Tabla de contenidos para May - June 2022 en Classic Pop

It’s a much overused adjective, but I can’t think of a better way to describe Billy Mackenzie than ‘inimitable’. A bracingly unique vocalist, who else has fused the influences of Dusty Springfield, Billie Holiday and post-punk to come up with avant-garde pop? In our expansive cover feature this issue we meet those who worked with Mackenzie down the years to tell the story of The Associates – both before and after they dropped the definite article – and in particular go behind the scenes of their game-changing Sulk album. We speak to Billy’s right-hand man Alan Rankine, bandmate Michael Dempsey and producer Mike Hedges, the latter pithily summing up Mackenzie’s forward-thinking brilliance: “Bill was fanatical about avoiding any well-trodden path.” For an album that made the UK Top 10 and…

BRING IT DOWN (THIS INSANE THING) REDSKINS The Redskins formed out of York punk act No Swastikas and added a soulful element to anarchic alt-rock, throwing a prominent brass section into their only Top 40 hit. Bring It Down (This Insane Thing) is a slick piece of guitar pop, aided by a mountainous drum track from The Style Council’s Steve White and a resonant vocal from ex-NME writer Chris Dean. The brass was provided by a quartet consisting of three trumpeters and a saxophonist who contributed to much of the band’s work. The track is also notable for the “hate the rich, delete unfairness, detest inequality” quote at the outset, and a long, DJ-fooling gap 90 seconds before the end. The band were Marxist skinheads which irritated the more extreme…

CROWDED HOUSE CROWDED HOUSE Don’t Dream It’s Over, a magnificent, sardonic flagwaver with its dreamy middle eight, is deservedly Crowded House’s most successful song, reaching No.2 in the US, yet any of the tracks from the delicious, polished self-titled debut album could have earned that accolade. Formed in 1985 as Neil Finn stepped out from under the Split Enz shadow of big brother Tim, the band were accepted in the States before their own Australasian homeland. Four more singles – Now We’re Getting Somewhere, Mean To Me, World Where You Live and the John Lennon-influenced Something So Strong – all combine majestic melodies with lyrical raised eyebrows, subtle electronic interludes and strong, concentrated musicianship. The harmonies throughout, especially on Tombstone, are immaculate, and Finn’s vocal range is enjoyably broad –…

© Getty Bob Marley died on 11 May 1981 just four years after he was found to have a malignant melanoma under his toenail. The cancer subsequently spread throughout his body. His final show had been at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh on 23 September 1980, after which Marley admitted himself to a diet-based treatment clinic in Bavaria. After eight months, and with the cancer still spreading, he decided to fly back to Jamaica. His condition worsened on the flight and he was taken straight to hospital in Miami where he passed away, aged 36. His final words to his son Ziggy were “Money can’t buy life.” Marley was granted a state funeral in Jamaica on 21 May, and was buried alongside his Gibson Les Paul guitar. Prime Minister Edward…

LET'S ROCK 21 MAY – 10 SEPTEMBER WHERE: Cookham, Norwich, Newport, Sunderland, Edinburgh, Leeds, Exeter, Southampton, Shrewsbury, Liverpool, Bangor (NI), County Meath, Maidstone, Ipswich WEBSITE: letsrock80s.com Back in 2019, the last time Let’s Rock was able to run a full set of festivals, the brand attracted 150,000 fans to 12 sites. For 2022, it’s been expanded to 14 events, the biggest tally to date. Running across the UK and Éire from late May to early September, the latest series of Let’s Rock headliners include Adam Ant, Billy Ocean, OMD, The Human League and Wet Wet Wet. As ever, Let’s Rock will feature a solid bill of acts throughout each day. Familiar faces being welcomed back include ABC, Level 42, Jason Donovan, Tom Bailey, Nik Kershaw and Tony Hadley. Also unmissable…

ZAPPO PRODUCTIONS ★★★★ For an indication of his latest album’s cerebral nature, check out Tag, where Bruce Hornsby announces “a humble brag is never that”, then crowbars in the word “eschatological”, all while slowly developing the song’s rhythmically nagging piano melody into something jazzier and offering hints of Peter Gabriel in his vocal lines. And yet, while ’Flicted isn’t always easy listening, it’s not exclusionary. Maybe Now’s frantic, low piano trills and nervous rimshots are way more thrilling than one might expect of a song about being digitally cut off during a storm – and his Prince-like falsetto’s revelationary – while The Hound’s full of jagged piano motifs and random snare drums, Hornsby pointing to “the guy who... had the wet spot at the cotillion dance” while investigating social media…

DOMINO ★★★★ Venerable indie Domino has always had an ear for artists with offbeat but immediate crossover potential, the kind who – whether Pavement, Franz Ferdinand or Arctic Monkeys – are as irresistible to students as the jaded middle-aged. Now they’ve landed the Isle Of Wight’s Wet Leg, a band so popular they’ve had songs covered already. But though, for instance, Sprints’ Chaise Longue is faithful, it can’t match the intangible charms of Rhian Teasdale’s and Hester Chambers’ original, barnstorming debut, because here’s the crux: this duo ooze an unusual, invincible charisma which combines ennui with energy to impressive effect. That’s why a tune this simple is so effective, and the same applies to Angelica and Oh No, both built around singular riffs and a devil-may-care attitude as riotously entertaining…

