Library Rock's Backpages

Record companies, labels etc.

730 articles

The Crickets, Gene McDaniels, Matt Monro, The Rivingtons: The Crickets, The Rivingtons, Gene McDaniels: Liberty Chief Was Surprised By Crickets' Hit!

Interview by June Harris, Disc, 22 September 1962

DO YOU LIKE a real, bluesy, earthy, down-south American sound? If you do, then your ears will flap when you listen to 'Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow', a new ...

Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans, The Crystals, Darlene Love, Phil Spector: The Crystals Mystery

Report by uncredited writer, Record Mirror, 29 June 1963

Rumour Has It That The Crystals, Bob B. Soxx And The Blue Jeans, And Darlene Love Are In Fact One Group. Here Are The Facts... ...

The Crystals, The Ronettes, Phil Spector: The Ronettes hit and Phil's flips

Profile by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 7 December 1963

BACK IN 1958 Estella & Ronnie Bennett bought a disc between them called 'To Know Him Is To Love Him'. So did their cousin Nadra ...

The Beatles: Beatles Heat Flares in Court

Report by uncredited writer, Billboard, 25 January 1964

CHICAGO — The Beatles, the nation's hottest recording property today, are becoming the object of the nation's hottest lawsuits, at least as far as the ...

Derrick Morgan, Prince Buster, Duke Reid, Sir Coxone: It's Ska — but we call it Blue Beat!

Report by Maureen Cleave, The Evening Standard, 7 March 1964

I SUPPOSE we'd all reckoned without Jamaica. Since the failure of that embarrassing calypso which we were told would sweep the nation — the nation ...

Gene Chandler, Lee Dorsey, Wilbert Harrison, Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs: Marshall Sehorn Joins Constellation

Report by uncredited writer, Billboard, 14 March 1964

CHICAGO — Marshall Sehorn, head of his own Seahorn label, last week joined Constellation Records here in a move that brings three strong pop artists ...

Millie, Prince Buster, Toots & The Maytals: Atlantic Label Releases Hot on Jamaica Ska Disks

Report by uncredited writer, Billboard, 23 May 1964

NEW YORK — Atlantic Records will soon release several dozen Jamaica Ska disks. ...

Johnny Ace, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Junior Parker: Duke/Peacock Records: The Success Story

Overview by John Broven, Blues Unlimited, 12 June 1964

WITH THE emergence of interest in blues recordings after the war, with its resultant popularity, it was only natural that there should be a multitude ...

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Mary Wells: Motown: Will 'HITSVILLE U.S.A.' Hit Britain Now?

Report by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 13 June 1964

THEY SAY that there's not much chance for American hits here now. But nevertheless the multi-million dollar American label Tamla has scored its FIRST hit ...

The Animals, The Dave Clark Five, Joe Meek, Mickie Most, Andrew Loog Oldham, The Tornados: The decline in power of the record Tsars

Report and Interview by Maureen Cleave, The Evening Standard, 15 August 1964

ARE THE Record Companies losing their grip? There are eight British records in the Top Ten. Of these eight, only three have been recorded by ...

Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, The Supremes, Mary Wells: A Great Visit To Hitsville U.S.A.

Interview by Dave Godin, Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 4 September 1964

by DAVE GODIN as told to Norman Jopling ...

Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Stevie Wonder: Mr. Gordy has a formula for success — 'It is Love'

Profile and Interview by Maureen Cleave, The Evening Standard, 10 October 1964

THE BEATLES have done terrible things to the American record industry. Nobody knows what to record any longer. Should they try to reproduce what is ...

Martha Reeves & The Vandellas: Top Tunes: Martha and the Vandellas

Interview by Ronnie Oberman, Evening Star, The (Washington DC), 17 October 1964

MARTHA AND the Vandellas decided it was time for a change in pace. All their records were beginning to sound alike. ...

James Brown: Sue Hit with 'Night Train'!

Report by Guy Stevens, Record Mirror, 2 January 1965

FIRST STOP No. 1 IN THE CHARTS FOR JAMES BROWN CLASSIC! ...

Sue Records: Not So Much A Label

Profile by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 6 February 1965

STORY OF BRITAIN'S STRANGEST RECORD LABEL ...

The Bachelors: Shel Talmy: "British records lacked feeling"

Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 13 February 1965

THE INTERNATIONAL boom in British pop music produced few stories as strange as that of the independent record producer Shel Talmy. He's a 26-year-old American ...

Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters: Marshall Chess: End of the road for the Howlin' Wolfs, Muddies and Sonny Boys

Interview by Maureen Cleave, The Evening Standard, 27 February 1965

FROM NOW ON, many of your favourite American rhythm and blues records will appear under a label called Chess. This is owned by two brothers ...

The Contours, Earl Van Dyke, Kim Weston, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, The Marvelettes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes: A Warning To The Tamla-Motown Visitors From Their Biggest Fan!

Interview by Ian Dove, New Musical Express, 19 March 1965

BRITAIN'S Mr. Tamla-Motown — he's Dave Godin, organiser of the Tamla-Motown Appreciation Society — was walking around warning the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, the ...

Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Supremes, The Temptations, Mary Wells, Stevie Wonder: America Hits Back With Tamla Motown Attack

Report by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 20 March 1965

IN RETALIATION to the British craze sweeping the States, America launches its biggest-ever campaign to bring back the Yanks into the British charts in the ...

The Animals, The Beatles, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, The Supremes: The Beatles Will Make the Scene Here Again, but the Scene Has Changed

Overview by Robert Shelton, The New York Times, 11 August 1965

JOHN, PAUL, George and Ringo are bringing it all back home. That means the Beatles are returning to the United States. They will arrive Friday ...

Andrew Loog Oldham: Immediate People Never Wear Three-Button Suits

Interview by Maureen Cleave, The Evening Standard, 21 August 1965

ANDREW OLDHAM, aged 21, and Tony Calder, 24, yesterday formed a record company and with it released three pop singles that will compete with pop ...

Ramsey Lewis — Prediction '66

Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 12 March 1966

WHEN A pop artiste has that certain Something to make him into a hitmaker then the most vital ingredient in his success or failure is ...

The Temptations: From The 'Perfect Society' Emerge The Temptations

Interview by Eden, KRLA Beat, 27 August 1966

THE TEMPTATIONS are another of the fine Motown groups... but they are not just another group! Five talented and witty individuals involved in the creation ...

The Supremes: Tamla Blueprints

Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 24 September 1966

WITH THE Supremes at No 6 in the Pop 50 after a rapid climb, all the signs are that we're in for a sustained attack from ...

Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett: Atlantic '67

Report and Interview by Bill Harry, Record Mirror, 24 December 1966

FRANK FENTER is a tall, tanned, talkative South African who has a way of expression with his hands that would do credit to an Italian. ...

Lamont Dozier, The Four Tops, The Supremes: Holland-Dozier-Holland: This Tamla Trio Top The Hitmakers Chart

Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 28 January 1967

HOLLAND-DOZIER-Holland may sound like a firm of solicitors, but they must rank among the most prolific songwriting teams in history. ...

Booker T & The MGs, Eddie Floyd, The Mar-Keys, Carla Thomas: Stax Volt

Profile and Interview by Peter Jones, Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 25 March 1967

Sometimes, fame comes to a label as well as a star — like Tamla Motown. Now here's Stax Volt from America with hot soul discs, ...

The Four Tops, The Temptations: Tamla Keeps Hits Rolling

Report and Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 25 March 1967

Wives taught us to dance — FOUR TOPS ...

Sam Cooke, Jan & Dean, The Mamas and The Papas, Barry McGuire, Johnny Rivers: Lou Adler: Producer in the Groove at Picking Hit Records

Profile and Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 19 April 1967

LOU ADLER, one of the best known and most respected record producers, is a defier of stereotypes: ...

John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Otis Spann: Welcome, Bluesway Records

Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, May 1967

THERE AREN'T many new blues albums around, much less a label devoted to blues product. Why, you might ask, when the demand for blues is ...

Bo Diddley: Bo'N'Chess

Interview by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 6 May 1967

The tender story of a love-hate relationship ...

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: The Miracle They Call Smokey And How He Climbed from the Ghetto To the Top of His Musical World

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 6 August 1967

IN 1946 AT Dwyer Elementary School in Detroit, a six-year-old first-grader, wearing a pasted-on beard and white high-top shoes, played Uncle Remus in a school ...

The Small Faces: Small Faces: Youth has saved Faces

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 26 August 1967

IT HAS been an Immediate success story for the Small Faces this year — at No. 15 in the NME Chart with 'Itchycoo Park' — ...

Herb Alpert, Sergio Mendes: A&M Records Tooting Its Own Horn

Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 29 September 1967

ON A 2.3-ACRE lot near the corner of La Brea and Sunset in Hollywood sits one of the most successful record companies in the country, ...

John Mayall, Mike Vernon: True Blues?

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 October 1967

ALAN WALSH investigates the plight of the British bluesman ...

The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes: The Supremes: Psychedelic Tamla!

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 18 November 1967

Brian Holland, one of Motown's famous composing team, speaks to Alan Smith, and tells about PSYCHEDELIC TAMLA! ...

Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall: Beyond the Blues Horizon

Profile and Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 13 January 1968

THE EVER-growing acceptance of blues during the Sixties has decisively affected the direction in which the popular music business has travelled in country. On the ...

The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Spinners, The Supremes, Tammi Terrell, Stevie Wonder: Major LP Release from Tamla

Review by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 13 January 1968

THE BIG R & B companies have a habit of LP release lists which make mouths watery with anticipation. Of course the omnipresent financial problem ...

The Four Tops, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Supremes: Tamla's Miracles Break Through At Last!

Report by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 20 January 1968

THE FIRST of the Tamla Motown groups, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, have finally made it big in the British charts with their runaway transatlantic ...

Herb Alpert: More Than Meets The Eye Or Ear

Interview by Derek Taylor, Hit Parader, February 1968

EVERY WEDNESDAY morning, at about ten o'clock, I make my way down the narrow lanes winding out of the Hollywood Hills, past the ivy-covered cottages ...

The Supremes: Supremes Heart Chat!

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 3 February 1968

YOU COULD see it: the Supremes were overwhelmed. They sat there in the room and hit back with answers as best they could. Reporters and ...

Edwin Starr, Brenton Wood: Edwin Starr and Brenton Wood in Britain

Interview by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, 10 February 1968

"AND NOW, ladies and gentlemen, back in Britain for the eighth time... Edwin Starr." ...

The Beach Boys, Taj Mahal: How Goes It Underground?

Report and Interview by Tom Nolan, Los Angeles Times, 18 February 1968

IT WAS A big day for me, for I had just met Andrew Oldham, the brains behind the Stones. He was very thin and he ...

Sydney Nathan Dead

Obituary by uncredited writer, Record World, 16 March 1968

Pioneered C&W Wax, Then R&B ...

Gladys Knight and the Pips: Gordy's Gladys Souled Out?

Report by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 26 April 1968

THEY RECORD for Soul Records in Detroit. And it's just possible the record label was named for the music the company's top group, Gladys Knight ...

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey and His Associates Work Hit Parade Miracles

Profile by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 31 May 1968

MOTOWN'S MOST VERSATILE ACT ...

The Beatles: Revolution: That's What The Beatles Are Planning With This (picture of an apple)

Report and Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 1 June 1968

APPLE, THE Beatles' artistic mindchild, is a feeling, an effort and a purpose. ...

Rosetta Hightower, Joe E. Young & the Toniks: Vicki Wickham: Leap to Toast

Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 22 June 1968

VICKI WICKHAM, back in the days of Ready, Steady Go, had to keep at least one finger on the pulse of the pop-music scene. The programme ...

Johnny Shines, Sunnyland Slim: Chicago Blues are Dying

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 6 July 1968

and Britain's Mike Vernon tries resuscitation ...

Jefferson Airplane: An interview with Marty Balin of the Jefferson Airplane

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, August 1968

WHEN WE heard that the Jefferson Airplane, long one of our favorite groups, were in town to play the Fillmore East, we quickly arranged an ...

The Four Tops, The Supremes: No Mo' Motown?

Comment by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 August 1968

CHRIS WELCH records the demise of a chart influence ...

Britain Is Soul Country

Report by Ian Dove, Billboard, 17 August 1968

BRITAIN'S SOUL Surge continues. ...

The Beatles, Mary Hopkin, Jackie Lomax: Has Apple Gone Rotten?

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 December 1968

HAS APPLE GONE SOUR? That's a question people are starting to ask as directors quit, and the film division virtually closes down. There are also ...

Alice Cooper, Wild Man Fischer, The Mothers Of Invention: The Mothers of Invention, Alice Cooper, Wild Man Fischer: Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, UCLA Daily Bruin, 15 January 1969

Frank Zappa and other frightening occurrences ...

Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield: Jerry Wexler: 'Team Work Is Secret Of Atlantic's Soul Success'

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 1 February 1969

Label chief JERRY WEXLER talking to Alan Smith ...

Fleetwood Mac, Otis Spann: Top of the chart Fleetwood Mac act as a backing group!

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 8 February 1969

WHICH TOP British group acted as a backing group for another artist while their own record was number one? ...

Tamla Motown: Munch, Munch, Munch

Comment by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 February 1969

Chris Welch discovers what it's like to eat his own words… ...

The Beatles: Apple: 1988 — A Year For Nostalgia

Memoir by Derek Taylor, Hit Parader, March 1969

IT WAS GOOD then, good when we were young then, when we were new and The Apple was fresh and the other apples, wrinkling and ...

Badfinger, Mary Hopkin, Jackie Lomax, James Taylor: As long as Apple people are appreciated by some of the people some of the time, they're happy!

Profile by Maureen O'Grady, Rave, March 1969

Maureen O'Grady writes on the other artistes signed to the Beatles. ...

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? ...

Marv Johnson: Marv still works as Tamla clerk

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 22 March 1969

And he gave label its first ever hit! ...

Blind Faith, Bob & Earl, The Caravelles, Joe Cocker, Millie, Spencer Davis Group, Traffic: Blind Faith: They're no group

Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 26 April 1969

Island Records boss CHRIS BLACKWELL talks to Richard Green ...

The Pretty Things: Tamla invest in Pretty Things

Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 10 May 1969

ONE OF the most astounding pieces of news recently has been the signing by Tamla Motown of the Pretty Things, a group famed for its ...

Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley: Sun Records: Country Meets Rock

Retrospective by Guy Stevens, International Times, 23 May 1969

An occasional series which looks into pop music and its antecedents is the latest plot to swell our readership figures, thereby making the fuzz look ...

Question: what's a company like EMI doing starting an underground label?

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 June 1969

ALAN WALSH investigates the new Harvest label ...

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Question-Time with Smokey of the Miracles

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 21 June 1969

KNOWING THAT Smokey Robinson is one of the five vice-presidents of the fabulously successful Tamla Motown label, I expected him to be a bustling businessman, ...

Booker T & The MGs, Carla Thomas: Stax Horns Into the Pop Market for Sound Success

Profile and Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 22 June 1969

MEMPHIS — A run-down movie theater in a threadbare black neighborhood is the home of Stax Records, a label whose 40 employees and 10 or ...

"I'm a Fairly Normal Person" — John Peel

Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 19 July 1969

FEW PEOPLE in this day and age can understand or accept a man who does not wish to sell himself; who will try to employ ...

The Isley Brothers, John Peel: Isleys and Peel 'Do Their Thing'

Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 2 August 1969

THERE IS no obvious connection between John Peel and the Isley Brothers. Both are in a different "bag," yet both have one thing in common ...

Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Stevie Wonder: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas: Inglewood Forum, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 9 September 1969

Smokey Robinson Crew Performs in Inglewood ...

The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder: Motowners have Racial Problems

Report by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 27 September 1969

SINCE SO many Motown artists are currently in the British charts, I thought I might pass on some things about them that have been circulating ...

Duke/Peacock: 20 Years of Don Robey's R&B Empire

Report by Charlie Gillett, Record Mirror, 16 October 1969

1969 Is the Twentieth Anniversary of Duke/Peacock Records of Houston, Texas, one of the best R & B Soul companies. ...

The Four Tops, Diana Ross, The Supremes: Four Tops Hoping For British Tour, Diana Splits Next Year

Report by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 25 October 1969

ALAN SMITH reports the latest views from DETROIT, A CITY PACKED WITH NATURAL MOTOWN TALENT. ...

Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, Harry J All Stars, The Pioneers: Three New Entries Give Reggae (all on Trojan) Strong Hold on the Chart

Report and Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 1 November 1969

JUST HOW firm a hold reggae is taking on the charts is demonstrated this week by the arrival in the NME Top Thirty of three ...

Holland, Dozier, Holland: This Song Team Wrote 7 Million-Sellers On The Trot!

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 15 November 1969

No. 2 IN THE LP CHART THIS WEEK IS MOTOWN CHART BUSTERS, VOL 3. THREE HITS ON THIS ALBUM WERE BY HOLLAND DOZIER HOLLAND ...

Davey Graham, Quintessence: Island in Basing Street

Report by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 26 November 1969

Update, 2019. In the piece below I mention that Basing Street, where Island Records was established in 1969 in what had been an abandoned chapel, ...

Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, The Supremes: Motown: The Gold In Their Bodies

Report and Interview by Philip Norman, The Sunday Times, 1970

CONSIDERED TOGETHER at a party in New York, Nina Simone, the highly political folk singer, and Diana Ross, principal exhibit of the Motown Record Corporation, ...

Hamilton Bohannon: Bohannon: "The Band Doesn't Get the Proper Respect"

Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 2 January 1970

MOST MOTOWN groups don't perform on stage while playing their own instruments. It would be rather difficult for The Temptations to go through their dance ...

Chairmen Of The Board, Freda Payne: Eddie Holland: A Musical Magician, Once of Motown, Bidding for His Own 'Detroit Sound'

Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 8 February 1970

Yes, Holland-Dozier-Holland DID Split with the Giant; Yes, Eddie Holland DID form Invictus Records; Yes, Invictus IS Climbing the Charts ...

Smokey Robinson: "The old ideas are dying just like Vaudeville did"

Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 14 February 1970

Smokey Robinson on the current pop scene. ...

Island Records

Profile by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 14 March 1970

WHAT HAVE Spooky Tooth, Traffic, King Crimson, Free, Renaissance, Blodwyn Pig, Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake and Fotheringay in common? They all are, or ...

The Four Tops: Tamla's senior citizens

Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 14 March 1970

THE SUCCESS of the Four Tops was instrumental in making the Motown sound of major importance in the development of rock music during the mid-Sixties. ...

Eddie Holland Is 300% Happier Now

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Rolling Stone, 2 April 1970

DETROIT — Edward Holland learned a lot at Motown besides how to make hit records. Edward Holland learned the art of the controlled interview, an ...

Martha Reeves & the Vandellas: Martha's 10 years at Motown...

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, August 1970

THIS YEAR is the tenth anniversary of Motown Records and to celebrate it in London, Martha Reeves and her Vandellas spent one week meeting the ...

Jeff Beck: Strange Scene at Tamla

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 8 August 1970

...reports Mickie Most ...

Joe Cocker, Leon Russell: Leon Russell: King of the Delta Rockers

Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 29 August 1970

Top US session man LEON RUSSELL talks to Mark Plummer. ...

Johnny Jenkins: Nothing But The Blues

Interview by Miller Francis Jr., The Great Speckled Bird, 28 September 1970

TON TON Macoute! was recorded in Macon, Georgia at Capricorn Records, at an 8 track studio built "in memory of Otis Redding" by Phil Walden, ...

The Sound of the City — The Rise of Rock and Roll by Charlie Gillett 375 pp. (Outerbridge & Dienstfrey, New York — distributed by E.P. Dutton)

Book Review by Greg Shaw, Who Put The Bomp!, October 1970

WITH THIS book, the study of rock & roll reaches a level of sophistication matching that of blues and jazz research. The day is gone ...

The Sound Of The City: The Rise Of Rock And Roll (by Charlie Gillett. Outerbridge and Dienstfrey, 375 pp., $2.95)

Book Review by John Morthland, Rolling Stone, 15 October 1970

CHARLIE GILLETT is a very likeable Englishman who recently released the most exhaustive study yet of rock and roll and the music industry. He's 28, ...

Johnny Cash, Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich: Sun Records: The Ooby Dooby

Review by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 30 October 1970

"'SINFUL MUSIC,' the townsfolk in Memphis said it was. Which never bothered me, I guess." Elvis Presley, interviewed in 1957. In the early 1950s, the ...

Mike Curb Congregation, John Sebastian: Mike Curb: Record Boss Keeps Mum

Report and Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 6 December 1970

The 'Curb 18' Still Unidentified ...

Ahmet Ertegün (1971)

Interview by Charlie Gillett, Rock's Backpages audio, 1971

From his youth as an avid record collector and black music fan, up to signing Ray Charles, Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegün tells the whole story.

File format: mp3; in 4 parts, total file sizes: 103.7mb; total interview length: 1h 53' 29" sound quality: ***

Big Bill Broonzy, Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie, Little Miss Cornshucks, Charlie Parker: Ahmet Ertegün (1971) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Charlie Gillett, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1971

This is a transcript of Charlie's audio interview with Ahmet. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Allman Brothers Band, Otis Redding: Phil Walden (1971)

Interview by Charlie Gillett, Rock's Backpages audio, 1971

It's 1971, and the Allmans are on the rise, Jimmy Carter is in the Governor's Mansion, and Otis is four-years-dead: Capricorn man Phil Walden and pals look back at Otis, the MGs, and discuss race and the South with remarkable frankness.

File format: mp3; file size: 100.9mb, interview length: 1h 45' 03" sound quality: **

Dave and Ansell Collins, Desmond Dekker, Alton Ellis: Reggae

Report and Interview by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 22 May 1971

"Send a reggae band for my wedding reception" said Mick Jagger. The unpredictable move by a Stone symbolised the final acceptance of the music as ...

Harold Battiste, Sam Cooke, Lee Dorsey, Dr. John, Barbara George, Tami Lynn, Prince La La, Sonny & Cher, Allen Toussaint: Behind the Scenes with Harold Battiste

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 9 July 1971

FREQUENTLY, we receive letters from readers' asking us to write about the people behind the scenes in our music. For example, the features we did ...

The Four Tops, The Supremes: Supremes and Tops aren't Puppets of Motown

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 17 July 1971

NME's Alan Smith on the phone to Supreme Jean Terrell in Los Angeles. ...

Chairmen Of The Board, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Junior Walker & the All Stars: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Jr. Walker & the All-Stars, the Chairmen of the Board, Martha & the Vandellas: Olympia Stadium, Detroit MI

Live Review by Dave Marsh, Creem, September 1971

The Motown Variations ...

The Beach Boys, The Rip Chords: Beach Boys Hang Ten in Hotel Lobby

Interview by Toby Mamis, Creem, October 1971

IT'S BEEN nine and a half years since the Beach Boys started out, singing 'Surfin' Safari' in Southern California, on New Year's Eve, 1961. At ...

Nesuhi Ertegun: The World Is His Manor

Profile and Interview by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 19 October 1971

GEOFFREY CANNON talks to "the most powerful man in the record business outside America" ...

Jefferson Airplane: Grunt Records: What A Lovely Sound

Report by Ben Edmonds, Phonograph Record, November 1971

IT WAS going to be, if you believed the hype and hung on to your hopes, the event on an otherwise lackluster social calendar for ...

