Chart Pop
1,246 articles
Pat Boone: Cover Personality: Pat Boone
Profile by June Harris, Disc, 7 February 1959
JUST FOUR years ago this month, a young singer called Pat Boone made his debut on record. Since then, amid the overnight wonders and the ...
Marty Wilde: Shakespeare Swotting — that's For Me Says Marty Wilde
Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 29 April 1961
PETER JONES REPORTS ...
Adam Faith: Jack Good Reveals the 'Real' Adam Faith
Interview by June Harris, Disc, 6 May 1961
He's back to work on TV, films and two LPs ...
Bobby Vee: The Old Rock Has Gone For Good
Interview by June Harris, Disc, 2 December 1961
Bobby Vee talks to DISC ...
Bobby Vee: I Wish You All As Good A Time As I Will Have
Interview by June Harris, Disc, 23 December 1961
BOBBY VEE sends an exclusive Christmas message to DISC ...
Eden Kane: No Risks — That Third Hit Was Far Too Vital
Interview by June Harris, Disc, 27 January 1962
EDEN KANE talks about 'Forget Me Not' ...
Bobby Vee Gets a Pleasant Shock at British TV
Interview by June Harris, Disc, 3 February 1962
HERALDED BY more than 200 members or his British fan dab, and flanked by officials from the Liberty Recording Company, Bobby Vee flew into Britain ...
Rolf Harris: Rolf-Of-Every-Trade
Interview by Ian Dove, New Musical Express, 21 February 1962
ROLF HARRIS, the man who currently makes with 'Sun Arise' one of the most interesting noises in the hit parade, was tired. He had been ...
Doris Day: Doris Looks Younger Every Day
Profile by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 16 March 1962
REMEMBER THOSE not so far off days when the charts were aglow with Doris Day numbers like 'Sentimental Journey', 'Que Sera' and 'Secret Love'? They ...
Joey Dee & the Starliters: The Peppermint Boys Have A Great Chance
Profile by June Harris, Disc, 17 March 1962
IT IS SURPRISING that Joey Dee and the Starliters, next to Chubby Checker the most famous "twisters" in America, have not yet made it here ...
Connie Francis: Connie Will Rock For Britain!
Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 10 August 1962
THERE'LL BE no more weepie-weepie songs from Connie Francis once her current hit 'Vacation' leaves the charts... for Connie is to record special future releases ...
The Crickets, Frank Ifield, Bobby Vee: Ifield's Hit Turns Bobby Vee To C And W!
Interview by June Harris, Disc, 27 October 1962
THE SUCCESS of Frank Ifield in America has really converted Bobby Vee to country and western music! "I had no idea that C and W ...
Billy Fury: Billy Meets Billy – And Fury's Still A Liverpool Boy At Heart!
Report and Interview by Bill Harry, Mersey Beat, 1 November 1962
BILLY HATTON, bass guitarist with the Four Mosts, was re-united with a friend whom he had not seen for two years. The meeting took place ...
Tony Orlando: Give Him a Hit, and Tony Orlando Will Come Back to Britain
Profile by June Harris, Disc, 12 January 1963
IF "DISC DATE" reviewer Don Nicholl is right and 'Beautiful Dreamer' DOES make the charts, then Tony Orlando will be rushing back to Britain just ...
Brian Hyland: They Said I Was a One-Hit Boy Says Brian Hyland to Peter Jones
Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 2 February 1963
DISTINCTLY FUNNY, not to mention odd, is the disc career of the personable young Brian Hyland. It's been up-and-down with the persistence of a yoyo. ...
Tommy Steele, The Tornados: Alan Smith On Film Sets With The Tornados and Tommy Steele
Report and Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 8 February 1963
A HAUNTING theme-tune echoed across the stage of a dingy London theatre on Tuesday morning, as film cameras turned on that "Globetrotting" hit group, the ...
Billie Davis: No Nerves From Billie
Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 16 February 1963
HIT DISC, first go. That's Billie Davis, who has held off opposition from Alma Cogan and the American 'Tell Him' grouping the Exciters. And a ...
Billie Davis: "I'm just an ordinary sort of girl," says Billie Davis
Interview by June Harris, Disc, 23 February 1963
"I DIG BOYS, clothes, music and all the things other girls like," said Billie Davis. "I'm just A an ordinary type of girl. I mean, ...
The Bachelors: The Bachelor Boys Are Happy!
Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 8 March 1963
THE HAPPY Bachelors, celebrate their ninth week in the NME Chart today (Friday), standing at lucky No. 13 with their hit disc 'Charmaine'. ...
Cliff Richard, The Shadows: The Secret That Cliff Can't Tell!
Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 9 March 1963
CLIFF RICHARD is, for sure, the most successful pop entertainer in Britain right now. But could it be that he is becoming more popular abroad ...
Bobby Rydell: Twenty Years Plus Bobby
Profile and Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 23 March 1963
A SIGNIFICANT thing happened to Bobby Rydell when he was five years old. His father took him to see a stage show. And another stage ...
The arts in society: You're Sick, Daddy
Essay by Geoffrey Cannon, New Society, 25 April 1963
2018 author's note: My very first published piece, written for New Society, of which I was a founder-member of staff as the sub-editor and production ...
Live Review by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 26 April 1963
MIKE BERRY burst into the second half to the throbbing beat of 'La Bamba'. Close on its heels came his current release 'My Little Baby' ...
Bobby Rydell's British Recording Hits The Bull's Eye!
Interview by Ian Dove, New Musical Express, 24 May 1963
BOBBY RYDELL came from America in March to appear on Sunday Night At The London Palladium. While here he said: "Just lately I haven't been ...
Paul & Paula: Paul and Paula Make a Frank Statement About Marriage
Interview by Ian Dove, New Musical Express, 24 May 1963
PAUL AND PAULA, the "Young Lovers" who sing simple songs of love and tenderness to each and project the same kind of image, received poor ...
Lesley Gore: Parties Are Lucky For Lesley
Profile and Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 14 June 1963
MAKING HER chart bow this week with 'It's My Party', attractive Lesley Gore actually owes her disc success to the occasion she sang a song ...
Freddie & The Dreamers: Freddie, of the Dreamers, has a Weakness for 'Birds', Fruit and Squash
Interview by June Harris, Disc, 22 June 1963
FREDDIE GARRETTY ordered a glass of orange squash, six dishes of fruit salad, and confessed that two items share the number one spot in his ...
Lesley Gore: The Singing Rebel
Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 28 June 1963
IT'S THE BEATLES' favourite disc of the moment and it's sung by a 17-year-old American girl who had a genteel upbringing in the sedate neighbourhood ...
Bobby Rydell: Experiment Worked After Two Years Says Bobby Rydell
Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 19 July 1963
BOBBY RYDELL is head over heels at the success of his British-made disc 'Forget Him' — his first record to hit the NME Chart since 'Sway' almost ...
The Caravelles: Two Smart Girls
Profile by Ian Dove, New Musical Express, 9 August 1963
THE CARAVELLES sound "like so many Peggy Lees all singing at once," said one entranced listener when he heard their debut disc 'You Don't Have ...
Brenda Lee: A Brenda Bargain – Re-Issue Collection on Ace of Hearts
Report by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 17 August 1963
LITTLE MISS NEWLY-MARRIED has had, believe it or not, no less than SEVEN years in the music business. And that's seven years making discs too. ...
Heinz, Joe Meek: Faith Plus Enthusiasm: Heinz' Success Story
Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 17 August 1963
SO HEINZ crashes handsomely into the charts. After the false start of his debut solo disc, 'Dreams Do Come True', his "heartfelt" tribute to Eddie ...
Heinz: Disc Success Cut Heinz's Boat Holiday by 10 Days
Interview by June Harris, Disc, 24 August 1963
HEINZ DIDN'T get very far on his recent boating holiday. In fact, he only spent four days on the water out of a planned 14! ...
Cliff Richard: How Cliff Rose To Fame
Profile by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 7 September 1963
David Griffiths spotlights the early days of Cliff's career... ...
The Bachelors Have Split up — But Only to Get More Space
Interview by June Harris, Disc, 14 September 1963
THE BACHELORS have split up. Not for real, but much to the relief of Con Clusky and John Stokes, youngest member Dec Clusky has moved ...
Tommy Roe wants to crack London Town wide open!
Report and Interview by June Harris, Disc, 14 September 1963
...and June Harris shows him around ...
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? ...
Live Review by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 12 October 1963
WHEN LARRY Parnes puts out a touring show, he puts out a big 'un. He slams in plenty of acts, plenty of variety, plenty of ...
Cliff Richard, The Shadows: Cliff Richard & The Shadows: Cliff's New Film and Hank's New Guitar!
Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 19 October 1963
IT WAS BUSY-ness as usual for birthday boy Cliff Richard this week. On Sunday night he cut his next record (out in about three weeks) ...
Helen Shapiro: Will Helen Make Her Comeback in 1964?
Report and Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 21 December 1963
From child prodigy to star of stage, screen etc. That's the career of young Helen Shapiro. She has a talent way ahead of her years. ...
Heinz: I Won't Rest Until I Hit The Charts Jackpot
Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 4 January 1964
HEINZ HAS TWO BEST SELLERS TO HIS CREDIT NOW, BUT REFUSES TO SIT BACK AND TAKE THINGS EASY ...
Gene Pitney: I Feel So Comfortable in Britain, Says Gene
Report and Interview by June Harris, Disc, 15 February 1964
"TWENTY-FOUR hours from home!" That was Gene Pitney's comment when he flew into London from Paris last Wednesday for a day on his way back ...
Heinz: Tours, Films, a Summer Season... It's ALL Happening This Year
Interview by June Harris, Disc, 15 February 1964
Heinz talks to June Harris about 1964 ...
Cilla Black, Lulu, Sandie Shaw: Cathy McGowan, Sandie Shaw, Cilla Black, Lulu: Screening the Girls
Interview by Sylvia Stephen, Fabulous, 21 February 1964
SHE WANDERED into my office looking a bit vague — a tall, slender girl, with long, straight dark hair. Tinted glasses hid her lovely blue-grey ...
Eden Kane: I Thought I Was a Has-Been
Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 22 February 1964
EDEN KANE TALKS TO DAVID GRIFFITHS ABOUT HIS CHART COMEBACK ...
Interview by Keith Altham, Fabulous, 21 March 1964
Each week millions of eager record buyers watch Juke Box Jury and they know three young girls who have a knack of picking hits, Adrienne ...
Billy J. Kramer, Cilla Black, Gerry & The Pacemakers: Fab Gives Cilla a 21st Gig
Report by Keith Altham, Fabulous, 23 May 1964
Cilla Black's a mighty popular popster and Fab fans of hers wrote in droves asking about Cilla's birthday. Since her 21st was coming up we just had to ...
The Honeycombs: Have they the right to take chart honours?
Profile and Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 4 July 1964
HONEY LANTREE really wanted to be a hairdresser — but she also had the unusual hobby for a girl of being a talented beat drummer. ...
The Dave Clark Five: The Dave Clark 5: Wot! Yeah! Smith's the Name
Interview by Sylvia Stephens, Fabulous, 1 August 1964
SYLVIA MEETS FABULOUS MIKE OF THE DAVE CLARK 5 ...
The Honeycombs: The Haphazard Hit
Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 15 August 1964
THEY'VE BEEN professionals less than six weeks, they all came together and formed a group in the most haphazard and casual way, they made a ...
Chad & Jeremy: They lapped up our accents in America!
Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 22 August 1964
AMERICAN VASTNESS, drive, power and commercial pop know-how: these things continue to produce varying reactions from the now-numerous British show biz stars who have toured ...
Gene Pitney, The Supremes: Gene Pitney's 72 Days With The Supremes
Interview by Ian Dove, New Musical Express, 2 October 1964
GENE PITNEY recently took a bus journey with the Supremes. They shared front seat views — FOR 72 DAYS AND OVER 30,000 MILES. Gene, who ...
Heinz's Hat, Some Surfing, & The Sharks!
Interview by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 31 October 1964
THE FACT that Heinz has just visited Australia stuck out the proverbial mile when I met him last week, after an exhausting two week tour ...
The Dave Clark Five: Of Course I'm No Krupa
Interview by Keith Matthews, Record Mirror, 7 November 1964
"IS YOUR image slipping," I enquired of Dave Clark during our chat prior to his colossal American tour. There is an impression around that Dave ...
The Honeycombs: 'Our Image Needs To Change'
Interview by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 28 November 1964
"WE WANT TO change our image" were the first words of Honeycomb Dennis D'Ell, lead vocalist. Dennis was worried, not only about their records, but ...
The Chipmunks: He Is Those Chipmunks
Interview by Maureen Cleave, The San Francisco Examiner, 29 November 1964
Ross Bagdasarian's Electronic Creatures Are Vastly Real ...
The Shangri-Las, Twinkle, J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers: The Death Disc Race
Report by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 9 January 1965
HOW DO you feel about death? In pop music, I mean. Death is inevitable for all of us, that's certain. But there's a great deal ...
Sandie Shaw: Girl in a Girl's World: To Make Sandie Sure...
Interview by Jean-Marie, Rave, February 1965
Beginning a new rave series spotlighting each month a different girl star and the special world in which she lives. ...
Interview by Keith Altham, Fabulous, 6 February 1965
Keith Altham with the facts on the new Lee scene ...
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 19 March 1965
BACK from a hectic five-day promotional tour of France I found Sandie Shaw and composer Chris ('Long Live Love') Andrews seated at a piano in ...
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 ...
Unit 4+2: Unit With The Crazy Nicknames
Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 27 March 1965
UNIT FOUR Plus 2. A bit cumbersome as a title? Ah, but remember the man who pioneered ball point pens in America just after World ...
Adam Faith: A New Breakthrough For Faith?
Interview by Dawn James, Rave, April 1965
THE HOUSE was long and low, and the path leading to it crazy. I walked into an elegant hall. "Mr. Faith is in the lounge," ...
Live Review by Keith Altham, Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 16 April 1965
IT WAS THE GREATEST POP SHOW ON EARTH ...
Peter and Gordon: Peter & Gordon Are Poles Apart
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 30 April 1965
BEFORE THEIR trip to Japan and the Far East I lunched with Peter Asher and his sparring partner Gordon Waller, and a more unlikely combination ...
Cilla Black, Randy Newman: Cilla Black: "The Song My Mum Doesn't Like"
Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 1 May 1965
WHAT I asked Cilla Black was what she thought of the controversy surrounding her latest single, 'I've Been Wrong Before'. And a Liverpool accent which ...
Report and Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 1 May 1965
Manchester's musical conquest of the States, by Peter Jones ...
Report by Nancy Lewis, Fabulous, 5 June 1965
Nancy Lewis, FAB's Stateside visitor, was invited to a Herman Recording Session — one with a difference — guaranteed to set the Record Stores' tills ...
P.J. Proby Inspires Heated Emotions
Report and Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 30 June 1965
'l Love Him' Sobs Teen – Others Want Him Banned ...
Ian Whitcomb: Meet English Singer Ian Whitcomb
Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 7 July 1965
Beat Takes You For Chat At Tower Records Setting ...
Interview by Nancy Lewis, Fabulous, 17 July 1965
To tell the truth, Nancy Lewis was a bit scared about meeting P. J. — the star who has been mixed up in so much ...
The Dave Clark Five: Dave Clark is Plane Unlucky
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 30 July 1965
DAVE CLARK arrived back in Britain on Tuesday from America six hours late. His original plane had to return to Kennedy Airport with a damaged ...
Comment by Dawn James, Rave, August 1965
WARMTH, TINGLE, love. Eyes that penetrate to the farthest seats in the theatre. Magnetism by a fragile body. A person, just like any other, only ...
Sonny & Cher: Sonny Became Singer Giving Cher Courage
Report and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 13 August 1965
"I NEVER intended to be a singer," confessed Sonny, when I found him squatting on the stairs in the corridors of a BBC Theatre in ...
Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders, Herman's Hermits: Hermania Sweeps U.S.! Wayne and Hermits Mobbed
Report by June Harris, Disc Weekly, 14 August 1965
IT'S RIOTS, riots all the way for Herman's Hermits and Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders on their tour of the States. American fans are teeming ...
Chad & Jeremy: Chad Eyes Future Career During Split With Jeremy
Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 21 August 1965
BECAUSE THE recording duo of Chad & Jeremy are currently performing separate functions, many unfounded rumors have been traveling the record circuit. ...
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 ...
Sonny & Cher Take Over Three Chart Spots! Including the Top!
Report and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 27 August 1965
Keith Altham spent four days with them to write this revealing article ...
Review by Richard Green, Record Mirror, 28 August 1965
SONNY & CHER — THEIR FIRST GREAT L.P.! ...
Sonny & Cher: The Mad Mad World of Sonny And Cher!
Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc Weekly, 4 September 1965
SONNY and Cher had just arrived in their manager's office in Los Angeles. It was 2.30 p.m. and they had bounced happily back from a ...
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. ...
Sonny & Cher: NMExclusive: Transatlantic phone call reveals... Sonny's Collapsed!
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 17 September 1965
BUT THEY'VE BROKEN RECORDS ACROSS U.S. ...
The Honeycombs: 'I Lead A Double Life' Says Honey
Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 18 September 1965
"I'M GETTING quite used to being Honey Lantree now," said Honey Lantree. For when I met this most charming of drummers a year ago she ...
Jonathan King: X-Certificate Jonathan King
Interview by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 18 September 1965
JONATHAN TALKS TO NORMAN JOPLING ABOUT THE LYRICS HE WAS FORBIDDEN TO USE... ...
Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 4 October 1965
Rock-and-Roll Party Bedlam ...
Dusty Springfield: Sunday Paper Scared off Dusty's Man
Report and Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 15 October 1965
THE DELECTABLE Miss Dusty Springfield was in candid mood when I spoke to her this week — about wigs, her nose . . . and ...
The Lettermen: Lettermen Relate Secret Of Success
Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 16 October 1965
Top Pop Group For Five Years ...
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 22 October 1965
SONNY struck back last week! When I phoned him at his home in Los Angeles recently, I got him out of bed at five o'clock ...
The Fortunes: Fortunes Admit It: They Use Session Boys!
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 29 October 1965
THE FORTUNES go on record as the first group I have met who have had the honesty to admit they use session musicians on their ...
Herman's Hermits in LA: Herman at Home
Report and Interview by Ann Moses, Rhythm 'n' News, 29 October 1965
How He Was Almost Thrown in Jail! ...
Herman's Hermits in LA: Herman's Excitement; Keith's Disappointment
Report and Interview by Ann Moses, Rhythm 'n' News, 5 November 1965
This concludes a two-part EXCLUSIVE Rhythm 'n' News interview with Herman's Hermits during their stay in Hollywood. ...
The Knickerbockers: No Lie! It's a Big Hit For Knickerbockers
Interview by Ann Moses, Rhythm 'n' News, 27 November 1965
NO. 4 IN 2 WEEKS ...
Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 3 December 1965
"CHUTCHY-FACE." That would have been comedian Bernie Winters' name for Cliff Richard only a few months ago, when Cliff was a chubby-cheeked character who could ...
Sonny & Cher: Sonny and Cher: We're In Love, That's The Secret Of Success
Memoir by Keith Altham, New Musical Express Annual, 1966
IT WAS ON July 31, 1965, that a stocky little man dressed after the fashion of an Eskimo bounced across the reception hall in London ...
Herman's Hermits: My 4 Days and Nights with Herman
Report and Interview by June Harris, Teen Life, January 1966
SUDDENLY, THE reasonably quiet pool at the Seville Hotel on Miami Beach became a mass of young people shouting, screaming and running in every which ...
Lou Christie: Gypsy Helps Lou Make Hit Discs
Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 8 January 1966
LOU CHRISTIE strolled into The BEAT offices today and completely charmed the entire female portion of our staff. He's an absolute gas, a guy you ...
Jay & The Americans: A Winning Recipe For Jay and The Americans
Profile by uncredited writer, KRLA Beat, 22 January 1966
TAKE THREE college students who like to sing. Add a shoe salesman (you wear out a lot of shoes on the road to success). Toss ...
Nancy Sinatra: Nancy — 'Why I'd Like To Give Up Singing'
Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 5 February 1966
AN EXCITED Nancy Sinatra talked animatedly on the long distance phone from America. I'd phoned to offer congratulations on the sudden, but massive, success of ...
Sonny & Cher: A Local Boy Makes Good: Sonny (of Sonny and Cher)
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 18 February 1966
WHEN SONNY and Cher come to Detroit for their performance at the Masonic Auditorium Sunday, Sonny will be returning to his hometown. ...
Cilla Black: Cilla Sings a Rainbow (Parlophone)
Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 23 April 1966
CILLA: A SUPER NEW LP ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick And Tich: Dave Dee Laughs, Too — All Way To The Bank!
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 13 May 1966
DAVE DEE, DOZY, Beaky, Mick and Tich are a gift to mediocre comedians who fall about making "unpunny" remarks like: "Oh, yes, 'Wavy Lee, Drunken, ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick And Tich: Focus on BEAKY and DOZY
Profile and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 20 May 1966
BEAKY (real name John Dymond) is the gaunt-faced rhythm guitarist with the group whose sinister looks contradict his "matey" nature. He has a fund of ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Focus on MICK…and TICH
Profile and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 27 May 1966
MICK began his musical career banging about on biscuit tins, inspired by Bill Haley records like 'See You Later Alligator'. "I just listened to the ...
Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 28 May 1966
Subdued Animals — smash hit! ...
Crispian St. Peters: Chelsea (The Football Team) versus Crispian St. Peters
Report and Interview by Richard Green, Record Mirror, 11 June 1966
STRANGE BLEATING noises from the rear of a Comet, vague attempts to chat up the stewardess and an almost non-stop barrage of olives and pieces ...
Paul and Barry Ryan: Ryans Feel Established
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 12 August 1966
I ARRIVED nearly an hour late at Harold Davison's Regent Street office for my interview with Paul and Barry Ryan due to freak monsoon weather ...
Comment by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 13 August 1966
HOLLYWOOD: The hot, cigarette-stale air belched out of the Whiskey and onto the Strip. The sardine-like inside of the club drew its breath from the ...
Live Review by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 2 September 1966
Communication means everything for Sonny & Cher ...
Sonny & Cher: They're Pop's Most Lovable Couple
Report and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 9 September 1966
IT'S THAT 'Little Man' again and bouncing back into the NME Chart this week at No. 18 comes popdom's most lovable couple, Mr. and Mrs. ...
The Monkees: Mistaking The Four Monkees
Profile by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 10 September 1966
JUST PICTURE one very pretty princess who is about to become queen and one very jealous uncle who is determined to do her in before ...
Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 25 September 1966
Monkees Ape Their Betters ...
Brian Hyland: 'Gassy' Go Around With Brian Hyland
Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 8 October 1966
"IT'S A GAS!" ...
Live Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 8 October 1966
They're Off! Walkers, Troggs, Dave Dee ...
Live Review by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 8 October 1966
Scott Was The Hit On Walker Tour First Night ...
Report and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 14 October 1966
ACTION stations for Sonny and Cher. In a transatlantic phone call from his home in Encino, Sonny told me that their first film, Good Times, ...
Herman's Hermits, Peter Noone: Herman To Fool Them And Leave Wax For An Acting Career
Profile by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 22 October 1966
FUNNY HOW someone comes along, walks into a scene he didn't make. Has a hit and hears that he'll never last 'cause he has no ...
The Association: Association Set Tour, Book, Album And Movie
Report by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 19 November 1966
IF THE totally insane idea ever runs through your head, even for a second, do yourself a favor and get rid of it. Fast. Because ...
Profile by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 19 November 1966
MOST GROUPS happen. The Monkees were made. If they weren't intentionally created, it is conceivable that they would not exist for it is highly unlikely ...
Cilla Black: The Girl Behind The Giggle
Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express Annual, 1967
SHE'S EITHER LOVED OR HATED ...
Report by Ann Moses, Tiger Beat, January 1967
SUNDAY ...
Review by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 14 January 1967
GOODIES THIS WEEK INCLUDE A MUCH-BETTER ROLLING STONES, SIMILAR, BUT DISTINCTIVE SOUND FROM TOPS, AND A PLAINTIVE PAUL JONES, NOT-SO INSTANT VAUDEVILLE BAND, AND A ...
The Monkees: Olympia Stadium, Detroit MI
Live Review by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 15 January 1967
Monkees Swing into City And Put Teens in Frenzy ...
The Monkees: Monkees a Target on Stage — 'Please Don't Throw Things'
Report by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 20 January 1967
SCREAMING. Jumping up on seats. Flashbulbs popping and then whizzing by onto the stage. Sobbing and hysteria. Police dragging kicking, clawing insanely crying girls out. ...
The Monkees: Their Buddy Tells You About the Real Monkees
Report by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 20 January 1967
FOG DELAYED the plane carrying Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, Davey Jones and Micky Dolenz to Detroit last Saturday. So the Monkees arrived only an hour ...
The Monkees: The Monkees (RCA)
Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 21 January 1967
CATCHEE MONKEES — on their first great LP ...
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 Monkees: Cow Palace, Daly City CA
Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 23 January 1967
A Gleeful Time With the Monkees Spoofing, Chatter Thrill Youngsters ...
Review by uncredited writer, Hit Parader, February 1967
SUNSHINE SUPERMAN, Donovan's first big "commercial" success, is a beautiful, poetic, soothing, soaring, lyrical, rhythmic, groovy experience. ...
The Monkees: Monkees Amid Controlled Confusion
Report by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 11 February 1967
WHAT IS THIS, Knock The Monkees Year? Some sort of a giant conspiracy to destroy, devour and flush four people down the drain to wallow ...
The Monkees, Michael Nesmith: I Was Hungry, Ugly, Skinny, Poor! By MIKE NESMITH
Interview by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 18 February 1967
IT'S VERY hard for me to write about my life, since I can't remember farther back than two years! I don't think there's much of ...
The Monkees: Boyce and Hart: What It's Like Cutting The Monkees
Interview by Eden, KRLA Beat, 25 February 1967
"WE'VE HAD many, many funny experiences with the Monkees in the studio, beginning with the first session we ever had with them. We met them ...
Report and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 25 February 1967
DAVY JONES – the little Monkee with a big heart – arrived via Nassau last week wearing a battered black top hat, purchased from a ...
Herman's Hermits, Peter Noone: Herman's Hermits: After Noone In Hollywood
Interview by Danny Fields, Hullabaloo, March 1967
Can a straight cat from England find happiness in America the beautiful? Tune in to day's heart-warming installment: Alone With The Hermit, By Danny Fields. ...
The Dave Clark Five: Why the Dave Clark Five is So Great
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 24 March 1967
TED LUCAS of the Spike Drivers once said, "In a pop world publicity becomes real." The Dave Clark Five's publicity releases represent them as one ...
The Royal Guardsmen: School-Going Guardsmen Still Sparetime Hitsters
Interview by June Harris, New Musical Express, 25 March 1967
SNOOPY HAS turned out to be worth a cool three million discs for the Royal Guardsmen, but as far as the group's concerned, they're now ...
The Monkees: Mike Grant meets Davy Jones, the Mini Monkee
Interview by Mike Grant, Rave, April 1967
MY ADVICE to anyone thinking of making a "monkey" out of Davy Jones is to forget it! ...
The Monkees: More Of The Monkees (RCA)
Review by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 8 April 1967
IT'S A STRANGE thing to review an LP which you know will go to the top of the LP charts and sell a load of ...
Review by Peter Jones, Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 22 April 1967
Orbison Gibson album — a fine LP but could be depressing... ...
Herman's Hermits, Peter Noone: The Kaleidoscope That Is Peter Noone
Profile by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 22 April 1967
HE'S ACTUALLY a kaleidoscope. Young, old, funny, serious. A businessman, a clown, an extremely competent actor. Formally known as Herman, he now prefers to be ...
Review by Peter Jones, Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 6 May 1967
Some sophisticated new Motown albums ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Dave Dee Raps U.S. Censors
Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 12 May 1967
I ALMOST WISH England's Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich hadn't changed their names a couple of years ago from Dave Dee and The ...
The Monkees: Colour Monkees Are Terrific
Film/DVD/TV Review by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 27 May 1967
DAVY JONES is sitting in a chair facing the camera. His face has a rich brown tan, and his brown eyes and brown hair stand ...
The Monkees: Monkees' Headquarters
Review by June Harris, Tracy Thomas, New Musical Express, 27 May 1967
MONKEES' NEW LP TRACK-BY-TRACKFrom June Harris & Tracy Thomas in America ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: No Beards for Dave Dee & Co!
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 17 June 1967
ROLLING Stone Brian Jones once described himself as "a straight Ernie." And the same might be said of Dave Dee. An "Ernie," I was assured ...
The Monkees, Ike & Tina Turner: Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Tracy Thomas, New Musical Express, 24 June 1967
WELCOME MONKEES! And here is a preview of what you may see at Wembley... ...
