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Alan Walsh

Born in Liverpool, Alan was a reporter for local media in the very early '60s. Even in those days (just pre the Merseybeat boom) Liverpool was a vibrant city for live musical, ranging from trad jazz to rock and roll to classical music.

When the famous Cavern Club opened, one of its managers was Alan Graham, Alan's best pal, by day an insurance clerk, by night a local jazz and pop entrepreneur.

He hired Alan to do part-time work at the Cavern which turned out to be a "right place, right time" opportunity for a journalist with ambitions in the music field

Then the Merseybeat phenomenon happened, booting trad jazz out of the Cavern and attracting massive interest from the London-based music business. Alan began feeding news and interviews with the Beatles, Gerry and The Pacemakers and other local band becoming nationally-known to London music papers.

In 1963, this led to a full time job with Disc (later Disc and Music Echo) as a writer and sub-editor. He found himself interviewing all the Top 20 record stars of the day as a full time profession.

In 1964, he was offered a move to Melody Maker (sister paper to Disc and based in the next office) where he continued to do interviews and reviews, albeit to a wider musical base as the MM was regarded as the musician's bible. He later became news editor of the paper.

Although it, too, featured new chart-toppers to attract younger readers, the MM also covered popular music in depth — jazz, blues, heavy rock — and became the campaigning music paper of its day. With its massive advertising revenue, plus excellent copy sales revenue, the MM was a huge moneymaker for publishers Longacre Press, part of the massive IPC group which owned the Daily Mirror.

Alan spent the next seven years happily writing about popular music. He interviewed the Beatles many times (he knew them from his Liverpool days), travelled on many of their tours including their first return to Hamburg, Germany and their American trips.

But he specialised in more Middle of the Road music at a time when the big balladeers like Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck were getting the hits.

Alan was also one of the team which, after leaving IPC in 1970 and forming Spotlight Publications, launched the rival music paper Sounds and the still-successful Kerrang! heavy metal magazine, as well as re-launching Record Mirror.

After setting up his own publishing operation in 1974, he published music titles such as Beat Instrumental and Black Echoes (later Echoes), as well as Classical Music, today the trade magazine for classical musicians in the UK.

Alan Walsh died in late 2015.

104 articles

List of articles in the library

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The Singing Nun: A Nun — The Strangest Hit Parader!

Profile by Alan Walsh, Disc, 7 December 1963

IN ALL THE surprise at the success of 'Dominique' by a Belgian missionary nun, one thing has perhaps tended to be forgotten — the future ...

The Beatles: Only Do TV — At First

Report and Interview by Alan Walsh, Disc, 7 December 1963

WHEN THE Beatles go to America next year it will be virtually only to appear on the Ed Sullivan TV show. Speaking to me in ...

The Beatles Go Home To Liverpool In Triumph

Report by Alan Walsh, Disc, 14 December 1963

RINGO STARR, perched on a dais six feet above the stage of Liverpool's Empire Theatre, looked chilled despite his overcoat. Below him on the stage ...

Johnny Kidd & The Pirates: Johnny Kidd Denies Pirates Split

Interview by Alan Walsh, Disc, 18 January 1964

JOHNNY KIDD, just back from another successful season at Hamburg's Star Club, looked sunburned — so sunburned in fact, his face was chapped and peeling. ...

The Merseybeats: Merseybeats — On The Way Up — Look For A Replacement

Interview by Alan Walsh, Disc, 15 February 1964

IN THE background was that thumping, dynamic beat that tells you this is Liverpool! And the voice on the phone, too, was unmistakably Scouse. Tony ...

Billy J. Kramer: Billy Has An Eye For Pop Fashion

Interview by Alan Walsh, Disc, 29 February 1964

BILLY J. KRAMER, rated one of Britain's snappiest popsters dresswise, was talking to me about his wardrobe. We were in Liverpool, where Billy was relaxing ...

Cilla Black: Cilla Wants A Song...

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 11 September 1965

WANTED: one new song. It must be up-tempo, happy yet simple, and with a good melody and lyric. Anyone with a number fitting the above ...

