Barbara Ellen
Barbara Ellen started out writing her own music fanzines — her breakthrough fanzine was Wax Lyrical, which led to her writing for Zigzag magazine. She arrived at the NME in the late-80s, still obsessed with the Sex Pistols, Velvet Underground, Jesus and Mary Chain, Kate Bush, The Cure, Dead Kennedys, Blondie, ABBA and Chic, and left with a lot of good memories and a very bad hangover. During her time at the NME, she interviewed everyone from Madonna, Tori Amos and Siouxsie Sioux, to Manic Street Preachers, The Sugarcubes, Blur, and Guns 'N Roses as well as Stone Roses. She managed to survive "Madchester" without once being photographed in incriminating flares. While at NME, she also wrote for Vox, and managed to break the NME photocopier producing her spoof football fanzine, Ooh Gary, Gary — which was the first football fanzine to focus on one player, and led to her and the co-editor being interviewed on Grandstand. Ellen now writes a column for the Observer, and only occasionally suffers crippling but strangely enjoyable flashbacks.
92 articles
List of articles in the library
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, David Quantick, New Musical Express, 5 September 1987
SPORTS DAY IN HELL ...
Public Image Ltd: PiL: Astoria, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 10 October 1987
HITLER'S SEXY DAUGHTER ...
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 24 October 1987
GUNS 'N' ROSES get mad with BARBARA ELLEN ...
Voice Of The Beehive: Where Angels Fear to Tread
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 26 March 1988
Walking the earth, stalking the fringes of the chart, VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE go five rounds with a Beaujolais-addled BARBARA ELLEN on the set of ...
Danielle Dax: University of London Union
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 7 May 1988
DAX IN WAX ...
Alexander O'Neal: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 11 June 1988
"GUESS WHAT? I went to see Alexander O'Neal at Wembley tonight. It was brilliant. The seat I'd bought was dead expensive. None of your rubbish. I ...
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 9 July 1988
FRIDAY NIGHT. Time to take in a show. Support the arts and all that, old bean. Arriving early at the Dominion Theatre the singer from ...
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 9 July 1988
SATURDAY NIGHT, time yet again to support the arts at the second gig of the weekend to support the ICA and celebrate its 40th birthday. ...
Harry Crews: Mean Fiddler, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 1 October 1988
TONIGHT — If past reports of her live shows are to be believed — Lydia Lunch is not quite herself. Nor is she alone. Harry ...
T'Pau: Springsteen in a Split Skirt
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 26 November 1988
Still reeling from 15 rounds with Steven Wells, T'Pau's Carol Decker now faces the ultimate challenge — five Bimbo-detecting questions posed by Gimlet-eyed airhead-hater BARBARA ...
The The: The Boy Looked at Johnny
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 25 March 1989
"Johnny (Marr) probably understands what I'm doing more than anybody else I've ever known. It's been an absolute revelation, melodically we're like twins..." So says ...
Gerald Alston: Jazz-Soul-Funk Weekender: Cala Gran Holiday Park, Fleetwood
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 22 April 1989
BLACKPOOL HALLUCINATIONS ...
Cookie Crew: The Cookie Crew: Kooky Crew
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 29 April 1989
South London's finest female rappers THE COOKIE CREW walk proud and talk tough, threatening such pillars of the Establishment as 'Fatch' and DLT in their ...
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 6 May 1989
THE BANANA FROM OUTER SPACE ...
Elvis Costello: Palladium, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 13 May 1989
GETTING HIGH ON E ...
The Bangles: No Sex Please, We're Bangles
Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 27 May 1989
Amsterdam, city of 1,000 vices and venue for a party to honour all-American girls THE BANGLES. All-British girl BARBARA ELLEN joins them and, between sex-shows, ...
Debbie Harry: Deborah Harry: "Wendy James? Isn't She In The Primitives?"
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 28 October 1989
Life's a bleach and then you dye. Bouncing back into the fray with her current hit single 'I Want That Man' DEBORAH aka DEBBIE HARRY ...
Neneh Cherry: Send In The Clowns
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 9 December 1989
After the huge trans-Atlantic success of 'Buffalo Stance', NENEH CHERRY has established herself as one of the Pop world's most creative and exciting mainstream acts. ...
The Cramps: Barrowlands, Glasgow
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 3 March 1990
I SHOULD BE SO LUXY ...