Interview by Maureen O'Grady, Rave, July 1967
It's our RAVE way of congratulating the Tremeloes on their fantastic return to success. For the inside story Maureen O'Grady reports... ...
Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, July 1967
Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart are responsible for a lot of Monkee music and soon, a lot of their own music. In the following interview ...
The Monkees: Empire Pool, Wembley, London
Live Review by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 8 July 1967
CERTAINLY THE best-produced pop-music presentation I've ever seen — that's a summary of the Monkees in concert at the massive 10,000-seater Wembley Pool. Constant changes ...
Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, August 1967
IF YOU own the first two Monkees' albums, you know that Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart wrote 'Last Train To Clarksville', 'I'm Not Your Steppin' ...
Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 5 August 1967
SANDIE SHAW was engaged in something of a friendly battle with an Italian waiter at the Palace Hotel, Viareggio, when I finally caught up with ...
The Monkees: Bob Rafelson: Man Behind The Monkees
Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 12 August 1967
Why I picked THESE four ...
The Four Seasons: Four Seasons Speaking of Success
Interview by Jacoba Atlas, KRLA Beat, 12 August 1967
LOS ANGELES – The Four Seasons came to the West Coast to perform in the area for the first time and completely conquered all who ...
The Monkees: Olympia Stadium, Detroit MI
Live Review by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 14 August 1967
12,000 SHRIEKERS Monkees' Show is a Happening ...
The Flowerpot Men: Flowered, Belled and Beaded
Interview by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, 23 September 1967
"I WAS strolling casually through the dining-car of a British Railways choo-choo train the other day, flowered belled and beaded, as befits a Flowerpot Man, ...
The Monkees: It's Monkeeteers Now! — all forone and one for all
Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 30 September 1967
Says MONKEE friend, SAMANTHA JUSTE to ALAN SMITH ...
The Herd Take Over As Screamers' New Idols
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 28 October 1967
MY CONTENDER as the man "most likely to get ripped to pieces by hysterical females" in 1967 is Peter Frampton, the seventeen-year-old vocal-guitarist with the ...
Sandie Shaw: Her Anatomical Assets
Report and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 4 November 1967
PROVING quite conclusively that she has legs right up to her shoulders, Sandie Shaw wearing her self-designed string mini dress (or was it a vest?) ...
The Foundations: Before This Record, We Were Just What You'd Call 'Bums' Say The Foundations
Interview by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, 11 November 1967
IT'S ENOUGH to make psychedelia and Flower Power turn in its grave. I mean, how dare a group like the Foundations have the effrontery to ...
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 25 November 1967
I WENT several rounds with Eve Taylor and Sandie Shaw over dinner last Friday, where among other things we discussed her performance at last week's ...
The Beatles, Ravi Shankar: A New Development — An Electric Sitar
Report by uncredited writer, KRLA Beat, 2 December 1967
ELEVEN YEARS ago a pixieish Indian named Ravi Shankar hit these shores. His sole objective in coming here was to make the western world aware ...
The Tokens: Suddenly it's Happening for the Tokens
Report and Interview by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 2 December 1967
THE BACK-ROOM boys of pop music, such as record producers, arrangers, engineers and managers, seem to be getting as much fame and fortune as the ...
The Herd: Peter Frampton: The New Breed of Pop Star
Interview by Dawn James, Rave, January 1968
A BIRD'S eye view of peter frampton of the herd With the looks of Scott Walker and the girl appeal of Steve Marriott, Peter Frampton of ...
Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Paul Revere & The Raiders: Dick Clark: Packager of Pop
Profile and Interview by Richard Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 7 January 1968
Though the folk-rock era ended his pop music dictatorship, there are signs Dick Clark is inching his way toward the center of the scene again. ...
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. ...
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! ...
Interview by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, 20 January 1968
'We think our version is best' say the Love Affair... ...
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. ...
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 ...
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! ...
John Fred and his Playboy Band: John Fred & His Playboy Band: The Controversy Surrounding 'Judy'
Interview by Rochelle Reed, KRLA Beat, 10 February 1968
HE'S 6'5" TALL and would have a difficult time going anywhere in disguise since he can't even find clothes to fit at Hollywood's better mens' ...
Love Affair: Join Rave in an Affair with the Love Affair
Interview by Mike Grant, Rave, March 1968
An amazing new group — and one of the youngest ever to top the Charts with their first record! ...
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 ...
The Four Seasons, Frankie Valli: Frankie Valli: "We Still Light Candles"
Interview by Tony Leigh, KRLA Beat, 9 March 1968
LONGEVITY IN the entertainment world is a fleeting dream for most performers. A handful out of all the acts brought forth are able to sustain ...
1910 Fruitgum Company: Simon's not our bag, says Fruitgum Co.
Interview by June Harris, New Musical Express, April 1968
I HAD A wonderful chat with two members of the 1910 Fruitgum Company this week about the success of 'Simon Says' in the U.K. and ...
Live Review by Keith Altham, Richard Green, New Musical Express, 6 April 1968
Concert review by Keith Altham ...
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 ...
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 Herd: Small Audiences Bring Down Herd
Interview by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, 27 April 1968
WHEN YOU'RE tired, exhausted, and in the right mood for a few weeks holiday, it must be pretty depressing not to be able to see ...
Amen Corner: A Bird's Eye View of Andy Fairweather Low
Interview by Dawn James, Rave, May 1968
This month Dawn James, our bird from RAVE, talks to the Amen Corner's Andy Fairweather Low. ...
Report by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 4 May 1968
Mike Nesmith wanted me to expose how rude he is reveals Ann Moses in this NMExclusive from Hollywood. ...
Live Review by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 11 May 1968
DAVE DEE ON STAGE — WHAT FORMS THE BASIS OF A GOOD STAGE ACT? ...
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 ...
The Herd: Hey, have YOU heard the HERD? The Herd: Brough Assembly Hall, Aylesbury
Live Review by Hugh Nolan, Disc and Music Echo, 1 June 1968
What progress is being made by the group voted Brightest Hope of '68 in Disc's Poll? Hugh Nolan reports ...
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 1 June 1968
MICKEY DOLENZ reveals their plans for a change of image in the future ...
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: Union Gap Play Only Own Songs On Stage
Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 22 June 1968
THE SUPREMES, the Animals and Union Cap have one thing in common — they all now feature the name of their lead singer before that ...
Esther and Abi Ofarim: The Dance That Lasted A Hundred Years...
Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 29 June 1968
RM's MULTI-LINGUAL DAVID GRIFFITHS TALKS TO ESTHER AND ABI OFARIM ABOUT THEIR NEW SINGLE ...
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: 16 Salutes The Union Gap
Profile and Interview by uncredited writer, 16 Magazine, July 1968
IN THIS day and age, with all the competition, it's quite an accomplishment to have a top ten record – especially for a new group. ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Nine Hits In A Row
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 20 July 1968
WHEN I arrived at the Lime Grove TV studios it was to find that Tich, Mick, Beaky, Dozy and Dave Dee (how about that for ...
Tommy James & The Shondells: The Chart Toppers Phone NME From New York
Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 27 July 1968
TOMMY JAMES and the Shondells are going into the studios this week to record some new Beatle songs and one of them may be their ...
The Monkees: A Very Personal Day With The Monkees!
Report by Carol Deck, Flip, August 1968
CAROL DECK (FLIP'S GIRL IN HOLLYWOOD) TAKES YOU ALONG TO SPEND A DAY ON THE MAD, MAD SET OF THE MONKEES' MOVIE! ...
Interview by Mike Grant, Rave, August 1968
HAVE YOU ever wondered what its like to hardly ever finish a meal in peace without someone thrusting an autograph book under your nose – ...
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 ...
Herb Alpert: My 'Guy' Called For No Great Vocal Pipes!
Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 3 August 1968
Says Herb Alpert to Alan Smith ...
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 ...
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: Gary Puckett Says: the Gap About to Widen
Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 22 November 1968
GARY PUCKETT and The Union Gap are not exactly the teeny-bopper group most people think they are. ...
Whatever Happened To All The Christmas Hits?
Report and Interview by David Hughes, Disc and Music Echo, 30 November 1968
REMEMBER THAT golden oldie from the King Presley, 'Blue Christmas'? 'Twas something of a hit four years ago, and in 1968 just about sums up ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Dave Dee's Happy To Make Instant Hits
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express Annual, December 1968
GROUPS come and go but Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, it seems, go on for ever. And the secret of their success? According ...
The Monkees, Michael Nesmith: Mike Nesmith Tells It Like It Really Is!
Interview by Carol Deck, Flip, December 1968
MIKE NESMITH has always been the most outspoken of the Monkees, but in this exclusive FLIP interview Mike reveals an astonishing honesty and candor about ...
Lulu: Learning New Things About Life
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 December 1968
'AM I A TIGER?' ...
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: Thoughts of the Union Gap
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 13 December 1968
WILL THEIR FANS LEAVE THEM? ...
Sandie Shaw: The Sandie Shaw Supplement (Pye Mono NPL 18232)
Review by uncredited writer, Record Mirror, 14 December 1968
ONCE AGAIN, it's my pleasure to announce that Sandie has come up with a gem of an album. There are those who disparage, in these ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus: Pop Music Does Not Damage The Brain Cells — Kasenetz Katz
Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 25 January 1969
NO PARTICULAR pretensions about the quality and progressiveness about the music created by the Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus. Just "sing-along, dance-along stuff with no hidden ...
1910 Fruitgum Company, Ohio Express: Buddha's Artie Ripp: You Don't Chew It Play It!
Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 1 March 1969
WHO WAS the man with the enormous ten-gallon hat? Why did he always chew gum? ...
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 ...
The Bee Gees: Was Robin The Key Figure In The Bee Gees' Success?
Interview by Keith Altham, Top Pops, August 1969
WITH ROBIN GIBB hurtling up the charts with his first solo single, 'Saved by the Bell', it would appear that the answer to the question, ...
The Foundations: Foundations Want To Progress
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Top Pops, 9 August 1969
And Colin wants to develop into a ballad singer. Smoother, more sophisticated styling for their new single, 'Born To Live'. ...
Robin Gibb: Was Robin the Key Figure in the Bee Gees' Success?
Interview by Keith Altham, Top Pops, 9 August 1969
WITH ROBIN Gibb hurtling up the charts with his first solo single, 'Saved by the Bell', it would appear that the answer to the question, ...
The Archies: The Archies Are Fictional, But Their Success Is Not
Report and Interview by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 5 November 1969
CRITICS MAY debate whether some rock groups that make hit records should exist at all but what can one say about a hit record made ...
The Box Tops: Dimensions, Nonstop, Super Hits
Review by Lester Bangs, Rolling Stone, 27 December 1969
THE BOX TOPS? Are you serious? Those yokel hacks grinding out rattly pop for the tyrannical Top 40? Those squeaky-clean goons in paisley scarves and ...
The Dave Clark Five: The Dave Clark 5's Mike Smith
Interview by Keith Altham, Record Mirror, 10 January 1970
NOT UNLIKE 'old man river' the Dave Clark Five keep rolling along and just when the critics are about to re-write their obituaries – missing ...
Buddy Holly, Tom Jones: 11 Years After, Buddy Holly Still Vital to Rock Music
Report by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 3 February 1970
THE TRAGEDY OF all tragedies in the rock world took place 11 years ego, Feb. 3, 1959. A plane, carrying Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper ...
Top Of The Pops: Are These The Two Most Frighteningly Powerful Men In Pop?
Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 7 February 1970
PROBABLY ONLY one in a thousand teenagers have the vaguest ideas who Mel Cornish and Stanley Dorfmann are, but in the pop record business they ...
Pickettywitch Take Up Dancing!
Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 21 March 1970
ONE GROUP which really seem to have a most positive and realistic approach to their future in the highly competitive record game are NME chart ...
Interview by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, June 1970
DESPITE having a successful single in 'Yellow River', Geoff Christie (front man of new group Christie) would have been happier had the group just not ...
Diana Ross Doesn't Miss Supremes
Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 4 July 1970
DIANA ROSS is a supremely confident person. She has progressed from being a member of just another Tamla Motown group called the Supremes, to making ...
Nancy Sinatra, The Osmonds: Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas NV
Live Review by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 22 August 1970
FRANK SINATRA played host to 500 members of the Press to celebrate the fourth anniversary of Caesar's Palace and his daughter Nancy's opening. ...
The Jackson 5: Jackson 5 Still Do Chores At Home
Profile and Interview by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 7 November 1970
OUTSIDE THEIR back window, the lights from the steel mill flashed as the molten metal poured into the waiting moulds, while the incinerators belched out ...
Tony Orlando: The Last Of The Teenage Idols
Retrospective by Bill Millar, Record Mirror, 3 April 1971
THE ODEON, Kingston-upon-Thames. Or maybe it was The Granada. It's 9.20 p.m. on the 15th February 1962 and Clarence 'Frogman' Henry has just boogied his ...
The Jackson 5: Jackson 5: Jacksons Give Teenyblacks Hope
Report by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 29 May 1971
FROM THIS SIDE of the Atlantic it may seem somewhat difficult to appreciate the Jackson-mania — and there is no other word for it — ...
Neil Diamond: The Jekyll and Hyde of Pop
Interview by Phil Symes, Disc and Music Echo, 12 June 1971
NEIL DIAMOND is a latter day Jekyll and Hyde. The quiet, hesitant, sensitive man you meet in a plush London hotel suite is nothing like ...
Jonathan King: My Ego? Its Still Huge Says Jonathan King
Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 24 July 1971
Each week Roy Carr puts an In-The-News name in the NME Hot Seat ...
The Monkees, Michael Nesmith: Michael Nesmith
Interview by Gene Guerrero, The Great Speckled Bird, 20 September 1971
MIKE NESMITH was a member of the Monkees, now he's doing his own thing, come see him at the press party at the Bistro. That's ...
The Bay City Rollers: New to the Charts: Bay City Rollers from Scotland
Profile by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 25 September 1971
NEXT IN the line of Scottish groups to make it South of the Border, called the Bay City Rollers, this week enter the NME charts at No. ...
The Osmonds: Forum, Inglewood CA
Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 6 December 1971
BUSINESS AT the bar Saturday in the Inglewood Forum lobby isn't brisk. The odor of hot dogs fills the room. Daddy Whitebucks, Pat Boone himself, ...
Herman's Hermits: Miss Brown, You've Got A Lovely Mother
Profile by Harold Bronson, UCLA Daily Bruin, 6 January 1972
I HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLE explaining my affection for the Kinks and Small Faces to my super-heavy Santana/Led Zeppelin affected friends without having to explain my ...
Dawn, Tony Orlando: Tony Orlando: Plague of False Dawns
Report and Interview by Mike Jahn, Baltimore Sun, 23 January 1972
LIFE USED to be simple for Tony Orlando. Then he became a rock star, sold 12 million records and started losing money. ...
The Archies, Carole King, The Monkees: Don Kirshner: I Discovered Carole King
Interview by James Johnson, New Musical Express, 12 February 1972
THEY MOST often call Don Kirshner the King of Bubble-gum. But he's not worrying. Sitting high in his suite at the Dorchester he has the ...
Chicory Tip: Progressive and Pop Narrow the Gap — Chicory Tip
Interview by James Johnson, New Musical Express, 4 March 1972
Chart's No.1 pop band ...
The Jackson 5, Michael Jackson: Michael Jackson: Schmaltz or Genius?
Comment by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 18 March 1972
In his day perhaps they thought Mozart was a hype ...
David Cassidy: Madison Square Garden, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 19 March 1972
David Cassidy was a roaring success ...
David Cassidy: The Real David Cassidy
Profile by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 19 March 1972
A FEW WORDS in defense of Mr. David Cassidy. What is this nonsense about "writhing sensuality" and "apple pie and sex"? ...
The Osmonds: Phase Three (MGM)
Review by Wayne Robins, Creem, May 1972
IT CAME AS no surprise when FAVE Magazine recently handed out its best of the year awards. Left unresolved was the question of who really ...
The Osmonds: They're Enough To Make You Scream…
Report by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 27 May 1972
LAST FRIDAY at High Noon it was 'teen time' at London's Churchill Hotel, where those Beetle-haired Monkee-faced and indecently wholesome Osmond Brothers (You have probably ...
Bobby Vee: Bye Bye Bobby – Meet Mr Villene
Profile and Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 26 August 1972
A CLAIM to fame you don't often associate with Bobby Vee is that he once sacked Bob Dylan from his band. Over here having just ...
New York Dolls, The Osmonds: The Top of Pop: The Dolls Will Be Heard From
Column by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 3 September 1972
THREE HEROES. You pay your money and you take your choice. Which one is yours? ...
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 ...
Gary Glitter: A Raven in Rich Plumage
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 4 November 1972
"YOU WILL bear in mind that he's got dreadful 'flu, won't you," says Gary Glitter's publicity agent when we fixed up the interview. And sure ...
The Jackson 5: Jacksons Fly In
Report by Robin Katz, Record Mirror, 4 November 1972
"AH KISSED Jer-a-maine three times," cried the tall girl as she ran into me, almost pushing me to the ground. "I saw Michael! I saw ...
The Jackson 5: On Tour With The Jackson 5
Report by Robin Katz, Record Mirror, 11 November 1972
Robin Katz goes behind the scenes to report on America's top soul group. ...
The Jackson 5: Don't Treat Them Like Children!
Report and Interview by Robin Katz, Record Mirror, 18 November 1972
Robin Katz continues her inside story of the Jackson Five with a frantic interview at the Churchill ...
Heinz, Joe Meek, The Tornados: Heinz: Just Like Eddie
Retrospective and Interview by John Pidgeon, Let It Rock, December 1972
EVEN IF HE was born in Germany as the music papers said, we always suspected that Heinz's hair wasn't really that colour. It was his ...
Profile and Interview by John Pidgeon, Let It Rock, February 1973
IT'S VERY EMBARRASSING to be caught out when you haven't done your homework. We hadn't planned much before we met Dave Berry because we automatically ...
Little Jimmy Osmond: Killer Joe (MGM SE 4855)
Review by Greg Shaw, Rolling Stone, 1 February 1973
WHO SAYS rock & roll is dead? Certainly not Mike Curb. Not only is he recycling his own career, signing up everybody he can find ...
Report and Interview by Ray Fox-Cumming, Disc, 3 February 1973
Sweet's Andy Scott Talks To Ray Fox-Cumming ...
Sweet: The Sweet Soft Underbelly of Rock
Report and Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 10 February 1973
FUNNY how moods change – there we all were...the Sweet and myself...in the bar, having a few drinks, sharing a joke or two y'know, getting ...
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 24 February 1973
HE COMES ON stage with Slade like an over-decorated, perambulating Christmas tree – smothered in silver-stars, gold and glitter from head to toe – but ...
The Four Seasons: Ten Years And Still Hanging On
Retrospective by Bob Fisher, Let It Rock, March 1973
IN AUGUST LAST YEAR Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons celebrated ten years as one of the most successful recording groups America has ever produced. ...
Kim Fowley, The Rockin' Berries: The Rockin' Berries v. Kim Fowley. Or, The Vulture Scoops the Pool
Essay by Phil Hardy, Let It Rock, March 1973
The only time the Rockin' Berries met Kim Fowley was in Los Angeles in 1964. Phil Hardy has met them both recently and found that ...
David Cassidy: A Partridge Planning to Leave the Nest
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 10 March 1973
Looking through the eyes of Caroline Boucher at DAVID CASSIDY, with whom she spent a day at his Los Angeles home ...
The Osmonds: Ever Thought Of Stringing Jimmy Up On Stage?
Report by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 10 March 1973
HAVE YOU heard? Donny Osmond's in town – along with big brother Alan – and the secret weeny bopper jungle telegraph knows where he's going ...
The Osmonds: The Business Of Being An Osmond
Report and Interview by Andrew Tyler, Disc, 10 March 1973
EDD LEFFLER knows just how to take care of his boys. He knows all about double and triple entendres and how reporters sometimes like to ...
The Osmonds: Golden Age Of The Osmonds
Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 17 March 1973
THE OSMONDS have been around for years and Alan has known success with earlier line-ups, but it is with Donny that the brothers have discovered ...
Rick Springfield: Tricky Ricky
Profile and Interview by Andrew Tyler, Disc, 17 March 1973
RICK SPRINGFIELD'S record company and management people, leaving nothing to chance, have been dropping the odd hint. Like the smart white-on-white, life-size poster that arrived ...
David Cassidy: Empire Pool, Wembley, London
Live Review by Ray Fox-Cumming, Disc, 24 March 1973
Nice one David! ...
Sweet: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 7 April 1973
I'M STILL trying to work this one out, but here's a brief rundown of what basically happened at the Sweet's Rainbow gig. ...
Interview by Rosalind Russell, Disc, 14 April 1973
IT'S FUNNY how you get preconceived ideas about places and people, and things usually turn out to be completely different to the picture you'd imagined. ...
Interview by Rosalind Russell, Disc, 5 May 1973
MRS CONNOLLY, where are you? Wherever you are, your son Brian is doing all right thank you. He has just bought a new car and ...
Comment by Jonathon Green, International Times, 17 May 1973
THEY'RE RIGHT, you know. I always had this sneeking suspicion that they might be, but ferchrissake, I never really wanted to talk about it before. ...
Donny Osmond, The Osmonds: Donny Osmond: Sometimes I Just Can't Believe We're on Top!
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Family Weekly, 20 May 1973
"We finally decided to go with me as a solo. There's no jealousy in the family about the decision. If I sing a solo record, ...
Suzi Quatro, Sweet: Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman: The Dynamic Duo Of Plastic Pop
Interview by Jonh Ingham, New Musical Express, 2 June 1973
Nicky Chinn is an ex-public schoolboy, Mike Chapman a one-time waiter. Together they're... The Dynamic Duo Of Plastic Pop ...
Suzi Quatro: This Is Suzi Quatro. She's Heavy
Interview by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 2 June 1973
ON THE HORIZON of Charles Street, London, or more precisely in the RAK Record Company offices, is a Star. Her name is Suzi Quatro. Five ...
The Jackson 5, Jermaine Jackson: Let's Hear a Scream For the Jackson Five
Profile by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 17 June 1973
"Hey, Jackson Five fan! Look at all this outasight J-5 groovy good stuff you can order! Hurry! Send away today! Fast delivery! Money-back guarantee" ...
Profile and Interview by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, July 1973
...with Hedgehoppers Anonymous, Simon Turner, 10cc, Ricky Wilde and the UK Gang ...
The Carpenters: Then And Now (A&M SP 3519)
Review by Arthur Levy, Zoo World, 2 August 1973
KAREN AND Richard, Carpenters, greased and ready to kick the sleazy jams and jellies out of Tin Can Alley and back out onto Sunset Strip ...
The Osmonds: Br-r-r-ring... Hi, this is Alan Osmond
Interview by Ian MacDonald, New Musical Express, 4 August 1973
WIMP ROCK AND WEIRD CITY. IT'S THE OSMONDS GROWING UP. IAN MacDONALD REPORTS ...
Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 1 September 1973
"Hey, shout summertime bluesJump up and down in blue suede shoes" ...
The Carpenters: Summer Sweethearts
Overview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 22 September 1973
If it's muzak you're looking for, look no further... ...
Herman's Hermits: So What's Wrong With Herman's Hermits?
Retrospective and Interview by Harold Bronson, Zoo World, 27 September 1973
CRINKLED NOSES and pained "ooohs" accompany ninety-five percent of the responses I receive when I tell people I like Herman's Hermits. But how can I ...
Interview by James Johnson, New Musical Express, 29 September 1973
THE SWEET'S BALLROOM BLITZKRIEG GOES ON. BUT BEHIND THE ONSTAGE MINCING AND MAKE-UP, THERE'S SOMETHING ELSE IN THE AIR. IN FACT, THE ROCK PARIAHS NOW ...
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 ...
The Osmonds: The Plan (Kolob/MGM SE-4902)
Review by Toby Mamis, Zoo World, 11 October 1973
YOU'D HAVE to be a hermit not to have heard the Osmonds, either a hermit or a pompous ass that only listens to "FM radio, ...
David Cassidy: Real Cool Cassidy
Report by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 13 October 1973
I ALWAYS FIGURED secretly that David Cassidy was a cool guy. ...
Donny Osmond, The Osmonds: The Osmonds Fan Club
Interview by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 13 October 1973
TONY STEWART meets a mother to 60,000 gymslips ...
Sonny & Cher: Growing Up With Sonny & Cher
Retrospective by Greg Shaw, Phonograph Record, November 1973
RECENTLY, THE SONNY & Cher Comedy Hour devoted a special show to what they called "The Sonny & Cher Years". ...
Profile and Interview by Simon Frith, Creem, November 1973
Stuck in the middle with the Chartbusting Champions of Un-hip ...
Ellie Greenwich: Leaders of the Pack
Interview by Roy Carr, Andrew Tyler, New Musical Express, 3 November 1973
Ten years ago the American pop scene was dominated by two opposing song factories — KIRSHNER'S Krazy Kids and the Behemoths of the BRILL BUILDING. ...
The Osmonds: The View From Seat T39
Report by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 3 November 1973
He thought it would be good clean fun… Safe family entertainment. He was wrong. Now Charles Shaar Murray reveals the full horror of the night ...
The Carpenters: My little sister, the big star
Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 19 December 1973
RICHARD CARPENTER SPILLS THE BEANS ON HIS SISTER KAREN ...
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 ...
Mud, Sweet: The Sweet smell of success turns to Mud in the eye
Report and Interview by Ray Fox-Cumming, Disc, 9 February 1974
NOTHING WOULD please Nicky Chinn more this week than to see Sweet topple Mud from the top of the singles chart. One would think that ...
The Bay City Rollers: Split! Nobby and the Bay City Boys Roll Their Separate Ways
Report and Interview by Rosalind Russell, Disc, 16 March 1974
Rosalind Russell delves for the truth behind the departure of Nobby Clark from the Bay City Rollers ...
David Cassidy: Terminal Fandom
Report and Interview by Chrissie Hynde, New Musical Express, 8 June 1974
IN "FREE" ADULTS, mass frustration breeds war. In "free" teenagers, mass frustration breeds rock phenomena. ...
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 ...
The Osmonds: Our Man in Lost Wages
Report by Andrew Tyler, New Musical Express, 17 August 1974
The man to the right of this announcement is ANDREW TYLER: He's a hippie. And he's on the loose in YOUR neighbourhood. Parents, protect your ...
Paper Lace: Smiling Through The Bitchiness
Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 31 August 1974
The knockers can get knotted say top-selling Paper Lace ...
Review by Greg Shaw, Phonograph Record, September 1974
BRITAIN'S FACELESS HEROES UNMASKED ...
Review by Gene Sculatti, Zoo World, 12 September 1974
MOST EUROPEANS would, quite rightly, give their balls to suck Slurpees at a 7-11 or grow up absurd on Yankee turf, but they don't get ...
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 Bay City Rollers: Bay City Rollers: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Disc, 26 October 1974
ROLLERS RUSHED ...
David Essex: The Busy Mr Essex
Interview by Ray Fox-Cumming, Disc, 2 November 1974
MR ESSEX, I Presume? One could be forgiven for asking the question because, caught unawares in his dressing room for the 45 show, he looks ...
The Bay City Rollers: Phil Coulter: The Creator
Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 2 November 1974
Disc meets the man behind the Rollers and many others ...
The Bay City Rollers: Rollers On The Run
Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 2 November 1974
FAN HYSTERIA is reaching its peak with the Bay City Rollers. It's got to the point now where the Rollers can't even go to the ...
Interview by Ray Fox-Cumming, Disc, 9 November 1974
THESE WERE THE MYSTERIOUS INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN TO FOX-CUMMING WHEN HE SOUGHT AN INTERVIEW WITH THIS CHAP ...
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. ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 9 November 1974
"GARY IS great. His operation was a success and there are no aftereffects at all. If anything, it has improved his voice." ...
The Rubettes: Rubettes Bring Back Jive
Interview by Ray Fox-Cumming, Disc, 30 November 1974
IN DANCE-craze circles 'The Bump' is supposed to be all the rage...but is it? ...
David Cassidy: Cassidy Live! (Bell)
Review by Gene Sculatti, Creem, December 1974
HERE'S A GUY with some claim to status. His dad's distinguished himself, right alongside Claude Akins, as one of the slimiest heavies ever to grace ...
Review by Robot A. Hull, Creem, December 1974
I've decided to give up surfing and become a homo. — Les Crammer from Surfing Comedy Annual '74 ...
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 ...
Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 14 December 1974
IN WHICH it begins to look disturbingly like influences are dangerous toys indeed. ...
The Turtles: The Turtles (Happy Together Again) (Sire)
Review by Gene Sculatti, Zoo World, 19 December 1974
ITEM: THE Turtles' It Ain't Me Babe album cover was one of the first to recognize and promptly display rock 'n roll fatty tissue, at ...
Pilot: And Now for a Sad Story of... Flying Too High
Interview by David Hancock, Record Mirror, 21 December 1974
PILOT ARE in limbo. They've scrapped their headlining tour after only one gig and their immediate plans are very much up in the air. ...