Ken Dodd: It's Tattifalarious! Ken Dodd's The New 'In' Name!

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 11 September 1965

The Diddy People march on the Pop 50 ...

The Rolling Stones: When Irish Fans Are Punching

Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 11 September 1965

ALAN WALSH, MM MAN-ON-THE-SPOT, REPORTS THE STONES' IRISH TOUR ...

Unit 4+2: Marquee, London

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 11 September 1965

UNIT FOUR Plus Two, resplendent in new stage gear, stepped into the breach at the Marquee when the Moody Blues were unable to appear. Moody ...

Bert Kaempfert: 'Bye Bye Blues' Man Kaempfert Was First To Record Beatles

Profile and Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 29 January 1966

BERT KAEMPFERT is something of a musical paradox. This German musician/arranger/composer is thought of in Britain — even among sections of show business itself — ...

Martha Reeves & The Vandellas: Martha & the Vandellas: Town Hall, Farnborough

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 16 April 1966

MARTHA AND the Vandellas performed a minor miracle last week. They almost — but not quite — evoked a big response from a dead audience ...

Cilla Black: There's more to a song than just singing about love

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 23 April 1966

ARE THE days of moon-and-June in pop songs gone forever? Has the escapist love song been finally swallowed by fans pumped full of protest, and ...

Simon & Garfunkel: Marquee, London

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 16 July 1966

SIMON AND Garfunkel's only London appearance at the Marquee on Sunday was, from an artist-audience point of view, a major success. ...

Johnny Mathis: Talk Of The Town, London

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 30 July 1966

JOHNNY MATHIS' European cabaret debut at London's Talk Of The Town on Monday, confirmed that he's a superb song stylist though some of his nervous ...

Georgie Fame, Chris Farlowe, Zoot Money, Alan Price, Geno Washington: Georgie Fame, Chris Farlowe, Alan Price Set, Geno Washington, Zoot Money: Winter Gardens, Bournemouth

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 13 August 1966

THE COUNTRY is due for one of the most powerful package shows ever staged this Autumn, judging by the "pilot run" of the Fame-Farlowe concert ...

It's All Smiles at the Two-Week Old Cavern Again

Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 13 August 1966

TWO WEEKS after the barrage of publicity at the opening, it's all smiles at Liverpool's Cavern Club again. ...

Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, Sonny & Cher: Sonny & Cher, Jimmy James & the Vagabonds: Finsbury Park Astoria, London

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 3 September 1966

Sonny and Cher fail to communicate ...

Sandie Shaw: Sandie keeps her mouth shut

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 24 September 1966

"OF COURSE I've changed. Who doesn't change in two years," said Miss Sandie Shaw at her Middlesbrough hotel, with a slight trace of annoyance in ...

Long John Baldry, The Rolling Stones, Ike & Tina Turner, The Yardbirds: The Stones Roll Out Again — And It's The Wildest Tour Ever To Hit Britain

Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 1 October 1966

MM MAN-ON-TOUR with the Rolling Stones and Ike and Tina Turner, ALAN WALSH ...

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 15 October 1966

SEVENTY minutes of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass captivated a capacity 7,000 audience at London's Royal Albert Hall on Friday. Herb and his superb ...

Ike & Tina Turner: Town Hall, High Wycombe

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 22 October 1966

A SECOND, longer look at the Ike and Tina Turner rhythm and excitement band show at their first appearance off the Rolling Stones tour at ...

Jerry Lee Lewis: Marimba, Middlesbrough

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 5 November 1966

HE'S 31 AND, off stage just what you would imagine a Southern gentleman to be. But on stage, you'd better watch out because Jerry Lee ...

Cilla Black: Prince of Wales Theatre, London

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966

FRANKLY, although Cilla Black is one of the stars, Way Out In Piccadilly just isn't a show for the pop fans. It's really the Frankie Howerd Show, ...

Why did Ready Steady have to... Go!