Oleta Adams, Tears For Fears: Tears For Fears: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 24 March 1990
WOTCHA, MY name's Dave. Usually I enjoy my work as a tout, but tonight's Tears For Fears gig at the Arena is looking decidedly untasty. ...
Happy Mondays: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 21 April 1990
IN THE ARE(N)A! ...
Silverfish, Soundgarden, Swervedriver: Soundgarden, Silverfish, Swervedriver: Astoria, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 21 July 1990
ARRIVING HALF way through Swervedriver's set I canter expectantly to the front hungry for my first encounter with Thrash Metal Sub Hardcore Pop Noise. I ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Salt 'N' Pepa: Shakin' Sweet
Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 25 August 1990
Is this the end of rap's top pumptresses SALT 'N' PEPA? Bored with making millions and being reviled by all the hard rappin' 'bitches' they ...
Lisa Stansfield: The Lisa of Two Evils
Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 3 November 1990
"All around the world and ah, ah, ah, can't find my luggage." Yep, it isn't all first class and fingerbowls in the high-flying world of ...
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 17 November 1990
DOCK OF THE BOYEE ...
Marc Almond: Stray Hello Waif Goodbye
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 8 December 1990
Nine years on from 'Tainted Love', MARC ALMOND is back working with Soft Cellmate Dave Ball on his new single 'Waifs And Strays'. BARBARA ELLEN ...
Maria McKee: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 12 January 1991
Written off by the LA rock cattlemarket following the demise of neo-Country nearly men Lone Justice, MARIA MCKEE was left licking her wounds amongst famous ...
Johnny Marr, Stex: Stex — It's that Marr again
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 12 January 1991
AFTER COUNTLESS big name collaborations, Johnny Marr found unknown London funk band STEX appealing. Barbara Ellen sees them all forming a mutual appreciation society. ...
Manic Street Preachers: Royal Holloway College, Egham
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 19 January 1991
ONE OF the debates raging around selected corners of the NME office currently is: Are the Manic Street Preachers thrashing in the fizzy waters of ...
Caron Wheeler: Got a Life, Thanks
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 2 February 1991
CARON WHEELER'S acrimonious departure from the Soul II Soul posse is the stuff of music biz legend. But rather than 'chat fart' from the sidelines ...
808 State, Björk: 808 State plus Björk: Lido, Reykjavik
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 23 February 1991
CUBIK ICELANDIK ...
808 State, Björk: Björk & 808 State: In Yer Glacier!
Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 23 March 1991
I love the smell of God's farts in the morning... It smells of Reykjavik to me! Deep in the Icelandic countryside, surrounded by vile-smelling sulphur ...
Chesney Hawkes: A Block Off The Old Chip
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 15 June 1991
Indecently radiant post-Jason Golden Boy of pop and Son of Chip Tremelo, CHESNEY HAWKES has plenty on his mind: worrying about the attack of the ...
Morrissey: Victoria Hall, Hanley
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 12 October 1991
VICTORIA HALL, Hanley is what happens when ambitious architects attempt to cross Edwardian wedding cakes with youth clubs. A three-tier pyromanlac's fantasy of dusty, overstuffed ...
Primal Scream: Barrowlands, Glasgow
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 26 October 1991
GROOVIN' ON UP ...
Michael Jackson: Dangerous (Epic/All formats)
Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 30 November 1991
JACKSON BOLLOCKS ...
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 30 November 1991
IN DIN COUNTRY ...
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 7 December 1991
GLAMOUR OF THE GOTHS ...
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 11 January 1992
She's a Grade A, Class One, Turbo-driven Fruitcake, but Southern belle TORI AMOS might just be the antidote to all those cloying bottle blonde bimbettes ...
Manic Street Preachers: Generation Terrorists (Sony)
Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 8 February 1992
THE FIRST thing to acknowledge about Generation Terrorists is that the Manics have done it, they've pulled it off, they've released the debut double album ...
D:Ream, Take That: Take That, D:Ream: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 11 December 1993
PIN-UP... AND COMING ...
Hole: Live Through This (City Slang/All formats)
Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 9 April 1994
HOLE ON THE RAGE ...
Manic Street Preachers: Siamese Animal Men
Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 28 May 1994
MANIC STREET PREACHERS were once provincial PC lads, but give them a sniff of Bangkok's infamous Pat-Pong district and morality flies out the window. BARBARA ...
James: No Folk on the Wah Tour
Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 17 September 1994
They laugh! They drink! They 'partake' of nitrous oxide! Is this the JAMES of indie-folk wibble dancing legend? No! This is the About To Be ...
