Tabla de contenidos para July 2025 en Classic Pop

Blondie drummer Clem Burke died on 6 April at the age of 70. A statement on the band’s official Facebook account said: “Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie. His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable. Beyond his musicianship, Clem was a source of inspiration both on and off the stage. “His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. “We extend our deepest condolences to Clem’s family, friends, and fans around the world. His legacy will live on through the tremendous amount of music he created and the countless lives he touched. Godspeed, Dr. Burke.” Outside of Blondie, Burke performed and collaborated with…

Depeche Mode have announced details of a new concert film captured during the band’s Mexico City shows on the Memento Mori Tour. The feature-length Depeche Mode: M is helmed by Fernando Frias. The director is best known for I‘m No Longer Here, which was Mexico’s submission to the Oscars in 2021 and shortlisted for Best International Feature. His latest film, I Don’t Expect Anyone To Believe Me, premiered to critical acclaim. Depeche Mode: M finds Frias weaving footage from the three sold-out shows at Mexico City’s Foro Sol Stadium in front of a total of 200,000 fans to explore the parallels between the themes on the band’s latest studio album Memento Mori and the deep connection to death and mortality in Mexican culture. The film will premiere in cinemas later…

In the living room of his garden flat in North London, Glenn Gregory has come to a decision. Sat at his coffee table, Martyn Ware with his feet up on a recliner next to him, Heaven 17’s singer leans into Classic Pop’s digital recorder and announces: “I’m committing this, on digital files. You’re the first to hear this, as this is me just coming up with it now: I’m committing to a new Heaven 17 album being finished within a year of this date.” Let the records show it’s midday on 10 April 2025 when Heaven 17 confirm that their first album of new songs since 2005’s Before After really is happening. Probably. Martyn smiles at his bandmate’s enthusiasm, noting cautiously: “Glenn’s said this before. But we could do it.”…

ROLAND GIFT Born in Birmingham, Roland’s first break came as the saxophonist and sometime singer in the Hull ska band, Akrylykz. He released a self-titled solo album in 2002, which inexplicably didn’t dent the charts. He’s toured with Jools Holland, and occasionally performs solo on the circuit (catch him later this year in Leeds, London, Manchester and Birmingham). Gift has also enjoyed a parallel acting career, appearing in several films. ANDY COX A founding member of The Beat, and the guitarist with the jitterbug legs and frenetic dance moves. During FYC’s heyday, Cox and David Steele collaborated with hip-hop duo Wee Papa Girl Rappers. The pair also worked on Alison Moyet’s 1991 album, Hoodoo. More recently, he released the album Volume, as one half of Cribabi, alongside vocalist Yukari Fujiu.…

Having formed in 1975, Talking Heads surfaced from the ashes of New York band The Artistics, with frontman David Byrne and drummer Chris Frantz eventually recruiting (after three auditions) fledgling bassist Tina Weymouth and former The Modern Lovers keyboardist Jerry Harrison to a line-up that, unusually, would remain unchanged throughout their 16-year existence. Drawing upon their originators’ Rhode Island School of Design background – and for their name – a term featured in a random copy of TV Guide, the band quickly garnered a buzz on the Big Apple circuit, particularly the CBGB club they’d made their live debut at. And following false starts with Sire Records’ head honcho Seymour Stein and early mentor Lou Reed (whose main advice was for Byrne to hide his hairy arms on stage), the…

01 (1) HAPPY TALK CAPTAIN SENSIBLE (A&M) HAPPY TALK CAPTAIN SENSIBLE (A&M) At its height, punk was meant to be a massive ‘fuck you’ to the parents and grandparents of the blank generation, but by 1982 what could be more provocative than one of its most mischievous jesters having a No.1 with an irreverent cover of an old Rodgers & Hammerstein show tune? As guitarist with The Damned, Captain Sensible (real name: Raymond Ian Burns) had never enjoyed a Top 10 hit, and none of his other solo releases had charted, so to see this beret-rocking misfit cavorting around on Top Of The Pops, a prop parrot on his shoulder, and surrounded by girls in multicoloured leis, was quite the sight. The song itself was taken from the musical South…

We all know Aretha and George, Marc and Gene, Jagger and Bowie – but beyond those classic one-offs is a world where major artists head into the studio together to attempt to create something bigger, something bolder, maybe even something better. This isn’t a guest appearance, or an uncredited vocal on someone else’s album, nor is it an ‘X featuring Y’ set-up, but an equal partnership, a collaboration where each act is a named artist in their own right, and each gets their name on the cover in the same point size as the other. Sometimes these unexpected team-ups produce a hit, a fine addition to both artists’ cannons, but more often than not they give A-listers a chance to indulge themselves, to sail out into new musical waters. Welcome…