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 19 November 1966

ALAN WALSH CARRIES OUT THE POST-MORTEM ON THE DEATH OF ANOTHER POP TV SHOW ...

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, The Hollies, The Mindbenders: Scrubbers – The Facts

Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 10 December 1966

ALAN WALSH investigates the WORLD OF THE FEMALE POP FAN ...

The Rolling Stones: Jagger and The Shape Of Things To Come

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 January 1967

HOW DO YOU foresee the progress of the Stones in 1967? ...

Gene Pitney, the Troggs: Finsbury Park Astoria, London

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 25 February 1967

GENE PITNEY strolled on stage on the first night of his last British tour last Friday at the Astoria, Finsbury Park and proved once again ...

Roy Orbison: Orbison — Friendly American With A Soft Spot For Britain

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 11 March 1967

ROY ORBISON is one of the unfathomable elements in British pop. He weathered the turbulent years of the beat boom singing dramatic ballads in the ...

Dave Davies, The Kinks: Dave Davies: "I'm Not Good Enough To Go Solo"

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 12 August 1967

DAVE DAVIES tells Alan Walsh ...

The Beatles, George Harrison: The George Harrison Interview

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 2 September 1967

"You may think this interview is of no importance to me," said George Harrison across a table in NEM's Enterprises Mayfair offices. "But you'd be ...

Cilla Black: Brian Epstein: It's Impossible To Put My Feelings Into Words — Cilla

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 9 September 1967

"WHEN I HEARD the news of Brian's death I just felt utterly alone. There was no consolation from anyone." Cilla Black, at her parents' new ...

The Beatles, George Harrison: The George Harrison Interview (part 2)

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 9 September 1967

George Harrison, Beatle, human being and musical innovator, spoke of God, LSD, the Hippies and Haight Ashbury last week in the first of these two ...

Traffic's Life of Isolation Ends in London

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 30 September 1967

THE TRAFFIC'S splendid isolation in the wilds of Berkshire has temporarily ended. Pressure of success has forced the group into town and now they share ...

John Mayall, Mike Vernon: True Blues?

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 October 1967

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

John Lennon: How I Won The War (Dir. Dick Lester, starring John Lennon)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 October 1967

BEATLE JOHN Lennon reveals a talent for acting and a sense of bitter irony in the part of Private Gripweed in Dick Lester's How I ...

Bobbie Gentry: Bobbie — On The Tallahatchee Bridge To Fame

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 October 1967

ALAN WALSH meets the 'Ode to Billie Joe' girl ...

Anita Harris, Engelbert Humperdinck, The Rockin' Berries: Engelbert Humperdinck, Anita Harris, the Rockin' Berries: Adelphi, Slough

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 4 November 1967

Engelbert replaces Ken Dodd as idol of the mums ...

Pink Floyd: Hits? The Floyd Couldn't Care Less

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 9 December 1967

GIVING POP journalists a hard time is the blood sports of groups. It's one of the occupational hazards of the job, as anyone who's ever ...

The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour (Apple Corps/BBC)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 6 January 1968

WE HEAR a lot in the pop world about that magical mystery word "communication." ...

The Monkees: What Makes a Monkee Fan?

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 13 January 1968

IT WAS hard to tell Peter Tork from the mutter of a fierce press of journalists. ...

Long John Baldry: The Long, Long Way To The Top For Long John

Profile and Interview by Alan Walsh, Music Maker, February 1968

LONG JOHN Baldry looked down on life below him in a crowded Fleet Street hostelry, sipped a Courvoisier and reflected on his tardy, though well-earned ...

Brenton Wood: Brenton, Fastest Man in the Chart

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 3 February 1968

BRENTON WOOD must be one of the few singers to dance for hours at his own press reception. He outlasted all the journalists and was ...

Amen Corner: Rock 'N' Roll Is On The Way Back! — Say Amen Corner

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 3 February 1968

ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW, lead singer of the Amen Corner is a placid sort of bloke. But he blows his cool if you ask him about ...