Kurt Cobain, Nirvana: Washington's State
Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 8 April 1995
If Cobain's death shook the rock world, its impact on his hometown went off the scales. BARBARA ELLEN visited Seattle to find out how much ...
Madonna: Meanwhile Back at the Raunch
Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 2 December 1995
Phew!!! Hold on to your seats because MADONNA is about to reveal all... NOOOOOO!!! she's not stripping off again, but she IS telling all to ...
Bob Geldof, Michael Hutchence: Paula Yates: She's Daft — But Not Wicked
Comment by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 29 September 1996
THE QUESTION begs: Is Paula Yates still wearing her 'Little Miss Trouble' T-shirt — or is it wearing her? It has been a tough week ...
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 18 May 1997
Just wanna hear girls talk? ...
The Seahorses, The Stone Roses: He was a Stone Rose. Now he's a Seahorse (and Noel loves him)
Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 25 May 1997
"JOHN'S GOT a really good band there. A year from now, we're going to be talking about one of the biggest bands in Britain, without ...
Oasis, U2: U2, Oasis: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland CA
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 22 June 1997
Last week, Oasis played to a stadium of American U2 fans. There's dedication... ...
Primal Scream, The Prodigy: The Prodigy, Primal Scream: Glasgow Green, Glasgow
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 31 August 1997
They're like the Sex Pistols. Via Mothercare ...
Bob Dylan: Dylan, God's Gift to the Pope
Comment by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 28 September 1997
YESTERDAY BOB DYLAN, rock outlaw turned born-again believer, performed for the Pope at the World Eucharist Congress in Bologna. ...
Lydia Lunch: Paradoxia – A Predator's Diary (Creation Books)
Book Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 2 November 1997
Gentlemen, you have been warned — Lydia Lunch isn't for wimps ...
Peter Andre: We know it's chilly. But where was his six-pack when the lights went on?
Report by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 9 November 1997
I AM TRAVELLING to Radio One in the back of a white limo with teen pop sensation Peter Andre, his PR, a camera crew, the ...
The NME: Days of Guns and Roses
Memoir by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 9 November 1997
IF MUSIC BE the food of love then the New Musical Express is, has always been, chips with everything. Part of its unique charm is ...
Björk: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 16 November 1997
They are not worthy. But neither is she ...
Chris Rea: Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 1 February 1998
Dire Rea ...
Meredith Brooks: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 22 February 1998
"I never get tired of hearing the bitch word" ...
Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 22 March 1998
I DON'T CARE what people say about her; I think that Cerys Matthews, the lead singer of Welsh outfit Catatonia, is a really nice bloke. ...
Jimmy Page/Robert Plant: Page & Plant: Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 29 March 1998
Page and Plant: Zep live again ...
George Michael, Solo Artist: Flash in the Pan
Profile by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 12 April 1998
ON TUESDAY this week, one Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, 34, was arrested for "lewd conduct" in a public toilet in Beverly Hills, only a few blocks ...
Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 24 May 1998
"The more comfortable I get with my sexuality, the less it leaks all over the place" ...
Boomtown Rats, The Rolling Stones, Shed Seven: It's an ugly business
Comment by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 21 June 1998
Pop rant: Why do male rock stars have faces like bags of spanners? ...
Report by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 5 July 1998
AND SO, INEVITABLY, it has come to this. In a teeming beer tent near to the main Pyramid stage at Glastonbury, Paddy is crouched over ...
Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 25 October 1998
They live a rock-and-roll lifestyle but are hung-up about virginity. They act like grown-ups but keep their clothes in baskets with schoolboy name-tags on them. ...
Kurt Cobain, Hole, Courtney Love: Love and death and the Hole damn thing...
Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 15 November 1998
It is four years since Kurt Cobain's suicide, but it is what people remember about Courtney Love. Yet she has her band, her Hollywood career ...
Marilyn Manson: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 20 December 1998
Satan's little helper ...
All Saints: Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 25 April 1999
Girl Power cut ...
R.E.M.: Pavilhao Atlantico,Lisbon
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 20 June 1999
Will R.E.M. prove to be worthy headliners at Worthy Farm? Barbara Ellen sees the band in Portugal ...
The Agony of "Soft" Ecstasy is in the Price That Others Have To Pay
Comment by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 20 June 1999
ME AND ECSTASY had this fling once. What chemical virgins don't realise is that, for most of us, getting attached to a certain drug is ...
