Indice dei contenuti per March - April 2024 in Classic Pop

86 @ClassicPopMag LISTEN NOW How many artists can say that they’ve introduced pop fans to the work of both Marvin Gaye and Joy Division within the space of the same album? Well, Paul Young’s 1983 classic No Parlez manages to do just that – and then some... It’s a remarkable record – and let’s not forget it was the second biggest-selling album of that year. Only Thriller shifted more copies in the UK. No Parlez’s producer Laurie Latham and the album’s bass player extraordinaire Pino Palladino both make similar points in our latest cover feature. When discussions turn to the most influential artists of the 80s, why is Paul Young’s name rarely in the mix? Well, we can’t account for those decade overview TV shows that overlook Paul but we’ve…

The Specials singer Neville Staple has cancelled his forthcoming live shows after being diagnosed with a serious heart defect. A statement on his official X (formerly Twitter) account read: “Neville has been treated at three different hospitals and specialists have prescribed treatments and medications to try to control his symptoms, and thankfully things do seem to have stabilised. However, specialists have decided that Neville needs to take a complete rest from live performing and touring. “Neville absolutely loves performing and is obviously devastated by this news. He had gigs and festivals lined up for 2024 and beyond, all of which will have to be cancelled. “Neville knows that his fans and followers will understand the decision that has had to be made and he wants them to know that he…

ALL OVER THE PLACE THE BANGLES From the moment the opening licks of their career-launching single Hero Takes A Fall get their debut album underway, the warmth and reassurance that we take for granted with every Bangles record is right there. The songwriting is stellar and the band sound incredibly confident on a project that is raw, brash and unpretentious. Steeped in 60s pop construction with flickering guitars, prominent bass and swift finishes, it also gave us the unpredictability of democratically shared vocals laced with exquisite harmonies that would soon become a Bangles brand. The folky Dover Beach lilts delightfully over Debbi Peterson’s drum riff while Restless has a superb Vicki Peterson vocal and psychedelic edge. Elsewhere, More Than Meets The Eye maximises the band’s harmonic abilities, while He’s Got…

“ When people think of ‘The 80s’, it’s usually categorised as New Romantic, because of bands like Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet becoming so iconic. No Parlez was a more soul-based departure from what was going on at the time. It really stands up, and it was influential. With its backing vocals, the Simmons drums and, yes, my fretless bass, Q-Tips it’s an album with a strong identity. I still can’t think of an album that sounds quite like it. Paul and his music deserve to be remembered more than they are.” So says bass legend Pino Palladino of Paul Young’s solo debut album. He’s right, too. No Parlez has become such a staple, and the artists like Simply Red, Wet Wet Wet and Go West who followed in Paul’s…

ADAM ANT Stuart Goddard, the former bassist of Bazooka Joe – a group less famous for their output than their associations. While bandmate Daniel Kleinman went on to make his name directing James Bond opening title sequences, Goddard transformed into Adam Ant, playing a range of instruments on the record. MARCO PIRRONI Marco first played with Siouxsie And The Banshees at their debut (featuring Sid Vicious behind the kit), before the Models (alongside Terry Lee Miall), later joining the Ants as guitarist and co-songwriter. He continued to be a key player throughout Ant’s solo career. According to Chris Hughes, Marco and Adam were like Mick and Keith, driving forces behind the band. KEVIN MOONEY Besides his busy basslines, Kevin Mooney deserves serious props for his nonchalant, swagger-loaded ‘bass face’ poses,…

Discovered by the one-man hit factory Mickie Most and guided by songwriter and 50s teen idol father Marty, Kim Wilde arrived on the music scene in 1981 with a considerable early rock and roll pedigree. But her self-titled debut album soon proved that she had little interest in being the female answer to Shakin’ Stevens. Indeed, featuring prog rockers The Enid on backing, its forwardfacing melting pot of post-punk, New Wave and synth-pop was more suited to The Blitz and CBGBs than the sock hop, with only the vintage girl group harmonies on Young Heroes throwing a nod to the past. The assistance from younger brother Ricky Wilde, himself a brief pop idol in the early 70s, no doubt helped keep things fresh. Kim’s sibling produced the entire album, also…

Q When did you become a Superfan of Kasabian and why do you like them? A I became a fan back in 2014. I met my boyfriend at one of their gigs and since then we’ve seen them 50 times together, in eight countries. I love the band because their music is brilliant, they’re amazing live, and great to their fans. Q What items do you have in your collection? A There’s over 200 items including CDs, vinyl, DVDs and cassettes. I also own posters, T-shirts, setlists, drumsticks and drumskins as well as maracas, playing cards and a vodka bottle. Q How much have you spent on your collection? A I’ve no idea of the exact amount, but I’d guess around £8,000-£10,000. There’s lots that I wouldn’t be able to…

1 GIRLS ALOUD WHAT WILL THE NEIGHBOURS SAY? The double platinum-selling second album from Girls Aloud is set to be reissued on 8 March in deluxe edition expanded form. The new 3CD set boasts the original UK version of the LP plus rarities, demos and exclusive remixes. Also featured are three previously unreleased songs – the group’s cover of Chris Isaac’s Wicked Game and two new tracks from the GA vault that didn’t make the final cut of the album, Disco Bunny and Baby When You Go. 2 BON JOVI BON JOVI DELUXE EDITION The New Jersey favourites celebrate the 40th anniversary of their eponymous debut album with a newly remastered limited-edition ruby vinyl featuring an alternate cover design, high-end tip-on jacket and exclusive lithograph from an early Ross Halfin…

