Innholdsfortegnelse for January-February 2021 i Classic Pop

CLASSIC POP WELCOME It’s certainly been an extraordinary year – one that most of us won’t forget in a hurry. It might seem rather flippant to be talking about music when the world has been turned upside down of late, but there’s no doubt that pop culture has provided a much-needed balm for us all since the spring. From the DIY likes of Sophie Ellis-Bextor playing live in her kitchen, more expansive affairs such as Kylie’s Infinite Disco livestream and Liam Gallagher’s barge gig on the Thames to the exhaustive collection of Tim Burgess’ Twitter Listening Parties – check out his online archive as there are vast swathes of Classic Pop-friendly albums in there that you’ll enjoy – some of our favourite artists have been working hard on innovative ways…

POP UP SUMMER MEGA GIGS UNVEILED FOR DURAN DURAN AND NEW ORDER Scritti Politti psyched up for album anniversary The pop anniversaries keep on coming with Scritti Politti set to toast 35 years of their career-defining LP, Cupid & Psyche 85. The band will embark on a special UK tour performing the album in its entirety for the very first time kicking off on 21 September at the Waterfront Norwich and concluding at London’s O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on 2 October. Green Gartside recently took part in an edition of Tim Burgess’ Twitter Listening Party for the LP where he revealed the painstaking process of making the record, mixing one track, Hypnotize, “for two weeks at Sarm West with Gary Langan while inhaling fumes from the mannequin factory next door.”…

NOEL HAS THE CURE FOR YOUR LOCKDOWN BLUES Is Noel Gallagher about to steal The Cure’s thunder? The former Oasis man has been writing new material in lockdown and one track bears more than a passing resemblance to Robert Smith’s group. “The stuff I’ve been working on is fucking great,” gushed Noel. “I’ve written a tune that sounds very much like The Cure – and I didn’t even have to dial back the copyright – it just sounds like The Cure. It’s called Pretty Boy.” It may even arrive before The Cure’s long-mooted new album, which they’ve now been teasing for the past two years. As for Noel, he’s been experimenting with new sounds and the results satisfy even his mighty ego: “I have to say, the two tunes I’ve…

Bee Gees’ songbook gets a country makeover Bee Gees great Barry Gibb pays tribute to his late brothers on a new album, with the help of an array of famous friends. The songwriter has given some of the family’s most famous hits a country twist on Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers’ Songbook Vol.1 which arrives on 8 January. The new recordings include collaborations with Olivia Newton-John, Sheryl Crow and Dolly Parton who sings an updated version of evergreen classic, Words. Referring to his brothers, Barry says: “I feel deep down that Maurice and Robin would have loved this album for different reasons. I wish that we could have all been together to do it.” • Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers’ Songbook Vol.1 is reviewed on page 87 Shaggy and Sting’s beautiful friendship…

THIS MONTH IN POP JANUARY 1981 IN OUR ROUND-UP OF JANUARY 1981’S BIGGEST MOMENTS IN POP, THE SPECIALS GET INTO HOT WATER, BLONDIE HIT NO.1 AND DAVID BOWIE EXITS THE ELEPHANT MAN PLAY… STEVE HARNELL 03 Following an acclaimed transition to stage acting, David Bowie makes his final appearance as John Merrick in the Broadway adaptation of The Elephant Man at the Booth Theatre in New York City. 12 The White House Library is expanded to include some new additions in its music section – Bob Dylan, Kiss and the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind The Bollocks…all make the cut. 25 Alicia Augello Cook, aka Alicia Keys, is born in New York City. The classically-trained pianist has gone on to sell more than 50 million albums worldwide and recorded the theme…

CYNDI LAUPER RAINBOW COLORS With True Colors becoming an LGBTQ+ anthem, Cyndi used her tour of the album of the same name to be an inclusive space for people of all races and sexuality. It was a bold move for an American pop artist, and eventually led to the formation in 2008 of the charity True Colors United. Cyndi’s bond with the LGBTQ+ community was strengthened in the mid-90s, when emails first became popular and she began receiving more direct messages from fans. “These messages said how disenfranchised people felt when they came out,” Cyndi told Billboard. “They heard True Colors and it kind-of saved their life. I sorta understand what that feels like, because I felt a lot like that about certain songs when I was younger.” True Colors…