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 ...
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 1 March 1975
Elton gets lost ...
Jonathan King: A Rose in a Fisted Glove
Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 22 March 1975
WHEN JONATHAN KING first manifested his presence upon this already sufficiently troubled planet he was able to masquerade as a genuinely provocative presence, mainly because ...
Sweet: The Sweet: No Longer Unfashionable
Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 26 April 1975
ROCK SNOBBERY. THAT'S what it is. A prevailing attitude that anything commercially successful in terms of the charts must therefore be top-twenty hype, not suitable ...
Mud, Suzi Quatro, Sweet: Nicky Chinn: From Riches to Riches
Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Let It Rock, June 1975
LiR EXCLUSIVE: Journey to the centre of pop. Nicky Chinn interviewed ...
The Bay City Rollers: Bay City Rollers: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 7 June 1975
Love and kisses with a drone ...
The Osmonds: Mass Masochism In Belgravia — The Story of O
Report by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 7 June 1975
Young girls spend hours queuing in Eaton Square in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Osmond Brothers pop group. Some of them get ...
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 ...
The Bay City Rollers: Bay City Rollers: Once Upon A Star
Review by Mitchell Cohen, Phonograph Record, September 1975
THE BAY CITY Rollers campaign is underway, and its components are familiar: screaming female fans in Great Britain, Sid Bernstein masterminding tour plans, back-to-back appearances ...
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" ...
Showaddywaddy: Not Just a Rock 'n' Roll Band
Interview by David Hancock, Record Mirror, 13 September 1975
MALCOLM ALLURED, also known as "The Duke" is looking for his band. ...
David Essex: Roll On For The Main Attraction
Interview by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 20 September 1975
JUST OFF the Fulham Road, round the corner from an old cinema that Manticore have converted into a hollow rehearsal hall, David Essex sits in ...
The Bay City Rollers: Bay City Rollers Skate on Thin Hype
Report by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 25 September 1975
LONDON — "Whoever is doing their public relations has no sense of shame," BBC disc jockey John Peel complained. He had just read newspaper reports ...
David Essex: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 25 October 1975
I DONT know how he does it. Five weeks later David Essex ended his British tour with a five night run at the Hammersmith Odeon ...
Cliff Richard: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 8 November 1975
A GIANT TUPPERWARE party. ...
The Archies, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, Tommy James & the Shondells: Bubblegum: A Beginners' Guide
Guide by Ken Barnes, Let It Rock, December 1975
ARCHIES: As the Monkees started to slip in late '68, Don Kirshner unveiled his new media blitz – a cartoon show (based on a popular ...
The Carpenters, Neil Sedaka: Neil Sedaka: Second Stairway To Heaven
Report and Interview by Tom Nolan, Rolling Stone, 4 December 1975
AWAY FROM the Vegas casino clatter, inside the Riviera Hotel's now empty Versailles Room, onstage, seated at a piano is a petite, energetic man who ...
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 ...
Overview by Bob Woffinden, New Musical Express, 27 December 1975
We kid you not.What else happened?Remarkably little actually. ...
The Monkees: Monkee-Mania... In The '70s?
Retrospective by Ken Barnes, Who Put The Bomp!, 1976
I WROTE A prototype version of this piece in 1973, at a time when admitting you liked the Monkees was about as cool as driving ...
Review by Ken Barnes, Phonograph Record, January 1976
LYNSEY DE PAUL'S new Aimed-at-America image seems to be Sex & Sleaze – with class. Visually, as any potential consumer can see by directing an ...
Smokie: Smokie Rising — 11 Years to Take Off!
Profile and Interview by Ray Fox-Cumming, Record Mirror, 3 January 1976
MOST BRIGHTEST hope contenders in any year tend to be fairly new bands, but Smokie, although the name is newish, had their beginnings over 11 ...
David Essex: Danger In The Fairground
Interview by Stephen Demorest, Circus, 20 January 1976
"I'VE ALWAYS gone against trying to be something I'm not," says David Essex, the British pop idol who is lounging in a suite of Coventry's ...
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 ...
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. ...
Captain and Tennille: Togetherness Tennille-style
Interview by Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, 31 January 1976
CAPTAIN AND Tennille have the kind of wholesomeness that we once thought the Osmonds had sole proprietary rights to. They are both non-smokers, both vegetarians ...
Sweet: The Sweet: Top of the Pops
Interview by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 31 January 1976
OH, YOU know, it gets so very confusing. What with the fickleness of all these rock writers and the constant need to come across with ...
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 ...
The Osmonds: The Family Plan Of The Latter-Day Osmonds
Profile and Interview by Tom Nolan, Rolling Stone, 11 March 1976
The Wizards who Live in the Land of OsWorship their God and Obey the LawsWear Ice Cream Suits without Bulges or FlawsAnd Smile with the ...
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. ...
Profile and Interview by Dan Nooger, Circus, 23 March 1976
THE SWEET are a hit band in the U.S. today. They might have been in 1973. Their single, 'Little Willy', had been a smash and ...
David Cassidy is a really nice Pop Star, Teen Idol, Guy, Bloke, Sex Object, Person
Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 3 April 1976
By our Wop on the spot, Giovanni Dadomo ...
Sweet: Give Us A Wink (Capitol)
Review by Richard Riegel, Creem, May 1976
I SEE HERE in this clipping that Sweet lead singer Brian Connolly got his throat kicked in during a pub brawl in London in 1974. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Sweet: Sounds Girl In Sweet Nude Bathing Horror
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 19 June 1976
THE ERSATZ raunch, bump and grind of 'The Stripper' blares out over the Sportshalle in Cologne. Thousands of minute German teenyboppers are creaming in excitement ...
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 ...
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 ...
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), ...
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 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 ...
The Bay City Rollers: The View From Seat A6
Live Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 25 September 1976
"Then one day I found a perfect plan,I shake my ass and sing in a rock and roll band,From now on there'll be no compromisin'Rock ...
David Essex: Out On The Street (CBS) ****
Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 16 October 1976
DAVID ESSEX has arrived at a most interesting junction in his career. Standing at the crossroads, his fourth studio album paints a versatile self-portrait of ...
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. ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
"THE TIMES they are a-changin" ...and David Essex is changing with them. ...
David Essex: Manchester Palace, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 13 November 1976
CLEAN ROCK from the super slick, sadly lackadaisical David Essex Band at the plush Manchester Palace is a harmless way to waste a few hollow ...
The Bay City Rollers: We Could Call 'Em Haggis Punk, But You'd Still Suss The Rollers
Interview by David Hancock, National RockStar, 13 November 1976
LIKE IT OR not over the past few years the Bay City Rollers have generated the kind of adulation usually associated with the Mersey boom ...
Review by Bob Woffinden, New Musical Express, 20 November 1976
How they made a billion while still in their twentiesWITH THE POP MUSIC OF TODAY ...
The Bay City Rollers: Sixteen Rollers in Nine Years
Comment by David Hancock, National RockStar, 20 November 1976
Loathe 'em or like 'em, there's something wrong with the Scotty boppers. It's being plastic, says DAVID HANCOCK ...
Profile by Alan Betrock, New York Rocker, December 1976
AT FIRST glance, Abba appears on the horizon as A Bunch of Beautiful Aryans. Others, less generous, label their rise to prominence as Another Banal ...
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, ...
Mud: More Mature Mud has a Flop and Plays Colleges
Interview by David Hancock, National RockStar, 25 December 1976
But Les Gray tells David Hancock confidentially 'We haven't changed anything' ...
Comment by Greg Shaw, Phonograph Record, 1977
"ABBA IS the most exciting pop phenomenon of the ‘70s," claims their bio, and for once it’s no hype. My admiration for this group knows ...
Suzi Quatro: Aggrophobia (RAK)
Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 15 January 1977
FOUR AND A HALF YEARS since Suzi Quatro scored jackpot and replay with 'Can The Can', and it's only now that she's made an album ...
The Bay City Rollers: Palladium, New York NY
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 15 January 1977
Rollers: it's a riot ...
ABBA: Don't step on my blue Swede shoes — ABBA: Odeon, Birmingham
Live Review by Tim Lott, Sounds, 19 February 1977
TIM LOTT (only previous contact with Scandinavian culture: a lunchtime viewing of Danish Dentist On The Job at the Greek Street Cinema Club, members only) ...
The Rubettes: Rubettes Bounce Back
Interview by David Hancock, National RockStar, 26 February 1977
DAVID HANCOCK meets teen dreams at TOTP, screams gently, then talks to them seriously ...
Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 7 May 1977
THE FIRST cut on this album is 'Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone', Smokie's latest chart single. Of course, you'd expect to find it ...
Pezband, Sweet: Sweet: Off The Record (Capitol STAO-11636); Pezband: Pezband (Passport PP98021)
Review by Toby Goldstein, Crawdaddy!, July 1977
SUGAR POPS ...
Interview by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 14 July 1977
TO STIG Anderson, it's a familiar story. "I've seen it all a hundred times," says Abba's business manager, record company president and lyricist. "First, we ...
Lena Zavaroni: A Jackie Pop Special on Lena Zavaroni: I Just Got This Idea That I Was Too Fat...
Interview by Robin Katz, Jackie, 30 July 1977
LENA ZAVARONI'S just turned thirteen — and she's already been a star for over four years! You might think that instant success at nine years ...
The Bay City Rollers: It's A Game
Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 30 July 1977
LET'S FACE it, the idea of a Bay City Rollers album is just a little amusing. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if several of ...
Captain and Tennille: Come In from the Rain
Review by Lester Bangs, Circus, 29 September 1977
IT'S TOO EASY to be cynical about the Captain and Tennille. People who pride themselves on being hip and chic find it very convenient to ...
Review by Toby Goldstein, Crawdaddy!, October 1977
KISSING OFF BAY CITY'S ROLES ...
ABBA: Case No 584938657 (B) The Imperial State of Newave vs Ulvaeus
Interview by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 15 October 1977
Presided by Judge JoepublicCounsel for the Prosecution: Anne R. Quay, QCCounsel for the Defence: Joecon Sumer THE ABBA TAPES Transcription by TIM LOTT ...
Mike Batt, The Wombles: Mike Batt: Batting About The Bush!
Interview by Robin Katz, Jackie, 29 October 1977
IF MIKE BATT is sitting near a blank wall, he immediately begins to feel uncomfortable. He's exactly the same when it comes to a blank ...
Donny Osmond, The Osmonds: In the busy world of Donny Osmond
Interview by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 2 November 1977
"YOU'RE GOING to phone Donny Osmond?" A couple of my jazzfan friends stared in disbelief. It was as if I had announced that Duke Ellington ...
Sweet: The Sweet: Sweet's Golden Greats
Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 26 November 1977
EVERY GENERATION of rock writing throws up its own paper tiger. ...
The Osmonds: The Osmonds' Greatest Hits
Review by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 28 January 1978
I HAVE this theory that they're a totally separate (and probably hostile) species. They breed and multiply in hidden canyons of the American South West. ...
ABBA: The Phenomenal Swedes Have Yet to Conquer America
Profile by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 7 May 1978
FREQUENTLY dismissed as vapid and sterile, Abba may well be the world's most popular rock band currently, but the Swedish quartet clearly has a ways ...
The Bee Gees: Confessions of A Bee Gees Fan
Essay by Simon Frith, Creem, June 1978
THE OTHER day I read this shocking story in the Sun: it seems that when Andy Gibb set off from Australia to find fame, fortune ...
Kate Bush: The Shape of Things To Come: Kate Bush
Column by Simon Frith, Creem, July 1978
NOTE: This formed part of Simon's monthly Creem column "Letter from Britain". ...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich: Dingwalls, Camden
Live Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 21 October 1978
HIPSTER PANTS held up with two-inch-wide white belts, op-art shirts with bloody great monstrous collars that hang down to armpit level and then button down ...
Review by Mitchell Cohen, Creem, November 1978
THIS IS some trap. Can a writer for this magazine retain some credibility and still say kind things about Shaun and Debby, without fixing one's ...
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 ...
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 ...
Boney M: Babylon on a Thin Wire
Interview by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 16 December 1978
TIM LOTT meets the lead voice of Boney M, Liz Mitchell ...
The Osmonds: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by David Hancock, Evening News, London, 26 January 1979
All good clean fun, but oh, for some emotion ...
Yummy, Yummy, Chewy Chewy: A Bubblegum Yarn
Essay by Robot A. Hull, Creem, October 1979
"PERHAPS THE blight of the late '60s was 'bubblegum', music planned entirely as a product, not as anybody's art." – Charlie Gillett, The Sound Of ...
Interview by Tim Lott, Smash Hits, 18 October 1979
Seems life isn't so sunny after all for a brown girl in the ring, Liz Mitchell explains to Tim Lott. ...
Live Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1979
JUST FOR that night "ABBA – World Tour 1979" nestled next to Motorhead and the Heartbreakers on my pet leather's lapel. Talk about extremes – ...
Overview by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 8 December 1979
DANNY BAKER checks out the singles charts. ...
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 ...
Shaun Cassidy, Todd Rundgren: Shaun Cassidy: Shaun, Todd Break Mold
Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 31 August 1980
IT'S TOUGH being a teen idol, we're told. But it's even harder to break out of the teen-idol image. ...
Interview by Todd Everett, Trouser Press, November 1980
IF THE IDEA of Todd Rundgren producing Wasp, an album by teen idol Shaun Cassidy strikes you as...unusual, that, Cassidy says, was the idea. ...
Herman's Hermits, Peter Noone, The Tremblers: The Hermit Trembles: Peter Noone Looks Back
Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, December 1980
ON A WARM, smoggy Saturday morning on the verge of September, this journal's man on the West Coast called on Peter Noone, who, from farther ...
Depeche Mode: Systems Muzak: Depeche Mode at The Venue, London
Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, February 1981
THOSE ARBITERS of modern taste who would wish on you the indecencies of things like Spandau Ballet are generally the same people who can be ...
Dollar: The Paris Collection (WEA K58246) ****
Review by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 21 February 1981
Dollar duo in 'Cabaret Voltaire influence' shock claim ...
Adam & The Ants: Kings Of The Wild Frontier (Epic)
Review by Wesley Strick, Creem, April 1981
THIS IS ridiculous. ...
Adam & The Ants: Adam Ant: Sound and Vision
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, April 1981
"Malcolm McLaren just said to me, "What do you want, Adam?" I said, "I'd like to be a household name, and have everyone know and ...
Duran Duran: Ice Cream the Body Electric!
Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 25 July 1981
Teenybop takes a trite turn for the better. Paul Morley compares socks with DURAN DURAN ...
The Human League: Beautiful Dreamers
Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 8 August 1981
Start with pop with a capital P, add a touch of glamour, stir with a generous helping of amateur enthusiasm and you've got the new ...
Dollar: Working For The Swanky Dollar
Interview by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 26 September 1981
DAVE McCULLOUGH unearths the grisly truth behind pop's most loving couple ...
The Human League: Dare (Virgin)
Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 17 October 1981
SURPRISE! ...the love of human MOR-als ...
Haircut 100: A Little Off The Top
Interview by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 5 December 1981
DAVE McCULLOUGH collects snippets of information from HAIRCUT 100 ...
The Archies, Barry Mann, Carole King, Neil Sedaka: Don Kirshner: The Pop Factory
Profile by Greg Shaw, The History of Rock, 1982
POP FROM THE production line; that seemed to be the story of the late Fifties and early Sixties. But the production line does not inevitably ...
Retrospective by Cynthia Rose, The History of Rock, 1982
ON 16 FEBRUARY 1979, Elvis Costello and the Attractions performed Leon Payne’s 1974 country anomaly ‘Psycho’ at Hollywood’s Palomino Club and, late in 1981, the ...
The Four Seasons: Valli's Evergreens
Retrospective by Bob Fisher, The History of Rock, 1982
Why the Four Seasons were perennial chart-toppers ...
Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 2 January 1982
Paul Morley meets the drunk white rabbit and a bully who looks in the mirror to ask why their narcissistic pop has suddenly been blessed with credibility ...
Modern Romance: The Venue, London
Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 30 January 1982
THERE WAS one thing that happened over the weekend that really made me realise just how deep down into the rotten scabby depths some people ...
Haircut 100: The Young Ones, Darling We're The Young Ones
Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 13 February 1982
Young is beautiful, say HAIRCUT 100. MARK COOPER gets nostalgic with the band every mother wants her daughter to love. ...
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, March 1982
FLEXING her feet in a pair of black Dr Martens, Kim Wilde sits in an orderly, wholesome manner at one end of a carefully battered, ...
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. ...
Olivia Newton John: Physical (MCA)
Review by Iman Lababedi, Creem, May 1982
I CAME TO Physical with an open mind. I thought the single was her best since the Travolta duet and I enjoyed about a quarter ...
Bucks Fizz: Let's Get Fizzical
Interview by Ian Birch, Smash Hits, 13 May 1982
Few groups ever survive thee Eurovision Song Contest. Bucks Fizz haven't justsurvived, they've flourished. Their UK record sales are topped only by The Human League. Ian Birch ...
Kim Wilde begins a love affair with America
Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 13 May 1982
KIM WILDE the English singer of the massive European hit single 'Kids in America', had been in America two days. "You've got it terribly easy ...
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 29 May 1982
HUGH FIELDER ENJOYS A HAPPY HOUR WITH ALTERED IMAGES ...
Haircut 100: Haircut One Hundred
Interview by Lesley White, The Face, June 1982
Fashion à la Haircut is the cult of the cleancut, the art of the casual towel, the incidental bow tie and the perpetual smile... ...
The Bay City Rollers: Androgynous Heartthrobs
Essay by Sheryl Garratt, Collusion, June 1982
Rifling through her mid-70s scrapbooks, Sheryl Garratt reassesses a formative obsession and finds that the standard socio-rock explanations just don't add up. Blanded-out pop music ...
Interview by Betty Page, Sounds, 12 June 1982
"PEOPLE THAT plan interviews are really boring. I just say what I want when it comes into my head. People in Scunthorpe don't care what ...
Profile and Interview by Ian Birch, Smash Hits, 24 June 1982
There's two sides to Dollar: light and dead serious. They both makes cents to Ian Birch. ...
Interview by Betty Page, Noise!, 24 June 1982
EVERY OTHER individual who burst forth from neo-legendary club The Blitz as aspiring popster or artist/designer/photographer has now almost been forgiven the cardinal sin of ...
ABC, Buggles, Dollar, Yes: Trevor Horn: Clever Trevor!
Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 3 July 1982
TREVOR HORN IS A ROARING SUCCESS. HE WAS BUGGLES, PLAYED WITH YES, GAVE DOLLAR THEIR HITS AND HAS NOW PRODUCED ABC AND THEIR DEBUT LP, ...
Hot Chocolate: Monday Night Fever
Profile and Interview by Mick Brown, The Guardian, 31 July 1982
As Hot Chocolate ride high in the charts again, Mick Brown meets Errol Brown, Britain's most successful black song writer, the toast of Mickie Most's ...
Report and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 18 August 1982
BIT OF AN abrasive character, this Mark Hollis from Talk Talk. Halfway through our chat, I innocently mention that they're often compared to Duran Duran, ...
Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 28 August 1982
Phew, what a scorcher! Mark Cooper takes an Away day to the sizzling south coast with saucy songsters Tight Fit ...
Interview by Lesley White, The Face, September 1982
Suitably softened up by his workout with four year-old Twinkle, IMAGINATION'S extrovert frontman picks himself up off the floor for an interview with LESLEY WHITE ...
Kim Wilde: A Face In The Crowde
Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, October 1982
DO YOU believe that children of celebrities have it made? British pop singer Kim Wilde doesn't think so. "Daughters of famous fathers don't have an ...
Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, 28 October 1982
Two 19-year-olds from Bushey, Herts, who play all-British rap and funk? I meet all sorts in this job, claims Neil Tennant. ...
David Cassidy: Teen Dream From The TV Screen
Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1983
"CAN AMERICA'S top rock group prevail against the evil machinations of a fat but deadly enemy agent — without blowing their cool?" ran the blurb ...
Altered Images: Clare Grogan's Altered Images: Thank Heaven For Little Girls
Interview by Iman Lababedi, Creem, January 1983
"I just wanted to get to know her, really. She was just kind of fascinating."— Director Bill Forsyth, explaining why he cast Clare Grogan in ...
Interview by Betty Page, Record Mirror, 15 January 1983
FOR FIVE fresh-faced fellows from Leighton Buzzard 1983 will mean treading very carefully through the minefield that confronts any new band with a strong visual ...
Interview by Ian Birch, Smash Hits, 3 February 1983
"It's the sound of primal life," according to these five chaps from Leighton Buzzard. "That's just what I was going to say," replies Ian Birch. ...
Adam & The Ants: Where's Your Head At, Adam Ant?
Interview by J. Kordosh, Creem, March 1983
THE ROOM WAS full of balloons. A bouquet of balloons, sold nowadays like helium-filled, high-tech clusters that cling to the ceiling. A bundle of mail ...
Haircut 100, Nick Heyward: Back To Square One: Nick Heyward
Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, 31 March 1983
"IS IT REALLY worth talking about?" Ask Nick Heyward what he's been up to in the six months since the release of ‘Nobody's Fool’, the ...
Toni Basil: How to Cheerlead & Influence People!
Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Creem, May 1983
TONI BASIL'S MICKEY MANIA ...
Wham!: Bad Boys Stick Together
Interview by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 12 May 1983
THROUGH THICK AND THIN, IT SEEMS. WHAM! MET EIGHT YEARS AGO AND HAVE BEEN VERY HARD TO SEPARATE SINCE. ANDREW TALKS ABOUT QEORGE. GEORGE TALKS ...
Live Review by Betty Page, Record Mirror, 21 May 1983
75% OF THIS Kajaudience measured less than 5ft 2ins and looked like the walking personification of Top Shop. Hundreds of young girls in crisp, virginal ...
Profile and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 26 May 1983
A YOUNG QUINTET FROM ROXBURY, BOSTON. DAVE RIMMER TAKES A LEAF FROM THEIR BOOK ...
Kajagoogoo: The Sound Of The Crowd: The Kajagoogoo Tour
Report and Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, 26 May 1983
Shrieks, squeals, gasps, wails...It gets even louder when the band actually come on stage. The Kajagoogoo tour is not an experience easily forgotten. Neil Tennant ...
Kajagoogoo: Puppy Love In The Plasma-Glow: Kajagoogoo at Hammersmith Odeon
Live Review by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 11 June 1983
AS PHENOMENA GO, Kajagoogoo seem like the nastiest end of a train that starts in Boy George's inspirational and self-sufficient glamour and ends in the ...
Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, 23 June 1983
Just how different are they? Neil Tennant puts the girls through that terrifying ordeal — being asked the same questions separately. And here's the answers. ...
Shakin' Stevens: The Secret Life Of Shaky
Interview by Ian Birch, Smash Hits, 21 July 1983
He never gives interviews and keeps well out of the public eye. In fact, the 'real' Shakin' Stevens is a bit of a mystery. Ian ...
Interview by Ian Birch, Smash Hits, 18 August 1983
A year ago Wham! made records and simply had fun. Now they've got managers, gossip columns and solo careers to worry about. Ian Birch hears ...
Culture Club: If It's Thursday It Must Be Munich
Report and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 29 September 1983
'DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT ME' HAS BEEN NUMBER ONE IN 23 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, "AND IF YOU'RE A WORLD-WIDE ACT, YOU HAVE TO TRAVEL ...
Wham!: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 31 October 1983
WATCHING WHAM! perform live confirms the suspicion that 1983 has marked the return of the teenybopper. Wham! fans, the majority young girls, possess all the ...
Wham!: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 5 November 1983
HEY, SUCKER — welcome to the George Michael Show... ...
Live Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 26 November 1983
WHAM! TRAP! ...
Boy George, Culture Club: Culture Club and George
Report and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 23 December 1983
A TYPICAL SUNDAY afternoon in New York's Central Park. Horse drawn carriages sweep by full of tourists. Armies of joggers with headphones stream down every ...
Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw: Nik Kershaw and Howard Jones: Identikit Pop
Interview by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 7 April 1984
And the mediocre shall inherit the earth... Or at least the charts. RICHARD COOK fits out the faceless folk of pop. ...
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. ...
ABBA, Bucks Fizz, Mary Hopkin, Cliff Richard, Sandie Shaw: Eurovision: It's That Time Again!
Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, 26 April 1984
On May 5 it's The Eurovision Song Contest. And — admit it — you'll be there in front of the telly cringeing as this year's entry, Belle And The ...
Bananarama: Mean Streaks and True Confessions
Interview by Susan Williams, New Musical Express, 28 April 1984
WHACKING THROUGH the poster-rack at Woolworths. Staring back at the faces of the semi-famous packaged like slabs of bacon. ...
George Michael, Wham!: Wham!: The Beach Boys
Report and Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, 24 May 1984
A sun-soaked story of sea, sand, shorts, shuttlecocks and snogging. Yes, Wham! are back. Your travel guide in Miami: Neil Tennant. ...
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 ...
Nik Kershaw: Fame! Riches! Fast Cars! Lots Of Free Meals And Fizzy Drinks!
Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Smash Hits, 13 September 1984
ABOUT A YEAR ago it was Nik and Sheri Kershaw's wedding day. Registry office, parents and friends, reception at their small house in Essex, cut ...
Interview by Ian Birch, Smash Hits, 27 September 1984
... but they used to be. Wham! now think that their whole ''Bad Boys" look is "pathetic" and they "can't believe how many people bought ...
Culture Club Say War — Watch Yourself!
Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 29 September 1984
CULTURE CLUB ARE BACK WITH A VENGEANCE — 'THE WAR SONG' TO BE EXACT. BUT HOW HIGH IS THE PRICE OF THEIR FAME? AND WILL ...
Report and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 13 October 1984
The first year of ZTT has been a spectacular success, with Frankie Goes To Hollywood singles 'Relax' and 'Two Tribes' becoming respectively the fourth and ...
Interview by William Shaw, ZigZag, November 1984
Kim Wilde and William Shaw; Bliss ...
Review by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 10 November 1984
LET'S START with Barry White. Now there was a man that I loathed. At the height of his success, I used to watch his videos ...
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. ...
Boy George, Culture Club: Boy George and the War On Pop
Essay by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, December 1984
2003 note: I don’t know about this: "this" being the original 2,000 words I handed in at the very last minute to a poor, frazzled ...
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, January 1985
"The Portly Pilot Of Pop", they called him. "The Clown Prince Of Glam", they called him. "A Frightmare In Lurex", "Marlene Dietrich Gone Wrong", "A ...
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 ...
Madonna: "I always acted like a star even before I was one!"
Interview by David A. Keeps, Smash Hits, 17 January 1985
And that time has certainly come. She's had massive hits both sides of the ocean, and she's started making movies and claiming she'd "like to ...
New Edition Scores With Bubble-Gum Funk
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 17 January 1985
CHARLESTON — SINCE teenyboppers first screamed for Ricky Nelson and Frankie Avalon more than twenty-five years ago, pop music's teen idols have tended to be ...
Spandau Ballet: Shout To The Top
Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, 31 January 1985
When they started out, at the dawn of the '80s, Spandau Ballet were determined "to do something different". They said they'd never end up like ...
Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Relax, It's Only A Rock Group: Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Profile and Interview by Max Bell, The Times, 14 February 1985
CARL GUSTAV JUNG, in one of his lighter moments, once wrote: "Liverpool is the pool of life". A year after Jung's death his words were ...
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, 28 February 1985
Alison Moyet is a singer, mum-to-be, owner of a house in the country and a collector of dodgy videos. But there's something more to her ...
Pet Shop Boys: Neil Tennant At The British Record Industry Awards
Report by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, 28 February 1985
You saw Prince. You heard Frankie. You felt the warmth of Wham's sun tans. You watched the TV show but now read THE FULL STORY! ...
Marilyn: Does Anyone Still Want Him?
Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, 14 March 1985
"I COULD DROP DOWN DEAD TOMORROW AND I COULD COUNT THE PEOPLE WHO WOULD CARE ON ONE HAND." MARILYN IS TRYING TO MAKE "A COMEBACK". ...
Report and Interview by David A. Keeps, Smash Hits, 4 April 1985
THESE BOYS ARE BUSY. TWO YEARS AGO THEY WERE NUMBER ONE WITH 'CANDY GIRL'. NOW THEY'RE BACK WITH 'MR TELEPHONE MAN' AND 'COOL IT NOW', ...
Kim Wilde: "I'm Game For A Laugh!"
Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 24 April 1985
And this, Kim Wilde explains, "can be a bit lethal". When it comes to choosing a new image, she'll try anything. Some look great; with others "I think ...
Modern Romance: Burn it! (RCA)
Review by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 4 May 1985
WASN'T THERE once some bloke in Modern Romance who said "I'm mean/I'm clean/I'm Geoffrey Deane"? Absolutely great stuff, and so it's with great regret that ...