WARNER  John Squire recently admitted that, by the time The Stone Roses’ comeback singles All For One and Beautiful Thing emerged in 2016, the band were effectively finished. Squire’s two reflective solo albums merit reassessment, but neither were exactly awash with bravado. Before that, you have to cast your mind all the way back to 1997 when his band The Seahorses reached No.2 in the UK with their debut LP. Blimey. Since the Roses’ final shows in 2017, Liam Gallagher has been reborn, all three solo albums reaching No.1. Commercially at least, Liam’s hero has more to prove. Thankfully, the pair’s album – long story short, they got together by chance – is a casual, often casually brilliant, affair. Good as Gallagher has been solo, his co-writers haven’t captured his…

DUOPHONIC/DRAG CITY Though the former Stereolab singer may still be tackling big issues like neo-fascism, emancipation and Gnosticism on her fifth solo album, you’d be hard pressed to tell, and not just if you can’t understand the French she employs to predictably seductive effect on a song such as Panser L’Inacceptable. That breezy tune looks back to childhood’s wounds, but Sadier’s voice is an angelic balm and, though Who + What explores similarly weighty ideas of a more global healing, it could also be old post-rock friends Tortoise backing some appealingly insubstantial chanson with the carefree delight of The 5th Dimension. Indeed, Sadier sounds wonderfully easy-going throughout these 10 tracks. Rooting For Love is a mesmeric, seemingly effortless collection that may not provoke the thrills of, say, French Disko, but…

COLUMBIA Cast your mind back to 2006 and chances are, if you were hanging around a student bar at the time, Standing In The Way Of Control would have been blasting out of the loudspeakers. And in singer Beth Ditto, indie had found itself a new LGBTQ+ icon, one with a powerhouse voice, as much at home in pop as rock. Gossip (or The Gossip, as they were then) should have been massive, but they somehow fell by the wayside, releasing just five albums (of which only two made the UK Top 40) before splitting in 2016. This, then, is Gossip’s first album since 2012’s A Joyful Noise, and reunites them with Rick Rubin, the producer of possibly their best long-player, 2009’s effervescent Music For Men. Anyone thinking that a…

TWIN When she’s not writing songs recorded by the likes of Troye Sivan, Betty Who and BTS, Canadian musician Alexandra Hughes crafts note-perfect 80s synth-pop and darkwave as Allie X. Her delightful third LP, Girl With No Face effortlessly nails a retro vibe with genuine enthusiasm. Galina sounds like a lost mid-80s Madonna hit, while Hardware Software offers up winking double entendres atop robotic keyboards. Meanwhile, fans of Hazel O’Connor will want to crank up theatrical moments such as the title track and Off With Her Tits. AZ…

MOM+POP Having briefly stopped faffing about for 2018’s Little Dark Age, the infamously wayward duo revert to their default setting of Maddeningly Frustrating. Although first single Mother Nature was a fabulous Britpop ballad, only the Simon & Garfunkel folk of Nothing To Declare otherwise lives up to their potential. Christine And The Queens duet Dancing In Babylon is a self-indulgent skronk, most songs drifting in a mess of jams and aimless balladry, like Mercury Rev smothered by a Cath Kidston pillow. One day, they’ll stop being the frat party Hall & Oates. JE…

DEATHLESS Having stayed busy writing with Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Afghan Whigs and Nick Cave as well as releasing two instrumental albums, it’s surprising this is Ed Harcourt’s first vocal LP in eight years. Even more surprising, given Harcourt’s versatility, is how one-paced his return is. Aside from his cavernous croon in Seraphina and the wild hairpin ride of Deathless, a succession of baroque ballads glide past. They’re individually lovely but, by the winsome title track, they start to feel driven by a florid autopilot, diluting the overall sincerity. Undoubtedly classy, but far from Harcourt’s finest work. JE…

CHRYSALIS Pete Wylie is possibly the greatest songwriter to come out of Liverpool since The Beatles. Ian McCulloch might have had better cheekbones, FGTH sold more records, but no one could write songs that dig into the deep human need for hope and reassurance that sustains us during the darkest of times like Wylie. Really, he should be up there as a British icon alongside Kevin Rowland, if not Paul Weller. That Wylie’s case still has to be made can be put down to (a) his contrary nature – see our interview in the last issue – (b) a failure to master the album format and (c) that ridiculous policy of changing his band’s name every year. You’d hope this long overdue Best Of might start to correct this, even…

CHERRY RED Despite having never officially split, Kissing The Pink are fundamentally a New Wave enigma from a four-year 1980s period. This 5CD set mainly focuses on the Londoners’ first three albums from 1983-86, along with mixes and single edits. The package also contains an insightful booklet featuring a readable 2022 band interview. Debut album Naked features Colin Thurston, fresh from producing Duran Duran’s first two albums. As its title suggests, Naked has a stripped down, ragged feel, and it works. Third LP Certain Things Are Likely has aged least well, despite guests including Simple Minds’ ex-bassist Derek Forbes. It was the most disappointing for fans and critics in 1986: 38 years later, its sound remains thin and overly polished in comparison to the richness of What Noise that preceded…

