremes, to the perennial question: "Will you be going solo?" "I've just never thought about it. We're too ...
Roxy Music: Academy of Music, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 March 1975
NEW YORK: Roxy Music's apparent inability to register any real commercial success in the USA can, I feel, be blamed on their refusal to attempt ...
Culture Club, Steve Levine: Steve Levine: Before and After Science
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 31 March 1984
Culture Club's producer STEVE LEVINE blinds an inquisitive Adam Sweeting with the new science of recording technology, and explains why he's embarked on his own ...
The Replacements: The Marquee, London
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 27 April 1991
SHAKEDOWN! ...
The Sabres of Paradise, Andrew Weatherall: Weatherall Storms
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 24 September 1994
ANDREW WEATHERALL has towered over the British club scene since he first found fame as a DJ in the acid house explosion. He created 'Loaded' ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 7 August 1965
Jagger drowned in a sea of noise ...
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 29 April 1967
THERE SEEMS to be three distinct phases in the life of a pop group. Each is important, and mainly they are controlled by you the ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970
IT'S NICE TO see Cat Stevens and Elton John providing the British answer to Neil Young, and Van Morrison. And make no mistake, Elton is ...
Alexis Korner: REACTION with Alexis Korner
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 13 March 1971
ALEXIS KORNER — guitarist, singer, blues fancier and scholar, and bandleader with a remarkable record as a nurseryman of young jazz talent — sat for ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976
NEW YORK: For better or worse, John Denver has changed people's lives. His concerts, in America if not elsewhere, are gatherings of almost religious intensity, ...
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 ...
James Blood Ulmer: The Venue, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 4 August 1984
IF, AS IT'S often noted, a week is a long time in pop, how long is four years in avant-jazz-funk? ...
Profile and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 18 May 1991
On the eve of their first British live dates, PUSH meets a rap duo who don't glorify ghetto violence, drugs, crime and screwing "bitches", but ...
Burning Spear: Ruby's Dub Gems
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976
REGGAE IS in many ways a producer's music. More than any other ethnic music since Twenties hillbilly, it is a music that has been created ...
The Rolling Stones: Aftermath (Decca)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 16 April 1966
SPANKING NEW fourteen-track Rolling Stones LP. Undoubtedly this is the best they have made and should be their biggest British seller to date. ...
Alice Coltrane: Ptah, The El Daoud (Impulse AS-9196 — import)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 13 March 1971
Mrs Coltrane (piano, harp). Joe Henderson, Pharoah Sanders (tenors, alto flutes), Ron Carter (bass), Ben Riley (drums) New York, 26/1/70. ...
KC & the Sunshine Band: The Venue, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 5 November 1983
Getting on down... down ...
Heaven 17, Carol Kenyon: Carol Kenyon: Oh Carol!
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 4 February 1984
Could this be love? Almost certainly. Colin Irwin (drooling reportage) and Andrew Catlin (provider of lascivious images) feign maturity in the presence of CAROL KENYON. ...
A Certain Ratio, Happy Mondays, Joy Division, New Order: Factory R.I.P.
Report by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 5 December 1992
FACTORY RECORDS, arguably the most influential record label of the Eighties, fell into the hands of the Receiver last week — after months of speculation ...
Alexander O'Neal: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 27 April 1991
YOU KNOW, I've never been laughed at by so many people for coming here tonight, to which I can only respond — your problem is ...
Lee Hazlewood, Nancy Sinatra: Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood: The Limelight, New York NY
Live Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 24 June 1995
HOW DOES this grab you, darling? Nancy Sinatra, in her infamous black leather boots and a perfect blonde bouffant, centre stage for the first time ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 13 March 1965
THE GREAT T-Bone Walker opened at London's Flamingo on Friday with an hour of beefy blues. ...
Cream: In The Kingdom of Freakdom
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 30 December 1967
THEY ARE THE Cream. Baker, Bruce and Clapton and there's not many desperados who would hitch up their breeches and roll down the dusty main ...
The Rolling Stones: This Could Be The Last Time
Report by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 13 March 1971
AS STONES BEGIN THEIR LONG-AWAITED — AND POSSIBLY FINAL — TOUR OF BRITAIN, MICHAEL WATTS REPORTS... ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 17 July 1965
LONDON'S MANOR HOUSE club held their first pop inn Wednesday session last week — and an all time record audience turned out to watch the ...
Isaac Hayes: Black Moses (Stax — 2 LPs)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 29 January 1972
Hayes: Doggone Good ...
Dr. John: Dr John: Babylon (Atco 228 018)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 May 1969
Compulsive listening ...
Cookie Crew, The Three Wise Men: The Three Wise Men, Cookie Crew: Rhythm and Bruise
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 May 1987
SOMETHING IS STIRRING IN DEEPEST SOUTH LONDON IN THE SHAPE OF RHYTHM KING RECORD LABEL ARTISTS THE COOKIE CREW, WHO FORM THE FEMALE HIP-HOP ASSAULT ...
Level 42: Staring At The Sun (Polydor)
Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 15 October 1988
LEVEL 42 make me feel bad. They make me feel like I'm being as predictable as they are — and it's true. But what can ...
Faithless: Faith, Hope And Clarity
Profile and Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 3 May 1997
FAITHLESS are successfully grafting poetry, intelligence and stoner philosophy onto their floor-filling euphoric dance. Dare you follow? * ...
Gary Burton, Larry Coryell: Larry Coryell: Breaking Through The Barriers
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 4 November 1967
MM pop writer Nick Jones on the Gary Burton quartet in general — and guitarist Larry Coryell in particular — finds new hope for jazz ...
Lulu & the Luvvers: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 4 September 1965
LULU KNOCKS THEM OVER AT THE MARQUEE ...
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 1 October 1988
ONE EXPLODING BUNDLE OF BURNING HATE, JIM THIRLWELL AKA CLINT RUIN AKA FOETUS INTERRUPTUS EXPLAINS TO JONH WILDE THE DISGUST THAT GREW INTO HIS NEW ...
Blue Öyster Cult, The Faces: The Faces, Blue Oyster Cult: Madison Square Garden, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 March 1975
Faces bring back the fun ...
Pulp, Saint Etienne: Saint Etienne, Pulp: Mayfair, Glasgow
Live Review by Pete Paphides, Melody Maker, 6 March 1993
WHAM BAM, THANK YOU, GLAM! ...
The Turtles: Enter The Turtles — Part Of The... Flower Power Generation!
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 10 June 1967
WHETHER THERE is a slight lack of introspection among the British pop groups is a point that always arises after meeting "an average American group." ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 4 December 1965
ONE of Britain's most talented and underrated groups, the Birds, packed 'em in at the Trade, Watford, last Saturday to present an hour of high-flying ...
My Bloody Valentine: The Clarendon, London
Live Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 16 August 1986
MY BLOODY Valentine are young and awkward and dear to the heart, their nervous system centred on Colm's ferocious rhythmic vigour as, embarrassed by having ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Condiment-al as Anything
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 13 December 1997
And you thought Girl Power was a new thang? Oh no, SALT-N-PEPA invented it a decade ago. The Maker catches up with the trio in ...
Derrick May & Associates: Relics (Transmat/Buzz)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
MAY'S DAZE ...
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 1 March 1975
Elton gets lost ...
The Beatles, George Harrison: Beatle George And Where He's At (Part 2)
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 30 December 1967
WE WERE talking about how meditation and yoga leads to self realization. ...
Cilla Black, The Everly Brothers: The Everly Brothers, Cilla Black: Finsbury Park Astoria, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 16 October 1965
THAT GREAT US duo, the Everly Brothers, made their first London appearance last Saturday, at the Finsbury Park Astoria. In black evening dress the Everlys ...
The Fat Boys: Crushin' (Urban/Polydor)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 26 September 1987
EVEN IN their days as a one-gag band, playing Sham 69 to Run DMC's Pistols, the Fat Boys were immensely (and I do mean immensely) ...
Thin Lizzy: Essex University, Colchester
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 March 1976
IF THIN LIZZY have spent the past 12 months breaking into first division rock, the next 12 will be spent consolidating their position in that ...
John Lennon, Yoko Ono: Yoko: How I Rescued John from Chauvinism
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 22 September 1973
DATELINE NEW YORK: A rare interview with a much maligned singer with a fine new album... ...
Lightnin' Hopkins: Bluebird Blues (Fontana 688803 ZL)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 8 October 1966
Lightnin' strikes again ...
The Small Faces: Small Faces in a Tight Green Circle
Report by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 17 December 1966
NICK JONES at a Small Faces recording session ...
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 7 December 1985
Helen FitzGerald charts the dogged progress and gradual rise of the two misfits CATHAL COUGHLAN and SEAN O'HAGAN, better known as the heart of MICRODISNEY. ...
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Camden Underworld, London
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 30 May 1992
HIP HOP HOORAY ...
Profile and Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 5 June 1965
THEY THINK THE MOD THING IS DYING... ...BUT THEY DON'T INTEND TO GO DOWN WITH IT ...
Bad Company's Rodgers: No Compromises
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974
"MOOOOOVIN' ONNNN." Paul Rodgers stabs forward towards the microphone to deliver the lines pirouetting as he reaches the front of the stage and grabbing the ...
Steve Reich: Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 12 February 1977
OSTENSIBLY, the two Steve Reich concerts at London's Roundhouse last Sunday and the Sunday before reversed the natural order of things, starting with a complete ...
Peter Stringfellow: The Peter Principle
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 4 January 1986
With his glittering night club The Hippodrome, working class entrepreneur PETER STRINGFELLOW seeks to bring glamour into everybody's life. But, asks Frank Owen, is he ...
Jamiroquai: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 30 January 1993
JAZZ, FOR FUNK'S SAKE! ...
Manfred Mann: You Won't See Paul Jones Crying When The Pop TV Shows Stop
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 25 September 1965
MANFRED'S MAN IN THE MIDDLE WEIGHS IN ...
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 12 February 1977
On the eve of Abba's British live debut, Harry Doherty looks at the reasons for their amazing success — and asks the rock biz for ...
The T-Bones (U.K.): The T-Bones: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 23 January 1965
THEM BONES ...
The Communards: Royal Court, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 29 November 1986
YOU KNEW as soon as you saw the big vases of flowers on each side of the stage that this wasn't going to be a ...
Melissa Etheridge: Never Enough (Island)
Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
OH OH. Bare flesh alert. In an unintentional but uncanny facsimile of PJ Harvey's NME cover shot, Melissa Etheridge stands on her album sleeve in ...
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 14 May 1994
SPRING BONK HOLIDAY ...
Mabel Greer's Toyshop, The Syn, Yes: Yes: Quick Draw Chris
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974
CHRIS SQUIRE is like one of those old time marshals who casually patrol the toughest towns in the West. He's ten feet tall, slow movin', ...
Curiosity Killed The Cat: Keep Your Distance (Phonogram)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 2 May 1987
101 USES FOR A DEAD CAT ...
Reverend Horton Heat: The Reverend Horton Heat: Lynn Eusan Park, Houston; Emo's Lounge, Houston
Live Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 15 May 1993
A DAY ON THE ROAD WITH… ...
Ben Webster: Big Ben: Max Jones remembers Ben Webster, who died last week
Obituary by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 29 September 1973
SHORTLY AFTER Johnny Hodges died in 1970, Ben Webster said to me that so many of the great saxophone names had passed. He recited them: ...
Rick Nelson & the Stone Canyon Band: Bottom Line, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 13 April 1974
Nostalgic Nelson ...
Donovan: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 29 April 1967
EXPERIENCE BUT NO SATISFACTION FOR DONOVAN ...
Working Week: Shaw Theatre, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 4 August 1984
WHILE THE nadir of pop's current dalliance with jazz was reached by the terminal twit who mimed a trumpet solo through a saxophone on Ear-Say ...
Prince: Come (Warner Brothers 9362-45700-2/10tks/49mins/FP)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 13 August 1994
There's no getting round it. Prince's new album is, explicitly, all about eating pussy. Beavis & Butt-Head would explode. SIMON PRICE needed a good hosing ...
Sparks: Russell — I Hate Kids And Animals!
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974
"HI", SAID dapper Ron Mael, rummaging in his shoulder bag. "Here — a present we brought back from Hamburg. It's a marzipan ham." ...
Duke Ellington: Suites in a Hotel Suite
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 18 February 1967
DUKE ELLINGTON is a musician who composes tirelessly in his own way and in his own time — which means according to the circumstances he ...
Scott Walker: Scott 2 (Philips)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 13 April 1968
SOME PEOPLE have the power to control the emotions of others — to bring them up, or bring them down, just by a word, gesture ...
Ziggy Marley: The Melody Makers: Jah Makers
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 12 May 1984
Colin Irwin meets the MELODY MAKERS, children of the legendary Bob Marley. ...
Gallon Drunk, PJ Harvey: PJ Harvey, Gallon Drunk: Bristol University
Live Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 22 May 1993
HARVEY'S BRISTOL SCREAM ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978
TEN YEARS from now, some Nick Lowe with perfect recall will mimic the sound of Giorgio Moroder; for it defines and will come to represent ...
The Bay City Rollers: Can the Rollers crack America?
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 6 December 1975
CHRIS CHARLESWORTH IN NEW YORK ANSWERS THE 64,000 DOLLAR QUESTION ...
The Dream Syndicate: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 22 September 1984
AN OFFER YOU CAN'T REFUSE ...
New Kids On The Block: Step By Step (CBS)
Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 30 June 1990
WHAT IS SO odious about New Kids On The Block? Why are they so uniquely dislikeable? Is it the disturbingly cynical way they blunted rap's ...
Sigur Rós: This Week's Best New Band is... SIGUR RÓS
Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 10 November 1999
STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL SOUNDSCAPES ...
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 4 October 1997
TICK. TOCK. The giant clock behind Noel, who is 29 years old, and Liam, who is 24, runs steadily backwards. There's always been a big ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 21 February 1987
ASYLUM OF NUMBERS ...
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 4 February 1984
Undeterred by the psychological disadvantages of being a one-man band and the subject of a national 'paper slur campaign', HOWARD JONES struggles on... to victory, ...
Mike Oldfield: I Can't Stand People Who Play Things Blandly...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974
MIKE OLDFIELD and David Bedford looked worried as they started morosely into their glasses of orange juice. It was a measure of their anxiety that, ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 26 August 1967
TRIUMPH FOR SCOTT ...
Wayne Shorter, Weather Report: Wayne Shorter: The Sunny Weatherman
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 December 1975
TO SAY that Wayne Shorter looked happy would be the understatement of the year. ...
Cliff Richard: Palladium, London
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 13 April 1974
WELL, WADDYA know? Ol' Cliff's getting a bit nostalgic in his little-corner of comfy respectability. Surrounded by glam girls kicking their legs up, a massive ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
Music triumphs, despite rain, accidents and the rockers ...
Spontaneous Music Ensemble: John Stevens: A Sadder But Wiser Avant Gardist
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 February 1967
JOHN STEVENS has come back a sadder but wiser man from the so-called "avant garde scene" in Copenhagen. Stevens, drummer-organiser of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, ...
Los Lobos: Lords of the Barrio
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 20 April 1985
Suddenly, LOS LOBOS are shaping up to be stars with their LP How Will The Wolf Survive and scorching single 'Don't Worry Baby'. Adam Sweeting ...
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 8 April 1995
It was a long journey from simple demos in '92 to Number One album in '95, but producer MARC WATERMAN was there piecing together ELASTICA's ...
George Michael: Joyless Division — George Michael: Older (Virgin 11tks/59m ins)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 25 May 1996
With his new album, GEORGE MICHAEL has less to do with Simply Red or the Wets than he does Radiohead or the Manics. ...
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 5 April 1975
Yee-hah for the cowboys! Colin Irwin and Robert Partridge review Wembley's giant country festival ...
Carolyn Hester: Les Cousins, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 23 March 1968
SUCCESS USUALLY means that singers quit the folk club circuit and restrict appearances to concerts. Which is a pity, since often the club scene which ...
The Deviants, Mick Farren, Shagrat: Mick Farren: Fun Is The Key Word
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 21 February 1970
WATCH OUT, world — Mick Farren is out to accomplish with Shagrat what he couldn't quite get together with the Deviants. ...
Ken Colyer, Lonnie Donegan, Alexis Korner: Skiffle or Piffle?
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 28 July 1956
ALEXIS KORNER tells Max Jones ...
Gaye Bykers On Acid: Stewed To The Gills (Virgin)
Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 25 February 1989
STEWED TO The Gills is not a total pile of doggy-doo. This comes as a shock. You expect a mess, somehow, from the Bykers, with ...
Louise: Woman In Me (EMI 16tks/69 mins)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 18 October 1997
NOW KIDS, when you say "Sexiest Lass In The World" ...do you mean "Most Symmetrical"? Or "Most Unblemished"? Or "Most Likely To Wear A Pencil ...
Labelle: Dinner and cards with Reggie
Profile and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 9 November 1974
"I REMEMBER the time," says Sarah, "when we toured in England and Bluesology backed us. And Patti used to play cards with Reggie — Elton ...
Bobby Womack: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 13 March 1976
Womack: it's all over now ...
Reverend Gary Davis: Rev. Gary Davis: Song of a Preacher Man
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 August 1971
MANY BLACK SINGERS draw an artificial distinction between holy music — gospel — and sinful music — the blues. ...
Spinal Tap: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 18 July 1992
THE VERTEBRATE ROCK'N'ROLL SWINDLE ...
The Stone Roses: Diary of an LP: the Stone Roses' Second Coming, Part One
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 14 January 1995
After years of rumour and speculation, THE STONE ROSES Second Coming album has finally made it into the shops. TOM DOYLE travelled to Rockfield studios ...
Brian Eno, Talking Heads: Talking Heads: More words about Eno and art
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 29 July 1978
Ian Birch meets Talking Heads ...
Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page: Jimmy Page: Paganini of the Seventies
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 February 1970
First of a great new series by Chris Welch ...
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam: Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam: Straight To The Sky (CBS)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 3 June 1989
MUCH OF Straight To The Sky is thinly disguised and indiscriminately stolen property .There's the instantly recognisable keyboard climb from Yazoo's 'Don't Go', a little ...
The Stone Roses: Diary of an LP: the Stone Roses' Second Coming, Part Two
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 21 January 1995
Following last week's look at life with THE STONE ROSES during the making of Second Coming, producer SIMON DAWSON takes TOM DOYLE track by track ...
Frank Zappa: Apostrophe(') (Discreet)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 May 1974
Zappa's touch of genius ...
Randy Newman: Lonely at the Top
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 21 August 1971
PEOPLE STILL talk of the press reception for Randy Newman. ...
Billie Holiday: Billie Holiday (World Record Club TS30)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 31 December 1966
THERE ARE FEW singers in and around jazz who continue to excite our wonder long after their death. Bessie Smith is one, and Mildred Bailey ...
Cherrelle: Cherelle: High Priority (Tabu)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 22 February 1986
MID-EIGHTIES Soul-By-Numbers can be so tiresome. You'd have to be a dolt to think that more than 20 per cent of today's claptrack claptrap merchants ...
The Prodigy: Torhout Rock, Bruges
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 20 July 1996
I DON'T WANNA reiterate the usual boring Belgium jokes — I've had better times in Bruxelles than I've ever had in, say, Paris, but the ...
Led Zeppelin: Jimmy Page Part Two
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 February 1970
WHEN A band achieves the Led Zeppelin's kind of success in such a short time, there are bound to be whispered accusations in the corridors ...
Joan Baez: Baptism (Vanguard SVRL19000)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 16 November 1968
Lovers of Baez folksong will be disappointed ...
The Levellers: The Marquee, London
Live Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 27 April 1991
EVERY TIME this band set foot on a stage they turn into more of a revelation. No mean feat, considering The Levellers spend their life ...
Bert Jansch: Jansch — 'Don't Ask What My Message Is'
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 28 August 1965
BERT JANSCH is one of the newer crop of folk singers who have spurned the more traditional forms for something approaching a pop-folk style. ...
Oasis: The Oasis Story, Part 4: From The Masterplan to Go Let It Out
Guide by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 9 February 2000
In the final part of our Oasis history, we recall the departures of Bonehead and Guigsy and look forward to Standing On The Shoulder Of ...
Hot Chocolate: Hot on the Trail
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 December 1975
HOT CHOCOLATE, the faceless men of British pop, leave soon for the real land of hope and glory, America, confident that they will be a ...
The Animals: A Few Roars from the Newest Animal
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 24 July 1965
'Get Dave' said Eric — and I was in! ...
Funkadelic: Lyceum Ban Funkadelic
Report by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 3 April 1971
FUNKADELIC, THE American group banned by London's Royal Albert Hall, have now been banned from the Strand Lyceum. Promoter John Sullivan — offered Funkadelic by ...
James Brown: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 2 December 1978
The Sex Machine winds down ...
Tom Tom Club: Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom (Fontana)
Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 22 October 1988
BOOM THE BASE ...
Interview by Cliff Jones, Melody Maker, 26 October 1991
For every minute of music you hear on TALK TALK'S new album, Laughing Stock, there's an hour of music abandoned. CLIFF JONES talks to MARK ...
The Mike Flowers Pops: A Groovy Place (London 10 tks/35 mins)
Review by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 22 June 1996
MY INSIDER from the world of 'ardkore E-Z Listening informs me that Mike Flowers is "faux", but pleasant enough if you're whammed off your tits ...
Led Zeppelin: Jimmy Page Part Three
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 February 1970
CHRIS WELCH CONCLUDES THIS EXCLUSIVE SERIES ...
Kraftwerk: Radio-Activity (Capitol)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975
Kraftwerk: too mechanical ...
Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel: Paul Simon: Pop think-in
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 30 April 1966
The biggest thing Dylan has got going for him is his mystique ...
Cilla Black: Work... Is A Four Letter Word starring Cilla Black (Dir. Peter Hall)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 25 May 1968
CILLA BLACK is a lovely bird. She's warm, loyal to old friends, vivacious and charming in her own way. She may even make a competent ...
David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Working Week: Absolute Beginners
Special Feature by Brian Case, Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 22 March 1986
AT LONG last, it's almost here. Poor old JULIEN TEMPLE has been working on his movie of Colin MacInnes' novel Absolute Beginners apparently since the ...
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 28 August 1993
"TAKE THAT are the best group in the whole world. So there!" ...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 3 April 1971
Michael Watts talks to sessionman supreme NICKY HOPKINS ...
Jefferson Starship: Academy of Music, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 13 April 1974
Jefferson Starship in orbit ...
Bill Laswell: Baselines (Elektra Musician 60221-1 US Import)
Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 14 January 1984
I HAD HIGH hopes for Laswell's Baselines but large tracts turn out to be a bit of a pain, I'm afraid. ...
Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 22 October 1988
LET'S NOT mince words; most of these ambienceurs are a fraud, trying to sell us insubstantial ideas that aren't worth listening to by simply turning ...
Gene: The Paradise Club, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 13 August 1994
CHROMOSOME IS WHERE THE ART IS ...
Peter Tosh: Tosh Spreads the Message
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
"REGGAE IS black. It was held back but you can't keep a good man down. It was just a manifestation but it had to happen. ...
B.B. King: Lucille Talks Back (ABC ABCL 5149)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975
B.B. KING IS back on the lists with an album of his own production on which he plays sophisticated blues, near-blues and one religioso. ...
Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 28 February 1970
ARTHUR LEE, mastermind and founder member of American west coast group Love, seemed surprised when I suggested that the band had faded into oblivion after ...
The Byrds: The Changing Face of the Byrds
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 25 May 1968
"THE BYRDS have changed. In looks, line-up and partly in repertoire. Gone is the long hair, which, back in 1965, earned them the description of ...
Duke Ellington: Concert Of Sacred Music (RCA)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 31 December 1966
Hot jazz and religion in a ducal mixture ...
Interview by Cliff Jones, Melody Maker, 1 February 1992
When Teenage Fanclub step into the studio, the rules are simple: use old guitars, old amps and old recording equipment "to make a record we ...
The Verve: Verve: Manchester University
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 29 May 1993
TUNE IN, TURN ON, WIGAN OUT ...
Interview by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 9 June 1979
"To see in rock and roll something other than immediate obsolescence demands faith and patience." PENNY KILEY draws a bead on the Cramps, America's rockabilly ...
Aretha Franklin, Arif Mardin: Arif Mardin: The Turkish Tycoon of Soul
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 8 November 1969
HOW DOES a Turkish bebop pianist become one of the world's leading producers of soul music? ...
The Spinners (UK): Spinners: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 25 May 1968
THE SECRET of the success of the Spinners is hard to define, but a lot must lie in their ability to create a sort of ...
Lee Hazlewood, Nancy Sinatra: Nancy Sinatra: Boots! Boots! Boots!