The Sun Records Revival

Review by Jonh Ingham, Phonograph Record, November 1971

SUN RECORDS and Phil Spector's Philles Records were the two most important independent record companies in the history of rock and roll. ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Ambassador's Son to Recording Biz Mogul

Interview by Geoffrey Cannon, Los Angeles Times, 14 November 1971

...

Big Joe Turner, Chuck Willis, The Clovers, The Coasters, The Drifters, LaVern Baker: Joe Turner/LaVern Baker/The Clovers/The Coasters/The Drifters/Chuck Willis: Greatest Recordings

Review by Charlie Gillett, Rolling Stone, 3 February 1972

IN 1967, ARETHA Franklin moved from Columbia to Atlantic – in what soon proved to be one of the most important moments in the history ...

David Geffen: David's Talented Asylum

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 5 February 1972

Penny Valentine talks to America's leading manager David Geffen ...

Jan & Dean, Carole King, The Mamas and The Papas, Scott McKenzie, Johnny Rivers: Lou Adler: A Music Giant

Interview by Danny Holloway, New Musical Express, 5 February 1972

LOU ADLER is a music giant behind the scenes. He started his career writing songs with Herb Alpert, but the partnership split up because Alpert ...

Oldies In The 70's

Overview by Greg Shaw, Phonograph Record, March 1972

The dog days of rock are upon us. ...

Joe Cocker, Leon Russell: Cordell, the Coaxer Behind Cocker

Interview by Danny Holloway, New Musical Express, 4 March 1972

DENNY CORDELL roamed around the music business in London during the early sixties before discovering the Moody Blues and consequently becoming their producer. He assisted ...

The Beatles, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, The Supremes: Motown Making Millions

Profile by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 1 May 1972

Author's update, 2019. "The Manchester Guardian? That's the best fuckin' newspaper in the world!" So David Crosby told me in early 1969. He had answered ...

Badfinger: beating a bad image

Interview by Tony Norman, New Musical Express, 3 June 1972

IN AMERICA, Badfinger are respected musicians. In Britain they are nothing more than another singles-producing tin of baked beans. It's weird how wide the Atlantic ...

R. Dean Taylor: An Insider's View Of Motown

Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Hit Parader, July 1972

MOTOWN IN the Sixties. The image, if we can narrow it down to one, was slickly packaged blackness. It was Holland-Dozier-Holland producing bump-and-grind jukebox hits. ...

America, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills, Neil Young: This is David Geffen, by Gentlemen's Agreement Manager to the Superstars

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 22 July 1972

Will CSN&Y ever re-unite and find true happiness? ...

Jackie Edwards, Harry J All Stars: Various Artists: Tighten Up Volume 6 (Trojan)

Review by Danny Holloway, New Musical Express, 2 September 1972

THIS CONSISTS mainly of the pop side of reggae. Tunes like Isaac Hayes's 'Do Your Thing', Dandy Livingstone's 'Suzanne, Beware Of The Devil' and the ...

Carly Simon, David Ackles, The Doors, Judy Collins, Love, Paul Butterfield Blues Band: Elektra: The House That Jac Built

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 23 September 1972

The story of Elektra, one of rock's most influential labels. As told to Loraine Alterman by founder JAC HOLZMAN ...

Herb Alpert, Joe Cocker, Carole King, Sergio Mendes: A&M Records: Two Lonely Bulls & How They Grew

Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 12 October 1972

LOS ANGELES — Ten years ago this month Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert put their initials together and formed a record company that has since ...

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, O'Jays: The O'Jays: Back Stabbers (Philadelphia International); Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes: I Miss You (Philadelphia International)

Review by Danny Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 26 October 1972

KENNETH GAMBLE and Leon Huff are the current grandmasters of R&B production, having delivered not only dozens of hit singles during the last several years ...

Island Records: Reggae to Riches

Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 November 1972

IF YOU WORK for Island Records, nobody minds if you take your dog into the office every day – or even if it misbehaves on ...

Gladys Knight: Gladys v Motown

Report by Robin Katz, Record Mirror, 5 December 1972

Robin Katz on the likely outcome of a forthcoming battle over contracts ...

Jefferson Airplane: The Master's Grunt: Jefferson Airplane Tries Shock Rock

Report and Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 7 December 1972

NEW YORK — At a rainy concert in Gaelic Park, a girl on stage stripped off her blouse and urged the audience to do the ...

Artist & Repertoire: We Buy And Sell Talent

Report by David Rensin, Music World, January 1973

"So you want to be a rock and roll star
Well listen now to what I say
Just get an electric guitar
Take some time and learn how ...

Philly Days: Cameo-Parkway

Retrospective by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 13 January 1973

Richard Williams reviews the Cameo recordings, recently reissued on two double albums, which made Philadelphia the 'Crap Capital of America' ...

Rance Allen, The Bar-Kays, Isaac Hayes, Luther Ingram, Albert King, The Staple Singers, Little Johnny Taylor, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas: Wattstax (dir. Mel Stuart, Stax)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 10 February 1973

ISAAC HAYES, ROD STEWART and assorted FACES were at the preview of a new soul film. So was MM's RICHARD WILLIAMS... ...

The Demise Of Motown

Comment by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 3 March 1973

Penny Valentine mourns… ...

Judy Collins, Crabby Appleton, Love, Carly Simon: Jac Holzman Then and Now

Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, May 1973

IF EVER I've identified with a record company, the nearest thing in my mind to an ideal would be Elektra Records, for many reasons, not ...

Gladys Knight and the Pips: 'Neither One of Us': Gladys Knight and the Pips

Interview by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 10 May 1973

GLADYS KNIGHT and the Pips have left Motown the same way Ted Williams left the Red Sox, with a home run. 'Neither One of Us' ...

Daevid Allen, Faust, Gong, Mike Oldfield: Virgin Records' First-Ever Releases: Mike Oldfield, Daevid Allen & Gong, Faust

Report by Ed Jones, Cracker, June 1973

AT 18, RICHARD BRANSON STARTED a nationwide magazine called Student, from a basement in Connaught Square, London. Realising that literacy was a faltering skill among ...

Davis Case Stirs Wide Probe on Federal Level

Report by Ian Dove, Billboard, 16 June 1973

NEW YORK — Rumor, speculation, innuendo and fact — all rocked the music industry in the wake of Clive Davis' dismissal as president of CBS ...

CBS Records: U.S. Attorney Bows Probe — Leiberson Upholds Code

Report by Ian Dove, Billboard, 23 June 1973

NEW YORK — Support for the Billboard editorial (see last week's issue) calling for the RIAA to create a committee of industry lenders to structure a code ...

Desmond Dekker, John Holt, Dandy Livingstone, Bob Marley & the Wailers: Reggae... The Hits You Never Hear

Report by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 21 July 1973

Scores of reggae records sell enough copies to qualify as pop hits. But you won't see them on the charts and you won't hear them ...

The Moments, Sylvia Robinson: All Platinum Records: Behind The Scenes With Joe Robinson

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 31 August 1973

JOE ROBINSON is President of All Platinum Records, a complex of record companies that embraces Stang, Vibration, Horoscope, Turbo and All Platinum labels. ...

Allman Brothers Band: Capricorn Bar BQ: Bill Graham Plays Ball In Macon

Report by Arthur Levy, Zoo World, 13 September 1973

WOULD YOU drive 600 miles through the midsummer heat of Florida and Georgia to scoff some free rubs and red hot chicken at the Allman ...

Smokey Robinson: Holy Smokey

Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 15 September 1973

Ex-Miracles leader, brilliant songwriter, Motown boss — Smokey Robinson is that rare thing in music: a legend in his own lifetime. He talks to MM's ...

Van Dyke Parks (1973)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, 9 November 1973

The great man talks about many things, including his Southern roots; Los Angeles and the California experience; acting in TV and movies as kid; his early music experiences in LA; surfing, and the Beach Boys; his first album Song Cycle; Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, Lenny Waronker, and the whole Warner Bros. Records scene; Brian Wilson, and what happened to Smile; his Discover America, and the associated lawsuit, and writing songs with Lowell George (who makes an appearance)...

File format: mp3; file size: 152.2mb, interview length: 2h 38' 33" sound quality: ****

Philadelphia Special: Gamble and Huff

Interview by Tony Cummings, Black Music, January 1974

ONCE, FOR A fleeting blink of times' eye, Philadelphia was the centre of it all. When the world danced the twist with Chubby Checker... everybody ...

Maggie Bell, Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin Erect A Kingdom

Report by Stephen Demorest, Circus, March 1974

For months they've laid low in the recording studios preparing their sixth album. But suddenly the whole world was watching as the Christmas season brought them a ...

Mike Harrison, Mott The Hoople: Guy's Out For Glory

Profile and Interview by Martin Hayman, Sounds, 30 March 1974

GUY STEVENS is the kind of guy who might be buttonholing your young lady in the boozer. ...

Andrew Loog Oldham: Mr. Sharpie

Interview by Jon Tiven, Sounds, 1 June 1974

MOST OF the top recording business entrepreneurs from the Sixties have their little niches all carved out for them. ...

Joe Cocker, Georgie Fame, The Moody Blues, Procol Harum, Leon Russell: Denny Cordell: The Cordial Englishman

Interview by Martin Hayman, Sounds, 8 June 1974

DENNY CORDELL is not at all like my image of him. Well in fact, I didn't know what to expect but he was not like ...

Led Zeppelin: Swan Song Is a Beginning

Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Rolling Stone, 20 June 1974

NEW YORK — "The name Led Zeppelin means a failure," explains lead singer Robert Plant, "and Swan Song means a last gasp — so why ...

Maggie Bell, Led Zeppelin: Peter Grant: The Man Who Led Zeppelin

Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 22 June 1974

With a background in wrestling, it's not surprising that Peter Grant is cast as a heavy. And as manager of Led Zep, the legend has ...

Stevie Wonder: Motown the Uptight

Essay by Richard Williams, Let It Rock, July 1974

We’ve got love a’ go-go nowLet’s not wonder whyLove-a, love a’ go-go nowTomorrow that love may die– Stevie Wonder, 1966 Sing it loud for your ...

Clive Davis Return: "I Love Music"

Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Rolling Stone, 4 July 1974

AFTER A YEAR of speculation, former Columbia Records President Clive Davis, 41, announced that he has been writing a book about his Columbia years, and ...

Rare Earth

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 24 September 1974

A look at a rather special group — the first white act to headline an Apollo show in many a long year... and they won ...

Atlantic Crossing

Overview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974

In his latest examination of a major record company, Robert Partridge visits Atlantic — the company that moved from R&B and Otis to rock and ...

Johnny Bristol: Hangin' Out with the Other JB

Profile by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 28 September 1974

PRODUCER/SONGWRITERS turned artists are an increasingly common feature of the soul scene. ...

Johnny Bristol, Jerry Butler, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Tammi Terrell, Junior Walker & the All Stars: Rappin' With Johnny Bristol

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 8 October 1974

THOUGH JOHNNY Bristol has been involved with recording success for years now, his past track record stems from his career as a record producer. But ...

The Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose, KC & the Sunshine Band, Paul Kelly, King Sporty, Latimore, Little Beaver, George McCrae, Gwen McCrae, Robert Moore, Clarence Reid (aka Blowfly), J.P. Robinson, Helene Smith, Timmy Thomas, Betty Wright: The Miami Sound

Special Feature by Tony Cummings, Black Music, November 1974

George McCrae, KC And The Sunshine Band, Little Beaver, Latimore, Betty Wright, Clarence Reid... They're all hot and they're all from Miami, the city that's ...

Latimore: Time to Straighten It Out

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 3 December 1974

WHENEVER YOU look at the higher echelons of the American singles chart, you'll always find at least one good, straight and clean Blues record. Right ...

Leon Russell: A Recording Studio And Offices For Shelter Records: An Interview With Leon Russell

Interview by David A. Williams, unpublished, 10 December 1974

"I ORGANIZED Shelter Records in Los Angeles in 1970. In 1972, I decided to move back to Tulsa to open one of the few recording ...

Nosmo King: Disco Demand: Smashes — by demand

Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 14 December 1974

MM looks at a new label that's notching up an impressive track record ...

Johnnie Allan: The Promised Land …… And How To Get There: Oval Records

Report by Charlie Gillett, New Musical Express, 21 December 1974

Inside looking out; CHARLIE GILLETT, who has started his own record label, Oval Records, reports from the other side of the fence on the processes ...

Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Sandy Denny, Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry, Nico, Roxy Music, Sparks, Sutherland Brothers and Quiver: Island Records: Treasure Island

Profile by Lenny Kaye, Hit Parader, January 1975

GIVEN THE commercial restrictions of the business we call music, it is the rare record company that is willing to lay itself on the line ...

New Soul Compilation Albums

Review by Bob Fisher, New Musical Express, 1 January 1975

Black is busting out all over ...

Hound Dog Taylor, Junior Wells: Chicago: Big City Blues

Report by Brian Case, New Musical Express, 4 January 1975

How ya gonna pull a black chick, honkie baby? The answer: Don't try. You could get wasted — BRIAN CASE prowls round the rough, tough blues joints ...

Allman Brothers Band, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Black Oak Arkansas, Charlie Daniels, Kinky Friedman, Hydra, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Jerry Reed, The Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie, ZZ Top: The South Gon' Rise Again

Overview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 18 January 1975

"Oh yeah, who says?" asks a sceptical ROY CARR who, after swigging hard on the Confederacy's brew of Redneck Rebel Rock, remains stubbornly unintoxicated. ...

Al Green, Willie Mitchell, Ann Peebles: Willie Mitchell: Memphis Maestro

Interview by Tony Cummings, Black Music, February 1975

Tony Cummings talks to WILLIE MITCHELL, man behind Al Green and that Memphis sound... ...

The Age of Atlantic: Making Tracks, Charlie Gillett (W.H. Allen)

Book Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975

Robert Partridge reviews a major new book about one of America's most important record labels. ...

Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin: The Age of Atlantic: Jerry Wexler

Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975

Max Jones talks to Jerry Wexler, famed producer of Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Maggie Bell, among others — and a vice-chairman of Atlantic ...

Bill Justis, Roscoe Shelton, Joe Simon, Ella Washington: Echoes: John Richbourg — Southern Soul Man

Retrospective and Interview by Bill Millar, Let It Rock, April 1975

Producer and DJ John Richbourg has been involved with the careers of Bobby Hebb, Joe Simon and many more. ...

The Moments, Sylvia Robinson, Shirley & Company, The Whatnauts: All Platinum Records: A Few Moments With Shirley & Company

Interview by Robin Katz, Sounds, 5 April 1975

If 'All Platinum' appears an ambitious name for a record label, consider the fact that their first two UK releases, Shirley and Company's 'Shame Shame ...

The Pretty Things: New Pretty Things Get a Led Zep Uplift

Interview by Steve Turner, Rolling Stone, 10 April 1975

LONDON – The Pretty Things were there at the beginning. Phil May, the band’s lead singer and only original member, followed Keith Richards out of ...

The Moments and All Platinum Records: Moments To Remember

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 15 April 1975

I'M SURE THE Moments will understand my meaning when I say that I am absolutely dumbfounded to be able to write a feature on them ...

Larry Uttal: His Stock Is High

Profile and Interview by Robin Katz, Sounds, 26 April 1975

Without the likes of Larry Uttal, the trendy record industry would have little foundation ...

Jethro Tull invade America with a vengeance

Interview by Ron Ross, Circus Raves, May 1975

WHILE A bizarrely costumed quartet of musical madmen generated waves of sonic splendour, Ian Anderson scowled at his congregation of fans and hopped about like ...

Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Brother To Brother, Dave "Baby" Cortez, Donnie Elbert, Linda Jones, George Kerr, The Moments, Ponderosa Twins Plus One, The Rimshots, Sylvia Robinson, Shirley & Company, The Whatnauts, Lonnie Youngblood: The All Platinum Sound

Overview by Tony Cummings, Black Music, May 1975

Moments, Whatnauts, Shirley And Company, Sylvia... the chartbusting music they're calling the "New Jersey Sound" comes from just one source: All Platinum Records. Tony Cummings ...

The Beatles: Apple Corps: They didn't have to be so nice... (We would have liked them anyway)

Report by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 17 May 1975

Inquest by ROY CARR ...

Martin Hawkins and Colin Escott: Catalyst (Aquarius)

Book Review by Bill Millar, Let It Rock, June 1975

A new book on Sun Records by experts Cohn Escott and Martin Hawkins that is exhaustive, informative and available now! ...

Johnny Ace, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Junior Parker: Obituary: Don D. Robey, R&B Pioneer, Dead at 71

Obituary by Joe Nick Patoski, Rolling Stone, 31 July 1975

HOUSTON — Don D. Robey, a leading figure in rhythm & blues and gospel recordings in the Fifties and Sixties, died early Monday, June 16th, ...

Johnny Ace, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, Junior Parker, Elvis Presley, Big Mama Thornton: Obituary: Don D. Robey, R&B Pioneer, Dead at 71

Obituary by Joe Nick Patoski, Rolling Stone, 31 July 1975

HOUSTON — DON D. Robey, a leading figure in rhythm & blues and gospel recordings in the Fifties and Sixties, died early Monday, June 16th, ...

Various Artists: The Stax Story — Volumes 1&2 (Stax)

Review by Cliff White, Let It Rock, August 1975

COMPILATION ALBUMS are like Chinese meals. A wise choice of carefully balanced ingredients can be delicious: sometimes you just get heartburn. ...

The Supremes

Retrospective by Tony Cummings, Black Music, October 1975

THE LEGENDARY Supremes are back in Britain. Showbusiness cannot exist without legends. Be it a crackvoiced Sinatra, or a drawling Dylan, a cool crooner or ...

Shirley Goodman, Sylvia Robinson: All Platinum Records: My Wife, The President…

Report and Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 4 October 1975

IT'S NICE AND cool and dark in the back room of the bar, and you can sit in your booth and nurse a beer and ...

KC & the Sunshine Band, George McCrae: Sunshine Band Sees Daylight — That's the Way K.C. Likes It

Profile and Interview by Tom Vickers, Rolling Stone, 20 November 1975

SAN CARLOS, CALIFORNIA — K.C. and the Sunshine Band threw a down-home dance party on the Circle Star Theatre's usually sedate stage. Whistles turned to ...

Ann Peebles...and the Hi Records Story

Interview by Todd Everett, Phonograph Record, December 1975

THOUGH NASHVILLE, Tennessee, has proclaimed itself "Music City U.S.A.," the traditional center of musical activity in that area of the country, and the city from ...

Thom Bell, Blue Magic, The Delfonics, First Choice, Kenny Gamble, MFSB, O'Jays, Billy Paul, People's Choice, Bunny Sigler: Inside The Philly Sound

Report and Interview by Tony Cummings, Black Music, December 1975

In the States, and in Britain, the insidious sweet beat of the Philly Sound continues to conquer the best selling charts. The whooping passion of ...

Allman Brothers Band, Bonnie Bramlett, Charlie Daniels, Dobie Gray, The Marshall Tucker Band, Travis Wammack, Wet Willie: Capricorn Records' Phil Walden (1976)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, 1976

The Capricorn boss talks about his disillusion with soul music after management client Otis Redding's death; his move into white rock with the Allman Brothers Band; the attention brought to southern music as a result; the current state of the Allman Brothers Band; brother Gregg's problems; the Atlanta Rhythm Section; dropping Travis Wammack; Dobie Gray... and Bonnie Bramlett's new album Lady's Choice.

File format: mp3; file size: 25.6mb, interview length: 26' 38" sound quality: **½

Donna Summer: Casablanca Records' Neil Bogart (1976)

Interview by Jim Esposito, Rock's Backpages audio, 1976

The Casablanca Records mogul gives his record industry background, selling bubblegum, radio censorship, big-sellers Kiss and, extensively, about Donna Summer and her disco/sex smash 'Love To Love You Baby'. Read a transcript of the audio.

File format: mp3; file size: 42.8mb, interview length: 46' 45" sound quality: ***

KISS, Hugh Masekela, Parliament, Donna Summer: Casablanca Records' Neil Bogart (1976) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Jim Esposito, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1976

This is a transcript of Jim's 1976 interview with the Casablanca disco mogul. Listen to the audio of this interview.  ...

Charly Records: The Dark Side Of The Sun

Retrospective by Charlie Gillett, Street Life, 17 April 1976

SAM PHILLIPS must be shaking his head in bewilderment that somebody should be issuing his out-takes. ...

Archie Bell and the Drells, Thom Bell, Kenny Gamble, O'Jays: Gamble & Huff: It's Got a Good Beat, and You Can Pray to It

Report and Interview by Tom Vickers, Rolling Stone, 20 May 1976

The only way for our music to go is the way the world goes. And where it goes negative, we're going to show where it ...

William Bell, Margie Joseph, Frederick Knight, Mavis Staples, Little Johnny Taylor: Albums from Frederick Knight, William Bell, Margie Joseph, Mavis Staples and Johnny Taylor

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 26 June 1976

The Sorry Stax story ...

Stax: Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)...

Report by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 21 August 1976

CLIFF WHITE charts the fall of Stax Records ...

Stevie Wonder: The Selling of Stevie

Report by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 2 October 1976

MAYBE I'M just a cynic... but from where I'm standing it appears that, in terms of pushing as much product as humanly possible, the 13 ...

George Harrison: A&M Sues George Harrison for $10 Million

Report by Sam Sutherland, Record World, 9 October 1976

LOS ANGELES — A&M Records has filed a suit against George Harrison, seeking $10 million in damages and the dissolution of Harrison's Dark Horse label, ...

Earth Quake, Greg Kihn, Jonathan Richman, The Rubinoos: Beserkley Records: The Fabled Label

Overview by Ian Birch, Sounds, 16 October 1976

SOME PLACES become legendary. Mystical meccas for the besotted. That is usually until you sample them first hand. ...

Johnnie Allan, The Celebrated Artists Band, Kilburn & The High Roads, Barbara Lynn, The Sir Douglas Quintet: The story of 'O'val

Interview by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 30 October 1976

LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE LITTLE GUY PART 3 ...

Sun Records reissues: Rock’n’Roll – first dinosaur still extant

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 6 November 1976

CLIFF WHITE examines a major re-packaging of Sam Philips' Sun catalogue. ...

Johnnie Taylor: The Original Johnnie Taylor!

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 30 November 1976

Originality is the thing that succeeds above all else according to Mr T. He's currently working on a number of diverse projects which will spotlight ...

Aretha Franklin, Leroy Hutson, Curtis Mayfield, The Staple Singers: Curtis Mayfield: The Creative Mastermind

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, December 1976

TO TRY and describe Curtis Mayfield's enormous contribution to the music world would take far more adjectives than we have at our disposal. ...

Four on the Floor: The Motown Sound

Book Excerpt by Lenny Kaye, David Dalton, Rock 100, 1977

IT WAS EVER MORE THAN A RECORD LABEL. At its zenith, during a span that dominated most (if not all) of the sixties, the hit ...

Gladys Knight and the Pips, Rose Royce, The Temptations, The Undisputed Truth: Norman Whitfield: a gambler with some sure bets

Interview by Robin Katz, Record Mirror, 1 January 1977

NORMAN WHITFIELD has always been a ghost-like character in terms of his presence to music. As a producer and writer he has always been a ...

Rough Trade Records

Report by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 29 January 1977

GEOFF TRAVIS must feel like Dr. Frankenstein sometimes. Geoff is tall and lanky, with a fuzzy afro of light brown hair and a grin guaranteed ...