CHERRY POP Best known as a singles artist, it’s high time Kim Wilde’s albums were afforded some exposure, even if this 4CD set does reveal a severe case of diminishing returns. Wilde’s self-titled debut is still an energetic delight, though. Taking its cue from the New Wave of Blondie, it sticks close to the Kids In America blueprint. With excursions into Police-style reggae (Everything We Know) and a 2-Tone knees up on 2-6-5-8-0,it’s as good a time capsule of 1981 as classic albums Dare or Prince Charming. Team Wilde – at this stage brother Ricky and dad Marty wrote and produced Kim’s material – couldn’t keep up the standard. 1982’s Select inserted synths at the expense of guitars, but suffers from filler. And the less said about the following year’s…

DEMON Sometimes overlooked among the glut of Britpop giants, OCS remain a force. This 4LP set is a reminder of their strengths. Previously only available on VHS, 1998’s Stirling Castle live show is unfiltered and bombastic. In contrast, the folky Jam House homecoming gig unearths hidden gems including Second Hand Car, while 2015’s double LP Live At The Bridgewater Hall, first released for Record Store Day, has become a collector’s item – its electrifying Profit In Peace has never sounded so relevant. Enjoy Fowler, Craddock and Harrison at their soulful best. LC…

ROUGH TRADE Back in 2009, Sea Power still traded with ‘British’ as a prefix and Do You Like Rock Music? was not a niche question. While their third album sounds of its time, their wit and arcane references elevate this above much indie of the era. On the anthemic Waving Flags, they address the incipient nationalism that came to dominate our age, while No Lucifer is surely the catchiest indie rock song to ever allude to Big Daddy. Fans will cherish this 2LP/2CD 15th anniversary edition’s radio sessions, B-sides and journalist Roy Wilkinson’s extensive sleevenotes, too. Jeremy Allen…

NINE EIGHT BOOKS One of the most influential music scribes of all time whose tenure was cut tragically short by ill health, Tom Hibbert is memorialised in this superb celebration of his life and work, lovingly curated by Barney Hoskins and Jasper Murison-Bowie. It begins with a selection of Hibbert’s musings for New Music News, a short-lived music paper that begun his accidental foray into journalism before highlighting Tom’s ground-breaking work for Smash Hits and Q. Although he featured in countless publications, it was in the pages of those two titles that he established his eccentric and acerbic style, christening pop stars with hilarious monikers at the former and daring public figures to take themselves too seriously with his celebrated ‘Who The Hell Does... Think They Are?’ series at the…

The winner of the Best Writer, Specialist category, in 2022’s British Society of Magazine Editors Awards, our latest issue sees John Earls serve up our Paul Young No Parlez cover feature, catch up with James ahead of their Yummy LP release and oversee our new albums and reissues reviews sections. Annie Zaleski is a writer and editor who’s contributed to NPR Music, Salon, Record Collector and The Guardian. She has also penned multiple books, including an extensive look at Duran Duran’s Rio for Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series. This issue, Annie delves into The Waterboys’ massive new boxset 1985 with Mike Scott and reviews yet another fantastic post-reunion effort from Ride. Steve O’Brien has written for such publications as The Guardian, Radio Times, The New Statesman and Empire. For Classic Pop,…

Soul favourite Gabrielle has released the title track of her new forthcoming studio album. Premiered during her recent 30 Years Of Dreaming Tour, which saw the singer headline the Royal Albert Hall, A Place In Your Heart, is the lead song from the upcoming LP of the same name, set for release on 10 May. The album continues Gabrielle’s creative partnership with producer and co-writer Ian Barter (Paloma Faith, Amy Winehouse) after their success with 2018’s Top 10 comeback Under My Skin and 2021’s Do It Again, which became the singer’s highest charting long-player in 20 years when it debuted at No.4 in the UK. Gabrielle will play live throughout 2024 with a gig schedule that includes dates with Chaka Khan, Tom Jones, Paloma Faith and James Arthur.…

TANTALISE (WO WO EE YEH YEH) JIMMY THE HOOVER With a joyous steel drum motif and top-notch singalong chorus, Tantalise was a terrific, if rather fluffy pop song. It’s just a pity that Jimmy The Hoover weren’t allowed to prove they could repeat the feat. The four-piece, assembled and named by Malcolm McLaren, were dropped by their record label, Innervision, after a follow-up single failed to chart. With a later attempt at a comeback equally as unsuccessful, it meant that a six-week spell in the UK Top 40 in the summer of 1983 and one appearance on Top Of The Pops came to define their entire career. But it was a great song, with vocalist Derek Dunbar – blond curtains, leather jacket open at the waist – singing about the…

The genre doesn’t even have a name, which is an oddity in music where someone is always quick to categorise anything that moves. Around 1988, when this genre emerged, the most accurate description was “the dance rock crossover.” Which was, frankly, just too bland and fleeting, and nowhere near as weighty as it should have been. So I’m going to christen it right now: Intergalactic Punk Rock Hip-Hop. I’ve borrowed the name, of course, from a line by one of its main exponents, Pop Will Eat Itself. As soon as singer Clint Mansell – now a Hollywood film composer, with a Grammy nomination for Black Swan to his credits – sung these lines on Top Of The Pops, I knew he was on to something: Let’s catch the last rays…