THE PLAYERS DAVID BYRNE The Talking Heads’ frontman was born in Dumbarton, 13 miles south-west of Glasgow, and moved to the States with his parents as a child. As principal songwriter, he’s largely responsible for Talking Heads’ restless, forever-evolving vision. A multi-talented artist, music theorist and record label owner (Luaka Bop) Byrne has continued to plough his own avant-garde furrow and is set to return to the stage in 2021 with his Broadway musical, American Utopia. CHRIS FRANTZ In an era of leather jackets, greasy hair and denim, Frantz’s clean-cut, defiantly non-rock’n’roll image was an act of pure buttoned-down rebellion. The fact he used shampoo and also listened to funk and disco went way beyond the punk pale, but certainly helped the Heads develop their sound. His entertaining nearly-but-not-quite-tell-all autobiography…

MICA PARIS “I think people need to be lifted up right now” A KEY FIGURE IN THE BRITISH SOUL SCENE, MICA PARIS RETURNS TO HER GOSPEL ROOTS FOR HER FIRST ALBUM IN 11 YEARS. THE POWERHOUSE SINGER TELLS CLASSIC POP OF HER STRUGGLES TO GET BACK INTO THE GAME AND THE IMPORTANCE OF FEEL-GOOD MUSIC. WILL “ILL WILL” LAVIN “I’VE NEVER MADE A RECORD LIKE THIS NEW ALBUM BEFORE. I PULLED BACK THE MUSIC SO IT’S LESS ABOUT THE PRODUCTION AND MORE ABOUT MY VOICE.” “I’m not scared to try different things. If I’m crap at something, I’ll never do it again.” Mica Paris reckons the key to being successful in a variety of fields comes down to being open to try new things and laughing at yourself if it…

SHAKIN’ STEVENS “WE WERE RELEASING SINGLES LIKE BULLETS” SHAKIN’ STEVENS TALKS US THROUGH HIS INCREDIBLE CAREER, FROM EARLY DAYS WITH THE SUNSETS TO A DECADE-LONG RUN OF 80S HIT SINGLES, VIA A STARRING ROLE AS ELVIS IN THE WEST END DOUGLAS MC PHERSON Of all the artists who emerged from the rock’n’roll scene of the 1970s and found chart success in the early 80s, no-one picked up the ball and ran with it as far as Shakin’ Stevens. From the moment he hit No.1 with This Ole House in 1981, the denim-clad singer was a regular fixture on Top Of The Pops. In fact, he was the first artist to make 50 appearances on the show, performing hit after hit, including You Drive Me Crazy, Green Door, Oh Julie, It’s…

GO WEST ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST THE FRIENDSHIP AT THE HEART OF GO WEST IS STILL STRONG AFTER NEARLY FOUR DECADES, DESPITE TEMPERAMENTAL DIFFERENCES. CLASSIC POP HEARS HOW TWO LADS FROM TWI CKENHAM MADE IT TO HOLLYWOOD. AND BACK. WILL SIMPSON I wouldn’t say we were a Premiership band,” ponders Richard Drummie of Go West. “We nearly got promoted a couple of times, but we didn’t have the momentum. Someone like Madonna puts out an album every year but we’d have these stonking great gaps between records. We did nothing between 1987 and 1990 and then again from 1992 to 2000. It’s a wonder we’re still here…” The mullets and vests may have been left in the mid-80s but the relationship between Drummie and his songwriting partner…