Tompall Glaser, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Charley Pride: Jerry Bradley: This Nashville dynamo doesn't sing a note

Interview by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 13 February 1977

PEOPLE WITH careers in the record world refer to their industry as the music business for one elementary reason. It is a business, with a ...

Lou Reed, The Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Lou Reed Joins Pistols Furore

Report and Interview by uncredited writer, Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 26 March 1977

LOU REED claims he has been banned from the London Palladium because of the continuing controversy surrounding the Sex Pistols and punk rock. ...

Ronnie Spector: Cleveland International Records: Ronnie Spector Breaks Cleveland!

Report and Interview by Marty Cerf, Phonograph Record, April 1977

CLEVELAND — It's a freezing night in mid-February for this city that knows no excess in terms of its insatiable hunger for pop. Indisputably, this ...

Elvis Costello, The Damned, Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Graham Parker, The Rumour, Sean Tyla: Around the bend on Stiff Records

Interview by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 24 April 1977

WHAT KIND of record company would use as its motto the phrase "reversing into tomorrow"? Which record company would define its purpose, on its first ...

Carl Davis: Doing His Own Thing

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 26 April 1977

WHEN YOU talk about Chicago in a musical way, there are some names that spring to mind instantly. Curtis Mayfield, Chess Records, The Chi-Lites, Chaka ...

Elton John, Cliff Richard: John Reid, Elton John's Manager: "Welder's Son Who Built A Pop Empire"

Profile and Interview by Ed Jones, The Sunday Times, 8 May 1977

WHILE ELTON John was wowing the pearl-strung punters at last Monday's concert in aid of the Queen's Jubilee Appeal at the Rainbow Theatre, London, John ...

Sex Pistols, Rick Wakeman: Rick Wakeman Denies Press Rumors In Sex Pistols Controversy

Interview by Jim Farber, Circus, 9 June 1977

LONDON: The furor over the Sex Pistols' firing by A&M Records still rages in the British Press. Punk rock is more controversial than ever. Circus ...

The Doors, MC5, The Ramones, Jonathan Richman, The Stooges: Danny Fields: The Fields Connection

Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 9 July 1977

The Doors, MC5, Iggy & The Stooges, John Cale, Lou Reed, Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers and The Ramones — without them the last ten years of ...

Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe: England's Elvis — The New Sensation on the Rock Scene

Report by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 October 1977

OUT OF nowhere comes a musician with no apparent past who looks like a good bet to become the biggest new sensation on the rock ...

Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey Robinson (1977)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, November 1977

Smokey goes disco! The great singer-songwriter on producing and recording the soundtrack to the Big Time movie; giving the public what they want; his changing role at Motown; why he left the Miracles; his renewed love of performing; the uniform results of Motown's artist development department... and his current live show.

File format: mp3; file size: 36.2mb, interview length: 37' 45" sound quality: ****

Judd Phillips: The Memphis Mercury Connection

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 14 March 1978

NO, IT ISN'T a devious underworld operation; rather, it is the efforts of the Chicago-based Mercury organisation to be the first major to capitalise on ...

Motorhead: Various Artists: Long Shots, Dead Certs And Odds On Favourites (Chriswick Chartbusters Vol. 2) (Chiswick)

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 22 April 1978

NO MORE GOOD GUYS ...

Henry Allen, Cerrone, Mass Production, Sister Sledge, Slave, Philippe Wynne: Henry Allen and Cotillion Records: One Of The Pioneers Of The Development Of The Contemporary Black Music Industry

Profile and Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 9 May 1978

Since its revival a couple of years back, Cotillion Records has underlined Atlantic Records' commitment to black music. With pioneer Henry Allen at the helm, ...

Etta James, Allen Toussaint: Jerry Wexler: Producer with a Fan's Passion

Interview by Sam Sutherland, High Fidelity, August 1978

ON A BLEAK, sunless afternoon, Jerry Wexler sits comfortably in the shadows of a recording studio control room, listening to the playback of a vocal ...

Independents Day Revisited

Report by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 5 August 1978

Last September, in our extraordinarily collectable NME Collectors Issue, we looked at the seemingly unstoppable explosion of independent record labels. Times change, though. Rebels become ...

Art Blakey, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Lester Young: Blue Note Records: Young, gifted... and Blue

Discography by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 September 1978

Chris Welch examines the legacy of Blue Note, the pioneering label currently being re-promoted ...

Rev. James Cleveland: Savoy Delivers the Gospel

Interview by Joe McEwen, Rolling Stone, 21 September 1978

ELIZABETH, N.J. — Fred Mendelsohn likes to tell a story. "I was at an Arista convention in New Orleans," he says, inching forward in his ...

Jona Lewie, Lene Lovich, Mickey Jupp, Rachel Sweet, Wreckless Eric: Stiff Records: Be A Killer Or Be A Real Stiff…

Report by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 28 October 1978

W. C. FIELDS would have hated the "Be Stiff" tour. A sixteen year child star who toured with Mickey Rooney? A performing punk dwarf called ...

Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis: The Sun King: Sam Phillips

Retrospective and Interview by Robert Palmer, Memphis, December 1978

BACK IN THE MID-'50s, the Sun Records studio at 706 Union Avenue was the epicenter of a sudden, wrenching shift in world consciousness. Tremors had ...

The Temptations Revisited

Interview by Cliff White, Black Music, December 1978

Is rejuvenation just around the corner for the Temptations? Cliff White asked the questions during their brief British visit. ...

Joy Division, The Passage, Spherical Objects: New Stirrings On The North-West Frontier

Report and Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 13 January 1979

The Underground sticks its Collective head overground to explain how the rest of the world went wrong. Please fasten your safety helmets now. Words: PAUL ...

Wreckless Eric

Report and Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, February 1979

ANY OVERVIEW OF THE current Stiff Records roster must sometimes feel like a long look into a funhouse mirror. There's Lene Lovitch, the ersatz Eurovision ...

Rough Trade Records: The Humane Sell

Report and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 10 February 1979

Rough Trade aim to break down the barrier between the consumers and the consumed. ...

Essential Logic, The Normal, The Raincoats, Red Crayola, Stiff Little Fingers: Rough Trade: Beat, Activity and Conversation

Report and Interview by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 10 February 1979

Terms For An Industry In The '80s... IAN PENMAN reports on the artistic and commercial concept of ROUGH TRADE, recorders, distributors and promoters of new ...

James Chance & the Contortions, Cristina, DNA, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks: No New York

Report and Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 17 February 1979

PETE SILVERTON meets the second generation of New York new wave bands... TEENAGE JESUS AND THE JERKS, THE CONTORTIONS, DNA and other assorted weirdos ...

Eddie Floyd, Isaac Hayes, David Porter, Sam & Dave, Johnnie Taylor: Stax: The Soul of a City

Interview by Richard Wootton, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979

RICHARD WOOTTON talks to David Porter about the life and tempos of Stax ...

Ivor Biggun, Duffo, The Lurkers, Tubeway Army: Beggars Banquet: Where Taste is a Dirty Word

Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 31 March 1979

Nick Austin and Martin Mills are the perpetrators of Duffo, Ivor Biggun and the Lurkers. They may have traded in their Jags for Cortinas. but ...

The Kursaal Flyers, Jona Lewie, Lene Lovich, The Records, Rachel Sweet, Wreckless Eric: Stiff Tour Invades Colonies: Records Break, Eric Stays Up Past Bedtime

Report and Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, April 1979

Probing reporter Dave Schulps sees the show, talks to the Records' Will Birch, and delves into the acidic past of Wreckless Eric. ...

Bomp Records' Greg Shaw (1979)

Interview by Gary Sperrazza!, Rock's Backpages audio, May 1979

The legendary publisher of Bomp talks about the struggles of his indie label of the same name: ungrateful musicians, dodgy business partners and thieving distributors, all of which led to the label's near collapse in 1978.

File format: mp3; file size: 43.7mb, interview length: 47' 42" sound quality: ****

Modern-ists: The Bihari Brothers

Retrospective by Pete Grendysa, Goldmine, May 1979

TWO FACTORS combined to make the years of the Second World War uniquely fertile for Rhythm and Blues. One, strangely enough, was the shortage of ...

EMI: Saturday Night Beneath The Corporate Umbrella

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 2 June 1979

MUSIC, FILMS TV, HOTELS, RESTAURANTS, MEDICINE, WEAPONS...HOW A GIANT RECORD COMPANY NOW EXTENDS INTO EVERY AREA OF LIFE – AND DEATH. ...

The Brecker Brothers: Brecker Brothers: The Studio And Its Discontents

Interview by Steve Bloom, Downbeat, 21 June 1979

It would be nice if we're going to do this to say some shit. I don't know what, but I'd really like for once to ...

Eddy Grant: Living On The Ice Block

Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 7 July 1979

How far can a black musician control his own destiny in white society? Surprise, surprise, not all the way, says the man in the front ...

Echo & The Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes: The Teardrop Explodes, Echo & the Bunnymen: Zoo Games

Report and Interview by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 25 August 1979

A small label at the warm end of the cold wave. The music of the Eighties! says Dave McCullough. ...

Faulty Towers: Miles Copeland’s New Wave

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 15 September 1979

MILES COPELAND is prone to saying things like "cracking America and the world is a big job and we're going to have to work really ...

A Certain Ratio, The Distractions, Joy Division, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark: Factory Records: Food For Thought

Report by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979

Lots of people thought that Operation Julie was a bit of an anachronism. Who, in the late Seventies, could be dropping all those tabs? It ...

Dynasty, Lakeside, Carrie Lucas, Shalamar, The Whispers: Solar Records: Pretty People, Pretty Music, Pretty Vacant

Report and Interview by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 29 September 1979

THE MUSIC BIZ BLACK AMERICAN STYLE — DANNY BAKER NAMES THE FACES OF FACELESS DISCO ...

Madness, The Selecter, The Specials: 2-Tone: Ska Authentic And More.

Report by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 6 October 1979

GARRY BUSHELL CHECKS OUT 2-TONE ...

Aspects of Superpop: It Will Stand

Retrospective by Penny Reel, New Musical Express, 3 November 1979

The Minit label of New Orleans flourished during the period 1960 to 1962 and consolidated one of the cornerstones of the Superpop era. Allen Toussaint ...

The Durutti Column: the Emaciated Line Between Art and Ambience

Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 2 February 1980

Max Bell spends a day at the Factory with The Durutti Column ...

Shalamar, The Whispers: Sex and the Solar People

Report and Interview by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 1 March 1980

TIM LOTT goes to LA to watch the glitter and tinsel of the biggest thing happening in black music at the moment ...

The Blues Brothers, Booker T & The MGs, Steve Cropper, The Mar-Keys: Steve Cropper: The Man Who Wrote The Book

Interview by Bill Bentley, L.A. Weekly, 1 May 1980

THE LATE sixties were a time for guitars, and five musicians — fifty fingers — appeared to naturally jump to the center of attention: Jimi ...

Cristina, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Lydia Lunch, Suicide: ZE Night: Hurrah, New York City

Profile by Roy Trakin, New York Rocker, June 1980

THE RICH ARE different from you and me, my friends. While we content ourselves with free promos and an occasional "plus-one" at a local bistro, ...

Buzzcocks, John Cooper Clarke, The Invisible Girls, Joy Division: Phantom of the Factory — It's Martin Hannett! A legend in his own town!! Didsbury!!!

Report and Interview by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 19 July 1980

Bassist with Arnie Prole's Blues Band! Founding member of John Cooper Clarke's Curious Yellows! Close friend of Eric the Ferret! Producer of Spiral Scratch, Jilted ...

Alive & Making it

Interview by Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, 23 August 1980

DEREK GREEN tells ROSALIND RUSSELL the writing's on the wall for the record industry ...

The Residents, Snakefinger: Ralph Records: Surrealism a Go Go

Retrospective and Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, September 1980

Waiting for art talent scouts? There are no art talent scouts. Face it, no one will seek you out. No one gives a shit. — ...

Chet Atkins: Custom Of the Country

Profile and Interview by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 20 September 1980

Chet Atkins' Guitar Enters the Smithsonian ...

Orange Juice: The Sneer That Says Wish You Were Here

Profile and Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 4 October 1980

THERE'S SOMEONE knocking on my door. A loud rap. I'm woken up with a start. I open the door. ...

Joy Division: Letter from Britain: The Exploding Psychedelic Inevitable

Column by Penny Valentine, Creem, November 1980

"YOU CRY OUT in your sleep/And all my failings exposed," mourns Ian Curtis on the extraordinary, emotional 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. This song, currently ...

The Sun Story

Retrospective by Martin Hawkins, The History of Rock, 1981

THE SUN RECORD COMPANY of Memphis, Tennessee, was one of the very few independent record labels to develop a unique and immediately identifiable 'sound'. ...

Disc Haven For Rockers: Rough Trade

Report and Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 2 January 1981

SMALL, INDEPENDENT labels have introduced many of rock music's most influential figures. Elvis Presley (on Sun Records), Chuck Berry (Chess) and Little Richard (Specialty). Even ...

Eddy Grant: Dread At The Controls

Interview by Deanne Pearson, Smash Hits, 8 January 1981

Deanne Pearson visits Ice Records and talks to The Boss (Eddy Grant), The Leading Artist (Eddy Grant), The Band (Eddy Grant), The Chief Engineer (Eddy ...

Cabaret Voltaire, Clock DVA, Throbbing Gristle, Z'EV: Throbbing Gristle, Clock DVA, Cabaret Voltaire: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 14 February 1981

A FETISH night out! A visit to the new school of modern music — art, avant garde and all those words. No doubt fancy terms ...

Bauhaus, The Birthday Party, Modern English: 4AD Records: Bloodless Revolutions

Interview by Tony Fletcher, The Face, May 1981

TONY FLETCHER TALKS SMALL BUSINESS WITH A SUCCESSFUL ALTERNATIVE ...

Mute Speak

Interview by Vivien Goldman, New Musical Express, 2 May 1981

Vivien Goldman meets Daniel Miller, the man who brought you The Silicon Teens, The Normal and Depeche Mode. Though only one of these exists – ...

The Bongos, Bush Tetras, Our Daughter's Wedding, The Outsets, Pylon: The New Independents

Overview by Van Gosse, Musician, June 1981

A pot pourri of personal insights into the galaxy of artist-centered independent labels, including a sample (sampler?) of the latest bumper crop. ...

A Certain Ratio, Joy Division, New Order, The Slits: Rough Trade and Factory: Business Brains in Action!

Interview by Roy Trakin, New York Rocker, July 1981

Independent Thoughts From Rough Trade's Geoff Travis And Factory's Tony Wilson ...

James Chance, Cristina, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Was (Not Was): ZE Records

Profile and Interview by Peter Silverton, New Sounds New Styles, July 1981

New York record label ZE is the product of a remarkable partnership between August Darnell and Michael Zilkha. Peter Silverton profiles the Z of ZE... ...

Coati Mundi, Cristina, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Was (Not Was): Michael Zilkha: The King of Mutant Disco

Profile and Interview by Mary Harron, The Guardian, 4 July 1981

Mary Harron meets the rich kid behind ZE Records' success. ...

Marc Bolan, John's Children, The Yardbirds: The Music Game as Played by Simon Napier-Bell — Label Owner, Songwriter, Producer, Manager

Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, October 1981

"THE OTHER day I was discussing doing a new kind of record deal for the States. The record companies are going to hate it, but ...

Why is This Man Hip But a Complete Failure?: Michael Zilkha and ZE Records

Interview by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 5 December 1981

Paul Rambali meets Mr. ZE, Michael Zilkha and learns how the music on his label has made him fashionable but broke. ...

‘Home Runs, No Bunts’ — Solar Power On The Rise

Interview by Gene Sculatti, Los Angeles Times, 6 December 1981

Does the Stones' latest album fail to start you up? Has your affair cooled with the New Romantics? You say you didn't grow up to ...

Berry Gordy: Motown Magician

Profile by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982

Until recently little was known of Berry Gordy Jnr’s background. Such information as was available made no sense at all except on a romantic level, ...

Leonard Chess: Grand Master Of The Blues

Retrospective by Tony Russell, The History of Rock, 1982

Chess is one the great labels. Along with Sun and Atlantic it has stamped its trademark indelibly on the history of rock. ...

Mickie Most: The Rock of Ages

Interview by Mary Harron, The Guardian, 26 March 1982

Mickie Most tells Mary Harron why in the world of pop the producer reigns supreme ...

Motown: I Hear A Symphony

Overview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 3 April 1982

TIMELESS music...a rare and precious thing...hard to find ...even harder to create: that's Motown music when it was in its heyday. It was a music ...

The Funky Four + 1, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, The Sequence, The Sugarhill Gang, West Street Mob: New albums from Sugarhill Records

Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 17 April 1982

The West Street Mob: The West Street Mob (Sugarhill) The Sequence: Sugarhill Presents (Sugarhill) The Sugarhill Gang: 8th Wonder (Sugarhill) Various Artists: Greatest Rap ...

8-Eyed Spy, Bad Brains, James Chance & the Contortions, The Dictators, The Germs, New York Dolls, The Stimulators, Suicide: Traditional Discs: Is It R.I.P. FOR R.P.M.?

Report and Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 1982

IS THE phonograph record on its deathbed? Neil Cooper, who runs a record company that doesn't sell records, thinks so. "Within five years, vinyl will ...

James Chance & the Contortions, The Dictators, New York Dolls: Cassette rock comes on with a "Roar"

Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 27 May 1982

IN THE competitive record business, how can a company that releases dated rock 'n' roll and aims well below the top of the pops prosper? ...

Joy Division, New Order: FAC~T or Fiction

Interview by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 12 June 1982

Dave McCullough corresponds with Factory boss TONY WILSON. ...

Depeche Mode, Yazoo: The Meaning Of Mute

Profile and Interview by Johnny Black, Masterbag, September 1982

(1) Not emitting articulate sound:NOT THAT YOU could blame him if his utterances were totally inarticulate, because Daniel Miller has been having a hard and ...

Blondie: Animal House: Chris Stein, Blondie, and Animal Records

Interview by Cynthia Rose, New Musical Express, 13 November 1982

MUSICIAN/PHOTOGRAPHER Chris Stein has spent the last four years becoming what some Americans consider "a compulsive over-achiever", and others call 'an enthusiast'. ...

Depeche Mode, Fad Gadget: Ace Cinema, Brixton

Live Review by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 8 January 1983

SOME OF the many moods of Mute were on show tonight. Label mates Depeche Mode and Fad Gadget would appear to be polar opposites, but ...

The Equals, Eddy Grant: Eddy Grant: A Reggae Popster Makes His Own Breaks

Interview by Carol Cooper, Musician, June 1983

REMEMBER D.I.Y.? Remember all those fierce and earnest punk rockers who vowed to bypass the corporate monopoly and conquer the rapidly devolving Western world? It ...

The Commodores, DeBarge, Finis Henderson, Rick James, Michael Lovesmith, The Mary Jane Girls, Bobby Nunn, Syreeta, Monalisa Young: There's No Town Like Motown

Report and Interview by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 30 July 1983

25 years on the dancefloor, Tamla Motown is still the black music label. In the '60s, their motto was 'The Sound Of Young America' — then hard ...

Jonzun Crew, New Edition, Maurice Starr: Michael Jonzun: Pack Jammin' from Roxbury to the Top Ten

Interview by Julie Panebianco, Boston Rock, 14 November 1983

AT THE END of the street on the top of a hill in Roxbury is a two-story, weather-beaten wooden house. The first floor windows are ...

Atlantic Records

Essay by Mick Brown, The Guardian, 1984

Atlantic and other classic R&B issues are at last being reprinted — in Britain. Mick Brown reports ...

Berry Gordy: The Man in the Middle

Interview by Mick Brown, The Sunday Times, 1984

Surrounded by the stars he created – Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Diana Ross – stands Berry Gordy, the man who 25 years ago founded ...

Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins: Chips Moman's Memphis Revival

Report and Interview by Joe Sasfy, Country Music, January 1984

Legendary stars, legendary producers, legendary backup singers and a pretty hefty studio band all got together for Chips Moman's new Memphis album. The veteran producer ...

Hurrah!, Prefab Sprout, Martin Stephenson & The Daintees: Prefab Sprout, The Daintees, Hurrah!: ICA, London

Live Review by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 14 January 1984

IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT... ...

The Blasters, Fear, The Germs, Rank and File, Violent Femmes, X: Slash: L.A.'s Maverick Label Meets the Majors

Interview by Mark Leviton, BAM, 10 February 1984

LOS ANGELES —"Music is a vehicle for ideas, and if the ideas suck and the music's good, it's still pretty bad music." The man at ...

Art of Noise, Frankie Goes to Hollywood: ZTT: Who Bridges the Gap Between the Record Executive and The Genius? Me

Essay by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 18 February 1984

PAUL MORLEY, the man who took FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD to Number One, takes a long day's journey into night where he wonders whether he ...

Propaganda: Lies, Lies, Lies

Interview by Graham K. Smith, Record Mirror, 31 March 1984

Remember those glorious early days of Stiff, 2-Tone, Postcard, and the like? — heady times when copping the latest labels' latest carried more clout than ...

Discotto Finds Way To Succeed In Italy

Report by Peter Jones, Billboard, 12 May 1984

MILAN — A new trend within the troubled Italian record business is for wholesalers to set up their own record production operations, mainly turning out ...

Art of Noise: State Of The Art: The Art of Noise

Report and Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 19 May 1984

Zang! Zang! Zang! go Lynden Barber's art-strings as he meets pop cryptographers ART OF NOISE.  ...

Rockwell: Berry Gordy's son scores with a little help from Michael Jackson

Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 24 May 1984

THE GIRL with the video camera is following Rockwell around Motown Records' Sunset Boulevard offices. Everywhere he goes, she follows, camera trained on the young ...

Richard Branson

Interview by Paul Rambali, The Face, June 1984

NOTES SCRAWLED habitually on the back of Richard Branson’s hand attest to a hectic day. He had been invited to lunch by the financial editor ...

MTV snaps up video rights

Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, August 1984

SAN FRANCISCO — Rock-video fans who don't get their MTV — and that means seventy-five percent of the country's households — were at the losing ...

Trevor Horn (1984)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, September 1984

The mega producer talks about his record company ZTT: how the frustrations of producing Dollar and ABC led to his setting up the label; Paul Morley's role in it; working with Frankie Goes to Hollywood and the Art of Noise; the company's ambitions; the advantages and pitfalls of high recording technology; and his role as a producer. Plus Horn answers his own question: Did video kill the radio star?

File format: mp3; file size: 51.7mb, interview length: 53' 50" sound quality: ***

Art of Noise, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Propaganda: ZTT: The Morley & Horn Show present How To Make A Spectacle of Yourself

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 ...

Richard Branson: Rock & Roll at 30,000 Feet

Profile and Interview by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 25 October 1984

From Tubular Bells to Boy George, Richard Branson has made millions from music. Now he's trying to run his own airline. Is he smart enough ...

The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Pastels: Creation Records: Lions In Our Own Garden

Report and Interview by Bruce Dessau, New Musical Express, 3 November 1984

BRUCE DESSAU rustles the roster of London's pop-punk indie, CREATION RECORDS ...

Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: Grandmaster Flash: Flash Point

Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 2 March 1985

The Grandmaster Flashes about Melle Mel, Sugar Hill, and his total entertainment concept. Paul Sexton gets the message ...