KINGS OF THE WILD FRONTIER Treatment wise, it’s surprisingly simple for a group known for their theatrics – just the band performing, squashed into the corner of a white-walled room. But the austere set dressing acts a blank canvas for the vibrant, costumed gang to do their thing, enhanced by vaguely psychedelic shadows projected onto the wall. It’s the performance that makes it compelling, tension heightened by jarring jump cuts. The video was directed by Stephanie Gluck and Clive Richardson, the latter of whom helmed promos for Tears For Fears, the Banshees and Depeche Mode. ANTMUSIC Set in a nightclub, the video builds on literal visualisations of the lyrics: out with the old (disco) and in with the new sound, as they turn off the jukebox with a comedic, oversized…

Given its current worldwide popularity, it’s hard to comprehend that hip-hop originated more than 50 years ago in the impoverished neighbourhoods of New York, where street parties were regularly held to boost the morale of the city’s African-American communities. It wasn’t until the release of Rapper’s Delight in 1979 that hip-hop finally transcended the ghettos into the mainstream, and in the ensuing decade it became a global phenomenon, growing exponentially as sampling and beatbox technology evolved. From old-school rhyming through to hard-hitting social commentary, we return to this golden age of hip-hop, when rappers and turntablists alike were finally recognised as skilful and credible artists. 20 DJ JAZZY JEFF AND THE FRESH PRINCE PARENTS JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND (1988) Prior to telling us all about how his life got flipped-turned upside…

Forty years ago, Dee C. Lee was at the very centre of British pop. A backing vocalist for Wham!, a member of The Style Council and a solo artist in her own right, she seemed to be everywhere and to know everyone. Looking at her discography, it's a roll-call of some of the most seismic pop names of the 80s and 90s - George Michael, Paul Weller, Dr Robert, Guru, Jamiroquai. But then, in 1998, after the release of her fourth album Smiles, the trail runs cold. Until now, that is. "I needed a change, you know," the singer tells Classic Pop, 26 years on from that farewell record. "It was different times. I was starting a family etc etc, and I suddenly realised, my children are having children and…

RCA She may have come out of the blocks with a debut album called Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?, but it’s taken a further 15 years to get the really unvarnished version of Paloma Faith. A no-filter journey through the breakdown of the relationship with the father of her two young children, The Glorification Of Sadness finds the singer exploring both sides of her inner monologue, switching between defiance – on dramatic female empowerment anthems like God In A Dress, How You Leave A Man and the euphoric Eat Shit And Die – and wistful regret on Adele-style ballads Divorce and Already Broken. Meanwhile, Sweatpants dares to lift the curtain on the domestic drudgery behind Faith’s kooky, baby-doll glamour. Alongside her trademark retro-soul stylings, the album’s musical…

EXILOPHONE Jake Shillingford’s second album since fully reviving the My Life Story name in 2016 is more in line with his past dramatic pop than 2019’s slightly tentative comeback World Citizen. Alongside The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon, Shillingford was the prime mover of orchestral music during Britpop. While Hannon recently composed the soundtrack for the mega-budget blockbuster Wonka, Shillingford has disappeared from public view. However, the difference in budget hasn’t dimmed his ambition one iota. Although Depeche Mode producer Ben Hillier is on mixing duties, MLS is now down to a duo of Shillingford and advert music composer Nick Evans. The in-house orchestra of their 11-piece days which worked with Marc Almond and Morrissey has long gone, but the yearning Wasted and widescreen relationship drama Bubblewrap are as grandiose as…

FALLEN ANGEL For many, Sarah Jane Morris will always be the contralto foil to Jimmy Somerville’s countertenor on The Communards 1986’s smash Don’t Leave Me This Way, though she’s not been idle since. Going solo in 1989, Morris has recorded 15 albums that trip decorously between jazz, soul and R&B, including 2020’s John Martyn tribute Sweet Little Mystery, made with her primary collaborator, the arranger Tony Rémy. Her latest, The Sisterhood is also a tribute album, dedicated to 10 formative female influences. Morris had wanted to make this record 20 years ago, though it was during lockdown that she and husband Mark Pulsford finally began writing lyrical homages to everyone from Kate Bush to blues singer Bessie Smith. Sometimes we get a blow-byblow biographical account, as is the case with…

VALORY Six years after Sheryl Crow swore off releasing full-length albums, the newly-minted Rock & Roll Hall Of Famer returns with Evolution, an eclectic nine-song set affirming her versatility. Although there’s the expected moments of easy-going rock’n’roll – highlighted by the rootsy You Can’t Change The Weather – Crow generally goes in bolder directions. Stormy strings and a psychedelic electric guitar solo from Tom Morello surge through the title track; Don’t Walk Away is a longing-filled piano ballad; and album highlight Alarm Clock is a grade-A 70s bubblegum pop throwback. AZ…