Madonna Milks Sexy, Savvy Image
Profile and Interview by Laura Fissinger, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 10 May 1985
USUALLY IT takes a while for a pop star to earn heavyweight hatred from a significant percentage of the press and public. But, like everything ...
Madonna: Virgin Pruned!: Madonna: Convention Center, Dallas
Live Review by Cynthia Rose, New Musical Express, 25 May 1985
MULTI-MEDIA SUCCESS has made Madonna America's first generic pop star — and her first foray into live performance brought forth a capacity house of young ...
Interview by Ira Robbins, Rock's Backpages Audio, 5 August 1985
ABC mainstays Mark White and Martin Fry on the state of the UK music press (particularly Smash Hits); on the making of their first three albums; on producer Trevor Horn; on songwriting and lyrics; on avoiding pandering to American tastes; and on their great dislike of touring.
File format: mp3; file size: 37meg, interview length: 38' 31" sound quality: ***
Nik Kershaw, Paul Young: Paul Young & Nik Kershaw: "We Haven't Actually Kissed Yet..."
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, 25 September 1985
They'd never met before. But then they set off to "conquer" America — Nick's the support act on Paul's US tour — and now they're ...
Five Star: Five Go To Disneyland
Report and Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 9 October 1985
Pooh Bear wanders by with a pot of honey on his head! Shoals of artificial fish splash merrily in a nearby lake! Donald Duck sings ...
K-Tel's Place in the Music Industry: Where Have All the One-Hit Wonders Gone?
Retrospective by Larry Jaffee, Popular Music and Society, 1986
COMEDIAN ROBERT KLEIN has a story about how you can call up K-tel and order every record ever made. A forty-foot trailer will drive up ...
A-ha: A Day in the Life of A-ha
Report and Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 1 January 1986
Fireworks, gold discs, spots, a lot of snogging, an interview in a pub, a TV-am film crew and two very nosey people from Smash Hits... ...
Madonna: 'Bruce Springsteen Was Born To Run, I Was Born To Flirt...'
Essay by Richard Cook, Sounds, 15 February 1986
RICHARD COOK takes a manly look at the pop tart goddess, MADONNA, who has put sleaze and safety back into pop stardom ...
Report by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, 26 February 1986
While you were watching the awards ceremony on TV the other week, a select few music biz "nobs" were there in person at a big ...
Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 5 April 1986
Nosey? Smash Hits? Well, yes, we are a bit. Like when we spoke to Five Star we couldn't resist asking them how much money they ...
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 ...
Interview by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 28 June 1986
"ALTHOUGH I AM honest, I will deal with an interview with the confidence of GEORGE MICHAEL, POP STAR. And the way I deal with people ...
Wham!: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 30 June 1986
George's time to go-go: Adam Sweeting on Wham!'s farewell concert at Wembley ...
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, 2 July 1986
BUCKS FIZZ have survived a coach crash, the Jay Aston "scandal" and Shelley's chaotic audition. And they're still having top ten hits and rattling on ...
Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 12 July 1986
RONNIE BARKER: "What's it all about, then? Life, I mean. What's it all about, eh?" Ronnie Corbett: "Something to do, I s'pose." ...
Interview by Gerrie Lim, Rock's Backpages Audio, 30 July 1986
Ms. Carlisle, new to the Top Ten, looks back at the break-up of the Go-Gos; changes to her lifestyle; her passion for shopping; being a woman in the music business... and raising miniature pigs.
File format: mp3; file size: 30mb, interview length: 32' 46" sound quality: ****
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 ...
Cutting Crew: Cutting The Crap?
Interview by Stuart Bailie, Record Mirror, 6 September 1986
Well, would you trust a man in pink plastic trousers singing saucy songs about orgasms? The Cutting Crew blush nicely. Sartorial eloquence: Stuart Bailie ...
Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 22 October 1986
A little boy, to be exact. He's called Osheen (!) and, at 12 weeks old, has already flown in a plane 11 times and been backstage to ...
Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 25 October 1986
HERE THEY are again. Norway's finest and the group who cleaned up after the chart fragmentation of Culture Club, Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran, a-ha ...
Five Star: 5 Star: "Like Any Father, I Just Want The Best For My Kids"
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, November 1986
No discos. No stepping out with the opposite sex. Arranged marriages a distinct possibility. Is Buster Pearson, 5 Star's father and manager, being a touch ...
Frankie Goes to Hollywood: The Revenge of Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Report and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Q, November 1986
"NO ONE GETS IN HERE!" screams Brian Nash, slamming the caravan door and flicking the lock. "No one!" Outside hover a few members of the ...
Bananarama: These Charming Girls
Interview by Iman Lababedi, Creem, December 1986
"Who steals my purse steals trash, 'tis something, nothing; 'twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands. But he who filches from me ...
The Monkees: I Like The Monkees
Retrospective and Interview by Bill Holdship, Creem, December 1986
ONE OF THE worst aspects of rock 'n' roll is that it's often centered on this debate as to whether something is "cool" or not. ...
A-ha: WOOOOAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!
Report by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 17 December 1986
A-ha play their first ever concert in Britain! The whole country goes 'wooooaaaaarrrrgggghhhhh!!!" ...
What's Missing: On Pop's Eternal Dilemma
Essay by Simon Reynolds, Monitor, Summer 1986
SOMETHING'S WRONG. Everyone knows this, acknowledges it, but it's still hard to point out, precisely, what's supposed to have slipped into abeyance, eluded us in ...
A-ha: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Richard Cook, Sounds, 3 January 1987
TEENYBOP'S REDEEMERS ...
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 ...
Pepsi & Shirlie: Pepsi and Shirlie: 'Us Groovy Chicks Want To Get On Down'
Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 14 January 1987
Quite. That's what Wham!'s former backing singers Pepsi and Shirlie told George and Andrew anyway. Now they're out there on their own but there seems ...
Curiosity Killed The Cat: "We've Got Street Cred! Woooooh!"
Profile and Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 11 February 1987
Curiosity Killed The Cat explain they're not posh, they just wear clothes to "keep warm" and they're certainly not just "four models there for the ...
Mel & Kim: Shop Girls Of The World Unite!
Profile and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 28 February 1987
Out of the shops and into the charts come MEL AND KIM – friendly, forthright, but kept strictly in line by their manager. PAOLO HEWITT ...
Jonathan King: Who The Hell Does Jonathan King Think He Is?
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, March 1987
"WHO IS THE REAL Jonathan King? There is no real Jonathan King. Jonathan King simply does not exist, dear heart..." ...
Janet Jackson: Watch Your Heads!! Janet Jackson's About!!
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, 25 March 1987
She seems so calm and dainty, but when the urge overcomes her, you just can't see the sky for grapes!!? Tom Hibbert faces the fruit... ...
Curiosity Killed The Cat: Keep Your Distance (Phonogram)
Review by Lucy O'Brien, New Musical Express, 2 May 1987
BOREDOM: THE SCRATCH MIX ...
Pepsi & Shirlie: Crazy Places, Crazy People!
Report and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, 20 May 1987
"Show us your favourite 'haunts'," we barked at Pepsi and Shirlie. So they did! But little did we know just how downright odd they would ...
Johnny Hates Jazz: Hello. We're Johnny Hates Jazz
Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 3 June 1987
Clark Datchler • His dad used to be in a top jazz group called The Polka Dots!• He actually doesn't like jazz very much at all!• He's ...
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 ...
A-ha: Are A-ha still the Greatest Pop Group in the World?
Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 1 July 1987
Three years ago they were penniless, living in London on salt and pepper sandwiches. Two years ago their first single 'Take On Me' had flopped ...
Mel & Kim: The Eliza Doolittles of Pop
Interview by Stuart Bailie, Record Mirror, 4 July 1987
Only there ain't no Professor 'iggins needed for Mel & Kim; fings is well and truly goin' like the clappers, they're looking forward to their ...
Stock Aitken Waterman: Money, Love And Fun
Interview by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 18 July 1987
Million-selling marketing men STOCK, AITKEN and WATERMAN wouldn't know a political point if one hit them on the head, but, boy, can they get a ...
Wet Wet Wet: The "Secret" Life of Wet Wet Wet
Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 29 July 1987
Who are these four Scottish scamps currently racing up the charts with 'Sweet Little Mystery' while still living at home with their mammies?... ...
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 ...
Sinitta: "Hello, I'm Sinitta and..."
Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 12 August 1987
'TOY BOY' IS ABOUT MY 18 YEAR OLD LOVER ...
Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 12 August 1987
We present 25 incredible, barmy and completely true facts about the group that Italy knows as "Brother Behind." ...
Curiosity Killed The Cat: New Faces: England's Latest Curiosity
Profile and Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 24 September 1987
Teen heartthrobs Curiosity Killed the Cat try to conquer America ...
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 ...
Pepsi & Shirlie: When Did You Last See George Michael's Trousers?
Interview by Neil Taylor, New Musical Express, 24 October 1987
You've heard the phrase 'All mouth and no trousers' — but does it refer to George Michael and his vanishing keks? To Top Shoppers PEPSI ...
Pepsi & Shirlie: All Right Now (Polydor)
Review by John McCready, New Musical Express, 31 October 1987
PEPSI AND SHIRLIE would like to be taken seriously, but their past is working against them — the fact that they once danced behind The ...
Curiosity Killed The Cat: Meowing For Dollars
Profile and Interview by Deborah Frost, Creem, November 1987
ENGLAND MIGHT have never lost the Empire if she'd only listened to her taxi drivers. Here it is, 5 a.m., my time. I've just stumbled ...
Wham!: Johnny Rogan: Wham! Confidential – Death of a Supergroup (Omnibus)
Book Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 12 December 1987
NO, NOT another tardy teenybopper cash-in but an investigative peek at the rock business machinations that caused Wham!'s meteoric rise and fall. ...
Rick Astley: The Jimmy Tarbuck Syndrome
Interview by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 19 December 1987
Is 'When I Fall In Love' the vinyl voice of God? Or does it herald the golden age of the bathtub crooner? The apple of ...
Stock Aitken Waterman: Stock, Aitken and Waterman: Let the Kids Decide
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 19 December 1987
Messrs. STOCK, AITKEN AND WATERMAN were this year's answer to Swain and Jolley, only (surprise surprise) they don't see it that way. SEAN O'HAGAN hears ...
John Fred and his Playboy Band: John Fred: The Long Career of a One-Hit Wonder
Retrospective and Interview by Steven R Rosen, One Shot, Fall 1987
IT SEEMED A BOW to novelty and nostalgia. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which features roots-music artists of all sorts, was sponsoring a ...
George Michael: Artist or Airhead?
Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Musician, January 1988
IS IT TIME TO TAKE WHAM!'S ARCHITECT SERIOUSLY? ...
Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 6 February 1988
NAME: JUST call me Tiffany. I don't use a surname for professional reasons. I'll get into real trouble if I tell you now! It'll come ...
Bros: This Is What You Do To Get On The Cover Of Smash Hits...
Report and Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 10 February 1988
It's not just a queston of having a massive hit (e.g. Bros' 'When Will I Be Famous?') and then standing still for thirty seconds in ...
Wet Wet Wet: Could you cope with being in Wet Wet Wet!
Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 9 March 1988
Well, first of all you get "kidnapped" by a mad taxi driver, then you get attacked by people who want to punch you in the ...
Report and Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 9 March 1988
That's Chris Heath's "considered" opinion of Debbie Gibson's first ever British consort at the Astoria in "downtown" London... ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, April 1988
BROS and their fans are tired of the grown-up messages of adult pop. The girls that cluster outside their house every day represent a new era in ...
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, 20 April 1988
She's already been number one for about 12 years with 'I Should Be So Lucky', she's about to bring out her new single 'Got To ...
George Michael: The Lone Star State
Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, June 1988
His second career is already more succesful than his first. His spry and winning pop songs have a greater-than-average life expectancy. He is uncountably wealthy. ...
Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 1 June 1988
Come on Debbie, time to rise and "shine"! (snooooze...) Out from under the "duvet" with you, missus! (yawn!)... Debbie Gibson tells Chris Heath about her ...
George Michael: Earls Court, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 14 June 1988
Right-on George in shape for the 90s Adam Sweeting sees a superstar work out ...
Bros: "Bros Not Dross" Shock: Bros: City Hall, Sheffield
Live Review by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 2 July 1988
WHAT IS IT about Bros? ...
Tiffany: Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 15 July 1988
BARELY ANYONE I know likes Tiffany, where they might at least appreciate someone like Debbie Gibson who writes her own songs or someone like Leslie ...
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, ...
Kylie Minogue: Toothpaste, Thunderbirds And A Chocolate Sandwich?!!!
Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 27 July 1988
...And pandas, the planet Pluto and about a million other spook-objects. What do they all have in "common"? They're just some of the things that ...
Report and Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 6 August 1988
Thrill to the Ultimate Confrontation as Teen Queen TIFFANY kills The Acne Ridden Rotter of T'Pennines STEVEN WELLS. Watch in horror as Swells is eaten ...
Five Star: The Legend Continues!!
Interview by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 10 August 1988
The Star — worran institution! For five years now they have been in the public eye but does anyone know what they're really like? "Er, ...
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 ...
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 ...
Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 30 November 1988
Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue, eh? It's the kiss-up of the century, the romance of the millennium, is it not? "Er, no actually, we're really, ...
Rick Astley: Apollo, Manchester
Live Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 24 December 1988
IS RICK merely a driplet of festering pus oozing from a seeping SAW inflicted on the slashed side of the crucified pop-christ by the very ...
Brother Beyond: What's it Really Like Being a Pop Star?
Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 11 January 1989
Oh, being a pop star is such hard work. You've got to get up at six in the morning and sit in a draughty warehouse for 17 ...
Milli Vanilli: Personal File: Milli Vanilli
Interview by uncredited writer, Smash Hits, 11 January 1989
FULL NAME: Robert Pilatus. BORN: 8/6/65 in New York. ...
Sheena Easton: The Prime of Miss Sheena Easton
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 28 January 1989
A star in the States and yet either a twee girlie singer or second-string Prince collaborator in her home country, SHEENA EASTON, courtesy of that ...
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 ...
Review by Amy Linden, Spin, June 1989
IN THE beginning there was the Jackson 5. They were cute, they were blessed with the best producers and material, they oozed personality. They were ...
Sinitta: "I'm Bigger Than Kylie!"
Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 14 June 1989
..."I'm sure I'm at least a head taller than her!!!" jests pop phenomenon Sinitta from a hotel room in Detroit where she's visiting her family. ...
Milli Vanilli: "We've sold the most singles on cassette any band has sold in the world!!!!"
Interview by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 26 July 1989
That's as may be, but Rob and Fabrice are vastly more famous for their energetic dance wiggles and their forgotten trouser wear. Tom Doyle explores ...
Samantha Fox: From topless model to top pop singer
Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 1 August 1989
HYANNIS — "I'm not really bothered about being taken seriously, because at the moment I don't want to be serious," says pop singer and former ...
Kylie Minogue: Kylie Speaks Out... On Love, Money, Marriage And Three Foot Grandmothers!!!
Interview by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 9 August 1989
And that's not all. For she has a thing or two to say about brown paper bags, plumbing and lime-green sequinned bras too!! And why ...
Profile by David Toop, The Times, 18 August 1989
Bros, Britain's favourite pop group, play Wembley Stadium tomorrow. David Toop asks whether this sets the seal on their success or marks the beginning of ...
Bros, Debbie Gibson: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 26 August 1989
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT ...
Bros, Debbie Gibson: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Terry Staunton, New Musical Express, 26 August 1989
BROTHERS GRIM ...
Report and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, November 1989
"VERNA!" CRIES Luke Goss, the drummer. "Verna! Can I have another triple Hennessy's, please, darl?" ...
Jive Bunny: How to create a Pop Phenomenon called Jive Bunny in 15 easy steps...
Profile and Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 1 November 1989
Just follow this simple step-by-step guide and you too could be a chart-topping pop phenomenon with two number one hits and a potful of money! ...
New Kids On The Block: It's the New Kids on the Block!
Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 16 November 1989
IT'S THE Monday morning after their "triumphant" performance of 'You Got It (The Right Stuff)' at the Smash Hits Poll Winners' Party and New Kids ...
Milli Vanilli: 2X2 (Cooltempo CTIPD11 LP/Cass/CD)
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, December 1989
IT'S NO surprise that the same duo that etched themselves on a pop public's consciousness by wearing those mildly pervy tights on TOTP — it ...
Wet Wet Wet: Holding Back The River
Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, December 1989
PLEASANT AS it was, Wet Wet Wet's first album, Popped In Souled Out, was always too slick to be really interesting. ...
Kylie Minogue: Kylie: Taking Charge
Interview by Clinton Walker, The Edge, January 1990
It was always easy to make fun of Kylie Minogue. But now, having turned 21, she's started to take more control of her career and ...
New Kids On The Block: Hangin' Tough (Epic)
Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 20 January 1990
TWO SINGLES in the Top Ten! The nation drivelling at their feet! And they don't even play on their own records! ...
Mel & Kim: Mel Appleby: The Bravery Lying Behind All That Fun, Love & Money
Obituary by Lucy O'Brien, The Guardian, 31 January 1990
Lucy O'Brien finds the pop world full of praise for the courage of Mel Appleby of the bubbly duo Mel and Kim, who this month lost ...
New Kids on the Block: Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis TN
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 23 February 1990
Young bloods in Memphis: the boys from next door ...
Wet Wet Wet: Adult Charm of a Little Pellow Talk
Interview by Mal Peachey, Mail On Sunday, 4 March 1990
Mal Peachey talks to the wise old men of Wet Wet Wet ...
Kylie Minogue: N.E.C., Birmingham
Live Review by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 2 May 1990
A SIZZLING X-RATED SHOW! (except it's nothing of the sort) ...
Kylie Minogue: Docklands Arena, London
Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 5 May 1990
KYLIE UNLIKELY ...
Interview by Glenn O'Brien, Interview, June 1990
I INTERVIEWED Madonna at the Disney Studios, of all places, where she was rehearsing her Blond Ambition tour. It's not really so odd that she ...
New Kids On The Block: Fandemonium
Report and Interview by Tony Fletcher, Spin, June 1990
Riding a wave of fan hysteria and saturation marketing, the New Kids On The Block are teen girl America's favorite group. ...
Paul Revere & the Raiders' Mark Lindsay (1990)
Interview by Tom Graves, Rock's Backpages Audio, June 1990
The Raiders' front-guy takes us back to Seattle garage-punk, the British invasion, long hair and costumes, Dick Clark's Where the Action Is... and, er, the entire history of '60s US pop!
File format: mp3; file size: 92.6mb, interview length: 1h 41' 05" sound quality: ****
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 ...
George Michael: Listen Without Prejudice Volume One (Epic LP/Cassette/CD)
Review by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 1 September 1990
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE ...
Jason Donovan: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 September 1990
IT MUST have been sheer devilry that inspired someone to play Prince over the PA directly before Jason Donovan came on stage. Even Jason, awaiting ...
George Michael: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
Review by Mat Snow, Q, October 1990
SOME THREE YEARS and 14 million copies later, George Michael follows up his solo debut Faith with an album that should prove to any lingering ...
Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1990
DURING LAST YEAR'S concerts, Pet Shop Boys reserved a moment amidst the costumes and the dancing for an intimate spell at the piano with Neil ...
Jason Donovan: If You Go Down To The Woods Today…
Interview by William Shaw, Smash Hits, 12 December 1990
You'll probably bump into this bloke staring moodily into the middle distance, resting from a gruelling Christmas TV show, contemplating having to dance with a ...
A-Ha Have the Last Laugh on the Teeny Tag
Profile and Interview by Lucy O'Brien, The Guardian, 14 December 1990
Groups come and go in a flash but the boys from Norway seem to have staying power. Lucy O'Brien reports ...
Milli Vanilli: The Milli Vanilli Story: What A Swizz!!
Report by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 23 January 1991
They had many hits! They bought lots of houses! They earned loads of money! But unfortunately ROB and "FAB" forgot to sing on their records!! ...
David Essex: Who The Hell Does David Essex Think He Is?
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, February 1991
DAVID ESSEX KNOWS all about the pressures that go with being an international star but still manages to keep a friendly smile on his face ...
Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian, 9 February 1991
On the titter count he scores high. And he insists on playing the prat because it pays off so handsomely. But the music biz has ...
Kim Appleby: Can I Play With Gladness
Interview by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 23 February 1991
Don't worry! KIM APPLEBY'S return to the charts has been one of the most satisfying sights of recent months, after the tragic end of Mel ...
One-Hit Wonders: They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!
Guide by Mat Snow, Q, March 1991
Rock ‘n’ roll, they say, is a cruel mistress. How often has pop fame proved but a tragically brief interlude between obscurity and oblivion! Well, ...
Rick Astley: Never Gonna Give Who Up?
Report and Interview by David Quantick, Vox, March 1991
Tear down your glossy posters. For the days of teen idolism are over — according to the improved, longer-lasting Rick Astley. A new album and ...
Rick Astley: Free (RCA/All formats)
Review by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 2 March 1991
RICK ASTLEY's new album is called Free. What can this mean? Surely, Rick is not implying that he was once merely a performing surf to ...
Madonna: Hasn't Madonna Snogged A Lot Of Blokes?
Report by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 1 May 1991
She certainly has! Film stars. Pop stars. Producers. She's had more boyfriends than hot dinners! Here's CHRIS HEATH to tell us about the eight most ...
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! ...
Chesney Hawkes: A Block Off The Old Chip
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 15 June 1991
Indecently radiant post-Jason Golden Boy of pop and Son of Chip Tremelo, CHESNEY HAWKES has plenty on his mind: worrying about the attack of the ...
Report by Terry Staunton, New Musical Express, 29 June 1991
Hungry for publicity for her new album, CHER says "Let's do lunch!" A dramatic TERRY STAUNTON puts on his best bib and tucker, but proves ...
Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1991
THE FAMOUS DANCER'S legs are hidden by the kind of white trouser suit favoured by the molls of Italian mobsters, but the tiny figure with ...
Kylie Minogue: "Sexbomb!!? Never call me that!"
Interview by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 3 August 1991
Crumbs! Kylie Minogue's got a bone to pick with Britain's Bounciest Pop Gazette (i.e. Smash Hits) because last time we interviewed her she told us ...
Kylie Minogue: A Wallaby Adored
Interview by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 28 September 1991
Be very afraid, indie saddos, for the Queen God-Empress of the Known Universe, KYLIE MINOGUE, will now transform into a Perv Rock Temptress before your ...
Chris Montez: All-Time Greatest Hits
Review by Tom Graves, Rock & Roll Disc, October 1991
ANYONE WHO still doesn't think remastering ace Steve Hoffman is a genius should be forced to listen to this anthology of Chris Montez. ...
Kylie Minogue: Let's Get To It (PWL/All formats)
Review by Betty Page, New Musical Express, 12 October 1991
IT'S REALLY not that surprising that Kylie (Coy be-ribboned Girl- Next-Door) metamorphosised into SexKylie (Slinksome Vamptress and Pop-Dance Empress), although it's probably safe to say ...
Erasure: Gdansk for the Memories
Report and Interview by David Quantick, Vox, November 1991
East-West relations continue to thaw, and what better cultural emissaries to Poland than Erasure's sparky popsters Andy Bell and Vince Clarke? On a recent jaunt ...
Wet Wet Wet: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 4 November 1991
FOR WET Wet Wet's first British date for two years their record company was taking no chances. An audience of Radio One competition winners was ...
Interview by Mat Snow, Rock's Backpages Audio, Fall 1991
From taking the morning train to having the look, Mat Snow probes Sheena Easton about her life in music, Esther Rantzen, Kenny Rogers, Prince and all.
File format: mp3; file size: 56.9mb, interview length: 1h 02' 09" sound quality: ***
Live Review by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 4 April 1992
MAYBE IT'S for the best that Marc Bolan didn't take that bend as well as he'd have liked back in '77. Otherwise we might now ...
Kylie Minogue: She Came, She S.A.W., She Conquered
Interview by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 22 August 1992
In the great theme park that is the British Popular Experience, KYLIE MINOGUE represents a national treasure, which is not bad going for an Australian. ...
Adam & The Ants: Adam And The Ants: Where Are They Now?
Profile by Martin Aston, Q, September 1992
"DON'T WORRY – HE'LL soon be a hairdresser in North Finchley." So it was that, with Malcolm McLaren's unprophetic words as encouragement, the original Ants ...
Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Where Are They Now?
Profile by Martin Aston, Q, October 1992
THERE ARE FEWER more meteoric sagas than that of Liverpool's Frankie Goes To Hollywood – from almost complete obscurity to the hottest, and the most ...
Kylie Minogue: Who The Hell Does Kylie Minogue Think She Is?
Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, October 1992
Where is she now, our little smiley gonk in primary colours? She became a saucy siren with eyes that said Come closer, a backside that ...
Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1992
WEIRD. ALMOST EVERY blushful purchaser will have recently caught the artist in flagrante, bollock, so to speak, naked. ...
Jason Donovan: Identitiy: Jason Donovan — What's Your Problem?
Interview by Mal Peachey, Vox, January 1993
Jason Donovan was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1968. Neighbours made him a teeny idol in 1986, and SAW made him a pop star. He ...
Boney M: The Fridge, Brixton, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 January 1993
WHAT MIXTURE of whimsy and misanthropy persuaded Arista Records to release a "Boney M megamix"? It appears to be part of a bizarre masterplan to ...
Comment by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 6 February 1993
So we all know the Brits Awards are a farce. So damn well nearly all of our favourites have been overlooked in favour of a ...
Annie Lennox, Eurythmics: Annie Lennox: Front Woman
Interview by Mac Randall, Musician, March 1993
CONGRATULATIONS ON your Grammy nominations. Are you making any bets on how you'll do? ...
Debbie Gibson: Deborah Gibson: Body Mind Soul
Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 4 March 1993
USED TO BE the most risqué thing about Debbie Gibson was how in 'Lost in Your Eyes' you could hear her sing "I get weak ...
ABBA: Why ABBA Can Never Return
Interview by Mal Peachey, Mail On Sunday, 23 May 1993
EXCLUSIVE: EUROPE'S POP VETERAN SITS BACK AND WATCHES HIS CHILDREN WATCH HIM ON TV Mal Peachey on a legend that will not be Björn again ...
Milli Vanilli, Try 'N B: Rob & Fab: Rob & Fab (Joss Entertainment) **; Try n' Be: Try n' Be (RCA) **
Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 10 June 1993
MILLI VANILLI is pop music's answer to baseball's 1919 Chicago Black Sox — the group's scandal will forever overshadow the way it outperformed so much ...
Bros, East 17, Let Loose, Take That, Worlds Apart: Pop Goes The Bubblegum
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 June 1993
Teenybopper bands were once besieged by fans wherever they went. The new generation's tame in comparison. Why? ...
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 ...
Bad Boys Inc: Naughty By Nurture
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 3 July 1993
It's easy to be cynical about 'manufactured' Pop Stars, how it's all so easy for talentless young upstarts to get fame and fortune beyond their ...
Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 28 August 1993
"TAKE THAT are the best group in the whole world. So there!" ...
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 ...
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'. ...
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 ...
Bad Boys Inc, Take That: Take That and Parody
Report and Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 9 October 1993
Pop is being manufactured like never before — especially cute-white-boy pop. As the war between champs TAKE THAT and challengers BAD BOYS INC hots up, ...
Live Review by Simon Warner, The Guardian, 29 November 1993
THERE IS an honourable tradition of blue-eyed soul stretching from the Righteous Brothers to Hall & Oates and Stevie Winwood, yet if Wet Wet Wet ...
Interview by Dave Thompson, unpublished, 1994
TELL US HOW you became Cliff Richard… ...
Interview by Stuart Maconie, Select, August 1994
Glamour! Sex! Unlimited platinum credit accounts at Top Shop! Insurrectionist teenage punkettes Shampoo want all of these things and more. Is there a Svengali in ...
Kylie Minogue: A Wallaby Together
Interview by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 3 September 1994
It's been a difficult gestation, but the world looks set to witness the rebirth of KYLIE MINOGUE as she emerges from the cocoon with colourful ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 September 1994
From wholesome soap star to scantily clad sex kitten — Kylie Minogue has changed her image more times than she might care to remember. But ...
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 17 September 1994
Hard-lad hoodlums in a world of antiseptic pop fodder, EAST 17 are the credible alternative to the usual pec-flexing pin-ups that try to storm the ...
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 ...
East 17, PJ & Duncan, Shampoo, Take That: The New Bottom Line
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 October 1994
There was a time when sex in pop meant a shuttlecock down the jeans. The days of innocence are over. The steam age has begun. ...
Culture Club, Duran Duran, Heaven 17, The Human League: Top Of The Pops and The '80s Brit Pop Boom
Overview by Stuart Maconie, Q, November 1994
YOU CAN tell if they're boys or girls these days, that's the trouble. Just look at them, these so-called modern pop phenomena. ...