Report and Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 30 April 1966
NANCY SINATRA, newly-famous daughter of a famous father, descended on Britain last week in the biggest blaze of publicity since the third of the Beatles ...
Ozzy Osbourne: The Ultimate Sin (Epic)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 22 February 1986
WHEN I MET the editor of Kerrang! the other week, I asked him why he liked heavy metal, assuming that here, at last, was someone ...
Saint Etienne: St Etienne: Brighton Centre East Wing
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
KITSCH OF DISTINCTION ...
Dot Allison, One Dove: Dot Allison: Experimental Breakbeat Diva
Interview by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 20 March 1999
THERE HAVEN'T been many Dots in pop — Dot Cotton from EastEnders has yet to commit to vinyl — so when you hear the name ...
Steampacket: The How and When of the Steampacket
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 28 August 1965
IN A SOMEWHAT loud striped suit, blues singer Long John Baldry, with the help of organist Brian Auger, told the story of the formation of ...
Steve Cropper: Cropper: The Living Legend from Memphis
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 21 February 1970
A MELODY MAKER EXCLUSIVE BY ROYSTON ELDRIDGE ...
The Band: Northern Lights — Southern Cross (Capitol St— 11440)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975
The Band is back — almost ...
The Brecker Brothers: Breckers Blow Into The Discos
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975
New York's top sessioneers tell Chris Charlesworth of their personal bid for fame ...
Neil Diamond: Diamond Shining Brightly
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 20 March 1971
FOR NEIL Diamond, things are looking good. As a pop singer he has left his mark on both sides of the Atlantic with his sweet ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 February 1970
Love is the message from Love ...
Chuck Berry: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 March 1967
NO RIOTS, but plenty of good music were provided at London's Saville Theatre on Sunday night when Chuck Berry made a return appearance. ...
The Lovin' Spoonful: Knocking Down a Myth
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 April 1966
QUESTION Will Folk Rock be the next big influence on the pop world? ...
Gang Starr: Daily Operation (Cooltempo)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
FURTHER AND further out we go... ...
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 12 September 1998
TOKE THAT AND PARTY! ...
Muddy Waters: Muddy's Blues Power
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
AT THE London New Victoria concerts last week, Muddy Mississippi Waters — which is the way McKinley Morganfield announced himself — proved not for the ...
Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Stephen Stills: Genius, Hard Work and Steve Stills
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 February 1970
GENIUS, SAYS the old adage, is an infinite capacity for taking pains. If that's so, then Stephen Stills must be pretty close to it. ...
Thelonious Monk, Cecil Taylor: Cecil Taylor, Thelonious Monk: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 8 November 1969
CECIL TAYLOR'S appearance on Friday was reminiscent of nothing as much as Ornette Coleman's Croydon concert four years ago. ...
Coldcut: Journeys By DJ (Music Unites JDJCD8 29tks/74mins)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 21 October 1995
THE SLICE IS RIGHT Their dazzle may have been eclipsed by newer brilliant stars, but Coldcut never left the party, they just went off on an ...
Blue Mink, Booker T & The MGs: Booker T. & the MGs, Blue Mink: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 28 February 1970
BOOKER T. JONES and his group of Memphis musicians don't belong in any bag. You have to forget the categories where they are concerned and ...
T. Rex, Tyrannosaurus Rex: Rex is Reborn
Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 22 November 1969
TYRANNOSAURUS REX has survived its transplant operation and is already back in circulation. A little heavier for its absence but still breathing fire and breeding ...
Jackson Browne: The Pretender (Asylum)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
THE CHOICE of Jackson Browne's classic 'Late For The Sky', with all its mystique and aura, as soundtrack to the movie Taxi Driver, was no ...
Working Week: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 6 September 1986
NOW YOU HAS JAZZ! ...
Tracy Chapman: Matters Of The Heart (Elektra)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
I'M ALWAYS prepared to be surprised. I like surprises, me. If, for example, Tracy Chapman made an album — not a terrifically surprising event in ...
Blur, The Levellers, Mark Owen, The Prodigy, Stereophonics, Symposium: Alive and Kicking
Report by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, 31 May 1997
Sunday sunshine and a celebrity soccer shoot-out! A brace of top pop stars recently puffed their way around the pitch in a charity match. Some ...
Jean Ritchie: Jeanette Cochrane Theatre, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 3 December 1966
JEAN — PERFECT AT LETTING THE SONG TELL THE STORY ...
Maria Muldaur: Sense and Sensuality
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 1 June 1974
MARIA MULDAUR sings of the joy of being a woman — and it's propelled her album into the charts. JACOBA ATLAS reports from Los Angeles. ...
Arlo Guthrie: One Of America's Most Interesting Young Folk Singers For Some Time
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 10 December 1966
PEOPLE WHO go along to hear Woody Guthrie's son, Arlo, during his three week tour of Britain expecting to hear a carbon copy of the ...
Marilyn: Despite Straight Lines (Mercury)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 29 June 1985
Praying for sunshine ...
The Chemical Brothers: Haçienda, Manchester
Live Review by John Robb, Melody Maker, 1 July 1995
H2SO4 REAL! ...
Jimmy Cliff: Respectability to Reggae
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 22 November 1969
JIMMY CLIFF is the hip young Jamaican who's brought respectability to reggae. His 'Wonderful World, Beautiful People' is a development of the simple ska sound ...
The Clash: Give 'Em Enough Rope (CBS 82431)
Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978
The Clash: War 'n' pizza ...
Waylon Jennings: Honky Tonk Heroes (RCA)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 4 May 1974
INTEREST IN country musicians is currently running high with Charlie Rich in the charts and a whole spate of country albums being released as a ...
Pussy Galore: Historia De La Musica Rock (Rough Trade)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 12 May 1990
REVOLUTION SUMMER ...
The Rolling Stones: Stones and the Street Fighting Men
Report by Geoffrey Cannon, Melody Maker, 3 October 1970
Update, 2019. The Rolling Stones were never just entertainers. They are the world's leading creators and performers of Dionysian rock theatre. They are flamboyant, perverse, ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 22 November 1969
OXFORD GARDENS, just off Ladbroke Grove in deepest West Eleven, is currently the focal point of a community of artists (musicians, painters, poets) who will ...
LeRoi Jones: Black Music (MacGibbon and Kee 36 shillings).
Book Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 8 November 1969
IN HIS writings for Downbeat and Kulchur magazines, LeRoi Jones — poet, playwright, essayist, critic and revolutionary — provided many of the first signposts to ...
Led Zeppelin: INSIDE PAGE — Exclusive! Zeppelin star opens up to Michael Watts
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 7 September 1974
Jimmy Page is working hard on a new Zeppelin album and a film of the band shot mostly in the States. But he takes time ...
Nico: Return Of The Pagan Exile
Interview by Maureen Paton, Melody Maker, 29 April 1978
Nico, in London for a one-off gig last Monday and to record an album, talks to Maureen Paton. ...
Mathilde Santing: Water Under The Bridge (WEA)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 27 July 1985
Waltzing Mathilde ...
Live Review by Mark Mordue, Melody Maker, 4 February 1995
OH YEAH, smash it up, baby, smash it up. This is Courtney Love's night, history standing on her great long legs, a f**k-you attitude. ...
Harry J All Stars, The Pioneers, Max Romeo and the Upsetters: Reggae — is it a new art form?
Comment by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 8 November 1969
A critical appraisal by Christopher J Welch ...
AC/DC: If You Want Blood You've Got It (Atlantic K50532)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978
WHAT CAN you say? AC/DC. A live album. An inevitable live album, given the knowledge that they're one of the best heavy metal bands around ...
Prince and the New Power Generation: Sporthalle, Hamburg
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 20 June 1992
Prince and the New Power Generation arrive in Britain this week to play a record stint of Earl's Court. SIMON PRICE taught the great man ...
Lionel Hampton: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 8 November 1969
NOW WE know what has been missing from jazz for the last 14 years — Lionel Hampton! It was a good time and great jazz ...
Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Stephen Stills: Stills Life
Report and Interview by Geoffrey Cannon, Melody Maker, 28 November 1970
A portrait of a rock giant... at work on his solo LP and at home in his English country house ...
The Monochrome Set: The Lost Weekend (Blanco y Negro)
Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 29 June 1985
FROM SATIRE to pastiche, vintage sardonic witticism to detached irony. ...
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 15 January 1966
And does it prove that what Manchester is today, London can be tomorrow? ...
Eire Apparent: Revolution Club, London
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
EIRE APPARENT were in trouble from their opening number at London's Revolution last week. First they were told to turn the volume down and then ...
Gene, Supergrass: Astoria, London
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 4 February 1995
THE NINE O'CLOCK SNOOZE ...
Mahavishnu Orchestra, Sonny Rollins: Rick Laird: Musicians Over Here Sound As If They're Stuck
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 January 1966
LONDON — LATEST in a long line of British jazz musicians to trek to the United States is twenty-four-year-old Rick Laird, resident bassist at London's ...
The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu: Physical Graffiti
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 4 July 1987
THEFT, NOISE, FUN, SEX... UH... THEFT... THE JUSTIFIED ANCIENTS OF MU MU HAVE JUST PUT OUT AN ALBUM WITH A SWEAR WORD IN THE TITLE ...
Peter Murphy: Deep (Beggars Banquet)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 12 May 1990
PETER MURPHY knows what time it is. He's clocked the hippy-gumbo dancing hordes, seen the shaggy clothes and witnessed the wazzy smiles. He's even checked ...
Black Eyed Peas: Behind The Front (Interscope) ****
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 12 September 1998
EVERY ONCE in a while, some little sweetie in Hiphopsville receives one too many Valentines and gets all gooey on our asses. People generally think ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 October 1968
ALL HAIL Arthur Brown! How high the Who! In a curtain-raiser for their forthcoming tour, taking the form of an all-night rave at London's Lyceum, ...
Arthur Conley, Otis Redding: Arthur Conley: Soul's not dead, it's just changed
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 15 November 1969
OTIS REDDING and Sam Cooke, whose tragic deaths robbed the music world of two of its biggest talents, were both responsible for much of the ...
Dusty Springfield: Why Dusty Must Leave Britain
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD phoned to talk about her new hit record — by our reckoning, her 17th chart record since she became a solo artist five ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 15 January 1966
CILLA BLACK: 'Love's Just A Broken Heart' (Parlophone). It's Cilia — she's great, but this is one of those things that need a second listen. ...
Johnny Mathis: Mathis: Wearing Sinatra's crown
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 30 November 1974
BACK IN the fifties, before some of today's most fervent rockers were talking, Johnny Mathis was making million-selling hits. He was, in fact, an institution. ...
Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 22 December 1984
Lynden Barber accuses LEVEL 42 of showing off. Mark King stays cool. ...
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 18 April 1992
As the man behind Curve, Ride, the Valentines, JAMC and more, producer ALAN MOULDER doesn't seem to be able to put a button-pushing finger wrong. ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: One More From The Road (MCA)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
LYNYRD SKYNYRD are one those bands who, like Rory Gallagher and Dr. Feelgood, will never be able to create the same excitement in the studio ...
The Nice, Yes: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 February 1970
IT WAS an emotional as well as a musical triumph when the Nice took London's Festival Hall by storm on Saturday. A feeling built up ...
Van Morrison: What's So Special About Van Morrison?
Essay by Geoffrey Cannon, Melody Maker, 20 March 1971
Update, 2019. BELOW THIS update is the first of two pieces on Van's early albums. They were commissioned by Richard Williams as my Melody Maker editor, ...
Felt: The Pictorial Jackson Review (Creation)
Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 14 May 1988
SPACED ODDITY ...
Public Enemy: The Greatest Rap Band In The World... Ever!
Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 15 July 1995
PUBLIC ENEMY are still the fastest, fiercest, radicalest hip hop act on the planet, still trying to right wrongs, fight the power and change the ...
The Boo Radleys: Tivoli, Dublin
Live Review by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 29 January 1994
COMING UP GIANT-SICED ...
John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John Lennon and Yoko Ono: Two Virgins (Track)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
MOST AMUSING part of this entertaining family album is the line on the label which states all the "compositions" are published by Northern Songs Ltd. ...
Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus: Meet the Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
"SINGALONG, DANCE-along music with no deep meaning — that's what the Singing Orchestral Circus is all about," said one of the two men who created ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 18 May 1991
OUT OF ORBIT ...
Maria Muldaur: Bottom Line, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976
Muldaur flowers ...
Van Morrison, Them: Van — Them and now
Discography by Geoffrey Cannon, Melody Maker, 27 March 1971
Update, 2019: This piece continues that on "What's so special about Van Morrison", also here in the RBP archive, commissioned by Richard Williams as my ...
Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto: Stan Getz: The guy from Ipanema
Retrospective by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 27 July 1985
Brian Case (grass skirt, hula-hoop) examines the resurgence in popularity of latinate saxman Stan Getz ...
Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 12 May 1990
THE FLIES in the ointment return. Formed at the onset of punk, Wire's art school background was far removed from the council estate mentalities of ...
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 5 August 1995
GOLDIE is being called the Jimi Hendrix of jungle, the charismatic centre of an extraordinary new music. His debut album, Timeless, is a hugely inventive, ...
Bonzo Dog Band: Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band: The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse (Liberty)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
Bonzo's latest piece of art ...
Why did Ready Steady have to... Go!
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 19 November 1966
ALAN WALSH CARRIES OUT THE POST-MORTEM ON THE DEATH OF ANOTHER POP TV SHOW ...
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976
RESPLENDENT IN sharp chrome yellow suit and diamond-studded rings and things, beaming with the joys of life, and seemingly untired by the series of interviews ...
The Groundhogs: Split (Liberty LBG 83401)
Review by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 20 March 1971
FROM THE stern inhuman, irrational bloodymindedness of war which served as the subject for Thank Christ For The Bomb, Tony McPhee has turned to anarchic, ...
Joe Cocker: Cocker and that Boogaloo Sound
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 21 February 1970
JOHN COCKER stopped fitting pipes for the Gas Board in order to exercise his own somewhat steely vocal tubes that were forged, in those early ...
Buddy Rich, Dusty Springfield: Dusty Slams U.S. Star
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 19 November 1966
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD this week slammed back at star American drummer-bandleader Buddy Rich who kept her waiting 2½ hours at her debut at New York's Basin ...
Bros, Debbie Gibson: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 26 August 1989
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT ...
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
"LEADBELLY is a hard name" says Woody Guthrie, "and the hard name of a harder man." The late Woody is quoted (from the book, American ...
A Guy Called Gerald: Black Secret Technology (Juke Box JB2 13tks/70mins/FP)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 18 February 1995
Freaked out by the photocopier? Frightened of the fax machine? Fascinated by both? Don't worry, our relationship with technology is necessarily double-edged – and it's ...
The Divine Comedy: Champagne Casanova
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 22 June 1996
THE DIVINE COMEDY are this year's finest purveyors of unlucky-in-love pop — this year's Pulp, in other words. Which makes mainman NEIL HANNON, the new ...
Marmalade, winners of 'Ob-La-Di' chart race
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
MARMALADE WOULD have covered 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', moving up the MM Pop 30 this week, even if it had been taken off a double album by ...
Sebadoh: King's College, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 27 July 1996
EMPIRE OF THE DEFENCES ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 19 November 1966
The stars single out the new singles ...
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976
DONNA SUMMER had been asked the question before, but that was no reason why I couldn't ask again. ...
Elmore James: Something Inside Of Me (Bell MBLL104)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
A LOT HAS been written of late about Elmore James, one of the big men of post-war blues, who died in May of '63. His ...
Ben Webster: Reminiscing with Big Ben
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 28 December 1968
"DID YOU ever hear about my film? It's a half-hour thing made by Johan van der Keuken for Dutch TV last year. It would be ...
Primal Scream, The Telescopes: Powerhaus, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 26 August 1989
IS THAT my true love I see on stage, or am I watching New Faces? The time has come to add my thrup-tup-ha'pennorth to the ...
Interview by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 18 July 1998
"IT WAS either this, or scaffolding." Carl Cox, perhaps the biggest DJ on earth, in more ways than one, is relaxing in the Italian morning ...
Pavement: Wow! That's What I Call Music...
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 15 April 1995
PAVEMENT are the Lords of Lo-Fi, the Sultans of Slacker. They hate Smashing Pumpkins and their songs are unlistenable chunks of abstract strangeness. Basically, they're ...
Lionel Hampton: If anybody asks, tell them — Lionel is ready!
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 November 1969
LIONEL HAMPTON'S late-night appearance at Jazz Expo in London the other week caused disputation, to put it rather mildly. Some people found him exciting. Others ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
ALVIN LEE, guitarist-leader of Ten Years After, recently returned from a successful Stateside tour, lent an ear to this week's selection of albums and singles ...
Spencer Davis Group, Steve Winwood: Spencer Davis Group: Winwood 66
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 September 1966
Frustrated or happy? Both, reveals Chris Welch ...
Pop Will Eat Itself: The Looks Or The Lifestyle (RCA)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 5 September 1992
POPPIE CROCK ...
Ronnie Lane, The Small Faces: Pop Think In: Plonk Lane of the Small Faces
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 17 September 1966
STEVE CROPPER: Oh yeah! He's a sort of idol — somebody I admire very much. Actually I'm past the idolising stage. When you first start ...
Harmony Grass: Speakeasy, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 8 February 1969
HARMONY GRASS are a fine band — they always were as Tony Rivers and the Castaways. Although Tony has castaway the surfing image, they still ...
The Bay City Rollers: Rollin' with the Rollers
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 19 October 1974
HELLO AND welcome to the BBC Television Centre at Shepherd's Bush. There's a lot of excitement... and chaos... here today, as always when they're making ...
The Sugarcubes: Reykjavik, Iceland
Live Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 26 August 1989
ICE CREAM ...
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 22 November 1997
TO DAI FOR! ...
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 8 August 1970
ON THE surface it seemed crazy — 1,500 kids packed into a hot stuffy old engine shed, while outside the temperature was in the seventies. ...
Toyah Wilcox: Toyah: Minx (Portrait)
Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 27 July 1985
HAS TOYAH Wilcox left it too late? The removable sticker on the cover — where Ms Wilcox models a nice line in wickerwork baskets on ...
The Beatles, John Lennon: Pop think in: John Lennon
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 15 January 1966
John Lennon knew all about the MM's Pop Think-in when he was approached to sit in the "hot seat". "Yeah, it'll be a laugh," he ...
Stanley Clarke, Alan White: Stanley Clarke and Alan White: Solo Flights
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976
Once, when individual members of a band began to make solo albums, it was a sign that the seams were beginning to split a portent ...
Janet Jackson: Sheffield Arena
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 15 April 1995
IN PRINCIPLE, of course, any member of the Jacksons should be the recipient of thunderous applause just for existing: they are, after all, the most ...
Wynton Marsalis: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 22 September 1984
TRUST WYNTON Marsalis to try the most difficult crossover of all. There has been very little successful commuting between jazz and classical music, although the ...
La Düsseldorf: La Düsseldorf (Radar RAD 7)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 15 July 1978
The Kraft of Düsseldorf ...
Fleetwood Mac, Otis Spann: Top of the chart Fleetwood Mac act as a backing group!
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 8 February 1969
WHICH TOP British group acted as a backing group for another artist while their own record was number one? ...
Archie Shepp: Sax in the Afternoon
Interview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 25 May 1985
ARCHIE SHEPP has grown... smarter, smoother, slicker. But he still blows a mean sax. Brian Case shares his cab and a Scotch with the jazz ...
The Rolling Stones: Between The Buttons (Decca)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 21 January 1967
FUN, EXCITEMENT, great ballads, and the full unveiling of Mick Jagger's voice after being cloaked in some secrecy for several years are among the rewards ...
Birdland: New Cross Venue, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
LET ME tell you a story. The last time I saw Birdland, they filled the Brixton Academy (the support band were some bunch of nohopers ...
Basement Jaxx, Ed Rush & Optical, Norman Jay, Danny Rampling, Underworld: Homelands
Report by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 5 June 1999
Orbit's minute-by-minute descent into delirium ...
Nosmo King: Disco Demand: Smashes — by demand
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 14 December 1974
MM looks at a new label that's notching up an impressive track record ...
Donovan: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 January 1967
THAT THERE is still room for audacious youth in 1967 is a good sign. Donovan is an audacious youth, and in the vast monument to ...
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 28 January 1967
HOLLAND-DOZIER-Holland may sound like a firm of solicitors, but they must rank among the most prolific songwriting teams in history. ...
David Bowie, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols: Julien Temple: The Inner Temple
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 1 December 1984
Wordsmith and sedentary snapper Adam Sweeting interrogates filmmaker and promo video master JULIEN TEMPLE... ...
The Orb, Primal Scream, Andrew Weatherall: Primal Scream: The Haçienda, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 3 August 1991
KNOCKED OUT LOADED ...
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 13 May 1995
SCARLET IT BLEED ...
Willie Nelson: The Troublemaker (CBS) and Live (RCA)
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
TWO OLDIES, neither of which add significantly to Nelson's reputation as the leading exponent of the new Texan country music: The Troublemaker, recorded in 1973, ...
Paul Simon: Here Comes Rhymin' Simon
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 12 May 1973
MM EXCLUSIVE! Paul Simons — due to play British dates next month — talks to LORAINE ALTERMAN in New York ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 25 February 1967
LEE DORSEY: 'Rain Rain Go Away' (Stateside) Lee Dorsey. It's in the same old vein and it'll be a hit. Sometimes I wonder if he ...
The Rolling Stones: The Pop Think-In: Charlie Watts
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 4 February 1967
Charlie Watts has been called "The Silent Stone", who prefers to sit about looking rather mournful and unwilling to communicate. In fact, Charlie has a ...
Michael Brook: Zoo Aquarium, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 13 June 1992
MICHAEL BROOK is a Canadian music theorist with an impressive list of past collaborators. He's worked with Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, U2 and Sinead O'Connor, ...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 7 February 1976
MICHAEL WATTS reports from Connecticut on a long-awaited return... ...
Art Garfunkel: Garfunkel: Angel Clare (CBS)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 29 September 1973
No Art, no heart ...
New Order, The Smiths, The Stone Roses: For Faç's Sake! 10 Years of the Haçienda
Retrospective and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 23 May 1992
Few clubs can lay claim to changing the face of music, but THE HAÇIENDA certainly made it smile, giving fledgling acts like The Stone Roses, ...
Prince: 0(+>: Glam Slam At The Astoria/The Emporium, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 15 April 1995
OOH! AAH! 0(+>! ...
Roy Harper: St Pancras Town Hall, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 23 November 1968
A first solo flight to remember ...
Cilla Black: Cilla Wants A Song...
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 11 September 1965
WANTED: one new song. It must be up-tempo, happy yet simple, and with a good melody and lyric. Anyone with a number fitting the above ...
Johnny "Guitar" Watson: Johnny Guitar Watson: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Maureen Paton, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
THE GUITAR HERO stakes is such an overworked concept that it seems almost poetic justice to overact it outrageously to the point of parody. Johnny ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 7 January 1967
A lack of new ideas but another Tops success ...
World's Famous Supreme Team: Rappin' (Virgin)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 31 May 1986
LIKE Old Mr Grace being wheeled in at the end of Are You Being Served? World's Famous Supreme Team are something of the grandaddies of ...
Mel & Kim, Pet Shop Boys: Phil Harding and Ian Curnow: Production Lines
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 4 February 1989
PAUL MATHUR TALKS TO PHIL HARDING AND IAN CURNOW, KEYWORKERS IN THE SAW HIT FACTORY ...
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 12 November 1994
HOMIE-CIDAL MANY ACTS A new Snoop Doggy Dogg record? Yes and no and a whole lot more. Murder Was The Case is an extremely violent 18-minute ...
Bonzo Dog Band: Musical Mayhem: Chris Welch on the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 16 April 1966
"WE'RE NOT doing a Temperance Seven — we're murdering the Temperance Seven!" insisted a defiant member of Britain's most incredible new rhythm ensemble — the ...
Jesse Winchester: Winchester '76
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 29 May 1976
JESSE WINCHESTER is diffident, reluctant to elaborate on the bare essentials of his biography. He was born in Louisiana, brought up in Memphis, studied in ...
Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Graham Nash: Graham Nash: Song of a Simple Man
Interview by Geoffrey Cannon, Melody Maker, 9 November 1970
Update, 2020. I paid no attention to Graham Nash or to his band the Hollies, the close-harmony Manchester band formed in 1962 inspired by the ...
Kurtis Blow: A Blow-By-Blow Guide To Rapping
Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 5 April 1986
At the ripe old age of 25, KURTIS BLOW is the Godfather of Rap. Here, he takes Frank Owen through his personal step-by-step guide to ...
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 25 July 1998
THEAUDIENCE have it all.The big-mouthed gorgeous singer and the melody-packed tunes most bands would blow up a granny for. We meet them in Oxford and ...
