Chart Pop
909 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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'. ...
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 ...
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 Stephens, 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 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 ...
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, San Francisco Examiner, The, 29 November 1964
Ross Bagdasarian's Electronic Creatures Are Vastly Real ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 and Jeremy: 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. ...
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 ...
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. ...
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: 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 ...
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 ...
Brian Hyland: 'Gassy' Go Around With Brian Hyland
Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 8 October 1966
"IT'S A GAS!" ...
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, ...
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: 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: 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 ...
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: 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: 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 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 ...
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 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 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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 1 June 1968
MICKEY DOLENZ reveals their plans for a change of image in the future ...
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: 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 ...
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: Gary Puckett Says: the Gap About to Widen
Interview by Mike Gormley, Ottawa Journal, The, 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? ...
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'. ...
The Archies: The Archies Are Fictional, But Their Success Is Not
Report and Interview by Mike Jahn, New York Times, The, 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
The Monkees, Michael Nesmith: Michael Nesmith
Interview by Gene Guerrero, Great Speckled Bird, The, 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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: 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 ...
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 ...
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" ...
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. ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, Face, The, 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 ...
The Human League: Dare (Virgin)
Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 17 October 1981
SURPRISE! ...the love of human MOR-als ...
The Archies, Barry Mann, Carole King, Neil Sedaka: Don Kirshner: The Pop Factory
Profile by Greg Shaw, History of Rock, The, 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, History of Rock, The, 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 ...
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 ...
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, Face, The, 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 ...
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, Face, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Face, The, 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, History of Rock, The, 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 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, Times, The, 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". ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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 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 ...
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... ...
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 ...
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 ...
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? ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, Face, The, 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. ...
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? ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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?" ...
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, Edge, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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: 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: 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 ...
Jason Donovan: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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: A-Ha Have the Last Laugh on the Teeny Tag
Profile and Interview by Lucy O'Brien, Guardian, The, 14 December 1990
Groups come and go in a flash but the boys from Norway seem to have staying power. Lucy O'Brien reports ...
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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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 ...
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: 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. ...
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, Guardian, The, 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: 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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 ...
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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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, ...
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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Observer, The, 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 ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Guardian, The, 22 May 1995
Hormonesapoppin' as E17 storm the Sheffield Arena. No prisoners taken ...
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 ...
Take That: Then There Were Four — Take That: Manchester Arena
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 7 August 1995
Caroline Sullivan on how a Robbieless Take That fare at Manchester Arena ...
Take That, Robbie Williams: Robbie Williams: The Wild One
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Face, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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" ...
Report by Sheryl Garratt, Independent, The, 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: Gary Takes it All
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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 ...
The Spice Girls: Girls Just Wanna Be Loaded
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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 ...
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Big Issue, The, 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 ...
The 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 22 March 1997
And it's one for the tummy Caroline Sullivan gets all worked up about Peter Andre ...
Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Face, The, 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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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". ...
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 ...
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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
The Spice Girls: Abdi İpekçi Arena, Istanbul, Turkey
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 13 October 1997
Oriental Spice: Sponsor power, not bazaars, draws the Girls to Turkey ...
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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
The Spice Girls: The new product — Spice Girls: Spiceworld (Virgin) ***
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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... ...
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 ...
The 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, Observer, The, 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? ...
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 ...
The Spice Girls: Spice: The Final Frontier
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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 ...
The 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 20 March 1998
Caroline Sullivan on the latest from the former pop kitten who's moving ever closer to that elusive musical maturity ...
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, Observer, The, 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 ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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 ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 17 June 1998
Teen hearts throb with teen music ...
The Spice Girls: Spice Girls: Gone But Not Forgotten
Report and Interview by Philip Norman, 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, Times, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, Observer, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 16 February 1999
If the flat cap fits: is Robbie Williams the new Arthur Askey, asks Caroline Sullivan ...
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, Guardian, The, 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, Village Voice, The, 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' ...
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 ...
The Bay City Rollers: Standing the Butt-Test of Time
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 29 May 1999
The Bay City Rollers were the Boyzone of their day — only bigger. And their fans, including Caroline Sullivan, still pay homage ...
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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Boston Globe, The, 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, The Spice Girls: Bob Herbert 1942-1999
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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, Observer, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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 ...
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? ...