Run-DMC: Run DMC

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 9 March 1985

Run DMC are two New Yorkers who set their raps to a raw rock backdrop and talked their way up the charts. Paolo Hewitt meets the ...

Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers, Experience Unlimited (EU), Go-Go Allstarz, The Junkyard Band, Little Benny & The Masters, Mass Extension, Rare Essence, Redds And The Boys, Trouble Funk: Go-Go: A Musical Phenomenon Bonding a Community

Special Feature by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 19 May 1985

GO-GO MUSIC, the hard-hitting street funk born and bred in Washington's inner city 15 years ago and the heart of a vibrant black subculture for ...

Propaganda: Doctrine In The House

Interview by Mick Sinclair, ZigZag, June 1985

MICK SINCLAIR MEETS THE QUIET TYPES WITH THE ABILITY TO EXPLODE ...

Chris Strachwitz: Slices From Arhoolie

Profile and Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 1985

EL CERRITO, Calif. – "Since I only record music I really love, it's like being a preacher or a junkie," mused Chris Strachwitz, founder of ...

Black Flag, Flipper, Husker Du, Meat Puppets, The Minutemen, The Replacements: Punk Lives: The Minutemen, Meat Puppets and SST Records

Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 18 July 1985

They don't sound like the Ramones, and they don't look like the Sex Pistols, but bands like Hüsker Dü, the Minutemen and the Meat Puppets ...

Stax Records' Estelle Axton (1985)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, October 1985

From Satellite Records to 'Disco Duck': Stax Records' Estelle Axton on the "recording bidness" - pre-Stax Memphis and Sun and Elvis, Rufus Thomas, the Mar-Keys, 'Last Night', Otis, Hayes and Porter, the record shop, and through to Al Bell and the downfall.

File format: mp3; file size: 86.3meg, interview length: 1h 29' 54" sound quality: ***

Art Blakey, Horace Silver: Blue Note Records: The Rolls Royce of Jazz

Retrospective by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 26 October 1985

For 30 years the Blue Note label was the premier outlet for jazz. Now its catalogue is being made available again. ROY CARR breathes a ...

Stevo: The Man Whose Head Exploded

Interview by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 26 October 1985

If you can't please yourself, you can't please your soul cries STEVO, head of happy family Some Bizzare. MAT SNOW, our man in black with ...

Jerry Wexler (1985)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, November 1985

Speaking at the Friars Club in midtown Manhattan, the great Atlantic producer recalls the black bands he loved as a kid and talks about Louis Jordan, Tiny Bradshaw and the birth of R&B. "Wex" also holds forth on the growth of urban black America; the influence of gospel on black pop; the importance of Western Swing; the other labels and white entrepreneurs involved in black music; discovering Stax and Muscle Shoals in the dog days of the early '60s; tying the knot with Stax... and getting back in the studio with Wilson Pickett.

ile format: mp3; file size: 43.7mb, interview length: 45' 30" sound quality: ****

Captain Beefheart, Harry Nilsson, Jeffrey Osborne, The Pointer Sisters, Carly Simon, Ringo Starr, Barbra Streisand, Tiny Tim: Reel American: Richard Perry

Interview by Roy Trakin, Musician, November 1985

Doctor of Applied Song Medicine, Studio Psychology, R&B Analysis and Chart Metallurgy... ...

Street Sounds: E-Khan-Omics

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 16 November 1985

MORGAN KHAN is the financial wizard behind the phenomenally successful Street Sounds label, whose panache at marketing soul has helped to transform the Top 50. ...

Jackson Browne, The Byrds, The Doors, Terry Melcher, The Mothers Of Invention, The Rising Sons, Frank Zappa: Billy James on Columbia, Elektra and the L.A. music industry

Interview by Richie Unterberger, unpublished, 1986

Author’s note: This was based around one of the first significant historical interviews I did. The essay wasn't published anywhere, just typed out for a ...

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 ...

The Autumn Records Story

Sleeve notes by Gene Sculatti, Edsel Records, 1986

It was no Sun Records. It wasn't Philles or Dimension, or Cameo-Parkway or even Big Top. But Autumn Records surely qualifies as one of America's ...

The Beastie Boys, Slayer: Def Jam Records: Men Or Beasties?

Report and Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 11 January 1986

IN CRUMPLED, jeans, trainers and an AC/DC T-shirt Rick Rubin represents the current hippest record company in New York, Def Jam Records. ...

Morgan Khan: Flag Day

Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 25 January 1986

StreetSounds supremo and entrepreneur of the modern dance MORGAN KHAN thinks the Welfare State sucks, that charity begins at home and that the Union Jack ...

Stiff's Upper Lip

Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 1 February 1986

Stiff supremo DAVE ROBINSON explains to HUGH FIELDER why he's back at first base and going for a home run. ...

The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J and Def Jam: Escape From New York

Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 8 February 1986

New York's superhip Def Jam label has burst upon the Great British Public via a distribution deal with CBS. Frank Owen, tireless beatbox gumshoe, endured ...

Masquerade: Morgan Khan: The groovy side of the street

Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 14 February 1986

The entrepreneurial one-man band Morgan Khan talks to Adam Sweeting ...

Grand Juries Investigate Mob Ties to Record Biz

Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 8 May 1986

MCA linked to criminal activities ...

Label Mates? The Indie revival

Report by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 5 July 1986

Is there an indie revival in the air or just another battle of the bands? HUGH FIELDER tracks down the men at the top and ...

Ted Chippington, The Nightingales, We've Got a Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It: We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It, the Nightingales, Ted Chippington: Fuzzed Among Equals

Report and Interview by Cath Carroll, New Musical Express, 2 August 1986

The Vindaloo roadshow blitzes Britain with firm-hold hairspray, firm-hold Fuzzbox parents, lobbed bunnies and drape jackets. Entertaining FUZZBOX, THE NIGHTINGALES and TED CHIPPINGTON are the ...

Atlantic Records: Label Of 1,000 Dances

Essay by Penny Reel, New Musical Express, 16 August 1986

ATLANTIC RECORDS was the supreme R&B label among many which flourished during the music's pre-eminence from shortly after the Second World War up to the ...

Black Flag: SST Records: Working Muscles, Packaged Wallop

Report and Interview by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 5 September 1986

YOU COULD SAY this is the darkest Dark Age the music world has seen yet, what with commercial radio more dead than death itself and ...

Just Ice: Sleeping Bag Records #1: Sleeping Around

Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 20 September 1986

In New York City, centre of sexual paranoia, Frank Owen tracks down JUST ICE, Sleeping Bag recording artist and hip hop's numero uno misogynist guy ...

Dinosaur L, Arthur Russell, T La Rock: Sleeping Bag Records #2: Sleeping Around

Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 27 September 1986

Last week Frank Owen unearthed the warped machismo of JUST ICE. Now, in the second part of his investigation into SLEEPING BAG RECORDS, he corners ...

Eddie Kendricks, The Temptations: Motown No Longer Lures Temptations Vet

Interview by Ben Fong-Torres, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 September 1986

Chill reheated career but Kendrick has bad memories ...

Stiff Records

Report by Adam Sweeting, Q, October 1986

THE CONNAUGHT ROOMS in London, WC2, are used to Lord Mayors, masonic gatherings and businessmen full of brandy, but on a grey August Monday the ...

This Mortal Coil: Shadow Play

Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 4 October 1986

THIS MORTAL COIL have been called everything from post-punk pioneers to precious studio purists. Simon Reynolds meets IVO, the man behind the whole thing, and ...

Seymour Stein: The Sultan Of Sire

Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 9 October 1986

Seymour Stein may be the most eccentric record executive in America. But his taste, foresight and business smarts have taken his label to the top ...

Madness, The Selecter, The Specials: The End of 2-Tone: Madness/The Specials/The Selecter

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1986

Farewell, Madness – the last of the 2-Tone tribe. Phil Sutcliffe follows the fate of the three groups that pioneered the ska revival. ...

Black Flag, Gone, SWA: Ex-Black Flag Rockers Battle The Mainstream

Interview by Don Waller, Los Angeles Times, 27 November 1986

"WE WEREN'T a band that came out and played a lot of our old songs," reflects Black Flag founder/guitarist Greg Ginn in the wake of ...

Sound Of Silence: The Rise Of The Compact Disc

Report by Jack Barron, Sounds, 13 December 1986

You don't have to be a classical fanatic or yuppie stadium rock lover to appreciate compact disc – the quiet revolution has hit the indie ...

The Beastie Boys, Oran "Juice" Jones, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Slayer: Def Jam: License to Thrill

Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 20 December 1986

RICK RUBIN and RUSSELL SIMMONS are the creative mavericks behind the outrageous antics of THE BEASTIE BOYS and RUN DMC and a whole host of ...

John Richbourg: The Grandaddy Of Soul

Retrospective and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Soul Survivor, Summer 1986

OF THE MANY white disc jockeys who pioneered the airplay of black rhythm 'n' blues through the 1950s and 60s, perhaps the most influential in ...

Chess Studios: Notes for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Retrospective and Interview by Don Snowden, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1987

THE ROCK 'N ROLL scheme of things has offered up any number of delineated "Sounds", those confluences of particularly musical elements that came to be ...

Derek B, Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, Luther Ingram, The Leroi Brothers, Run-DMC: The Profile profile

Interview by Gene Santoro, Pulse!, 1987

Six years ago, Profile Records released six 12" singles. That was before Run-D.M.C. Now this thriving independent has some very major ambitions. ...

Pete Seeger on Moe Asch and Folkways Records (1987)

Interview by Tony Scherman, Rock's Backpages audio, January 1987

The folk revival's elder statesman pays tribute to Folkways founder Moe Asch: talks about the label's evolution, its principles and modus operandi, and its value as a preserver of marginal musical forms. Plus he speaks about Asch's relationship with Woody Guthrie and the EP This Land is Your Land; about Asch's business practices and the issues of royalties and copyrights. Finally, Seeger sums up Asch the man...

File format: mp3; file size: 55.5mb, interview length: 57' 46" sound quality: ***

Sam Charters on Folkways Records' Moe Asch (1987)

Interview by Tony Scherman, Rock's Backpages audio, January 1987

Charters talks about his friend, colleague and mentor Moe Asch: about starting to release his field recordings through Folkways; the importance of the label; the Harry Smith anthology; Sam Goody's support for the label; the label's bankruptcy and tax problems; Asch's brilliance, but being a difficult man to work with; the magnificent catalogue, and the scene surrounding the label.

File format: mp3; file size: 56.8mb, interview length: 59' 08" sound quality: **

Oran "Juice" Jones, Run-DMC, Slayer: Def Jam #2: World Domination Enterprises

Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 3 January 1987

In the second part of his investigation into DEF JAM records, the world's hottest label, Frank Owen charts the careers of RICK RUBIN, RUSSELL SIMMONS, ...

Full of Philly!

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 17 January 1987

Before disco there was Philadelphia International Records, the Soul label of the '70s. Now it's been documented in a boxed set of albums. BARNEY HOSKYNS ...

Cookie Crew, Schoolly D, The Three Wise Men: Rhythm King Records: Hit Me With Your Rhythm Kings

Profile and Interview by James Brown, Sounds, 24 January 1987

Somehow, somewhere James Brown became a fast-chat, no-flab funker. And he did it with the help of Rhythm King, Britain's leading dance indie label. Since ...

Clifton Chenier, Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb: Arhoolie Records: Do-It-Yourself Library Of Congress

Interview by Gene Santoro, Pulse!, February 1987

Arhoolie Records' Chris Strachwitz is Still Finding Great Music in Out-of-the-Way Places ...

Tony Wilson: One Man and a Music Factory

Interview by James Brown, Sounds, 28 February 1987

In the first of a special series on the men and women behind the scenes of the music business JAMES BROWN talks to TONY WILSON, ...

Rough Trade Records: Rough At The Top

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 30 February 1987

In the record industry big doesn’t always mean best, and the independent Rough Trade have beaten the big boys in fostering new talent and ideas. ...

Jonathan Richman: Hey There Little Insect! Whatever Happened To Beserkley Records?

Report and Interview by Julian Henry, Underground, 26 March 1987

Julian Henry braves the wilds of West London to find out what did happen to Beserkley ...

Bill Laswell, Material: No Barriers. Tags. Frontiers. Trends. Jean Karakos' Celluloid Label Is Truly Independent

Interview by Gene Santoro, Pulse!, May 1987

SMALL RECORD labels usually concentrate on one particular musical style, or a related set of styles. Not Celluloid Records, which has sought from the beginning ...

The Beastie Boys, The Cult, Oran "Juice" Jones, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Run-DMC, Slayer, Tashan: Dawn of the Def

Overview by uncredited writer, New Musical Express, 9 May 1987

The wit and wisdom of DEF JAM as captured in the NME. From Rick Rubin as hipster to Beastie Boys as Sex Zeppelin and beyond. ...

The Beastie Boys, Oran "Juice" Jones, Run-DMC, Slayer: Def Jam: Baaad Company

Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, New Musical Express, 9 May 1987

With their label gone mega, and even greater triumphs planned, Def Jam mainmen RICK RUBIN and RUSSELL SIMMONS currently combine the Midas touch with the ...

Malaco: Rhythm & Business

Profile and Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 1987

MALACO RECORDS isn't exactly a household name in the music industry but the Jackson, Mississippi-based label was behind one of the surprise grass-roots success stories ...

Defunkt, Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band, Richard and Linda Thompson, Toots & The Maytals: Joe Boyd: "Our own little Motown"

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, June 1987

In the late '60s, Joe Boyd helped create a peculiarly English form of folk-psychedelia, producing albums for Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band and Nick ...

Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen: Obituary: John Hammond

Obituary by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 25 July 1987

WHO'S GOING to find the next rock legend now that John Hammond's gone? Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Bessie Smith, ...

Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Bruce Springsteen: John Hammond 1910-1987

Obituary by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 27 August 1987

LEGENDARY RECORD producer and talent scout John Hammond — who played a key role in the careers of Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Aretha ...

Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey Robinson

Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 5 November 1987

Motown's slogan was "The Sound of Young America" not "The Sound of Black America." ...

Willie Mitchell: From Hi to Waylo: the Spirit of Memphis Soul

Report by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1988

LOVERS OF authentic southern American soul are in for a major treat this weekend when a "Memphis Soul Revue" holds court at London's Town & ...

Art Ensemble of Chicago, Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy, Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, Arvo Pärt: Manfred Eicher: Elegant, Crystalline, Mysterious or Enervated, Chilly, Morose?

Interview by Richard Cook, The Wire, January 1988

In this rare interview, Europe's leading label boss explains exactly what ECM stands for. ...

Belinda Carlisle, The Go-Go's, Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul, The Police, R.E.M., Sting: Miles Copeland: "Make sure you write what a nasty S.O.B. I am"

Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Musician, March 1988

STING'S BRING On the Night was a big-budget home movie by a talented musician convinced that every breath he takes deserves to be documented. It ...

Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Kool G Rap, Marley Marl, MC Shan, Roxanne Shanté: Cold Chillin' Records: Licensed To Chill

Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, John McCready, New Musical Express, 12 March 1988

Cold Chillin' Records was started in 1986 by Tyrone Williams. As manager of Marley Marl — a 23 year old producer, writer, arranger, and renowned New ...

Rick Rubin: The Devil's Disciple

Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 16 April 1988

Beelzebub or Midas? Def Jam supremo RICK RUBIN walks the fine line between brilliance and stupidity. JACK BARRON joins him on the tightrope and enters ...

New Order: Tell Me, How Does It Feel? New Order and the 'Blue Monday' syndrome: the NME Factory remix

Report by Len Brown, David Quantick, New Musical Express, 14 May 1988

The best-selling 12" of all time! Two million copies worldwide! Five years on from its original release (four spent in the Top 200), NEW ORDER'S ...

MCA and the Mob: Risky Business

Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 2 June 1988

How did a reputed mobster become a deal maker for MCA Records? ...

Biz Markie, Just-Ice, Mantronix, Salt-N-Pepa, Joyce Sims: Indie Labels: Players With the Rap Attack Making the Most Impact — and It's Not Just for the Money

Report by Vernon Gibbs, Billboard, 18 June 1988

INDEPENDENT LABELS have always been critical to the exposure of new black music. In the '50s, labels like Specialty and Chess gave pioneers like Little ...

The World of Black Music

Report by David Nathan, Billboard, 18 June 1988

The Youth Wave Advances, Dance Enhances, and Rap Romances Pop Consumers ...

Eric B. & Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Mantronix: Taking the Rap

Report and Interview by Bruce Dessau, The Guardian, 5 August 1988

Club violence and the whiff of gunsmoke are accompanying rap's rise to prominence in the United States. Bruce Dessau reports ...

Savage Republic: Republican Party Reptiles

Profile and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 22 October 1988

IN THEIR SEVEN-YEAR CAREER, SEMINAL L.A. MUTINEERS SAVAGE REPUBLIC CLAIM TO HAVE INFLUENCED BOTH SONIC YOUTH AND SWANS. NOW THEIR ALBUMS ARE FINALLY AVAILABLE IN ...

Sting: Culture candy

Report and Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 16 December 1988

Adam Sweeting watches the label boom and fears a future of repackaged rock, candyfloss music and 'low-stress' hard sell ...

King Sunny Ade, Anthrax, Jimmy Cliff, Melissa Etheridge, Marianne Faithfull, Jethro Tull, Salif Keita, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Millie, Robert Palmer, Spencer Davis Group, Cat Stevens, Traffic, U2: Interview: Island Records' Chris Blackwell (1989) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1989

This is a transcript of John Tobler's 1989 audio interview. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Island Records' Chris Blackwell (1989)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, 1989

Following the sale of his Island label to Polygram – and the end of his relationship with Sweden's Sonet Records – Blackwell gives a (slightly Scandinavian-centric) history of the label, from 'My Boy Lollipop' to U2 via, amongst others, Jimmy Cliff, King Crimson, Cat Stevens, Bob Marley and Marianne Faithfull. He ends by explaining the difficulty of remaining independent in the now-global music business, and the need to sell the company.

File format: mp3; file size: 51.5mb, interview length: 53' 36" sound quality: *****

Miles Copeland (1989)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, 1989

The IRS chief talks about the label and its successes on both sides of the Atlantic: R.E.M., the Go-Go's, Fine Young Cannibals and more; being saved from bankruptcy by punk, and his labels Faulty Products, Deptford Fun City and others; Squeeze and the Police; IRS's relationship with Jerry Moss at A&M, then moving, via MCA, to EMI; the Night of the Guitars tour, and its participants; London v Los Angeles; how he got into the business; the current state of pop, and his predictions for its future.

File format: mp3; file size: 75.2mb, interview length: 1h 18' 19" sound quality: ****

Cash Money and Marvelous, Kariya, Todd Terry, T La Rock: T La Rock, Kariya, Cash Money & MC Marvelous, Todd Terry: The City Never Sleeps

Interview by Damon Wise, Sounds, 14 January 1989

Rap is being squeezed out of the clubs, but in New York the scene is still vibrant and growing. At its forefront is the hugely ...

New Order: Praxis

Report and Interview by Paul Mathur, Blitz, February 1989

Over the last ten years, New Order have achieved an astonishing commercial success despite maintaining a personal profile so low as to be almost invisible. Anyone familiar ...

The Beastie Boys, Slayer: Def Jam: Def On The Rocks?

Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 11 March 1989

Formerly the most formidable crossover label in existence, DEF JAM has been out of the limelight since a split in the ranks saw Rick Rubin ...

The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Rick Rubin, Slayer: Rick Rubin: Mental Metal Master

Interview by Paul Elliott, Sounds, 11 March 1989

From rap to metal, LL Cool J to Slayer, producer Rick Rubin has shaped the definitive street beats of the decade. Paul Elliott hears the ...

The Beastie Boys, Rick Rubin, Wolfsbane: Rick Rubin: Fang of Def

Interview by James Brown, New Musical Express, 8 July 1989

Five years ago RICK RUBIN was the 21-year-old student behind Def Jam — the label that brought you the twin rock-rap assault of Licensed To Ill and ...

Bobby "Blue" Bland: Malaco: Soul’s Retirement Home

Report and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, The Times, 10 July 1989

"BLUES SINGERS don't retire", said the late Howlin' Wolf, and Bobby "Blue" Bland might well agree with him. After thirty seven years virtually nonstop on ...

Island Records: The man who sold the world?

Report by David Toop, The Times, 2 August 1989

Chris Blackwell, the idiosyncratic founder of Island Records, has sold out to one of the music industry giants, Polygram. David Toop asks whether the spirit ...

Black Box, Loleatta Holloway: Black Box: This Means War!

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1989

There's insurrection in the ranks. Stock Aitken & Waterman's supremacy has been overthrown by a troupe of battle-scarred no-holds-barred dance producers from Bologna. Phil Sutcliffe ...

Buzzcocks, J.J. Cale, Dr. Feelgood, The Groundhogs, John Lee Hooker, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, The Stone Roses, The Stranglers: Andrew Lauder (1990)

Interview by Andy Gill, Rock's Backpages audio, 1990

From the Groundhogs to the Stone Roses: the music-industry legend narrates his journey from '60s Denmark Street to '90s Madchester via United Artists Records; talks about Hawkwind and Dr. Feelgood, signing the Stranglers and Buzzcocks, Radar Records and F-Beat, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello, Demon Records and the CD/catalogue revolution; Silvertone Records and the Stone Roses... and the many changes in the music business over the years.

File format: mp3; file size: 60.7mb, interview length: 1h 03' 12" sound quality: ***

Ice Cube, N.W.A: Straight Outta Here? Legal war erupts in N.W.A.

Report by RJ Smith, L.A. Weekly, 8 February 1990

IT'S LIKE the Sex Pistols all over again. NWA, rappers from Compton, generate a huge word-of-mouth reputation, they put out a careening album quickly banned ...

ROIR

Overview by Push, Melody Maker, 23 June 1990

To mark their 10th anniversary, the famous cassette label ROIR has released a compilation album featuring artists like Television, MC5 and The Buzzcocks. PUSH reports. ...

Johnny Ace, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Big Mama Thornton, O.V. Wright: Galen Gart and Roy C. Ames: Duke/Peacock Records – An illustrated history with discography (Big Nickel Publications)

Book Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, August 1990

BIG NICKEL PUBLICATIONS continue their unsurpassed service of providing a mine of information to R&B record collectors with another addition to its catalogue of books, ...

Depeche Mode, Erasure, Inspiral Carpets: Staying Mute

Profile and Interview by John McCready, The Face, August 1990

ELECTRONIC. TEUTONIC. Independent. European. Regardless of the reality of its catalogue, Mute Records has a certain image. Like any record label with a desire to ...

Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder: Berry Gordy: The Tracks of My Years

Interview by Michael Goldberg, New Musical Express, 18 August 1990

BERRY GORDY, the man who invented the "Sound of Young America", has seen the story of his monumentally influential Motown label told in a succession ...

Various Artists: Rubaiyat: Elektra's 40th Anniversary

Review by Mat Snow, Q, November 1990

IN 1950 NEW YORKER Jac Holzman started Elektra with $600 of his bar mitzvah money, recording artists in their own homes with a tape machine ...

Metallica: Elektra: a Label Celebrates its Heritage

Report and Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 1 November 1990

Forty years of Elektra music, from Josh White and Tom Paxton to Metallica and the Cure ...