The Bay City Rollers: Bay City Rollers: About Men, About Women
Book Excerpt by Sheryl Garratt, The Observer, 6 November 1994
Sheryl Garratt blushes to recall the badges, banners and hystericaleuphoria of belonging to a teenybopper gang — but mourns thesense of togetherness lost when real ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 May 1995
THE TEENY horrors' recent attempts to grow up have been partially successful; the newly-acquired dreadlocks are frightening rather than alluring, but their third album is ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 22 May 1995
Hormonesapoppin' as E17 storm the Sheffield Arena. No prisoners taken ...
The Boo Radleys, Bros, McAlmont & Butler, Menswear, Pulp: A simply divine madness
Memoir by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 2 June 1995
How an obnoxious teenager, revelling in the obscurity of her pop passions, met Bros in the supermarket aisle to Damascus ...
Boyzone, Whigfield: Grand, London
Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 14 June 1995
Quick, nurse the screams ...
Whigfield: Whigfield (Systematic/All formats)
Review by Johnny Cigarettes, No Depression, 24 June 1995
FIRST RULE of kitsch: Have some standards, please. Otherwise you'll end up looking like Bonnie Langford auditioning for Godspell and sounding like Jive Bunny's PR ...
George Michael, Take That, Robbie Williams: Robbie Williams: Gain the world, lose your soul
Comment by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 28 July 1995
Why did Robbie Williams turn his back on fame, fortune and Take That? Because he had to ...
Take That: Then There Were Four — Take That: Manchester Arena
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 August 1995
Caroline Sullivan on how a Robbieless Take That fare at Manchester Arena ...
Take That split (if you say so)
Comment by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 8 September 1995
The most remarkable thing about the teen scream dreamboys is they know exactly how disposable they are. ...
Take That, Robbie Williams: Robbie Williams: The Wild One
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, October 1995
Robbie Williams was always the cool one in Take That. His appearance at this year's Glastonbury, dancing onstage with his mates Oasis, only confirmed that. ...
Take That, Robbie Williams: Robbie Williams: Take One New Man
Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 15 December 1995
There is life after Take That. Robbie Williams, the lad who broke ranks (and rules), is growing up. Dave Simpson finds him talking politics, paparazzi ...
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". ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 6 March 1996
RECENT WARNINGS linking club-going to ear damage have got it all wrong. Never mind amplified Jungle or cranium-pounding dub, the real threat to the nation's ...
Oasis, Take That: Take That: Sex pistols will fill pretty vacancy
Comment by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 8 March 1996
Think of Take That as a magic bus — another, bigger and brasher, will be along in a minute ...
Eternal: Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 11 March 1996
Here today at least ...
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" ...
Comment by Johnny Cigarettes, New Musical Express, 6 April 1996
John Lennon thought The Beatles were bigger than IT, some people think Elvis is/was IT and Michael Jackson seems to think he is IT. So ...
Report by Sheryl Garratt, The Independent, July 1996
WE'RE IN THE atrium of a sleek, modern, five-star hotel that is actually in Moscow but could be almost anywhere in the world. In the ...
Gary Barlow, Take That, Robbie Williams: Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams: New Labour v Militant
Report by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 12 July 1996
IT IS HARD to believe, but there are children young enough not to remember last year's Blur v Oasis wars. Children who will have to ...
Gary Barlow, Take That, Robbie Williams: Gary Barlow: Gary Takes it All
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 July 1996
The least fancied member of smash-hit boy band Take That was the one with the bona fide music training. Now, Gary Barlow is writing songs ...
Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: Girls Just Wanna Be Loaded
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 July 1996
LAST WEEK, the world was as it should have been. Gary Barlow was number one, the summer's foreign novelty hit, 'Macarena', was panting just behind ...
Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 28 September 1996
ENGLAND'S SCREAMING ...
Review by Barney Hoskyns, Rolling Stone, 31 October 1996
PET SHOP BOYS have become an institution. The quintessential '80s act, Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant have stuck to their guns and refused to defer ...
Spice Girls: Wannabe in their gang? Oh, yeah — Spice Girls: Spice (Virgin 7243 8 42174)
Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 1 November 1996
Spice Girls follow up two smash hit singles with a debut LP that has David Sinclair joining their fan club ...
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Big Issue, December 1996
THE PAY IS GOOD, the perks are fantastic, but there's one thing they never tell you about being a pop star – the hours are ...
Spice Girls: What's The Piquancy…?: Spice Girls: Spice (Virgin)
Review by Stephen Dalton, Vox, December 1996
THEY'RE NOT MANUFACTURED! They're not the female Take That! They drink, swear, shag and write their own songs! They believe in "girl power" and use ...
Mark Owen: The Artist Formerly Known as the Pretty One
Profile and Interview by Ben Thompson, Independent on Sunday, 1 December 1996
Once just a gorgeous torso, now a hit songwriter. Ben Thompson meets Mark Owen. ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 21 December 1996
Rumours of East going west fuel night of confusion and great pop ...
Profile by Ben Fong-Torres, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1997
CALL THEM what you want – the Jackson 5, the J5, the Jacksons – they were, in the end, Michael and four of his brothers. ...
East 17: Pimply — East 17: Around The World — The Journey So Far (London 826852-2)
Review by Lucy O'Brien, Q, January 1997
East 17: becoming cooler by degrees. ...
Take That: Mark Owen: Pretty Verdant
Interview by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 15 February 1997
He was known as the cute one, the member of Take That most likely to adorn pubescent girls' bedroom walls, the one who sang and ...
Sweet: The Sweet: As Sweet As It Was
Retrospective by Dave Thompson, Goldmine, 28 February 1997
FEW BANDS ever led a life full of as many personalities as The Sweet. In their British homeland, they were as unfashionable as last year's ...
Peter Andre: Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 March 1997
And it's one for the tummy Caroline Sullivan gets all worked up about Peter Andre ...
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, April 1997
On the horizon of credibility, a faint cry is heard: "Who ate all the pies, who ate all the pies, who ate, who ate, who ...
The Monkees: People Said They Monkeyed Around
Interview by David Quantick, Q, April 1997
...only they didn't. At all. For being The Monkees was no fun. They couldn't play on their records; their film was crap, but, unlike the ...
Eternal, Human Nature: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 7 April 1997
The sound of a well-oiled machine ...
Robbie Williams: The devil in the teen angel
Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 18 April 1997
Basically, Robbie Williams should not have been in Take That. He was much better suited to Bad Boys Inc ...
Robbie Williams: "I am not a pie eater!"
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Select, May 1997
...well, you must like your chips, then. Robbie Williams has seen better times. The post-That fallout began at Glasto '95 and spiralled into an 18-month ...
Gina G, Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: Spice (Virgin); Gina G: Fresh! (Eternal/Warner Bros.)
Review by Chuck Eddy, L.A. Weekly, 8 May 1997
They Know What They Really Really Want and They Know How To Get It. Spice Girls, Gina G: If they could do it all over ...
Jonny Lang: Hanson: The little brat pack
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 May 1997
They're too young to drink at their own gigs. But Hanson are coming, and so is a new wave of pubescent poppers. Caroline Sullivan meets ...
ABBA: Welcome to the Palindrome
Review by Nick Hornby, MOJO, June 1997
Reissues: Their entire oeuvre freshly silvered, remastered and mid-priced. RING RING/ WATERLOO/ ABBA/ ARRIVAL/ THE ALBUM/ VOULEZ VOUS/ SUPER TROOPER/ THE VISITORS/ ABBA LIVE Agnetha, ...
Boyzone: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 9 June 1997
One for the girls ...
Hanson: Middle Of Nowhere (Mercury/All formats)
Review by Ian Fortnam, New Musical Express, 14 June 1997
MMM PEOPLE ...
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 ...
Hanson: Middle Of Nowhere (Mercury) ***
Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 26 June 1997
'MMMBOP', the debut hit by kiddie trio Hanson that's now warming up Top 40 charts and fourth-grade hearts, sticks in your brain like Trident in ...
Dollar: Where Are They Now? Dollar
Interview by Martin Aston, Q, July 1997
Once they sat behind the gilt-inlaid desk of success, with the keys to the executive washroom; then, suddenly, they were "downsized". ...
Spice Girls: Too Hot to Handle
Interview by Chris Heath, Rolling Stone, 10 July 1997
How five British pop tarts built their own world empire ...
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 ...
Dannii Minogue, Kylie Minogue: The Minogues: Just like sisters, only much weirder
Report by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 26 September 1997
First there was Kylie Minogue, says Caitlin Moran, then there was Dannii, now there's, er... ...
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? ...
Robbie Williams: The Show-Off Must Go On — Robbie Williams: The Waterfront, Norwich
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 4 October 1997
Robbie Williams doesn't need to get his kit off to impress, says Caroline Sullivan ...
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 ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 October 1997
She is currently the UK's most successful female singer, she has been voted one of the sexiest women in the world, she even has a ...
Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: Abdi İpekçi Arena, Istanbul, Turkey
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 October 1997
Oriental Spice: Sponsor power, not bazaars, draws the Girls to Turkey ...
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 October 1997
You've never heard of Five. The Spice Girls' inventors will make sure you do. Caroline Sullivan reports ...
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 ...
Peter Andre: Putting Away the Six-Pack
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 October 1997
With his doe eyes and firm stomach, Peter Andre was a classic teenybop chart success. Now he's set on R&B cred, and has some impressive ...
Spice Girls: The new product — Spice Girls: Spiceworld (Virgin) ***
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 October 1997
Between the T-shirts, mugs, movies, dolls and video games, the Spice Girls have put out a new album. Caroline Sullivan didn't hate it... ...
Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: Spiceworld (Virgin V2850, £13.99)
Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 31 October 1997
More girl power to their elbows ...
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 ...
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 ...
Peter Andre: We know it's chilly. But where was his six-pack when the lights went on?
Report by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 9 November 1997
I AM TRAVELLING to Radio One in the back of a white limo with teen pop sensation Peter Andre, his PR, a camera crew, the ...
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 ...
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? ...
Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: We Have Come For Your Children
Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, December 1997
The Spice grip tightens. Nations and markets previously immune to their yelling, pointing, and possibly even their singing, have succumbed. So why are they suddenly ...
Louise: Brighton Centre, Brighton
Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 18 December 1997
Pretty girl, likes a melody ...
Spice Girls: Spice: The Final Frontier
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 December 1997
The tabloids have turned on them, their fans are leaving them — even Smash Hits readers voted them Worst Group. Is this the end for ...
Boy George, Culture Club: Culture Clash: The Return Of The 50 Foot Gender Benders
Report and Interview by Dave Thompson, Alternative Press, 1998
"LIAM GALLAGHER is so sexy! There’s not much irony in the things Liam says, it’s just pent up rotweiler frustration. But honey, I ...
Spice Girls: The Spice Is Right: The Spice Girls: Spiceworld: The Movie
Film/DVD/TV Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 3 January 1998
DIRECTOR: Bob Spiers STARRING: Sporty, Posh, Ginger, Scary, Baby, Richard E Grant, Roger Moore, Michael Barrymore ...
Backstreet Boys: And They Can Sing Too
Profile and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 4 January 1998
Two years ago, the Backstreet Boys struggled to find an audience in America for their clean-cut songs. Now, after mega-star success in Europe and Canada, ...
Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Take That, Robbie Williams: Take That: That Was Then, This Is Now
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 January 1998
Two years after the split, the Take That boys are more famous than ever — and no longer just for the excesses of Robbie Williams. ...
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 ...
Kylie Minogue: Kylie Minogue (deConstruction) *** £15.99
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 March 1998
Caroline Sullivan on the latest from the former pop kitten who's moving ever closer to that elusive musical maturity ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 March 1998
'Ere, ducks, give that girl an Oscar ...
Interview by Caitlin Moran, Select, April 1998
She's never tempted by Chicken Tonight, is haunted by Michael Hutchence, her bum isn't too small and she thinks 10am is too early to talk ...
Madonna: Mother of Reinvention
Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Vox, April 1998
With a new image and a new album MADONNA comes to 1998 in bullish form. Here, we assess the Material Girl's metamorphosis from disco diva ...
George Michael, Solo Artist: Flash in the Pan
Profile by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 12 April 1998
ON TUESDAY this week, one Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, 34, was arrested for "lewd conduct" in a public toilet in Beverly Hills, only a few blocks ...
I Feel Like I Win When I Lose: The Eurovision Song Contest
Retrospective by Rob Chapman, MOJO, May 1998
WHAT HAVE FRANCOISE HARDY, Esther Ofarim, and Ofra Haza got in common? Answer, they are all fine singers. But before they got such deserved reputations ...
Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: The Girls Can't Help It
Report and Interview by Jerry Thackray, Vox, May 1998
They were supposed to have sunk without a trace by now, but it seems that everyone still wants a piece of the SPICE GIRLS. Certainly ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 May 1998
What's next for the Irish boy band now that their main heart-throb has got married? Caroline Sullivantalks to Ronan Keating about pop, faith and a ...
Robbie Williams: Apollo, Manchester
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 28 May 1998
HE LIVES under the gaze of photographers; he's had public battles with fluctuating weight and unfeasible hairstyles; he's slaughtered by the press if he nips ...
Mariah Carey: The Caged Bird Sings
Interview by Steven Daly, Arena, June 1998
Like every tragic heroine, Mariah Carey traded freedom for fame, creativity for commercial success. Now she's writing her own script and the ending has shifted ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 June 1998
Teen hearts throb with teen music ...
Spice Girls: Gone But Not Forgotten
Report and Interview by Philip Norman, The Sunday Times, 21 June 1998
POOR GAZZA. Or should that be typical Gazza? Looking for a holiday destination as far from the World Cup as possible, he chooses the Ritz-Carlton ...
Kylie Minogue: Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 31 July 1998
SHE MAY HAVE spent most of the Nineties pursuing different musical directions with mixed results, but Kylie Minogue can still sell out three nights at ...
Kylie Minogue: Little Miss Boomerang
Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Guardian, 8 August 1998
Kylie Minogue has probably had more brickbats than bouquets since she quit soap stardom to become a pop singer. But, with a new record in ...
Tina Arena: Tickled by the fickle finger of fame
Interview by Paul Sexton, The Times, 25 September 1998
Tina Arena isn't fooled by people being nice to her now that she's a pop star, she tells Paul Sexton ...
Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 25 October 1998
They live a rock-and-roll lifestyle but are hung-up about virginity. They act like grown-ups but keep their clothes in baskets with schoolboy name-tags on them. ...
Natalie Imbruglia: Natalie lmbruglia: Apollo, Manchester ***
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 10 November 1998
IF ANYONE doubts the thespian talents of Neighbours, they should look at Natalie lmbruglia. While her displays as Beth were hampered by scripts and career-threatening ...
Natalie Imbruglia: Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 21 November 1998
WHOLESOME LOTTA LOVE ...
George Michael: Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best Of... (Epic 491705 4/2/8)
Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, December 1998
Game Boy Growing up is so hard to do. ...
Robbie Williams: I've Been Expecting You (Chrysalis 4978372)
Review by David Quantick, Q, December 1998
Boy Power: He was in Take That but he doesn't like to talk about it. Not much he doesn't. ...
Pete Waterman: The Puppetmasterplan
Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 9 January 1999
Pete Waterman: scourge of the majors, champion of the people and the most wonderful man in Britain? Or just the tosser who brought us Jason ...
Robbie Williams: Sheffield Arena
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 February 1999
If the flat cap fits: is Robbie Williams the new Arthur Askey, asks Caroline Sullivan ...
Britney Spears: Single of the Yearn
Profile and Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 26 February 1999
Who is Britney Spears, and why should the world be grateful that TLC are missing in action? Read on ...
The Bay City Rollers: Bay City Rollers manager Tam Paton (1999)
Interview by Maureen Paton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 6 March 1999
The Rollers' Svengali talks about how hurt he is by his ex-charges' indifference to him; about how the band broke up and didn't even play on their own records; about their shoddy financial affairs and personal problems, and about his incarceration in the '80s.
File format: mp3; file size: 39.4mb, total interview length: 41' sound quality: **½
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. ...
S Club 7: Warning: They're Part Spice Girl, Part Monkee...
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 April 1999
Seen the show, read the book, got the T-shirt? You soon will have. Caroline Sullivan prepares for S Club 7, coming to your TV screen ...
Britney Spears: Inside the Mind (and Bedroom) of America's Teen Queen
Profile and Interview by Steven Daly, Rolling Stone, 15 April 1999
The child navigates becoming a woman while the former Mousketeer courts worldwide fame ...
B*Witched: Punkest Band Around
Comment by Metal Mike Saunders, The Village Voice, 20 April 1999
ALL RIGHT! You can turn in my Top Ten List thing already: my favorite music of the whole darn year is B*Witched's 'C'est la Vie' ...
All Saints: Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 25 April 1999
Girl Power cut ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, May 1999
Here a full transcript of the interview conducted with Bjorn Ulvaeus for a MOJO feature published in 1999 to mark the opening of Mamma Mia!. ...
Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 1999
THEY HAD a dream. It was November 1970, and the greatest pop group of the decade was about to get off to a very inauspicious ...
All Saints: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 3 May 1999
Party night for the holy rollers ...
Jordan Knight: Jordan Knight (Interscope)
Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 24 May 1999
KNIGHT MAY have served his musical apprenticeship by doing the electric boogaloo in stone-washed jeans when he was a member of New Kids on the ...
The Bay City Rollers: Standing the Butt-Test of Time
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 May 1999
The Bay City Rollers were the Boyzone of their day — only bigger. And their fans, including Caroline Sullivan, still pay homage ...
Backstreet Boys: Earls Court, London
Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 18 June 1999
Good, and over here ...
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 ...
Backstreet Boys: Earl's Court, London **
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 June 1999
IT'S A DEPRESSING thought, but the Backstreet Boys have a strong claim to being the most popular group in the world right now. Although no ...
Gary Barlow: Stronger, Faster, Better — and Taller
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 July 1999
Gary Barlow may have been upstaged by the success of his former Take That colleague. Then again, says Caroline Sullivan, Robbie can't fly ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 July 1999
Famous for 10 minutes ...
Cher: The Beat Goes On: For the Fourth Decade in a Row, Cher Hits a High Note
Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 16 July 1999
CHER KNOWS WHAT it means to ride rock and roll's wild roller coaster. Over the years, she has zoomed to the top and plummeted to ...
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 27 July 1999
A Smartly Wrapped Package: All That Music & More tour's acts fly by in a format tailored to kids. ...
Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, August 1999
They swear at Prince Charles. They swear at Lionel Richie. They swear and swear and when they don't swear, they drink and admit they're gay. ...
Bros, Five, Spice Girls: Bob Herbert 1942-1999
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 August 1999
BOB HERBERT, who has died in a car crash aged 57, didn't invent the idea of the packaged pop group, but, as the man responsible ...
Spice Girls, Thunderbugs: Girls on top
Report by Andrew Smith, The Observer, 22 August 1999
After Spice, all-girl groups are dominating the charts. They're successful, but who's got the power? ...
Martine McCutcheon: You Me & Us (Virgin)
Review by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 4 September 1999
THE TIFF GET GOING ...
Robbie Williams: Slane Castle, Dublin
Live Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 4 September 1999
OVER 80,000 people stand for hours in the baking sun wearing alternately flashing red devil horns, KISS make-up and the occasional latex Homer Simpson mask. ...
Interview by David Bennun, The Observer, 3 October 1999
AS REGENCY drawing rooms go, this one is on the largish side but, at first sight, perfectly ordinary. ...
Christina Aguilera, BreZe: Life in Plastic, It's Fantastic
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 October 1999
Who are all these new singers who go straight in at No 1? Caroline Sullivan on the rise of the boil-in-the-bag pop star ...
Steps: In search of shocking revelations
Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 15 October 1999
Steps may know all about stardom, but what about the darker side of life? Caitlin Moran grills them ...
Backstreet Boys: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim CA
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 16 October 1999
There's a Backstreet Boy for Every Teenage Girl ...
The Bay City Rollers: My tartan heart
Retrospective by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 October 1999
Caroline Sullivan reflects on the life and love of a teenage Bay City Rollers fan ...
Gary Barlow: Listen Without Prejudice — Gary Barlow: Twelve Months & Eleven Days (RCA CD74321702182)
Review by David Quantick, Q, November 1999
He's made another record. Back for good, then? ...
Spice Girls: Robotic Neurotics: Spice Girls: Evening News Arena, Manchester
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 6 December 1999
YOUR BAND may take a year off, but if you are a Spice Girl you just can't keep out of the headlines. ...
Samantha Mumba: Gotta Tell You
Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 2000
FOLLOW THE ANALOGY: Britney is to McDonald's as Christina is to Burger King, as Jessica is to Wendy's as Mandy is to Dunkin' Donuts or ...
Spice Girls: Aromatic For The Little People: Spice Girls: Earl's Court, London
Live Review by Johnny Cigarettes, New Musical Express, 8 January 2000
NEWS JUST IN: David Beckham has had a clause inserted in his contract with Manchester United which says he can become a free agent and ...
Mariah Carey: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 28 February 2000
IF PROOF were needed that sex sells, Mariah Carey would be a Class A exhibit. Since shelving her sugary image for skintight clothes and raunchy ...
All Ears: Disney Dreams Up the Best Radio Station in 30 Years
Essay by Metal Mike Saunders, The Village Voice, 14 March 2000
THE SEMINAL moment of the teenpop era is of course in the Clueless movie, where Cher refers to college-rock R.E.M.-crap as "mope rock", or "dope ...
Report and Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 4 April 2000
First Britpop, then drum'n'bass, now UK garage: behind every popular band are the A&R scouts, hunting for acts who might repeat that success. ...
Report and Interview by David Quantick, Q, May 2000
Pop on telly: sounds foolproof doesn't it? So why — from Gas Tank to the gopping Jo Whiley Show — is it invariably cocked up? ...
Ricky Martin: Earls Court, London — All mouth and tight trousers
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 15 May 2000
The set for Ricky Martin's show looked great — just a shame about the music, says Lisa Verrico ...
Britney Spears: Oops!… I Did It Again (Jive) — She was born to make us happy
Review by Barbara Ellen, The Times, 19 May 2000
For £15 you can enjoy Britney all night long — and still have change for a Big Mac and twirly fries. Barbara Ellen gets stuck ...
Heinz, John Leyton, Joe Meek, The Tornados: Geoff Goddard, 1939-2000
Obituary by Alan Clayson, The Guardian, 25 May 2000
Innovative songwriter in an era before the Beatles ...
Britney Spears: Dear Diary: Britney Spears
Comment by Metal Mike Saunders, The Village Voice, 6 June 2000
NOVEMBER 3, 1998, was the release date of the '... Baby One More Time' CD single and 12-inch (w/ 'Autumn Goodbye' on the B side). ...
Interview by Lucy O'Brien, Q, July 2000
The fans have turned on her, Billie Piper has rediscovered her surname and written a song about the music business. Teen pop midlife crisis ahoy! ...
Paul Anka: Vegas Style – The Best of the Late RCA and Buddah Recordings
Sleeve notes by Colin Escott, Taragon Records, July 2000
WE CATCH PAUL Anka in one of life's in-betweens. He had been one of the biggest stars of the '50s and would spectacularly resurrect his ...
Girl Thing: No more girl power
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 July 2000
Girl Thing were meant to be the new Spice Girls. But the public had other ideas. Caroline Sullivan reports ...
Chain Store Hairdos: Totally Hits 2
Review by James Hunter, The Village Voice, 25 July 2000
THERE'S SOMETHING strange about the idea of Totally Hits 2, the compilation of recent pop smashes by various names, a follow-up to 1999's equally incongruous ...
Robbie Williams: The Unlikely Lad: Robbie Williams
Profile by Barney Hoskyns, The Independent, September 2000
THE FIRST TIME I saw Robbie Williams in the flesh was backstage at an Oasis show at Earl’s Court in 1995. At that point the ...
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 2 September 2000
Daphne & Celeste — social commentators, teen girls bringing a breath of fresh air to the testosterone-charged air of the Carling Weekend. Of course not ...
Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, October 2000
Her Madgesty's eighth studio album is a clinical future-dance monster ...
Britney Spears: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Ian Fortnam, bol.com, 11 October 2000
IN CERTAIN SOCIAL CIRCLES it’s entirely acceptable, if not positively compulsory, for gentlemen rock journos of a certain age to swan about like leather-clad rutting ...
Britney Spears: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 13 October 2000
ROBBIE WILLIAMS may believe he has no competition. But the day after he began his latest tour, the American superstar Britney Spears arrived to play ...
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 14 October 2000
FROM THE bustin'-out-of-her-bikini-top shot on the cover to the comments about her former husband Jimmy Gulzar on the current single 'Tell Me', Mel B.'s debut ...
The Baha Men, Hampton and the Hampsters: I Still Want a Hula Hoop: Hampton and the Hampsters
Comment by Metal Mike Saunders, The Village Voice, 17 October 2000
OK, HERE'S THE hamster scoop: Last fall a U.K. indie-artsy outfit named the Cuban Boys took note of the wacky hamster sample (manipulated from the ...
Jason Donovan: Jason gets sorted
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 October 2000
Jason Donovan was the golden boy of soap and pop 10 years ago. Then he went bald and it all fell apart. Now he's reinvented ...
Report and Interview by Ben Thompson, ES, November 2000
ELVIS HAD The Ed Sullivan Show, The Sex Pistols had the Silver Jubilee boat trip. But for acid-tongued trans-Atlantic playground pop sensations Daphne and Celeste, ...
Sophie Ellis-Bextor: "I'm number one … so why try harder?"
Interview by Toby Manning, Select, November 2000
One day you're the ex-singer of a forgotten indie band. The next, you're Number One and embroiled in a tabloid bitch fight with Posh Spice. ...
Eliza Carthy: Manchester University
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Guardian Unlimited, 11 November 2000
Eliza Carthy goes pop ...
Spice Girls, Westlife: Battle of the blands: Westlife versus the Spice Girls
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 November 2000
It was the biggest chart clash since Blur versus Oasis: Westlife versus the Spice Girls. What does that tell us about today's music business, asks ...
Rick Astley: Lock, Stock and Waterman
Retrospective by Daryl Easlea, Record Collector, December 2000
WARNING: this article contains extremely positive comments about "disposable" pop. ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001
Magne Foruholmen, b. 1 November 1962, Norway; Morten Harket, b. 14 September 1959, Norway; Pal Waaktar, b. 6 September 1963, Oslo ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001
b. Walden Robert Cassotto, 14 May 1936, New York, USA, d. 20 December 1973, Los Angeles, California ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
b. Robert Louis Ridarelli, 26 April 1940, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
b. Robert Thomas Velline, 30 April 1943, Fargo, North Dakota, USA ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
b. Stanley Robert Vinton, 16 April 1935, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, USA ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
b. Gaynor Hopkins, 8 June 1951, Skewen, Wales ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
Keith Duffy, b. 1 October 1974; Stephen Gately, b. 17 March 1976; Mike Graham, b. 15 August 1972; Ronan Keating, b. 3 March 1977; Shane ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
b. 12 November 1944, New York, USA ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2001
The all-American girl shows what she's really made of ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001
b. David Albert Cook, 23 July 1947, London, England ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001
Vince Clarke, b. 3 July 1960, Basildon, Essex, England; Andy Bell, b. 25 April 1964, Peterborough, Northants, England ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001
Gary Puckett, b. 17 October 1942, Hibbing, Minnesota, USA; Dwight Bement, b. 28 December 1945, San Diego, California; Kerry Chater, b. 7 August 1945, Vancouver, ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
b. Lugee Geno Sacco, 19 February 1943, Glenn Willard, Pennsylvania, USA ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001
b. 30 July 1941, Ottawa, Canada ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, 'Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music', 2001
DANCER AND choreographer Paula Abdul was one of America's most successful singers of the early '90s. Her first three albums of lightweight pop-dance music offered ...
S Club 7: Sunshine (Polydor) ****
Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2001
Children In Need's favourite popstars finally move into Spice World. ...
Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001
b. Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis, 3 April 1944, New York, USA ...
All Saints: When The Saints Go Marching Out
Retrospective by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 January 2001
THEY'VE BEEN on the verge of it before, but this time it looks as though All Saints are finally splitting up. Caroline Sullivan laments the ...
Madonna: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2001
The live shows you really shouldn't have missed - a transcendent pop moment ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 12 February 2001
WHEN DIDO scheduled her first British tour since becoming a star in America, opening at a small London club must have seemed like a smart ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 26 February 2001
AS THE BAND remind us from the stage, they are the only group to have their first five British singles enter the chart at number ...
Kylie Minogue: Camping with Kylie: Kylie Minogue: Manchester Apollo, Manchester
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 9 March 2001
HAVING RECOVERED FROM the pretensions of duets with Nick Cave and songwriting with the Manic Street Preachers, Kylie has returned to the fluffy pop we ...
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, ...