The Spice Girls: Robotic Neurotics: Spice Girls: Evening News Arena, Manchester
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Guardian, The, 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 ...
The 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 ...
All Ears: Disney Dreams Up the Best Radio Station in 30 Years
Essay by Metal Mike Saunders, Village Voice, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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? ...
Britney Spears: Dear Diary: Britney Spears
Comment by Metal Mike Saunders, Village Voice, The, 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 and programme 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 ...
Robbie Williams: The Unlikely Lad: Robbie Williams
Profile by Barney Hoskyns, Independent, The, 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, Times, The, 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 ...
The Baha Men, Hampton and the Hampsters: I Still Want a Hula Hoop: Hampton and the Hampsters
Comment by Metal Mike Saunders, Village Voice, The, 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 ...
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, ...
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, Guardian, The, 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 Dave Simpson, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Observer, The, 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, ...
S Club 7: Pop's Magnificent Seven: S Club 7: Arena, Sheffield ****
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Guardian, The, 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 ...
ABBA: Mamma Mia! ABBA's Music Is Bjorn Again
Interview by Jim Sullivan, Boston Globe, The, 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, New Yorker, The, 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 and programme 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 ...
hear'say: Hear'Say: SECC, Glasgow
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, Observer, The, 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 ...
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' ...
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... ...
Ali G: The joke's on you: Ali G's 'Me Julie'
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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, Observer, The, 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 ...
hear'say: Hear'Say, Gone Tomorrow
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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 ...
Review by Lisa Verrico, Times, The, 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, Times, The, 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, Times, The, 14 November 2002
The Top 20 of old has ceased to be, we have to invent lots of replacements. ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, Times, The, 15 November 2002
THERE WERE TWO types of female fan at Pink's Brixton Academy gig. ...
Review by Lisa Verrico, Times, The, 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 ...
Shakira: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, Times, The, 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, Times, The, 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, ...
Sophie Ellis-Bextor: Sophie's World
Profile by Lisa Verrico, Times, The, 4 January 2003
Having established herself as a pop star with her own agenda, Sophie Ellis Bextor is ready to take on America. ...
Retrospective by Bob Stanley, Times, The, 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, The Spice Girls: Melanie C: Reason/Moloko: Statues/Clipse: Lord Willin'
Review by Lisa Verrico, Times, The, 21 February 2003
Melanie C has too much going for her to rejoin the Spice Girls. ...
Report and Interview by Pete Paphides, Guardian, The, 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, Times, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
Michelle McManus: The stars in our eyes
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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 ...
Review by Kandia Crazy Horse, Village Voice, The, 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, Observer, The, 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, Times, The, 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 ...
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, Guardian, The, 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 Kathryn Flett, Observer, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
Report and Interview by Caitlin Moran, Times, The, 21 February 2005
The once-great tongue-in-cheek music press has gone, but its spirit lives on. ...
Avril Lavigne: O Sister, What Art Thou?
Interview by Tim Cooper, Independent, The, 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. ...
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 ...
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, Times, The, 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, Times, The, 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, Times, The, 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 ...
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 ...
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 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, Word, The, 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 ...
The Spice Girls: It Was a Power Trip
Retrospective by Caitlin Moran, Times, The, 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. ...
Adam & The Ants: Stand And Deliver by Adam Ant (Sidgwick & Jackson)
Book Review by Bob Stanley, Times, The, 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 ...
Girls Aloud: The Trojan Horses of Pop
Interview by Pete Paphides, Times, The, 20 October 2006
Girls Aloud can't write songs. So what? They turned pop on its head ...
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 ...
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. ...
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, 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 ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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. ...
Scissor Sisters: O2 Arena, London
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, Times, The, 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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
Sleeve and programme 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; ...
The Spice Girls: Never Mind The Bum Notes
Live Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 3 January 2008
The Spice Girls: O2 Arena, London ...
Adele: "Her Success is Depressingly Inevitable"
Comment by Andy Gill, Independent, The, 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 ...
The Hoosiers: Shepherds Bush Empire, W12
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, Times, The, 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 ...
Review by Ben Thompson, Observer, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
Katy Perry: On Music: Katy Perry — Voice of No Angel
Comment by Jude Rogers, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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. ...
Tony Christie: Cadogan Hall, London
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, Times, The, 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 ...