No biz like the old biz

Report by Simon Frith, The Observer, 30 December 1990

THE BRITISH Phonographic Industry, the record trade organisation, never did manage to endear itself to Margaret Thatcher. Its connection with sex and drugs and rock ...

East Village, Flowered Up, Manic Street Preachers, The Moonflowers, Saint Etienne, Andrew Weatherall: Saint Etienne, Flowered Up, Manic Street Preachers et al: Heavenly Records Night, Underworld, London

Live Review by Susan Corrigan, New Musical Express, 12 January 1991

HEAVENLY RECORDS gave 1990 some of its finest moments. A winning combination of happy housers, hippy haircuts, and hopped-up hyacinth heroes, their vibe generated fleeting, ...

Marc Almond, Soft Cell, The The: The Bizzare Adventures of Stevo

Interview by Paul Sexton, Select, February 1991

Bank managers chase after him, record company chiefs live in fear of him trashing their offices, but STEVO somehow manages to survive, along with one of the most ...

The Crash of '91

Report by Fred Goodman, Musician, February 1991

Did all that wheeling and dealing in the '80s doom the music industry? ...

Various Artists: The Sun Story Vols 1 & 2

Review by Johnny Black, Q, February 1991

Sun compiled. Historic and musically satisfying – even without Elvis. ...

No More Heroes?

Report by Sean O'Hagan, The Face, March 1991

Where have all the pop stars gone? Artists like Elvis Presley or The Beatles are the record company ideal, showing steady sales year after year. ...

Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson: The Jacksons Score Big

Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 2 May 1991

Michael and Janet set new standards for artist deals ...

DeBarge, Marvin Gaye, Rick James, Soul II Soul, Stevie Wonder: Motown: Designer label

Report by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 9 May 1991

Lloyd Bradley on the changing fortunes of the Motown label ...

Janet Jackson, Sting, Suzanne Vega: Changing Times at A&M

Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 16 May 1991

The classy, formerly independent label tries for a comeback ...

Al Green, Willie Mitchell: Hi Records: That Memphis Beat

Overview by Colin Escott, Record Hunter, July 1991

Long in the shadow of Sun and Stax, Memphis based Hi Records finally hit the big time with Al Green and set the '70s soul ...

Rough Trade Records: Life After Debt?

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1991

On May 31, Rough Trade was pronounced dead. Thus ended a 15-year indie dynasty run by "brown ricers" — with a £40 million turnover. But ...

Incognito, Omar, Young Disciples: Talkin' Loud: Really saying something

Report by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 8 August 1991

Lloyd Bradley on Talkin' Loud, trying to become to dance music what Blue Note is to jazz ...

The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Joy Division, New Order: Anthony Wilson: Renaissance Manc

Interview by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 30 November 1991

FACTORY: aloof, elegant, misunderstood Mancunian home of Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, possibly the coolest record label in the world — but there are ...

Nirvana: The indie alternative

Report by Simon Reynolds, The Guardian, 19 December 1991

This year saw groups like Nirvana breaking into the mainstream,. Simon Reynolds reports on the changing face of the charts ...

Ahmet Ertegun And The History Of Atlantic Records

Profile and Interview by Hank Bordowitz, Schwann Spectrum, Winter 1991

"WHEN I FIRST started Atlantic Records," reflects the label founder, Ahmet Ertegun, "I intended to make good blues and jazz music, as well as some ...

Black Flag: SST's Greg Ginn (1991)

Interview by Mark Sinker, Rock's Backpages audio, Spring 1991

The hardcore label boss talks about setting up SST in order to release Black Flag's recordings; about learning how to run a label and the importance of independent distribution; the perception of SST and its subsidiary labels New Alliance and Cruise; SST's audience(s), the reactionary fanzine scene, and the challenge of selling "out-there" non-rock music.

File format: mp3; file size: 28.4mb, interview length: 29' 38" sound quality: ***

Aerosmith, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Mötley Crüe, The Rolling Stones: Big Deals: How Money Fever is Changing the Music Business

Report by Fred Goodman, Musician, January 1992

"IN MARCH of 1985 the band was broke. People were selling their houses. The IRS was calling every day." ...

Motley Crüe's Piece of the Action

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, January 1992

WHAT A difference a decade makes. "When we started," Motley Crüe singer Vince Neil recalls, "we were so naive about the business that our first ...

Babes in Toyland, Bitch Magnet, Boss Hog, Cows, Crust, The Didjits, Drunks With Guns, Dwarves, Fudge Tunnel, God Bullies, Halo of Flies, Helios Creed, Helmet, Hole, The Jesus Lizard, King Snake Roost, L7, The Membranes, Mudhoney, Nirvana, Pain Teens, Pavement, Pigmy Love Circus, Poison Idea, Skin Yard, Slowjam, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Superchunk, Surgery, Tad, Tar, Therapy?, The Thrown Ups, U-Men, Unsane, Urge Overkill: Grunge Hell

Overview by Keith Cameron, Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 4 January 1992

It's the dawning of a new earache! Jakki Brambles is playing Daisy Chainsaw! Your parents have heard of Nirvana! Geffen are chasing Mudhoney! Madonna's into ...

Who The Hell Does Anthony H. Wilson Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, February 1992

IN THE headquarters of Factory Records, Manchester, I found myself privy to a sight and sound seldom witnessed, I dare say, by any human being ...

Richard Branson: The Virgin King

Special Feature by Fred Goodman, Vanity Fair, May 1992

With the unprecedented $1 billion sale of Virgin Records, British mogul Richard Branson said good-bye to the last major independent label in the world and ...

Ronald Shannon Jackson, Bill Laswell, Sonny Sharrock: Bill Laswell: Mad Maxim

Interview by Edwin Pouncey, New Musical Express, 16 May 1992

Laughing in the face of musical categories, Manhattan's AXIOM label smashes through Techno stomp, space bass boogie, classical gas, Islamic rap'n'thrash, ferocious free-form jazz and ...

Sounds of Blackness, Ralph Tresvant, Luther Vandross, Caron Wheeler: Jam & Lewis: Future Perspectives

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 16 June 1992

Jam & Lewis have been voted the best songwriters in the B&S poll of the second year in succession. However, in a chaotic year, the ...

Earth, Green Magnet School, Sick & Wrong, Six Finger Satellite, Supersuckers: Sub Pop: Espresso Way To Your Skull

Report and Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 18 July 1992

Smells like (oh yes) caffeine spirit! Brash, thrashy, bursting with attitude, irony and a shameless desire to make a mint out of countless 'intellectual redneck' ...

Peter Gabriel (1992)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, 27 July 1992

Gabriel talks about his Real World studios and record label and its association with WOMAD; his recording methods and his new album Us; being in therapy, his marriage breakup, and his children... and Rosanna Arquette; his early love of soul, and seeing Otis Redding; surviving punk; his dislike of the "World music" tag, and records soundtracks for films such as The Last Temptation of Christ.

File format: mp3; file size: 90.6mb, interview length: 1h 34' 21" sound quality: ** (wind and trains)

Boyz II Men, Toni Braxton, Bobby Brown, TLC: L.A. & Babyface: Reid All About It

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 9 September 1992

As if to ridicule the cynics who suggested that they'd passed their sell-by date, L.A. & Babyface are back with a bang and leading a two man assault on the music biz. L.A. Reid talks ...

The Adverts, Ian Dury: The Stiff Records Story Offers Lots Of Delights

Review by Jim Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 24 September 1992

THE ADVERTS, a glorious mess of a punk band with a great pop sensibility but possessing limited musical capabilities, spat out a catchy rocker called ...

A Question of Indie Pendence

Report and Interview by Chas de Whalley, Vox, October 1992

Since their birth in the mid-'70s, independent labels have progressed from the bedroom to the boardroom. Now the majors are muscling in on the act ...

Sub Pop: Go Forth And Grunge

Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, October 1992

SEATTLE, IN the top left-hand corner of America, is famous for its once-thriving post-war aerospace industry, for its breweries and coffee, pine forests and clean ...

Labelled With Love

Report by Stephen Dalton, Vox, December 1992

Everyone from Prince to Frank Sinatra has done it, but what compels pop stars to become music biz moguls with their own record labels? Untameable ...

A Certain Ratio, Happy Mondays, Joy Division, New Order: Factory R.I.P.

Report by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 5 December 1992

FACTORY RECORDS, arguably the most influential record label of the Eighties, fell into the hands of the Receiver last week — after months of speculation ...

Factory Records: Hacienda that?

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1993

THE LATEST Manchester T-shirt says "Hacienda that". But is it? After the great indie label's collapse under debts of more than £2 million in late ...

Mudhoney, Pavement: 45rpm Singles: Seven Inches of Pleasure

Report by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 4 February 1993

For bands and fans, the single is the new format of choice ...

Jerry Wexler (1993)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 30 March 1993

Smokin' weed in the MOMA courtyard: growing up in NYC and the people he grew up with; meeting the Erteguns; writing for Billboard; the early days at Atlantic and working with Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and more...

File format: mp3; file size: 46.7mb, interview length: 48' 38" sound quality: ***

Meat Puppets, Negativland: SST Records: Lawyers, Punks and Money

Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 15 April 1993

SST Records' battle of writs and wills against former acts ...

Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Jerry Wexler: Jerry Wexler: Production without style — on purpose

Interview by Fred Goodman, Musician, June 1993

Hands-off from Muscle Shoals to Stax to New York City ...

The Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash, LL Cool J, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rick Rubin, Slayer: Rick Rubin: The Buddha of Suburbia

Interview by RJ Smith, Details, July 1993

Rick Rubin built a recording empire from a dorm room at NYU. With Def American Recordings, he's taken the sound of the streets to the ...

Bill Laswell: Super Barrier Brother

Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, New Musical Express, 4 September 1993

Respect and admiration this week go out to AXIOM label boss BILL LASWELL, breaking down multi-cultural barriers and making perfect musical marriages. ...

Judy Clay: Judy's private number rings at last!

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 14 September 1993

When David Nathan rang Judy Clay, he was amazed to learn that he would be conducting her first-ever full-out interview with any publication, despite her ...

Def American: Let it R.I.P.!

Report by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 18 September 1993

When they do it in LA, they sure know how to do it properly!... Even when it comes to the funeral of a miserable bleedin' ...

The Shangri-Las: Shadow Morton (1993)

Interview by Tony Scherman, Rock's Backpages audio, Fall 1993

The legendary songwriter/producer takes us back to his days in the Brill Building: the Shangri-Las' '(Remember) Walking In The Sand'; the people who surrounded him: Leiber & Stoller, Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich, George Goldner, Cynthia Weill & Barry Mann, and Seymour Stein; Kama Sutra and Red Bird records; the insanity of the scene, and his personal style. He also talks about his Brooklyn and Long Island childhood, his alcoholism, his break from music and surviving his aneurysm.

File format: mp3; file size: 118.3mb, interview length: 2h 03' 14" sound quality: ** (background noise)

Nirvana: Sub Pop: See Label For Details — An Interview with Bruce Pavitt

Interview by Cynthia Rose, Dazed & Confused, 1994

In 1979, when he was a college student, Bruce Pavitt started a fanzine called Subterranean Pop. Although the hipsters around him were pushing UK imports, ...

The Jesus & Mary Chain, Oasis, Primal Scream: Creation Records: Creative Accounting

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, April 1994

Primal Scream, Jesus And Mary Chain, Boo Radleys... Creation has nurtured a family of provocative rock rebels. Alan McGee looks back on the first ten ...

Brand New Heavies, Corduroy, Galliano, Jamiroquai, The James Taylor Quartet: Galliano: Sandals Messiahs

Report and Interview by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 28 May 1994

Five years ago GALLIANO was just a sticky Mediterranean drink. Now they're a band on the verge of major success, spearheading the movement that's the ...

MTV v the Majors

Report by Fred Goodman, Musician, June 1994

FOUR BIG RECORD COMPANIES WANT A VIDEO CHANNEL OF THEIR OWN ...

The Boo Radleys, Oasis, Ride: Creation Records: Rehabsolutely Fabulous

Interview by John Harris, Ted Kessler, New Musical Express, 9 June 1994

A decade on from its inception, Creation rules the British rock underground. The 'Undrugged' party at the Royal Albert Hall, and the random singing of ...

John Fogerty, Randy Newman, Prince: Lenny Waronker: All In The Family

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, July 1994

Warner Brothers President Lenny Waronker is not your Average Corporate Cheese ...

George Michael: He's a Loser, Baby

Report by David Sinclair, Rolling Stone, 11 August 1994

Court rejects GEORGE MICHAEL'S plea to break his contract with Sony ...

Russell Simmons: Hip Hop's Top Dog

Profile and Interview by Frank Broughton, i-D, September 1994

With faith in the power of undiluted black culture, Russell Simmons harnessed the sound of the underground and turned hip hop into a billion dollar ...

Jewell, The Lady of Rage, Nate Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound: Murder Dre Wrote

Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 26 November 1994

DR DRE's G-normously successful DEATH ROW label is being hailed as a Motown for the Nineties. SIMON PRICE meets eargasm addict THE LADY OF RAGE, ...

Home Taping Is Saving Music: Joe Foster’s Rev-Ola

Report and Interview by Paul Gorman, MOJO, 1995

From the Shaggs to... Bruce Forsyth? Joe Foster’s Rev-Ola label, born of "frenzied tape-swapping," is home to all manner of retro-oddities. ...

The Commodores: The Past Of Young America

Review by Carol Cooper, Newsday, 1995

The Commodores: Best Of The CommodoresVarious Artists: The Music, The Magic, The Memories of Motown: A Tribute to Berry Gordy JUST WHEN we were sure ...

Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd: The South Rises Again: The Improbable Return of Redneck Rock

Overview by Robert Gordon, Creem, 1995

Robert Gordon on Capricorn Records and the Southern Rock Revival ...

Sam Cooke, The Soul Stirrers, Johnnie Taylor, The Valentinos, Bobby Womack: Sam Cooke's SAR Records: Two Desks, One Vision

Retrospective and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, January 1995

SAR was Sam Cooke's dream of an R&B empire. It nearly came true. ...

Cholly Atkins: The Man Who Taught Motown How to Dance

Retrospective and Interview by Kirk Silsbee, Los Angeles Reader, 20 January 1995

CHARLES "CHOLLY" ATKINS has had two careers, and he has flourished in both. In the golden age of tap, he was half of one ...

Berry Gordy: In His Own Write

Interview by Harvey Kubernik, MOJO, February 1995

Berry Gordy has finally told his own story. Harvey Kubernik met him in LA. ...

Berry Gordy: To Be Loved – The Music, The Magic, The Memories Of Motown (Headline)

Book Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 1995

AT THE get-go, Berry Gordy states that "the misconceptions about me and Motown have become so great I finally had to deal with them." Four ...

Sleeping With The Enemy: When Musicians Become Record Executives

Report and Interview by Roy Trakin, Musician, March 1995

YOU WOULD think Gary Lemel is one of the luckiest guys around. As President of Music for Warner Bros, films, he gets to pal around ...

Berry Gordy: A Conversation With Mr Motown

Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Goldmine, 3 March 1995

DIANA ROSS and the Supremes. Stevie Wonder. Marvin Gaye. The Temptations. The Four Tops. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. The Marvelettes. Michael Jackson and the ...

Various: The Complete Sun Singles Vol 1 (Bear Family)

Review by Tony Russell, MOJO, April 1995

SUN RECORDS HAS A SPECIAL PLACE IN the history – or, if you never took to Presley, the demonology – of popular music, and the ...

Ry Cooder, The Everly Brothers, Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks: Lenny Waronker: A Record Executive's Pride and Joy

Profile and Interview by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 4 June 1995

Warner Bros. re-releases Lenny Waronker's early masterpieces ...

Russell Simmons: The Emperor Of Rap

Interview by Ben Thompson, MOJO, July 1995

SO WHY DO THEY CALL RUSSELL Simmons 'Rush'? The Def Jam emperor loses little time in answering this question. ...

The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Slayer: Russell Simmons: Def Shepherd

Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 December 1995

Yeah Boyee! DEF JAM, the record label that put the ROCK in hip-hop and brought you the likes of Public Enemy and Beastie Boys, is ...

Warren Zevon (1995)

Interview by Andy Gill, Rock's Backpages audio, Summer 1995

Zevon talks about recording new album Mutineer using modern technology; his early musical activities including being musical director for the Everly Brothers; his various record labels; his songwriting viewpoint, and not being a cynic; his drink and drugs use, and detoxing; being happy with his career; the success of ‘Werewolves of London’; meeting Stravinsky; novelists he likes; his fascination with the dark side of society; albums like Transverse City and Mr Bad Example; classical and other modern serious music; the Oklahoma bombing; writing with Carl Hiaasen, and writing music for television.

File format: mp3; file size: 103mb, interview length: 1h 47' 16" sound quality: ****

The Beatles: Apple Corps

Retrospective and Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Request, 1996

"It was a good scene even when it was shitty, wasn’t it?"– Derek Taylor, Beatles publicist, 1970. ...

Chess New Orleans

Sleeve notes by Don Snowden, MCA Records, 1996

THE COMPETITION amongst independent R&B labels after the post-World War II era was understandably fierce. Labels often lived from single to single – moving fast ...

DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, La Funk Mob, Money Mark, UNKLE: Mojo Rising: James Lavelle

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, February 1996

Being head of exploding hip-prog record label Mo'Wax is nothing to sneeze at. ...

Album covers: New tricks up their sleeve

Interview by Susan Corrigan, The Guardian, 18 March 1996

The LP cover is once again regarded as an art form. Susan Corrigan meets the designer largely responsible ...

Al Green, Ann Peebles, Willie Mitchell: Various Artists: Royal Memphis Soul – Hi Records

Review by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, July 1996

When Muscle Shoals went flabby and Stax couldn't pay their taxes, Hi Records took up the soul baton. Barney Hoskyns says hello to a collection ...

Coolio, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, The Notorious B.I.G., N.W.A, Puff Daddy, Tupac Shakur, Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Biggie, Tupac et al: Hollywood or Bust-up

Report and Interview by William Shaw, The Observer, 7 July 1996

New York can lay claim to having invented rap, but LA has violently rewritten the rules. William Shaw charts an increasingly bitter rivalry ...

Herb Alpert: It's long way to Tijuana

Interview by Paul Sexton, The Times, 10 July 1996

POP MUSIC. The mid-1960s. The era when Britannia apparently ruled the airwaves. Yet consider the American album chart of 30 years ago this week. The ...

Whitney Houston, The Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, TLC: Clive Davis: Big Poppa

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, September 1996

The VIBE Q: CLIVE DAVIS, ARISTA RECORDS' LEGENDARY PRESIDENT AND CEO, IS TRULY RUNNING THINGS. THINK NOT? ASK WHITNEY HOUSTON, PUFFY COMBS, TLC, THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G., OR L.A. AND ...

Jermaine Dupri: Song Of The South

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, September 1996

Whether shooting pool or making hit records, hotshot producer Jermaine Dupri has one goal: to be the best. By Michael A. Gonzales ...

Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, New Order, Rockers Revenge: Arthur Baker: Baker Groove

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 28 September 1996

This week Vibes hops across to the Emerald Isle to hook up with one of the founding fathers of modern dance, the fabulous ARTHUR BAKER ...

Puff Daddy: Sean 'Puffy' Combs: Multi-Million Dollar Man

Profile and Interview by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, January 1997

At 26, SEAN 'PUFFY' COMBS is reputed to be worth some $170 million. But that's not all the East Coast hip hop mogul has a ...

The Animals, Jeff Beck, Herman's Hermits, Hot Chocolate, Mickie Most: Mickie Most (1997) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Johnny Black, Rock's Backpages transcripts, May 1997

This is a transcript of Johnny's audio interview with Mickie. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Lenny Bruce, Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, Duke Ellington, Jimi Hendrix, The Last Poets, Bill Laswell, Lightnin' Rod, John McLaughlin: Alan Douglas: Thee Man Who Sold The Underworld

Retrospective and Interview by Edwin Pouncey, The Wire, July 1997

Now into his fifth decade at the doors of perception, label boss ALAN DOUGLAS hasworked with many of the century's underground greats, from Lenny Bruce, ...

The Jesus & Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Oasis, Primal Scream: Alan McGee: The father of Creation

Profile and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian, 5 July 1997

Hedonism was a way of life for Alan McGee. And who would expect anything less from the man behind Oasis? But the road to pop-tycoon ...

Motown put the soul in sold

Report by Paul Sexton, The Times, 11 July 1997

Paul Sexton on the sell-off that saw a generation of classics change hands ...

Faith Evans, The Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy: Puff Daddy & Family: No Way Out (Puff Daddy/Arista 78612 73012, £11.99)

Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 25 July 1997

Elegy for a rapper ...

Chess Records: The Original Blues Brothers

Interview by James Maycock, The Independent, November 1997

"WOW, YOU guys are really getting it on!" exclaimed Chuck Berry, observing the Rolling Stones cut 'Down The Road Apiece', a track he'd recorded himself ...

King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Yabby You: Blood And Fire Records: Simply Dread

Report and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian, 7 November 1997

Mick Hucknall's devotion to the pioneers of dub and lovers' rock led him to form Blood And Fire records. Sean O'Hagan salutes them ...

CTI Records: Coffee Table Jazz For The 1970's

Retrospective by James Maycock, The Independent, December 1997

CREED TAYLOR was extremely shrewd at marketing jazz to those who were nervous of the genre, particularly after the discordant shreaks & squeaks made by ...

DJ Shadow, UNKLE: "We've Just Made The Biggest, Most Expensive/Action/Entertainment Shit In The World!" It is the UNKLE album.

Special Feature by Craig McLean, The Face, 1998

It spans eight years, three continents and an aborted Fleetwood Mac cover. It features Richard Ashcroft, Thom Yorke and Mike D. How did DJ Shadow ...

Chess Set Still Sings The Blues: Marshall Chess and Chess Records

Interview by James Maycock, Daily Telegraph, 1998

JUST OVER 50 YEARS AGO, brothers Phil and Leonard Chess, two industrious Polish immigrants in Chicago, tentatively established what would become the most famous blues ...

How To Start A Record Company: Decca Records

Retrospective by Colin Escott, 'Tattoed on their Tongues' (Schirmer Books), 1998

DECCA RECORDS was launched in the United States in August 1934 when business confidence was mired below zero. If Decca had collapsed, as it ...

The Story of Pye Records

Sleeve notes by Jim Irvin, Sequel Records, 1998

"AY-YI-YI, THE BEAT IS CRAZY!" ‘Sucu Sucu’, an insanely catchy samba novelty, was a chart sensation in the autumn of 1961. The forgotten theme to ...

Ani DiFranco: Just an Old Fashioned Girl (with Blue Hair)

Interview by Jeff Apter, nyrock.com, February 1998

JUST WHO is Ani DiFranco anyway? Doc Martin-clad punk-poet icon, do-it-yourself business guru, feminist folksinger: there are so many sides to this Buffalo girl from ...

Atari Teenage Riot: What's the Frequency, Alec?

Interview by RJ Smith, Spin, March 1998

The revolution is nigh, heralds radical German dude/Atari Teenage Rioter Alec Empire. RJ Smith learns it will all be in the mid-range. ...

John Fahey: Resurrection Shuffle

Report by Byron Coley, Spin, April 1998

John Fahey's Revenant label bestows the breath of life. ...

Producer in Paradise: Joel Dorn Revisits a Golden Age of Jazz

Report and Interview by Ted Drozdowski, The Boston Phoenix, 13 April 1998

JOEL DORN describes himself as "a stand-up guy. I grew up on the street corners and in the playgrounds, and I was raised to believe ...