Portishead: Roseland Ballroom, New York NY
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 16 August 1997
'HEAD OVER HEELS ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 19 August 1967
VANILLA FUDGE: 'You Keep Me Hanging On' (Atlantic). Oh! I love it. Oh it's great. I didn't recognise the beginning at first. Yeah, Vanilla Fudge. ...
Cliff Richard: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
Cliff: he's nearly rocking ...
Herman's Hermits: Herman Hits Out!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 September 1965
SOME OF the gun-fighting mentality of America seems to have brushed off on Herman during his wildly successful trip there. ...
Elliott Smith: Roman Candle; Elliott Smith (Domino)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 8 August 1998
PORTLAND, OREGON singer/songwriter Elliott Smith is the man responsible for this year's most vital album release, the mesmerising Either/Or. Imagine a more focused Sebadoh or ...
'Til Tuesday: Voices Carry (Epic)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 29 June 1985
THE PRECISE analogy for 'Til Tuesday eludes me, but stating that I thought that this sort of album only got an American release should convey ...
The Rolling Stones: Scandal of the Stones
Report by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 29 May 1976
THE ROLLING Stones flopped on the opening night of their six-concert series at London's Earls Court, despite the advantage of a sound system that cost ...
Jeff Beck, Mahavishnu Orchestra: Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jeff Beck: Avery Fisher Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 10 May 1975
NEW YORK: The pairing of John McLaughlin and Jeff Beck proved to be a guitarist's delight at the Avery Fisher Hall on Wednesday and Thursday ...
Janis Joplin: The Agony of Janis
Comment by Geoffrey Cannon, Melody Maker, 10 October 1970
Update, 2020. Yes, the deaths of Brian Jones in July 1969, then of Jimi Hendrix in September 1970, then of Janis Joplin a couple of ...
Tom Paxton, The Watersons: Cecil Sharp House, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 January 1966
THERE WAS one solitary "boo" — when he sang an anti-LBJ song about Vietnam — but apart from that Tom Paxton was greeted with tumultuous ...
Jerry Lee Lewis: Country, Cabaret, and Rock — It's The New Look Jerry Lee Lewis
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
THE MAN who rivals Little Richard as rock and roll's King of Excitement arrived back in London last week for a fleeting visit. Jerry Lee ...
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 8 November 1969
IT LOOKED on paper like an epic evening of swinging middle-road jazz on Tuesday. It wasn't bad, either, but it wasn't quite the berries that ...
Pussy Galore: Kittens of Distinction
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 2 June 1990
THEIR NEW ALBUM, HISTORIA DE LA MUSICA ROCK, CONTAINS SONGS LIKE THE QUAINTLY-NAMED 'ERIC CLAPTON MUST DIE' AND PROVES THAT PUSSY GALORE ARE STILL THE ...
Agnes Bernelle, Elvis Costello: Agnes Bernelle: Cabaret in Exile
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 1 June 1985
The first time AGNES BERNELLE met Elvis Costello she thought he was an accountant. She's also met Marlene Dietrich and Adolf Hitler, nearly. Now, at ...
Billy Cobham, Mahavishnu Orchestra: Mahavishnu Orchestra: Cobham — it ended in total fiasco
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 February 1974
LONDON: Love, peace and perfection are difficult enough to attain in society, let alone in music. ...
Judy Collins: Stand by for the "electric" Judy Collins
Report by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
WHEN JUDY Collins makes a brief visit to Britain at the beginning of November, some of her fans are going to get a bit of ...
O.C. Smith: The Revolution, London
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
And he triumphs, despite all, at the Revolution ...
Cornershop: When I Was Born For The 7th Time (Wiiija/All formats)
Review by Paul Moody, Melody Maker, 6 September 1997
THINK BACK. Remember when dissing Morrissey mattered, Huggy Bear were considered to be avant-garde situationists and Tony Parsons was happily sounding the death knell on ...
Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Boz Scaggs: Bill Graham: Mister Fillmore
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 27 May 1972
Loraine Alterman in New York previews Fillmore, the film about America's legendary rock centre... and talks to its star, super-impresario Bill Graham ...
Amen Corner's Shopping List: 14 steaks, 28 Cokes, 10 bottles of Squeezy and 14 of orange juice
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
AFTER TWO glasses of orange juice, Mr Andrew Fairweather-Low, of the Amen Corner, was observed staggering, shuffling and reeling in a dingy London alleyway this ...
The Lovin' Spoonful: Hums Of The Lovin' Spoonful (Kama Sutra)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 28 January 1967
Country blues from the Lovin' Spoonful ...
Herbie Hancock, Minnie Riperton: Carnegie Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 12 October 1974
Coarse Hancock ...
East 17: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 23 December 1995
WE FOUR KINGS OF ORIENT ARE… "a joy-bomb doused in every single conceivable bodily fluid in the rainbow". ...
The Beatles: Why does nobody loves the Beatles?
Comment by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
THE KNIVES are out in force. Fleet Street is gunning for the Beatles. ...
Manitas de Plata: Little Hands of Silver...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 20 March 1971
MANITAS DE PLATA picked up a guitar autographed by Charlie Chaplin and played some flamenco music in his hotel bedroom. It looked a bit like ...
Metallica: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 2 June 1990
METAL FATIGUE ...
Pink Floyd: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 14 February 1970
AT THEIR best, Pink Floyd get as close to anybody I know to playing the Music of the Spheres. They are, through skilful manipulation of ...
Humphrey Lyttelton: Humph, 20 years after
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 3 February 1968
"NO, IT can't be true," people can often be heard muttering when their eyes fall on a picture of the mature Shirley Temple or Jackie ...
John Peel, Pulp: The Jarvis & John Show!
Report and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 30 September 1995
This Saturday, JOHN PEEL will interview JARVIS COCKER on Radio 1FM and play tracks from PULP'S forthcoming album. ANDREW MUELLER goes to Peel Acres to ...
Report and Interview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 23 December 1978
BRIAN CASE goes on the road with Ian Dury and the Blockheads in Dublin. ...
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 7 February 1976
Sisters of mercy ...
Little Richard's Big Troubles, Part 1
Live Review by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 28 June 1975
Part 1: Lewisham "TURN THE BAND DOWN!" bawls a lady who may have been a teenager in the '50s. "Turn the bloody band down!" This, and ...
Little Richard's Big Troubles, Part 2
Report and Interview by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 5 July 1975
Part 2: Dunstable & the European Saga "IT'S NICE TO LET THEM KNOW that you are not IN THE WAY, that you ARE THE WAY, that ...
Radiohead, R.E.M.: Radiohead: Shiny Unhappy People*
Report and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 28 October 1995
*Only kidding. RADIOHEAD aren't solely responsible for the Culture Of Despair. But they are prone to the occasional spot of miserabilist navel-gazing, and they have ...
John Lee Hooker: I'm John Lee Hooker (Joy 101)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
JOHN LEE Hooker is a fairly basic artist, and a collection of his songs from the Vee Jay label titled I'm John Lee Hooker (Joy ...
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 16 June 1990
MIKE PEDEN and James Locke have a canny knack for making Gaelic soul sound intuitive. It helps to have a singer like Pauline Henry, of ...
Blur: The Floral Hall, Eastbourne
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 30 September 1995
ESCAPE TO VICTORY ...
Stewart Copeland, The Police: Stewart Copeland: The Rhythm Method
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 25 May 1985
STEWART COPELAND has been using his holiday from The Police to go exploring in Africa and make a video and LP called The Rhythmatist. Caroline ...
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 2 June 1990
ANDREW SMITH TALKS TO LARRY BLACKMON ABOUT POP'S LACK OF CODPIECES, THE AMERICAN DRUG PROBLEM, NWA, HOUSE MUSIC, THE BAND'S NEW SINGLE, 'I WANT IT ...
Oasis: Where Were You... When We Were Getting High?
Report by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 11 November 1995
Last weekend at London's Earl's Court, OASIS played the biggest indoor concerts ever held in this country. PAUL MATHUR brings us all the backstage gossip ...
Overview by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 25 January 1975
How dying can be a good career move. ...
Mötley Crüe: Entertainment Centre, Sydney
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 26 May 1990
THAT T'CRÜE'S latest single, 'Kickstart My Heart', is from the title down a towering work of dumbo rockin' genius must surely be unarguable. Like Guns ...
Bruce Springsteen: Avery Fisher Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 12 October 1974
Hail to the new genius! ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 21 January 1967
PAUL JONES: 'I've Been A Bad Bad Boy' (HMV). Sounds a bit like Paul Jones. Great — I like this one. I like that 'bad, ...
Tha Dogg Pound: Dogg Food (Death Row 17 tks/72 mins)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 2 December 1995
TO CRITICISE G-funk for being lazy is a bit like dissing water for being wet, but the latest product to stagger blinking from the Death ...
Letter Of The Week: The Beauty of Words
Readers' Letters by Neil Kulkarni, Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 9 October 1993
Letter of the Week ...
The Faces, Strider: Kilburn State, London
Live Review by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 4 January 1975
THE FAILURE of a headlining group to earn the expected encore from its partisan fans must be almost unheard-of these days, but Rod Stewart and ...
Report by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 7 December 1974
REMEMBER HOW it was last year? Heathrow Airport swamped by thousands of fans welcoming the Osmonds flying in for a tour of Britain? Hordes of ...
The Monkees: What Makes a Monkee Fan?
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 13 January 1968
IT WAS hard to tell Peter Tork from the mutter of a fierce press of journalists. ...
Catatonia: The Hit-Man And Her
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 11 October 1997
Cerys from CATATONIA is on first name terms with hit men while the rest of the band are into mafia-type shenanigans. Blimey! Best not call ...
Slayer: Undisputed Attitude (American 15tks/35 mins)
Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 25 May 1996
HERE'S A CONCEPT to make your blood curdle. Slayer, the undisputed kings of thrash metal stupidity, cover a cranium-crushing selection of top hardcore punk tunes. ...
The Verve: Verve: Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 8 January 1994
VERVE ARE stoned immaculate. Yeah, we have to talk drugs here. It's stupid not to; as stupid as people who've never taken E chucking in ...
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 23 June 1990
WEIGHT WATCHING ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 19 April 1975
Three years ago German rock bands like Can and Amon Duul took Britain by storm. Now Kraftwerk are spearheading an assault of new Kraut-Rock groups ...
Travis: It's Getting Better Manhattan!
Report and Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 13 September 1997
They're Noel's favourite band and are soon to support Oasis on their tour. We traveled to New York to see what makes people love TRAVIS... ...
µ-ziq: Tango N'Vectif (Rephlex)
Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994
THE WAGES OF SYNTH ...
Alan Vega: Deuce Avenue (Musidisc)
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 9 June 1990
I PLAYED this when I was feeling flippant and swinging and it sounded boring. Then I played it while undergoing one of my Chiswick's-answer-to-Greta-Garbo phases ...
Marc Almond: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 15 September 1984
BOUNCING ON for his first encore, Marc paused, adjusted his shimmering shirt and briefly addressed his kingdom. "Do you think it was a big mistake ...
Albert Ayler: The Village Concerts (Impulse IA-9336/2, two LPs, US import.)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978
The beauty of Ayler ...
Ewan MacColl: MacColl — a true Critic
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 22 February 1975
AS LONG as I can remember, there hasn't been a time when Ewan MacColl hasn't had a major project in the offing, which has influenced ...
Sandy Denny, The Strawbs: Strawbs featuring Sandy Denny: All Our Own Work (Hallmark)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 9 March 1974
GET THE duster out, mother. Clear those cobwebs away, here's one from the archives. The Strawbs and Sandy Denny together recorded in 1968. The first ...
Lee Dorsey: The New Lee Dorsey (Stateside)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 7 January 1967
IN CASE you were wondering, the old Lee Dorsey was a boxer. There's nothing new about his music — it's groovy, no messing American pop ...
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 2 September 1995
You may not know it, but you've already chilled to Money Mark's Starsky'n'Hutch keyboard grooves on the last Beastie Boys record. Now he's kickin' it ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994
It's fitting that club champions D:REAM stand proudly at the top of the singles chart in the week that Melody Maker celebrates the power and ...
Judy Collins, Julie Felix, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Al Stewart: No strings attached...
Comment by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 January 1968
DEAR JUDY, Julie, Phil, Tom and Al: Girls! Fellows! What's got into you? It's getting so a folksinger isn't a folksinger any more. ...
Coldcut: Let Us Play (Ninja Tune 13 tks/77 mins)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 13 September 1997
Coldcut have come up trumps with a new album full of kitsch delights — and it's bloody good fun too... ...
Bob Harris: The Bomber bales out
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 2 December 1978
Carved up by the critics since his tube debut in 1972, Bob Harris is blowing the whistle on his TV career. It wasn't just the ...
Elton John: Baileys Club, Watford
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 March 1975
THEY DON'T strike medals for rock stars — do they? A pity, because E. John, singer and songwriter of this parish, deserved some kind of ...
Reverend Gary Davis, Stefan Grossman, Scott Joplin, David Laibman, Joshua Rifkin: Rag, Mama, Rag
Overview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 5 January 1974
IT IS 1974. A young man in patched blue jeans walks to the front of the folk club, a guitar in his hand. He sits ...
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
ALAN LOMAX, assisted by Shirley Collins, made a recording expedition in the South during '59 which produced 80 hours of taped folksong and instrumental music. ...
James: The Corn Exchange, Cambridge
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 26 May 1990
THE INORDINATELY beautiful riverside buildings, rather middle England airs and homicidal cyclists of Cambridge are 150 miles and several worlds south of Manchester. The only ...
Report and Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 9 September 1995
IAN WATSON talks to the bands who are contributing to the Help album and how this project compares to pop's last major charity initiative, the ...
Charlatans, The (UK): The Charlatans: Fake That and Party!
Report and Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 16 September 1995
THE CHARLATANS are Number One! That's not a value judgement — it's a fact! This week, the band many had written off as ex-baggy no-marks ...
Captain Beefheart — Pre-Knebworth Interview
Interview by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 5 July 1975
"SO THAT band is called Mallard, eh? Well, they'd better duck! Just a bunch of quacks!" So quips Captain Beefheart, briefly in town for his ...
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 26 May 1990
DOGS IN SPACE ...
Afghan Whigs, Kim Salmon and the Surrealists: Astoria, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994
IN THE week that Melody Maker celebrates the seductive nature of the dance beast, Kim Salmon And The Surrealists remind me exactly why rock is ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 January 1972
"AH SO, Jim lad." The concept of a Japanese Robert Newton is hard to envisage. Yet UFO will assure you, "Long John Silver has hit ...
Astrud Gilberto: The Jazz Cafe, Camden, London
Live Review by David Hemingway, Melody Maker, 23 December 1995
MAYBE THE crux of the matter is that we should constantly review and re-interpret our own definitions of cool. ...
TV Pop: When will the raving have to stop?
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 29 January 1966
The men (and woman) behind the cameras answer back ...
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994
ONE DOVE perfectly sum up the New Eclecticism — they're a dance band who love C&W. This is why they are now poised to make ...
Radiohead, Strangelove, Superstar: Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 15 May 1993
BAD RECEPTION ...
New Model Army: Henry Moore Gallery Forecourt, Leeds
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 6 May 1989
THE PERFECT setting fora New Model Army open air bash: a drab, dull, grey, freezing cold afternoon in a rain-pelted northern town. The drizzle washes ...
Martin Carthy: Shearwater (Mooncrest)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 22 February 1975
MORE RE-RELEASING of supposed folk classics from Mooncrest, although this one doesn't have quite the same aura as the others that have emerged from the ...
Cilla Black: There's more to a song than just singing about love
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 23 April 1966
ARE THE days of moon-and-June in pop songs gone forever? Has the escapist love song been finally swallowed by fans pumped full of protest, and ...
A, Ash, Feeder, Gay Dad: Ash, Feeder and Gay Dad: Indie Hard IV — With a Vengeance
Report and Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 25 September 1999
Well, Bruce Willis might have spanked Jeremy Irons' butt in the end, but this time the Yanks face a far more serious threat. We join ...
Girls Against Boys: ULU, London
Live Review by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 20 June 1998
THE SATANIC VERSUS ...
Underworld: Brixton Academy Megadog, London
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 15 January 1994
HADES AND GENTLEMEN ...
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 14 May 1989
FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS OF THE THE'S 'THE BEAT(EN) GENERATION', MATT JOHNSON NEXT WEEK RELEASES HIS NEW ALBUM, MIND BOMB. JONH WILDE HEARS TALES OF GOOD ...
The Chameleons: The Meaning of Life
Interview by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 1 June 1985
THE CHAMELEONS have been to hell and back. Or something. Martin Aston nurses them through the agony and looks forward to the ecstasy. ...
O.C. Smith: What does O.C. care about? Feeling for other Negroes and gunfire in Watts for a start...
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
O.C. SMITH peered over a metal balcony 60 feet from the ground. A steady penetrating drizzle dropped non-stop from a wicked grey sky as he ...
Elliott Smith: Either/Or (Domino) ****½
Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 30 May 1998
THE FIRST thing you'll hear is a slight whisper, a lone voice sighing with warm-hearted devotion. Then a few similarly sensitive souls will chip in, ...
Bim Sherman: Too Hot (Century)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 16 June 1990
EVEN BIM Sherman isn't sure how many solo LPs he's released, but Too Hot must take him up to around the 20 mark. Add to ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 17 June 1989
IS THEIR NEW ALBUM 'DIAL M FOR MOTHERF***ER' THE LAST WORD IN ROCK, A MOVE TOWARDS THE MAINSTREAM OR A SICK JOKE? IAN GITTINS SPEAKS ...
Aswad, Wah!: The Mighty Wah!, Aswad, High Five: Peoples Festival, St George's Hall, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 29 September 1984
"THIS IS the first Liverpool gig I've ever enjoyed," announced Pete Wylie at the end of the set, and it was probably the one that ...
Skunk Anansie: Sunburnt And Paranoid (One Little Indian TPLP55 11tks/42 mins/FP)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 16 September 1995
RODENT TO NOWHERE The nation is divided into people who hate SKUNK ANANSIE for the wrong reasons (they appeal to liberal guilt) or love them for ...
Interview by Pete Paphides, Melody Maker, 8 January 1994
PETER PAPHIDES thought he was on a simple assignment to secure an exclusive ELASTICA interview. Little did he bank on the whole of Essex wanting ...
Gary Clail, On-U Sound System: Gary Clail: Heard It Through The Bovine
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 14 July 1990
Alter supporting Happy Mondays at Wembley and a performance at Glastonbury, GARY CLAIL releases a new single, 'Beef', on Paul Oakenfold's RCA-financed Perfecto label. PUSH ...
Dinosaur Jr., Lunachicks: Dinosaur Jr, Lunachicks: Powerhaus, London
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 6 May 1989
APATHY IN THE UK ...
Gravediggaz: The Pick, The Sickle & The Shovel (Gee Street 15tks/63mins)
Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 13 September 1997
GRAVEDIGGERS, morbid souls who don't usually have much to say. Gravediggaz, however... ...
Carleen Anderson, Young Disciples: Carleen Anderson: Soul Mother
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 12 February 1994
CARLEEN ANDERSON is a former Young Disciple, James Brown's god-daughter, and the creator of one of 1994's first great singles. DAVID BENNUN hears her life ...
Pop Will Eat Itself: This Is The Day... This Is The Hour... This Is This! (RCA)
Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 6 May 1989
DEAF CON ONES ...
Queen: Avery Fisher Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1 March 1975
Queen steam to new success ...
The Rolling Stones, Spontaneous Music Ensemble: Oldham: Stones man digs into avant garde
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 April 1966
ROLLING STONES manager Andrew Oldham has moved into the jazz scene — the British avant garde jazz scene to boot! He plans to release an ...
Natalie Imbruglia: Fluff-free pop goddess
Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 18 October 1997
NATALIE IMBRUGLIA is teasingly biting her lower lip. I'd really love to join her. She has perfect hair, crystal clear eyes and the kind of ...
Boy George: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 15 January 1994
"IT'S NICE to be appreciated on your own manor," croaks George, choked up at the waves of love crashing over him, "cos there was a ...
They Might Be Giants: Apollo 18 (Elektra)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 9 May 1992
THE COVER features a squid, a satellite and a whale. Yup, They Might Be Grating are back. Think of all the ugliest expletives you could ...
Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger: Ewan MacColl: Acoustic is best!
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 1 March 1975
Karl Dallas concludes his interview with Ewan MacColl ...
Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 5 July 1980
HERE'S the first Ultravox album since signing to Chrysalis, and the first since Midge Ure filled the space left by John Foxx. The new lead ...
Mac Davis, Elvis Presley: Mac Davis: The man who put Elvis in the ghetto
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 5 September 1970
IT'S ONLY a week or two since guitarist-singer-songwriter Jerry Reed hit London Town. And he starred on Lulu's TV show. ...
Edwyn Collins: The Return of Fast Eddie
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 10 June 1989
AFTER FIVE YEARS IN THE ROCK'N'ROLL WILDERNESS, FORMER ORANGE JUICE MAIN MAN EDWYN COLLINS IS BACK WITH HIS FIRST SOLO ALBUM, THE HIGHLY-ACCLAIMED HOPE AND ...
The Faces, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who: Bands On The Run From The Taxman?
Report by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975
THE PIONEER of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, defined the artist's aims as "fame, wealth, power, and the love of women." Though no one has yet found ...
Love Sculpture Write To The Russian Embassy
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 4 January 1969
THE COMRADES at the Russian Embassy could help three boyos from Cardiff follow up one of the most unusual hits of 1968. ...
Portishead: Portishead (GO! Beat 11tks/50 mins)
Review by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, 4 October 1997
GLOOM, GLOOM, SHAKE THE ROOM! It's dark, it's gloomy and it's brilliant. Yep, PORTISHEAD are back ...
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 5 February 1994
Producers Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade have made a career out off getting excellent guitar sounds to tape, lending their skills to the likes of ...
Simple Minds: Street Fighting Years (Virgin)
Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 6 May 1989
THE HIGHER GROUND ...
Interview by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 6 March 1976
The legendary apostle of laid-back rock, J.J. Cale, is coming to Britain for two London concerts next month and his new album and old material ...
Soft Machine, Robert Wyatt: The Softs, the Proms and drummer Wyatt
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 5 September 1970
IT'S NOT long since Robert Wyatt announced that he was vacating the drum stool with Soft Machine in order to pursue a career with Kevin ...
Brian Jones, The Rolling Stones: Brian Jones: Pop Think-in
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 23 April 1966
CHELTENHAM: A place of many memories. But it's a drag. ...
Simon Raymonde: Blame Someone Else (Bella Union 12 tks/55 mins)
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 13 September 1997
EVERY NOTE trickles into your ears like the tongue of a gorgeous stranger. Sorry, but that's honestly what it's like. ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975
Dylan's damp squib ...
Françoise Hardy: "I can't sing, but I act worse than I sing"
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 17 February 1968
"I CANNOT sing very well, but I act worse than I sing," says Françoise Hardy. ...
Propellerheads: Metropolitan University, Leeds
Live Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 2 May 1998
'HEADS THEY LOSE? ...
Cop Shoot Cop, Gunshot, Therapy?: Therapy?, Cop Shoot Cop, Gunshot: Coventry University
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 15 January 1994
SHAKEN BUT NOT STIRRED ...
Peter Murphy: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 26 May 1990
IT'S WHEN I burst out laughing and everyone looks at me like I'm insane that I realise what a tragic, inopportune night this is. Just ...
De La Soul: The D.A.I.S.Y. Chain Gang
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 10 June 1989
DAVID STUBBS FLEW TO NEW YORK TO MEET THE TRIO WHO'RE RADICALLY CHANGING THE IMAGE OF THE RAPPER AND WHOSE DEBUT ALBUM, 3 FEET HIGH ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 January 1969
"FREAKING OUT with volume is over. Everybody seemed to think volume was the revolution of the music. That's okay theatrically, but not musically." ...
Travis: Looking Good, Feeling Sublime — Travis: Good Feeling (Independiente 12tks/49mins)
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 13 September 1997
TRAVIS have it all: the songs, the passion and now an album to adore... ...
Steve Miller Band:Your Saving Grace (Capitol).
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 February 1970
SOMEHOW, STEVE Miller manages to touch the pulse of a great number of people, through the kind of subconscious contact which is what rock's all ...
The Pretty Things: Pretty Things Kick Off Their Old Image
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 January 1969
ONE OF Britain's oldest and most hallowed group relics are the Pretty Things, who must go down in the pageant of pop history as men ...
The Bootleg Beatles, Oasis: Where Were You... When We Were Getting High? Oasis: Earl's Court, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 11 November 1995
Last weekend at London's Earl's Court, OASIS played the biggest indoor concerts ever held in this country. In this four-page special, PAUL LESTER reports on ...