Brenton Wood: Brenton — Jazz Fan

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 February 1968

BRENTON WOOD digs jazz. Back home in Hollywood, the singer whose 'Gimme Little Sign' has crept steadily higher and higher in its slow journey to ...

Engelbert Humperdinck: Engelbert: from dawn till dusk

Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 February 1968

ONE SLEEPY eye topped by tousled black hair raised itself from under the bedclothes and a voice said: " Ho, lads, we sail on the ...

Status Quo: In Search Of A Concrete Image

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 24 February 1968

STATUS QUO are worried men. Their problem: a follow-up to their first chart hit 'Pictures Of Matchstick Men'. ...

Esther and Abi Ofarim: Esther and Abi's Audience — from Seven to Ninety

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 2 March 1968

IN THE summer of 1966, Munich's Circus Krone seethed with excitement as three thousand fans eagerly awaited the appearance on stage of the Beatles, making ...

Louis Armstrong: Tell Them Satchmo Is Feeling Great, Looking Pretty And Blowin' Great!

Profile and Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 13 April 1968

LOUIS ARMSTRONG, ON HIS PERSONAL HOTLINE FROM MIAMI BEACH, TALKS TO ALAN WALSH ...

Andy Williams: I Owe This Hit To Frankie Valli

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 20 April 1968

ASK THE average pop fan about politics, and he'll recoil in horror. Lots of people in pop, and outside it, believe that politics and pop ...

Ike & Tina Turner: Race Riots Drive Ike & Tina to Britain

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 27 April 1968

THERE'S A good chance the Ike and Tina Turner band and the Ikettes will be spending some time in Europe this summer... because of America's ...

Ike & Tina Turner: Hatchett's, London

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 4 May 1968

WITH NO hesitation at all I report that the Ike and Tina Turner revue with the Ikettes is the most exciting R&B act to visit ...

Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: Union Gap

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 11 May 1968

"WE WEAR American Civil War uniforms to give the group an identity," said Union Gap lead singer Gary Puckett. The conversation took place over the ...

Aretha Franklin: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 18 May 1968

America's soul sister Aretha conquers Britain ...

Cilla Black: Work... Is A Four Letter Word starring Cilla Black (Dir. Peter Hall)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 25 May 1968

CILLA BLACK is a lovely bird. She's warm, loyal to old friends, vivacious and charming in her own way. She may even make a competent ...

The Spinners (UK): Spinners: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 25 May 1968

THE SECRET of the success of the Spinners is hard to define, but a lot must lie in their ability to create a sort of ...

The Beach Boys: After The Maharishi What Next For The Beach Boys?

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 1 June 1968

AN UNEXPECTED bonus came out of the collapse of the Beach Boys' abortive tour with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. After the Indian mystic split the trek, ...

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. ...

The Monkees: The New Monkees

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 1 June 1968

MICKEY DOLENZ reveals their plans for a change of image in the future ...

The Beatles: Paul McCartney: 'We Have a Handful of Songs and a Band Called the Beatles'

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 8 June 1968

PAUL McCARTNEY, new-style businessman of Apple, took time off from creative planning last week and talked about the Beatles recording plans. Paul spoke to the MM the ...

The Rolling Stones: UFOs Are Landing In My Garden Says Keith Richard

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 15 June 1968

KEITH RICHARD, Rolling Stones guitarist and co-writer of songs with Mick Jagger, believes that he lives on a UFO landing site. ...

Johnny Shines, Sunnyland Slim: Chicago Blues are Dying

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 6 July 1968

and Britain's Mike Vernon tries resuscitation ...

O.C. Smith Fights For Poor People

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 6 July 1968

THERE was a familiar face at the head of last week's Poor People's March in Washington, USA,the protest on behalf of America's underprivileged classes led ...

Jimi Hendrix: "I Felt We Were In Danger Of Becoming The U.S. Dave Dee" — Jimi Hendrix

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 20 July 1968

THE ELECTRIFIED hair has been shortened somewhat, but it was unmistakably still Jimi Hendrix. He loped into his manager's Gerrard Street office, grinned slyly, shook ...