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Eazy-E: Ruthless Records: It Ain't Eazy

Report and Interview by RJ Smith, Vibe, June 1998

What would you do if you inherited an infamous rap label with a catalogue of old hits and a fading reputation? Sell it for a ...

Horace Andy, Massive Attack: Horace Andy: Still massive after all these years

Retrospective and Interview by James Maycock, The Independent, 19 June 1998

He was big 30 years ago, but Horace Andy is singing sweetly to this day. ...

Down-home delights: The soulful blues of Malaco Records

Report by Ted Drozdowski, The Boston Phoenix, 29 June 1998

THIRTY OR 40 YEARS AGO, the Jackson-based Malaco Records would have been called a "race" label. That was the tag for outfits like Specialty, King, ...

Absolute Kristal: CBGB's new punk rock label

Report and Interview by Ted Drozdowski, The Boston Phoenix, 6 July 1998

HILLY KRISTAL'S MAD AS HELL and he's not gonna take it anymore. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration. But the 66-year-old hipster who owns the New ...

Young Turk Who Got The Blues: Ahmet Ertegun & The 50th Anniversary Of Atlantic

Profile and Interview by James Maycock, The Independent, 17 July 1998

IN HUNDREDS of photographs, Ahmet Ertegun appears anonymously beside the famous. The celebrity might be a gaunt Phil Spector, Mick Jagger grinning widely or a ...

DMX, Jermaine Dupri, Missy Elliott, Goodie Mob, Master P, Puff Daddy, Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Rap: Large and In Charge

Report by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 1998

Rap hasn't merely survived the shocking deaths of hip-hop leaders Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. It's thriving now, thanks to a fresh infusion from today's ...

Prince: An Audience With The Artist

Interview by Michael Goldberg, Addicted To Noise, August 1998

THE SECURITY GUARD in suit and tie who is watching the closed door to The Artist's upstairs dressing room on The Tonight Show set in ...

Motown: Stop! In The Name Of Love

Overview by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 1998

SECOND ONLY to The Beatles' catalogue as the finest single coherent body of pop music ever recorded are the records made in Detroit for Motown ...

Manhattan Rides The Range – Atlantic's Rarest Country Records

Discography by Pete Grendysa, DISCoveries, September 1998

NOW CELEBRATING 50 years in business, the Atlantic Record Company is submerged in the corporate swamp of an entertainment megalith. It didn't start out that ...

Paul Winley (1998)

Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 2 October 1998

The Winley Records man talks about writing for the Clovers, Ruth Brown and more for Atlantic Records in the '50s; starting his label (and being cursed out by Billie Holiday); hearing rap via his daughters; cutting Afrika Bambaataa's first sides, and putting together the Super Disco Brake's series of breakbeat albums.

File format: mp3; file size: 34mb, interview length: 37' 10" sound quality: ***

112, Faith Evans, Puff Daddy, Total: Puff Daddy, Faith Evans, 112, Total: Sound Republic, London

Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 19 October 1998

King of the bad boys ...

A&R Men: Where's the Bar?

Report and Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 6 November 1998

They're narcissistic coke fiends with no interest in music, or so the legend goes — yet A&R men shape the future of pop. Surely, asks ...

Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Millie, Ernest Ranglin, Traffic, U2, Steve Winwood: Chris Blackwell: A Man of Wealth & Taste

Profile and Interview by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 18 February 1999

For forty years, CHRIS BLACKWELL has survived on killer instincts, killer bud and tough business tactics. Along the way, he's changed the course of pop ...

The Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, Tupac Shakur: Suge Knight Linked to Notorious B.I.G. Murder

Report by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 27 May 1999

LOS ANGELES homicide detectives have reportedly identified jailed Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight as a prime suspect in the murder of rap star Notorious ...

Company Flow, Mos Def: Rawkus Records: The young rap rebels

Interview by Ben Thompson, The Independent, 28 May 1999

Rupert Murdoch funds underground hip-hop? As Rawkus Records know, it's strange but true. ...

Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Jim O'Rourke, Pavement, Sebadoh, Smog: The Domino effect

Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 28 May 1999

So the major record labels have got things all sewn up? Not quite. As the business reels under the impact of downsizing, the cottage industry ...

Deep River: The Bounty of Alan Lomax

Retrospective by Ted Drozdowski, The Boston Phoenix, 14 June 1999

THE CD STARTS with a banjo picker burning on a hoedown called 'Cripple Creek,' progresses along a chain of mountain songs to 'Arkansas Traveler,' and ...

The Beastie Boys: Illin' Communication: The Beastie Boys and the Net

Interview by Jason Gross, Yahoo! Internet Life, August 1999

SEEMS LIKE A long strange trip for a band that started as a hardcore unit in 1980 to become a bestselling rap trio for a ...

Prince: Pop stars as you'll never see them

Report by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 20 November 1999

I HAVE A certain contingent of friends who want to protect me from the music business because they think it's riddled with merciless charlatans and ...

Larry Graham, Chaka Khan, Prince: My father named me Prince

Profile and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Code, December 1999

The turn-of-the-century artist takes a second look. ...

Herb Abramson, 1916-1999

Obituary by Tony Russell, The Guardian, 3 December 1999

HERB ABRAMSON, who has died aged 82, was one of the architects of Atlantic Records, which in the 1950s and 60s was the most creative ...

The Jesus & Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Oasis, Primal Scream, Super Furry Animals, Teenage Fanclub: The Dawn of Creation (and the middle and the end)

Report by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 11 December 1999

SO THE party's over. Alan McGee has picked up his ball and moved on, to pastures new — multimedia and, no doubt, highly lucrative. Although ...

The Supremes: Berry Gordy on the Supremes (2000)

Interview by David Nathan, Rock's Backpages audio, 2000

The Motown boss looks back at signing the then-Primettes; Diana's "sparkle"; the difficulty in getting the first hits; breaking through with 'Where Did Our Love Go'; going on the road and stealing Smokey's act; hitting internationally with 'Baby Love'; the Motown assembly line and backroom team; playing the Copa and the need to broaden their audience, and their legacy.

File format: mp3; file size: 52.9mb, interview length: 55' 06" sound quality: ***

Coldcut: Ninja Tune: Way Of The Ninja

Profile and Interview by Dan Gennoe, 7, 2000

TEN YEARS AGO COLDCUT DECIDED THEY'D HAD ENOUGH OF TOP OF THE POPS AND SET-UP UP NINJA TUNE. XENCUTS, THE ORGY OF FREE-THINKING DECKS, BEATS ...

Chris Blackwell's Second Act

Report and Interview by Larry Jaffee, Medialine, March 2000

Palm Pictures Embracing DVD, Web Delivery ...

One nation underground: ESP Disk

Retrospective by Edwin Pouncey, Jazzwise, March 2000

What record company these days would dare print "the Artists Alone Decide What You Will Hear" on their album sleeves. Well ESP Disk did in ...

DMX, Eve: Family Values in the Rap Business: Ruff Ryders, Cash Money and co.

Report by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 12 March 2000

WHEN THE RAPPER DMX accepted a trophy for best R&B album at the Billboard Music Awards last year, he took the stage flanked by a ...

The Chart Busters

Report and Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 4 April 2000

First Britpop, then drum'n'bass, now UK garage: behind every popular band are the A&R scouts, hunting for acts who might repeat that success. ...

Built To Spill, Flaming Lips, Wheat: Flaming Lips/Built To Spill/Wheat: City Slang night at the Royal Festival Hall

Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, CDNOW.com, 12 May 2000

NAMED AFTER a legendary 1976 EP by Sonic’s Rendezvous Band, the German label City Slang has been home to some of the best and most ...

Various Artists: The Immediate Single Collection

Essay by Rob Chapman, MOJO, June 2000

A 6-CD, 161-track box set of Oldham and Calder's '60s love-child. Billed as Happy To Be Part Of The Industry Of Human Happiness. ...

Badly Drawn Boy: This Charming Man

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Select, July 2000

Floral tributes please for Badly Drawn Boy: incurable romantic, nicotine addict and, quite probably, the best songwriter in the world... ...

Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty: John Fogerty: The saddest story in rock

Retrospective and Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 11 July 2000

In 1988 John Fogerty was sued for plagiarising his own songs. Adam Sweeting talks to the Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman about 12 years of bitter ...

Tupac Shakur: Jailhouse Rap: An Exclusive Conversation With Suge Knight

Interview by Roy Trakin, Hits, 19 July 2000

MULE CREEK State Prison is the fourth jail rap entrepreneur Marion "Suge" Knight has been locked up in since he was given a nine-year sentence ...

Chris Farlowe, The McCoys, P.P. Arnold, The Small Faces: Immediate Records: Happy To Be Part Of The Industry Of Human Happiness

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2000

Sudden impact: Best of the label that brought us the Small Faces…and Jimmy Tarbuck. ...

Limp Bizkit: Among the Mooks

Report and Interview by RJ Smith, The New York Times, 6 August 2000

As entertainment entrepreneurs align the fantasy lands of rap, rock, wrestling and pornography, a generation of fans grows ever more brutish. ...

Top of the Pops albums: Better than the real thing?

Retrospective and Interview by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, September 2000

Bikini models, Kraftwerk covers and dodgy Mick Jagger impersonators. Kieron Tyler examines the 95p world of the Top Of The Pops album phenomenon. ...

Alan McGee: The Creation of Poptones

Report and Interview by David Hemingway, Record Collector, October 2000

Twelve months ago, as head of Creation Records, Alan McGee was working with the biggest band in the world. Now the star of his new ...

The Cinematic Orchestra, Coldcut, Kid Koala, Kid606, Mr. Scruff: Xen Cuts: Ten Years Of Xen (various London venues)

Live Review by Kodwo Eshun, The Wire, November 2000

LONDON's Ninja Tune label celebrated their first decade in the flirty, flighty, faddish, fickle world of UK dance with Xen Cuts — three consecutive nights ...

Cosmic Rough Riders: Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine

Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 3 November 2000

IT'S SEVEN YEARS since Alan McGee "discovered" Oasis blowing 18 Wheeler off the stage in King Tut's, Glasgow. Since then, his Creation label has gone ...

David Cavanagh: The Creation Records Story – My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry for the Prize (Virgin)

Book Review by Stevie Chick, The Guardian, 25 November 2000

WHEN NEWS OF the closure of Creation Records broke on November 26 1999, one person at least must have been grateful. David Cavanagh now had ...

Everclear, Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit: Big Shots: Fred Durst, Kid Rock and Art Alexakis

Report and Interview by J.D. Considine, Revolver, Spring 2000

NO ONE EVER mistook Fred Durst for a suit. in fact, he looks more like a bicycle messenger than a corporate personage. "I wear shitty ...

Ahmet Ertegun and Various Authors: What’d I Say: The Atlantic Records Story

Review by Bill Millar, unpublished, 2001

THIS IS ONE muthahumping doorstep of a book as big as the Times Atlas and just as heavy. There are 900 photos and 160,000 words ...

Chairmen of the Board

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001

"General" Norman Johnson, b. 23 May 1943, Norfolk, Virginia, USA; Eddie Curtis; Harrison Kennedy, b. Ontario, Canada; Danny Woods, b. 10 April 1944, Atlanta, Georgia. ...

Ewart Abner

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 1923, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 27 December 1997, Los Angeles ...

Woody Guthrie, Burl Ives, Leadbelly: Moe Asch

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, 'Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music', 2001

b. Moses Asch, 1905, Warsaw, Poland, d. 19 October 1986, New York, USA ...

Billy Butler, Jerry Butler, Major Lance, Curtis Mayfield: OKeh Records

Retrospective by Bill Brewster, bbc.co.uk, 2001

CHICAGO SOUL MUSIC, that weird conflation of gospel, rhythm and blues, latin rhythms and bass-heavy horn riffing, was somewhat overshadowed by its more well-known brothers ...

Aaliyah, Tori Amos, Phil Collins, Foreigner, Fountains of Wayne, Genesis, Debbie Gibson, Hootie and the Blowfish, INXS, Jewel, Kid Rock, The Lemonheads, Stevie Nicks, Robert Plant, Skid Row, Stone Temple Pilots, Pete Townshend: The Soul in the Machine: Whatever Happened to Atlantic Records?

Book Excerpt by Barney Hoskyns, What'd I Say, 2001

"UNFORTUNATELY, we’re running a big business here now," Ahmet Ertegun confessed to author Gerri Hirshey in 1982. "And it sort of ... well, it drives ...

The price is wrong

Comment by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 14 February 2001

It's been a bad week for music fans — but a good week for the industry. Adam Sweeting on why the CD swindle has to ...

Rough Trade: Top of the shops

Retrospective and Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 26 February 2001

One little store inspired a new breed of musician and turned the record industry on its head. Dave Simpson celebrates 25 years of Rough Trade ...

"The Agora of the Wayward": A Quarter Century of Rough Trade

Sleeve notes by Jon Savage, Mute Records, March 2001

"I USED TO buy my records in a shop in Trafalgar Road, and the man there was quite avant-garde for his day. Whenever I bought ...

Rough Trade 25 Years On...

Retrospective by Mat Snow, Rock's Backpages, March 2001

ROUGH TRADE is 25 years old. In its early days, you wouldn’t have got odds on the firm lasting another 25 weeks. And like so ...

From the Dawn of Creation to the Birth of Poptones: A Walk Thru’ Joe Foster’s Vaults

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, 10 March 2001

Barney Hoskyns meets Alan McGee’s right-hand man and hears about his ongoing mission to bring lost classics back to life ...

Outside the box: Touch

Profile and Interview by Rob Young, The Wire, May 2001

For 20 years, Mike Harding and Jon Wozencraft's audiovisual Touch label has refused to dumb down its message of complexity in jouissance ...

Aphex Twin: Rephlex Records at 10

Report and Interview by Chris Campion, URB, June 2001

PART MALL, part Moroccan Souk, Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre is a dilapidated mish-mash of late '60s brutalist architecture that contains a bustling marketplace. It's ...

A Champion Of Punk Rides Off Into The Sunset: Saluting Howie Klein

Profile by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 7 July 2001

HE WAS THE CHAMPION OF PUNK ROCK, BACK IN '76 when no one quite knew what to make of it. ...

Mike Oldfield: The Making of Tubular Bells

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, August 2001

One of the most influential pieces of music in rock history – much imitated, used in movies, TV commercials and documentaries, sampled by Janet Jackson, ...

Lucinda Williams, Ryan Adams, Wilco: Lost Highway Blues

Report by Jason Cohen, Slate, 14 August 2001

The dirty little secret about Ryan Adams and his record label. ...

Blade, Roots Manuva: The home boys: Roots Manuva and the UK posse

Report and Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 13 September 2001

Who needs Eminem and P Diddy when we've got perfectly good British rappers? Dave Simpson talks to Roots Manuva and the UK posse ...

Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Tupac Shakur, Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Suge Knight: Knight's Tale

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 15 September 2001

INCARCERATION, CORRUPT LA COPS, FEUDS WITH DRE AND SNOOP, DEATH ROW RECORDS, GOD AND POLITICS: THE GODFATHER OF GANGSTA RAP SUGE KNIGHT IS OUT OF ...

Heavenly: Escaping Into Le Jardin de Heavenly

Retrospective by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 22 September 2001

Finding comfort in obscure pop sounds from the past ...

Burt Bacharach, Jeff Barry, Neil Diamond, Gerry Goffin, Ellie Greenwich, Carole King, Leiber and Stoller, Barry Mann, Neil Sedaka, The Shangri-Las, Steely Dan, Cynthia Weil, Jerry Wexler: The Hit Factory: New York's Brill Building

Retrospective and Interview by David Kamp, Vanity Fair, November 2001

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I spent much of 2001 interviewing the songwriters, machers, and artists of the Brill Building era for this oral history. It was the ...

Badly Drawn Boy: Various Artists: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Twisted Nerve But Were Afraid to Ask

Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 5 November 2001

EVEN THOUGH he won the UK's prestigious Mercury Music Prize, Damon Gough, a.k.a Badly Drawn Boy, isn't much for hubris. In fact, he seems to ...

Roots-Music Renegades: Fat Possum Records

Report and Interview by Andria Lisle, Memphis Flyer, December 2001

With artists Robert Belfour, T-Model Ford, and Hasil Adkins, Fat Possum Records captures the last gasps of a dying art. ...

Sylvia Robinson, The Sugarhill Gang: Sugar Hill Records: Here's To You, Mrs Robinson

Retrospective by Angus Batey, Mojo Collections, Winter 2001

She took Motown as her blueprint and signed the first all-female rap group. But, as Angus Batey discovers, Sylvia Robinson and the Sugarhill mob spent ...

Bobby "Blue" Bland, ZZ Hill, Fern Kinney, Dorothy Moore, Johnnie Taylor: Malaco Records: The Last Soul Label

Report and Interview by Mike Atherton, Echoes, 2002

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, has been a music town for over half a century. In the early 1950s, Lillian McMurry's Trumpet label made Sonny Boy Williamson into ...

Various Artists: Good Rockin' Tonight - The Legacy of Sun Records (Sire)

Review by Martin Colyer, Rock's Backpages, February 2002

ANOTHER WEEK, another tribute album, but this one is pretty successful. Beautifully packaged, with only one obvious clunker (Johnny Halliday's 'Blue Suede Shoes'? He don't ...

Tony Wilson: Home entertainment: Tony Wilson on Factory Records

Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 29 March 2002

The man behind Manchester's chaotic Factory Records, Joy Division and Happy Mondays takes us through his own back catalogue ...

Little Axe, On-U Sound System, Adrian Sherwood: Adrian Sherwood (2002)

Interview by Andy Gill, Rock's Backpages audio, April 2002

Producer/record company boss Sherwood talks about his huge array of projects: starting the On-U Sound label; projects and artists such as African Head Charge, Tackhead and Dub Syndicate; making dub records until his friend Prince Far-I's murder; working with Keith LeBlanc, Doug Wimbish and Skip McDonald; remixing Primal Scream's Vanishing Point, and the perils and pleasures of remixing; working with Lee "Scratch" Perry, and artists like Sinead O'Connor; the 'Barmy Army' football songs; his solo album Never Trust a Hippy; recording and technology, and running a label, and quite a lot about kids' football!

File format: mp3; file size: 50.7mb, interview length: 52' 51" sound quality: ****

Stan Cornyn: It's A Warner-Ful Life

Interview by Todd Everett, Hits, 10 April 2002

FOR MORE THAN 30 years, Stan Cornyn was the "voice" of Warner Bros. and Reprise Records. The company's image-setting print advertisements – offering free Topanga ...

At Indie Music Shop, A Guide via MP3s

Report by Marc Weingarten, The New York Times, 16 May 2002

...

Stan Cornyn with Paul Scanlon: Exploding (Harper Entertainment)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, June 2002

"THE REALLY important factor was that we were a younger company than Columbia," Warners insider Stan Cornyn said in 1993. "We weren't structured so tightly ...

Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Kim Weston: Loud and proud: Wattstax

Retrospective and Interview by James Maycock, The Guardian, 20 July 2002

When Los Angeles erupted in the bloodiest racial uprising of the 1960s, the black citizens of Watts sent a message to the world, demanding that ...

Rhythm Kings: The Musicians of Motown

Essay by Richard Williams, The Guardian, 14 November 2002

So many things made the Motown sound special – the singers, the songs, even the food. But what about the musicians? ...

Joni Mitchell: "I'm quitting this corrupt cesspool"

Report and Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 21 November 2002

Why Joni Mitchell has had it with the music business ...

The Cradle Will Rock: Punk rock for babies

Comment by Pete Paphides, The Guardian, 23 November 2002

Nirvana and the Clash are the perfect bedtime listening for toddlers, reckons new label Punk Rock Baby. Anything for a good night's sleep, says Peter ...

Avril Lavigne, Pink: Riot Girls

Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 9 December 2002

Goodbye cheerleaders, hello snarling, smoking punks. Dorian Lynskey on how Pink! made teen pop grow up ...

Sweet Soul Music: Gerald Posner's Motown – Music, Money, Sex, and Power

Essay by Gene Santoro, The Nation, 23 December 2002

As Trent Lott struggled to "repudiate" segregation fifty years after it was outlawed, about the only point he left out of his incoherent counterattack is ...

Way Of The Ninja: Ninja Tune Records

Retrospective and Interview by Dan Gennoe, New Routes, 2003

Dan Gennoe visits the HQ of boundary pushing independent record label Ninja Tune and views their break beat blueprint for world domination. ...

The Go! Team: Working In Memphis

Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, March 2003

Brothers Ollie and Marc Jacob were once slackers in sneakers. Now they call Memphis Industries their empire… ...

Double Figures: Ten Years Of The Domino Effect

Press Release by Ben Thompson, Domino Records, July 2003

CAPTAIN'S LOG, stardate 1993: John Major's village-cricket-and-warm-beer based moral crusade inspires a parallel "back-to-basics" drift in UK rock 'n' roll (with Justine Frischmann as its ...

Johnny Clarke, Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Derrick Morgan, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Max Romeo: Working Like Trojans

Report and Interview by Mike Atherton, Record Collector, July 2003

Mike Atherton delves into the revitalised world of the renowned reggae label Trojan. ...

Elvis Presley: Sam Phillips: Rock'n'Roll Evangelist

Obituary by Andria Lisle, MOJO, September 2003

For Sam Phillips rock'n'roll was a religion And, boy, did he spread the gospel. ...

Joe Smith (2003)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 2 October 2003

The Warner Bros., Elektra/Asylum and Capitol Records boss remembers the great days of the West Coast music industry: the Laurel Canyon scene and the Troubadour; the Eagles, James Taylor, Little Feat and others; his relationships with Steve Ross, David Geffen and Irving Azoff; Joni Mitchell and the power of the artists; and the difference in his later period at Capitol...

File format: mp3; file size: 28mb, interview length: 29' 12" sound quality: ***

Isaac Hayes: Various Artists: Music From The Wattstax Festival & Film

Review by James Maycock, MOJO, November 2003

ON 20TH AUGUST, 1972, Isaac Hayes was celebrating his 30th birthday. But Ike wasn't chilling at his gilded Memphis mansion ripping into a skyscraper pile ...

Charley Patton: Paramount Records and the Blues Twilight Zone

Report by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, December 2003

DISCOVERIES MAGAZINE in the USA has called it "the single most significant blues music related discovery – ever. It is so deep and vast there ...

Mickie Most, The Yardbirds: Mickie Most

Retrospective by Alan Clayson, unpublished, 2004

"The only gift I had as a producer was finding the right song. I felt I knew how it should be done and, after that, ...

Johnny Pacheco: Latin Swing's Last Lion: 
Johnny Pacheco Returns to the New York His Salsa Once Changed

Profile and Interview by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, 20 January 2004

DAPPER, CHARISMATIC, and 68 years young, Johnny Pacheco is one of New York's cultural lions, a Juilliard alumnus who revolutionized the way Afro-Latin swing, a/k/a ...

Walter Yetnikoff with David Ritz: Howling at the Moon (Little, Brown)

Book Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 22 February 2004

DURING WALTER Yetnikoff's reign as president of CBS Records (later Sony Music), the music industry generated unprecedented profits, and commensurately large corporate egos. ...