KAISER CHIEFS RECORDINGS Leaving Universal after seven albums really does seem to have revitalised the indie favourites, who turn in their most up-for-it LP in a decade. Produced by Amir Amor, formerly of Rudimental, it’s 30 consistently excitable minutes, though The Job Centre Shuffle’s ire is explicitly political rock rivalling The Angry Mob and The Factory Gates. The raucous Jealousy and The Lads belong on their early LPs, but – aided by Nile Rodgers on Feeling Alright – the Kaisers have progressed into steely funk first hinted at back on Oh My God. It takes skill to sound this easy. JE…

DEMON Paul Young’s debut album is such a second-hand vinyl staple that it’s become a hack shorthand for disposable 80s music. This is, it can’t be emphasised enough, absolute toffee: there’s a reason that No Parlez sold two million in Britain alone. Its familiar hits helped usher in the sound of the second half of the 80s: no Paul Young, no Simply Red or Wet Wet Wet. Love Of The Common People and Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home) are classics now, but nobody knew what to make of Young when he landed in the middle of synth-pop’s imperial phase. Once the public recognised Young’s easy way with a tune, No Parlez stayed in the UK albums chart for more than two years thanks to word of mouth.…

CHERRY RED Four decades after Life In A Northern Town landed them a surprise US Top 10 hit – and a quarter of a century after Dario Gsampled it for his Euro smash Sunchyme – The Dream Academy remain a hazy presence in Britain’s folk-pop memory. Adding oboe, cor anglais and timpani to their male-female sophisti-pop, the London trio of singer-songwriter Nick Laird-Clowes, multi-instrumentalist Kate St John and keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel were basically a posh Prefab Sprout. They weren’t as good as Prefab (who is?), and their signature song’s cod-African chants and poverty tourism lyrics – inspired by Laird-Clowes’ visits to Newcastle to co-present The Tube – perhaps haven’t aged brilliantly. But their three albums released between 1985-1990 – with David Gilmour, Lindsey Buckingham and Hugh Padgham earning production credits…

DHARMA Marking 20 years since their second album featured lounge classic Daydream In Blue, Human League production duo I Monster have also reunited: they’re touring for the first time in 18 years and this vinyl reissue adds an extras disc containing six unreleased tracks and three new songs: the exhilarating Won’t Give Your Love suggests their full return could be quite something. With Richard Hawley on guitar, the original album remains a maverick delight. It ranges from emo-tinged TikTok hit Who Is She? to near-novelty whomper Stobart’s Blues. JE…

PARTISAN In the early 70s, while largely ignored in the UK, Brit funk band Cymande toured with Al Green and came close to a major US breakthrough. But sustained success never arrived. They split in 1974, but were rediscovered and sampled during the breakbeat era. Album two, Second Time Round, reissued to coincide with a new band documentary, shows why the likes of De La Soul were so fascinated. Here’s a jazz-tinged, politically engaged album made by musicians who, as members of the Windrush generation, brought a distinctive Caribbean influence to all that they did. JW…

PARLOPHONE Commercially interrupting the Light Years/Fever comeback, only early Dan Carey production Slow was a big hit on an album stalling at UK No.6. Scritti Politti and Adam Ant were cited as influences; ironically, going back to childhood makes for one of Kylie’s most futureproof albums. Alt-80s experimentation didn’t make for obvious pop, yet the nagging bleeps of Still Standing and Sweet Music sound more aligned to 2024 than 2003, while Kurtis Mantronik’s two productions are bliss. If you ignored it at the time, this vinyl reissue will likely be a welcome surprise. JE…

JAWBONE PRESS As landmark years in music go, 1977 must be right up there. Saturday Night Fever, punk and the release of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours alone are enough to immortalise it as a seminal 12 months. It was also the year that Neil Finn, a New Zealandborn teenager embarked upon his own musical career. Surely he could never have envisioned that 40 years on he’d be centre stage with Stevie Nicks & Co on a global tour. And that extraordinary journey is recounted in meticulous detail in Don’t Dream It’s Over, Jeff Apter’s new biography of Finn. Beginning with a 1977 phonecall when Tim Finn invited his younger brother to join his band Split Enz, Apter follows Neil’s life and career in Split Enz to the glory days of Crowded…

Pet Shop Boys have revealed details of their new studio album Nonetheless, which sees the duo return home to their original label Parlophone. Scheduled for release on 26 April, the 10-track Nonetheless is helmed by James Ford. It’s the first time that Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have worked with the acclaimed producer, who has overseen albums by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Blur and Gorillaz. Nonetheless’ lead track Loneliness was previewed on Zoe Ball’s Radio 2 show on 31 January. Recorded and mixed in the capital following sessions at Ford’s East London studio in 2023, the new album will also feature orchestral parts laid down at The Church studio. In a press statement about the LP, Pet Shop Boys said: “We wanted this album to be a…

UB40 are hitting the road this winter on a major arena tour – and Classic Pop has tickets to give away to lucky readers. The reggae legends begin their eight-date tour at the London OVO Arena Wembley on 1 November. Also on their itinerary is a hometown gig at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham on 9 November and a trip north of the border to Glasgow’s OVO Hydro on 16 November. Further dates comprise shows in Liverpool, Cardiff, Leeds, Nottingham and Belfast. Classic Pop has four pairs of tickets to give away to readers, either seated or standing, for a venue and date of the winners’ choice. To enter the competition, simply scan the QR code above to visit the Classic Pop website.…