Gregg Allman: The Gregg Allman Band: Just Before The Bullets (Fly CBS)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 6 May 1989
SO BROTHER Duane was perhaps the leading exponent of slide guitar, his virtuoso expertise gracing the grooves of Clapton's finest hour and a half, Layla ...
Hound Dog Taylor: a goodtime "rocker"
Obituary by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 10 January 1976
ALTHOUGH he was not a major figure of postwar blues, Theodore Roosevelt Taylor — known professionally as Hound Dog Taylor — was a good representative ...
The Chambers Brothers, Kokomo: Bottom Line, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 March 1975
Kokomo keep the faith ...
The Beatles, Paul McCartney: Beatles by Barrow: Paul — the Cute Beatle Boy
Profile by Tony Barrow, Melody Maker, 10 February 1968
PROBING NEW BEATLES SERIES BY THE MAN WHO'S KEPT SILENT FOR FIVE YEARS ...
Laika, Radiohead: Radiohead, Laika: Bridlington Spa
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 13 September 1997
YORKE SHOW HOST ...
Live Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 6 May 1989
IT WAS weird enough choosing Greenock to begin a tour in, but THIS place is ridiculous — mirror balls, purple flashing lights, tacky plastic finishing ...
Bonnie Raitt: Raitt place, Raitt time
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 10 January 1976
BONNIE RAITT juggled happily between the various lines on the desk telephone in an office at Warner Brothers' New York headquarters. She seemed to be ...
The Beatles, George Harrison: Beatles by Barrow: Beatle Who's Changed The Most
Profile by Tony Barrow, Melody Maker, 17 February 1968
TONY BARROW, the Beatles press representative, writes about the Beatles for the first time in five years. Naturally, he chose Melody Maker. Barrow has been ...
Jeff Buckley: Sketches (For My Sweetheart The Drunk) (Epic)
Review by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 16 May 1998
YOUR INITIAL thoughts as you listen to this — the first posthumous release from mercurial troubadour Jeff Buckley (who drowned in the Mississippi last May) ...
Kristin Hersh: Hips And Makers (4AD)
Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 15 January 1994
PELVIS IS KING ...
Depeche Mode: Empire, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 6 October 1984
SOFT SELL ...
Johnny Johnson & the Bandwagon: "British People Great"
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 4 January 1969
"THE MOST out-of-sight thing about Britain is the people. They are so warm, they get right down in with you." That's the Bandwagon's reaction to ...
Smog: Sorely Mist — Smog: The Doctor Came At Dawn (Domino 10 tks/39 mins)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 14 September 1996
Misery is no fun. SMOG know it. And express it perfectly ...
Prince: Stadion Feijenoord, Rotterdam
Live Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 9 June 1990
LAST WEEKEND, PRINCE'S 'NUDE' WORLD TOUR KICKED OFF IN STADION FEIJENOORD IN ROTTERDAM. JON WILDE WITNESSED THE SPECTACULAR, AS THE WORLD'S GREATEST LIVING SONG AND ...
Queen: Empire Pool, Wembley, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 May 1978
Queen bee ...
The Beatles, Ringo Starr: Beatles by Barrow: Beatle at the Back
Profile by Tony Barrow, Melody Maker, 24 February 1968
TONY BARROW, the Beatles press representative, writes about the Beatles for the first time in five years, Naturally, he chose Melody Maker. Barrow has been ...
Cast: Magic Hour (Polydor) ***
Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 15 May 1999
CAST, BLESS them, have always been pissing in the wind. Why does it seem to go Pete Tong for our Eighties heroes? Well, here's one ...
Band Of Susans: Uptown Bar, Minneapolis
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 15 May 1993
THE FIRST three names which come to mind upon encountering Band Of Susans are (i) George Gershwin, (ii) Helmet and (iii) Blast First, circa '88. ...
The Beatles, John Lennon: Lennon the Outrageous Beatle
Profile by Tony Barrow, Melody Maker, 2 March 1968
TONY BARROW, the Beatles' press representative, concludes his four part series with this article on John Lennon. Barrow has been associated with the Beatles since ...
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 1 May 1993
ST BERNARD TO THE RESCUE ...
Supertramp: Tramp hits the road
Interview by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 5 September 1970
LIKE A thousand other relatively unknown groups, Supertramp are trying hard to make a name for themselves. But unlike most groups in a similar position, ...
Soft Machine: Parc des Expositions, Paris
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 22 March 1975
PARIS. DEAR Comrade. Here is my report on the delegation of British musicians to the rally of French Communist youth in the Parc des Expositions ...
The Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin (WEA)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 15 May 1999
THIS IS WEIRDCORE ...
Moose, Stereolab: Stereolab, Moose: Conway Hall, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 29 May 1993
TONIGHT'S A Nicaraguan Solidarity Benefit and the vibe is definitively mid-Eighties. I haven't stood beneath a poster of Che Guevara while eating falafel out of ...
Brand X, Genesis: Collins cleans up with Brand X
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 10 January 1976
LET'S GET two things very clear at the outset: one, Brand X is a serious, full-time band, not a spare-time excuse for jamming or having ...
Engelbert Humperdinck: Engelbert: from dawn till dusk
Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 February 1968
ONE SLEEPY eye topped by tousled black hair raised itself from under the bedclothes and a voice said: " Ho, lads, we sail on the ...
Alice In Chains: Jar Of Flies/Sap (Columbia).
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994
DAY OF THE SHACKLE ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 17 June 1989
WITH TWO HITS UNDER HIS BELT AND A TECHNO-HOUSE VERSION OF T. REX'S 'CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION' RELEASED THIS WEEK, BABY FORD LOOKS SET TO ...
Screaming Lord Sutch: Lord Sutch: Lord Sutch And Heavy Friends (Atlantic)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970
SUTCH IS LIFE... ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 January 1969
THIS IS the time of year when pop journalists start surveying the scene for groups or singles likely to make an impression in the coming ...
Girls Against Boys: Freak*on*ica (Geffen)
Review by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, 16 May 1998
UH-OH. IT'S that corporate record thing. After many years riding the subways of an ultra-cool underground, first as Soulside, then as Girls Against Boys and ...
B.B. King: The Men Who Make The Blues: B.B. King
Profile by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 4 January 1969
B.B. KING is among the most popular of the newer-generation blues-men; and he has certainly been the most influential. Charles Keil, who devotes a chapter ...
Ben Folds Five: The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner (Epic)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 8 May 1999
I.D. HIGH! ...
The Orb: The Academy, Manchester
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 1 May 1993
BALL OF CONFUSION ...
Joe Walsh: Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 10 May 1975
LOS ANGELES: Through his work with the James Gang, Barnstorm and more recently with his solo endeavours, Joe Walsh has earned the respect and recognition ...
"Spider" John Koerner: Spider John and the 7-string itch
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 23 April 1966
ONE OF the first things to strike you when you hear Spider John Koerner on records, is the odd double-string flavour of the guitar work ...
Tindersticks: Camden HQ, London
Live Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 29 May 1993
INTO THE WOODS ...
Stone the Crows: Fire and soul from the Crows' nest
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 5 September 1970
AFTER JULIE Driscoll and Christine Perfect, who is going to be the next British female blues singer? Tiresome, boring question? Not anymore because her name ...
Arrested Development: 3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of... (Cooltempo)
Review by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 23 May 1992
IMPOUND WE TRUST ...
Cado Belle, Slik: Slik and Cado Belle: Scotland The Rave!
Report by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 26 April 1975
GLASGOW'S GLAMOROUS art deco pleasure palace, the Apollo Discotheque, seethes with expectant energy, awaiting Slik, a flash four-piece of unashamedly commercial pop ambitions. ...
The Small Faces: Stevie Marriott is alive and well and living in Essex
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 January 1969
"COR — WE haven't even been in the Raver for weeks!" exclaimed Stevie Marriott on the subject of their mystery disappearance from the affairs of ...
Carolyn Hester: Problems of the Pop/Folknik
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 4 December 1965
WHEN A FOLK singer hits the big time, he or she often has to look at records in a different way from the strictly album-type ...
Monaco: Music For Pleasure (Polydor 10 tks/53 mins)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 7 June 1997
Push aside those past glories. Sweep up those laurels. Here comes Peter Hook with MONACO. Can they make the grade? ...
Charlatans, The (UK): The Charlatans: Pros And Cons
Interview by John Robb, Melody Maker, 29 January 1994
Remember THE CHARLATANS? Pop idols of the baggy era, responsible for such sublime moments as 'The Only One I Know'? Whatever happened to them? Well, ...
Screaming Trees: Buzz Factory (SST)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 20 May 1989
SCREAMING TREES' last album, Invisible Lantern, curdled my milk of human kindness two months ago with its lacklustre production and half-hearted nods to the Sixties. ...
Ben Webster: Talking of love...
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 2 January 1965
EVERYBODY TALKS about Ben Webster's big sound, but I don't remember about when, where and why he began to cultivate it. Between sets at Scott's, ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 August 1965
CHRIS WELCH meets the pair who give a new look to the old showbiz man-and-wife singing duo ...
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 28 August 1976
IT HAS been a remarkable year for reggae, a year which has seen the full flowering of the music as a vehicle for social, political ...
Live Review by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, 30 May 1998
PRE-MILLENNIUM TEDIUM ...
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
HE'D HAD his day almost the moment he appeared, hadn't he? ...
The Rich Kids: Rich Kids: Nashville Rooms, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 February 1978
MIDGE URE made the most telling comment of the night just before the Rich Kids played their deserved encore after a rattling set at the ...
Kevin Ayers and the Whole World: Country Club, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 18 April 1970
KEVIN AYERS' new band The Whole World, derives much of its considerable appeal from the disparity of approaches which it encapsulates. ...
Chris Farlowe: The Strange Case of Chris Farlowe
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 4 December 1965
COLLIDE WITH a deb at a showbiz party and she'll probably say: "Have you heard Chris Farlowe yet? He's simply ripping." ...
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 21 September 1996
DREAD PRESIDENT Clean techno crusty JOSH WINK is a star now. Why? ...
Gordon Giltrap: Visionary (Electric)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
CYNICS STOP here. Rarely has an album invited scepticism so shamelessly as this, where an acoustic guitarist takes on strings, synthesizer, complex arrangements and the ...
The Moody Blues: Moody Blues: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 January 1965
LONDON'S MARQUEE Club shook with the excitement of New York's Apollo Theatre when the Moody Blues struck at a Monday night session. They have an ...
The Carter Family, Johnny Cash: Johnny Cash, The Carter Family: Felt Forum, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 15 January 1977
VIEW YORK: Johnny Cash is the John Wayne of American music, a gigantic figure who towers above his country contemporaries when it comes down to ...
Slick Rick: NO CELL OUT! Slick Rick: Behind Bars (Def Jam/lsland 523 847-2/11 tks/40 mins/FP)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 25 March 1995
'The greatest living American poet bar none'? 'Hot-kniving the shit of God'? Oh, we know what you're thinking, children. Just another bleedin' baaad-boy banged up ...
The Glitter Band: Listen To The Band (Bell)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975
DEFINITELY THE surprise of 1975, the album to earn the Glitter Band critical credibility, and deservedly so. If Listen To The Band is an indication ...
Flesh For Lulu: The Dome, London
Live Review by Nicky Charlish, Melody Maker, 8 August 1990
FROM The intro, 'Slide', onwards, we're into a festival of high-speed, thumpy noise, delivered in a style that's a crazy cross between 'Floodland'-era Sisters Of ...
Living Colour: The Marquee, London
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 8 September 1990
ACTUALLY, Living Colour are quite frequently exhilarating. I mean, two days previously they'd cheered up an otherwise dismal early Reading Sunday. But that was just ...
Helen Reddy: Palladium, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 20 May 1978
THERE IS something about Helen Reddy which just gets up my nose. I didn't know that, mind you, before I went to the first of ...
Garbage: Version 2.0 (Mushroom)
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 9 May 1998
LET'S GET MUCKY! ...
Lo Fidelity Allstars: Lo-Fidelity Allstars: Allstars In Your Eyes
Report and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 18 October 1997
LO-FIDELITY ALLSTARS are gonna be massive. Who says? They do. And we agree. We join them on the UK tour everyone will claim to have ...
Gallagher & Lyle, Robert Palmer: Robert Palmer, Gallagher and Lyle: Bottom Line, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1 May 1976
NEW YORK: Looking rather like a male model in a smart grey suit, white shirt and stylishly cropped hair, Robert Palmer brought his brand of ...
Inez Andrews, The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, Bishop Samuel Kelsey: From Church To Concert Hall
Report by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 2 January 1965
MAX JONES PREVIEWS THE SPIRITUAL AND GOSPEL PACKAGE ...
Swing Out Sister: Kaleidoscope World (Fontana)
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 20 May 1989
SWING OUT SISTER, not so long ago, were the ultimate cool chart act for the late Eighties. They had haircuts, melodies and polo necks with ...
The Yardbirds: After two hit records... Yardbirds — Why We Went "Commercial"
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 17 July 1965
PAUL SAMWELL-SMITH, bass with the Yardbirds, explains why they decided on a change of group policy ...
Mobb Deep: The Infamous... (BMG/RCA 07863664882 16 tks/67 mins/FP)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 1 July 1995
I WASN'T expecting this. ...
Inspiral Carpets: Zap Club, Brighton
Live Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 9 September 1989
SPIRAL TAPS ...
Little Bob Story, Hooker: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 January 1977
LITTLE BOB Story is at London's Dingwalls, and the joint is packed to overflowing. They are only letting new people in when and if anyone ...
Fontella Bass: It started in a Church Choir
Profile by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 4 December 1965
Welcome to England with her big Stateside chart hit on Chess ...
The Jungle Brothers: Jungle Brothers: Metropole Hotel, Cork
Live Review by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 20 June 1998
A FEW YEARS back, while the world fell as one for the deftly jazzy, pro-Afro delights of A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, ...
3 Colours Red, All Saints, Goldblade: All Saints, 3 Colours Red, Goldblade: Can't Cook, Won't Cook
Interview by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, 20 December 1997
The search for the spirit of Christmas. Eating 'n' drinking: Ben Myers ...
Inspiral Carpets: The Inspiral Carpets: You Batter You Bet
Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 16 September 1989
WITH THEIR NEW SINGLE 'FIND OUT WHY' AT NUMBER ONE IN THE INDIE CHARTS, THE INSPIRALS' BID TO RIVAL FELLOW MANCUNIANS HAPPY MONDAYS AND THE ...
Freddie King: King of rhythm 'n' blues
Obituary by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 January 1977
SOME BLUESMEN are pure country artists, folk musicians really, others are traditional-mixed-with-Chicago, others West Coast, jazz-blues Memphis stylists soul singers and what-have-you. ...
Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus With Jazzboe Abubaka: Tribute To The Emperor (Trojan)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 26 June 1976
THIS ALBUM is designed to cash in on the recent mini-tour by the Rastafarian group, and with its colourful sleeve (green, red and gold stripes ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 January 1969
Chris Welch ventures into deepest Bee Geeland ...
The Searchers: Searchers success story
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 27 March 1965
THE ORGAN and the saxophone are the accepted instrumentation in the '65 Sound. But this week we find, among many others the Searchers — number ...
The Triffids: Dominion, London
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 10 September 1988
THE NEW VENERATION ...
Carly Simon: Carly — playing possum
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 19 April 1975
A FEW months ago, with surprisingly little fanfare, Carly Simon, husband James Taylor and daughter Sarah slipped into Los Angeles for what has become an ...
Ducks Deluxe: Ducks Deluxe (RCA)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 9 March 1974
AT LAST the pub rock bands are getting onto record, after months of being scrutinised by A&R men, publicists and journalists. Was it all worth ...
The Champs, Seals and Crofts: Seals and Crofts alias The Champs
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 1 May 1971
HALFWAY UP the bill at the Roundhouse the other Sunday there was this band with a decidedly curious instrumentation. ...
The Jungle Brothers: Jungle Brothers: Raw Deluxe (Gee Street 11tks/52 mins)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 7 June 1997
SEVEN YEARS is an eternity in hip hop. Cliché. Seven years is nothing in hip hop. Truth. It doesn't feel like it's been seven years ...
Blue Öyster Cult: R.U. ready 2 rock?
Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 4 February 1978
Blue Oyster Cult's ALLEN LANIER talks to Ian Birch in New York ...
The Move: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 2 July 1966
A GROUP who don't pull their punches, the Move, from Birmingham, are a stark, loud, flashy, hard bunch whose music smashes you right in the ...
Peter Case: The Man With The Blue Post Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar (Geffen)
Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 13 May 1989
PETER CASE'S debut album arrived in 1986 and the applause was thunderous. One could be forgiven for thinking that the new Bob Dylan had finally ...
Eric B. & Rakim: Eric B & Rakim: Paid In Full (4th & Broadway/Island)
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 12 September 1987
AFTER GO-GO'S burial come murmurs of the death of hip hop. Has it seized up? Why has the string of rap egos and attendant DJs ...
Miles Davis, Gil Evans: Gil Evans: Sketches of Gil
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 4 March 1978
At the end of his first-ever British tour, Gil Evans, jazz arranger extraordinary and mentor of Miles Davis, talks to Richard Williams ...
The Bay City Rollers: Palladium, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 15 January 1977
Rollers: it's a riot ...
Alice Cooper: Alice through the looking glass
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 12 January 1974
Shep Gordon worked for firm making clothes for the dead... Now he manages the killer himself, Alice Cooper. Gordon talks to MM New York writer ...
Hawkwind: The Hawk: sailing in the face of the wind
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 5 September 1970
HAWKWIND ARE the progressive band, who, they say, are too progressive for British progressive clubs, and receive few bookings because of that fact. ...
Ramsey Lewis: Music for Anywhere from The In Crowd
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 12 March 1966
CHESS Records VP MARSHALL CHESS in Britain to bang the drum for the RAMSEY LEWIS TRIO, talks to the MM's Max Jones ...
The Young Gods: Mean Fiddler, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 8 September 1990
ARMAGEDDON HAS arrived. Eco-disaster and chemical apocalypse are upon us. The sky will fall on our heads. We're all going to die. And it's going ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 March 1978
PROOF — IF proof were now needed — of Blondie's vast potential was provided in full during Sunday night's gig at the Roundhouse, London's answer ...
Van der Graaf Generator: Not so much a band, more a meeting place
Special Feature by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 1 May 1971
THERE'S A Sopwith Camel perched on Peter Hammill's piano, or maybe it's an SE5. I can't see too clearly, because Peter's way down in the ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 12 February 1966
THE THREE-day test run tour of the Who Show, started on Friday at London's Finsbury Park Astoria, to two well-filled houses. ...
The Yardbirds: How to be an overnight success... in three years
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 27 March 1965
SINCE THEY started at Richmond's Crawdaddy Club three years ago, THE YARDBIRDS have had more than their share of bad luck. ...
Avo-8, The Darling Buds: The Darling Buds, Avo-8: Fulham Greyhound, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 10 September 1988
BLOOMS BURIED ...
Steeleye Span: Now We Are Six (Chrysalis)
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 9 March 1974
Span: Six of the best ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 24 April 1971
Richard Williams talks to ex-Love drummer Snoopy Pfisterer ...
Bob Dylan: Fastest sell-out yet
Report and Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 27 March 1965
When Bob Dylan first came to Britain some three years ago, his visit passed virtually unnoticed outside the folk music field. Now, on the strength ...
Fairground Attraction: The Human Touch
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 7 May 1988
WITH THEIR DEBUT SINGLE, 'PERFECT', STORMING INTO THE CHARTS, FAIRGROUND ATTRACTION AREN'T QUITE THE OVERNIGHT SENSATIONS THEY MIGHT APPEAR. CAROLINE SULLIVAN CHARTS THEIR PROGRESS ...
Robert Wyatt: Up from rock bottom
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 15 March 1980
Writing letters to political prisoners, listening to Radio Havana, thinking about music... Robert Wyatt hasn't been inactive during his five-year absence from the studios. VIVIEN ...
Slaughter and the Dogs: Slaughter & the Dogs: Stop spitting, punks
Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 January 1978
SLAUGHTER AND the Dogs are not one of the great groups of our time, even by the light of punk rock. But they deserve better ...
David Bowie: Meeting the Bromley Boy
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 26 February 1966
WITHOUT DOUBT David Bowie has talent. And also without doubt it will be exploited. For, Mr. Bowie, a 19-year-old Bromley boy, not only writes and ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 24 July 1965
RAVE NIGHT FOR MARK'S BENEFIT Animals surprise ...
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 4 January 1997
FLU, FLU, wretched, bastard flu. Wobbly, shaky, queasy arsehole flu. A touch of the sniffles, a grope of catarrh, a 50-quid hand job of nausea. ...
Retrospective and Interview by Cliff Jones, Melody Maker, 1 October 1994
Seven different studios played host to OASIS as they attempted to record their debut album, each witnessing its own catalogue of disasters. CLIFF JONES traces ...
Brand New Heavies: Town & Country Club, Leeds
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 9 January 1993
MY MOTHER warned me about getting into cars with strangers. Perhaps she should have also told me about the dangers of accepting voyages into strange ...
Simple Minds: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 9 September 1989
KERR-RAP ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 March 1978
Harry Doherty reports from West Berlin ...
Donovan, Bob Dylan: Screams for Dylan
Report and Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 1 May 1965
BOB DYLAN got the full star treatment at London Airport on Monday night. A mainly young crowd of about 150 created chaos as the 24-year-old ...
Happy Mondays: 192-Hour Party People
Report and Interview by Jack Barron, Melody Maker, 15 May 1999
The Kings of hedonism HAPPY MONDAYS have just completed their triumphant eight-date comeback tour. We joined them on the road to hear about their slightly ...
Dog Eat Dog (punk and rap): Dog Eat Dog: Astoria, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 27 July 1996
WHO DO you think is more punk rock? The committed mohawk who lives on a steady diet of superfast hardcore tunes and fronts a troupe ...
The Sugarcubes: The Art of Contradiction
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 2 September 1989
IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE CHRIS ROBERTS FIRST HEARD 'BIRTHDAY' AND PLUCKED BJÖRK AND CO FROM OBSCURITY. NOW THEY'RE THE SUCCESS STORY OF THE DECADE, ...
The Band, Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan: Planet Waves (Island)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 26 January 1974
ANY NEW Bob Dylan album induces a somewhat unnerving emotional response in the reviewer, but the very latest record from Dylan, to be released here ...
The Who: Sound sense Studio time
Report and Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 10 September 1966
What Are The Who Going To Do Now? ...
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 9 May 1998
It's a Cream come true! We join the madness that's CREAMFIELDS in Winchester with Primal Scream! Cornershop! Roni Size! Run DMC! The full bloody monty! ...
Moby: Animal Rights (Mute 12 tks/54 mins)
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 21 September 1996
MOBY WAS responsible for 'Go', not just one of the few techno/pop crossover hits to endure in the affections of non-dance aficionados but also one ...
Shack: The Duchess Of York, Leeds
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 8 September 1990
SHACK APPROACH the popular song like a long-lost prodigal, giving it a big hug and a "great to have you back". Formed from the ashes ...
Holger Czukay, David Sylvian: David Sylvian: Words of the Shaman
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 16 September 1989
THE LAST TWO YEARS HAVE BEEN A PERIOD OF TRANSITION FOR DAVID SYLVIAN, BUT HE'S NOW IN A NEW COLLABORATION WITH HOLGER CZUKAY AND A ...
George Benson: Breezin' with Benson
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 5 February 1977
"HE (MILES Davis) was one of the first smart guys in this industry. I love him a lot and every time I speak to him ...
Oasis: Noel Gallagher: Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants track by track
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, January 2000
...
Menswear: Nuisance (Laurel 828 676-2 12 tks/50 mins/FP)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 7 October 1995
YOU SWE@R IT WELL Skinny f***ers. Scenesters. Suits. Star Trek. Trainers. Cheekbones. Aggro. Sex. Drugs. Rock. Roll. Menswear. No wonder PAUL MATHUR loves them ...
Report and Interview by Carl Loben, Simon Reynolds, Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 30 April 1994
For decades, squatting, free festivals and illegal parties have played a vital role in alternative pop culture. The Criminal Justice Bill — which has been ...
Misty In Roots: Misty: Survival in Jah glory
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 5 January 1980
Survival's the operative-word in Misty's case. Harassed for their prominent role in the Southall immigrant community, in and out of the magistrates' courts, you'd think ...
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup: Arthur Big Boy Crudup: Roebuck Man (United Artists UAS29092)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 20 March 1971
Big Boy in Britain ...