LAZY EYE / COMPASS RECORDS ★★★ Now his seventies are just a year or so away, Men At Work’s Colin Hay has turned his attention to mortality, with humanity’s impermanence a thread from the start of his 15th studio album to its end. Opening with the title track, Hay finds himself kept awake by a Salvation Army band “till I couldn’t take it any more” – though this apparent nuisance is presumably the inspiration for the brass at the song’s climax, and possibly the timid drum fill with which his pal Ringo Starr introduces it – and he’s still posing existential questions 10 songs later on When Does The End Begin? Not that this has left him pessimistic. Into The Bright Lights provides a big budget ‘against all the odds’…

CHRYSALIS ★★★★ It’s unclear what’s happened to The Big Dish’s Steven Lindsay over the past 15 years. He’s apparently enjoyed a painting career, but this new project is dominated by a sombre, unidentified regret. Take its opening triptych, delivered with glossy production at a mid-tempo pace, his soulful voice straining to communicate his anguish. The dogged Move On provides a melancholic introduction about leaving one’s troubles behind, while one plaintive track later he’s complaining Something Got Lost Along The Way, and the next, underlined by piano and, occasionally, a disembodied operatic voice, is about how Nothing Will Ever Be The Same Again. Even afterwards, on The North Sea – which sets out like the likeminded Blue Nile’s The Downtown Lights – he’s dissatisfied with the weather, while, amid ringing guitars,…

STRANGEFOLK ★★★ A concept double album featuring five hammy interludes explaining its story set in a village church, with that album title and the fact many of its songs were written on ukulele while Crispian Mills was teaching music to his young sons, everything about Kula Shaker’s fourth album since reuniting in 2004 screams “Run away!” Sure enough, a few songs are either sub-Kinks whimsy or knock-off George Harrison hippy hogwash but around two-thirds of the 15 full tracks see Kula Shaker regain the conviction in the power of rock’n’roll that made them so huge during Britpop. Most of the original line-up have stayed the course. The only missing member is keyboardist Jay Darlington, seemingly in semi-retirement since joining Oasis’ live band. The surviving trio and Darlington’s replacement Harry Broadbent…

MODERN SKY ★★★★ A guitar pop genius since The Pale Fountains via The Strands and Shack, teaming up with fellow maverick Bill Ryder-Jones as producer pays off. There’s plenty of Head’s poignant melodies, but also the ambient symphony of The Grass, the Flaming Lips mood of American Kid and a piano lament in Shirl’s Ghost. Named after an anecdote about F Scott Fitzgerald’s struggles to write, Head’s own battles are well-documented. But, as ever, he makes timeless pop sound so simple. Magical, moving and quietly defiant. JE…

BLANC CHECK ★★★★ Fader’s musical mastermind Benge says his third album with Blancmange’s Neil Arthur is infused with 80s and 90s incidental TV music, but it’s sometimes so bleak one can’t help wondering whether Threads featured in his viewing. The paranoid Olympia’s one of its more cheerful tracks, and the quietly industrial Manila provides a rare chink of light, while Prussian’s starry nights manage a grim beauty. Elsewhere, Porcelain’s painfully unsettling, Poison’s bereft, and Mondo’s chilly desolation is almost overwhelming. WW…

MERCURY STUDIOS / UMC POLYDOR ★★★★/★★★★ In 1980, with second album Reggatta de Blanc successful almost everywhere, The Police embarked on a global trek taking in rarely toured countries. That these included Argentina and Chile, then under dictatorships, underlined their ambitions, and significant legal issues – drugs discovered in luggage by New Zealand police, gear held by Indian customs – didn’t help. Unfortunately, though these are entertainingly related in Andy Summers’ liner notes, they’re sadly all but swept under the carpet in 1982’s 65-minute documentary Around The World, finally released on DVD and Blu-ray. Executive produced by manager Miles Copeland – drummer Stewart’s brother – it’s instead a high-budget home video, its introduction in Kyoto’s Zen Gardens intended to emphasise a spiritual side otherwise absent. It’s fun watching the puny…

PARLOPHONE ★★★★ How do you improve on perfection? The idea of touching Kraftwerk’s music is sacrilegious to many, but thankfully the men machine have allowed a handful of remixers to get to work. After suddenly appearing on streaming platforms in 2020, Remixes gets 2CD and 3LP physical editions to showcase what producers made of Radioactivity, Expo 2000, Aéro Dynamik and La Forme. For many, the highlight will be Kraftwerk extending their rare 30-second MTV jingle Non Stop into eight minutes of Aphex Twin-style menace especially for the compilation. Non Stop burbles along mischievously, but it’s much less club-friendly than William Orbit’s 1991 Hardcore mix of Radioactivity. It’s the benchmark on how to remix Kraftwerk: approach with confidence and bring your own style, as also followed by Orbital on the sleek…

SFE ★★★★ Overshadowed on its release in 2001 by news of Soft Cell’s first reunion soon after, Marc Almond’s album with Icelandic modern classical composer Jóhann Jóhannsson is an intoxicating combination. Like a more adventurous and exploratory take on Almond’s Trevor Horn hook-up on Tenement Symphony a decade earlier, the pair tease out Marc’s orchestral passions, but here take them somewhere more exotic. Lights and Tantalise Me are traditional enough melodramas, but by then Almond has already offered the shimmering beauty of Glorious and the future-pop symphony Come Out, matched later by the atypically funky When It’s Your Time. Marc’s glam foundations are taken down a back street and roughed up on the wild Dancer, while End In Tears is a romance only Almond is capable of. As well as…