Did you have any music posters on your bedroom wall as a kid? I had the poster that came with the More Specials album and one that came with the Shoplifters Of The World Unite record, but I also used to have loads of soundtrack posters – John Carpenter’s Prince Of Darkness came with a free poster, too. What’s the first pop song you remember loving? Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs by Brian And Michael. I remember really hoping that Kate Bush wouldn’t get to No.1 with Wuthering Heights, because I really wanted Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs to stay there. Then about a year later, I became obsessed with 2 Tone, that was my first real love in music. Do you have an all-time favourite…

French duo Air will play a one-off live show at the Royal Albert Hall on 30 May to coincide with the 25th anniversary celebrations of seminal album Moon Safari. Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel will also perform their 1998 album in its entirety for the first time across Europe in February and March this year. An associated Moon Safari reissue of a deluxe edition 2CD/Blu Ray will include a Spatial Dolby Atmos audio version of the original album including rare or previously unreleased tracks. Also featured in the set will be Mike Mills’ 1998 Air documentary Eating, Sleeping, Waiting & Playing, which was filmed during the duo’s first worldwide tour. While the multi-million-selling Moon Safari has since gone down as an all-time classic release, the initial ambitions for it were…

04 Linda Ronstadt finishes recording her album of traditional pop standards. What’s New would be released in September 1983 and peaks at No.3 on the Billboard chart and No.31 in the UK. 05 Michael Jackson starts a seven-week run at No.1 in the US with Billie Jean, his fourth solo American chart-topper. 07 Bananarama release their debut album, Deep Sea Skiving, on London Records. It peaks at No.7 in the UK. 07 New Order release Blue Monday as a 12” single through Factory Records. A UK No.9, the track would go on to become the biggest-selling 12” of all time, shifting almost 1.2 million copies in the UK alone. 12 Bonnie Tyler enjoys her only UK No.1 single with the Jim Steinman-penned Total Eclipse Of The Heart. 12…

1 DOG EAT DOG Ant was the master of the attentiongrabbing intro – those thundering drums (apparently designed to prevent a radio DJ talking over them) have become his calling card. Call-and-response yelping and cheering are set to Marco’s 50s-style tremolo guitar, straight out of a country tune. It’s a wonderfully chaotic post-punk concoction – almost proto-rap with its indiscernible structure, built on riffs and chants over a hypnotic groove. Their first true chart success, it rocketed into the UK Top 5, landing at No.4. 2 ANTMUSIC Another earworm intro – and today instantly identifiable – with the percussive clicking of drum sticks, before those characteristic toms come in. This is the call to arms. Their manifesto – “That music’s lost its taste, so try another flavour: Antmusic” – is…

Coinciding with their 40th anniversary, James were recently honoured with the Icon award by The Ivors. It’s the biggest prize in British songwriting, which many would say is overdue for a band who’ve created classics including Sit Down, Laid, Born Of Frustration and Sometimes. The band themselves were less certain of their status when they attended the ceremony last May, as multi-instrumentalist Saul Davies admits: “We sat there, thinking about the luminaries who’d won Ivors before us, how they’d studiously sit around a piano and write songs in a technically able way. Then we thought about the unholy fucking mess James are when we write. If the Ivors knew what they were actually honouring, it’d be hilarious.” With nine people contributing to James’ music, it’s little wonder their songwriting is…

Few bands live long enough to salute their 50th anniversary, and at various points in Squeeze’s life, it looked like they’d be among those that wouldn’t make that milestone. After all, since forming in 1974 they’ve split twice, in 1982 and 1999, with its core members – Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook – barely speaking to each other in the years in between. But there’s something about these two titans of English pop that keeps them in each other’s orbit. Rolling Stone wrote in 1981 that “the British New Wave has finally found its own John Lennon and Paul McCartney” and that comparison has hung around the songwriting team of Difford and Tilbrook ever since. But whereas the Lennon/McCartney partnership burned out in 1970, never to be reignited, Chris and…

What is it? Some might say that ambient has little right being in a pop magazine. Pop, they’d argue, is all about formula, rules and the shimmering beauty of a taut, three-minute nugget that’s destined to work either your feet or your heart. Ambient, on the other hand, is about spaciousness and atmosphere more than melodies and rhythm, music that’s meant to evoke a mood, music that you can daydream or meditate to. Yet some of pop’s most accomplished tunesmiths have sidelined into ambient. Who’d have thought that one of the men behind Virginia Plain – we’re talking Brian Eno here – would, just six years later in Ambient 1: Music For Airports, create an album so minimalist, so slight, that it baffled most critics. Rolling Stone magazine wrote, presumably…