PJ Harvey: White Horse, Hampstead, London
Live Review by Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 7 September 1991
THIS TIME next year you're going to wonder how you lived without PJ Harvey. It sounds clichéd, I know, but even the toughest Maker boys ...
The Bee Gees, Andy Gibb: How the Bee Gees captured America
Report and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 21 January 1978
"ONE OF the reasons for the Bee Gees' success," explains Robin Gibb at their rented Benedict Canyon home, "is that we've never used music as ...
Terry Reid, Santana: Santana, Terry Reid: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 15 May 1971
Slick, smooth Santana ...
The Rascals: Note the name well — the Young Rascals
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 10 December 1966
LAST WEEK an American group, the Young Rascals, visited England. ...
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 3 September 1994
ON A REMARKABLE autumn's day on which Chelsea go from to two down to three up at Leeds, Everett True gets hospitalised because he's too ...
Ocean Colour Scene: The Boardwalk, Manchester
Live Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 8 September 1990
OCEAN REIGN ...
Anthrax, Living Colour: Living Colour: Colour Shifts
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 25 March 1989
LIVING COLOUR'S LAST ALBUM, VIVID, IS STILL RIDING HIGH IN THE US CHARTS. THE BLACK ROCK COALITION STARS HAVE JUST SUPPORTED ANTHRAX ON THEIR RECENT ...
Gardening By Moonlight: Gimme the Moonlight
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 19 November 1983
It's time to take GARDENING BY MOONLIGHT seriously, according to Helen FitzGerald ...
"Brother" Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, 'Big' John Patton, Jimmy Smith: Record Shops and Hammond B3s
Memoir by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 5 February 1977
RICHARD WILLIAMS Writing every week in the MM ...
The Faces: Smiling Faces make it at last
Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 24 April 1971
STRANGE. PEOPLE keep telling the Faces they've made it at last in this country. Strange because they themselves don't quite know where they stand in ...
Report by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 28 May 1966
NOW YOU'RE NEVER ALONE — WITH A SITAR ...
Babes In Toyland: Forum, London
Live Review by Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 2 October 1993
TOYS R U.S. ...
Blood Sausage, Skinned Teen: Skinned Teen, Blood Sausage: The Dome, London
Live Review by Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 17 July 1993
NEW KIDS IN TOWN ...
Shirley Bassey: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 April 1978
SHE REALLY is something special... Our Shirl. In an age of mediocrity, the spectacle of an artist who can do his or her job with ...
The Beta Band: International Student House, London
Live Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 23 May 1998
THEY'RE THE ONE FOR US ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 25 March 1995
MOBY's epically eclectic new album, Everything Is Wrong, is more than just a dance album — it's a dance album which wants to Change The ...
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci: Powerhaus, London
Live Review by Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 13 August 1994
PECULIAR. GORKY'S are from Wales, and they sing in a mixture of Welsh and occasionally English. Apparently, the Welsh language often skips out vowels and ...
Belly: The Exploding Gastric Inevitable
Interview by John Harris, Melody Maker, 12 June 1993
Indie sex kitten, superstar, classic songwriter, gender traitor, fairy tale princess — these are just some of the inevitable praises and insults levelled at TANYA ...
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 1 September 1990
EMPEROR'S NUDE CLOTHES ...
Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 15 April 1989
IAN GITTINS JOINS THE MANCHESTER REPROBATES ON THEIR TOUR OF IRELAND AND WITNESSES MAYHEM, MADNESS AND BAFFLING BRILLIANCE. ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1 May 1971
BACK in 1963, the Ronettes were three highly-coiffeured teenage girls who swept up the charts on a furious wave of Spector sound. Their lead singer, ...
Donovan, Bob Dylan: Dylan v. Donovan
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 20 March 1965
DOUBLE EXPOSURE ON THE FOLK SCENE ...
EMF: Cornwall Coliseum, St Austell
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 7 September 1991
BELIEVABLE! ...
Transvision Vamp: Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 2 September 1989
VAMP COLLECTING ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 7 May 1988
GETTING INTO A LATHER OVER THEIR LAGER (OR IS IT VICE VERSA?), THE SHAMEN ARE SETTING NEW STANDARDS IN PSYCHEDELIA. IAN GITTINS SCRATCHED THEIR IRRITATION. ...
Uncle Tupelo: Mean Fiddler, London
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 2 January 1993
RELATIVE VALUES ...
Gene Loves Jezebel: Astoria, London
Live Review by Nicky Charlish, Melody Maker, 25 August 1990
THAT'S funny! A few seconds ago, I was in Charing Cross Road. Now I'm in Kensington Market. But, of course, there's a simple explanation. This ...
The Walker Brothers: Walk Right Back
Report and Interview by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 15 November 1975
IT'S BEEN A hard day in the plush penthouse suite of the Westbury Hotel in Mayfair. The chandeliers in the mirrored hallway have seen a ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 25 February 1989
AFTER SUPPORTING IGGY POP AND SPENDING ALMOST A YEAR ON THE ROAD, THE GREBO GURUS TELL IAN GITTINS HOW A DIRTY, SCRUFFY BUNCH OF ROCK'N'ROLLERS ...
Symposium: On The Outside (Infectious) *
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 16 May 1998
DEAD AND BURIED? ...
The Mindbenders: Mindbenders: The Texas Police ran some guy in and cut his hair
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 3 September 1966
"CONSIDERING IT was the home of pop music the scene in America is pretty poor! ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 March 1977
Harry Doherty travels to Cardiff to see how AC/DC are steadily working their way to the top ...
Interview by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 12 July 1975
March 2020 Note: At the time, I took his final comments as being just a rough Glaswegian joke. Unfortunately, it seems it was no more ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 1995
SOME THINGS you should know about Flying Saucer Attack. They're the Bristol based duo of David Pearce and Rachel Brook, and their records are released ...
Pop Will Eat Itself: Preaching To The Perverted
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 15 April 1989
BY THEIR OWN ADMISSION, THEY'VE DONE AND SAID A LOT OF DUMB THINGS AND SOMETIMES COME ACROSS AS JUST A BUNCH OF PILLOCKS. BUT POP ...
Erroll Garner: Musical Magician
Obituary by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 January 1977
WRITERS SOMETIMES referred to him as the "Wizard of the Ivories," which is to be expected, and at least one of his EP records bore ...
Kelli Hand: On A Journey (K7 10tks/67 mins)
Review by Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 3 February 1996
KELLI HAND is a very cool woman from Detroit, home of a particular electronic techno inspiration, which has, in the past, been credited as the ...
Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 11 February 1995
L7 used to be the enfants terribles of US rock, all randomly-strewn sanitary towels and gravity-defying knickers. No more! Now they're Yank Grunge's very own ...
Mogwai: Ten Rapid (Jetset 9tks/33 mins)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 10 May 1997
MONSTER CRAZY! ...
Interview by John Harris, Melody Maker, 9 May 1992
Fresh outta Oxford come RADIOHEAD hoping to use the might of a major label to get their guitar squall onto the air-waves and squeeze out ...
The Cranberries: The Underworld, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 7 September 1991
FRUIT OF THE GLOOM ...
Howard Devoto, The Smiths, SPK: Howard Devoto, SPK, the Smiths: The Lyceum, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 7 August 1983
WELL, YOU can always hope, can't yer? Fat lot of good that'll do you on a night like this. ...
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 5 September 1970
LEONARD COHEN, man or myth, or what? He's a dreamer, but as he says his dreams are only products of real things, and fact. Basically ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 14 January 1967
NOW IT'S psychedelic Blind Date. At least, that's what Paul Jones' session in the hot seat seemed like at the time. First of all, the ...
James: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 2 January 1993
LAUD JIM! ...
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 1 September 1990
To the average pop fan, Tackhead are an overnight sensation but, as ANDREW SMITH discovers, there's a history and prime pedigree to this radical dance ...
A Certain Ratio: 'Looking For A Certain Ratio' (B. Eno)
Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 2 February 1980
While 2-Tone revive the fashions of the Sixties, A Certain Ratio are stretching their legs towards the future. In fact, since drummer Donald Johnson joined ...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 12 January 1974
AT NIGHT we sit on the verandah, Myrna and I, watching the bobbing lights of the yachts in the harbour below as the fireflies endlessly ...
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 13 December 1969
Smoke bombs and a bare bottom at the Hippodrome Richard Williams reports on the Who's incident-packed concert in Bristol ...
Marianne Faithfull: "I'm A Pop Singer!" — Says Marianne Faithfull
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 31 July 1965
MOST PEOPLE will agree, they were surprised when they heard Marianne Faithfull's latest single, 'Summer Nights'. ...
Lo Fidelity Allstars: Lo-Fidelity Allstars: The Cockpit, Leeds
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 20 June 1998
THAT'S BLOWN IT! ...
Garbage: Life is Modern Rubbish
Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 18 March 1995
You may not have heard of GARBAGE, but you WILL have heard of Butch Vig, the God who produced Nirvana's Nevermind. And now you're going ...
Tangerine Dream: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 1 April 1978
TANGERINE DREAM got what must surely be the greatest ovation of their career when they played at Hammersmith Odeon last Monday. ...
Bob Dylan: Robert Shelton of the New York Times talks to Max Jones about his friend Bob Dylan
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 19 February 1966
BOB DYLAN remains a fascinating subject of conversation for four good reasons. Because he has talent and originality; because, in spite of brushes with the ...
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 19 November 1983
Location: Brighton. Subject of adoration: EURYTHMICS. Impressed correspondent: Adam Sweeting. ...
David Bowie, Iggy Pop: Iggy Pop: A new career in a new town
Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 5 March 1977
Iggy Pop, touring Britain this week, speaks to MICHAEL WATTS from Berlin. David Bowie's saying nothing... ...
Live Review by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 23 May 1998
TONIGHT, EVERYONE wants to be a cowboy, a hustler, a rock'n'roll star. There's an accentuated swagger to the crowd; drinks are ordered and ferried with ...
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 3 September 1994
WOKE UP. No longer in hospital. Cool. Thought I'd check out this "rock festival" stuff. ...
J.J. Cale: How He Gets His Unique Sound When Playing Live And Recording
Interview by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 17 April 1976
SO FINALLY J. J. CALE MADE IT TO BRITAIN. The sleepy Okie singer, guitarist and master of the recording studio isn't particularly keen on talking ...
Roy Wood Entertains At Don Arden's Gaff
Interview by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 8 November 1975
"I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO A DRUM SOLO, but I can't really play them, so I did a John Bonham special instead." (Never mind, Bonzo, ...
The Hollies: Fairfield Hall, Croydon
Live Review by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, October 1975
THE HOLLIES COULD EASILY BE DREADFUL. If they were even a quarter-tone out of tune, those three-part harmony choruses, supported by the Sixties pop instrumentation, ...
Duane Eddy: New Victoria, London
Live Review by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 2 August 1975
THE DOG WAS GREAT! Well, it wasn't actually a dog, it was a man. The one who used to do all the yelps and howls ...
Trouble Funk: Trouble Over Here (Island)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 5 September 1987
GO-GO limps on. Go go has flopped so many times now (the movie was a disaster, the Pepe jeans tie-in a farce) and each time ...
Mudhoney: In Seattle there is? Mudhoney
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 22 August 1992
NIRVANA may have niched the sales, Soundgarden may have filched the fans, Pearl Jam may have plundered the plaudits but if you really wanna get ...
Status Quo: New Bingley Hall, Stafford
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 15 January 1977
BETWEEN SEVEN and eight thousand fans queued for hours in the rain on Sunday, and then were individually frisked before they streamed into the cavernous ...
Live Review by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 27 December 1975
BRUNEL UNIVERSITY, Uxbridge, is not usually thought of as a centre of aesthetic excellence, but last Wednesday it took on that most difficult of artistic ...
Caravan, Renaissance: Caravan and Renaissance: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 9 March 1975
NO DOUBT YOU WILL NOTICED the double page ads in the music press extolling the virtues of Caravan and Renaissance, and pointing to their enthusiastic ...
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
He's a wild ravin' boffin who makes all his own instruments. He's THE APHEX TWIN and he's Techno's first maverick genius. According to ANDREW SMITH, ...
Voice of the Beehive: Girls at our best
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 7 May 1988
IF VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE ARE THE LAST WORD IN GIRLY POP, HOW COME THEY CALL EACH OTHER RAY? CAROLINE SULLIVAN SETS OUT TO SCRAP ...
Overview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974
In his latest examination of a major record company, Robert Partridge visits Atlantic — the company that moved from R&B and Otis to rock and ...
John Cale: New Victoria, London
Live Review by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 29 November 1975
THERE IS MUCH FASHIONABLE TALK of John Cale as a significant artist. So far ahead of the herd is he, it is said, that terms ...
The Winkies: Kings Road Theatre, London
Live Review by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 1 February 1975
BY FAR THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MOMENTS of The Winkies' concert at the King's Road Theatre, London, on Sunday night came during the performances of two ...
Rain Parade/Snakes Of Shake/Ring Of Roses: LSE, London
Live Review by Julian Henry, Melody Maker, 28 December 1985
THIS WAS AN evening of contrast. The Snakes Of Shake look and sound like they were born in a town in the Midwest of America, ...
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 28 January 1978
"HELLO, WE'RE XTC. You're the audience, and this is 'Radios In Motion'." A violent blast of noise collides with your brain, a few pints of ...
David Lee Roth: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 10 September 1988
A DAVID Lee Roth concert is perhaps the only place on the face of the earth where boys who look like traffic accidents can get ...
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 24 September 1983
Helen FitzGerald attempts to make sense of THE FIXX — the British band unknown at home who are big news in the States ...
Brenton Wood: Brenton — Jazz Fan
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 February 1968
BRENTON WOOD digs jazz. Back home in Hollywood, the singer whose 'Gimme Little Sign' has crept steadily higher and higher in its slow journey to ...
The Jesus & Mary Chain: The Jesus And Mary Chain: Brixton Academy
Live Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 24 December 1988
FOR TOO LONG, this was the doldrums, the Reid brothers meandering through the dry ice as if it were a miserable February fog in Brechin. ...
Suicide: The Leadmill, Sheffield
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 24 December 1988
SUICIDE'S dispassionate sheet ice of sound is a freezed-up fusillade, a remorseless puncturing of steel-hard cymbals by a psychotic, pneumatic drill. Entirely emptied of the ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 24 December 1988
POOR LITTLE PUP. So keen to please, yet so reviled by the over-15's. Some bleak midnights, he must wonder: "What did I ever do to ...
The Fatima Mansions: Fatima Mansions: Limelight Club, Belfast
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 15 June 1991
ANGER, as at least one iconic sneer has already correctly asserted, is an energy. It stimulates, inspires, propels, compels. Our contemporary pop climate is, make ...
Mercury Rev: Mean Fiddler, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 15 June 1991
IT SEEMS LIKE A SMALL ETERNITY since indie America last puked up a truly ear-boggling band. The innovators of the late Eighties have become a ...
The Sundays: The Falcon, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 3 September 1988
AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY He got creative. . . The Sundays are the most beautiful thing I've heard since I was one year old. Something ...
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 25 February 1989
REVOLUTION, purity, love, suicide, accuracy. These are the key words according to Spacemen 3.1 consider them eternally interesting words, don't you? Let's just leave them ...
S*M*A*S*H: Another Love (Song)
Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 25 February 1995
THEIR ONLY REAL ALBUM WAS SHITE. You'd almost forgotten they existed. But, according to IAN WATSON, their latest "mini-LP" proves they can still write songs ...
Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, Fall 1995
THE SETTING is spot on — a pretty Putney park near the Thames, on a gorgeously sunny day in almost-September. White clouds scud across oceans ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 3 September 1994
SO HERE I am, it's 12.15pm, the f***ing cab driver's turfed me out onto the street. I've got miles to walk to the flamin' festival ...
Swervedriver: the Duchess Of York, Leeds
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 8 September 1990
THE MAJOR cool nature of this gig (the much-touted Chapterhouse in support) can be judged by the amount of serious hip-talk going on. A bloke ...
Cheap Trick: the Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 8 April 1978
Cheap and tasty ...
Frank Sidebottom: 13:9:88 (In Tape)
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 13 May 1989
SO WHAT do you reckon will be the first significant movement in Pop Music in the Nineties? Dreampop? Crotchquake? Stone Rose Psychedelia? Nah. The one ...
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: The Riot Stuff
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 23 May 1992
An uneasy truce hangs over America in the aftermath of the LA riots. Is there worse to come or has the anger, for the moment, ...
Eighth Wonder: Absolute Beginners
Profile and Interview by Julian Henry, Melody Maker, 28 September 1988
Patsy Kensit is 17 and has landed the lead role in the new Julien Temple movie Absolute Beginners. But she also fronts the hippest new ...
Flowered Up: Mean Fiddler, London
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 9 January 1993
STEM'S THE BREAKS ...
John Foxx, Ultravox: John Foxx: Technological man
Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 19 January 1980
It's not the machine that is evil, nor the synthesizer. Man canuse technology and benefit. Nevertheless, John Foxx, the quiet man, still likes to sing. ...
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 27 June 1992
DEEE-LITE are daffy, kooky, Day-glo disco dollies who put the fun into funk. Or are they? PAUL LESTER finds out. ...
Hawkwind: How Hawkwind fell foul of the revenue men
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974
Chris Charlesworth, exclusively covering Hawkwind's American tour for MM, reports on a major setback for the sonic assassins ...
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 21 May 1966
The New-Look duo make it in their own right ...
The Bubblemen, Spacemen 3: Spacemen 3, the Bubblemen: Riverside Studios, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 3 September 1988
BEYOND THE BEYOND ...
3 Colours Red: Evel Superstars!
Report and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 8 May 1999
3 COLOURS RED are drinking, throwing up and rocking the hell out of the USA. And they've met Evel Knievel! But make no mistake, they're ...
Suede: Introducing the band techs
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 4 March 1995
Behind every guitar hero, there's a guitar tech sorting out his inputs from his outputs. TOM DOYLE meets the men who help put Suede on ...
Ron Geesin: It can't be long before Ron Geesin takes over the world
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 8 March 1969
"A RAVING bloody loony" he may be, but there is no call for the Scots Jimi Hendrix of the banjo to be accused of being ...
Live Review by Julian Henry, Melody Maker, 2 February 1985
THE BATTLE between pop group and duff PA system Is a common spectacle at London's bigger venues. That the legendary Orange Juice chose to end ...
Howard Jones: Keeping Up with the Joneses
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 8 October 1983
Helen FitzGerald finds reasons to believe in the musical integrity of synth-pop wiz, HOWARD JONES ...
Funky Porcini: Funki Porcini: Love, Pussycats & Carwrecks (Ninja Tune 12 tks/68 mins)
Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 22 June 1996
PUSSY GALORE: Tranquil trip hop, crystal clear jungle and salacious sex. FUNKI PORCINI has it all ...
Grant Lee Buffalo: Bad Moon Rising
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 17 September 1994
GRANT LEE BUFFALO'S new album, Mighty Joe Moon, is a raging apocalyptic masterpiece, a cinematic evocation of America sinking ever-deeper into lunacy, massacre and madness. ...
The Godfathers: More Songs About Love And Hate (Epic)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 13 May 1989
THE GODFATHERS should be reminded that the noise of now is about plumping for one extreme or the other. More Songs is yet another half-way ...
Bullet, Deep Purple: Deep Purple, Bullet: Guildhall, Portsmouth
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 18 September 1971
Purple patch ...
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 7 August 1971
STEVE UPTON of Wishbone Ash. What sort of audience did he think the band had? ...
Happy Mondays, Kit: University of London Union, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 18 February 1989
LAUGHING MAD ...
Oasis, the Verve: Earls Court, London
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 4 October 1997
THURSDAY ...
The Band: Moondog Matinee (Capitol)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 24 November 1973
Band of hope and glory ...
The Easybeats: Easybeats for long stay?
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966
WHEN 'FRIDAY On My Mind' initially imposed itself upon my auditory passages I think it's only true to say I was knocked out. Verdict: a ...
The Jungle Brothers: Jungle Brothers: Done By The Forces Of Nature (WEA)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 20 January 1990
RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE ...
The Sundays: The Warehouse, Leeds
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 27 May 1989
THE SUNDAYS' SECOND COMING is so utterly majestic, so unquestionably celestial, so distinctly holy, that it is too good. They are too good to be ...
PJ Harvey, Tricky: PJ Harvey/Tricky: Barrowlands, Glasgow
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 18 March 1995
IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE to get a fix on these two artists. That this is one of THE tours of the year is indisputable. But the ...
The Telescopes: The Falcon, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 6 May 1989
IN THIS HUMID HELL-HOLE of a venue, snuck bizarrely in the back of the tavern's toilets, my glasses mist up repeatedly, and I'm forced to ...
Roogalator: Play It By Ear (Do It)
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 25 February 1978
A JINX HAS to hang over Roogalator, despite their having one of the great names. ...
Bette Midler: Bette Midler (Atlantic)
Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 19 January 1974
THE STATEMENT of Bette Midler's stardom has been pushed so far down our throats now that it's become a truism, yet Bette Midler, her second ...
Beats International: Let Them Eat Bingo (Go! Discs)
Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 31 March 1990
DEAD BEATS ...
Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane: California Dreamin'
Report by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 27 May 1967
AMERICA'S WEST COAST — ESPECIALLY SAN FRANCISCO — IS WHERE IT'S ALL AT NOW. WHAT LESSON CAN WE LEARN FROM IT? NICK JONES EXPLAINS ...
A Guy Called Gerald: Jungle Heritage
Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 8 October 1994
SIMON REYNOLDS reports on the cyber-black world of A GUY CALLED GERALD. ...
Napalm Death: The Wailing Ultimate
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 8 September 1990
Despite years off personnel traumas and line-up changes, NAPALM DEATH are still the same extreme noise terrorists they were in the mid-'80s. With their third, ...
Pet Shop Boys: Actually (Parlophone)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 5 September 1987
ACTUALLY BRILLIANT ...
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 20 June 1998
STAR DATE 2048. The Devolved People's Republic of Failsworth launches the first charter flights to the moon, a civilian enterprise inspired by local heroes Puressence's ...
Toyah Willcox: Toyah: In the Arms of the Law
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 5 November 1983
The increasingly extraordinary Adam Sweeting tackles the several personalities of the small but determined TOYAH. ...
The Only Ones, Television: Television, The Only Ones: City Hall, Newcastle
Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 15 April 1978
Chilling Verlaine ...
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 7 September 1991
APPETITE FOR INSURRECTION ...
Sinead O'Connor: Diary of an Album
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 15 October 1994
With all the demos recorded in a single night's session, it was inevitable that SINEAD O'CONNOR'S Universal Mother would be recorded and mixed simply and ...
Live Review by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 26 July 1975
HOLES IN THE MOTÖRHEAD ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 17 April 1965
The Who must be seen ...
Boomtown Rats: The Boomtown Rats: the Stars And Stripes Club, Yate
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1 April 1978
The new Rats bag ...
Dionne Warwick is never less than perfect... always incapable of awkwardness
Profile by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 15 January 1977
MANY'S THE time that contemporary pop record producers have been compared, in function and power, to film directors. There are, of course, many different kinds ...
Spring Heel Jack: Versions (Trade 2, 7tks/48 mins)
Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 14 September 1996
VERSIONS Comprises Spring Heel Jack's crafty reworkings of the mechanical masterpieces which made up their godlike recent 68 Million Shades... album. It marks the point ...
Joni Mitchell, Tom Scott: Tom Scott: Great Scott!
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 4 May 1974
Michael Watts talks to the men who put jazz into Joni. ...
Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.: New Funky Nation (Island)
Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 31 March 1990
BROTHERS IN ARMS ...
The Armoury Show: A thriving passion
Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 8 October 1983
Stars of this year's Futurama festival, THE ARMOURY SHOW Still don't have a deal, but definitely aren't short of ideas. A progress report on the ...
Professor Longhair: Live On The Queen Mary (EMI Harvest SHSP 4086)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 April 1978
LONGHAIR THE pianist, singer, songwriter and potent entertainer is something of a New Orleans phenomenon. He is (as he said himself in a recent MM ...
The 5th Dimension: 5th Dimension - looking forward to a British tour
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 18 January 1969
"I DON'T know why we haven't done a tour in Britain," said gorgeous Marilyn McCoo of 5th Dimension, "I guess the bookers haven't been able ...
John Lee Hooker: Your kids dig the blues...
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 10 October 1964
IT IS hardly three months since John Lee Hooker was last in Britain, but even in that short time he's noticed a change in the ...
Hoagy Carmichael: The 'Old Music Master' says "I've no patience at all with the Narrow Jazz Boys"
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 14 August 1948
A first-hand character impression of HOAGY CARMICHAEL ...
Beck, The Verve: The Verve, Beck: Haigh Hall, Wigan
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, May 1998
HAIGH DUDE! ...