MUSIC ON VINYL ★★★ As ubiquitous in American charity shops as Elton John and Rod Stewart LPs are over here, Foreigner’s fifth album was given a pop polish by co-producer Alex Sadkin, backing vocals by Thompson Twins and synths from Wally Badarou. That doesn’t help some songs falling into overblown AOR hell, but I Want To Know What Love Is and Down On Love are stone-cold classics. Their only No.1 album here is back out on vinyl, but it’d still be intriguing to hear what would have happened with original planned producer Trevor Horn. JE…

★★ MUSIC ON VINYL Time for Music On Vinyl’s compilations of cult classics from new TV shows to take a commercial break. While there are bangers from Wang Chung, Yello, Kool And The Gang and Bryan Ferry that match previous excellent standards, others from Greg Holden, Cecilia Krull and George Baker Selection are decent enough obscurities, but don’t quite sit right with the sharply observed modern John Hughes soundtrack feel of other Song Education compilations. Either widen the remit or let the stock build up. JE…

STATE OF BASS ★★★★ The second in the series highlighting new underground artists keeping the spirit of the Blitz club alive, original scenesters B-Movie and Gary Numan collaborator Chris Payne join Sink Ya Teeth’s Gemma Cullingford and Moby associate Emily Zuzik. It demonstrates the breadth of New Romanticism, encompassing cocktail bar ambience, intense melodramas and some full-on pop triumphs. Something here for all electronic tastes, and worth investing in now for “I was first” kudos when someone here breaks into the mainstream. JE…

ASTRAL HORIZON PRESS ★★★ Given the calibre of some of the records that benefited from his studio expertise, with Roxy Music’s Avalon and Duran’s Duran’s Seven And The Ragged Tiger among them, it’s remarkable producer Ian Little’s life could waver so extremely from the highs of his time working on those albums to the catastrophic lows he later experienced – subject to him receiving, by his own admission, “too much too soon”. Little’s story is extraordinary due to the series of chance encounters with Supertramp and Phil Manzanera that led to him becoming a producer, working with Roxy and Cliff Richard before landing a role alongside Alex Sadkin on Duran Duran’s Seven And The Ragged Tiger – the creation of which forms the bulk of Ian’s enlightening book. A wild…

Writing for Classic Pop since our first issue, John Earls has been to Adam Ant’s house, had a selfie with Neil Tennant taken by Chris Lowe and been serenaded to Last Christmas by Shirlie Kemp. This issue, he helms our reissues reviews section, meets xPropaganda and attempts to keep up with Dave Stewart’s mile-a-minute mind. Matthew Lindsay has written for The Quietus and mojo4music.com. He is also the co-author of Tom Watkins’ Let’s Make Lots Of Money, long-listed for the Penderyn Music Book Prize. A regular contributor to Classic Pop Presents, for the regular magazine Matthew meets members of The Associates as well as various band collaborators for this issue’s in-depth cover feature. Wyndham Wallace has written for Uncut, The Guardian and The Quietus. His documentary on Travis, Almost Fashionable,…

Following Hazel O’Connor’s recent serious health issues, the Electric Ladies tour which she was due to have been a part of has been rescheduled with a new line-up of performers. Leading the way will be Toyah, fresh from the recent success of her Posh Pop studio album and Sunday Lunch Youtube series for a 15-date UK tour that begins on 1 June at the Buxton Opera House and ends on 24 June at Birmingham Town Hall. The tour includes shows in Manchester, Guildford, London and Swindon. Joining Toyah on the tour will be new wave singer-songwriter Lene Lovich and Republica frontwoman Saffron. A portion of the proceeds from each show will be donated to help with O’Connor’s ongoing recovery. For more details, visit rlnmusic.com/ or seetickets.com…

Derek D’Souza’s Jam photobook In The Crowd – which has been out of print for almost a decade – has been updated with unseen shots for its anniversary edition. After submitting photos of The Jam on their short summer tour of 1981 to the band’s fanclub, D’Souza was invited by Paul Weller’s parents Ann and John to shoot the trio formally. Derek eventually caught up with the band on 24 August 1981 at George Martin’s AIR Studios as The Jam worked in Studio 1. D’Souza explains: “Paul already had the location in mind for the photo session – Chiswick House – with the band wearing dark suits to contrast with the natural backgrounds. It was my first photo session – for Britain’s favourite band (and mine). The weather was good…

© Peter Ashworth It’s a Sunday in Linlithgow during 1977. Alan Rankine sits at the piano in his parents’ lounge, it’s covered in Billy Mackenzie’s cigarette ash. Mackenzie travelled up from’Dundee the night before, now the tea-sipping pair are nursing hangovers. Out of nowhere, an elegant, infectious melody comes to Rankine at the ivories, as memorable as ABBA’s I Dancing Queen’s from the previous year. It’s the start of a song height, so the pair store it away safely for later use. Fast forward to early 1982. The flash of inspiration th at writes itself and a sure-fire hit. Just not now, at punk’s in ’77, Party Fears Two, has catapulted the duo, now Associates, onto Top Of The Pops. Dry ice swamps the futuristic pipeworkadorned stage. Mackenzie, clad in…