WHAT IS IT? As President of Motown Records, Kedar Massenburg had a talent for making a splash from 1997 to 2004. Like a certain UK Prime Minister-in-waiting in the 1990s, Massenburg knew all about the power of branding. For Tony Blair, this was ‘New Labour’, while for Massenburg it was ‘neo soul’. Of course, it’s possible that had the self-described ‘marketing genius’ not dreamed up the name, the music coming out of Motown and other Black labels in the second half of the 90s might have simply found itself in the contemporary R&B or soul sections of HMV. But as it was, Massenburg fabricated an entirely new classification. “In terms of marketing today, there’s the need to categorise music for consumers so they know what they’re getting,” he told Billboard…

DIRE STRAITS BROTHERS IN ARMS EMI STILL OFT MALIGNED, DIRE STRAITS’ FIFTH STUDIO ALBUM BECAME SHORTHAND FOR AFFLUENT 80S COMPLACENCY. THIS 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION INVITES A RETHINK. It’s standard to link Brothers In Arms retrospectively – and somewhat haughtily – with helping usher in the CD era and its accompanying baggage: MTV, Sloane Rangers, yuppies and the progression from Money For Nothing’s (at least somewhat) satirical “Get your money for nothin’, and your chicks for free” to Wall Street’s “Greed is good” two years later. From the start, frontman Mark Knopfler had aligned the band with the technology by including second album Communiqué’s Once Upon A Time In The West on a compilation free with early CD players, and Brothers In Arms was recorded on state-of-the-art equipment before Phillips sponsored their…

1980-1984 NOW Dear Classic Pop reader: the new instalment of NOW’s Eras series has your name all over it. Why? Well, NOW have played a blinder with a concept here, targeting the average fan of the compilations with a selection of non-single album tracks from – and here comes that word, because here it genuinely deserves it – iconic long-players from 1980-84. It’s a splendid wheeze, especially when that period was chock-a-block with albums that demanded your full attention and are embedded into any pop fan’s DNA, full as they are of potential singles. We’re talking about The Human League’s Dare, Japan’s Gentlemen Take Polaroids, ABC’s The Lexicon Of Love, Soft Cell’s Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, Wham!’s Fantastic – that sort of thing. Even if you know the hits from these…

Claudia Brücken burst into the public consciousness with Propaganda, Düsseldorf’s greatest electronic export since Kraftwerk, and a key international signing to Trevor Horn’s ZTT Records. Their ambitious debut album, 1985’s A Secret Wish, is now considered a stone-cold classic. Despite modest sales on release, it stands the test of time. After parting ways with Propaganda, Claudia went on to immerse herself in various solo albums and collaborative projects, with artists including Thomas Leer, Martin Gore, Andy Bell, Peter Hook, and members of Tangerine Dream and the aforementioned Kraftwerk. But Propaganda had unfinished business. Regrouping with original co-vocalist, Susanne Freytag, and producer, Stephen Lipson, they returned to the charts in 2022 as xPropaganda with the acclaimed The Heart Is Strange. Now, Claudia’s back again, this time with a new solo album,…

A catchy, super-positive dancefloor classic of the 80s defined the career of DeBarge while simultaneously putting a prolific songwriter into the spotlight. Up to that point, the sibling group from Michigan had mainly garnered headlines because one of their members had eloped with a teenage Janet Jackson, as their three albums and R&B ballads – released through Motown subsidiary Gordy Records – had achieved only limited commercial success in their homeland. The movie-making wing of Motown then asked newly-hired composer Diane Warren to write an upbeat song for the martial arts film The Last Dragon, and DeBarge were slated to perform it. Aping the alfresco feel, calypso rhythms and lyrical themes of Lionel Richie’s All Night Long (All Night), the song extols the joys of a decent evening out to…

For a brief moment in 1989, the Fine Young Cannibals were the biggest band on the planet. The Birmingham trio scored a global No.1 album, with two consecutive singles that topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. But, as quickly as they had scaled such dizzying heights, they swiftly vanished into obscurity. Why did this seemingly unstoppable force implode at their peak? The story of The Raw & The Cooked is as perplexing as it is unlikely – one of sonic invention, serendipitous chemistry, and the inescapable burden of suddenly having it all. THE BEAT GOES ON When Birmingham ska revivalists, The Beat folded in 1983, the splinter outfit tipped for success was General Public – a supergroup of sorts, comprising frontmen Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, alongside a post-Clash Mick…

EVER FALLEN IN LOVE Set in a cinema matinee performance of Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild, Gift messes with the control room projector like a DJ scratching on turntables to manipulate scenes from the film. Cox and Steele play various characters in the audience, at one point appearing in drag. Note the link between Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison, who produced the track, and Demme, who also directed the New York art rocker’s seminal concert film, Stop Making Sense. GOOD THING Filmed in black and white, Good Thing is given a Mod revival treatment, in keeping with the Northern Soul vibe and a nod to their origins. Recalling Quadrophenia, and filmed with the ‘Orribly Good Scooter Club’, cue scores of vintage mopeds driving around the streets of Britain and stopping for refreshments…