So Sue Him!: Walter Yetnikoff with David Ritz: Howling At The Moon (Abacus) ***

Book Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2004

Subtitled "Confessions of a music mogul in an age of excess", the fearsome former figurehead of CBS's enjoyable schmuck-into-mensch saga. ...

The Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy: Sean Combs: Diddy-cized

Overview by Mark Anthony Neal, PopMatters, 18 May 2004

Hip-hop has always been — and always be — about fabulousness and myth. 
 — Scott Poulson-Bryant, "This is Not a Puff Piece" The hip-hop ...

Julian Cope, XTC: The Old Boy Network

Report by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, June 2004

GETTING DITCHED by a major label is not always the end of the line for the big stars of yesteryear, as Terry Staunton reports ...

Putumayo: The Little Label That Could

Report by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, 2 July 2004

WHILE THE REST of the music industry downsizes like mad, an 11-year-old independent label the majors used to snicker at has scored a 15 percent ...

U2: Another Time: The inside story of U2's very first record

Retrospective and Interview by Chas de Whalley, Record Collector, 1 September 2004

I FIRST MET U2's manager Paul McGuiness sometime in February 1979. He was on a trip to London doing the rounds of the record companies ...

Brinsley Schwarz: Andrew Lauder: Paradise Recalled

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, The Independent, 19 September 2004

Once, rock inhabited Eden. Man, Can and Beefheart were its fruit. Then the snakes in suits took over and music biz creatives like Andrew Lauder ...

The Rolling Stones: Rolling Stones: Howzat!

Retrospective and Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, MOJO, October 2004

Out the same month as the rock and roll circus was filmed, Beggars Banquet was the Stones' first classic album. Charles Shaar Murray revisits their ...

David Geffen (2004)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 5 December 2004

The mogul of Laurel Canyon on Asylum Records, managing artists and his close relationships with the likes of JD Souther, Laura Nyro, David Crosby and Joni Mitchell.

File format: mp3; file size: 25.1mb, interview length: 26' 07" sound quality: * (phoner)

Joni Mitchell: Andy Wickham: A House Hippie at Warner-Reprise

Book Excerpt by Barney Hoskyns, 'Hotel California' (4th Estate), 2005

The news just came in that Wickham, the "company freak" who brought Joni Mitchell and others to the attention of Reprise boss Mo Ostin, died ...

Harpers Bizarre, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, Jack Nitzsche, Van Dyke Parks, James Taylor, The Turtles, Neil Young: Ostin-powered: The Mogul of Burbank

Book Excerpt by Barney Hoskyns, 'Hotel California' (4th Estate), 2005

Five adapted excerpts from Barney Hoskyns' 2005 book Hotel California that chart the rise of Warner-Reprise Records during the reign of its revered chief Mo ...

David Blue, Jackson Browne, Ned Doheny, The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Judee Sill, J. D. Souther: Play It as It Lays: David Geffen and Asylum Records

Book Excerpt by Barney Hoskyns, 'Hotel California' (4th Estate), 2005

This is an excerpt from Barney Hoskyns'  Hotel California: Singer-Songwriters & Cocaine Cowboys in the L.A. Canyons (Fourth Estate, 2005) ...

Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, The Temptations, Mary Wilson, Stevie Wonder: Soul Deep: Motown

Retrospective and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Radio Times, 2005

FOR SOME PEOPLE, the terms "Soul" and "Motown" are almost synonymous. When they think of soul music, timeless sounds and images of the Supremes and ...

Walter Yetnikoff with David Ritz: Howling at the Moon (Abacus Books)

Review by Mark Pringle, Rock's Backpages, 4 March 2005

THERE IS AN immutable law of Recovery that states that the man with the loudest voice (and it usually is a man) will consume great ...

Nirvana: The Betrayal Of Olympia

Retrospective and Interview by Everett True, Plan B, May 2005

How the home of K Records, Sub Pop, Riot Grrrl and the punk rock librarians gave rise to Nirvana, and became subsumed into the myth ...

Bebel Gilberto: Ziriguiboom

Retrospective by John L. Walters, TuneTribe, 15 May 2005

SINCE THE LATE 1990s, the Crammed Discs spin-off label Ziriguiboom has produced a small, well considered series of Brazilian albums, the most famous of which ...

Death of the album

Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 October 2005

Why insist on 50 minutes of music when you could have a perfect 10 — or better still, a single? ...

The Sugarhill Gang: Hip-Hop Happens: The Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight'

Retrospective and Interview by Steven Daly, Vanity Fair, November 2005

Released in 1979, the single 'Rapper's Delight' launched hip-hop as a multi-billion-dollar phenomenon. The opportunistic 15-minute track also revived the career of its producer, a ...

4AD: For The Records

Profile by David Stubbs, The Guardian, 12 November 2005

YOU'D IMAGINE THE minimal and portentous name 4AD, with its arcane, spiritual overtones (4AD is the year many historians believe Christ was actually born), to ...

The Darkness: The gathering Darkness

Interview by Simon Price, The Independent, 13 November 2005

What a year it's been for Lowestoft's campest band of brothers. They've lost a bass player, found a new one (it took, ooh, seconds) and ...

Herb Alpert: The Backpages Interview: Jerry Moss and A&M Records

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, December 2005

RBP: Is it true you and Herb Alpert first met in New York? Was he still working with Lou Adler at the time? ...

Aztec Camera, Madonna, The Smiths, Talking Heads: Seymour Stein: Siring Greatness

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), Summer 2005

IN A WORLD where the longevity of most rock stars is fleeting, record magnate Seymour Stein has nurtured a vast array of successes across the ...

Rough Trade: The Second Coming

Profile and Interview by Dan Gennoe, British Council New Routes, 2006

IN THE WORLD of independent record labels, Rough Trade is a bona fide living legend. Born in the late '70s from the West London record ...

Miles Davis: Kind Of Overkill

Comment by John L. Walters, The Guardian, 10 February 2006

Miles Davis wouldn't have wanted his out-takes made public, so why all the box sets? ...

Herb Alpert: The House that Herb and Jerry Built: A&M Records

Retrospective and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, March 2006

THE HISTORY of American pop music is filled with great partnerships. Most of them, from Rodgers & Hart to Jam & Lewis, are songwriting teams ...

Tom Silverman: No Expense Spared

Interview by Larry Jaffee, MediaPack, May 2006

Tom Silverman, the pioneer rap music label owner of New York-based Tommy Boy Records, is unusual among his label head peers. He's willing to spend ...

Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, Jimi Hendrix: Joe Boyd: White Bicycles – Making Music in the 1960s (Serpent's Tail)

Book Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 14 May 2006

THIS PROTEIN-PACKED memoir entwines a number of stories that reach well beyond the subtitle's modest brief. At one level it's a boy's own adventure. Joe ...

Scritti Politti: Return of Scritti Politti

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Evening Standard, 21 July 2006

For almost a decade, Green Gartside abandoned his band and the pop scene. Now he's back with a new album — and a surprise Mercury ...

Obituaries: Mercury Records' Irving Green, co-founder, and Art Talmadge, first vice president

Obituary by John Broven, Now Dig This, August 2006

BY PURE COINCIDENCE, two founding members of the first management team of Mercury Records have died within weeks of each other: Irving Green, co-founder and ...

ECM, World Circuit, Topic: Groove Is In Their Hearts

Report by Mark Hudson, The Observer, 13 August 2006

In the corporate world of modern music, some niche labels still thrive through their passion and commitment. As jazz pioneer ECM reaches its 1,000th release ...

P. Diddy

Interview by Alan Light, Elle, October 2006

"THERE HE IS! There he is!" ...

Big Star, Alex Chilton, Jim Dickinson: 40 Years of Ardent

Retrospective and Interview by Andria Lisle, Memphis Flyer, 26 October 2006

The little recording studio on Madison has played a big part in Memphis music history. ...

Joe Tex: Buddy Killen, 1932-2006: Nashville record man and music publisher

Obituary by John Broven, Now Dig This, December 2006

BUDDY KILLEN, the highly successful Nashville music publisher, songwriter and record man, died of liver and pancreatic cancer on November 1, 2006 at age 73.  ...

Anohni (Antony & the Johnsons), The Fall, Galaxie 500, The Libertines, The Raincoats, Scritti Politti, The Smiths, Stiff Little Fingers, The Strokes, Young Marble Giants: How to buy: Rough Trade Records

Guide by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, December 2006

The revolutionary, still-smokin' independent. ...

Ahmet Ertegun

Obituary by Adam Sweeting, Richard Williams, The Guardian, 16 December 2006

A mogul who nurtured the careers of stars such as Ray Charles, Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield ...

The Second Coming of Rough Trade

Report and Interview by Dan Gennoe, New Routes, Spring 2006

IN THE WORLD of independent record labels, Rough Trade is a bona fide living legend. Born in the late '70s from the West London record ...

Ray Charles: Ahmet Ertegun, 1923-2006

Obituary by Andy Gill, The Word, February 2007

AS MUSIC BUSINESS people go, Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun was a giant amongst pygmies, a mover and shaker whose colossal impact on the course ...

Ahmet Ertegun: The Godfather

Retrospective by Andria Lisle, MOJO, April 2007

He founded Atlantic, the greatest "indie" record company ever, signed everyone from Ray Charles to The Rolling Stones, and did it all with a rare ...

The Beatles, Booker T & The MGs, Elvis Presley: Visiting Royalty

Retrospective and Interview by Andria Lisle, Memphis Flyer, 3 May 2007

Stax artists weren't the only ones who wanted to record at Soulsville: Tales of the ones who got away and one who didn't. ...

Elvis Costello: Flogging A Dead Horse: Reissuing back catalog ad nauseam is no way to revive an ailing record industry

Report by Larry Jaffee, Mediaware, June 2007

YES, THE PRE-RECORDED music industry is mired in the throes of a tailspin from which it most likely will never recover. This, of course, is ...

The Beatles, George Martin: The Real Fifth Beatle: Sir George Martin On Sgt. Pepper, Why Abbey Road is Better and More

Interview by Alan Light, MSN.com, June 2007

There were many who vied for the title, but in the recording studio, there was really only one Fifth Beatle. ...

Enter Shikari: Off the record

Report by Robert Sandall, Prospect, August 2007

In recent years, the economics of pop music have been upended. The market for CDs has collapsed, and not even the rise of legal downloading ...

Tony Wilson, 1950-2019

Obituary by Paul Morley, The Guardian, 13 August 2007

Record label boss and broadcaster with twin passions: music and Manchester. ...

Chris Clark - US: Chris Clark: An unsung soul singer resurfaces

Retrospective and Interview by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 August 2007

CHRIS CLARK was a tall, blond 20-year-old Air Force brat out of Marin County when she signed with Motown Records as the label's first white ...

Various Artists: Vee-Jay – The Definitive Collection

Review by John Morthland, No Depression, 31 August 2007

VEE-JAY RECORDS of Chicago was not the first successful black-owned label – Duke-Peacock of Houston stakes a better claim to that title – but until ...

Lulu: The Atco Sesssions

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, Atlantic Records, September 2007

LULU'S 1970 ALBUM New Routes has long been recognised as a landmark soulful classic – the album that finally provided the showcase Lulu's voice deserved. ...

The Police: Miles Copeland: Where's the Police chief?

Report and Interview by Chris Campion, The Observer, 2 September 2007

AS THE POLICE prepare to finally hit home turf on their reunion tour, one figure conspicuously absent from all the reappraisals of their career is ...

Roots Manuva: The war on jiggification

Report and Interview by Stevie Chick, The Guardian, 26 October 2007

Stevie Chick on how UK hip-hop got its groove ...

Jane Aire & The Belvederes, Elvis Costello, The Damned, Nick Lowe, Rachel Sweet, The Yachts: Various Artists: The Big Stiff Box Set

Review by Stuart Maconie, The Word, December 2007

THE '70S BEGAN and ended in turmoil, with strikes, crises, terrorism, class war and new political orthodoxies on the march. ...

EMI: A Giant at War with itself

Report by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 17 January 2008

As EMI faces painful restructuring, Robert Sandall, a former employee, recalls the confusion and rivalries that once bedevilled the company. ...

Seymour Stein: Shellac in My Veins

Retrospective and Interview by Jason Cohen, Cincinatti Magazine, March 2008

A New York City record man recalls his dearest mentor. ...

The Beatles: Two Encounters With Neil Aspinall

Memoir by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, March 2008

RBP REGULARS will doubtless have read last week's obituaries for Neil Aspinall, who worked for the Beatles from 1961 until shortly before he died. He ...

Damon Albarn: Honest Jon's: Shellac shock

Report and Interview by John Lewis, Financial Times, 28 April 2008

Damon Albarn's label Honest Jon's has discovered the world on their doorstep in the form of the EMI Archive. ...

The Byrds, Gene Clark, Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Gene Clark remembered: "Genius and insanity hand in hand…"

Retrospective by Luke Torn, Uncut, May 2008

IT'S ANOTHER DAY in the busy life of one of the biggest bands in America. The Byrds have just recorded 'Eight Miles High', and are ...

Russell Simmons: The Hustler

Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 18 September 2008

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons helped Run DMC, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys make it big. But is his greatest talent self-promotion? Angus Batey meets ...

Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James, Muddy Waters: Hoochie Coochie Men: Cadillac Records (dir. Darnell Martin)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Bill Holdship, Metro Times, 10 December 2008

Hollywood's version of the Chess Records story combines the best and worst of the classic rock 'n' roll biopic ...

Independent Thinker: An Interview with Charlie Gillett

Interview by Alex Ogg, unpublished, Fall 2008

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following is the full transcript from an interview with Charlie that took place towards the end of 2008 as research for my ...

Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard: The Early Days of the "Rock 'n' Roll Comeback" Album

Retrospective by Steven R Rosen, SonicBoomers.com, 2009

WHEN THE album-rock revolution hit full force in 1967, blues veterans were immediately in a great place to benefit. Revered by the new, young rock ...

Burial, Flying Lotus: Various Artists: Five Years of Hyperdub

Review by David Stubbs, bbc.co.uk, 2009

Dance music with a recurrent sense of subdued anxiety ...

The Four Tops, The Supremes, The Temptations: Motown at 50

Retrospective and Interview by Alan Light, MSN.com, January 2009

FIFTY YEARS AGO this month in Detroit, a 29-year-old African-American songwriter named Berry Gordy, Jr – a former boxer, autoworker, and Army veteran – borrowed ...

Rocking Cincinnati's R&B Cradle

Retrospective and Interview by RJ Smith, The New York Times, 23 January 2009

A CROWD GATHERS around crumbling walls that are a small evolutionary step up from a miserable pile of bricks. The facade leaks water, and masonry ...

Single Vision: Fierce Panda Records

Retrospective and Interview by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 20 February 2009

THE NEW WAVE OF NEW WAVE was never really much cop. It was an early 1990s music press-concocted punk revival scene based around a handful ...

Mel Tormé, Nina Simone: Gus Wildi's Bebopping Jazz Baby: Bethlehem Records

Retrospective by Fred Dellar, Rock's Backpages, March 2009

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1953. American TV companies were gearing up for
the first programmes in colour, Playboy was cock-a-hoop about featuring
Marilyn Monroe on the cover and ...

Suicide: The Marty Thau Interview

Interview by Jeremy Gluck, Bucketfull of Brains, March 2009

"I've always believed there is a fine line between abstract and pure accessibility and that is what I've always looked for ... an artist who ...

Do It Yourself: The Story of Rough Trade (dir. Chris Wilson)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 10 March 2009

Quietus scribe Alex Ogg, who's currently writing a book on the history of the independent label, makes a brew and settles down in front of ...

The Dead Weather, Jack White: Music, Label, Retail: Jack White's Vertical Integration

Report and Interview by Alan Light, The New York Times, 12 March 2009

JACK WHITE, the meticulous frontman of the color-coordinated White Stripes, has always been known for his attention to detail. So it was no surprise to ...

Island Records: The Secret Of Its Success

Comment by Simon Reynolds, The Guardian, 23 March 2009

The legendary label, which celebrates its 50th birthday in May, managed in its heyday to achieve that rare feat: combining commercial success with artistic integrity ...

The Satin Peaches: Fuzzy and sweet

Interview by Bill Holdship, Detroit Metro Times, 25 March 2009

"THESE DETROIT-BRED cuties are so goddamned good … Think '60s Brit-pop with bluesy piano strut and raggedy garage-rock thrown in for good measure. [The song] ...

Liner Notes: Recollections of a Dying Art

Retrospective by Fred Dellar, Rock's Backpages, 17 April 2009

DURING THE LATE '60s I received a fee of seven pounds for supplying my first sleeve note – one that adorned Dizzy Gillespie's Jambo Caribe. ...

The Chills, The Clean: Nuns at the Altar of Rock: Flying Nun Records

Retrospective and Interview by Martin Aston, The Guardian, May 2009

"THERE'S SOMETHING about the antipodes that irritates Britain," reckons Martin Phillipps, on the phone from Dunedin on New Zealand's South Island. Almost 25 years ago, ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Island Records turns 50

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Times, 3 May 2009

NOTE: This is the original "director's cut" version of the piece that ran in the The Times ...

Island Records: A History of Cool

Report by David Sinclair, The Times, 30 May 2009

From Nick Drake and Roxy Music to Mika and McFly – David Sinclair charts 50 years of Island Records. ...

Nick Drake, PJ Harvey, Bob Marley & the Wailers, John Martyn, Millie, Traffic, U2, Steve Winwood: Empire of the Sun: Island at 50

Retrospective and Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, June 2009

The grand scheme of a gambler with a taste for chicken blood, Jamaican label Island Records introduced Bob Marley and U2 to the world. On ...

The Jones Girls, Johnny Otis: Various Artists: Good To The Last Drop – Ember Soul

Sleeve notes by Mike Atherton, Fantastic Voyage Records, June 2009

EMBER RECORDS was founded in London in 1960 by Jeffrey S. Kruger. A longtime jazz fan – he played piano in his own band Sonny ...

ZE Records: 'It Was Like A Fairytale'

Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 30 July 2009

The extraordinary story of the trail-blazing New York label that launched Was (Not Was), Kid Creole and Suicide ...

Will the Indie Chart rise again?

Report and Interview by Bob Stanley, The Guardian, 31 July 2009

In its 1980s heyday, the indie chart was a beacon of top alternative music. Then the majors took over. Now it may get a new ...

Barry Beckett, 1943-2009

Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 16 August 2009

BEHIND EVERY star there is a great producer, musician or record company A&R man. Barry Beckett, who has died aged 66 after a series of ...

Aphex Twin, Boards Of Canada, Grizzly Bear: 20 years of the Warp factor

Retrospective by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 28 August 2009

Sheffield's Warp Records celebrates its 20th anniversary in September. Nick Hasted looks back on the cutting-edge electronica/indie label that has produced acts as diverse as ...

Fit for a King: Syd Nathan and King Records

Report and Interview by Steven R Rosen, Cincinnati CityBeat, 21 October 2009

AS JON HARTLEY FOX made his scheduled appearance at a Books by the Banks event at the Duke Energy Center Oct. 17, the many years ...

Def Jam at 25: The Yankees of Hip-Hop Labels, Reconsidered

Comment by Amy Linden, The Village Voice, 27 October 2009

WHAT IS IT about hip-hop that, inevitably, almost any conversation revolves around dates – around how far back in the day you can claim to ...

Obituary: Consummate Nashville record man Shelby Singleton, of Mercury and Sun

Obituary by John Broven, Now Dig This, November 2009

SHELBY SINGLETON, the consummate record man who was the most capable latter-day custodian of Sun Records, died of brain cancer in a Nashville, Tennessee hospice ...

Willie Mitchell: R.I.P. Poppa Willie Mitchell

Comment by Andria Lisle, Memphis Flyer, 5 January 2010

EIGHTY-ONE-year old producer/trumpeter Poppa Willie Mitchell died at 7:25 a.m. today, at Methodist University Hospital. ...

Al Green, Willie Mitchell: Sunset Serenade: Saying Goodbye to Memphis Music Legend Willie Mitchell

Obituary by Andria Lisle, Memphis Flyer, 14 January 2010

AT 7:25 A.M. ON Tuesday, January 5th, 81-year-old producer "Poppa" Willie Mitchell died at Methodist University Hospital. An entire chunk of local music history died with ...

Teddy Pendergrass: Life Was a Song Worth Singing

Obituary by Mark Anthony Neal, PopMatters, 21 January 2010

Pendergrass' popularity lay in his performance of a masculinity that was virile and tailor-made for a cultural discourse in the '70s that had moved beyond ...

Bill Frisell, Jan Garbarek, Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny: Manfred Eicher: The Sound Man

Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, The Guardian, 17 July 2010

Admired by Radiohead, friend of Godard, Manfred Eicher is the founder of ECM, one of the most successful jazz labels in the world. He tells ...

Bobby "Blue" Bland: For Members Only: Bobby Bland on Malaco

Sleeve notes by Barney Hoskyns, Malaco Records, October 2010

TWENTY-FIVE years ago, searching for the extant spirit of southern soul, I made my way to a former Pepsi-Cola warehouse in a decidedly unlovely industrial ...

Tony Wilson: A Fitting Headstone For Tony Wilson's Grave

Comment by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 26 October 2010

A memorial headstone for Factory Records founder Tony Wilson has been unveiled in a Manchester cemetery this week. ...

Elektra's Jac Holzman (2010)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, November 2010

In conversation at Rough Trade East – the legendary record man on all things Elektra: folk to folk-rock; signing Love and the Doors, Paul Rothchild, the lunacy of Paxton Lodge, the MC5 and the Stooges, and through to leaving the business...

File format: mp3; file size: 61.8mb, interview length: 1h 04' 20" sound quality: ****

Ahmet Ertegun: A Day of Tribute in New York

Book Excerpt by Robert Greenfield, 'The Last Sultan' (Simon & Schuster), 2011

APRIL 17, 2007. In the tiny village New York can sometimes become when it honors one of its own who has fulfilled the dream of ...

James Booker, Alison Krauss, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Various Artists: 40 Years Of Rounder Records

Review by Kate Mossman, The Word, January 2011

Now in new hands, Rounder Records looks back after four decades of progressive signings in country, blues and folk. ...

Alan Lomax: John Szwed: The Man Who Recorded The World – A Biography Of Alan Lomax

Book Review by Rob Young, The Wire, February 2011

WHO'D BE A folk song collector? ...

Obituary: Bobby Robinson, Harlem record man

Obituary by John Broven, Now Dig This, February 2011

MORGAN CLYDE "Bobby" Robinson, the longtime Harlem record man and record shop owner, died on January 7, 2011, at the grand age of 93 while ...

Elton John: The Man Who Loved Records

Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Word, March 2011

No downloads for Sir Elton John, thank you. No miming either. And don't get him started on Simon Cowell. Rob Fitzpatrick meets a passionate purist ...

Kenny Gamble: "Philadelphia was the party with a tormented soul"

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 3 March 2011

Philly Soul's sweet sound hid masked warnings about growing chasms in 1970s American society ...

Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Doors, Bob Dylan: Jac Holzman: Indie-Label Folkie to Rock Patriarch

Retrospective and Interview by Fred Goodman, The New York Times, 4 March 2011

JAC HOLZMAN, the 79-year-old founder and former chairman of Elektra Records, might be expected to rest on his laurels. Yet Mr. Holzman, who will be ...

Belated Props: Arhoolie Records at 50

Comment by Don Snowden, Rock's Backpages, 20 March 2011

DON'T IT FIGURE that Arhoolie's 50th anniversary just happened to overlap with the publication of John Szwed's biography of Alan Lomax? An unfortunate but appropriate ...