Send your Poparazzi pics now to steve.harnell@anthem.co.uk WENDY JAMES WITH JODIE PAYNE I met Wendy at her Clwb Ifor Bach gig in Cardiff last September as part of her rescheduled tour with The Wendy James Band. She’s such a slight and demure character who then bursts into her rock star persona when performing her 80s Transvision Vamp hits and more recent self-penned material. It was really interesting to see an artist perform live who I’ve only ever seen in the pages of my Smash Hits magazines. It was a quality intimate gig and great to be part of an enthusiastic dancing crowd once again after lockdown. Wendy was so polite and welcoming after the gig, spending time with those of us who stopped by for a photo or a quick…

Q When did you first become a Superfan of George Michael? A Ever since hearing Wham’s second single, Young Guns (Go For It). The KENT song and the video got me hooked. I’ve loved George’s songwriting talent and have a lot of admiration for the way that he was able to change his image over the years. Q What items do you have in your collection? A The full UK discography of Wham! plus George’s solo work in every format. I also have Japanese releases as well as those from various other countries worldwide. Q How much have you spent on it over the years? A I wouldn’t like to add up how much I’ve spent, but it’s certainly in the thousands. Q What’s your favourite item in the collection?…

INFINITY INDUSTRIES ★★ Jonathan Higgs has never been a stranger to curious lyrics treading a fine line between the absurd and the ingenious, but his decision to collaborate with Artificial Intelligence on Everything Everything’s sixth album can only be described – diplomatically, at least – as a misstep. Some might argue he’s employed a technological update of William Burroughs’ cut-andpaste techniques, but here this feels like the last, desperate refuge of the uninspired. Try as one might, there’s frankly no joy to be found in a falsetto wailing “Here where the lamprey lies/ It ate a lot of French fries”, as he does rather gormlessly on the fidgety Hex, while Metroland Is Burning’s “The escalator breathing in a hydra howl” isn’t half as clever as it thinks. Still, lyrics aren’t…

COOKING VINYL ★★★★ With four albums since 2015, Mike Scott’s work rate is enviably industrious. In fact, this 15th Waterboys album is strictly his 16th, its release deemed so pressing its predecessor remains in the vaults for now. That urgency, no doubt, relates to some of its subject matter, expressed in comparatively witty terms on the seemingly jovial Here We Go Again, which is about humanity’s inability to learn from its mistakes, and in more poetic terms on the title track, a galloping but bleak tune about the world’s recent descent into confusion. The latter’s reference to “a monstrous lie told by a charlatan choir” may be opaque, but it likely shares its subject with the fierce The Liar, which doesn’t mince its words, though they remain typically poetic –…

EMF RECORDS ★★★ “Whatever happened to our heroes?” James Atkin asks on Go Go Sapiens’s highlight, Equilibrium, over a busy, 1990s-era breakbeat. It’s a good question. Last widely seen covering The Monkees with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer in 1995 – their only release to match the success of 1990’s advertisement-popular anthem Unbelievable – EMF nonetheless crowdfunded this fourth album, so there are definitely folk eager to see their return stretch beyond the festival appearances of recent years. Sadly, Zac Foley departed this earth two decades ago, but otherwise this matches 1991’s Schubert Dip, if largely by being less exciting than one hopes. There are, naturally, throwbacks to their glory days: Started It sounds like Give Out But Don’t Give Up-period Primal Scream fronted by a high-pitched Shaun Ryder, though…

EMI ★★★★ Whether the time’s right for droll allusions to weaponry is debatable, but Blossoms’ fourth album’s unfortunate title appears to be the only thing about it that’s anything less than benevolent. If there’s any criticism to be made here it’s that one can’t imagine them offending anyone, from young kids to the grannies who once filled Pebble Mill studios. Some, therefore, may deem this outing tame, but anyone looking for politely endearing cheer instead of youthful insurrection can’t go wrong. Smiths comparisons are inevitable, of course, particularly after the group memorably joined Rick Astley last year for shows celebrating the Johnny Marr/Morrissey legacy. Here, though, these point to the well-produced Strangeways... era and are justified by the admittedly jolly Edith Machinist –a Mozzer-esque title if ever there was one…

MOUNT SILVER ★★★★ Still criminally neglected in the UK, though she’s a radio star in her native Ireland and adopted Germany, Wallis Bird switches her focus on her seventh album –a move signalled by its title and cover, which put the finger she lost as a baby centre stage – to more introspective themes than 2018’s soulful Home and 2019’s politically charged Woman. Not that she does so quietly: the dynamic What’s Wrong With Changing is as Control-ed as Janet Jackson’s late 80s work and I Lose Myself Completely’s vigorous synths will appeal to the same era’s pop fetishists. The wonderfully titled No Pants Dance, too, recalls the true story of an entertaining post-lockdown party witnessed by Bird from her apartment in a fashion which Prince himself would have approved.…