CLASSIC POP TOP TEN WEEK ENDING 19 JANUARY 1986 DIRE STRAITS PAY TRIBUTE TO THE BUSKERS OF LONDON, BRONSKI BEAT HIT THAT PERFECT BEAT AND A-HA FINALLY REACH THE NO.1 SPOT STEVE O’BRIEN 01 (2) THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES ON TV A-HA (WARNER BROTHERS) 5TH WEEK ON CHART 02 (4) WALK OF LIFE DIRE STRAITS (VERTIGO) 3RD WEEK ON CHART 03 (1) WEST END GIRLS PET SHOP BOYS (PARLOPHONE) 9TH WEEK ON CHART 04 (8) BROKEN WINGS MR MISTER (RCA) 3RD WEEK ON CHART 05 (5) YOU LITTLE THIEF FEARGAL SHARKEY (VIRGIN) 3RD WEEK ON CHART 06 (6) SATURDAY LOVE CHERRELLE WITH ALEXANDER O’NEAL (TABU) 5TH WEEK ON CHART 07 (3) HIT THAT PERFECT BEAT BRONSKI BEAT (FORBIDDEN FRUIT) 8TH WEEK ON CHART 08 (25) ONLY LOVE NANA MOUSKOURI (PHILIPS)…

GEORGE BENSON NEVER GIVE UP ON A GOOD RIFF Alongside his Grammys, George’s proudest achievement is designing his own range of guitars. Having started out as a guitarist long before he was a singer, Benson believes the soul of his songs resides more in his playing than his singing. But his offer to work with Japanese guitar firm Ibanez came about largely by chance. “A friend who’s a fine guitarist from Chicago discovered this great acoustic guitar that had come on the market from Japan,” George explains. “I was doubtful the Japanese had made a great guitar, because they just didn’t have the tradition for it. My friend told me, ‘George, just go out and have a look at it and play it.’ It sounded great, but there was nothing…

REISSUES 1 PRINCE SIGN O’ THE TIMES SUPER DELUXE WARNER Continuing to set the standard for deluxe editions after last year’s 1999 boxset, Prince’s most adventurous album became even wilder in a 92-song marathon haul. You can’t argue with the LP that Prince created, but many of the unreleased songs are just as exciting as the classics. 2 THE BELOVED HAPPINESS NEW STATE Possibly because it’s hard to pigeonhole as either rave, pop or ambient music, the duo’s sumptuous 1990 set rarely makes Classic Albums lists. It should – Happiness has aged perfectly, its shiny tunes worthy of finest Pet Shop Boys. Unusually, the extra songs on the bonus disc are worthy of the original album. 3 DONNA SUMMER ENCORE DRIVEN BY THE MUSIC/DEMON An increasingly rare complete works boxset,…

THE HOT LIST WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT ON CLASSIC POP ZOOM CATCH-UPS STEVE HARNELL 1 TEENAGE FANCLUB ENDLESS ARCADE The always dependable TFC are back with their trademark harmonies and double-tracked guitars for a collection that’s heart-warming and heart-wrenching in equal measure. Completed for the most part before lockdown kicked in, the defiant Everything Is Falling Apart, hope-filled title track and gorgeous Home are just three of many highlights on a typically finely-honed 11th studio album from the Glasgow indie mainstays, out on 5 March. teenagefanclub.com 2 LEVEL 42 THE COMPLETE POLYDOR YEARS VOLUME 1 1980-1984 Weighing in at a hefty 10CDs, this compilation, due out next February, rounds up the first five long-players that the jazz-funk outfit recorded for Polydor in their early days plus a further five discs…

DEACON BLUE RIDING ON THE TIDE OF LOVE EARMUSIC With City Of Love, their latest album since 2012’s comeback, going Top Five in the UK and peaking at No.1 in their homeland, consolidating their position as yet another of Scotland’s great 80s survivors, Deacon Blue must have felt pretty smug as spring approached this year. Still, as we know, viruses come and tours go, so, to ride that tide of success the band instead embraced 2020’s first lockdown, finishing three songs that had failed to make the cut last time round and recording five new ones. Why She Loved The Snow was one of the former is hard to fathom: with charming piano and violin embellishments, its heart is so blatantly worn on its sleeve it’s almost blushing. On the…