The Christians brought progressive soul to the UK charts in the late 80s and early 90s, even giving some of the biggest names in pop a run for their money. Their self-titled debut album went on to sell more than one million copies, and in 1989, they worked with Liverpool music royalty on a charity single featuring Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden and Holly Johnson. In 1990, they knocked Phil Collins’ …But Seriously off the No.1 spot with their second album Colour, interrupting his 15-week stay at the summit. “But you know what?,” says Garry Christian, the last remaining original member of The Christians who is sitting today in the North Wales sunshine when Classic Pop meets with him, “Phil Collins put down another 50 grand on promotion to get himself…

As tickets went on sale for Gene’s first live show in more than 20 years, Martin Rossiter didn’t know whether he should be feeling excited or terrified. “My levels of hope were swinging, pendulum-like, from ‘oh, this will be fine’ to ‘this is a complete disaster, what have we done?’” the singer tells Classic Pop. “Luckily, the pendulum decided to settle on ‘this will be fine’.” And then some: tickets for the reunion gig at London’s Eventim Apollo (the Hammersmith Odeon, in old money) in October disappeared in a flash. “There was a part of me that thought, ‘we’re going to sell this out’,” admits Martin. “But I don’t think that anybody anticipated the speed at which they would go.” Drummer Matt James had also been crunching the numbers. “They…

1 FORBIDDEN FRUIT: THE AGE OF CONSENT REMIXES BRONSKI BEAT London Records’ 40th anniversary celebrations of Bronski Beat’s landmark debut album conclude with Forbidden Fruit – The Age Of Consent Remixes. Released on 11 July, it will be available on limited edition crystal clear vinyl, digipak CD and digital formats. The LP includes the previously unreleased super extended version of Superchumbo’s Why? with Neil Tennant and a new extended version of Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat & The Knocks, featuring Perfume Genius. Meanwhile, a lost chapter in Bronski Beat’s history is finally realised with the unveiling of the mythical 16-minute version of I Feel Love/Love To Love You Baby. Originally intended to echo Patrick Cowley’s much-loved megamixes, this previously incomplete work featuring Marc Almond has been reconstructed from the masters by…

12 APRIL A quarter of a century since we were first introduced to the teenage Sugababes, the trio are on their biggest live tour ever. Of course, they’re no strangers to major gigs or touring (their last jaunt was 17 dates and did include a couple of enormodomes), but this seven-date excursion is their first to be wholly arenas. The group have a messy history: Sugababes Mk1 appeared at the turn of the millennium, and lasted just one album, with Mk4 eventually wrapping things up circa 2011, minus any original members. In between, the morphing combo scored 26 UK Top 40 singles (including six chart-toppers) and seven Top 20 studio albums (with two No.1s), making them one of the 21st century’s most successful homegrown female pop groups. The founding members…

80s Classical is returning to the grand surroundings of Millennium Square in Leeds with a star-studded roster of big-name pop acts. This year’s line-up comprises Kim Wilde, Go West, Roland Gift of Fine Young Cannibals and Jaki Graham. Overseen by Cliff Masterson, who’s worked with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Little Mix and Lionel Richie, the event gives artists the opportunity to reinvent their classic tunes with the help of the 50-piece Orchestra Of Opera North. Standing and reserved seated tickets can be bought from the Millennium Square website at millsqleeds.com or by calling 0113 376 0318. Classic Pop has two standing tickets for the show to give away to readers. For a chance to win, click on the QR code and visit our website.…

Suede have announced details of their 10th studio album, Antidepressants, due for release on 5 September. The follow-up to 2022’s Autofiction initially began life as the soundtrack to a conceptual performance art piece before the band decided to change tack and create a regular studio album instead. Recorded live, Antidepressants is produced by long-time collaborator Ed Buller, who first worked with Suede on their debut single The Drowners in 1992. “It is genuinely exciting being in this band,” Brett Anderson explains. “It feels like we’re still pushing creatively. If Autofiction was our punk record then Antidepressants is our post-punk record,” the frontman continues. “It’s about the tensions of modern life, the paranoia, the anxiety, the neurosis. We are all striving for connection in a disconnected world. This was the feel…