DOG TRIUMPH ★★★★ Though it’s unlikely Norway’s Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland have spent all their time working since 2014’s Robyn collaboration, the Do It Again EP, and their last full length, The Inevitable End –a record they said would be their last – it feels like they might have. Profound Mysteries is the first part of a multi-disciplinary project incorporating film, fashion and art with, among other things, videos and visualisers for each track, and it suggests they challenged themselves to ensure their music was similarly cinematic. It also calls upon multiple vocalists, all of them, this time at least, female, and certainly If You Want Me’s solemn nocturnal mood provokes Susanne Sundfør’s most discreet performance for some time, while on The Mourning Sun she’s frankly celestial. Breathe, too,…

INFECTIOUS ★★★ Two things one notices about Bloc Party’s sixth album are Kele Okereke’s fury and new drummer Louise Bartle’s corresponding ferocity. Okereke spits lyrics over Day Drinker, which builds to a hardcore ending, and this carries over to Traps, which is founded on a vicious rock riff, with Okereke then switching to sprechgesang. He maintains this on Callum Is A Snake, which is particularly frantic, and though the spiky guitars of By Any Means Necessary aren’t entirely new, The Girls Are Fighting puts glam makeup on post-punk. WW…

METROPOLIS RECORDS ★★★★ Manchester’s under-sung post-punk heroes have reformed in various incarnations since 2000, with three tracks on this collection rescued from live recordings by Mark Burgess’ and John Lever’s ChameleonsVox manifestation. The rest come from 2021 sessions, with Up The Down Escalator lacking little of 1983’s vitality, while Singing Rule Britannia (While The Walls Close In) may even sparkle with more brilliance than on 1985’s What Does Anything Mean? Basically. WW…

BMG ★★★★ © Getty early Celebrating 35 years since the teaboy from Newton-le-Willows went global, at this remove it’s bizarre that Rick Astley was ever doubted. Sure, the perennial patronising of working class northerners in pop helped make Astley’s background seem unlikely for a superstar but, as soon as he sang, it was obvious there was a major talent ready to burst forth. In Astley, SAW had a gift for bringing their pop to life. Sure enough, Never Gonna Give You Up packed about 306 hooks around Astley’s boom, with the title track and Together Forever just as factory ready for eternal chart dominance. However, the production trio didn’t get to be so successful without knowing when to ease up on the froth when necessary. Aware that Astley’s voice was…

CHRYSALIS ★★★★ It’s taken more than 35 years, but it’s great to see Go West finally being taken seriously. The duo’s cheery nostalgia circuit ubiquity has allowed old jokes about mullets and 80s production values to get in the way of Peter Cox and Richard Drummie’s skills with a grandstanding chorus. The recent orchestral tour with the Southbank Sinfonia and this handsomely packaged five-disc reissue of their 1985 debut album shows there was always a lot more going on. That insistent opening riff of We Close Our Eyes is still a fantastic clarion call to the dancefloor, matched by the muscular SOS. It’s true that producer Gary Stevenson – who oversees the boxset’s remastering – was sometimes too ready to bury the melodies with trickery. Cox’s tender vocals on the…

APE ★★★★ XTC’s sixth LP followed Andy Partridge’s decision to quit touring after English Settlement’s success. A proper “studio album”, therefore, Mummer nevertheless lacked label support for its dearth of singles and, sadly, Virgin were right: Wonderland’s synth-vibes tanked and Love On A Farmboy’s Wages’ acoustic art-pop peaked at No.50. The frisky Funk Pop A Roll might have fared better, while Beating Of Hearts’ Eastern flavours repay attention, and In Loving Memory Of A Name offers charms like China Crisis’. WW…

RHINO ★★★★ Adding eight mixes for its 30th anniversary edition, the original queens of vocal harmonies’ debut album is still a mighty powerhouse. My Lovin’ and Free Your Mind paved the way for TLC and Destiny’s Child, and there’s plenty more in that class elsewhere. Love Don’t Love You continued the funk, while Giving Him Something He Can Feel wrapped the quartet’s titanic vocals around a sensual ballad and Desire showed that they could branch out into roots music, too. Still sounding a cut above, so much modern R&B started right here. JE…

MUSIC ON VINYL ★★★ Featuring Toto and giving Al Jarreau a Grammy, the smooth Californian pop-soul style on his 1981 fifth album didn’t quite cut through in the UK, despite We’re In This Love Together sitting squarely next to George Benson for pioneering late-night cab driver relaxation vibes. Half the album comprises jazz covers, and guitarist Jay Graydon’s production is just too polished to transmit some of the emotion in Jarreau’s delivery. The sumptuous Roof Garden shows how hypnotic Al can be, but it’s a fine line to making him feel merely snoozy. JE…

Soft Cell and Pet Shop Boys have joined forces for Purple Zone, a taster single from the former’s forthcoming studio album *Happiness Not Included. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe originally wanted to remix the track after witnessing Soft Cell perform it on their tour last year, but ended up creating a memorable duet instead. Marc Almond, who pops up in an ice cream van for the song’s video, commented: “Working with the Pet Shop Boys was a pleasure, and this track is the perfect combination of us and them.” The CD single also features Soft Cell’s take on the X-Ray Spex classic The Day The World Turned Day-Glo as well as the Manhattan Clique remix of Purple Zone, while its 12" boasts a full selection of mixes by Pet Shop…