MATT BIANCO & NEW COOL COLLECTIVE HIGH ANXIETY DOX RECORDS / MEMBRAN It’s hard to determine why Mark Reilly’s second album with Amsterdam’s New Cool Collective is called High Anxiety, because, even at his most animated, if he sounded much more laid-back he’d be clinically dead. That’s not because he’s short of life, but because he barely breaks a sweat. Perhaps one advantage of choosing to perform something as timeless as Latin and jazz-flavoured music is that the temptation to chase the latest trends is minimal: adding new inspirations is one thing, but trying to break new ground, as so many musicians feel they must, is far less of an issue, and that’s got to be a relief. Sometimes, of course, this means they fail to challenge: Unconditional could be…

LAURA GROVES A PRIVATE ROAD BELLA UNION Signed to XL as Blue Roses a decade ago, Groves introduces her remodelled but still pretty world on this warmly produced mini-album, its penchant for 70s soft rock not unlike Kacey Johansing’s on Infinite Wisdom and also evident on Foolish Game, which sounds like Lana Del Rey embracing Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight. Sunset isn’t as colourful, and Faking It is more experimental, like an ambient Julee Cruise, but keyboard ballads Red and Searching For The Stars may well reawaken the Joni Mitchell comparisons that she’s often provoked. WW…

NEW MODEL ARMY CARNIVAL EARMUSIC The line between new and reissued records becomes ever blurrier with this version of New Model Army’s ninth album, first released in 2005. There were no fresh recordings for this release, nor any additional string arrangements, yet its tweaked running order, reimagined cover, and remix by Lee Smith – who, after helping the band score their highest chart entry with last year’s From Here, was offered access to original producer Chris Tsangarides’ tapes – have earned it ‘new’ status. These actions, they hope, will allow the album to be heard as originally intended, though one suspects that only the most committed of fans will distinguish significant differences. At times it sounds a little brighter and more intense, with opener Water packing a heavier punch and…

NEW RELEASES GARY BARLOW MUSIC PLAYED BY HUMANS POLYDOR Gary Barlow’s fifth album begins with an orchestra tuning up before he welcomes them with news of its title. Polite laughter greets the calculated message he’s sending with an album of nostalgic big band and symphonic songs in an era of algorithms and AI, but the funnier joke is the concession that, until now, Barlow’s own records haven’t been made by humans. Whatever his point, he’s surely compensated. Aside from an 80-piece ensemble, he’s hauled in multiple guests, from Barry Manilow, who brutally only makes the deluxe edition, to James Corden, who duets and wisecracks in his own – aka Dean Martin’s – style on The Kind Of Friend I Need, a song literally built around the Chopsticks riff. And you know…

LOUIS PHILIPPE & THE NIGHT MAIL THUNDERCLOUDS TAPETE As Philippe Auclair, he’s a French football journalist, but as Louis Philippe he was the in-house writer for influential Cherry Red imprint él Records. His first solo album in 13 years is brimful of whimsical classicist songwriting that at times magically resituates 1970s California somewhere outside Paris: Once In A Lifetime Of Lies sounds like Harry Nilsson taking a shot at chanson and Love Is The Only Light is Beach Boys meets Steely Dan. Living On Borrowed Time, meanwhile, could be prime Terry Hall. Encore! WW…

REVIEWS DAVID BOWIE BRILLIANT LIVE ADVENTURES (1995-1999) ARLOPHONE © Getty Images RATHER THAN YET MORE 70S BOWIE, THIS BOXSET IS THE FIRST THOROUGH EXAMINATION OF HIS 90S LIVE WORK One of Record Store Day’s regular highlights is a new David Bowie 1970s live album. Alongside the nine live LPs back in circulation via Bowie’s 70s and 80s boxsets, lovers of his commercial peak are admirably served for charting his tours’ progression. Brilliant Live Adventures is an excellent companion. With the era studio boxsets yet to reach the 90s, this six-album series serves as a potential taster. Each record is available separately, one a month until March, on vinyl and CD in limited editions (believed to be 10,000 each) to eventually complete the boxset. It consists of five full concerts from 1995-99,…