LeAnn Rimes, Shaggy: Lure of Mr Lover Lover
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 30 March 2001
Shaggy's breathless tales of sexual conquest will beguile pop fans who enjoy the simpler pleasures, says Lisa Verrico. ...
Ronan Keating: Mad about the boy
Profile and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Observer, 8 April 2001
Ronan Keating is the blue-eyed blond who stole the heart of every schoolgirl in the country with Boyzone. Now, he's going it alone and is ...
S Club 7: Pop's Magnificent Seven: S Club 7: Arena, Sheffield ****
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 21 May 2001
FOR THEIR FIRST TOUR, S Club 7 are taking risks. Dark-haired Hannah is lowered in on a parachute, while clean-cut Jon clambers out of the ...
Interview by Precious Williams, The Evening Standard, 1 June 2001
Fifteen-year-old singer Lisa Roxanne. South London’s answer to Beyonce Knowles, wants to abolish rain, racism and boring people ...
ABBA: Mamma Mia! ABBA's Music Is Bjorn Again
Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 19 August 2001
ABBA: the band whose biographical entry begins every pop music encyclopedia; the Swedish quartet composed of two couples — Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus and ...
Pop Quiz: What does the new Top Ten list mean?
Comment by Nick Hornby, The New Yorker, 20 August 2001
IN 1973, FOR AN ESSAY published in The New York Review of Books, Gore Vidal read his way through the Times best-seller list in an ...
Sleeve notes by Colin Escott, unpublished, September 2001
IN THESE trivia-obsessed times, it's probably worth knowing that the first Number One hit recorded in Memphis by a Memphis act was 'The Letter'. It ...
Live Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 8 September 2001
THERE'S AN apocryphal story that the Monkees – the original manufactured, made-for-TV pop group – were auditioned by being sent into a room containing only ...
Kylie Minogue: The Showgirl Must Go On
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Observer, 23 September 2001
Kylie Minogue won't discuss her personal life, but after 17 dizzy years as soap starlet, pop princess, gay icon and Barbie Doll, she's starting to ...
Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, October 2001
All the studio albums 1973-1981, digitally remastered with statistic-stuffed notes and bonus tracks previously only heard on 1994's Thank You For The Music box ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 27 November 2001
WATCHING STEPS brings to mind George Orwell's image of the future as "a boot stamping on a human face for ever". The band inhabit their ...
Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, December 2001
Britney Spears ponders hot chocolate and drugged reptiles from Australia. ...
Live Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 22 December 2001
EXACTLY 70 PER cent of this audience are fluffy pink deely-boppered weeny-poppers. About 20 per cent are benignly smiling mums and dads. And the remaining ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2002
The First Ladies of the British pop charts talk about fame, boys, UK Garage, the Angels With Dirty Faces album and each other.
File format: mp3; in 3 parts, total file sizes: 64.6mb, total interview length: 1h 09' 46" sound quality: ****
Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, January 2002
Second decade of hits and myths from La Ciccone — but no 'American Pie' ...
Whitney Houston, OutKast: Whitney Houston: Houston, still a problem
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 4 January 2002
Troubled superstar Whitney Houston overdoses on sugar, says Lisa Verrico ...
Faith Evans, Christina Milian, Pink: Bubblegum to chew over: Christina Milian, Faith Evans, P!nk
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 11 January 2002
A teen diva can't compete with maturing talent, says Lisa Verrico ...
Simon Cowell: "The White Stripes? Heard of them. Wasn't blown away."
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 26 January 2002
He makes kids cry, hates fat people and he gave us Westlife. Now Pop Idol villain Simon Cowell turns his evil gaze on some NME ...
hear'say: It’s All Just hear’say
Comment by Mark Sinker, Freaky Trigger, February 2002
HE SAID TRUST ME I’LL MAKE YOU A STAR SO I BIT MY TONGUE UNTIL HE’D FINISHED... ...
Shakira: Soft rock and the hard sell
Profile and Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 8 March 2002
Shakira sells millions of records in her native Colombia, has just conquered America and now has her sights on Britain. Lisa Verrico met her ...
Ali G: The joke's on you: Ali G's 'Me Julie'
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 March 2002
This week Ali G releases his first single, 'Me Julie'. Caroline Sullivan wishes he wouldn't. ...
Various Artists: Electric (Telstar)
Review by Tim Clifford, Rock's Backpages, April 2002
THE OLDEST track on this 34-track compilation dates from 1974 – and Sparks’ 'This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both of Us' still sounds ...
Lisa Lopes, TLC: Lisa Lopes: Rollercoaster career of a troubled star
Obituary by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 27 April 2002
THE POP world lost one of its most colourful characters yesterday with the death of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. ...
Ant and Dec: Ant & Dec: Sing When You're Winning
Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, 29 May 2002
Angus Batey meets the men behind the official England song, Geordie funsters Ant and Dec ...
Kylie Minogue: Attack of the 5ft Woman!
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, June 2002
AAARG! In 1998, one time pop robot and po-mo pin-up Kylie Minogue was on a commercial cold slab. Now scarily re-animated, she's an irony-free megastar ...
Tatu: We Have Seen The Future of Rock & Roll (and Gulp! It's Two Teenage "Lesbians" From Moscow)
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Blender, June 2002
Two underage ambisexuals known as Tatu have turned the Russian pop world upside down. Now, led by their ex-psychiatrist manager, they've set their sights squarely ...
Interview by Pete Paphides, The Guardian, 8 June 2002
People were often a bit sneery about Abba, born of Eurovision, duded out in satin and feathers, quintessentially pop. Only years after the group broke ...
Like Rock Never Happened: Pop Idols for Tibet... or Greenpeace... or whatever
Comment by John Mendelsohn, Rock's Backpages, 14 June 2002
WELL, I HOPE everybody's satisfied. Back in the early '80s (you can look it up!), I was railing in Creem about the institutionalisation of surliness ...
Petula Clark, Tony Hatch, The Searchers, Jackie Trent: Call Me: The Songs Of Tony Hatch
Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, Sanctuary Records, July 2002
WHEN PETULA Clark hit number one in America with 'Downtown' in January 1965 she became the first British solo singer to top the US charts. ...
Review by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 2 July 2002
FOR ANYONE who's already screaming "Enough!" whenever Avril Lavigne's supernaturally catchy single 'Complicated' comes on the radio, the news is all bad. ...
Interview by Ted Kessler, The Observer, 14 July 2002
As a schoolgirl she drove the nuns crazy with her belly dancing, now she's got the world gyrating. Ted Kessler meets Shakira, the Colombian superstar ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, September 2002
A 17-YEAR-OLD skate chick with the face of a rebellious angel and attitude to match, singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne should be the answer to every record ...
Retrospective by Johnny Black, Blender, September 2002
PERFORMERS: Karen Carpenter, lead vocals; Richard Carpenter, piano, vocals; Hal Blaine, drums; Joe Osborne, bass; Jim Horn, wind instruments; Bob Messenger, bass and wind; Doug ...
Avril Lavigne: Mean Fiddler, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 September 2002
IT IS EASY TO SEE why Avril Lavigne was snapped up by a major label before she was old enough to drink at most of ...
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 October 2002
In it for the fame, the manufactured popstars didn't have so much as a slogan to fall back on when the going got tough. Caroline ...
Robbie Williams: Robbie's £80m deal puts EMI on new path
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 October 2002
Record giant's move into entertainment business on wider front highlights changing situation at a time when classical market is faltering ...
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 11 October 2002
BEFORE BOY BANDS began breeding it was singing soap stars who were the plankton of pop. ...
Christina Aguilera, Las Ketchup: Las Ketchup: Hijas del Tomate/Christina Aguilera: Stripped
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 18 October 2002
CURRENTLY TOP of the charts not only in their native Spain but right across Europe and — as of Sunday — in Britain as well, ...
A Chocolate Biscuit Beats The Pop Charts These Days
Comment by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 14 November 2002
The Top 20 of old has ceased to be, we have to invent lots of replacements. ...
Christina Aguilera: Has Anyone Seen Christina?
Interview by Chris Heath, Rolling Stone, 14 November 2002
Because all we can find is Xtina, with her explosive beats, body piercings and broken glass. ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 15 November 2002
THERE WERE TWO types of female fan at Pink's Brixton Academy gig. ...
TLC: T-Boz: "The doctors told me I wouldn't live to see 40"
Interview by Precious Williams, The Evening Standard, 27 November 2002
She's a member of the famous girl band TLC. Here, T-Boz talks about her daily battle with sickle cell anaemia ...
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 29 November 2002
ON HER NEW album, Jennifer Lopezhas cannily mixed her real life romance with her music. So listening to This is Me… Then feels a little ...
Avril Lavigne, Pink: Riot Girls
Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 9 December 2002
Goodbye cheerleaders, hello snarling, smoking punks. Dorian Lynskey on how Pink! made teen pop grow up ...
Girls Aloud: Females with Attitude
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 December 2002
Despite the hype, could reality TV's Girls Aloud be the first girl band to matter since the Spice Girls? ...
Shakira: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 17 December 2002
NO MATTER where you sat in Wembley Arena on Monday night, you were never far from open-mouthed men trying not to drool at this year's ...
Music profile: The Christmas No 1
Retrospective by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 21 December 2002
For the first time in years, there are no Christmas novelty singles battling it out for No 1. Yet stars from Elvis to Kylie can't ...
Swing Out Sister: Somewhere Deep In The Night
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, Spring 2002
'80s chart stars baulk the nostalgia circuit for Zero 7's atmospheric dimension. ...
S Club 7: Best… The Greatest Hits of S Club 7 (Polydor) ***
Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2003
One final reminder that there really ain't no party like an… ...
Bobby Curtola, The Moffatts, Justin Timberlake: Teen Idols and the fast track to fame
Report and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Inside Entertainment, 2003
"Some people call me a teenage idol/Some people say they envy me/I guess they got no way of knowing/How lonesome I can be" (Ricky Nelson, ...
Justin Timberlake: Justified (Jive)
Review by Toby Manning, Q, January 2003
WHILE MICHAEL Jackson's creativity is on the wane, there are still some artists who find him inspirational. ...
Sophie Ellis-Bextor: Sophie's World
Profile by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 4 January 2003
Having established herself as a pop star with her own agenda, Sophie Ellis Bextor is ready to take on America. ...
Tatu: 200 KM/H In The Wrong Lane (Interscope)
Review by Todd L. Burns, Stylus, 9 January 2003
DESPITE THE obviously imperfect title for American audiences, Tatu has constructed an admirable English language album rife with two potentially hit singles and one of ...
Retrospective by Bob Stanley, The Times, 20 January 2003
Billy Fury, who died 20 years ago, was a perfect but vulnerable pop star, says this lifelong fan. ...
Clipse, Melanie C, Moloko, Spice Girls: Melanie C: Reason/Moloko: Statues/Clipse: Lord Willin'
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 21 February 2003
Melanie C has too much going for her to rejoin the Spice Girls. ...
Report and Interview by Pete Paphides, The Guardian, 8 March 2003
To some, the Here And Now Tour is a has-beens cabaret, to others it's a harmless trip down memory lane. Peter Paphides reports from the ...
Report by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 21 March 2003
Dollar's David Van Day continues to entertain — but not by singing ...
Avril Lavigne: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 30 March 2003
THE THINGS YOU hear on trains. There I was, upgraded to Weekend First a couple of years ago (eight quid, but it was a long ...
Blue (UK): Blue: Guilty... as Charged
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 31 March 2003
THE BOYS IN BLUE have become the biggest pop band in Britain by providing a little something for everyone. With the title and cover of ...
Obituary by Phast Phreddie Patterson, Rock's Backpages, April 2003
SINGER LITTLE EVA (59) died of cervical cancer at a hospital in Kinston, North Carolina on April 10. She was born Eva Narcissus Boyd on ...
Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 14 April 2003
IT WAS HARDLY an original piece of choreography, but 'The Loco-motion' was certainly one of the most impressive records produced by the early 1960s vogue ...
Duran Duran: The Singles 81-85
Review by Daryl Easlea, Record Collector, May 2003
DURAN DURAN were, of course, the original band who wanted to combine the Sex Pistols with Chic. Taking their name from a character in the ...
Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, May 2003
THE WORDS ARE TALL, luridly colourful and carefully stitched onto a bed sheet, and the sentiment is unambiguous. As Busted guitarist Matt Jay’s eyes alight ...
Panjabi MC: The Album (Dharma/Showbiz)
Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 2 May 2003
PANJABI MC has already provided one of the most refreshing hits of the year with January's 'Mundian To Bach Ke', which fused bhangra, breakbeats and ...
Robbie Williams: Fly Like an Ego: Robbie Williams' Escapology
Review by James Hunter, The Village Voice, 13 May 2003
WHEN LONDON'S Robbie Williams released his 1999 U.S. debut, he warned Americans. The Ego Has Landed, he called the thing, a shrewd compilation of even ...
Blur, Justin Timberlake: Justin Timberlake: NEC Arena, Birmingham; Blur: Astoria, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 17 May 2003
Non-threatening boys: come and get 'em ...
Victoria Beckham: Keepin’ It Real
Review by John Mendelsohn, Rock's Backpages, August 2003
YOU COULD HARDLY blame the ridicule-mongers for nearly swooning with delight a couple of months ago when Victoria Beckham revealed that she would soon begin ...
Phil Spector, Radiohead: Steven Wells On Rock Snobs
Column by Steven Wells, playlouder.com, 2 August 2003
The The Stages Of Pop-Man ...
Sugababes: Wanna be in our gang?
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 October 2003
Sugababes were 15 when they released their first single. Three years and one line-up change later, they are the coolest, smartest girl band in the ...
Christina Aguilera: Christina stripped bare
Interview by Tim Cooper, The Evening Standard, 30 October 2003
The video for 'Dirrty' transformed Christina Aguilera overnight from girl next door to sex siren. As she plays Wembley, Tim Cooper talks to her about ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, November 2003
THE TIMING COULDN'T be worse. Just as Holly Valance, the ex-Neighbours starlet who became an instant sex kitten in 2002 with her debut single 'Kiss ...
Michael Jackson: No more mileage in being Wacko
Comment by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 21 November 2003
MICHAEL JACKSON's efforts to maintain his self-proclaimed status as "the king of pop" are looking desperate as the passage of time and profound changes in ...
Last Christmas, I gave you my chart
Column by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 November 2003
Caroline Sullivan is appalled by this year's efforts for the Chrismas No 1, but finds some consolation in the thought that next year the singles ...
Pink: Killer Queen: Pink: Try This (Arista/BMG) ****
Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, December 2003
Come in, Madonna, your time is finally up ...
Kylie Minogue: Body Language (Parlophone) ****
Review by Bob Stanley, MOJO, December 2003
Cosmetically enhanced pop icon believes there was more to the '80s than Level 42 and stonewashed denim. ...
Michael Jackson: Can You Remember?
Comment by Mark Anthony Neal, PopMatters, 11 December 2003
Can You Remember when we were babies? — Michael Jackson (Age 11) ...
Michelle McManus: The stars in our eyes
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 December 2003
Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus may claim to be happy with her size, but pop's obsession with image could well put an end to that, ...
Robbie Williams: Q Icons: Robbie Williams
Profile by Ian Gittins, Q, 2004
EVERY BRITISH comprehensive school class has its in-house clown. Tirelessly hyperactive and compulsively subversive, he (and it always is a he) leaves at 16 in ...
Busted: A Present For Everyone
Review by Nick Southall, Stylus, 15 January 2004
IT IS, OF COURSE, the awkward-looking blonde one who is the genius behind Busted. And rest assured that I don't use the word "genius" lightly. ...
Review by Kandia Crazy Horse, The Village Voice, 8 June 2004
HAVING PASSED out during Hanson's historical 1999 Bob Weir summit at the late Wetlands, this critic can attest to the inexorable power of the towhead ...
Girls Aloud, Sugababes: Xenomania: Heart Of The Country, Home Of The Hits
Profile and Interview by Ben Thompson, The Observer, 18 July 2004
In rural Kent, the future of British pop is being shaped by Brian Higgins – a Phil Spector for the 21st century. Ben Thompson meets ...
Madonna : Manchester Evening News Arena
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, August 2004
PARTS OF MANCHESTER almost ground to a halt this weekend as the European wing of Madonna’s Reinvention Tour opened with two nights at the city’s ...
Interview by Tim Cooper, The Evening Standard, 24 August 2004
Soul diva Gabrielle sold millions of records, before a serious throat condition — triggered by her obsessive compulsive disorder — threatened to wreck her career ...
Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 31 August 2004
LAURA BRANIGAN, who has died of a brain aneurysm aged 47, was a powerful singer with a five-octave range who in an earlier generation would ...
Natasha Bedingfield: Unwritten
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, September 2004
SO IT'S OFFICIAL. Natasha Bedingfield is no longer just Daniel's little sister. That 'These Words' going to No.1 made chart history – making her and ...
Girls Aloud: How I Became a Girl Aloud
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 September 2004
Caroline Sullivan spends a week in the shoes — the very painful shoes — of the UK's number one girl band ...
Review by Todd L. Burns, Stylus, 24 September 2004
IF YOU'VE LISTENED from the beginning, you shouldn't expect much. Hilary Duff's debut was a hit and miss affair. Leaving aside the great 'So Yesterday' ...
Obituary by Alan Clayson, The Guardian, 1 October 2004
Blending country music with mainstream pop ...
Review by Kathryn Flett, The Observer, 17 October 2004
IT'S OBVIOUSLY entirely unfair to treat the popular artistes Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears as conjoined twins, forcing them to share the same review (would ...
Essay by David Stubbs, The Guardian, 30 October 2004
THE ONE AND Only, a hardback celebration of one-hit wonders by Tom Bromley, is a touch too self-satisfied a stocking filler, inviting us, not for ...
Gwen Stefani: Love. Angel. Music. Baby. ***
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 November 2004
A GENUINE CHARACTER — which immediately distinguishes her from 90% of other successful pop females — Gwen Stefani has made a solo debut that's as ...
Xmas LPs: Worst Christmas On Record
Essay by David Stubbs, The Guardian, 11 December 2004
THE CHRISTMAS SINGLE is a thing of thudding familiarity - brace yourself again for Jona Lewie to make his annual re-emergence, bludgeoning you like a ...
Del Shannon: Home And Away – The Complete Recordings 1960-1970
Review by Bob Stanley, MOJO, January 2005
Eight CDs tell the story of one of the '60s' most original rockers, a doomed romantic whose arrested adolescence made him a star but never ...
Gwen Stefani: Girl Powered: Gwen Stefani: Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (Interscope/Polydor) ****
Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, January 2005
The new first lady of pop has arrived ...
Girls Aloud: What Will the Neighbours Say?
Review by Bob Stanley, Uncut, January 2005
THE 'LOUD'S FABULOUS run of hits to date is as close to a 21st Century Blondie as we're likely to come: two of them — ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 4 January 2005
Hanson want to be taken seriously as an alt-rock band. But will anyone forgive their teeny-bop past? By Caroline Sullivan ...
Britney Spears: Under The Covers: Britney
Guide by Todd L. Burns, Stylus, 1 February 2005
The Queen of Pop? Since 1999’s …Baby One More Time, Britney has quickly elevated herself to pop royalty via a conflicting series of psycho-sexual messages ...
Report and Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 21 February 2005
The once-great tongue-in-cheek music press has gone, but its spirit lives on. ...
Natasha Bedingfield: Colston Hall, Bristol
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 25 February 2005
SURFING ON a tide of hit singles and a monster debut album, Natasha Bedingfield has leapt to the head of the female singer-songwriter queue in ...
Avril Lavigne: O Sister, What Art Thou?
Interview by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 11 March 2005
Teenage girls can't resist Avril Lavigne's sulky-teen pose. So Tim Cooper decides to let his daughter interrogate the pop princess. ...
Adam & The Ants: Adam Ant: Adam And The Fall
Interview by Paul Lester, Daily Telegraph, 9 April 2005
STUART GODDARD is one of the most gifted – and most troubled – pop stars this country has ever produced. ...
Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 8 May 2005
Since Geri Halliwell launched her solo career she's drifted in and out of our orbit. Now she's having another shot at re-entry. She's a woman ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, July 2005
IT'S SAID THAT American's do everything bigger and better than everyone else. While, in most instances the second part of the claim is a matter ...
James Blunt: I was Blunt’s instrument
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 July 2005
"DOUBLE WHAMMY for Blunt," says a headline in this week's issue of trade magazine Music Week, acknowledging the fact that songwriter James Blunt is at ...
Avril Lavigne: Just where is the next stop on this tour?
Report and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 11 August 2005
HO-HUM. Another city, another sold-out concert date for Avril Lavigne. Not that the punky pop star could tell you exactly where the next arena full ...
Profile by Jaan Uhelszki, Harp, September 2005
AFTER LEARNING that a London ad agency was searching for music for an upcoming Volkswagen commercial, Aqualung’s Matt Hales locked himself in his flat, hammered ...
Robbie Williams, Part 1: A Dark Star Shines Brightly
Profile and Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 20 October 2005
HERE IS Robbie Williams's penthouse, on the 15th floor, overlooking Chelsea Harbour. To be fair, it's not a vast space — with a pool table, ...
Robbie Williams: Man with the Child in his Eyes
Profile and Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 21 October 2005
In part two of our exclusive interview, Caitlin Moran finds the mixed-up Robbie Williams she once knew a changed man. ...
Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, November 2005
IN 2005, there are few cooler pop names to drop than a-ha. Coldplay and Travis are not just avowed fans but sometime collaborators with the ...
Son Of Dork: Welcome To Loserville
Review by Ian Watson, Yahoo! Music, November 2005
Dear Shareholders, FOLLOWING THE concerns raised (see minutes passim) about the discontinuation of the Busted product and the underperformance of the Fightstar spinoff, we’re delighted to ...
Madonna: Stayin' Alive: Madonna: Confessions On A Dancefloor (Warner Bros) ****
Review by Keith Cameron, MOJO, December 2005
Her Madgesty's career saving eleventh album proves it's never too late to get back into the groove ...
Book Review by Bill Wasserzieher, Ugly Things, Summer 2005
IF SOCRATES, the George Carlin of his day, was right that "the unexamined life is not worth living," then The Monkees have nothing to worry ...
Corinne Bailey Rae : Corinne Bailey Rae: Corinne Bailey Rae
Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 24 February 2006
LEST WE FORGET, this isn't the first time that a new artist has been propelled into the spotlight to massed cries that she's the new ...
Dusty Springfield: The Invention of Dusty Springfield
Retrospective and Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Independent, 26 March 2006
Mary O'Brien was born with the voice that would make her our greatest female pop singer, but everything else that went to make the icon ...
Hilary Duff: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 May 2006
ALL EXCEPT PUBESCENT GIRLS are entitled to ask: "Hilary who?" This 18-year-old actor/singer is a massive star in the eyes of Sugar magazine readers, but ...
Hilary Duff: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 1 May 2006
THE TEXAN teen queen Hilary Duff is much more than a pretty pop star. An actress since the age of 6, she found fame playing ...
Freddie & The Dreamers: Freddie Garrity, 1936-2006
Obituary by Alan Clayson, The Guardian, 22 May 2006
Clowning pop star with a series of '60s hits – and a zany dance – to his name ...
Madonna: HP Pavilion, San Jose
Live Review by Joel Selvin, SF Gate, 1 June 2006
Madonna follows her glitzy, exhausting script to the letter. The Madonna circus rolls in — but it's not about the music ...
Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 4 June 2006
"Opinionated" barely begins to cover it. Barbara Ellen meets the ballsy, bolshy pop star who has refreshingly barbed advice for Prince William, the Queen, shallow ...
Interview by Bill DeMain, Performing Songwriter, July 2006
When Don Kirshner hired Jeff Barry as a producer and writer for the Monkees, then the Archies, he knew he was getting a guaranteed hitmaker. ...
Lily Allen: The Sound Of The (Garden) Suburbs
Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, July 2006
Lily Allen makes urban music with a difference — she's had a life she can't complain about. And via MySpace and a daily blog she's built ...
Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: It Was a Power Trip
Retrospective by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 14 July 2006
Ten years after the release of the first Spice Girls album, our writer argues that the social legacy of "girl power" is still with us. ...
The Neptunes, N.E.R.D., Pharrell Williams: Pharrell Williams: Sorry, laydeez, he's booked
Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 21 July 2006
Music is my one true love, says blingtastic baron of beats, Pharrell Williams ...
Adam & The Ants: Stand And Deliver by Adam Ant (Sidgwick & Jackson)
Book Review by Bob Stanley, The Times, 16 September 2006
STUART GODDARD attempted suicide, aged 21, in 1975. He woke up in Friern Barnet hospital and discharged himself. When he got home to his wife ...
Review by Steve Pafford, QX, October 2006
Steve Pafford presents a track-by-track review of quite possibly the gayest album of the year… ...
Girls Aloud: The Trojan Horses of Pop
Interview by Pete Paphides, The Times, 20 October 2006
Girls Aloud can't write songs. So what? They turned pop on its head ...
All Saints: Saintlier than thou
Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 5 November 2006
Older and wiser after their acrimonious split, Britain's bitchiest girl group are back together — as friends, mums and bandmates. ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 20 November 2006
WHILE THE AWARDS, accolades and warm sense of achievement are all nice, the best thing about having a pop career that's survived a quarter of ...
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 30 November 2006
THIS IS a big week for Snow Patrol. On Sunday their fourth album, Eyes Open, was certified as the bestselling UK release of 2006, with ...
George Michael: Twentyfive (Sony/BMG)
Review by Paul Elliott, Q, December 2006
THIS WAS SUPPOSED to be part of George Michael's big comeback: a greatest hits album to follow a sell-out European tour. And, fleetingly, it was ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, Spring 2006
AFTER INSTIGATING the '80s rock revival currently sweeping the hit factories of US pop, it's only fair that Pink should now get to be its ...
Jessica Simpson: A Public Affair
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, February 2007
IF WISHING MADE it so, Jessica Simpson would be the biggest pop star on the planet. ...
Interview by Maureen Paton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 23 February 2007
The now-veteran Mormon popster remembers his days touring the UK in the '70s, being pursued by screaming girls; on being a father and grandfather; his new album Love Songs of the '70s; narrowly surviving his surfing accident; being a poster boy for clean living; nearly losing everything in 1980; on his religion, and staying fit.
File format: mp3; file size: 44.4mb, interview length: 46' 16" sound quality: ***
Kylie Minogue: Dancing Queen: Kylie Minogue: Wembley Arena, London ****
Live Review by Paul Elliott, Q, March 2007
The Showgirl returns. Praise be. ...
Natasha Bedingfield: NB (Sony)
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, April 2007
THE GREATEST GIFT AN older sibling can give is the chance to learn from their mistakes. Natasha Bedingfield, formerly known as the younger sister of ...
Profile and Interview by Robin Eggar, The Sunday Times, 27 May 2007
MIKA MAKES Marmite pop music. Back in January, when 'Grace Kelly' first leapt out of the radio, people rushed to instant judgment. Indifference was not ...
George Michael, Wham!: George Michael (2007)
Interview by Steve Pafford, Rock's Backpages Audio, June 2007
The man born Georgios Kyricacos Panayiotou talks at length about his family's attitudes towards homosexuality; his relationship with his mother; coming out to his parents; on his own gayness, and not being part of the gay community; on Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley; on songs and videos such 'Wham Rap', 'Club Tropicana' and 'Young Guns'; manager Simon Napier-Bell's shenanigans; the L.A. cruising incident and his American career; meeting Anselmo Feleppa; meeting Kenny Goss; his love of David Bowie; the rivalry between the Brit MTV bands; the state of current pop, and how he sees his future.
File format: mp3; file size: 109.1mb, interview length: 1h 53' 40" sound quality: ***
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 June 2007
Calvin Harris had a solid career in fruit and veg to look forward to. Then the charts, fame and Kylie Minogue got in the way. ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 25 June 2007
KELLY CLARKSON deserves the admiration and respect of everyone. Fan, detractor, or indifferent bystander with as much interest in the career of the first winner ...
George Michael, Wham!: George Talks: His Frankest Interview Ever
Interview by Steve Pafford, Richard Smith, GAY TIMES, July 2007
ALTHOUGH IT'S probably not what George Michael would like to be remembered for, something happened a year ago that summed him up beautifully. George was ...
Scissor Sisters: O2 Arena, London
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 30 July 2007
SCISSOR SISTERS' last hurrah before retreating to New York to start work on album No 3 should have been a camp carnival. ...
Doc Pomus: Alex Halberstadt: Lonely Avenue – The Unlikely Life and Times of Doc Pomus (Cape)
Book Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 19 August 2007
On the face of it, pop treated Pomus abysmally. A harder look at how and why would have given a lively biography a bit more ...
Scouting for Girls: 100 Club, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 August 2007
IF SCOUTING FOR GIRLS turn out to be notable for nothing else, they have at least saved the name Roy from extinction. But Roy Stride, ...
Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Bobby Rydell: North Fork Theatre, Westbury, Long Island
Live Review by John Broven, unpublished, October 2007
A PACKED HOUSE comprising mainly of an adoring fan club of female 60-somethings, with their tagalong husbands, greeted the three South Philadelphia teen idols of ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 November 2007
ROBYN’S WEBSITE makes the contentious claim that the Swedish singer is the "most killingest pop star on the planet", which will be news to, say, ...
Leona Lewis: Spirit (Sony BMG)
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 12 November 2007
EASILY THE MOST significant thing about Leona Lewis's debut album is how long it's taken to appear. ...
Profile by Johnny Black, Blender, December 2007
Vital statistics on Soft Cell's controversial smash ...
M.I.A.: Coronet Theatre, London SE1
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 22 December 2007
SHE IS LESS well-known than Amy Winehouse's hair and her sales to date wouldn't fund Beyoncé's laundry bill, yet Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A., has ...
Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 30 December 2007
Sia has endured failure and heartache, but the Australian singer's luck is starting to turn ...
Sleeve notes by Todd Everett, Bear Family Records, 2008
THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME – the list of performers, not the museum in Cleveland – has often generated its share of controversy; ...
Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: Never Mind The Bum Notes
Live Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 3 January 2008
The Spice Girls: O2 Arena, London ...
The Feeling, The Hoosiers, Scouting for Girls: Is radio whistling the right tunes?
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 January 2008
Things are changing on the airwaves. Caroline Sullivan finds Radio 1 ditching rock for "pop". ...
Adele: "Her Success is Depressingly Inevitable"
Comment by Andy Gill, The Independent, 5 February 2008
AS ADELE'S album sweeps to the top of the charts, it becomes increasingly clear that in the future, all our pop-cultural decisions will be made ...
Miley Cyrus: Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert
Film/DVD/TV Review by Wayne Robins, Rock's Backpages, 20 February 2008
LAST WEEKEND J and I went to see Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert in the local multiplex. It was ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 27 February 2008
TO CRITICISE a performer for making too much effort seems absurd, yet Mika's surfeit of ideas and eagerness to impress overshadowed the songs in his ...
Review by Lucy O'Brien, MOJO, March 2008
Soulful, streetwise debut from the much-hyped Tottenham chanteuse. ...
The Hoosiers: Shepherds Bush Empire, W12
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 6 March 2008
"DID YOU know you are in the presence of an award-winning band?" teased the singer Irwin Sparkes, before dedicating a defiantly ELO-influenced new number, 'Swear ...
Sugababes: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 22 March 2008
THEY COULD easily sell out arenas. Instead, Sugababes’ current tour — at 30 dates over eight weeks, the longest in their seven-year career — takes ...
Review by Ben Thompson, The Observer, 20 April 2008
Thanks to her henchmen, writes Ben Thompson, the shameless idol still has much to give ...
Girls Aloud: Brighton Centre ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 May 2008
GIRLS ALOUD long ago ceased to be a guilty pleasure, and are now just a pleasure. It defies the laws of reality TV that they're ...
Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 26 June 2008
LIKE FELLOW CROONERS Amy Winehouse and Kate Nash, Adele Adkins polished her skills at the Brit School in south London – as good a finishing ...
Retrospective and Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, August 2008
The L.A. pop maestros whose subversive career involved Frank Zappa, T.Rex — and the Care Bears! ...
Katy Perry: On Music: Katy Perry — Voice of No Angel
Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 8 August 2008
IT'S BEEN quite a week for sex, music and me. Take last weekend. There I was at the Big Chill festival, hot-browed and clammy-palmed, watching ...
The Jonas Brothers: Jonas Brothers: A Little Bit Longer
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, September 2008
FOR THE UNINITIATED, the Jonas Brothers are the American Busted. Three nice middle class boys who've come to kick identikit, squeaky clean bubblegum pop into ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, September 2008
IT'S A UNIQUELY English popstar affliction, humbleness. And it's not attractive. Far from endearing, coyness, self-depreciation or lord forbid, cheeky humour in pop can be ...
Katy Perry: Water Rats, London **
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 September 2008
KATY PERRY has found the best way to ensure her debut UK gig is a sellout. Although she has had the No. 1 single for ...
Katy Perry: One Of The Boys ** (Capitol)
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 19 September 2008
IS THERE NOTHING lipstick lesbianism can't do for a 23-year-old former gospel singer? ...
Essay by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, October 2008
FOR MANY years now I have been a closet Abba fan. This was not always the case. ...
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Daily Telegraph, 29 October 2008
Dido is Britain's most successful female artist ever, yet is releasing only her third album since her 1999 breakthrough. She tells Sheryl Garratt about the ...
Tony Christie: Cadogan Hall, London
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, November 2008
THIS HAS BEEN a vintage year for triumphant comebacks by veteran singers, from Leonard Cohen to Neil Diamond. Now Tony Christie, who turned 65 in ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 November 2008
REMEMBER THE days when boy bands were 10 a penny and schoolgirls would wage war over whether Take That or East 17 were more luscious? ...
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 17 November 2008
HAVING DRAGGED himself out of his mid-'90s drugs haze and back into the nation's affections via the medium of musical theatre, the soft-focus tone of ...
Britney Spears: On Britney Spears's Sadly Generic Circus
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, 10 December 2008
More blandishments from the dance floor ...
Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (New Zealand), 2009
Robyn's fronting on mighty pop moments such as 'Konichiwa Bitches', 'U Should Know Better' and 'Criminal Intent' have projected the Swedish star as a bad-ass ...
Ian Whitcomb: The Troubadour Of Lost Time
Retrospective and Interview by Kirk Silsbee, Arroyo Monthly, January 2009
POET HOLLY PRADO once observed: "A city either wants you or it doesn't." Ian Whitcomb was a history student at Dublin's Trinity College with ...
Florence and the Machine, Lady Gaga: On Music: Lady GaGa and Florence Welch
Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 16 January 2009
Lady GaGa and Florence Welch have been hailed as the new queens of pop. But why pretend they're anything more than cheap imitations? ...
Lily Allen: Celebrity: Lily Allen
Interview by James Medd, GQ (Australia), February 2009
She's released a new album and that string of expletives at Elton John at the UK Men of the Year Awards. So how will GQ ...
Celine Dion: HP Pavilion, San Jose
Live Review by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 February 2009
CELINE DION makes faces when she sings. She crinkles up her nose. She arches her eyebrows. She winks and darts quick little smiles after she ...
Kelly Clarkson: All I Ever Wanted
Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, March 2009
IN MATTERS OF ART there's no right, no wrong, just opinion. ...
Depeche Mode: Universal Truths And Sounds
Interview by John Doran, The Stool Pigeon, April 2009
It's all tea and biscuits for Depeche Mode these days, and a trip back to the future ...
Ray Parker Jr.: Who you gonna call? 118 118
Comment by Johnny Sharp, The Guardian, 4 April 2009
Ray Parker Jr is the latest ad/pop crossover. Johnny Sharp wants more ...
Madonna: Why Madonna's Still A Material Girl
Profile by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 5 April 2009
Turning 50 and divorcing Guy Ritchie doesn’t seem to have dented Madonna’s fortune – or her bankability. Robert Sandall investigates the business of being a ...
The Bay City Rollers: Tam Paton
Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 10 April 2009
Bay City Rollers manager who was mired in scandal ...
Live Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 27 April 2009
SOULLESS THEY may be, but modern leisure hangars are efficient places when it comes to meeting the needs of those who come to see their ...
Girls Aloud: Sheffield Arena ***
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 27 April 2009
THE RECESSION does not appear to be affecting Girls Aloud, whose entrance involves pyrotechnics, hydraulic platforms and the whipping-off of glittering white ballgowns to reveal ...
Profile and Interview by Johnny Black, Music Week, June 2009
IT'S OBVIOUS to anyone with even a smattering of pop music suss that without Neil Sedaka there would be no 'Breaking Up Is Hard To ...
Lady Gaga: Academy, Manchester
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 1 July 2009
THE 23-year-old formerly known as Stefani Germanotta must be pop's most ruthlessly effective self-promoter since Madonna. ...
Shakira: On Music: Shakira – The She Wolf Bites
Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 17 July 2009
Shakira's howling alter ego is properly, wonderfully strange, going back to the old rules of pop star alternate personas ...
Sugababes: 'We Took Our Eye Off The Ball'
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 July 2009
After a brush with self-doubt, the Sugababes are back on form. Keisha Buchanan, Amelle Berrabah and Heidi Range talk about their new album, Get Sexy ...
Coldplay, Jay-Z: Coldplay/Jay-Z: Lancashire Cricket Club, Manchester
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 September 2009
THERE ARE only a few bands big enough to ask artists who are at the very top of their own genres to work as their ...
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 14 September 2009
They still bristle with a pop energy born out of total conviction. ...
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, October 2009
BEFORE WE EVEN begin, consider your own expectations for this, the first solo album from a member of Girls Aloud. Its lead single 'Fight For ...
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Times, 11 October 2009
Paul Lester remembers the two years when the band ruled the world ...
Robbie Williams: Writing Off Robbie Williams Is Unfair And Premature
Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 22 October 2009
Expectations of immediate success are threatening to strangle Robbie Williams's comeback at birth, even when his single is selling well and the new album is ...
Comment by Paul Morley, The Observer, 31 October 2009
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, but I decided that I would not watch this particular series of The X Factor, because I thought, I'll get ...
Britney Spears: The Singles Collection (Jive)
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, November 2009
IT MIGHT SEEM rather odd that this new collection features fewer tracks than 2004's greatest hits collection, My Prerogative. But though trimmer, this set represents ...
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, November 2009
ONE BEGINS listening to this second album from the 2006 X Factor winner hoping its title isn't prophetic – nobody needs an echo of Lewis's ...
Review by Jude Rogers, bbc.co.uk, November 2009
She's transformed into a revenge-hunting, firebrand diva — and it suits her. ...
Robbie Williams: Reality Killed The Video Star
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, November 2009
THE EGO HAS LANDED, again, but he's a lot more endearing this time around. ...
Cheryl Cole: Twist and pout: Cheryl Cole's new album cover
Essay by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 19 November 2009
If the pose seems vaguely familiar, it may be that side-on, over-the-shoulder look. Laura Barton has certainly seen it somewhere before. ...
Ke$ha is young and lives fast, but she is serious about one thing — her songs
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 27 November 2009
THE UK POP SCENE is about to be invaded by wild child Ke$ha and her debut single 'Tik Tok'. The 22-year-old LA-born, Nashville-raised daughter of ...
Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Music Week, December 2009
SURELY, BY NOW, there should be a commemorative blue plaque on the central reservation of Princess Avenue in Liverpool's Toxteth. ...
Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, Record Collector, December 2009
'70s hit-makers Pilot were the missing link between pop and prog. Paul Lester meets the (oh-oh-oh... it's) magic band. ...
Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 3 December 2009
In the last 10 years, The X Factor and its ilk have bucked record-buying trends and breathed new life into a dying industry. We talk ...
Shakira Wants to Fight Poverty and Offer Escapism
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 4 December 2009
SHAKIRA'S THE 50 million-selling pocket-sized Colombian superstar whose high-profile charity work, runaway international success and eye-boggling performances comprise a perfect combination of brain power and ...
Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 12 December 2009
"I KNOW THESE cups look dirty," says Ellie Goulding, frowning at the two floral mugs she carries across the room, "but really they're not. It's just ...
Essay by Bob Stanley, The Guardian, 17 December 2009
Can Bob Stanley listen to every No 1 song from the noughties and escape with his sanity intact? He recalls a musical decade that ranged ...
Justin Bieber: My World (Mercury)
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, January 2010
Uncomfortable lyrics aside, there's not much to make the adult listener squirm. ...
Lady Gaga: Transvision Vamp: Lady Gaga
Comment by Simon Warner, Rock's Backpages, January 2010
THE POWER OF Lady Gaga has been one of the most scintillating features of 2009: three number one UK singles, a sprawling debut album and ...
Flexipop!'s shameless pop legacy
Retrospective by Tim Lott, The Guardian, 4 February 2010
Trashy, silly and unashamedly puerile, Flexipop! only lasted two years. But, says novelist Tim Lott, who started the magazine, its revolutionary spirit can still be ...
Taylor Swift: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Kate Mossman, The Word, 10 February 2010
Taylor Swift's conquest of the teenage-girl market is so controlling it's creepy. In the front stalls: Kate Mossman. ...
Paolo Nutini: Paisley's Own Caped Crusader
Profile and Interview by Pete Paphides, The Times, 16 February 2010
SEVERAL MONTHS have elapsed since Paolo Nutini got the idea for his performance at the 2010 Brit Awards. If he remembers the moment well, that'll ...
Marina and The Diamonds: The Family Jewels ***
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 19 February 2010
TO MAKE IT in the modern day pop world requires ruthless determination and unfettered self-interest. ...
Ellie Goulding: Lights (Polydor)
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, March 2010
THAT ELLIE Goulding topped the BBC's Sound of 2010 poll and won the Critics' award at the Brits counts for precisely nothing as of now. ...
Bobby Darin, Bobby Vee: Was 1960 Really The Worst Pop Year Ever?
Retrospective by Gene Sculatti, Rock's Backpages, March 2010
KIDS TODAY. And the music they listen to! As I write, Billboard's (U.S.) Top 10 features three songs with the F-word in their title, one ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 1 March 2010
ELLIE GOULDING tripped into the public consciousness two weeks ago, as she stood knock-kneed and tongue-tied between Fearne Cotton, Geri Halliwell and Courtney Love at ...
Lady Gaga: Aladdin Sane Called, He Wants His Lightning Bolt Back: On Lady Gaga
Essay by Mark Dery, True/Slant, 20 April 2010
"HOW NOT DUMB is Gaga?" asked the New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones, in the first flush of Gagamania. Almost exactly a year later, his ...
Adam & The Ants: Adam And the Ants: The Making Of 'Kings Of The Wild Frontier'
Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2010
The 1980 manifesto, with two parts tribal drums, a pinch of twangy guitar, and plenty of punk attitude. "We had our sound!" ...
Profile and Interview by John Lewis, Hotline, May 2010
Paloma Faith talks to John Lewis about art, artifice, sadism and feminism. ...
Live Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 10 May 2010
IF 2008 WAS the year in which Rihanna consolidated her status as a global pop phenomenon and 2009 the year that she came back stronger ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, June 2010
CHRISTINA AGUILERA'S first album in four years finds the former golden girl of US pop re-emerging into a musical world where Lady GaGa has set ...
Report by Johnny Black, Music Week, June 2010
LESS THAN a year ago Robbie Williams was being written off by the nation's critics, but this month has seen him honoured with an Outstanding ...
Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 4 June 2010
Sounding older and more confident than early, effortful works such as 'Genie in Bottle', the singer puts the X in Xtina. ...
Lady Gaga and the New World Order
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 1 July 2010
Lady Gaga's music videos are undoubtedly elaborate — but is there any truth to one blogger's claims that they are loaded with occult references and ...
Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 24 July 2010
WHEN ASKED WHAT he does for a living, Simon Cowell says his job is to "guess what's going to be popular". In fact, the strange ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, August 2010
What Katy did next — world domination! ...
Review by Wyndham Wallace, bbc.co.uk, 6 August 2010
A DOUBLE CD celebrating the retirement, after 25 years, of what was once dismissed as a little more than a prototype Norwegian boy band seems ...
Comment by Pete Paphides, The Times, 12 August 2010
Modern pop stars are corrupting the young, says pop veteran Mike Stock. But isn't that what they've always done? ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 27 August 2010
WITH HER LARGER-THAN-LIFE presence, and naughtier than sin songs, Katy Perry's position as the candy-craving gal from the American dream factory appears unassailable. ...
Katy Perry: What Katy Perry did next
Comment by Sophie Heawood, The Times, 27 August 2010
For a moment Lady Gaga looked to have outgunned her, but the singer is back on top. We look at what drives her ...
Black Lace, Jive Bunny, Stock Aitken Waterman: Novelty Records: When pop goes bad
Retrospective by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 22 September 2010
The excruciatingly catchy novelty song was a hallmark of the 1980s. Is it back? And how do you write one? Dave Simpson talks to the ...
Nadine Coyle, Girls Aloud: Girls Aloud's Nadine Coyle On Her Solo Debut
Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 14 October 2010
Often hailed as the best singer in Girls Aloud, now Nadine Coyle is going solo — with a little help from Tesco's. So is this ...
Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 22 November 2010
KE$HA'S MAIN competitor rocks a mean meat dress, but can she rock a couplet like "Your little heart goes pitter-patter/I want your liver on a ...
Live Review by Jim Sullivan, Boston Herald, 2 December 2010
MORE THAN A half-century back, young girls screamed for Elvis. Three decades ago, they screamed for Michael Jackson. Tuesday at a packed Paradise, they were ...
Justin Bieber, Jermaine Dupri, Ludacris, Asher Roth: Industry Profile: Scooter Braun
Profile and Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access, 13 December 2010
This week In the Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc: Scooter Braun, founder, SB Projects ...
Ke$ha: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London ****
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 17 December 2010
IT'S EASY TO dismiss Ke$ha as a Primark take on Lady Gaga, but such an appraisal disregards the fact that 23-year-old Kesha Sebert this year ...
Comment by Jude Rogers, House, Spring 2010
They may be sneered at by serious music fans, but boy bands have provided a gateway into womanhood for generations of young females… ...
Noel Harrison: One Hit Wonder: 'The Windmills of Your Mind'
Retrospective by Kieron Tyler, MOJO '60s, 2011
Noel Harrison teased out the dark, wistful beauty of Michel Legrand's epic film song, then fell off the map. ...
Comment by Paul Morley, The Observer, 13 February 2011
THE VOTING ACADEMY for this year's Brit awards is made up of 1,000 specially invited members from across the UK music industry: music critics, music ...
Foo Fighters, CeeLo Green: Foo Fighters/Cee Lo Green: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 27 February 2011
ONE-OFF shows throw up some bizarre juxtapositions, and at this NME-sponsored Big Gig, CeeLo Green was painfully aware he was not the support act that ...
Justin Bieber: NIA, Birmingham
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 March 2011
JUSTIN BIEBER fans will tell you there are two only kinds of people in the world: "Beliebers" and the rest of us. For those who ...
Katy Perry: Hammersmith Apollo, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 March 2011
KATY PERRY is strutting across the stage, a giant spray of feathers fanning out from her tiny backside, and she's singing, "I wanna see your ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 25 March 2011
IN THE YEAR she turns 30, Britney Spears is not about to upset the formula that has seen her sell an eye-watering 100 million albums. ...
Kylie Minogue: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 27 March 2011
KYLIE MINOGUE's Aphrodite – Les Folies tour, which arrived in Britain with two dates in Cardiff last weekend before taking up a five-night residency at ...
Black Eyed Peas, Taio Cruz: Never Mind The Balearics: The Ibiza-ification Of Pop
Comment by Simon Reynolds, The Guardian, 14 April 2011
From Black Eyed Peas to Taio Cruz, much recent pop looks to Ibiza for inspiration. And yet for all the hands-in-the-air moments, this music is ...
Katy Perry: Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin ****
Review and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, May 2011
Pop's newest extravaganza. Includes a vision of "whipped cream tits"… ...
Lady Gaga: Born This Way (Polydor) ***
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 20 May 2011
FIRST THINGS FIRST: that cover is simply awful, its adolescent heavy-metal imagery — "ride me, wild one!" — effectively destroying in a single stroke Lady ...
Pop Has Eaten Itself for the Very Last Time: Simon Cowell
Comment by David Quantick, Daily Telegraph, 3 June 2011
People will look back on Simon Cowell and his hideous creations and wonder how we fell for it, writes David Quantick. ...
Comment by Bill Holdship, Metro Times, 8 June 2011
One writer makes a case why she's the greatest pop star on the planet ...
Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj: Staples Center, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Evelyn McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2011
Haters Go Home: Britney Dominates L.A. Show ...
Review by Iman Lababedi, Rock NYC, 16 August 2011
I HAVE HELD off writing about this hugely successful slice of AOR for months and months because it didn't seem worth the effort. ...
Review by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 25 October 2011
It's the music you can enjoy between meals without spoiling your appetite, made by the world's favourite band and hand-built by robots. Lipsmackin', thirstquenchin', acetastin', ...
Rihanna: Talk That Talk (Mercury)
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, November 2011
Drearily sexual lyricism over showy but shallow production dominates RiRi's sixth LP. ...
Katy Perry: Madison Square Garden, New York
Live Review by Iman Lababedi, Rock NYC, 16 November 2011
IT WAS THE 118th date on Katy Perry's California Dreaming Tour. I know that for certain because, standing on a pink cloud, held up by ...
Taylor Swift: Madison Square Garden, November 22nd, 2011
Live Review by Iman Lababedi, RockNYC, 24 November 2011
STANDING ON A PLATFORM in the middle of the Arena, Taylor Swift looked genuinely amazed. A young girl in the cheap seats randomly began to ...
Kylie Minogue: The Abbey Road Sessions
Review by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 30 November 2011
IN 2006, while in recovery from cancer, Kylie Minogue talked to Another Magazine about her love of Grey Gardens. ...
Roy Wood, Wizzard: Roy Wood: The Santa Claus Of Pop Music
Retrospective and Interview by Terry Staunton, Sunday Express, 11 December 2011
TRIPS TO the supermarket can take twice as long in December when you're Roy Wood. The humdrum chore of grocery shopping is constantly interrupted by ...
Sleeve notes by Richie Unterberger, Real Gone Music, 2012
TO LISTENERS in the United States and most of the world, Rick Springfield's name was not familiar until he rocketed to pop music and television ...
One Direction: Hammersmith Apollo, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 January 2012
"SCREW BIEBER FEVER," tweeted a fan on the afternoon of this boy band's first London headline gig, "I've got a One Direction infection." ...
Kelly Clarkson is going from strength to strength — and doesn't care if people think she's a lesbian
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 27 January 2012
The American Idol winner on her family upbringing and why she's happy to be single ...
Adele: Why Adele Is The Pop Star We Need
Comment by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 23 February 2012
Adele is a one woman cash vache! Get off her back losers, says Jude Rogers ...
Davy Jones, The Monkees: Davy Jones, 1945-2012
Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 29 February 2012
Former child actor who became a star with the '60s pop group the Monkees. ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, March 2012
THIRTY YEARS INTO her career yet still at the apex of the pop world, Madonna is a victim of her own success in that she ...
The Monkees: This Boy Band Never Monkeyed Around
Retrospective by Bob Stanley, Daily Telegraph, 1 March 2012
Fact and fantasy were intertwined in the Monkees, but we'll never see their like again ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 March 2012
WHO COULD HAVE predicted not one but two X Factor boybands would exceed their allotted 15 minutes? The onus is now on JLS to out-dazzle ...
Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday – Roman Reloaded
Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 2 April 2012
WHO NEEDS stylistic, conceptual unity, when you have seven producers and Lil Wayne for a financier? ...
Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 10 April 2012
MCFLY HAVE never paid much attention to the traditional boyband script. It is eight years since their first single, '5 Colours in Her Hair', reached ...
Timi Yuro: That Time Of Yuro: Timi Yuro
Retrospective by Steven R Rosen, Blurt, 23 April 2012
ANY LIST OF proto-feminist Top 40 hits of the 1960s would have to include Timi Yuro's 1962 'What's A Matter Baby' along with Lesley Gore's ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, June 2012
This time around, Justin Bieber wants us to know that he is all grown up. He is a man. ...
Justin Bieber: Overcovering Pop: Are We There Yet?
Comment by Gene Sculatti, Rock's Backpages, June 2012
WHAT have we wrought, us guys and gals who write about pop music? ...
Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages Audio, 14 July 2012
The fabulously successful songwriter talks about her inspirations (Brill Building, Motown); not wanting to be a performer; breaking into the business, and the artists — from Laura Branigan to Aerosmith — who've covered her songs.
File format: mp3; file size: 33.4mb, interview length: 36' 31" sound quality: ** (phoner)
5 Seconds Of Summer: Smells Like Teen Spirit
Interview by Toby Creswell, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 20 July 2012
IT WAS LIKE A Hard Day's Night writ small. Four young men alight from an aeroplane confronted by screaming teenage girls. ...
Justin Bieber: Cash For Questions
Interview by Jude Rogers, Q, August 2012
Lock up your nieces, the Canadian teen-pop behemoth is over here and gagging to answer your questions on scary fans, fighting One Direction and whether ...
Memoir by Gene Sculatti, Rock's Backpages, 29 August 2012
IT WAS 50 YEARS ago today, more or less. I was in the car with my parents, somewhere in Oregon, en route from our home ...
Memoir by Ann Moses, Rock's Backpages, 7 September 2012
DAVID CASSIDY WAS first introduced to Tiger Beat readers in the June 1970 issue. He had appeared on TV on Marcus Welby, MD, The F.B.I ...
Lady Gaga: This Megalith Reality: Lady Gaga Live
Live Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 11 September 2012
I KNOW IT'S COMING, but when it finally does it's different to how I expected. It's far worse. Less than real. ...
Carly Rae Jepsen: Kiss (Polydor) **
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 September 2012
THIS Canadian Idol runner-up's super-hit 'Call Me Maybe' — the UK's second-biggest single of 2012 — was a polarising experience. ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, October 2012
IT'S VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE to believe that Taylor Swift is still only 22. ...
Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 3 October 2012
Session guitarist with more than 50 chart toppers to his name ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 October 2012
A RECENT bit of rebranding has seen Cheryl Cole styling herself as just "Cheryl", the inference being that she's reached a level of fame where ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 8 October 2012
ELLIE GOULDING has been letting it be known that this follow-up to her three-million-selling debut album, Lights, is a far darker and more troubled record, ...
Robbie Williams: Take The Crown
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 5 November 2012
"I THINK everything about Robbie Williams is fantastic," Morrissey once declared, "except the voice and the songs." ...
Retrospective by Bob Stanley, The Guardian, 13 November 2012
Sixty years ago on Wednesday, the first singles chart was published in Britain – turning pop music into a competitive sport. Bob Stanley on how ...
Gary Barlow: Bournemouth International Centre
Live Review by David Bennun, Daily Mail, 19 November 2012
CUT GARY BARLOW, one suspects, and he bleeds light entertainment. ...
Beauty In Two Dimensions: It's A Spongebob Christmas!
Review by Gene Sculatti, Rock's Backpages, 21 November 2012
I'M A FOOL FOR Christmas records. Good ones, that is: Spector's list-topper, sure, and the Beach Boys' album that starts with 'Little St. Nick' and ...
Ke$ha: Dancing Up a Storm but Dying to Rock
Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 23 November 2012
LOS ANGELES – At the Third Encore rehearsal studio in North Hollywood, there's a wall decorated with photographs of clients who've prepared there for tours, ...
Kylie Minogue: The mysterious popstar who can do no wrong
Report and Interview by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 29 November 2012
As an album of "reimagined" Kylie songs emerges, Kate Mossman goes in search of the singer herself. ...
Duran Duran: Looking Back to Planet Earth and Beyond: Five Decades of Duran Duran
Retrospective and Interview by Wyndham Wallace, Classic Pop, December 2012
Please, please tell me now! As John Taylor publishes his autobiography, In The Pleasure Groove: Love, Death & Duran Duran, Wyndham Wallace accompanies him through ...
Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 3 January 2013
WITH RECORD sales estimated at more than 100m, which included more than a dozen million-selling singles, Patti Page, who has died aged 85, was one ...
Gary Barlow: Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 6 January 2013
"Everything changes but him": Gary Barlow, in a curious performance that included a duet with Peter Kay on the theme to Home and Away. ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 22 February 2013
A DECADE AGO, when reality TV show Popstars: The Rivals pitted Girls Aloud against favourites One True Voice, you wouldn't have put money on the ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 February 2013
IF SIMON COWELL is in the house tonight as One Direction start their first UK arena tour, he might have to conclude that his earthly ...
Jake Bugg, Harry Styles: So Jake Bugg is authentic and Harry Styles is a fake? I don't think so…
Comment by Paul Morley, The Observer, 3 March 2013
In the great fabricated conflict between Jake Bugg and Harry Styles, it's the perversely sophisticated One Direction star who really represents what's left of pop. ...
Justin Bieber: O2 Arena, London
Live Review by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 5 March 2013
Dazed and deeply confused. ...
Interview by Toby Creswell, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 10 March 2013
The songs may change but the story of a hit remains the same. With today's reduced attention spans, it's no small feat that four boys ...
The Cowsills: 45 Things I Bet You NEVER Knew about The Cowsills...
Retrospective by Gary Pig Gold, Rock's Backpages, 27 April 2013
…even after watching Louise Palanker's absolutely riveting Family Band documentary. ...
Burt Bacharach: What Was it All About?
Retrospective and Interview by Mick Brown, Daily Telegraph, 1 June 2013
AT THE AGE OF 85, the man who has been described as the greatest songwriter of the 20th century cuts a surprisingly energetic and restive ...