Canned Heat: Coming from the States in September — A Hard Blues and Rock Group

Profile by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968

CANNED HEAT, who crept into the bottom of the chart last week at 28 with 'On The Road Again' are a hard blues and rock ...

Jerry Lee Lewis: Country, Cabaret, and Rock — It's The New Look Jerry Lee Lewis

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968

THE MAN who rivals Little Richard as rock and roll's King of Excitement arrived back in London last week for a fleeting visit. Jerry Lee ...

"Mama" Cass Elliot, The Mamas and The Papas: How Mama Cass Won The Will-They-Won't-They Split Saga To Emerge With A Monster Hit

Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968

THE LATEST episode in the Mama's and Papa's will-they-split-or-won't-they saga is a single by mammoth Mama Cass which seems certain to be a monster hit. ...

O.C. Smith: What does O.C. care about? Feeling for other Negroes and gunfire in Watts for a start...

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968

O.C. SMITH peered over a metal balcony 60 feet from the ground. A steady penetrating drizzle dropped non-stop from a wicked grey sky as he ...

The Beatles: Why does nobody loves the Beatles?

Comment by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968

THE KNIVES are out in force. Fleet Street is gunning for the Beatles. ...

Canned Heat — Putting Blues Back on its Feet Again

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 31 August 1968

"WE ARE a country blues band. That's our main bag," said Bob "The Bear" Hite, lead singer of Canned Heat, the West Coast blues band ...

Canned Heat, The Group That Refused To Be A Juke Box And Got Fired

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 14 September 1968

AFTER THE tensions and hatred of America, Canned Heat, who claim they are the only white country blues group in the world, have found London ...

Johnny Nash and the Need for a New Image

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 14 September 1968

AMERICAN SINGER Johnny Nash flew into London last week with a problem: his act. "For a start, I've got no charts (arrangements) with me," he ...

Sly & the Family Stone: BANNED! Top Of The Pops Drop Sly & The Family Stone

Report and Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 September 1968

SLY AND The Family Stone, still a chart force with 'Dance To The Music', were supposed to appear on BBC-TV's Top Of The Pops last ...

Tom Jones: The Truth About Tom Jones: Part One

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 5 October 1968

FOUR YEARS ago, Tom Jones was working in a sawmill in Pontypridd, South Wales, and picking up extra cash singing with his group in the ...

Tom Jones: The Truth About Tom Jones: Part Two

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 12 October 1968

Tom Jones is a rare person. Adulation, money, fame — all these he has, yet they don't seem to have touched him fundamentally. He's still ...

Tom Jones: The Truth About Tom Jones: Part Three

Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 19 October 1968

For millions of Tom Jones' fans, the moment they feel closest to him is when he is on tour and they can actually watch his ...

Jose Feliciano: 'I'm Not Coming Back To Britain Without My Dog' Says 'Light My Fire' Man JOSE FELICIANO

Report and Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 26 October 1968

"I LOVE England but I'm never coming there again," said blind singer/guitarist Jose Feliciano. ...

Horace Silver, Joe Simon, The Stars of Faith, Muddy Waters: Muddy Waters, Horace Silver, Joe Simon, Stars of Faith: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 2 November 1968

Swinging down the aisles ...

Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs: Bob Johnston: ...And a PS From the Man Who Produced the Last Dylan LP

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 9 November 1968

BOB DYLAN'S John Wesley Harding album was probably the most eagerly awaited record of the year. ...

The Isley Brothers: For The Isley Brothers Better Late Than Never

Profile by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 9 November 1968

AFTER A tortoise-like two-and-a-half-year journey, the Isley Brothers' 'This Old Heart of Mine' has put the Tamla Motown insignia in the Pop 30 again. ...

The Beatles: The Beatles (White Album) (Apple)

Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 9 November 1968

Are the Beatles going backwards? ALAN WALSH PREVIEWS THE NEW BEATLES DOUBLE ALBUM ...