Tim Westwood: White Lies, Black Truth
Comment by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 25 July 1999
A FRIEND OF mine was at the Notting Hill carnival a couple of years ago, and happened to catch Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood in ...
Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 31 October 1999
Both "spokesmen" for their respective generations, it's perhaps unsurprising that the men behind the Jam and Oasis became friends. Here, they talk frankly together for ...
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 14 November 1999
Sloppy and unpopular. That's trailer trash for you ...
Charlotte Church: Angel with a wicked sense of humour
Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Times, 16 November 1999
Charlotte Church insists that she's no saint — and her poor Dad agrees, says Barbara Ellen ...
Ace of Base, Michael Bolton, Captain Beefheart, Mike Oldfield: Albums from Michael Bolton et al
Review by Barbara Ellen, The Times, 26 November 1999
Bolton 1, Redding 0 (after tons of extra time) ...
Primal Scream, Simon & Garfunkel: I wanna be Bobby's grrl
Review by Barbara Ellen, The Times, 21 January 2000
SUGGESTING THAT you might like the new Primal Scream album, Exterminator (Creation £14.99) is a bit like saying that you might enjoy having a helicopter ...
Britney Spears: Oops!… I Did It Again (Jive) — She was born to make us happy
Review by Barbara Ellen, The Times, 19 May 2000
For £15 you can enjoy Britney all night long — and still have change for a Big Mac and twirly fries. Barbara Ellen gets stuck ...
Lou Reed: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Times, 21 May 2000
IN THE BAR, the bets were on for what would be Lou Reed's token "old one" encore number. We know he's going to be mainly ...
Profile and Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 9 July 2000
Charlie Watts has always marched to a different drum than the rest of the Rolling Stones. He has been happily married for 36 years, he ...
Caroline Coon: Still fighting the bad guys
Profile and Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 30 July 2000
In the '60s, Caroline Coon was famous for helping people caught in drugs busts. In the '90s she defended her right to paint penises. Now, ...
Book Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 3 September 2000
THE WOMAN THE world remembers as kohl-eyed, bouffant-haired, nightingale-voiced Dusty Springfield was actually born Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien in 1939. ...
Robbie Williams: Nobody Someday (dir. Brian Hill)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Barbara Ellen, The Times, 3 January 2002
Let him entertain you ...
Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 4 June 2006
"Opinionated" barely begins to cover it. Barbara Ellen meets the ballsy, bolshy pop star who has refreshingly barbed advice for Prince William, the Queen, shallow ...
All Saints: Saintlier than thou
Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 5 November 2006
Older and wiser after their acrimonious split, Britain's bitchiest girl group are back together — as friends, mums and bandmates. ...
Ozzy Osbourne: Lord of the Wings
Profile and Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 20 May 2007
He has snorted ants, tried to throttle his wife and bit the head off a bat. But now, Ozzy Osbourne tells Barbara Ellen, he is ...
Lianne La Havas: "I get pure happiness from making songs"
Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 26 May 2013
She is compared to Sade and Amy Winehouse, with the biggest names in music lining up to duet with her. Barbara Ellen meets Lianne La ...
Book Review by Barbara Ellen, The Guardian, 8 August 2017
This oral history of New York's musical renaissance is vivid, informative and full of passion. ...
The KLF: KLF's Welcome to the Dark Ages: What time is chaos?
Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 26 August 2017
Twenty-three years ago, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty topped off a bizarre, brilliant pop career by burning £1m. Now they're back to commemorate it with ...
Kate Bush: What joy – 40 years of hitting the heights with Kate Bush
Comment by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 21 January 2018
THE KATE BUSH song 'Wuthering Heights' is 40 years old this month. One could argue that this has momentous import for Bush, female musicians and ...
The Breeders, The Pixies: Kim Deal: "Misogyny is the backbone of the music industry"
Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 3 March 2018
KIM DEAL, 56, sings and plays rhythm guitar with the Breeders, formed in 1989 as a side project with Throwing Muses' Tanya Donelly. The band's ...
Farewell NME – irreverent, acerbic, essential. At least when I was there!
Comment by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 11 March 2018
In an era of bland stars and Spotify, is it any wonder the printed music press is no more? ...
The Supremes, Mary Wilson: Mary Wilson: "Motown was like walking into Disneyland"
Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 29 October 2019
MARY WILSON, 75, was a founding member of the Supremes, with Diana Ross and Florence Ballard. At their 1960s peak, with Detroit-based Motown records, the ...
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