Boy George, Culture Club: Boy George: Culture Shock
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 18 February 1989
THREE YEARS AFTER HIS DRUG-INDUCED DOWNFALL, TABLOID VILIFICATION AND COMMERCIAL FAILURE, THE GOLDEN BOY OF EIGHTIES POP HAS FINALLY MANAGED TO REBUILD A SOLO CAREER. ...
The Clash, Suicide: Music Machine, London
Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 29 July 1978
NO TWO ways about it. All I can do is echo and re-emphasise Chris Brazier's sentiments in MM of two issues ago: the Clash are ...
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 17 January 1970
Handling the French ...
Chris Barber, Otis Spann, Muddy Waters: Muddy Waters, Chris Barber: St. Pancras Town Hall, London
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 25 October 1958
I WAS surprised to read that Muddy Waters was coolly received in Leeds. At his London appearance on Monday the applause was hot and strong. ...
Procol Harum: The Procol Harum — A Sound To Remember
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 3 June 1967
NICK JONES charts a meteoric chart rise ...
Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 8 May 1992
WHEN DID it happen? When did Frankie Stubbs, gravel-gargling bruiser with a heart of gold, relinquish his past as an underdog-for-all seasons, and become a ...
Johnny Mercer: Hey, Mr Tangerine Man!
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 17 August 1974
The name should be familiar — lyricist Johnny Mercer has written hundreds of hits — 'Moon River', 'Black Magic', 'Fools Rush In' among them. He ...
Wilson Pickett: Why Wilson dropped the "la-la-la" bit
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 15 February 1969
WHEN WILSON Pickett landed at London's Heath Row airport two hours late last Thursday after flying from Rome, all he wanted to do was sleep. ...
Gladys Knight and the Pips: Gladys Knight & the Pips: New Victoria, London
Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 8 May 1976
THE ATTENTION which goes into the fundamentals of Gladys Knight's sound, is the key to the tremendous success she's had on her current tour. Which ...
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 18 January 1997
FRONTIER BASHING ...
10,000 Maniacs: In My Tribe (Elektra)
Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 5 September 1987
TRIBAL MAGIC ...
Black Oak Arkansas: "I don't need no thirty tons of drums to play heavy..."
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974
Tommy Aldridge, drummer with Black Oak Arkansas, talks to Karl Dallas ...
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 10 February 1962
QUINCY JONES — in London for a flying visit — grabs a word with MAX JONES ...
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, Spring 1994
Rarely has the Recommended star at the top of a review been so icily ironic. Because, reckons David Bennun, if Come's brutal rhythm'n'bruise says anything ...
Interview by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 9 January 1999
Gone are the days when SEBADOH records were the lowest in fi. We meet them in London and hear about their shiny new pop direction ...
Catatonia: International Velvet (blanco y negro 12 tks/45 mins)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 7 February 1998
POP SMART! In just 45 minutes, CATATONIA prove why The Maker stuck its neck out and gave them their first national cover... ...
Miles Davis: Dark Magus (CBS/Sony 40AP 741-2, 2 LPs, Japanese import)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 January 1978
Dark side of Miles ...
Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 30 November 1974
He laughed when critics called him "the new Dylan". But he stuck to his guns and he's now playing to ecstatic audiences. MICHAEL WATTS in ...
David Bowie: Back With 'Oddity'
Report by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 8 November 1975
BASICALLY A high-class novelty record, 'Space Oddity', now topping the chart, was first released on 11 July 1969. At the time, the Main Man himself ...
Essay by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 26 September 1987
Simon Reynolds, long-time fan of the Smiths, sheds a tear at their sudden demise and examines the successes and failures of one of the most ...
Review by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 7 March 1998
THE PROBLEM with prog rock was that it didn't actually progress anywhere; musical frontierism was merely a smokescreen for some of the most wanky follies ...
Digital Underground: Sex Packets (BCM)
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 31 March 1990
WOSSIS? A hip hop concept album? It most certainly is, but before you reach for the barf bag get a load of this concept. Sex ...
Mick Ronson: Slaughter on 10th Avenue (RCA)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 9 March 1974
Ronson: drama and romance ...
Muddy Waters: This World of Jazz: Muddy Waters
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 8 November 1958
MUDDY WATERS, that astonishing blues artist from Lake Park Avenue, Chicago, departed for home on Monday night without too many regrets. ...
Spiritualized: Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (Dedicated 12tks/7O mins)
Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 14 June 1997
It's been a long, strange trip for Jason Pierce, and with the new album from SPIRITUALIZED, it's getting stranger and lovelier by the minute... ...
All About Eve: Camden Underworld, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 7 September 1991
EVE ANGELICAL ...
Duke Ellington: "They're trying to make me a piano player. I'll have to start practising..."
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 1 February 1964
MELODY MAKER'S MAX JONES PHONES DUKE ELLINGTON IN THE STATES ON THE EVE OF HIS BRITISH TOUR. ...
Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 5 July 1980
BOZ SCAGGS graced our fair capital last week, dropping off en route to an Italian beach with his wife and kids. Mindful of the relative ...
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 31 March 1990
IMPURITY AND impatience are two of the most obviously immediate characteristics of Repeater, Fugazi's third LP. Words drip with spit and guitar notes collide, the ...
Edie Brickell: Bohemian Rhapsodies
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 17 June 1989
SINCE THE RELEASE OF THEIR DEBUT ALBUM SHOOTING RUBBER BANDS AT THE STARS LAST YEAR, EDIE AND HER BAND HAVE SHOT TO FAME IN THE ...
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 24 October 1964
BLUES FALL ON CROYDON ...
Coldcut: Heat to the Beat: Coldcut at 333, London
Live Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 6 September 1997
"HOW COLD can Coldcut get?" When sweat is dripping off your nose, your T-shirt has stuck and the most strenuous thing you've done is light ...
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 18 February 1989
PULP HAVE splashed this strangely since 1979. That's 10 years of comic tension, a decade of bizarre normality. Pulp wear wing-collar shirts borrowed from Man ...
Choralerna, Andraé Crouch: Andrae Crouch, Choralerna: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 January 1977
ANDRAE CROUCH is a smoother character than the gospel stars who turned our heads around in the Forties and Fifties, his music being as rooted ...
Mike Cooper and the bottleneck revival
Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 14 February 1970
MIKE COOPER, who has, in recent years, revived interest in the bottleneck and knifestyle of playing, uses two 1930s National steel guitars, as well as ...
Live Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994
THE CHAP next to me looks as though he's trying to squeeze the juice from a lemon using only his buttocks. This is a sight ...
Blur: Blur (Food/Parlophone 14tks/57mins)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 8 February 1997
Get this. BLUR have gone lo-fi. They're slumming it. And they might just have made their finest album to date... ...
John Cale: Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 20 October 1984
JOHN CALE comes alive! Or, more to the point, returns to churn out his trussed-up, broken-down rock, his stutter-and-collapse persona resting on the barricades of ...
Dust Junkys: Done & Dusted (Polydor) **½
Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 7 March 1998
ENTER PLANET DUST ...
Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 25 February 1978
BOSTON (OR should I say Bosstown?) Massachusetts is also undergoing a Modern World Revival. Former inmates like Aerosmith, J. Geils and even the Modern Lovers ...
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 19 December 1987
MOMENTS in love when love is not a three-ring circus but a fork-tongued serpent, when bliss rhymes with lice and diandry is a girl's best ...
Test Dept.: Test Department: Subterrania, London
Live Review by Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 5 January 1991
A GUY strolls in playing bagpipes over the hymn 'Jerusalem'. Two more people arrive and pick up huge bass drums, the type you'd expect to ...
Blur, Soup Dragons: The Soup Dragons/Blur: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 5 January 1991
FASHION: the question is, do you follow it or skirt round it? It's picked the bill, filled the venue and dressed the punters. Ignore it ...
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 16 February 1991
TOO OFTEN Goddess falls lamely into Belinda Carlisle territory, still reeling from the fallout of the disco trance/dance pulse of the early Eighties. Too often ...
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 16 February 1991
AT LAST, one of those rare records that revolve along once in a blooming moon and have something new to struggle to say. You have ...
My Bloody Valentine: University of London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 25 February 1989
TRANPOSED. There we are then. There's a new one for you. A new one for me, anyway. You will have to be forgiving but I ...
Cowboy Junkies: Pale Sun, Crescent Moon
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 11 December 1993
COWBOY JUNKIES have long been masters of understatement, their holier-than-wow, whispering glass elegies sliding slowly down the walls of heartache, all good taste and honey. ...
The Prodigy: Prodigy: G-MEX, Manchester
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 13 December 1997
YOUR MUSICAL memory of tonight is reversed; I walked backwards as they got worse. To pin the Prod down, pin down why they still offer ...
Wynonie Harris: Death of a Blues Shouter
Obituary by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 16 August 1969
TITLES LIKE 'Good Mornin' Judge', 'Lovin' Machine', 'Bloodshot Eyes', 'Keep On Churnin'' and 'All She Wants To Do Is Rock' may not ring a bell ...
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 4 September 1999
RELIGHT MY EIRE! ...
Wings: Venus And Mars (EMI PCTC 254)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 31 May 1975
Wings: shooting stars! ...
Steppenwolf: Stop the washing up... Steppenwolf are here
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 24 May 1969
THERE WAS a time when pop music was simply pleasant sounds. It was music to do things by, cheerful little tunes with happy lyrics, but ...
Aretha Franklin: Aretha (UK Fontana TFL 5173)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 3 March 1962
'Won't be Long'; 'Over The Rainbow'; 'Love Is The Only Thing'; 'Sweet Lover'; 'All Night Long'; 'Who Needs You?'; 'Right Now'; 'Maybe I'm A Fool'; ...
Billie Holiday: She was original, honest — unique says Max Jones
Obituary by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 8 August 1959
WHAT A sad, bad year it has been for jazz. The deaths of Baby Dodds, Lester Young and Sidney Bechet have been followed with tragic ...
Billie Holiday: "They won't let me work in New York, so I'm settling in London"
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 28 February 1959
Billie Holiday was in London this week for a TV date. She returned to the States on Wednesday ...
The Flaming Lips: Clouds Taste Metallic (WEA 9362-45911-2 13 tks/48 mins/FP)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 16 September 1995
THE FLAMING LIPS are to rock what René Higuita is to goalkeeping. EVERETT TRUE salutes the band who arrive at obvious pop songs via the ...
Manfred Mann: Manfreds Bounce Czechs
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 23 October 1965
BEAT GOES EAST AND FINDS NO RED SQUARES ...
Report by Tony Brown, Melody Maker, 9 February 1957
AT 2.55PM on Tuesday, the organised and highly publicised reception for Bill Haley looked like being a flop. A few couples, exhorted by precariously perched ...
Happy Mondays — Funk Disc Location
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 28 November 1987
UNTAMED AND UNRELENTING, Happy Mondays have still managed to carve out splinters of ordered funk from their fractured pop chaos. Ian Gittins struggles through a ...
Pop On The Air: Facelift for the station of the stars
Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 8 February 1969
MELODY MAKER MEETS THE MEN WHO DECIDE WHAT YOU LISTEN TO ALAN WALSH REPORTS FROM RADIO LUXEMBOURG ...
Frankie Lymon: Headache for the £9-a-Week Teenager
Report and Interview by Tony Brown, Melody Maker, 23 March 1957
THE RELATIONS of 14-year-old Frankie Lymon with the Teenagers are very much dependent on the ability of Frankie to drink in his personal success without ...
Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 24 October 1997
AFTER 20 years, nine labels, 22 line-ups and one ballet, the Fall hit us with Levitate, their 30th album. Yup, that's 30 albums. Nevertheless, with ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 20 January 1990
OVER A YEAR AGO, the Maker discovered the Sundays and created the biggest media storm since we first put the Sugarcubes on the cover. Their ...
3 Colours Red, Bush: Bush, 3 Colours Red: SFX Centre, Dublin
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 25 October 1997
BETWEEN ROCK AND A TIRED PLACE ...
Jayne County: The Duchess Of York, Leeds
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 2 September 1989
FLASHBACK TO 1977. Punk rock sets England ablaze and in a sweaty club somewhere near you a transvestite called Wayne County shrieks "If you don't ...
Herbie Mann: Discotheque (Atlantic)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 31 May 1975
THE STANDARD of musicianship in New York is really quite frightening at times. This is an Atlantic studios session in which Herbie, the flute playing ...
Tim Buckley: Greetings From L.A. (Warner Bros/Straight)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 21 October 1972
AFTER THE gradual progression through Lorca, Blue Afternoon, and Starsailor, one might have expected Buckley to continue with such a startlingly fresh line of development ...
Stan Getz: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 18 September 1971
THERE CAN'T be anything disastrous in the state of jazz while Stan Getz can still be heard in Soho spinning fine-steel threads of melody from ...
Terry Reid: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Live Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 18 September 1971
IF YOU think rock and roll died the minute Stephen Stills decided to inflict us with his pains, you better believe that it's alive and ...
Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 12 October 1991
DETERMINEDLY INDIE and doggedly downbeat, The Field Mice explain to Dave Simpson how they're getting bigger by staying small. ...
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 23 February 1991
WIDELY REVILED by the macho rock press in their previous incarnation as Talulah Gosh, Heavenly are trying to live down their former reputation for cuteness ...
Procol Harum: Band on a Knife-edge
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 17 July 1971
IT WAS RICHARD GOLDSTEIN, I think, in The Poetry Of Rock, who described Procol Harum as an intellectual, ever striving to contain the Steppenwolf within ...
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 15 July 1972
MICHAEL WATTS REPORTS on Friday's sensational — and controversial concert. ...
The Smiths: Hatful of Hollow — Empty Promises
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 17 November 1984
THE EMINENTLY QUOTABLE Morrissey said it himself. On the subject of Lloyd Cole, he told Ian Pye: "Lloyd is a tremendously nice person, much more ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 25 July 1987
EACH WEEK we hurl a batch of New Names at you. Perhaps it's not surprising that you wilt under this constant attrition, cease to believe ...
Smashing Pumpkins: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 6 June 1998
SMASH'N'DRAB ...
The Small Faces: Small Faces get hung up — on sounds
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 12 February 1966
Have the Small Faces gone commercial? "We've gotta make some bread" says Steve Marriott. "If we can score two or three big hits, then we'll ...
The Young Gods: The Young Gods
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 20 June 1987
ONE OF THE LITTLE MYTHS about Pop 1987 is that "there's nothing happening, is there?" For me, 1987 has consisted of a deluge of brilliance ...
The Young Gods: The Immaculate Inferno
Profile and Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 18 December 1987
THE YOUNG GODS produced the most incendiary music of 1987. They are rock's real unforgettable fire, a new flame on the horizon. David Stubbs flew ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, October 1989
IT'S a superb name. Perhaps only Blind Idiot God is more emblematic of the late Eighties state of anti-consciousness. Not so much because of the ...
Tindersticks: The Tindersticks' Second Album
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 25 March 1995
TINDERSTICKS are conceivably the most "critically acclaimed" band of all time. And oh look, here comes David Bennun. He's a "critic". He's going to "acclaim" ...
Plastic Fantastic: Plastic Explosive
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 9 March 1996
YOU'VE WITNESSED THE HYPE, read the manifestos, joined in the controversy; now, at last, you can hear the music. Plastic Fantastic release their first single ...
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 22 September 1990
EVERYONE WANTS A PIECE of Adamski's skinny ass right now. So crammed is his schedule, I'm eventually made to feel very lucky indeed to be ...
Throwing Muses: Southampton University
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 1 July 1989
MID-AFTERNOON on a Saturday the snap decision is taken to leg it down to Southampton (wherever that might be) and find the first night of ...
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 19 March 1988
"I SEE too deep and too much." (Henri Barbusse: "L'Enfer".) "Blood becomes a foreign substance." (Kristin Hersh.) ...
Throwing Muses: The Real Ramona
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 16 February 1991
THIS IS pretty much exemplary. The best band on 4AD/ SnubTV Records by several million miles have finally come up with an album that kicks ...
Throwing Muses: The Mayfair, Glasgow
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 9 March 1991
THE GIRL flogging copies of Ablaze! fanzine by the door got it right first time as I stumbled out trying to cope with my feelings ...
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 1 August 1992
"I DON'T have a driving ambition to be famous myself but I think the songs would eat me alive if I didn't let them go." ...
Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 31 January 1998
WHERE AM I? What am I doing here? Relax... Kristin Hersh will unravel your knotted mind. ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 1 September 1990
Now in their 14th year, Manchester's the Fall are still operating on rock's margins, still refusing to adhere to any consensus. But how will one ...
Fats Domino: Fats: Man From New Orleans
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 8 April 1967
DOMINO BRINGS A MISSISSIPPI TANG TO BRITAIN ...
P.P. Arnold: P.P. can bridge that soul gap
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 6 May 1967
IS THERE room for another little female barrel of dynamite on the English pop scene? ...
Green Day: Dookie (WEA 9362-45529-2 14 tks/40 mins/FP)
Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 28 May 1994
LIKE A hardcore Hailey's Comet, Green Day have a habit of popping up every couple of summers with an LP stuffed with blazing guitars, bright ...
Report and Interview by Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 6 April 1991
While all the major record company A&R men are scouring the country oop North for the next Happy Mondays, a revolution was spawned in Camden, ...
The Who: Second thoughts on Monterey
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 1 July 1967
Pete Townshend talks to Nick Jones ...
James: Striking The Motherlode
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 5 May 1990
SINCE THEIR EXPLOSIVE BEGINNING IN '83, JAMES' CAREER HAS HAD ITS VIOLENT UPS AND DOWNS. FROM THE GIDDY SUCCESS OF INDIE NUMBER ONES TO RUMOURS ...
Wu-Tang Clan: The Island, Ilford
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 12 August 1995
SHAME ON THE NUH! ...
R.E.M.: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 19 September 1987
A LAPSED believer is born again. ...
Leonard Cohen: The Cohen songs you'll never hear
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
A remarkable interview with LEONARD COHEN... by Roy Hollingworth ...
Live Review by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 15 May 1971
THE HARSH, throbbing music of Lindisfarne generates a degree of immediacy that's uncommon. They are professional and yet there is an inherent roughness that never ...
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 8 July 1967
IT'S THE CREAM ALL THE WAY AT THE SAVILLE ...
Bauhaus, Peter Murphy: Peter Murphy: Searching for Satori
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 8 October 1983
Almost two months after the Bauhaus split PETER MURPHY finally breaks his silence and lets his mask slip. Wounded but not beaten, he confides all ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Ill Communication (Capitol/20 tks/60 mins/FP)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 21 May 1994
When the BEASTIE BOYS first hit, they changed the face of pop, dragging hip hop into white culture. Needless to say, the results were controversial ...
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 13 February 1971
MARC BOLAN, teased, stimulated and tempted by the midday wine, looned around in the rain and stood in humorous mood viewing the vast hulk of ...
The House Of Love — Building Sights
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 28 October 1989
LAST YEAR, they were everyone's band of the moment. Their debut album and singles like 'Christine' received the highest accolades. This year the band released ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 14 September 1991
WITH THE RELEASE of 'Feel Every Beat' from Electronic's highly acclaimed debut album, Paul Lester meets Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr to discuss sadness, sexiness, ...
Hanson: Snowbored! Hanson: Snowed In (Mercury 11 tks/42 mins)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 22 November 1997
So, is HANSON'S second album — devoted to the spirit off Christmas — a cracker... or a whopping great turkey? ...
Mick Harvey: Alta Maria & Vaterland (Mute)
Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 8 May 1993
MICK HARVEY once claimed that he "didn't know how to play". A typically modest aside from a man who's played a major part in three ...
Del Amitri: Del Amitri (Big Star)
Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 25 May 1985
IT MIGHT not be such a good idea to delve too deeply into Del Amitri's arresting pop because you might be deceiving yourself. Forcing any ...
Syd Barrett, MC5: Syd Barrett: The Madcap returns
Report by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
SYD BARRETT'S new band, Stars, made their strange debut at Cambridge Corn Exchange last week. Roy Hollingworth reports... ...
Live Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 13 February 1971
LEON: ROCK SHOWMAN ...
Denny Laine & The Electric String Band: Blaises, UFO, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 15 July 1967
CLEARLY IN the Electric String Band, crystal clearly in its founder member Denny Laine, the pop scene is to witness yet another exciting and creative ...
The Boo Radleys: Look Back In Languor
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 30 September 1995
THIS IS THE FOURTH FEATURE on The Boo Radleys of '95, but they're worth it — especially with their brand new single, 'From The Bench ...
The Boo Radleys: Learning To Walk
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 11 December 1993
AT THE HEIGHT of The Scene That Celebrated Itself, The Boo Radleys — The Doo Badleys, as they were chucklingly known down The Syndrome — ...
Review by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 9 May 1992
PURE POP FOR NOW PEOPLE ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
Ra's solar myth ...
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 27 February 1971
SOON after meeting Dee Allen (real name Thomas Sylvester Allen), and comparing him quickly with the rest of War, you are likely to guess why ...
The Hollies, Graham Nash: The Hollies: All Things Bright and Beautiful
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 4 March 1967
HOLLIE GRAHAM NASH OUTLINES A POP STAR'S PHILOSOPHY... ...
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 February 1971
Yes, yes, yes ...
Arlo Guthrie: Trying to escape from Alice's Restaurant
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 February 1970
ARLO GUTHRIE is a young man trying to escape from Alice's Restaurant. He says he likes the movie, and he enjoyed seeing it again at ...
Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 22 April 1989
IAN GITTINS JOINED L.A.'S GANGLAND WARRIORS ON THE ROAD IN THE UK AND FOUND THAT BEHIND THE RAUCOUS SOUND AND WRECKLESS ATTITUDE LIES A GROUP ...
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 2 May 1992
IGGY POP? As if Eldritch wasn't unlikely enough — Iggy f***ing Pop? This lady's agent doesn't lack imagination. What next? A guest spot with GG ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 16 February 1980
Recherchez le chic ...
Tashan: Chasin' A Dream (Def Jam)
Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 3 January 1987
THE ADULT NET ...
Slade: Melody Maker Band Breakdown: Slade
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
UNLIKE MANY of the groups currently enjoying chart success with hit singles, Slade have been in the game a long time. ...
Future Sound Of London: Lifeforms (Virgin V27722 19 tks/93 mins/FP/Double)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 28 May 1994
It's been a long while since FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON led us, entranced, to 'Papua New Guinea'. Now they've captured that long while on disc. ...
Sheila E.: Sheila E: Sheila E (Paisley Park Records)
Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 28 February 1987
WHAT A strange place Paisley Park must be! It's as if the accoutrements of Sixties head culture synthesized with Seventies body culture to produce an ...
Live Review by Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 10 July 1993
MY TASK is to review two absolutely legendary figures (growing to four by the evening's end) who have laughed in the face of mainstream music ...
Julian Cope: World Shut Your Mouth (Mercury MERL 37)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 18 February 1984
LIVING IN a wiggly world! Spanning the sublime and the ridiculous with the ease of the truly uncritical, Julian Cope flies on (among other things) ...
Bikini Kill: Revolution Girl Style Now (Bikini Kill)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 30 May 1992
"Stop the j-word jealousy from killing girl love/Encourage in the face of insecurity." (Bikini Kill) ...
Judy Mowatt: Black Woman (Ashandan pre-release).
Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 5 January 1980
JUDY MOWATT, apart from being an I-Three (the women who sing behind Marley), is a respected songstress and label-owner down in Jamaica. Her solo album ...
Black Oak Arkansas, Medicine Head: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974
Pure hokum — but damn fine! ...
The Judds: Give A Little Love (RCA)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 7 February 1987
GIVEN THE choice between listening to a country LP — any country LP — or one by some exceeding obscure indie outfit who are distinguished ...
Alice Cooper, Twisted Sister: Twisted Sister: New Year's Dee
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 4 January 1986
DEE SNIDER, fang-toothed leader of outrageous HM maniacs TWISTED SISTER lets his tongue gallop over a few topics suggested by Helen 'Tape-deck' FitzGerald. ...
GZA/Genius: Beneath The Surface (MCA)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 17 July 1999
YOU'VE BEEN WU-TANGOED ...
Profile and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 7 July 1973
The name's unpromising, but Andy Pratt could be the next cult hero. He used to play with Edgar Winter, has cut a couple of solo ...
The Fatima Mansions: Fatima Mansions: Valhalla Avenue (Kitchenware)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 23 May 1992
THOR BLIMEY ...
Was (Not Was): (The Woodwork) Squeaks (Ze Records IMA 10)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 7 April 1984
ALIAS A mini-LP commemorating the finest moments of the (St) Was Bros, the saboteurs of funk. My advice would be to wheel it out, soon. ...
Dennis Brown: Joseph's Coat Of Many Colours (DEB pre).
Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 22 February 1980
Dennis got soul ...
