Rock's Backpages: Search Results

Essay by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 18 February 1984

Should the rock press only reflect what's happening, or has it the power to make things happen? With the proliferation of teen pop glossies, which ...

Damned, The: The Damned: Fun! Fun! Fun?

Retrospective and Interview by Mark Paytress, MOJO, February 2013

Armed with "a license to cause mayhem", they created an "'orrible" speedball of a debut album. Before losing control…. Thirty five years on, all four founder ...

George Michael, Wham!: "Will George Michael Ever Appear On Stage Again"

Report and Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 3 January 1985

Of course he will. But that didn't stop people asking questions like that on the news the day he strained his back and Wham! had ...

Linda Ronstadt: Homecoming Queen: Linda Ronstadt

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, April 1995

Thirty years ago Linda Ronstadt left Tucson for the folk-rock Mecca of Los Angeles. Now the first lady of softly streamlined country returns to the ...

Nazz, The, Todd Rundgren: Todd Rundgren: Album By Album

Guide by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, February 2010

TODD RUNDGREN IS the Philadelphia-born whizzkid who could and should have been the biggest star of the '70s. Next month, the man John Lennon referred ...

The Rev. Charles M. Young calms down, grows up, and sings the joys of middle-age

Interview by Steven Ward, rockcritics.com, February 2001

BACK IN THE mid and late '70s, Charles M. Young – known then as The Rev. Charles M. Young – roamed the halls of Rolling Stone magazine ...

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 ...

Smiley Culture: Mark Paytress Meets Smiley Culture On The Cusp Of Fame, 1984

Interview by Mark Paytress, Rock's Backpages, March 2011

AS BRITAIN'S first successful MC, whose fast, fluid style had more in common with rap than reggae, Smiley Culture's place in history is assured. He ...

Donny Osmond: Big Brother

Profile and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Observer, 25 March 2001

He was on stage by five, on tour by eight and receiving 50,000 fan letters a week by 13. But behind his success lay loneliness, ...

Soft Cell: Marc Almond: The Whip Hand

Interview by Jon Savage, The Face, January 1982

…and who holds it? The pop process, alienation and sexuality discussed with Marc Almond. By JON SAVAGE. ...

Stooges, The: The Ig Unbound: Some of the Real Truth About Iggy Stooge

Profile and Interview by John Mendelssohn, Entertainment World, 29 May 1970

FOR THIS ridiculously typical young swinger doing the whole, you know, number right there in the center of the Whisky dance-floor the last 45 minutes ...

Lionel Richie: "There was something seriously wrong with Michael Jackson. But this is Hollywood"

Profile and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Event Magazine, 25 April 2015

The downside of marrying a model half his age. The day he discovered Michael Jackson was as mad as a snake. And why the Ku ...

David Bowie: Star Man

Profile and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Observer, 9 June 2002

After 35 years in the business and endless ch-ch-ch-changes, David Bowie, rock'n'roll's archetypal chameleon, has finally found equilibrium as a clean-living family man. Tim Cooper ...

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 ...

Suede: Saturday Night Fever

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 ...

Cocteau Twins: "None Of This Should Have Happened"

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, April 1987

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

Cecil Taylor: Culture Spinach and Chaos Theory

Comment by Don Snowden, Rock's Backpages, April 2018

ONCE I DECIDED to write something on Cecil Taylor moving on to the next phase, I went back and counted the number of his albums ...

Nirvana: Good Riffs, Good Drumming, Great Screaming!

Retrospective and Interview by Gillian G. Gaar, MOJO, January 2005

Good Riffs, Good Drumming, Great Screaming!... that's how producer Jack Endino recalls Nirvana's first proper studio stint. Three hours and 10 songs later, Kurt Cobain ...

Foo Fighters, Nirvana: Foo Fighters: Happy Dave Is Here Again

Interview by Stuart Bailie, Vox, June 1997

Dodgy facial furniture aside, Dave Grohl is, without doubt, the most well-adjusted man in rock as he prepares to lead Foo Fighters onto further glory ...

Tears For Fears: "We're going to weird out like you wouldn't believe!"

Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 1 January 1986

1985 was quite a year for Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal. They had a number one single and album in America and massive hits just ...