Harlem Knight: Bobby Robinson's Last Rites

Obituary by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, 23 March 2011

BOBBY ROBINSON, who died January 7, 2011, was one of the unsung pioneers of the 20th century American record industry. ...

Not Not Fun label: New Age Outlaws

Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, The Wire, May 2011

Britt and Amanda Brown are the husband and wife team behind LA's Not Not Fun label, focal point of a networked international underground that includes ...

Mowest, Mo' Problems: The Glorious Failure Of Motown's Californian Outpost

Profile by Graeme Thomson, The Guardian, 30 June 2011

In 1971 Motown set up a Californian arm, Mowest. As a new compilation shows, it put out some terrific music, but it was a commercial ...

Various Artists: The Story of Trojan Records

Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, August 2011

An incredibly diverse five-CD set celebrating the legendary British label ...

David "Honeyboy" Edwards, 1915-2011

Obituary by Tony Russell, The Guardian, 30 August 2011

Blues singer and guitarist with an enthralling style, he played with Robert Johnson. ...

Craig Douglas, Nic Jones, Cliff Richard: Copyright extension: good for Cliff and the Beatles, bad for the little guys?

Report by Bob Stanley, The Guardian, 15 September 2011

The extension in copyright law is hailed as a victory for musicians. But while it will surely benefit Cliff, the Beatles et al, it will ...

The Coasters, The Drifters, Ben E. King, Big Mama Thornton: Jerry Leiber, 1933-2011

Obituary by David Hepworth, The Word, October 2011

The man who made "15-minute radio plays" into hits. ...

Mara Carlyle: Torched Songs

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, October 2011

Mara Carlyle's album was jinxed — delayed for years in legal wrangles, then all the stock was burnt in a riot-related warehouse fire. But in ...

Cabaret Voltaire, Richard H. Kirk: Warp Records: Richard H Kirk looks back on a futuristic life

Report and Interview by David Stubbs, The Guardian, 5 November 2011

RICHARD H KIRK spent much of his career waiting for the future. He remains a resident of Sheffield, a city with a rich tradition in ...

The Jesus & Mary Chain: Brown Acid Black Leather: The Story of The Jesus And Mary Chain's Psychocandy

Retrospective and Interview by Julian Marszalek, The Quietus, 8 November 2011

Jim Reid and Douglas Hart give Julian Marszalek the low down on the making of one of the best rock albums of the 1980s, Psychocandy. ...

Heavy D. & the Boyz: Why Heavy D. Matters

Obituary by Michael A. Gonzales, Complex, 10 November 2011

Though many remember him as "the overweight lover," Heavy D was much more than one of hip-hop's first pop stars. He made some of his ...

Adrian Sherwood is feeling the riddim

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Coleman, The New Zealand Herald, 25 November 2011

NOT MUCH reggae music came out of the Home Counties during the early 1970s, but an awful lot went in. More than you might think. ...

Huey P. Meaux is dead

Obituary by John Broven, Now Dig This, Summer 2011

AFTER A PERIOD of failing health, Southern record man Huey Purvis Meaux died at home in Winnie, Texas, on April 23 at age 82. He ...

The Original Trustafarian: Chris Blackwell

Profile and Interview by Edward Helmore, Sunday Telegraph, 8 May 2012

IT'S CLOSE TO MIDNIGHT, a sickle moon hangs low over the Caribbean Sea in the direction of Cuba, and Grace Jones is making her way ...

Dennis Coffey, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Del Shannon, Edwin Starr, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder: Bob Babbitt, 1937-2012

Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 18 July 2012

One of the last surviving members of the Funk Brothers, the backbone of Tamla Motown ...

Chris Lighty, 1968-2012

Obituary by Amy Linden, XXL, September 2012

THE DEATH OF a young person evokes its own peculiar grief. And when that death is a suicide – grief mushrooms into something more painful ...

Kudos To Morgan Khan

Retrospective by Greg Wilson, electrofunkroots.co.uk, 9 November 2012

DURING THE 1980s Morgan Khan was viewed as a "dance music mogul", a true instigator who enriched British culture via his unyielding efforts, driven by "an ...

Band of Susans, Big Black, Butthole Surfers, Sonic Youth: Sonic Youth and the Blast First axis

Retrospective by David Stubbs, The Wire, February 2013

A previously unpublished essay by David Stubbs, on Paul Smith's Blast First label and Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon's Sonic Youth. ...

Frank Zappa: Gail Zappa: Mother of Re-Invention

Comment by Mark Leviton, Rock's Backpages, 8 February 2013

I'M A HUGE admirer of Frank Zappa, and have been since the mid-'60s. As a music critic I've written about him extensively, and during my ...

Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty: John Fogerty

Interview by Bob Mehr, MOJO, June 2013

The prime mover behind Creedence Clearwater Revival, he crafted blazing pop songs of soul and protest until band strife and label hell undid him. But ...

Eddy Grant: Eddy Come Back: Eddy Grant and the Equals

Book Excerpt by Lloyd Bradley, Serpent's Tail Books, August 2013

AS THE 1970S progressed, the keys to the buoyant Afro- funk recording industry were two of black London's biggest music-business movers-and-shakers, Eddy Grant and Aki ...

Arthur Alexander, Clarence Carter, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Candi Staton: Deep Soul: How Muscle Shoals became music's most unlikely hit factory

Retrospective and Interview by Mick Brown, Daily Telegraph, October 2013

IN JANUARY 1967, a young singer named Aretha Franklin arrived in the small Alabama town of Muscle Shoals, her career hanging in the balance. ...

Bauhaus, Belly, The Birthday Party, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, M/A/R/R/S, The Pixies, This Mortal Coil: 4AD Records: The "pure" label behind Pixies and Cocteau Twins

Retrospective and Interview by Martin Aston, The Guardian, 10 October 2013

Little was known about Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, the enigmatic founders of celebrated indie label 4AD, until they were tracked down in the US. ...

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, O'Jays: The Sound of Philadelphia

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 18 October 2013

Sweet Philly soul has influenced the likes of Erykah Badu, the Roots, David Bowie and more. Michael A. Gonzales delves into the1970s sound. ...

AR Kane, Bauhaus, Belly, The Birthday Party, Bon Iver, The Breeders, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Lush, M/A/R/R/S, Modern English, The National, The Pixies, Red House Painters, This Mortal Coil, Throwing Muses, Xmal Deutschland: 4AD Records: Labelled with Love

Retrospective and Interview by Wyndham Wallace, Classic Pop, November 2013

A new book, Martin Aston's Facing The Other Way, tells the story of a label that scored just a single number one hit during the ...

Lee Hazlewood, International Submarine Band, Nancy Sinatra: Lee Hazlewood: The wayward guru of cowboy psychedelia

Retrospective by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 28 November 2013

Best known for reviving Nancy Sinatra's career with 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin'', Lee Hazlewood was a highly unorthodox record producer. An epic box ...

The Smiths: Life in Rough Trade: How Geoff Travis became a major player for indie bands

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Jewish Chronicle, 17 February 2014

AS FOUNDER of the Rough Trade record store, distribution company and label, Geoff Travis has done as much as anyone to promote indie music as ...

Miriam Bienstock: The First Lady of Atlantic

Memoir by Loraine Alterman, Rock's Backpages, April 2014

FOR MONTHS I had noticed an immaculately coiffed and beautifully dressed older woman at my manicure place on Manhattan's Upper East Side.   ...

The Whispers: The Complete Solar Hit Singles Collection

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, PIAS Records, June 2014

DESPITE ITS TITLE, this collection of all the charted singles released by the Whispers actually includes material recorded for labels they were signed to before ...

Duke Ellington, Bill Evans, Jimi Hendrix, The Last Poets, John McLaughlin, Cecil Taylor: Alan Douglas, 1931-2014

Obituary by Richard Williams, The Guardian, 18 June 2014

Record producer best known for his controversial posthumous releases of Jimi Hendrix recordings ...

Shalamar: The Complete Solar Hit Singles Collection

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, Sanctuary Records, July 2014

Dick Griffey and Solar Records ...

Blue Note Records, "jazz's Motown, on celebrating 75 years in the limelight

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 15 August 2014

Blue Note remains more than the shell of a name that other formerly legendary labels – Virgin, Island, Motown and EMI  – have been reduced ...

The Band, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Glen Campbell, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Candi Staton: Ken Mansfield on Capitol Records and the Beatles

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, 2015

INTERVIEWER'S NOTE: Ken Mansfield is a former Capitol executive and was the U.S. Manager of Apple Records. He was on the rooftop at Savile Row ...

Bloodstone, David Bowie, Chicken Shack, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall, Rocky Sharpe & the Replays, Mike Vernon: Mike Vernon: Beyond the Blue Horizon

Retrospective and Interview by Alan Clayson, unpublished, 2015

If known chiefly as a blues paladin, Mike Vernon plunged headfirst into many other – often unexpected – musical waters. Alan Clayson investigates. ...

James Bay: The new noise bubble: are critics' choice awards for new artists a blessing or a curse?

Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 January 2015

Awards such as the BBC's Sound Of 2015 can be vital in helping new artists break through and get noticed by fans — but can ...

Charlie Parker: Various Artists: The Complete Dial Modern Jazz Sessions (Mosaic Records)

Review by Geoffrey Himes, JazzTimes, 29 March 2015

TO UNDERSTAND the significance of Dial Records, a good place to start is the tune 'Relaxin' at Camarillo'. ...

Various Artists: The Complete Stax Soul Singles

Review by Mick Brown, Daily Telegraph, 25 May 2015

These two collections are a delight, full of familiar pleasures and obscure nuggets from Stax's large catalogue of soul singles, says Mick Brown. ...

The Sugarhill Gang: Jump On It ! – Complete Sugarhill Recordings

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, July 2015

"All the other rappers didn't consider the Sugar Hill Gang to be real rappers. They just got lucky. They hadn't lived the life they hadn't ...

Bob Seger (2015)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, September 2015

The veteran rocker talks about his long relationship with Capitol Records: the wonderful building and studios; the many people who have been so supportive of him over the four decades he was on the label, and what Los Angeles came to mean to him.

File format: mp3; file size: 24.4mb, interview length: 25' 24" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Capitol's Bhaskar Menon: An Interview

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, September 2015

"I WAS INFORMED on a Thursday that they'd like me to be on the Friday Pan Am flight. There were three of us on the ...

The Dap-Kings, Sharon Jones, Mark Ronson, Amy Winehouse: Daptone Records: The Sound that Gave Amy Soul

Report and Interview by Paul Sexton, The Independent, 16 October 2015

Daptone Records has put authentic soul into R&B for 15 years, from Back to Black to 'Uptown Funk'. ...

Elvis Presley: Next Train to Memphis: Peter Guralnick's Sam Phillips

Profile and Interview by Chris Campion, Rock's Backpages, 17 November 2015

AS THE PRE-EMINENT and passionate chronicler of music history, Peter Guralnick is in a league of his own, with a bibliography that not only — ...

David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Hubert Sumlin, Mike Vernon: New Horizons: Mike Vernon (Part One)

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Classic Rock, December 2015

WITHOUT PRODUCER and label boss Mike Vernon, the history of British blues would look very different. In the first part of a feature charting his ...

Howlin' Wolf, Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich: Peter Guralnick: New Bio Finally Gives Rock and Roll Architect Sam Phillips His Due

Report and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 29 December 2015

WELL, AS Guralnick clarifies shortly into his foreword, if Sam Phillips didn't exactly "invent" rock and roll, he at least discovered it. Or so it ...

Big Brother & The Holding Company, Janis Joplin: Big Brother: John Simon in Woodstock and Bearsville

Book Excerpt by Barney Hoskyns, 'Small Town Talk' (Faber & Faber), 2016

Two excerpts from Small Town Talk that tell part of the story of John Simon, producer of The Band and Janis Joplin… plus one excerpt ...

The Band, The Beach Boys, The Beastie Boys, The Beatles, Garth Brooks, Glen Campbell, Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole, Merle Haggard, MC Hammer, Steve Miller, Buck Owens, Katy Perry, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Bob Seger, Frank Sinatra, Sam Smith, Tina Turner, Keith Urban: Capitol at 75

Book Excerpt by Barney Hoskyns, 'Capitol 75' (Taschen), 2016

NOTE: Herewith the full "director's cut" version of the historical essay I contributed to the spectacularly lavish Taschen book marking the 75th anniversary of West ...

James Brown, George Clinton, Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield, Prince: Take The Power Back: Black Artist-Owned Labels

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Red Bull Academy Magazine, 25 January 2016

At the height of their careers, Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, George Clinton and Prince all formed their own imprints. Michael Gonzales tells the ...

Asleep at the Wheel, Howlin' Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley: Peter Guralnick: Sam Phillips – The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll/ Ray Benson & David Menconi: Comin' Right At Ya

Book Review by Peter Stone Brown, CounterPunch, 26 February 2016

SAM PHILLIPS, the man behind Sun Records was easily one of the most important figures in the history of American popular music. ...

Frankie Lymon: Crooks and Fools: Morris Levy, Frankie Lymon, and the story of 'Why Do Fools Fall in Love'

Book Excerpt by Richard Carlin, 'Godfather of the Music Business' (U. Miss Press), March 2016

'WHY DO FOOLS Fall in Love' is one of the classic hits of the '50s.  Along with its importance to the history of rock 'n' ...

Tommy Boy At 35: Tom Silverman Talks Hip-Hop's Most Iconic Indie Label

Retrospective and Interview by Miles Marshall Lewis, Genius, 18 August 2016

A history of the brand that brought the world Afrika Bambaataa, De La Soul, and Queen Latifah. No account of early hip-hop industry is complete without ...

What Goes Around, Comes Around (or) Vinyl's Back and It's Not a Fad

Report by Larry Jaffee, The Audiophile Voice, September 2016

The LP's Return Picks Up Traction ...

Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, N.W.A: Jerry Heller, 1940-2016

Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 7 September 2016

Music manager who launched NWA and set up Ruthless Records with Eazy-E   ...

Richard Carlin: Godfather of the Music Business – Morris Levy (University of Mississippi Press)

Book Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, October 2016

MORRIS LEVY WAS born in 1927 and rose through the ranks of the U.S. music business starting by running a hatcheck concession in New York ...

The Fall: Totally Wired: The Fall in NZ, 1982

Book Excerpt by Roger Shepherd, 'In Love with These Times' (Harper Collins), October 2016

WE ALL LOVED The Fall. They were one of the original English punk bands inspired by the Sex Pistols' visit to Manchester and quickly grew ...

Rudy Van Gelder: Quality Guaranteed

Obituary by Fred Dellar, MOJO, November 2016

MAESTRO OF engineering Rudy Van Gelder – the man who shaped the sound of modern jazz – left us on August 25. ...

The Beatles, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, The Everly Brothers, Marianne Faithfull, The Hollies, Graham Nash: In Praise of the Hollies

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, 2017

WITH THEIR EXUBERANT three-part harmony, chiming guitar riffs, and keen sense of what makes a memorable hook, the Hollies created a signature sound. At first, ...

Elton John: Madmen Across the Water: How Elton John (and Bernie Taupin) stormed the USA

Retrospective by Harvey Kubernik, Rock's Backpages, April 2017

IN NOVEMBER 1970, Elton John performed an intimate concert at A&R Studios in New York, recorded for WABC FM. In front of 125 people, Elton ...

Metallica: Michael Alago, Who Signed Metallica and White Zombie, Gets the Documentary Treatment in Who the F**k Is That Guy?

Report and Interview by Roy Trakin, Variety, 21 July 2017

IF THE HISTORIES of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre warrant four hours of prime HBO real estate in The Defiant Ones, then certainly Michael Alago, ...

Gladys Pizarro: The Street-Savvy Talent Scout That Shaped New York Dance Music

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Cooper, Red Bull Academy Magazine, 30 August 2017

Going from working in construction to co-founding Strictly Rhythm, Gladys Pizarro's commitment to street culture helped make her one of the most influential dance music ...

Aztec Camera, The Go-Betweens, Josef K, Orange Juice: Simon Goddard: Simply Thrilled: The Preposterous Story of Postcard Records

Book Review by Pete Paphides, Medium, 4 September 2017

THIRTY-THREE YEARS have elapsed since the wildly prodigious Roddy Frame volunteered Aztec Camera's most impressive song to date for release on Alan Horne's Postcard label. ...

Record Store Day Summer Camp

Report by Larry Jaffee, Long Live Vinyl, November 2017

Larry Jaffee attends the second annual 'Record Store Day Summer Camp' in America's 'Crescent City', the home of Dr. John, Allen Toussaint and Professor Longhair, ...

Mo Ostin (2018)

Interview by Ben Merlis, Rock's Backpages audio, 9 March 2018

The legendary Warners exec talks about the label's involvement in hip hop, and their associtation with the Tommy Boy and Cold Chillin' labels; Quincy Jones and Back On The Block; fellow execs like Benny Medina; Reprise Records, and Frank Sinatra's resistance to rock'n'roll; Ice-T, 'Cop Killer' and the resulting pressure on the label; his career in the music business, starting with Norman Granz's Verve Records; his Brooklyn roots, and growing up in Los Angeles.

File format: mp3; file size: 56.3meg, interview length: 58' 37" sound quality: ****

Yah Mo Be There: Mo Ostin on Sinatra, the Beatles... and Cold Chillin' Records (2018) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Ben Merlis, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 9 March 2018

Ben interviewed Mo Ostin for his book Goin' Off: The Story of the Juice Crew & Cold Chillin' Records (BMG Books, 2019) at his home ...

David Bowie: On Reflection: David Bowie

Retrospective by Paul Gorman, Vice, 13 March 2018

AFTER FIVE YEARS touring the world, David Bowie Is, the juggernaut retrospective organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is now in its largest ...

Various artists: This Is Trojan 50! review — the label that changed Britain

Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Guardian, 26 July 2018

Trojan's releases introduced the UK to reggae, deejaying, toasting, lovers rock, dancehall — and Five Star's dad. This is an immaculately curated collection of a ...

Stan Lewis, 1927-2018

Obituary by Tony Burke, Record Collector, October 2018

STAN LEWIS, (aka "Stan the Record Man"), died in Ruston, Louisiana, on July 14th, aged 91. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1927, he worked at his ...

Booker T & The MGs: How Stax Records Merged the Music and the Message in 1968

Retrospective and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 22 October 2018

AS BOTH THE history books and an endless stream of 50th anniversary documentaries have taught us, 1968 was an Especially Important Year in the United ...

Lazy Lester, Lightnin' Slim, Slim Harpo: Randy Fox: Shake Your Hips – The Excello Records Story

Book Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, March 2019

FOR MANY UK blues fans, Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon Records opened the door to Excello Records. ...

Roy Orbison, Roscoe Shelton, Joe Simon: Fred Foster, 1931-2019

Obituary by Tony Burke, Record Collector, May 2019

FRED FOSTER, the founder of Monument and Sound Stage 7 Records, died on 20th February in Nashville, aged 87. Born in North Carolina in 1931 ...

Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones, The Nashville Teens, The Rolling Stones, Them: Decca Records in 1964: The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Tom Jones and the British pop explosion

Retrospective by Jon Savage, The Guardian, 3 July 2019

To celebrate 90 years of Decca Records, a new book about the label's history is being released. In this exclusive extract, renowned music critic Jon Savage ...

Tina Turner at 80

Retrospective by Steve Pafford, stevepafford.com, 26 November 2019

How a middle aged woman from Tennessee pulled off the greatest comeback in music history ...

Little Richard, Billy Vera: Billy Vera: Rip It Up – The Specialty Records Story

Book Review by Tony Burke, Record Collector, January 2020

ONE OF THE most important independent post-war record labels, Specialty is up there with Chess, Modern/RPM, King, and Atlantic. ...

The Doors: Elektra: When Worlds Collide

Retrospective by Larry Jaffee, Record Collector News, February 2020

Former Manhattan home of Elektra Records faces demolition. The Doors' heyday coincided with label being at 1855 Broadway ...

The Flamin' Groovies, Kim Fowley, The Stooges: Farewell to Marc Zermati

Memoir by Nick Kent, unpublished, 15 June 2020

IT'S BEEN FIVE hours now since I received the news that Marc Zermati died in his sleep and — as with all deaths of those ...

Bear Family 45th anniversary

Book Excerpt by Kieron Tyler, unpublished, Spring 2020

ASTONISHINGLY, Bear Family Records celebrates its 45th year in business in 2020. During that time, the label has never stopped producing the ultimate in reissues ...

Pink Floyd, Bob Seger, Tina Turner: Bhaskar Menon: Former Capitol Colleagues Remember EMI Music Chief

Retrospective and Interview by Stephen K. Peeples, stephenkpeeples.com, 6 March 2021

BHASKAR MENON, EMI Music Worldwide founding chairman and CEO and one of the record industry's most respected leaders, died at his home in Beverly Hills ...

Bob Koester, 1932-2023

Obituary by Tony Russell, The Guardian, 28 May 2021

Owner of Chicago's influential Jazz Record Mart and Delmark label, which recorded many of the city's blues greats ...

Jimmy Cliff: The return of Jimmy Cliff: 'Rebel spirit is still in the Jamaican people'

Retrospective and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, The Guardian, 6 August 2021

As he releases new music at the age of 77, one of reggae's foundational figures charts his astonishing life in music, via swinging London, Brazilian ...

Sam Cooke, Little Richard, Roy Milton, Billy Vera: Specialty Records: An Interview with Billy Vera

Interview by Tony Burke, Record Collector, September 2021

As the Specialty label celebrates 75 years, Tony Burke talks to Billy Vera – singer, songwriter, and the author of Rip it Up: The Specialty ...

Various Artists: The Story of Trojan Records

Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 14 September 2021

IN THE early 1970s the world's largest record company releasing Jamaican music, Trojan Records piled up hits in the UK pop charts with artists like ...

Bob Fisher, 1947-2021

Obituary by Bill Millar, Now Dig This, November 2021

Bill Millar commemorates the life of the gifted writer and pioneering back catalogue expert whose devotion to rock n roll, blues and soul enhanced the ...

Fontaines D.C.: An Interview

Interview by Patrick Clarke, Marvin, 6 January 2022

Hailing from Dublin, the indie rockers of Fontaines D.C. stay true to their roots during rapid growth. ...

Sylvia Robinson: Chess Records: The All Platinum Years

Book Excerpt by Dan Nooger, unpublished, October 2022

NOTE: This is part of a proposal for Dan's book about Chess Records ...

Clive Davis and Arista Records

Book Excerpt by Mitchell Cohen, 'Looking for the Magic' (Trouser Press Books), Summer 2022

This is the second of two excerpts on RBP from Mitchell Cohen's book Looking for the Magic: New York City, the '70s and the Rise ...

Larry Uttal and Bell Records

Book Excerpt by Mitchell Cohen, 'Looking for the Magic' (Trouser Press Books), Summer 2022

This is the first of two excerpts on RBP from Mitchell Cohen's book Looking for the Magic: New York City, the '70s and the Rise ...

Black Flag: R.I.P. SPOT: Glen M. Lockett, 1951-2023

Obituary by Joe Carducci, unpublished, March 2023

I HATE TO type out the words but... SPOT passed away after 10am today/Saturday (Mar. 4, 2023) at Morningside Healthcare in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. His nurse ...

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