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, Village Voice, The, 10 December 2008
More blandishments from the dance floor ...
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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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, Stool Pigeon, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, 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, Guardian, The, 10 April 2009
Bay City Rollers manager who was mired in scandal ...
Live Review by Pete Paphides, Times, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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, Times, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Observer, The, 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 ...
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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Frankie Goes To Hollywood
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. ...
Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
Taylor Swift: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Kate Mossman, Word, The, 10 February 2010
Your Imaginary Friend 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, Times, The, 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 & the Diamonds: Marina & 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 ...
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 ...
Lady Gaga and the New World Order
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, Guardian, The, 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 Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, August 2010
What Katy did next — world domination! ...
A-ha: a-ha: 25 – The Very Best Of
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 ...
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. ...
Black Lace, Jive Bunny, Stock Aitken Waterman: Novelty Records: When pop goes bad
Retrospective by Dave Simpson, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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$HA'S MAIN competitor rocks a mean meat dress, but can she rock a couplet like "Your little heart goes pitter-patter/I want your liver on a ...
Ke$ha: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London ****
Live Review by Ian Gittins, Guardian, The, 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… ...
Comment by Paul Morley, Observer, The, 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 ...
Justin Bieber: NIA, Birmingham
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Independent, The, 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. ...
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. ...
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, Quietus, The, 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 and programme 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, Guardian, The, 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, Quietus, The, 23 February 2012
Adele is a one woman cash vache! Get off her back losers, says Jude Rogers ...
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 ...
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 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, Quietus, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, New York Times, The, 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 ...
Gary Barlow: Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
Live Review by Jude Rogers, Observer, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Observer, The, 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. ...
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 ...
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, Arts Desk, The, 16 August 2013
Lazy and shallow look at the fan phenomenon surrounding the world's biggest boy band ...
Tears For Fears: This Is Going To Hurt: The Mad World Of Tears For Fears’ Debut LP
Retrospective and Interview by Wyndham Wallace, Quietus, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Independent, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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, Guardian, The, 31 March 2014
THE FIRST THING Sheffield sees of Justin Timberlake is his giant silhouette on an enormous backdrop. ...
Review by Andy Gill, Independent, The, 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 ...
One Direction: Stadium Of Light, Sunderland ***
Live Review by Dave Simpson, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 20 June 2014
Lyricist who, with his partner Carole King, wrote many hit songs of the 1960s. ...
Live Review by Rick Pearson, Evening Standard, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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 Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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, Independent, The, 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, ...
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 ...
Bob Stanley: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! – The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé (W.W. Norton)
Book Review by Robert Dean Lurie, American Conservative, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Times, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Times, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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, Guardian, The, 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 ...
A-ha: Their Valuable Hunting Life: The Rocky Road to A-Ha's Hunting High & Low
Retrospective and Interview by Wyndham Wallace, Quietus, The, 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 ...
Peace and harmonies: Christmas songs still have the power to bring us together
Retrospective by Peter Silverton, Independent, The, 16 December 2015
Even in the age of the digital download, compilations of festive music still have an impact, and this is why. ...
Live Review by Nick Hasted, Independent, The, 29 February 2016
Grateful music industry's remaining Force is with British singer ...
Alessia Cara: "Social media is like a fake reality and it's hard to block things out"
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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. ...
Beyoncé: Stadium of Light, Sunderland
Live Review by Nick Hasted, Independent, The, 28 June 2016
A disjointed barrage maybe, but she is still the master show-woman ...
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 ...
Emeli Sandé: Òran Mór, Glasgow
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, Times, The, 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, Village Voice, The, 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 ...
Robbie Williams: The Heavy Entertainment Show
Review by Lisa Verrico, Sunday Times, 6 November 2016
ROBBIE WILLIAMS was devastated that his 11th solo album's lead single, the preposterous 'Party Like a Russian', flopped. ...
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 ...
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 ...
Clean Bandit: Many Strings to their Bow
Interview by Lisa Verrico, 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, Times, The, 4 July 2017
Despite having a heavy cold, the bad boy of pop strutted, sauntered and delivered a mesmerising set. ...
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, Times, The, 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 ...
Niall Horan: Life after One Direction
Profile and Interview by Lisa Verrico, 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. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 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 ...
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, Times, The, 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 ...
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. ...
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