THE HOT LIST 80 Girls Aloud, Bon Jovi, Bruce Sudano, Pixies NEW RELEASES 81 James, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Liam Gallagher John Squire, Dee C. Lee, Karl Bartos, Yard Act, My Life Story, Paloma Faith, The Dandy Warhols, Laetitia Sadier, Ride, Gossip, Sarah Jane Morris, Master Peace, Kaiser Chiefs, MGMT, Zara Larsson, Allie X, Ed Harcourt, Sheryl Crow, Starsailor, Nouvelle Vague REISSUES 88 Bananarama, Various – Now Yearbook ‘90, Now Eighties Dancefloor: Soul & Disco, Now Millennium ‘04-’05, Paul Young, Pete Wylie And The Mighty Wah!, The Waterboys, Cutting Crew, Orbital, Kissing The Pink, Climie Fisher, Kim Wilde, The Dream Academy, Kylie Minogue, ABC, Sheena Easton, I Monster, Ocean Colour Scene, Death In Vegas, Cymande, British Sea Power LIVE 94 Suede, The Loveless BOOKS 97 Phew, Eh Readers? The…

FUZZ CLUB Four decades on from their Creation debut, Upside Down, Jim and William Reid still make an almighty racket. If that’s not quite the same noise as previously, it’s less that age has caught up with the brothers, more that they’ve tweaked their approach. In particular, the Mary Chain’s beat these days leans noticeably more towards motorik than in former years. This is clear on lead track Venal Joy, which chugs but, crucially, also builds, setting out the sonic palette for the first new Mary Chain long-player in seven years. Over this, Jim Reid spits lyrics that reference carnal knowledge on a table, pissing/not pissing on fire and a “venal heartbeat filled with hate”. The sheer sullenness is both immediately familiar and hugely impressive. Lead single jamcod adds swirling…

SUNSET BLVD The Dandy Warhols have not been an easy band to pin down for more than 20 years now. You can still picture them in their swaggering psych-pop pomp, even if in 2003, they began to pivot towards electronica with a little production help from Nick Rhodes. Since then they have shapeshifted frequently, in 2020 presenting the world with Tafelmuzik Means More When You’re Alone, a mildly baffling three-and-a-half hours of ambient instrumental music. Last year’s psychobilly-adjacent The Summer Of Hate single suggested the four-piece could be returning to some semblance of normality, relatively speaking, and so it proves with Rockmaker. This 12th album has a more industrial timbre than previous outings, especially on opener The Doomsday Bells and the QOTSA-lite Alcohol and Cocainemarijuananicotine. Courtney Taylor-Taylor’s baritone vocal submerges…

WICHITA/PIAS Since reuniting a decade ago, Ride have worked diligently to forge a legacy that builds upon – but isn’t beholden to – the noisy shoegaze and gossamer dream-pop of their 90s heyday. That’s no criticism: 2017’s Weather Diaries and 2019’s This Is Not A Safe Place, both made with Duran Duran producer Erol Alkan, found the band seamlessly incorporating modern electronic sounds and atmospheric prog flourishes. Interplay is an even bolder step forward. Working with producer Richie Kennedy (The Libertines, Interpol), Ride loosen their boundaries in thrilling ways. The folk-leaning Stay Free and tranquil electronic sprawl Essaouria both possess a psychedelic bent, while Talk Talk and Tears for Fears are also inspirations. The former’s influence is evident on the synth-sparkled highlight Monaco, while Sunrise Chaser nods to the latter’s…

EMI A genre-mashing young Londoner championed by Damon Albarn, Master Peace’s debut fits a hell of a lot into just 31 minutes. The only guest is Georgia, adding bite to I Might Be Fake’s explosive synth-pop, a style Master Peace tackles with more euphoria on Heaven and celebratory finale Happiness Is Love. Albarn’s love of recent single Loo Song makes total sense, considering the restless energy of Panic 101 and Start You Up would fit right in on Blur’s Modern Life Is Rubbish. Master Peace has previously written with Kele Okereke, whose band Bloc Party are shot through the taunting Get Naughty!, with Sick In The Bathroom showing Master Peace can do pop-punk, too, if he wants. With such a brief runtime, thankfully none of the tracks are wasted, a…

TOWNSEND Mixing rousing anthems, such as Heavyweight and Better Times, with the more reflective likes of After The Rain and Hard Love, Starsailor return to Embrace’s Richard McNamara to helm production duties on their first studio album in seven years and deliver a collection full of gripping guitars and fervid vocals. Reminiscent of early Bowie and Pink Floyd, the title track perfectly encapsulates where the band exist today and is one of many standout moments. It’s an album that’s sure to satisfy long-term fans and win new ones. Dan Biggane…

SOMMER HOUSE After four Top 10 hits and enlisting producers including David Guetta, Danja and Rick Nowels for her fourth album, Zara Larsson has quietly established herself as a one-woman Swedish pop factory. These 12 songs comply to modern pop rules, crucially without losing her identity: like Kylie, you can instantly tell it’s Larsson serving attitude along with earworms on Escape and Ammunition. None Of These Guys is like Olivia Newton-John at her most infectious, while slowie Soundtrack seems destined for endless TV idents. It’s a fine mixture of obvious and diverse. JE…

CHRYSALIS When young bands are just starting out, they tend to write so much material that their early records have a well-defined sonic throughline. That’s certainly true with The Waterboys, whose first three albums embodied the widescreen ‘Big Music’ movement that also propelled Big Country to stardom. By the time the band released their third album, 1985’s This Is The Sea – which featured their first and most familiar hit single in The Whole Of The Moon – Mike Scott’s collective had refined their stirring, spiritual combination of folk, rock and post-punk. 1985, a new 6CD boxset tracing the evolution of This Is The Sea, makes it quite clear that this was no easy task, as the recording process eventually encompassed sessions at multiple studios, involving a producer switch and…