Rab Noakes: Making it down South
Interview by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 17 October 1970
AT A TIME when complex guitar work is attracting a tide of admirers it's invigorating to hear the contemporary material of Rab Noakes, a young ...
Def Leppard: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 19 September 1987
WHAT A sorry charade this is. Stuck for jokes I am, as the Lepers churn out their wall of John Bull nothingness to the adoring ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
KEVIN AYERS says that there's only one thing preventing the old Soft Machine, St Tropez-style, getting back together. ...
Galliano: A Joyful Noise Unto The Creator (Talkin' Loud)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 30 May 1992
WHAT DO Galliano have to do to get a hit record? It's been bugging me for ages, ever since 'Jus' Reach' fell short of the ...
The Alarm: Declaration (IRS IRSA7044)
Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 18 February 1984
DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE ...
The Shirts: Dingwall's, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 July 1978
YOU KNOW the feeling. Out comes a new album from a new band and you get so enthusiastic about it that you're falling over yourself ...
Rita Coolidge: Nice Feelin' (A&M)
Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
Lovely Rita ...
The Who: Tommy the Movie: Hype-Hype-Hype-Hooray?
Report and Interview by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 22 March 1975
"TOMMY IS THE GREATEST WORK OF ART the 20th century has produced." So says Ken Russell. He should know: he's just directed the film of ...
Penelope Spheeris: The Hollywood Killers
Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 18 January 1986
Director PENELOPE SPHEERIS has worked in music video and on Saturday Night Live and made the L.A. punk movie The Decline Of Western Civilisation. Her ...
Black Grape, The Boo Radleys: Better Red Than Dead
Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 11 May 1996
This week's FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Manchester United isn't a matter of life and death. It's much more important than that. SIMON PRICE ...
Everything But The Girl, Marine Girls, Tracey Thorn: Marine Girls: On the beach
Interview by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 3 April 1982
Penny Kiley gets in the swim with the Marine Girls and discovers fishy goings-on in Hatfield. ...
Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias: Nashville Rooms, London
Live Review by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 27 December 1975
"I LEARNED this one off this old Dutch geezer wot was deaf, dumb, blind and crippled, called Truck Van Rental. It's called 'I Been Down ...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
COMPOSER, MYSTIC, visionary, a prophet for the Age of Aquarius. There he sits in the portrait gallery on the front sleeve of the Sgt. Pepper ...
Arthur Brown, Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Soft Machine: Love, Beauty, the Fuzz and the UFO
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 17 June 1967
THE IN CLUBS: CHRIS WELCH takes in the London club scene — beginning with UFO ...
Super Furry Animals: Guerrilla (Creation)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 5 June 1999
A MAXIMUM HIGH ...
Jamiroquai: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 11 December 1993
THE CAT IN THE HAT ...
Babe Ruth, Back Street Crawler: Midnight Court: the Lyceum's walking wounded
Live Review by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 10 July 1976
MY GOD, it's like dawn on the second day of the Somme. Lying prostrate everywhere are twisted bodies, obviously beyond the ministrations of medicine. The ...
Tom Waits: Night On Earth (Island)
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 30 May 1992
NOT A new album as such, but the soundtrack to the new Jim Jarmusch movie, which stars, among others, Winona Ryder, Giancarlo Esposito and Beatrice ...
Buggles: The Age Of Plastic (Island ILPS 9585)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 February 1980
Music for radios ...
Roy Harper: Is Roy the man to succeed Dylan?
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 June 1967
MAKE A note of this name: Roy Harper. The international folk scene is going to hear a lot of this talented 25-year-old singer-songwriter with drooping ...
Gang Starr: Step Into The Arena (Cooltempo)
Review by Push, Melody Maker, 12 January 1991
JAZZ U LIKE IT ...
T La Rock: Lyrical King (Fresh Records)
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 30 May 1987
IT'S MR T (La Rock)! ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 February 1977
Skynyrd: all guts and fury ...
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
ONE OF that tiny but slowly-expanding number of albums which points out a genuine new direction for the future is Zero Time, by Tonto's Expanding ...
Faith No More: Angel Dust (Slash)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 30 May 1992
AND "DUST" IS FOR ALL ...
John and Beverley Martyn: Stormbringer (Island ILPS 9113)
Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 7 March 1970
Are you ready for the stormbringer ...
The Hollies, Graham Nash: Fingers are crossed for Hollies "stopgap" single
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 8 March 1969
POP'S MOST consistent hitmakers, the Hollies, are back on the chart trail for the first time without Graham Nash but feeling more of a group ...
Jerry Lee Lewis: "You laughing at me, boy?"
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 20 January 1973
GOSFIELD STREET, LONDON, W1: Advision Studios is where Yes create their music and put it on record. ...
The Jesus & Mary Chain: Rock City, Nottingham
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 19 September 1987
ONCE IN a while, a band produce a performance that glows with pop's heady desire, thrills to the core and makes you reconsider all your ...
Art Pepper: The Art of darkness
Retrospective by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 11 January 1986
His story is a 'feast of rape, voyeurism, compulsive masturbation and armed robbery'. Brian Case on the legend of former drug addict, jailbird and sax ...
Big Youth: Screaming Target (Trojan).
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 July 1973
BIG YOUTH is the latest sensation in the Jamaican market for disc-jockeys who improvise spoken lyrics (rhymes, exhortations, etc) over backings tracks. Taking over from ...
James Brown: Four days that shook the British pop world: The Brown Bomb!
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 March 1966
James Brown brought something that has been missing... ...
Report and Interview by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 26 June 1976
Once the colleges were the bastion of the British rock industry – now they're little more than musical backwaters. As classes close for the summer, ...
Tindersticks: Amsterdam (This Way Up WAY3299 9 tks/45 mins/£5/No MC)
Review by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 21 May 1994
PLAYED AT Zane-bothering volume in the Review Room, it's almost like being there. Amsterdam, last February 8, I mean; dope smoke up your nose, sticky ...
Tom Verlaine: The Wonder (Phonogram)
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 31 March 1990
"COMING UP behind me like a high speed train was the New York City new wave, Verlaine and Hell," — Felt, 'Mobile Shack'. ...
Miles Davis: We Want Miles (CBS 88579)
Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 22 May 1982
Miles and miles of smiles ...
Jefferson Airplane: Volunteers (RCA SF 8076)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 March 1970
Up the Volunteers! ...
The Incredible String Band: Now It's Folk Flower Power
Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 24 June 1967
THE TWO young Scots who call themselves the Incredible String Band, Mike Heron and Robin Williamson, are going to set both the folk and pop ...
Atari Teenage Riot: 60 Second Wipeout (DHR)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 19 May 1999
YOU'D BE well advised to fasten any seat belts before listening to this one. There is a quiet bit... but then the record starts. And ...
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 14 May 1994
BLUR's Parklife is selling by the truck load, has loads of fabulous tunes on it and is really very good. TOM DOYLE talks to producer ...
Sheep On Drugs: King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
Live Review by Calvin Bush, Melody Maker, 8 May 1993
HERE ARE some of the things you should never do at a Sheep On Drugs show: faint with pleasure, give birth, applaud, offer up flowers/puppy ...
The Lounge Lizards: No Pain For Cakes (Antilles)
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 30 May 1987
AT THE ICA last year, I was disappointed by the Lounge Lizards. The pianist's fringe, the languid horns, the bath of cigarette smoke, I could ...
Interview by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 2 August 1980
Penny Kiley uncovers a smile on the face of the robots, and discovers that synthesizers are just rock'n'roll hardware. ...
Glen Campbell, Jimmy Webb: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 9 April 1977
The Standard Jim Webb ...
The Yardbirds: Birds' Brain — the man they call Sam
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 March 1966
"YOU'RE LOOKING for Paul Samwell-Smith? He's the shy chap with the Yardbirds isn't he?" Thus aptly described was the bass-playing brain behind the Yardbirds, by ...
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 14 March 1987
TOM VERLAINE SWERVES THIS WAY AND THAT TO AVOID THE LOGICAL, BOTH ON AND OFF RECORD. CHRIS ROBERTS USES HIS NEW ALBUM, FLASH LIGHT, TO ...
Ornette Coleman: Of Human Feelings (Antilles AN 2001)
Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 8 May 1982
Sounds in motion ...
Suede: Virgin Megastore, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 14 September 1996
UP FOR IT ...
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 5 July 1952
"HOW LONG have you had that Gibson electric guitar?" I asked Lonnie Johnson when he came round to my flat to hear some of his ...
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 17 March 1973
...is the title of Roxy Music's sensational second album. Roy Hollingworth presents an exclusive preview with comments from Roxy's Bryan Ferry. ...
Fugazi: Red Medicine (Dischord DIS90CD 13 tks/44 mins/FP)
Review by John Robb, Melody Maker, 6 May 1995
FUGAZI are the unsung heroes of the American underground, busting out of the Washington projects on a white hot punk rock tip in a straight ...
Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 14 May 1994
PC is shite! The The NWONW bands just need a good shag! Meat-eating is cool! Meet LOUISE WENER of fizzy power-poppers SLEEPER, who tells DAVE ...
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam: Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam: Spanish Fly (CBS)
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 16 May 1987
NO ORCHIDS here. Already sounding like the year before last's thing. Full Force's puppets can't manage any swirls or blooms to match their one Shannonesque ...
Band of Angels: Public school blues... that's a Band Of Angels' problem
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 March 1966
'I say, you chaps, who's for a wizard wheeze? Let's cut some groovy sounds and enjoy some of the loot these ghastly pop chaps seem ...
Tracy Bonham: The Borderline, London
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 14 September 1996
THE DUST mite is a disgusting little beast, preying on dead and rotting skin cells abandoned by the progress of life. Tracy Bonham, on the ...
The Wedding Present: Blackbird Leys Park, Oxford
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 17 September 1988
THE SENSE of community, the sense of belonging, kids all clasped together under one benevolent corporate banner — no wonder festivals didn't dry up and ...
Traffic: No jams in sight for Stevie and Traffic
Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 15 July 1967
THE PAPER sun begins to sink below the chart horizon but as each day is born queues of fans await the happy, happy day when ...
Flowered Up, Saint Etienne: St Etienne, Flowered Up: The Underworld, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 5 January 1991
THOSE WHO believed the rumour that Happy Mondays were to be the surprise guests at St Etienne's Christmas trash will probably still be waiting by ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 October 1978
On Monday night, Jethro Tull became the first rock group to appear live from America on British TV. CHRIS WELCH sat in the control booth ...
Doris Troy and the Marriage of Music
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 March 1970
DORIS TROY is ready. After ten months of plotting and planning and working and having a ball in the depths of Apple's Savile Row Studios, ...
Alexis Korner: Back to Square 1 With 'R&B' Korner
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 19 March 1966
ALEXIS KORNER, once regarded as the founding father of British R&B, is to be seen weekly on TV's Five O'Clock Club. He also works with ...
Prefab Sprout: Swoon (Kitchenware KWLP1)
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 10 March 1984
SPROUT MASK REPLICAS ...
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 5 May 1990
THE KNITTING FACTORY is downtown New York's hip crucible of new music, where improvisers like John Zorn and Fred Frith play on the same bill ...
Frank Zappa: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 4 February 1978
Cynical Zappa ...
Swing Out Sister: It's Better To Travel (Phonogram)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 May 1987
HOW DELICIOUS that a wee sleakit trio like Swing Out Sister can elicit such rage from the young sociologists of rock criticism. And for what? ...
Spring Heel Jack: Treader (Tugboat)
Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 5 June 1999
NOW UP to their fourth d'n'b album, Spring Heel Jack's John Coxon and Ashley Wales are nothing if not prolific. The orchestral artcore of There ...
Interview by John Robb, Melody Maker, 25 May 1996
The American ska-punk noise of RANCID is more intelligent than your average dumb thrash racket ...
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 11 September 1993
SO F***ING SPECIAL ...
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
IT'S NOT surprising that there should be more than a trace of Elmore James and Muddy Waters in the playing of J.B. Hutto, described in ...
The Doors: Paul Rothchild: Open Doors
Retrospective and Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 4 May 1991
As producer of nearly all of The Doors' albums, PAUL ROTHCHILD knew Morrison and the band better than anyone else. TOM DOYLE relives the invention ...
Mark Lanegan: The Winding Sheet (Glitterhouse)
Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 23 June 1990
WE KNOW very little about Mark Lanegan except that he's the singer with Screaming Trees and that this, his first solo album, is a magnificent ...
Tim Hardin, Steve Miller: The Steve Miller Band, Tim Hardin: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
Miller's grinding blues ...
Question: what's a company like EMI doing starting an underground label?
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 June 1969
ALAN WALSH investigates the new Harvest label ...
Schoolly D: Saturday Night (Rhythm King)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 16 May 1987
ENGLAN' y'say? Meldy Maka? Well, I don't know if I rilly wanna get involved in alla this... how much?... ah, maybe I gotta coupla minutes. ...
Buzzcocks: A problem in communication
Interview by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 4 October 1980
PENNY KILEY talks to the Buzzcocks ...
D:Ream: The Area, Paisley; Tunnel Club, Glasgow
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 4 September 1993
D:REAM HAVE released two singles to date. Both have penetrated, if you'll pardon my French, high into the Top 20. It seems Britain's club kids ...
Pavement: Terror Twilight (Domino)
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 5 June 1999
TO BE both catchy and unhummable takes some doing. Indeed, only the Brookside theme tune has previously approximated the concept. Pavement, however, are the dons. ...
Campag Velocet: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 3 January 1998
WELL, YOU can sack your Skunk Rock epithets for starters. Sure, there's a movement going on, a rumble that takes in not only the band ...
Blur: Civic Hall Wolverhampton
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 21 May 1994
THE (CL)ASS OF '94 ...
The Quireboys, Burning Tree: Royal Court, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 5 May 1990
ON STAGE, support band Burning Tree are exhibiting the mellow, melancholy side of heavy rock and hints of the pop-rock crossover potential that the Quireboys ...
The Go-Betweens: Tallulah (Beggars Banquet)
Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, May 1987
AS THE chief dreamboat Forster sighs at yet another of life's improbabilities, as the waggish McLennan makes some more compelling assumptions, as these roguish Go-Betweens ...
Elton John: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 May 1977
Elton enthrals ...
The Liverpool Scene, Andy Roberts: Back to poetry for Liverpool Scene
Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 14 March 1970
ONE OF the worst group hang ups is the premonition of having to play on stage according to audience expectations rather than choice. The alternative ...
Paul Butterfield Blues Band: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band: A band with a new tradition of blues
Interview by Tracy Thomas, Melody Maker, 19 March 1966
TO A FIVE-year-old child, the blues are several colours, one for the sky, one for his eyes, one for Daddy's new car. To a forsaken ...
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 12 January 1991
BETWEEN '76 and '84, all sorts of well-intentioned people used to credit Malcolm McLaren with suss, wit, subversive intelligence and the enviable ability to manipulate ...
Inspiral Carpets: Leeds University
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 5 May 1990
MAGIC CARPETS ...
Fun-Da-Mental: Moseley Dance Centre, Birmingham
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 21 May 1994
BRUM RUSH THE SHOW! ...
The Glitter Band: Farewell Glitter!
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 January 1976
The Glitter Band's New Year resolution? No more glam-rock. HARRY DOHERTY investigates ...
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup: The original rock and roller
Profile and Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 14 March 1970
ARTHUR "BIG Boy" Crudup, the man responsible for firing Elvis Presley into one of the biggest crazes of all time, has been recording for over ...
Sonic Youth: Sister (Blast First)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 30 May 1987
SONIC YOUTH is the itching, striving sound of a literate rock group struggling to assassinate their own intelligence, to unseat the mind's mastery, and achieve ...
Soundgarden: 'We're not dead yet'
Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 25 May 1996
Kurt may be gone and grunge may have copped it, but SOUNDGARDEN live on, louder and fiercer than ever, ready to blow the likes of ...
Frantic Elevators: Adam's Club, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 10 April 1982
Glad tune rising ...
Steve Lacy: Moon (BYG Actual 52)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
Lacy (soprano), Italo Toni (trombone), Claudio Volente (Clarinet), Irene Aebi (cello), Marcello Melis (bass), Jacques Thollot (drums), Rome, September 1969 ...
The Boo Radleys: Boo Radleys: The Garage, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 21 May 1994
POP'S YOUR UNCLE ...
Aphex Twin: The Six Lives Of Richard D. James
Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 1 May 1993
APHEX TWIN you already know. Or at least you should do — he's been described as the hottest bleepmaster on the block, been dubbed 'The ...
Mary Wells, Cecil Womack: Mary Wells: Mother-To-Be Mary Comes Back
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 10 May 1969
MARY WELLS, onetime Beatles' favourite and million-seller singer, is back in Britain to prove she's still one of the world's most talented female vocalists. ...
Rakim: The 18th Letter (Universal 17 tks/58 mins)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 22 November 1997
HE IS the resurrection. From 1987 to 1992, Rakim was every hip hopper's MC choice, the rapper's rapper, responsible (forget Eric B — the man ...
Massive Attack, Martina Topley-Bird, Tricky: Tricky & Martina: Slack Magic
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 14 May 1994
Remember Massive Attack's languid, smoky, shuffling, bluesy 'Unfinished Sympathy'? Former MA maverick TRICKY has done it again, with the languid, smoky, etc, etc 'Ponderosa'. DAVID ...
Edwyn Collins: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 5 January 1991
THERE ARE those who hold that to fully appreciate the mastery of Edwyn Collins one should be fully conversant with every nuance of his decade-long ...
Discography by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 September 1978
Chris Welch examines the legacy of Blue Note, the pioneering label currently being re-promoted ...
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 July 1973
There's a rumour going round Death Row... ...
Profile and Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 14 March 1970
BLACK SABBATH, four unknown rock musicians from Birmingham have emerged from obscurity with what is probably the first true underground success since the days of ...
Interview by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 4 May 1991
It's all happened very quickly for Curve. Six months ago, they were languishing in obscurity. Then their Blindfold EP turned them into Buzz Of The ...
Brand New Heavies: The Brand New Heavies: Heavy Rhyme Experience Vol. 1 (Acid Jazz)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 5 September 1992
YES! WHAT a brilliant simple, obvious idea! Why, you Have to wonder, has nobody thought of it before. Well, somebody did; a crew name of ...
The Beach Boys: Funny, they don't look on their uppers
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 June 1969
ALAN WALSH meets the optimistic Beach Boy ...
Tyrannosaurus Rex are in good elf!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 14 March 1970
TYRANNOSAURUS REX has taken rather a pasting recently. Trevor Brice of Vanity Fare in Blind Date said of their new album: "I think it's horrible. ...
Coldcut, DJ Krush: Coldcut & DJ Food Vs DJ Krush: Cold Krush Cuts (Ninja Tune/CD only)
Review by Keith Cameron, Melody Maker, 1 February 1997
CHILLER ON THE LOOSE ...
Dinosaur Jr.: Dinosaur Jr: Where You Been (Blanco Y Negro)
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 23 January 1993
TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS ...
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 17 September 1988
DEAD ON THEIR FEAT ...
Report and Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 5 January 1985
When Adam Sweeting interviewed U2 in France in November, BONO felt he'd left a few things unsaid. So he suggested a rematch in America during ...
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 29 September 1984
The People's Poet ...
The Rolling Stones: So You Wanna Be A Label Boss? Start Your Own Record Label
Guide by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 29 November 1975
"As anybody knows who has read Karl Marx, it is distribution which is important if there is to be any kind of revolution. I'm not ...
Sigur Rós: Haskolabio, Reykjavik, Iceland
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 1 December 1999
IT'S A sound that feels like it's been travelling through the universe for a million long, lonely years. It starts somewhere in the middle distance, ...
Cop Shoot Cop: The Falcon, London
Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 5 January 1991
BANG TO RIGHTS ...
Weather Report: Sweetnighter (CBS 65532)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 July 1973
WEATHER REPORT seems simply to represent a rather elegant waste of the well-known talents of Wayne Shorter. ...
Diamanda Galás: Malediction And Prayer (Mute) **½
Review by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, 2 May 1998
WITH A voice akin to Ella Fitzgerald, Edith Piaf and Shirley Bassey, yet with a distinctly goth-baroque slant, Galás is something of a unique entity. ...
The Rolling Stones: Get Your Ya-Yas Out
Preview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 18 July 1970
Live Stones album — MM exclusive preview ...
Desmond Dekker: What is the secret of rock-steady's success?
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 19 July 1969
THE SUCCESS of the strangely titled 'It Mek', which made a mammoth jump into the higher reaches of the chart last week, means that Desmond ...
Talvin Singh: The Blue Note, London
Live Review by Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 17 May 1997
HOW ARE all the people in this queue going to get into a place that small? ...
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 11 September 1993
THE BRITISH Royal Family would need to perish en masse in a satanic suicide pact to generate half the press that Zoo TV's long-awaited Irish ...
Colin Blunstone: Like a choirboy with soul
Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
COLIN BLUNSTONE is possibly the best singer around. There are reasons. There have to be. ...
Bert Jansch: Jansch digs back into tradition
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 16 July 1966
THE BALLAD the young man sang was long but the audience hung on every word. In his own individual way he managed to project some ...
The Candyskins, My Life Story: My Life Story, the Candyskins: Astoria, London
Live Review by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, 3 January 1998
HMMPH. THE Candyskins. Who would have believed it? Just over a year ago I saw them in a dingy pub in Luton. They were indie ...
Little Feat: In the lap of the gods? "Jeez, I don't know about that"
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 August 1977
FORGIVE ME, Father, for I have sinned. I did not genuflect every time Lowell George spliced Fender guitar with bottleneck last night. ...
Sandy Bull: Les Cousins, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 16 July 1966
IT'S STRANGE that while British guitar experimentalists abound, America doesn't have much in this line to offer — apart, that is, from Sandy Bull, who ...
John Mayall, Mike Vernon: True Blues?
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 October 1967
ALAN WALSH investigates the plight of the British bluesman ...
Royal Trux: Flapper & Firkin, Birmingham
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 1 December 1999
F***, F***, f***, f***. Try and get hold of the feeling, try and lash it down in blood and spunk just why this did what ...
Comment by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 7 October 1967
NICK JONES is worried about British pop audiences. Here he explains why. ...
Simon & Garfunkel: Marquee, London
Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 16 July 1966
SIMON AND Garfunkel's only London appearance at the Marquee on Sunday was, from an artist-audience point of view, a major success. ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 1 June 1996
TRACE RELATIONS ...
Teenage Fanclub: A Catholic Education (Paperhouse)
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 23 June 1990
TEENAGE LAMENT ...
Live Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 15 December 1984
PIONEER SPIRITS ...
Scott Walker: Tilt (Fontana 526858/9 tks/57 mins/CFD/LP/MC/FP)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 6 May 1995
SOMBRE, GOOD people, does not begin to describe it. Doubtless you'd expect this from the former leading fight of the Walker Brothers, but, aside from ...
The Farm, The Style Council: Style Council, The Farm, The High V: Empire Theatre, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 7 May 1983
NEW SOUNDS, NO STYLE ...
Diana Ross: Touch Me In The Morning (Motown — import)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 July 1973
Diana and that touch of drama ...
Procol Harum: Procol Probe: how the break-up came to pass
Report and Interview by Nick Jones, Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 July 1967
CHRIS WELCH AND NICK JONES FILL IN THE SPLIT BACKGROUND ...
Sandie Shaw: Sandie keeps her mouth shut
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 24 September 1966
"OF COURSE I've changed. Who doesn't change in two years," said Miss Sandie Shaw at her Middlesbrough hotel, with a slight trace of annoyance in ...
Jethro Tull: Thick As A Brick (Chrysalis)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 March 1972
AS THE album is already brilliantly reviewed on the elaborately produced sleeve, there is hardly any point in adding our own comments. ...
The Teardrop Explodes: Teardrops Rising
Report and Interview by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 21 July 1979
Are Teardrop Explodes the best thing to come out of Liverpool since… (oh, you know who)? And where do Echo and the Bunnymen fit in? ...
Herbie Mann: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 30 January 1982
HERBIE Mann came to London with the burden of a hit single that sold three-quarters of a million units, but we shouldn't hold that against ...
Bernard Butler: Upstairs At The Garage, London
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 24 January 1998
BERNARD'S GOT a reputation. Grumpy, petulant sod, chip on his shoulder big enough to end a potato famine. But, in the Suede heyday, he used ...
Smashing Pumpkins: The Metro, Chicago
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 4 September 1993
GRUNGE LITE? ...
Kurtis Mantronik, Mantronix: Mantronix: Cashing In Or Selling Out?
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 26 May 1990
ONCE THE PREMIER PIONEER OF ELECTRO, MANTRONIK'S LATEST WORK HAS BEEN SUSPICIOUSLY COMMERCIAL. ANDREW SMITH THINKS THE GREAT MAN HAS SOLD HIS SOUL TO THE ...