Ali Campbell says his new studio album is all the more poignant following the death of bandmate Astro. Unprecedented by UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell & Astro, is released on 17 June and was recorded before Astro passed away last November. “Astro’s death came as such a shock, I’m still reeling from it,” explains Ali. “This album is now more poignant and special than either of us could have imagined when we were recording it. This is a way of keeping his memory alive.” Astro tackles a cover of The Kingstonians’ reggae standard Sufferer on the record but more surprising is a version of Stay Another Day by East 17. “I love the melody,” adds Campbell. “In the original UB40, we were good at choosing old reggae favourites because we grew…

© Nancy Bundt Prince’s estate has delved into his personal archive once more to release one of the late star’s most celebrated live shows that’s remained under lock and key for almost three decades. Beamed to millions live via satellite and captured for posterity in the Grammy Award-nominated concert film Prince And The Revolution: Live, the show at Syracuse’s Carrier Dome on 30 March 1985 was part of his Purple Rain Tour. The show’s audio is remastered from the original two-inch multitrack master reels while the film footage has been digitally enhanced onto Blu-ray with selectable stereo, 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos sound. Available on 3 June, the new release marks the first time that the concert has been made available on vinyl and CD. Prince And The Revolution: Live…

What’s the first song you remember loving? I think it was probably Northern Lights by Renaissance, but my mother would probably say it was January by Pilot, which I used to sing a lot. What’s your all-time favourite album? I have two choices here. My pure favourite is definitely A Hard Day’s Night by The Beatles, but the album that I remember going out and buying and cherishing was Parallel Lines by Blondie. Later on, when I got my job on Newsnight as a reporter, I remember saving up a month’s salary to buy myself a proper stereo, and I bought Nonsuch by XTC. I just love that record. © Getty What was the first gig you ever went to? Oh, it was awful. I went with a school friend…

The Peel Sessions archive is so vast, in fact, that a complete A To Z of it would be impossible in a single issue of Classic Pop. Even the S’s alone range from The Sugarcubes to Strawberry Switchblade, Stereo MCs to Squeeze via The Specials, The Shamen, The Selecter and even Leo Sayer. There was a time when you had to listen to Radio One late at night to hear a Peel Session. Or perhaps tape it off the radio if you wanted to save it for the future. Then in 1986, Peel co-founded his own label, Strange Fruit, to release the sessions on vinyl. The label folded in 2004 but by then the internet had firmly taken hold and is now a simple go-to source for this rich and…

© Alamy While the gap between Older and George Michael’s previous album – 1990’s Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1 – had been approaching six years, the singer hadn’t exactly been idle during that time. Despite not wishing to tour the album,George’s time was mostly spent trying to extricate himself from his Sony contract. Following the end of Wham!, he’d signed a new eight-album solo deal with the label in 1988, and after the blockbusting success of his debut solo LP Faith selling 14 million copies worldwide, he renegotiated the deal befitting his new status, and to give him the sort of comeback that reflected other acts of that stature. Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1 – despite him not wanting to promote it to the degree that he’d done with Faith,…

From Hall & Oates’ perennial radio staples to Paul Young’s US chart-topper Every Time You Go Away, Daryl Hall has penned so many hits across the past half-century of pop that it’s entirely understandable he’d forget about at least a few. “I can’t even remember the name of that one,” the soulman admits when the subject of co-writing for Celine Dion comes up in his interview with Classic Pop. Of course, Hall has kept many of his finest compositions entirely for himself, as is evident on BeforeAfter, a new two-disc retrospective which shines the spotlight on his underrated body of solo work. Speaking from his New York home, Daryl notes that despite recording 18 albums with guitarist John Oates, he’s always considered himself as a solo artist: “John and I…

WARNER ★★★★★/★★★★ If Liam Gallagher’s first two solo studio albums were well judged examples of giving fans what they want while pushing the envelope just that little bit further each time, then C’Mon You Know is the fullest – and finest – execution of that concept to date. You’ll still find his trademark splenetic bite alongside heart-on-the-sleeve balladry but sonic flourishes and surprises abound around almost every corner. Prepare yourselves for a haunted fairground waltz coda to It Was Not Meant To Be, a dub breakdown to the eviscerating, politically charged diatribe of I’m Free and mournful orchestration on Moscow Rules. More Power, complete with a children’s choir intro no less, is a neat metaphor for Liam’s post Oasis split pragmatism: “The cut it never really heals, just enough to…

UMC ★★★ Two tracks in, one might wonder what the point is of the latest album from this branch of the troubled UB40 production line. A cover of The Frightnrs’ What Have I Done is polished but unadventurous and Ali Campbell’s We’ll Never Find Another Love provides yet another melodically strong but gloopy tune. But then the dub-heavy title track strides in, offering an acerbic take on the pandemic, Astro mourning “Our doctors and our nurses, dying/ All the politicians, lying,” and one recalls the group’s history of political commentary. They’re at it again, too, on Emperors Wore No Clothes, taking a swipe at politicians. It’s this combination of sentiments, like their mix of originals and covers, that makes Unprecedented valuable. Admittedly, Bill Withers’ Lean On Me probably didn’t need…