Johnny Johnson & the Bandwagon: Johnny Johnson: No Heartache for Rolling Bandwagon

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 23 November 1968

WHAT HAVE the Bandwagon got in common with their soul sisters the Supremes? ...

Nina Simone: Nina Hits With Hair

Profile by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 23 November 1968

NINA SIMONE provokes mixed reactions from the music critics of the world. Some hail her as a giant of the blues, while others, though grudgingly ...

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 ...

Lulu: Learning New Things About Life

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 December 1968

'AM I A TIGER?' ...

The Beatles: Album of the Month — The Beatles: The Beatles (White Album) (Apple)

Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 14 December 1968

'Back In The USSR', 'Dear Prudence', 'Glass Onion', Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', 'Wild Honey Pie', 'The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill', 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', 'Happiness ...

Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus: Meet the Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968

"SINGALONG, DANCE-along music with no deep meaning — that's what the Singing Orchestral Circus is all about," said one of the two men who created ...

Nina Simone: The Fantasy World of Nina Simone

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968

"YES, I'M happy that I've got a hit record. I'm happy because I like the song and because in the future I'll get some time ...

Dusty Springfield: Why Dusty Must Leave Britain

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD phoned to talk about her new hit record — by our reckoning, her 17th chart record since she became a solo artist five ...

The 5th Dimension: 5th Dimension - looking forward to a British tour

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 18 January 1969

"I DON'T know why we haven't done a tour in Britain," said gorgeous Marilyn McCoo of 5th Dimension, "I guess the bookers haven't been able ...

Herman's Hermits, Lulu, Mickie Most: Mickie Most: Making Hit Records for the Government

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 18 January 1969

ALAN WALSH TALKS TO MICKIE MOST, THE MAN BEHIND THE HIT MAKERS ...

Pop On The Air: Facelift for the station of the stars

Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 8 February 1969

MELODY MAKER MEETS THE MEN WHO DECIDE WHAT YOU LISTEN TO ALAN WALSH REPORTS FROM RADIO LUXEMBOURG ...

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? ...

Wilson Pickett: Why Wilson dropped the "la-la-la" bit

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 15 February 1969

WHEN WILSON Pickett landed at London's Heath Row airport two hours late last Thursday after flying from Rome, all he wanted to do was sleep. ...

Chet Atkins: The Day Elvis Split his Pink Britches

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 8 March 1969

WHEN ELVIS Presley recorded 'Heartbreak Hotel', the record that launched him to adulation level in Great Britain, he really tore the studio apart. ...

Jerry Lee Lewis: What a Fave Rave in Othello!

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 8 March 1969

JERRY LEE LEWIS, one of the legenary rock names of the past decade, is true to his image. ...

Glen Campbell: The Wichita Lineman is On The Line

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 15 March 1969

JIM WEBB'S wistful 'Wichita Lineman' has realised an ambition for guitarist-turned-singer Glen Campbell. ...

The Equals, Eddy Grant: Equals Bring Back "Happy" Music

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 3 May 1969

THE INHABITANTS of the MM's Fleet Street HQ are pretty used by now to witnessing the more bizarre manifestations of Britain's pop scene. ...

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 ...

The Beach Boys: Funny, they don't look on their uppers

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 June 1969

ALAN WALSH meets the optimistic Beach Boy ...

Family: Whatever Happened To...?

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 21 June 1969

Alan Walsh finds out what's been happening with the Family ...

Max Romeo: 'It's Not A Dirty Song At All,' says Max Romeo

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 5 July 1969

THE ENGLISH have got dirty minds, thinks Max Romeo, the young 19-year-old singer from Kingston, Jamaica, whose provocatively-titled single 'Wet Dream' is currently in the ...

Brian Jones, The Rolling Stones: Brian, the Stone in the Headlines

Obituary by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 12 July 1969

BRIAN JONES is dead — and his death in the swimming pool of his Sussex home last week was as dramatic as his last five ...

Ray Charles, Billy Preston: Billy Preston: Forget The Rumours — Billy Will Be Back

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 2 August 1969

ONE OF the few sure things about the music business is that rumours will fly around it. ...

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