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 7 July 1973
The Os come of age ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 17 May 1997
BECK TO THE FUTURE ...
Diana Ross: Red Hot Rhythm And Blues (EMI)
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 30 May 1987
SO YES, alright, I did have a teenage crush on Diana Ross. No two ways about it. But now that I'm 20 I can be ...
Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Royal Court, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 5 January 1985
HOMETOWN BOYS ...
The Modern Jazz Quartet, Swingle Singers, Les: Modern Jazz Quartet: Sitting Tight On The Format
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 24 September 1966
JOHN LEWIS, amiable but reticent leader of the Modern Jazz Quartet, is that rare bird in jazz, a musician who doesn't like talking about himself. ...
Pet Shop Boys, Dusty Springfield: Dusty Springfield: Reputation (EMI)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 30 June 1990
THE TROUBLE with this album is we know too much about Dusty Springfield to be convinced by the impassioned outpourings that the Pet Shop Boys ...
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 26 May 1984
SHOUT AT THE DEVIL ...
The Who: The Renaissance of the Who
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 May 1969
PETE TOWNSHEND'S triumph! ...
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 30 January 1993
NOTES FROM the underground... ...
Ray Parker Jr.: Sex & The Single Man
Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 18 January 1986
As you might expect, RAY PARKER JNR made a huge fortune from his Ghostbusters film theme. But he hasn't given up on music. His new ...
Judee Sill: Heart Food (Asylum)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 July 1973
JUDEE WRITES and sings beautiful songs, and they are well represented on this second album, which features among its many tracks, 'The Kiss', where her ...
Noir — and those good black vibrations
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 18 July 1970
THERE ARE few groups around today who can boast that they are a "musicians' group" — a group whom musicians go out of their way ...
The Rolling Stones: A Great Face Job!
Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 24 September 1966
That well respected song-writing team of Jagger and Richard take time out to look back over their shoulders into the Stones' past and compare it ...
Live Review by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 6 February 1982
Darkness on the edge of boredom ...
Stereophonics: Cardiff University
Live Review by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 10 January 1998
KELLY'S HEROES ...
Prince, Wendy And Lisa: Wendy & Lisa: Sisters Of The Revolution
Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 4 March 1989
PRINCE'S FORMER SIDEKICKS, WHOSE NEW SINGLE,'ARE YOU MY MAYBE' IS SELDOM OFF THE MAKER TURNTABLE, THIS WEEK RELEASE THEIR SECOND ALBUM, LAYERED AND IMPOSSIBLY RICH ...
J. Geils Band: The Boston wranglers
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 21 July 1973
THEY HAD said the J. Geils Band was a democracy, and they were right. All six of them are ranged around three sides of this ...
Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation: Come what may, Aynsley's keeping the sound heavy
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 May 1969
AYNSLEY DUNBAR is a gifted, intelligent and powerful drummer. Yet in the past his albums have been disappointing and his style restricted. ...
Nikki Sudden: The hippest prince
Interview by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 10 July 1982
Nikki Sudden discusses hero worship with Penny Kiley ...
Tom Waits: Sound Circus, London
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 7 May 1977
THE OBVIOUS question about Tom Waits — is he, or is he not, a phoney? — ought to be perfectly clear, yet was never quite ...
Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 9 January 1993
PERHAPS MORE than any of their contemporaries, Ride encapsulate all that is right and wrong with the English music scene as she now is, or ...
Faith No More: Charge Of The Fright Brigade
Interview by Neil Perry, Melody Maker, 5 May 1990
DESPITE DRINKING, SCREWING, BEATING THE CRAP OUT OF EACH OTHER AND ENJOYING THEMSELVES FAR MORE THAN IS SAFE AND HEALTHY, FAITH NO MORE ARE ON ...
Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 1 June 1985
TWO STATE of the art soul releases beckoning the consumer in time for the inevitable summer boom. ...
Albert Ayler, Ornette Coleman, Dizzy Gillespie: Dizzy Gillespie: in from the storm
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 4 December 1965
DIZZY GILLESPIE was in benevolent mood when he met the press at his Mayfair hotel. Smiling amiably between mouthfuls of Worthington, he gave the impression ...
Kristin Hersh: 12 Bar Club, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 24 January 1998
KRIST ALMIGHTY! ...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971
NICO USED to be a blonde; you can see it on the cover of the Velvet Underground's first album, on a photograph from which her ...
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 February 1970
YOU MAY not always be able to wait for a composer to write the music you want to play, to paraphrase the ads for the ...
Roger Whittaker: Roger And The Ten Minute Hit
Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 31 January 1970
IT IS always rewarding for a British artist to strike a first chart success on home territory, particularly after winning so much acclaim in Europe ...
Report and Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 25 May 1996
Martin Rossiter as Eric Cantona? Liam Gallagher squaring off against Damon Albarn? Robbie Williams and Steve Pulp in the same footie team? No, you're not ...
Front 242: Live Target (Guzzi)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 30 January 1993
LET ME hear you say thud. Now let me hear you say it for 74 minutes. Hold it there. That'll do. How much do you ...
Smokey Robinson: Smokey (Tamla import)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 July 1973
Smokey: a solo set to cherish ...
Terry Allen: Architect's Association, London
Live Review by John Tobler, Melody Maker, 26 May 1984
BEFORE YOU ask "Who?", Terry Allen is the singer/songwriter from Lubbock, Texas, who, unlike the other two internationally known Lubbock musicians, is (a) not dead, ...
Ben Folds Five: Splash Club, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 1 June 1996
IF IT makes you feel better, think of Ben Folds as a visiting alien. He's travelled to our planet in peace, hoping to exchange ideas ...
Sigue Sigue Sputnik: The First Generation (Jungle)
Review by Chris Roberts, Melody Maker, 30 June 1990
EVEN THE press release, once a glittering example of how to flaunt what you only very disputably have, have bashfully clammed down to a tail-between-the-legs ...
The Flamin' Groovies: Flamin' Groovies: Brunel University, Uxbridge
Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
"WE WERE into punk a long time ago. but we've cleaned up a bit since then." The speaker was John Wilson, singer with the Flamin' ...
Cilla Black: "I was terrified at first but the fans are just the same"
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 March 1965
CILLA BLACK — calling from Australia — tells Chris Welch ...
Mike Batt: The composer at the console
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 9 January 1982
Karl Dallas goes Batty with the ex-Womble in a Berlin studio ...
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 17 May 1997
GLASGOW KISS ...
Orange Juice: The Venue, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 30 January 1982
L.O.V.E. Juices ...
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 5 September 1992
HOW DOES one combine good taste in all its repulsive manifestations with the desire to expose corruption and general street-level decay? F*** knows, but Carmel, ...
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 February 1970
A MASS of gently struggling sons of Coventry and outlying parts politely tripped over each other in the seatless main hall at Lanchester Festival on ...
Billy Eckstine: Hot under the collar
Interview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 2 January 1982
BILLY ECKSTINE lets the good anecdotes roll. Notebook: Brian Case ...
Compton's Most Wanted: Music To Drive By (Epic)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 9 January 1993
LAST TRAIN TO SOUTH-CENTRAL ...
Aswad, Toots & The Maytals: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 19 September 1987
THE HOMECOMING. The hope coming. Aswad are undoubtedly the most prestigious band who could assist in the revival of a genre whose popularity has flagged ...
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 28 July 1973
A PERSPEX cut out face on the sleeve introduces us to Mott The Hoople Mark III, a group with a scarred history whose fifth and ...
The Four Tops: Tamla's senior citizens
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 14 March 1970
THE SUCCESS of the Four Tops was instrumental in making the Motown sound of major importance in the development of rock music during the mid-Sixties. ...
Shed Seven: Taking The Peseta? Shed Seven: Change Giver (Polydor 5236152/4/1 11 tks/47 mins/FP)
Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 3 September 1994
So, are Shed Seven just four loud-mouthed lads with a terminal Mozzer fixation, a bunch of chancers from York hellbent on giving Oasis a run ...
The Boo Radleys: Ichabod And I (Action)
Review by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 30 June 1990
FORGET THE sub-Uriah Heep title and think "further re-invention of the dreampop whirl". Sound interesting? Read on. ...
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 21 June 1973
JOHN MAYALL has been living in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, for four years now, and identifying with California and American people for longer than that. ...
Little Walter — the man who sparked off a revolution
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 12 September 1964
I KNOW Little Walter only from records. ...
Live Review by Julian Henry, Melody Maker, 19 January 1985
THE LIFE IN REILLY ...
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 17 May 1997
MADRID FOR IT!! ...
The Fatima Mansions, Microdisney, U2: Fatima Mansions: Putting the Catalan among the pigeons
Report and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 6 June 1992
What can CATHAL COUGHLAN and BONO possibly have in common? ANDREW MUELLER flew to Barcelona to discover why the acerbic lead singer decided to support ...
Graham Bond: Pioneer and catalyst
Obituary by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 May 1974
Chris Welch pays tribute to Graham Bond, who died last week ...
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 24 September 1994
THE GEE SPOT ...
Sylvester: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978
SYLVESTER, DISCO'S hermaphrodite darling, delivered one of the best shows in world history last weekend. ...
John Surman: Purcell Room, London
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 February 1970
PART OF the joy of hearing "live" jazz is in the listener's knowledge that the music he has heard will never be played in the ...
Michael Nyman: Time Waits For Nyman
Interview by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 18 January 1986
Boffin, composer, systems musician, egghead and man with boring trousers MICHAEL NYMAN performed his soundtrack for A Zed And Two Noughts at the ICA last ...
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 2 January 1999
CRITICS AND musicians love him. He can do no wrong. And that's when you get suspicious. That's when you start to wonder if something so ...
Therapy?: The People's Champions
Report and Interview by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 15 August 1992
Last year, it was Nirvana who stole the show at Reading and look where they are now — topping the bloody bill, that's where. This ...
Smashing Pumpkins: Underworld, London
Live Review by Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 21 September 1991
AMERICAN bands are popular because they come over here and kick serious ass. Smashing Pumpkins are from Chicago and they prove more than our expectations ...
Victoria Williams: Swing The Statue! (Rough Trade)
Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 2 June 1990
THREE YEARS ago, Victoria Williams emerged with a debut set of 13 songs which invited us to revise and re-define our notion of folk music. ...
New Order: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 26 May 1984
THICK AS THIEVES ...
Steely Dan: Pretzel Logic (Probe)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 23 March 1974
Steely Dan do it again ...
Simon & Garfunkel: What friendship means to Simon and Garfunkel
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 7 June 1969
THE INFLUENCE of today's rock musicians is a very real one, and Paul Simon is a songwriter who reflects the times and society we live ...
Plaid, Squarepusher: Squarepusher, Plaid: The Blue Note, London
Live Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 17 May 1997
APHEX TWIN is blocking the bloody stairs. Paul Hartnoll out of Orbital is getting crushed and Björk is lost in her own little world down ...
Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 12 January 1991
HOOK, LINE AND STINKER ...
The Wild Swans: Return of the Swan
Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 16 July 1988
In 1982 the Wild Swans looked set for something special. Instead they split up. Now Liverpool's finest have reformed. Jonh Wilde witnesses the resurrection. ...
The Bluebells, Haircut 100: Haircut 100, the Bluebells: National Club, Kilburn, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 6 February 1982
Today's blow wave? ...
The Auteurs, Gene, Sleeper: The Auteurs, Sleeper, Gene: Zap Club, Brighton
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 24 September 1994
LUKE OF NATURE ...
The Wolfgang Press: Wolfgang Press: Pressing Engagements
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 4 February 1989
4AD'S LONGEST-SERVING BAND TALK TO PUSH ABOUT 'KANSAS', THEIR NEW SINGLE INSPIRED BY THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION AND EXPLAIN WHY EXPERIMENTATION AND INNOVATION HAS SO FAR ...
Metabolist, This Heat: This Heat, Office, Metabolist: Institute Of Education, London
Live Review by Maureen Paton, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978
IF THE people won't come to the laboratory, the laboratory must come to the people. ...
Memphis Slim: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 7 February 1970
MEMPHIS SLIM would have played on all night had he not been due back in Paris earlier the following morning. For when the American pianist's ...
Tom Jones: Tom's the talk of the town — New York, that is
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 7 June 1969
"HE'S THE hottest artist in the world and Wales should be proud of him," said a jubilant Gordon Mills about Tom Jones, the man who's ...
Marilyn Manson: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 2 January 1999
"GIG OF '98" isn't speaking the same language. A "happening" leaves you when it's over. No, this, this trip, this frenzy, is a national event. ...
Interview by Sally Margaret Joy, Everett True, Melody Maker, 18 January 1992
She's the complete antithesis of the rock'n'roll bitch from hell. She is inspired and inspirational, optimistic in a climate of despair. She draws her strength ...
Julian Joseph, Sun Ra: Sun Ra, Julian Joseph: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 21 September 1991
HAVING accelerated towards a state of whiteout in the late Sixties with the antics of Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor and Sun Ra, a state beyond ...
Al Stewart: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Live Review by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 18 September 1971
IT'S IMPOSSIBLE to consider Al Stewart without including his lovelife. In those familiar with his songs he has invested his own deeply-felt emotions and something ...
My Bloody Valentine: All Hail the Future!
Profile and Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 26 January 1991
For three years, the Valentines were accused of being Mary Chain rip-offs, but the Top 40 hit Glider EP scotched that and now bands like ...
Slayer: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 20 July 1996
THRILL KILLER CULT ...
Carmel: Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 26 May 1984
CARMEL COLLECTED ...
The Pointer Sisters: That's A Plenty (Blue Thumb)
Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 13 April 1974
Pointers victory! ...
Led Zeppelin: Ireland Unites Under Zeppelin
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 March 1971
The world's top rock band hits the road — and MM's Chris Welch goes with them to file this exclusive report... ...
Tony Oxley: Forget the thick drummer myth
Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 7 March 1970
TONY OXLEY, top British drummer according to last week's MM Readers' Poll, is a pretty fair example of just how far jazz has moved in ...
Supergrass: Apollo, Manchester
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 17 May 1997
LIFE'S A SNITCH? ...
Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 22 August 1992
The city's clubs are being dosed down by violence, the scene has fragmented and the music's moved on. ANDREW SMITH visits the new 808 STATE ...
The Thompson Twins: Thompson Twins: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 12 January 1985
YOU TAKE ME DOWN ...
Regular Fries: Rheingold Club, London
Live Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 24 January 1998
A CHIP SHOT ...
Spectrum: Soul Kiss (Silvertone)
Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 30 May 1992
SONIC: THE EDGE HOG ...
Rip Rig And Panic: Warehouse, Liverpool
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 23 January 1982
That's entertainment ...
Live Review by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 23 December 1978
AND LO, when the silver spaceship settled on the Odeon stage, the faces of the assembled glowed like kids when the fairy lights twinkle for ...
Judy Collins: Judy — the leading lady
Profile and Interview by Al Aronowitz, Melody Maker, 9 January 1971
JUDY COLLINS is a leading lady. Like Myrna Loy used to be, and Loretta Young, and Barbara Stanwyck, and Rosalind Russell. The kind of actress ...
The Dirty Three, PJ Harvey: PJ Harvey, Dirty 3: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 2 January 1999
RELIGHT MY DESIRE! ...
Fun-Da-Mental: Prohibition, London
Live Review by Push, Melody Maker, 21 September 1991
FUND-DA-Mental's claim to be the British Asian version of Public Enemy isn't as daft as it sounds. The "Black Revolutionary Runnings" tee-shirts and the keyboard ...
Report by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
Stackridge are one of the few bands to take their music to the people in the 'front line' in Ireland, Mark Plummer reports. ...
Profile and Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 20 March 1965
LONG BEFORE the present craze for group names like Them, Us and Themselves, the flat-mate of 19-year-old guitarist Pete Townshend thought of Who. ...
Mary Margaret O'Hara: Discreet Enquiries
Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 11 March 1989
MARY'S MISS AMERICA WAS LAUDED AS ONE OF THE MOST STARTLING AND FRESH ALBUMS OF '88, SHE MESSED UP HER LIP-SYNCH ON THE 'BODY'S IN ...
Motörhead: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Julian Henry, Melody Maker, 17 November 1984
LEGEND LEMMY ...
Bomb The Bass, Brand New Heavies: Waterfront, Norwich
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
THE FIRST live appearance by Bomb The Bass since the Gulf War temporarily rendered theirs the least diplomatic and commercially astute moniker extant is delayed ...
The Watersons: The Watersons (Topic 12T142)
Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 October 1966
THE WATERSONS' latest record was originally planned as a "live" recording at their Hull club — why, I can't think. The idea that folk music ...
Report and Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 14 November 1992
Last week's American election was the most dramatic in recent history. For the first time in a generation, there was a chance that the Republicans ...
The Shangri-Las: It's motor bikes next for the seagull girls
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 31 October 1964
SHANGRI-LAS hit town and talk to Chris Welch ...
The Pretenders, Sandie Shaw: The Pretenders: Dominion, London
Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 2 January 1982
No time to go to sleep ...
Echo & the Bunnymen: Knocking on Heaven's gate
Report and Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 20 June 1981
Lynden Barber goes Dutch on a tequila sunrise with Echo and the Bunnymen. ...
Downset, Pantera: Pantera, Downset: Apollo, Manchester
Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 24 September 1994
VISIBLE PANTERA LINE ...
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 23 December 1978
WHAT IS it about Elvis Costello that makes us want to know about his home life? And what is it that makes him cover his ...
Joni Mitchell, Tom Scott & the L.A. Express: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 27 April 1974
THE divine Miss M ...
The Kinks, Sly & the Family Stone, Edgar Winter: The Kinks: Thank you for the days, Ray
Report by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 21 July 1973
ROY HOLLINGWORTH adds a sad chapter to the Kinks chronicle ...
Tom Paxton: A Portrait of Paxton
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 7 October 1967
THERE ARE just seven clear free days in the crowded schedule of Tom Paxton, who arrived in Britain this week for a three-week stay which ...
Superchunk: On The Mouth (City Slang)
Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 30 January 1993
KISS THIS ...
Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 15 August 1992
THE BRAND NEW HEAVIES' new LP is a veritable cornucopia of rap talent. PUSH gets the word on the band that all the other bands ...
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 18 May 1974
Producer Richard Perry talks to Robert Partridge ...
Average White Band: Show Your Hand (MCA)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 7 July 1973
Well-above Average ...
Han Bennink, John Stevens: It All Began With Chick Webb
Report by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 14 March 1970
SINCE THE days when Chick Webb arrived at a gig armed with gongs, tubular bells, Chinese temple blocks, and an African sunset painted on the ...
The Go-Betweens: Camden Palace, London
Live Review by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 1 December 1984
GOING GONE ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 25 May 1996
THE WORDS that come to mind are the ones uttered by Eric Cantona to an adoring Leeds crowd after winning the League Championship in 1992. ...
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
WHILE DAVID "Headhunter" Mellor is never likely to draw himself away from rucking at footy and quaffing at the opera for long enough to acknowledge ...
Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 17 May 1997
96 REASONS WHY ...
Mike Westbrook: Present use of the past tense
Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 13 June 1981
IT WAS AN appropriate setting to meet Mike Westbrook, perhaps the most decidedly English of all jazzmen: an English garden. ...
Oasis, Supergrass: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 3 January 1998
DURACELL-ING THEMSELVES SHORT? ...
Faust, Slapp Happy: Faust: Machine Heads
Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 October 1973
THE MACHINES are taking over. My cassette recorder has started talking back at me and a minute ago my typewriter savaged my left hand. And ...
Tony Bennett: Taj Mahal, Atlantic City NJ
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 24 September 1994
IMAGINE GOING to see a man old enough to have been old at the birth or rock'n'roll, singing ballads inside a gigantic hotel with more ...
The Brides of Funkenstein, Funkadelic: Funkadelic: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978
FUNK CAN never be rendered; only worked through. It's simple and irreducible, a tempo and a feeling that have to be, and have to put ...
Fairport Convention: Hampstead Country Club, London
Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 7 February 1970
DAVE SWARBRICK recovered from a neck operation three days earlier to fiddle the audience literally off their feet, when Fairport Convention celebrated a triumphant return ...
The Icicle Works: In At The Deep End
Interview by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 18 January 1986
Have THE ICICLE WORKS suddenly become hip? Do they actually have something to say? Penny Kiley thinks so. ...
Bob Stewart: Tuba, or not tuba?
Interview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 9 January 1982
This could be the age of the tuba players... time for the likes of BOB STEWART. Brian Case is on oom pah. ...
Nine Inch Nails: International 2, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 21 September 1991
LOOSE SCREWS ...
Leo Sayer: Imperial College, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 January 1975
Sayer passes concert test ...
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross: Lambert, Hendricks and Ross: Fully paid up in the hod carrier's union
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 October 1966
DAVE LAMBERT, 49-year-old jazz singer, composer and vocal arranger who was killed by a passing truck on the Connecticut Turnpike last week, was regarded as ...
Art Ensemble of Chicago, Joseph Jarman: Joseph Jarman: dreaming of the masters
Interview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
For many people, Joseph Jarman was the revelation of the Chicago Art Ensemble's London debut. Afterwards he talked to BRIAN CASE. ...
Spiritualized: Reading University, Reading
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
VERBALIZED! ...
Rick Nelson: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972
RICK NELSON at London's Royal Albert Hall on Monday is going to go down as one of the more curious events of the year. Curious ...
Live Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 19 January 1985
KING OF THE CASTLE ...
Suede, T. Rex: Tape Heads: Ed Buller meets Tony Visconti
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 12 March 1994
While even the most basic recordings get increasingly hi-tech, many modern producers are still searching for the vibey sounds of yesteryear. In the first of ...
Sting: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 8 May 1993
I GO TO see Sting. He's not as excruciating as I expected, but he is dull, dull, dull. Why? ...
Eric Burdon, War: Burdon on War, Peace, Love and Hate
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 18 July 1970
HIGH UP on the sixth floor of the plush Londonderry Hotel, Mayfair, Eric Burdon was sitting with his feet, clad in pumps, tucked beneath him; ...
Live Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 9 May 1998
TEN YEARS on, and the Acid House Gods are smiley-ing on Winchester like the trippy Teletubbies sun-baby. Dance music's cream — and plenty of cheese, ...
Cornershop: Falcon, Camden, London
Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 24 September 1994
SITAR SICKNESS ...
Overview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 18 March 1989
RIGHT NOW, MUDHONEY ARE THE STANDARD BEARERS FOR SEATTLE'S NEW GENERATION OF THRASH METAL MERCHANTS, BUT THERE IS A LEGION OF OTHER BANDS READY AND ...
The Ronettes, Ronnie Spector: Ronnie Spector: The Continental Baths, New York NY
Live Review by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 4 May 1974
NEW YORK: 42nd Street and 8th Avenue met at the Continental Baths last night! In true Midler-style, "tacky" was the word, but it was glorious ...
Puff Daddy and The Family: No Way Out (Arista 17 tks/78 mins)
Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 2 August 1997
THE ART OF FLATULENCE The single, you'll know. It's the sound of the Police. PUFF DADDY's album is here, and to be honest, it's the ...
David Bowie: Tape Heads: Ed Buller meets Tony Visconti, part 2
Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 19 March 1994
In the second and final part of our head to head interview featuring legendary T Rex/Bowie producer TONY VISCONTI and Suede and Pulp producer ED ...
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 7 September 1991
BRIGHTON, summertime. Sea breezes, sunshine in the park, the smell of new-mown dogshit... and Spitfire! (short for Jefferson Spitfire, don't you know). Yeah! Rock'n'roll! Cruisin' ...
Tom Jones, Stereophonics: Stereophonics and Tom Jones: Valley Boys
Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 1 March 2000
We join two generations of Welsh superstars — Stereophonics and Tom Jones — as they swap the green, green grass of home for LA, and ...
Wall Of Voodoo: Marquee, London
Live Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 1 December 1984
LOCO MOTIVE ...
Napalm Death, Obituary: Obituary, Napalm Death: Astoria, London
Live Review by Neil Perry, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
LIVE EXCITEMENT this constant, this direct, this feral is the stuff of legend. Napalm Death were, are, frigging superb, and there's no other way to ...
Interview by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
AN EMPTY hotel restaurant reverberates with the sound of waiters shovelling ice. In a corner, wearing black leather trousers, a zipped jacket and a black ...
Peter Hammill, Van Der Graaf Generator: Six-bob gigs which made Van der Graaf
Report and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 27 March 1971
PETER HAMMILL, do you think there is too much rock and roll around? ...
Kitchens Of Distinction: the Duchess Of York, Leeds
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 9 September 1989
"Let me sleep all night in your soul kitchen... stumbling in the neon glow." — The Doors, 1967. ...
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