SILVER LINING MUSIC ★★★ Though Heart’s Ann Wilson recorded her third solo album in Nashville, don’t expect a country vibe. Its cover’s by Roger Dean, too, but don’t expect anything that sounds like Yes. Admittedly, the dramatic Gladiator sounds like mid-80s Marillion working up a heavy sweat, but there’s no doubt that this is a classic rock album, even if ‘classic’ is arguably a generous epithet. Either way, it harks back to the 80s with more than its artwork, not least because Wilson –“known,” Wikipedia reminds us, “for her banshee screams” – now sounds worryingly a lot like a gruff, poodle-haired male rocker. Indeed, one has to hope she’s got a decent otolaryngologist, because Vince Gill, who joins her on a cover of Queen’s Love Of My Life, the album’s…

100% RECORDS ★★★★ “This is the 21st century,” John Illsley sings on 21st Century, which might still come as a surprise since you’d be forgiven for mistaking his eighth album for one from the Dire Straits vault. Not only does VIII’s gently distorted guitar murmur like Mark Knopfler’s, but his half-whispered, half-growled vocals are almost a dead ringer for the frontman’s too. But Illsley, too, deserves to be forgiven, because though his name may be somewhat less familiar than Knopfler’s, he was one of the four gentlemen who co-founded the much-maligned band, and in their absence, VIII will definitely suffice. Indeed, opener It’s A Long Way Back, with its subdued introduction, decorative guitar squeals and subtle bursts of background organ, sounds like a distant, livelier cousin of Telegraph Road, and…

UNIVERSAL ★★★★ Sometimes it’s hard to define why one album that sounds like it could be decades old works and another one doesn’t, but Def Leppard’s 12th is going to defy most of the folk who consider them hoary old rockers. Sure, those obsessed with innovation may still mock them, but Diamond Star Halos, its title taken from Marc Bolan’s Get it On – though glam’s influence isn’t that evident here beyond Kick’s chunky “Na Na Na” chorus – is chock-ablock full of undeniably immediate, escapist, blockbuster anthems whose pleasures only a killjoy could deny. It storms in with Take What You Want, a fist-pumping rawk anthem that’s instantly recognisable as Def Leppard while vehemently demanding pyrotechnics, and Give Me A Kiss is another heavy riffing banger with a monumental…

MATADOR ★★★★ “Everything’s divine when you’re young and stupid,” Stuart Murdoch reminds us on Belle And Sebastian’s 11th album, but this can apparently still be true in your fifties. Do It For Your Country returns us, some way at least, to the sensitive tunefulness that first won them dedicated fans, and Come On Home’s slinky shuffle, too, sounds like an older, wiser version of the band that originally seduced with 1996’s Tigermilk. This time around, their happy-go-lucky sophistication apparently derives from the luxury of time offered by recording in their home city for the first time since 1999, and there’s no denying the upbeat charms of the staccato Reclaim The Night, while If They’re Shooting At You’s grim outlook is lifted by a gospel-influenced sound similar to that exploited by…

BELLA UNION ★★★★ There’s a gentle romance at the heart of C Duncan’s fourth album that unexpectedly mirrors Richard Hawley’s. You won’t hear this in Heaven’s and I Tried’s airy synth-pop, nor the (relatively) upbeat, shimmering Pretending. Such elegance is there, nonetheless, in the lovely, waltzing We Have A Lifetime, on which his sensitive, high voice floats above a cotton wool backing, while his harmonies on the hymnal Torso are similarly celestial. Sad Dreams, too, is far prettier than its title suggests, while the title track’s perfect for a romantic spy thriller. WW…

TWEED JACKET MUSIC ★★★★★ Inspired by Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock-era Talk Talk, David Joseph’s ambitious instrumental project Held By Trees has rounded up an impressive roll call of musicians who played on the band’s later work and Mark Hollis’ solo LP, including Martin Ditcham, Robbie McIntosh, Laurence Pendrous and Simon Edwards to create an album that dips into that same wellspring of spacious exploration. Further intriguing names on board include blues guitarist Eric Bibb, Dire Straits founder David Knopfler and Blur/Damon Albarn collaborator Mike Smith. Opener Next To Silence merges found sounds of the natural world with classical textures, before ushering in Ditcham’s gently insistent backbeat for In The Trees, the closest track here in terms of feel to those last two Talk Talk albums and Hollis’ solo…

DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON ★★★★ Though Mixing Colours, Roger Eno’s lockdown-era release with brother Brian, shone an overdue spotlight on him, he’s been releasing placid music since their 1983 ambient classic with Daniel Lanois, Apollo: Atmospheres And Soundtracks. With more recent events demanding reflection, his most ambitious album yet is also perfectly timed. A Place We Once Walked and Clearly pair hypnotic piano melodies with strings, and Stars And Wheels’ organs are strangely elegiac. If Hope is so sparse it’s barely there, moreover, it’s lifted by a blessed sense of optimism. WW…

LEGACY ★★/★★★★★ One of just three regular albums the duo have made since 1990, 1997’s Marigold Sky shows the clamour for a new Daryl Hall & John Oates album might be misjudged. Available on vinyl and streaming for the first time, it’s no lost classic and its (minor) hit Promise Ain’t Enough is unusually syrupy rather than smooth. Judging from these forced attempts at reigniting their spark, it appears our heroes knew when to rely on touring the classics instead. Which is where Daryl’s new solo compilation BeforeAfter comes in. While John has eased into country music for his own career, Daryl’s five Oates-less albums highlight how it’s not just his most familiar helper who he works well with. Hall’s Sacred Songs from 1980 is an overlooked marvel, a cast…