LIFE’S HARD AND THEN YOU DIE IT’S IMMATERIAL The ghostly melancholia of It’s Immaterial’s signature song, Driving Away From Home (Jim’s Tune), is replicated throughout an inventive, varied album that made them brief figures of interest in the mid-80s. It had been long overdue, with cult status coming via numerous singles and a handful of line-up changes since forming in Liverpool in 1980, before that dry and wry travelogue of 1986, extolling the virtues of traversing the M62 with no particular place to go, reached No.18 in the UK charts. The depressing title of the album is a red herring – the music is bright and sophisticated, and John Campbell’s voice is profoundly seductive when speaking, which he does on several songs here, but importantly, he is meaningful and pitched…

02 Imperial Bedroom, the seventh album by Elvis Costello, and his sixth with the Attractions, was released through F-Beat Records in the UK. 14 Pink premieres at the Empire, Leicester Square. Centred around the band’s massive-selling double album, it stars Bob Geldof and Bob Hoskins. 04 Sharon notorious music mogul Don Arden, marries the infamous wild man of rock, Ozzy Osbourne. They will go on to have three children – Aimee, Kelly and Jack. 16 Billy Idol releases his self-titled debut studio album. It features White Wedding, which will eventually become a hit three years later. 02 The former drummer of The Clash, Topper Headon, is remanded on bail after being charged with stealing a bus stop. Rock and indeed roll. 20 Following of 1981’s debut, Beauty And The Beat, The…

Since leaving Heaven 17 in 2007, the whereabouts of founding keyboardist Ian Craig Marsh have been a mystery for fans – and his former bandmates. “Ian left very slowly and silently,” says Glenn Gregory. Marsh initially stopped contacting Martyn Ware, then also ceased communicating with Gregory only dealing with the singer’s wife, Lindsay. Eventually, he stopped talking to her, too. “I think Ian just found it all hard to deal with,” suggests Gregory. Since leaving, Marsh has studied neuroscience and taught music. “Ian clearly wasn’t enjoying being in the band for a few years,” Ware says. “He looked lost. But it’s not like there was any break-up or falling out. I’d go to Ian’s house to watch football, right up to the week before he stopped communicating with me. It’s…

It’s the year of the US Space Shuttle program, Band Aid and Beverly Hills Cop, and following the UK’s lengthy disinterest in The Pointer Sisters’ various incarnations, the group’s fortunes are about to turn. Though long successful at home, they had only savoured two British hits, a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Fire and 1981’s seductive Slow Hand, which at least gave source album Black & White a UK chart debut at No.21. But, first time around, even their evergreen I’m So Excited failed to make an impression. On this side of the Atlantic there was apparently little point to the Pointers. However, with Break Out, featuring a line-up of Ruth (the oldest), Anita, and June (the youngest), the group let it all hang out. Jump (For My Love) even instructs…

JOIN US EASILY AT CLASSICPOPMAG.COM/MONTHLY25 I’m delighted to announce that from June 2025 onwards, Classic Pop will be published monthly. We felt the time was right to relaunch Classic Pop and we’re excited to bring you the most comprehensive coverage possible of your favourite artists anywhere in the world from our award-winning team of writers – the ultimate celebration of the music you love. SAVE 50% To celebrate, we have a special offer just for you. Join our vibrant community of music lovers today and you’ll pay just £3.50 per month, saving 50%. As a subscriber, you’ll have access to the biggest exclusive artist interviews, in-depth features and must-read reviews in each issue – and all sent straight to your door every single month. Plus, you’ll get: • Every past…

PULP MORE ROUGH TRADE AFTER ALMOST A QUARTER OF A CENTURY’S ABSENCE, PULP RETURN IN BRILLIANT BUSINESS-AS-USUAL FORM. RESUME SINGING AND POINTING ALONG WITH JARVIS… Forget for a moment that More is Pulp’s first album since We Love Life in 2001: it’s great just to have Jarvis Cocker, erudite popstar about town, back. He’s obviously always doing… stuff… but Cocker only released three albums of new pop songs in the intervening 24 years. BEST It’s a drift that he appears to allude to when he sings “Sit on your backside for 25 years” in Got To Have Love. The rowdiest of these 11 new songs which will hurtle fans back to the His ’N’ Hers days and proves Pulp can still knock out cousins to Lipgloss if they wish, it’s also…

GO WEST & SINFONIA SMITH SQUARE SYMPHONY HALL, BIRMINGHAM 4 MAY The desire to keep things interesting without alienating fans has seen numerous acts refresh and remix their hits with orchestral assistance. Midge Ure did it, even A Flock Of Seagulls and Wang Chung. But eye-watering costs mean such endeavours have been largely confined to studio recordings. Kudos then to Go West, who’ve taken a huge gamble to mark their 40th anniversary by calling in an orchestra for three sizeable dates – Manchester, Birmingham and London’s Palladium – all sold-out shows. But before Go West go symphonic, it’s time for notable special guests, Johnny Hates Jazz, to open proceedings. Playing to a near full house (a rare treat for any support), their 45-minute set sees the audience up on their…