CHERRY POP While not quite a one-hit wonder in the UK – second single I’ve Been In Love Before would peak at No.24 – Cutting Crew do remain best known for just the one song. In some respects, it’s a surprise that (I Just) Died In Your Arms only pops up twice on this 52-track 3CD set, via its single version and 12” remix, alongside the three studio albums which the Londoners recorded between 1986 and 1992. Broadcast, The Scattering and Compus Mentus are here joined by a wealth of B-sides, remixes and demos. Listening to these now, it’s surprising not that Nick Van Eede and co. didn’t have sustained homeland success, but that North America didn’t take to them more, with only their debut LP charting there, reaching No.16…

CHERRY POP In 1988, it seemed possible that Climie Fisher might just become Britain’s Hall & Oates. As purveyors of slickly produced blue-eyed soul-pop, the duo enjoyed international hits with Rise To The Occasion and Love Changes (Everything). Debut album Everything reached the UK Top 20 and second offering Coming In For The Kill, released in 1989, was supposed to seal the deal. Instead, the long-player never quite landed with the public. Simon Climie and Rob Fisher split shortly after its release. At 35 years’ remove, it’s easy to imagine why Climie Fisher ran out of road. While there are strong tracks here, there’s a sense of a late synth-pop era-infused polish getting in the way of the album’s strongest material. This means the hooks in songs such as the…

MUSIC ON VINYL Joining Music On Vinyl’s reissues of The Contino Sessions and Scorpio Rising, Death In Vegas’ mischievous debut is back on vinyl for the first time since 1997 (still minus later CD editions’ inclusion of Twist And Crawl.) Their only album to feature house DJ Steve Hellier, and to eschew guests, it remains a great statement of intent. Twisting, itchy paranoia is leavened by a succession of earworm riffs, before side four’s trio of claustrophobic dub tracks removes the stabilisers to leave listeners cut adrift. They would get slicker: here is Death In Vegas displaying their uncut menace. JE…

CHERRY POP Re-released on vinyl for its 40th anniversary, this Spanish-language hotchpotch is the most baffling entry in Sheena Easton’s catalogue. The Scot had no ties with Latin America, its translations of her hits arriving before she repositioned herself as a Prince-affiliated seductress. There’s also a romantic duet with 14-year-old Luis Miguel: controversially, the icky Me Gustas Tal Como Eres won a Grammy. Beyond any cultural appropriation, Todo Me… remains inessential, with the other new tracks (Amame, Una Vez En La Vida) resembling lower-tier Eurovision. Jon O’Brien…

MUSIC ON VINYL After finally landing on streaming in 2022, ABC’s first post-Mark White album from 1997 now makes its vinyl debut. Written and produced with Glenn Gregory and ambient DJ Keith Lowndes, it’s a mixed record, Martin Fry trying too hard to sound confident at times. The garish Rolling Sevens is more Republica than Roxy, while Stranger Things is merely a Be Near Me knock-off. But Love Is Its Own Reward’s straight-up glam and the prog-leaning Light Years show that Fry could cope without White, even venturing towards ZZ Top on Heaven Knows. JE…

WORDZWORTH PUBLISHING Born out of a need to be creative during the 2020 lockdown and a keen interest in his ancestry, Phil Manzanera’s autobiography is an access-all-areas pass into the life of the legendary guitarist. While the first acts of many memoirs lag with tales of uneventful childhoods, that’s not the case here with Phil’s formative years beginning in 1950s Cuba and Hawaii before his arrival in London just as the capital began swinging. Manzanera’s recruitment to Roxy Music marks the start of his illustrious career and the band’s break-ups and make-ups are interspersed throughout Revolución To Roxy with his countless other roles. As a performer and producer who has shared the studio or stage with David Gilmour, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan and Héroes del Silencio among many others, Phil…

BLOOMSBURY Following on from her enthralling exposé of the Britpop scene, Lunch With The Wild Frontiers, and in-depth analysis of Suede’s Coming Up in Here They Come With Their Make-Up On, Jane Savidge proves she still has more than enough stories for her third book on the 90s music scene. Published as part of Bloomsbury’s fantastic 33 1/3 series, Jane’s gaze homes in on the end of the Britpop party and the release of Pulp’s This Is Hardcore album. As with the rest of the 33 1/3 series, Savidge offers a deep dive into the LP as well as the social and musical climate surrounding its release, yet this volume benefits hugely from Jane’s position in the eye of the storm, acting as Pulp’s PR at the time. From Savidge’s…

Always go out when you’re on top – that seemed to be the maxim Paul Weller applied to The Jam in 1982. Whereas some bands fall apart when their star begins to fade, The Jam were, by the time of their sixth and final long-player, as big a deal as they’d ever been. Both of The Gift’s 45s – the chart-topping Town Called Malice and No.8 hit Just Who Is The 5 O’Clock Hero? – were major successes. The album itself, meanwhile, would be their first No.1. Weller and The Jam, it seemed, had the world at their feet at the time of The Gift’s release in March 1982, and yet the singer would sensationally split the band just seven months later. “I wanted to end it to see what…