CHERRY RED ★★★★ One of the most tantalising of promised releases in the ongoing Toyah reissue campaign, Cherry Red have thankfully done what fans hoped in overhauling the band’s 1980 live album. A word-of-mouth phenomenon that eventually went silver, the concert from famed Wolverhampton 600-capacity club Lafayette has added its missing three songs including the electrifying She. While Toyah Willcox was soon able to brilliantly distil her energy into a poppier world, her band’s original chaos is captured fantastically in an anarchic performance, brought further to life on the five tracks filmed on the accompanying bonus DVD, notably a feral Insects. The DVD also includes the long overdue official release of ITV documentary Toyah from the same year, which shadowed the singer. For someone who was yet to have a…

CHERRY RED ★★★★ One of the lost cult Leeds bands, Girls At Our Best!’s sole 1981 album Pleasure manages to keep its enthusiasm and breakneck pace throughout. Dozens of ideas whirl by: a Bunnymen mix of ambition and gloom in Go For Gold, a Madness fairground feel to Too Big For Your Boots, the straightup punk of £600,000. It’s anchored by Judy Evans’ defiant yell – sometimes too affected for the melodies underneath, but always distinctive and often exciting as hell. Originally reissued in 2009, the new 3CD version keeps 2009’s Radio One sessions and standalone tracks, adding two gigs, including a thrillingly chaotic show from New York on the US tour which split the band. Also featured are their final instrumental demo, the frankly unremarkable Boys At Their Best!,…

ERASED TAPES ★★★ Out on vinyl for the first time, 2011’s first incarnation for the rebooted Penguin Cafe Orchestra showed late bandleader Simon Jeffes’ son Arthur had inherited his dad’s spirit. Helped by Suede’s Neil Codling and Gorillaz’ Cass Browne, the collective aren’t quite as offbeat as PCO’s original found sound instrumentation, but they take on their pioneering ambience and bathetic harmonics perfectly: The Fox And The Leopard is especially beautiful. Hopefully, it presages an overdue reissue campaign for Jeffes Sr’s work. JE…

EASY ACTION ★★★ Following the reissue of 1982’s major label album Fabrique, the original line-up of the Birmingham early New Romantics’ 1978 recordings are brought together here. Sitting somewhere between Tubeway Army and The Police, early singles Killing Time and The Innocent are an inventive if sometimes jarring mix of post-punk, electronics and reggae. Fashion occasionally sound like four different bands in search of a cohesive pattern to follow, especially on a gig from RAF Brize Norton. Messy but, when they gelled, Fashion were cutting-edge. JE…

BLACK DOG & LEVENTHAL PUBLISHERS ★★★★★ In the six years since David Bowie’s death, there’s been no shortage of material celebrating his life, career and legacy. While most of the titles have tended to fall into one of two camps – the exhaustive biographies or the glossy, oversize photobooks, David Bowie: All The Songs shifts the focus solely onto the music, presenting itself as a meticulously researched encyclopedia of all of David Jones’ recorded output from his pre-Bowie recordings of the 60s to his death and beyond. All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Track fulfils the title’s promise – and then some. Every song – via singles, albums, soundtracks, collaborations – is included, with each entry including the date and location of recording, the musicians used, the producer and…

JAWBONE PRESS ★★★★ Three years on from the brilliant Lunch With The Wild Frontiers, a raucous rollercoaster ride through the excesses and chaos of the Britpop scene by Jane Savidge, comes the second book in a proposed trilogy of tell-alls from within indie’s inner sanctum. While the aforementioned Lunch With The Wild Frontiers was an exhilarating excursion through the cultural behemoth that was Britpop, Here They Come With Their Make Up On continues with amusing anecdotes aplenty, though this time they’re framed by one of the landmark albums of the time, Suede’s Coming Up. Detailing the band’s journey from the brink of destruction to their critical and commercial peak, Jane’s recollections of the time, along with those of the band and producer Ed Buller, formulate a concise history of the…

OMNIBUS PRESS ★★★ It’s hard to believe that it’s been four decades since those titans of 80s pop, Culture Club, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet battled it out weekly to be top of the pops. To celebrate that anniversary, a wealth of commemorative releases are planned in the form of reissues, books and documentaries this year and, as Spandau have already been the subject of a documentary – the brilliant Soul Boys Of The Western World – and Tony has also published an autobiography (2004’s To Cut A Long Story Short), My Life In Pictures is a visual presentation of his career. As the title suggests, this photo book which is culled from Hadley’s personal archive is a chronological journey through his life accompanied by the singer’s anecdotes. Undoubtedly the…

© Getty Dire Straits released three albums during the 80s, two of which peaked at No.1. But few talk about their chart-topping 1982 LP Love Over Gold now, as it’s been almost completely overshadowed culturally by the blockbusting record that came after it, Brothers In Arms. The LP was the band’s fifth studio album and their first recorded entirely digitally. To say that Brothers In Arms was a phenomenon would be underselling its global impact. It spent 14 non-consecutive weeks at No.1 in the UK and nine weeks at the top of the US Billboard chart. It was the biggest-selling album of the 80s on home soil and remains the eighth best-selling LP in UK chart history. It won Best British Album at the 1986 BRITs as well as a…