Ke$ha: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 July 2013
AS YOU will grasp from her Twitter handle — @keshasuxx — Kesha Sebert likes to think of herself as mad, bad and dangerous. ...
Robin Thicke: Who is Robin Thicke?
Comment by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 25 July 2013
WHATEVER YOUR thoughts on its icky sexist video of gyrating, semi-naked models, it is impossible to deny that the lascivious R&B throb of Robin Thicke's ...
One Direction: Crazy About One Direction, Channel 4
Film/DVD/TV Review by Kieron Tyler, The Arts Desk, 16 August 2013
Lazy and shallow look at the fan phenomenon surrounding the world's biggest boy band ...
The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli: Looking Back at 50 Years of the Four Seasons
Interview by Wayne Robins, Billboard, 3 September 2013
THERE IS A SCENE in the hit Broadway musical Jersey Boys that represents the sustained success of Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio and their group, the ...
Tears For Fears: This Is Going To Hurt: The Mad World Of Tears For Fears’ Debut LP
Retrospective and Interview by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 20 September 2013
In his 100th piece for The Quietus, Wyndham Wallace talks to five key figures behind Tears for Fears to present an epic oral history of ...
Justin Timberlake: Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 September 2013
His ex-boyband DNA compels him to give the footwork as much prominence as the songs ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 7 October 2013
BRITNEY, JUSTIN T, XTINA… Miley Cyrus is not the first former Disney starlet to chafe at her anodyne past and yearn to show us her ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 21 October 2013
KATY PERRY, the frivolous, hard-partying pop starlet, has an unfortunate Achilles heel – she wants to be taken seriously. ...
Review by Lenny Kaye, Wondering Sound, 30 October 2013
TO MY EARS AND HEART, there is nothing more rousing than a well-crafted single, whatever its source. And whenever Katy Perry's Queen-of-the-Jungle anthem 'Roar' swings ...
Lady Gaga: ARTPOP (Interscope)
Review by Kate Allen, Rock's Backpages, November 2013
LIKE THE REST of the world, I too have an opinion on Lady Gaga and her latest album/app/manifesto — ARTPOP. ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 November 2013
'ROCK'N'ROLL', 'Here's to Never Growing Up', 'Bad Girl': the titles on Avril Lavigne's fifth album are self-explanatory. ...
Celine Dion: "I am having my wild moment!"
Interview by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 8 November 2013
YOU DON'T GET to be the most successful female singer in history, selling more than 200 million albums, without looking after your voice. Thirty minutes ...
Review by Mike Diver, Clash, 13 November 2013
THE FIRST FOUR minutes of Stefani Germanotta's third album proper are completely fascinating. 'Aura', this set's opener, manages to be a multitude of songs at ...
One Direction: Midnight Memories ***
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 27 November 2013
The boy band's third album is a fumbling transition from pop to rock ...
One Direction: Midnight Memories
Review by Iman Lababedi, Rock NYC, 29 November 2013
IF NIALL HORAN, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, referred to as One Direction, had thought it through, they would have cut at ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 2 December 2013
RARE IS THE A-list artist today who doesn't launch their new album by breathlessly proclaiming it their most honest, intimate, confessional magnum opus to date. ...
Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry: New Skin
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, GQ, January 2014
Reinvention can make or break our pop princesses ...
Maroon 5, Robin Thicke: Maroon 5/Robin Thicke: LG Arena, Birmingham
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 9 January 2014
IT MUST BE STRANGE being Robin Thicke. There he was, bouncing along with a solid if unremarkable 10-year career in R&B and suddenly 'Blurred Lines' ...
Justin Bieber and the Boy Wonder Tragedy
Comment by Kate Allen, Planet Notion, February 2014
THE TERM "tragedy" is so over and incorrectly used by red top tabloids that we may not be aware of the fact that we are ...
Rudimental: Academy Brixton, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 February 2014
Joined by a robust supporting cast — including Prince's new BFF Lianne La Havas — the London quartet deliver a ramshackle yet oddly cohesive sold-out ...
Lady Gaga: Behind The Aura: The Risky Business of Lady Gaga
Comment by Kate Allen, Planet Notion, March 2014
WHY did the world come to a shuddering halt a couple of weeks ago to watch and condemn Lady Gaga having paint spit up on ...
Justin Timberlake: Sheffield Arena
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 31 March 2014
THE FIRST THING Sheffield sees of Justin Timberlake is his giant silhouette on an enormous backdrop. ...
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 27 April 2014
LILY'S BACK, and this time it's personal. But then, it always has been: few modern pop stars have engaged with the sweet 'n' sour of ...
Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 5 May 2014
HAVING ANNOUNCED her "retirement" when she retreated to the countryside to start a family five years ago, Lily Allen affects to be nervous of her ...
Clean Bandit: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 May 2014
This chart-topping dance/classical outfit create some genuinely unusual hybrid sounds, and they're consistently entertaining, if occasionally a bit daft ...
Lykke Li: Village Underground, EC2
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 13 May 2014
IN LYKKE LI's poetically gloomy world view, love is a dark rainbow of despair with a big pot of bitter disappointment at the end. At ...
One Direction: Stadium Of Light, Sunderland ***
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 29 May 2014
There may be yet more trouble ahead but it will clearly take more than a whiff of controversy to blunt 1D's appeal ...
Profile and Interview by Toby Creswell, Rolling Stone Special: 5 Seconds of Summer, June 2014
LUKE HEMMINGS looks bushed. It's not the bed-hair, which has become a trademark of his band 5 Seconds of Summer. It's not just that the ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 1 June 2014
IT'S UNFORTUNATE for Katy Perry that her Prismatic tour is rolling into town just three weeks after Miley Cyrus's Bangerz. ...
Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 20 June 2014
Lyricist who, with his partner Carole King, wrote many hit songs of the 1960s. ...
Live Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 3 July 2014
IT'S BEEN five years since La Roux's Elly Jackson announced she was going in for the kill. The intervening period has seen the south Londoner ...
Profile and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Event Magazine, 23 August 2014
Jessie J reveals she's quitting Britain because she's fed up with gossip about her sex life... and she's heading to America "where they take me ...
Jungle, Pharrell Williams: Pharrell Williams/Jungle: Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 11 September 2014
He looks dapper, and he opens the show with a brilliant blast of robot funk, but the R&B pioneer is a bit too reserved on ...
Britney Spears: Piece Of Me: The AXIS, Las Vegas
Live Review by Kate Allen, Classic Pop, October 2014
SEEING BRITNEY SPEARS LIVE holds every possibility of being an ugly affair. But seeing her play show number 32 as part of her Las Vegas ...
Interview by Alan Light, Radio.com, October 2014
"EVERY RECORD, I've tried to challenge myself to make something different," says Taylor Swift. "Red was really experimental, so I ended up with a sound ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 October 2014
Is the surprise megahit really a dig at thinner women? No way, says the singer, it's about loving and rocking whatever you've got ...
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 24 October 2014
Pop star shows "promising signs of maturity". But whether it's adolescent exaggeration or an attempt to bring more intriguing strategies into pop lyricism is debatable. ...
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, November 2014
ABBA NEVER REALLY wanted to bother with performing live at all. They would have preferred to be a studio band, a bit like Steely Dan, ...
Jess Glynne: The chart-topper who lives with her mum
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Jewish Chronicle, 25 November 2014
The pop sensation explains how being a family girl helps her keep fame in perspective ...
The Charts are Dead: Is the Top 40 still relevant in 2014?
Comment by Chiara Wilkinson, Rock's Backpages, 5 December 2014
"WHO'S NUMBER ONE in the charts?" Ask this question to a teenager in the '80s and you'll likely get a sharp, accurate response: the result ...
Charli XCX: Sucker (Atlantic/Neon Gold) ****
Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 18 December 2014
The U.K. singer reinvents pop punk on her loud, fun, ridiculously catchy new LP ...
James Bay: The new noise bubble: are critics' choice awards for new artists a blessing or a curse?
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 January 2015
Awards such as the BBC's Sound Of 2015 can be vital in helping new artists break through and get noticed by fans — but can ...
Jessie J: Brixton Academy, SW9
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 30 January 2015
Jessie J’s show felt more like an X Factor final than a proper gig ...
Bob Stanley: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! – The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé (W.W. Norton)
Book Review by Robert Dean Lurie, The American Conservative, 13 February 2015
I WISH I COULD say that my love of pop music began when my middle school music teacher showed me a documentary called The Compleat ...
Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 17 February 2015
Singer whose passionate teen anthems of the '60s included 'It's My Party' and 'You Don't Own Me'. ...
Lulu: "I've had the most unbelievable life"
Retrospective and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Event Magazine, 28 February 2015
POP STARDOM at 15. Two failed marriages – one to a hard-drinking Bee Gee. An "insane" affair with David Bowie. Turning down Frank Sinatra. Cheating ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 31 March 2015
Nicki Minaj delivered tongue-twisting raps with spectacular ease. ...
Britney Spears: Why Did Britney Spears Quietly Drop an Album then Take it Down?
Report by Kate Allen, Rock's Backpages, April 2015
ARE WE ALL sick of "surprise" music releases yet? Are we supposed to feign excitement over Beyoncé serenading Jay Z via a Tidal-exclusive video (the ...
Bebe Rexha: Concrete, Shoreditch
Live Review by Kate Allen, FMS, 22 May 2015
WEDNESDAY NIGHT saw the debut London show of – we're saying it – our (and by extension, your) favourite new pop star, Bebe Rexha. ...
Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 26 May 2015
Singer and songwriter who found fame in the 1960s with her teenage tragedy hit record 'Terry'. ...
Ariana Grande: 02 Arena, London
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 3 June 2015
WERE MILEY CYRUS a comic-book baddie, Ariana Grande could be her nemesis. The two TV child stars turned successful singers stand on either side of ...
Taylor Swift: Apple royalties U-turn: is Taylor Swift the most powerful woman in music?
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 June 2015
Viewed as an advocate for artists and a game-changer, almost no other pop star could have made the corporate behemoth roll over. ...
Sam Smith shows effortless talent, tasteful restraint at Merriweather show
Live Review by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore City Paper, 27 July 2015
WHEN YOU HAVE a voice as spectacular as Sam Smith's—an instrument that can glide across multiple octaves without a break or apparent effort—the temptation to ...
Paul Anka's enduring work has ranged from Sinatra to Nirvana
Interview by Jim Sullivan, Cape Cod Times, 1 August 2015
"I'M 98 YEARS OLD!" he crows on the phone. Not quite; he's 74. But he's still going strong, singing with an orchestra Friday at the ...
Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 3 August 2015
THE BRITISH POP revolution of the 1960s involved not only male guitar bands, but also several young female singing stars, including Cilla Black, who has ...
The Verve, Wham!: Jazz Summers, 1944-2015
Obituary by Joel McIver, The Guardian, 24 August 2015
THE MUSIC MANAGER Jazz Summers, who has died aged 71, was best known for developing the pop duo Wham! – George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley ...
Miley Cyrus: Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz
Review by Kate Allen, Fashion Music Style, 2 September 2015
HOW MUCH of a surprise release is this, really? After a disappointingly unremarkable turn as the host of the MTV Video Music Awards – which ...
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 4 September 2015
She's the new superstar-in-waiting, dividing the critics — but amassing an army of believers — with her powerful yet sorrowful pop-R&B ...
Carly Rae Jepsen: No ifs, buts or maybes
Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 13 September 2015
Move over, Taylor Swift — Carly Rae Jepsen has made a retro pop album of genius ...
Live Review by Pip Williams, Coup De Main, 18 September 2015
KOKO IS one of London's most splendid gig venues; a converted theatre at the foot of Camden High Street that plays host to an eclectic ...
A-ha: Their Valuable Hunting Life: The Rocky Road to A-Ha's Hunting High & Low
Retrospective and Interview by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 22 September 2015
Thirty years after a-Ha unveiled their debut, Hunting High & Low – and as they release a new album, Cast In Steel – Wyndham Wallace ...
Interview by Pip Williams, Rock's Backpages Audio, 15 October 2015
One Direction's Harry Styles and Niall Horan on their new album, Made In The A.M.; it's release clashing with Justin Bieber's; will the All Blacks win the Rugby World Cup; why they don't behave like most rockers; their responsibilities towards their fans; why Ireland didn't beat Poland in the Euro qualifiers, and their fondness for Sweden.
File format: mp3; file size: 14.6mb, interview length: 15' 11" sound quality: *****
One Direction's Harry Styles and Niall Horan On Their New Album, Made In The A.M.
Interview by Pip Williams, Coup De Main, 18 October 2015
IT'S BEEN A wild year for One Direction. Five years down the line from their original formation as one of Simon Cowell's amalgamations of solo ...
Rudimental: Alexandra Palace, NW1
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 20 October 2015
JOHN NEWMAN turned up unannounced, did some daft dancing and instructed fans to "make some f***ing noise". ...
Report and Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 25 October 2015
Amid a blaze of publicity, the star delighted her fans with her latest single last week. And, says Lisa Verrico, she may prove to be ...
Beyoncé: Becoming Beyoncé: The Untold Story by J Randy Taraborrelli
Book Review by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 1 November 2015
The real surprise in this exhaustive biography is not Beyoncé, but her driven dad. ...
Ella Henderson: O2 Empire, London W12
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 11 November 2015
THE CONVEYOR-BELT culture of modern pop makes slipping off the radar a risk. Hence it could have been foolish for Ella Henderson to take more ...
Review by Holly Gleason, Paste, 20 November 2015
ANTICIPATION'S A BITCH. For Adele, whose bajillion-selling 21 (okay, not a bajillion, but 30 million worldwide) proved emotional exorcism is its own commercial reward, how ...
Carly Rae Jepsen: Islington Assembly Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 December 2015
'The Call Me Maybe' singer infuses her 80s-textured pop with believability and uses her underdog status to win over the audience ...
Peace and harmonies: Christmas songs still have the power to bring us together
Retrospective by Peter Silverton, The Independent, 16 December 2015
Even in the age of the digital download, compilations of festive music still have an impact, and this is why. ...
Caro Emerald: Eventim Apollo, W6
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 21 December 2015
CARO EMERALD was due to release her third album this year. That she didn't hasn't halted her rise. Songs from the Dutch star's platinum-selling first ...
Review by John Calvert, New Musical Express, 23 January 2016
Foxes' second album is the pop belter Britain needs ...
Jason Derulo: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 26 January 2016
The Miami-born sex symbol produced a show that was more visual than musical feast, dynamic but devoid of depth ...
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 29 February 2016
Grateful music industry's remaining Force is with British singer ...
Interview by Pip Williams, Coup De Main, 29 February 2016
When you hear the word Foxes, what do you think of first? The cute and cuddly urban mammal? Or the similarly cute and cuddly Louisa ...
Alessia Cara: "Social media is like a fake reality and it's hard to block things out"
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 March 2016
She's struck pop gold in the US and has befriended Taylor Swift and Drake – despite describing herself as an 'antisocial pessimist'. And then there's ...
A-ha: The Highs and Lows of being a-ha
Retrospective and Interview by Jenny Valentish, Financial Times, 18 March 2016
How many farewell tours can one band have? Magne Furuholmen talks about stardom, group therapy — and why his music is more than just fluff. ...
Captain and Tennille: Toni Tennille on her Memoir
Retrospective and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Chronicle, 22 April 2016
Memoir reveals Captain and Tennille's private (and bizarre) misery. ...
Beyoncé: Stadium of Light, Sunderland
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 28 June 2016
A disjointed barrage maybe, but she is still the master show-woman ...
Beyoncé: Stadium of Light, Sunderland
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 30 June 2016
Queen Bey ruled, switching from glamazon goddess to line-dancing Texan rodeo star, and streetwise hip-hop sexbot to devoted wife and mother ...
Jess Glynne: Eden Project, Cornwall
Live Review by Graeme Thomson, Daily Mail, 23 July 2016
IF THERE IS a more magical place to see music performed on a summer evening than the Eden Project, with its natural amphitheatre and unearthly ...
Paul Revere & The Raiders: Loud on the Ledge: The Bumpy Ride of Paul Revere & the Raiders
Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, August 2016
EVERYTHING ABOUT Paul Revere and the Raiders was contrived and corny, except their music. There's no rational excuse for why they shouldn't be routinely counted ...
Rick Astley: Never gonna give him up: How Rick Astley returned from the wilderness
Interview by Paul Sexton, Daily Telegraph, 9 September 2016
OVER COFFEE in a smart London hotel, Rick Astley is explaining his antidote to middle age. "I still play in a band, with a couple of friends. We ...
Emeli Sandé: Òran Mór, Glasgow
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 4 October 2016
The Scottish singer was on spellbinding form, singing a cappella and reworking old hits and new into a spectacular show ...
Review by Maura Johnston, The Village Voice, 6 October 2016
SAY THE NAME Rick Astley in 2016 and you'll probably get a reply involving his 1987 smash 'Never Gonna Give You Up', a brightly spangled ...
Nick Jonas: Last Year Was Complicated
Interview by Pip Williams, Coup De Main, 10 October 2016
IN EARLY April, a piano bar in one of Westminster's swankiest hotels played host to a preview of one of the most highly awaited pop ...
Live Review by John Aizlewood, The Evening Standard, 12 October 2016
WHEN JUSTIN BIEBER most recently played the O2 in 2013, he arrived two hours late, broke the hearts of his young audience and was shoddiness ...
Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 25 October 2016
Singer whose infuriatingly catchy '60s hits included 'Rubber Ball' and 'The Night Has a Thousand Eyes'. ...
Robbie Williams: The Heavy Entertainment Show
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 6 November 2016
ROBBIE WILLIAMS was devastated that his 11th solo album's lead single, the preposterous 'Party Like a Russian', flopped. ...
George Michael: Why George Michael was the greatest pop star of the MTV era
Comment by Maura Johnston, The Guardian, 26 December 2016
Jackson had the moves, Madonna had the moxie, Prince had the sex – but George Michael had the voice … and thrilling songs like spinning ...
Busted: Hammersmith Apollo, London — all grown up and not so much fun
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 5 February 2017
Wall-to-wall screaming greets the trio's return, but 13 years on their infectiously exuberant punk-pop has been replaced by cloying, synth-heavy soft rock. ...
Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 20 February 2017
Pop heavyweight JoJo reveals to Pip Williams some of the stories behind her third album Mad Love. Covering everything from Wiz Khalifa to the serenity prayer ...
Retrospective by David Burke, Vintage Rock, March 2017
AMERICAN CULTURAL icon Dick Clark once described Bobby Darin as "a musical chameleon" who could effortlessly traverse a multiplicity of genres, from heavy duty rhythm ...
Comment by Everett True, Music That I Like, March 2017
ED SHEERAN is shit. Do not believe the crowd. ...
Marty Wilde and the Wilde Cats: Epsom Playhouse
Live Review by Keith Altham, Rock's Backpages, March 2017
AN AVALANCHE of white hair and bald heads enthusiastically greeted the burly, bewigged figure of the genial Marty Wilde when he lumbered on stage at ...
Review by Maura Johnston, The Guardian, 2 March 2017
The 20-year-old New Zealand singer makes a triumphant return with a stellar '90s-inspired pop song about her first heartbreak. ...
Becky Hill: The Real Reality: Becky Hill
Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 17 March 2017
Becky Hill doesn't want a TV talent show to define her. Pip Williams sits down with the chart-topping artist who's taken a backseat from fame ...
Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 2 May 2017
His rapping may be workmanlike, his music sentimental, and his wardrobe straight outta Oxfam, but Sheeran's phenomenal rise is justified: he's great live ...
Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 14 May 2017
After five years of modelling, acting, talent shows and even diplomacy, Rita Ora is back to her real day job. It's the music that matters, ...
Meow! My Life with Tiger Beat's Teen Idols: An Introduction
Book Excerpt by Ann Moses, 'Meow!', June 2017
FEBRUARY 3, 1968 IT'S MY TWENTY-FIRST birthday. I'm standing at the front window of my house a block below the Hollywood sign, wearing a dress made ...
Elton John, Neil Sedaka: Neil Sedaka on Elton John and more
Retrospective and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Mail On Sunday, 10 June 2017
Elton John loved his songs so much that he rescued him from the recording wilderness. So why did Neil Sedaka, creator of 'Oh! Carol' and ...
Clean Bandit: Many Strings to their Bow
Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 11 June 2017
With a trail of monster hits and guests such as Elton John and Jess Glynne, the Bandits rule, says Lisa Verrico. ...
Lorde talks second albums and night-time energy on the eve of Australian tour
Profile and Interview by Andrew Stafford, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 16 June 2017
I'M TOLD I CAN call her Ella: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor is quite a mouthful. The single-syllable name by which she is better known, though, ...
Justin Bieber: Hyde Park, London
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 4 July 2017
Despite having a heavy cold, the bad boy of pop strutted, sauntered and delivered a mesmerising set. ...
Jess Glynne: Falkirk Stadium, Scotland
Live Review by Graeme Thomson, Daily Mail, 19 August 2017
Jess Glynne offers a sprinkling of magic to unsunny Stirlingshire, but inevitably for an artist still touring her first record, the handful of killer comes ...
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 21 August 2017
NOSTALGIA IS A powerful drug. One of the joys of witnessing former teen-pop idols re-form in middle age is the extra emotional depth, knowing hindsight ...
Taylor Swift: 'Look What You Made Me Do'
Review by Maura Johnston, The Guardian, 25 August 2017
The pop star's return is full of visceral disses, but it's not clear whether she's playing a role or being herself. ...
Niall Horan: Life after One Direction
Profile and Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 15 October 2017
THERE ARE GIRLS outside Niall Horan's hotel – the smartest in Stockholm, according to my cabbie – but not enough to trouble the traffic. Had ...
Debbie Gibson: All-American Girl
Retrospective and Interview by David Burke, Classic Pop, November 2017
DEBBIE GIBSON feels as though she's in a Tina Turner moment at this stage of her career, on the precipice of a midlife renaissance. ...
Ke$ha: Kesha: Brixton Electric, London
Live Review by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 22 November 2017
There are few secrets in California popstar Kesha's private life. Her battle with anorexia made headlines, whilst her lawsuit against producer and alleged abuser Dr. ...
Review by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 8 December 2017
DO YOU REMEMBER the first time you heard 'Boys'? On first listen it might not have seemed like anything special — perhaps a bit repetitive, ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2018
Vulnerable but resolute, the singer pursues her "truth" in an affecting and revelatory show. ...
Review by Graeme Thomson, Mail On Sunday, 13 January 2018
A 20-YEAR-OLD Cuban-American with Mexican roots, Camila Cabello's lineage may not be to the taste of Donald Trump, but she at least grabbed the ear ...
Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 5 April 2018
Download this: 'Golden', 'Shelby '68', 'L.O.V.E.', 'Music's Too Sad Without You' ...
Live Review by Graeme Thomson, Mail On Sunday, 22 April 2018
Dua's great Lipa forward: the charismatic pop star du jour proves herself to the hangar born on the opening night of her first arena tour. ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 22 May 2018
THE POP POLYMATH Rita Ora doesn't distinguish between selling music or make-up, pants or perfume. Hence it was no surprise that this fun, fast-paced, high-energy ...
Camila Cabello: O2 Academy, Glasgow
Live Review by Graeme Thomson, Mail On Sunday, 9 June 2018
Cabello launches the opening night of her tour like a woman hell-bent on cramming every idea she's ever had into 80 frantic minutes. ...
Tommy James & the Shondells: Tommy James
Retrospective and Interview by Jim Sullivan, Cape Cod Times, July 2018
TOMMY JAMES has many stories to tell, stories of gain, stories of loss. He can tell you about the string of hits he and his ...
Tommy Steele: How Tommy Steele, Britain's biggest pin-up, was savaged by the teenage mob
Retrospective and Interview by Bob Stanley, The Times, 16 July 2018
Post-traumatic stress forced Tommy Steele to pass his rock'n'roll crown to Cliff Richard, he tells Bob Stanley. ...
Dannii Minogue: Stepping Out of the Shadow
Profile and Interview by David Burke, Classic Pop, August 2018
Fifteen years ago, Dannii Minogue reinvented herself as a dance icon with Neon Nights, a classic of the genre which bears favourable comparison with big ...
Britney Spears: Preston Park, Brighton
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 6 August 2018
WHAT HAPPENS IN Vegas no longer stays in Vegas, as Britney Spears confirmed when her hugely successful, long-running Las Vegas residency show Piece of Me ...
Toyah Willcox: Toyah: Forever Free
Retrospective and Interview by David Burke, Classic Pop, September 2018
1977 and all that may have come and gone, but Toyah brought the punk aesthetic into '80s pop music with her radical sense of style ...
Essay by Simon Reynolds, Pitchfork, 17 September 2018
An in-depth history of the most important pop innovation of the last 20 years, from Cher's 'Believe' to Kanye West to Migos ...
Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 26 October 2018
Her new album Forever Neverland may court eternal youth, but MØ won't allow herself the luxury of denial. Denmark's hottest export explains the paradoxical nostalgia ...
George Ezra: SSE Arena, Wembley
Live Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 16 November 2018
Upbeat Ezra wraps arena in a cuddly cardigan with his big-hearted balladry. ...
Johnny Hates Jazz: Clark Datchler: The Jazz Singer
Retrospective and Interview by David Burke, Classic Pop, December 2018
"I SHOULD HAVE been more patient, but I just wanted to get on with the next thing," is how an older, wiser Clark Datchler reflects ...
Mabel: O2 Academy Brixton, SW9
Live Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 13 December 2018
MABEL MCVEY's mother is Swedish singer-songwriter Neneh Cherry (she of '7 Seconds' fame); her father is Massive Attack producer Cameron McVey. But she's a star ...
Billie Eilish: Academy, Manchester
Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 28 February 2019
A teenage talent not quite eclipsed by screaming fans: the LA singer had her young audience shouting her empowering lyrics as she worked the room ...
Billie Eilish: When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 31 March 2019
HEAVENS, HOW teen pop stars have changed since Britney Spears tantalised dads in school uniform. The L.A.-born Billie Eilish wears what she wants, smiles as ...
Profile and Interview by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 10 April 2019
Bell was an openly gay pop star "bubbling up from Boy George and Jimmy Somerville", in an era when pop stars weren't openly gay. ...
Carly Rae Jepsen: "I'm more confident in my weirdness now"
Interview by Kate Mossman, The Guardian, 12 May 2019
WHEN CARLY RAE Jepsen wrote 'Call Me Maybe', Billboard's "greatest chorus of the 21st century", she was aiming for a sense of "childish excitement". It's ...
Lewis Capaldi: Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent
Review by David Bennun, Metro, 15 May 2019
IF EVER A record's title amounted to that "Come on, then!" gesture from a pub squabble, Lewis Capaldi's is surely it. Still early into a ...
Retrospective by Jon Savage, The Guardian, 3 July 2019
To celebrate 90 years of Decca Records, a new book about the label's history is being released. In this exclusive extract, renowned music critic Jon Savage ...
Ed Sheeran: No. 6 Collaborations (Atlantic)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Metro, 15 July 2019
OTHERWISE known as Pop's Insanely Successful Mr Average, Ed Sheeran rouses many people to eye-rolling disbelief: four albums in, how can Ginger Ordinaire still be ...
Review by David Bennun, Metro, 26 August 2019
IT'S TAYLOR Swift's world; the rest of us just live in it. That, at least, is the impression conveyed by any given Taylor Swift album. ...
Five Star: And Then There Was One…
Retrospective and Interview by David Burke, Classic Pop, October 2019
At their '80s peak Five Star lived the high life in a Berkshire mansion and drove a fleet of supercars. But then the hits dried ...
Little Mix: SSE Hydro, Glasgow
Live Review by Peter Ross, The Times, 21 October 2019
WHAT DOES a feminist look like? The question flashed up in huge letters behind the stage before a performance of 'Joan of Arc', one of ...
James Blunt: How we made 'You're Beautiful'
Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 14 January 2020
'It's portrayed as a romantic song but it's actually a bit creepy. It's about a guy — me — stalking someone else's girlfriend while high' ...
Burt Bacharach and the Invention of Modern Cosmopolitan Pop
Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, March 2020
GENERALLY, SONGWRITERS who aren't also performers don't become celebrities. They don't get to host television specials, or appear in commercials alongside their glamorous wives, or ...
Rick Astley, Stock Aitken Waterman: Rick Astley: How we made 'Never Gonna Give You Up'
Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 23 March 2020
"One day I was making the tea for Bananarama. The next I was at No 1." ...
Cher Lloyd is bigger than the bullshit
Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 4 May 2020
Cher Lloyd cannot think of anything worse than taking up breadmaking in lockdown. ...
Olivia Rodrigo: Radio City Music Hall, New York City
Live Review by Iman Lababedi, RockNYC, 28 April 2022
LAST NIGHT at Radio City Music Hall, Olivia Rodrigo provided a whole lotta deja-vu as she performed her hugely successful debut album, Sour, as well ...
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