REVIEWS ROXETTE BAG OF TRIX – MUSIC FROM THE ROXETTE VAULTS WARNER MUSIC SWEDEN © Getty Images DEMOS, SPANISH LANGUAGE VERSIONS AND A LITTLE BIT MORE IN THE SWEDES’ SECOND RARITIES BOXSET For a duo who had to take a 10-year break between 2001-11, Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle were mightily prolific before their 10th and final album Good Karma in 2016. This 4LP/3CD set includes 28 previously unreleased recordings among its 46 tracks. The trouble is, there’s already a 4CD Roxette rarities compilation, 2006’s The Rox Box 86-06. By comparison, Bag Of Trix: Music From The Roxette Vaults at times feels like the leftovers. The vast majority of this boxset comprises demos –_for every intimate moment like a shivering Every Day recorded in 2000, there’s a plainly unformed jam like…

DEAD OR ALIVE INVINCIBLE EDSEL/DEMON The 17CD boxset Sophisticated Boom Box MMXVI, which Pete Burns was promoting when he died in 2016, became a fitting tribute to him, and Steve Coy, who passed away two years later. It includes all of Dead Or Alive’s albums. Their three full LPs released after 1990 have since been separately reissued, allowing casual listeners to discover what an undervalued classic Nukleopatra is. Quite why there’s a need for those three albums and mundane remix compilation Unbreakable to be boxed all over again is a puzzle. Invincible is bulked out to 90 tracks across its nine CDs which, for just three albums, means a hell of a lot of remixes and edits. It’s typified by infectious single Sex Drive filling two CDs, featuring 25 mixes…

ELVIS COSTELLO ARMED FORCES UME Despite the frenetic pace with which he was writing, Elvis Costello’s third album – the first to acknowledge The Attractions’ indispensability on its cover – remains a catalogue highlight. This boxset’s three LPs, three 10" mini albums and three 7" singles also emphasise the frenetic pace with which the band were playing, with 23 previously unreleased tracks from three highly disciplined contemporary shows included alongside a 1978 Hollywood High School recording previously issued in 2002. The album itself is chockful of classics – not least the breathless piano strains of Oliver’s Army and Accidents Will Happen. An abridged 1979 Pinkpop show kicks off with a vigorous Goon Squad, adding an especially staccato Green Shirt and a furious (What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace Love And Understanding,…

REVIEWS SHAKIN' STEVENS FIRE IN THE BLOOD/SINGLED OUT BMG COMPREHENSIVE BOXSET AND SINGLES BEST-OF FOR THE SINGER WHO SPEARHEADED THE 80S ROCK'N'ROLL REVIVAL During the 80s, Shakin’ Stevens was a one-man hit factory. The denim-clad singer pumped out so many UK chart entries – more than any other artist in any genre that decade – that two thirds of the 54 songs gathered on the career-spanning 3CD collection Singled Out were bona fide smashes. It’s unlikely that anyone who turned on a radio in the 80s won’t be familiar with most of them, including No.1s This Ole House, Green Door, Oh Julie and Merry Christmas Everyone. The songs still rock thanks to their shameless feel-good positivity – there was never anything dark or difficult about Shaky. However, even such a multitude…

THE BLUEBELLS SISTERS LAST NIGHT FROM GLASGOW The Scots’ only album by their original lineup, 1984’s Sisters was an odder fit next to Aztec Camera and the Orange Juice-led Postcard Records scene than jangly singles Young At Heart and Cath imply. There’s also political folk music, abrasive Lloyd Cole And The Commotions-infused indie and intense euphoria to make Madness jealous. Certainly, Sisters is a lost gem that is well deserving of this loving reissue. This new version adds two bonus songs produced by Elvis Costello as well as informative sleevenotes. JE…

BUZZCOCKS COMPLETE UA SINGLES 1977-1980 DOMINO A boxset of the 12 singles from Orgasm Addict to Running Free, all the post-Howard Devoto 7"s after Spiral Scratch of the first Buzzcocks incarnation are here. The big tunes like What Do I Get?, Everybody’s Happy Nowadays and Ever Fallen In Love remain incandescent pop-punk perfection. So, too, are many of the B-sides. Lipstick and Something’s Gone Wrong Again rattle along, the barely controlled pent-up hormonal anxiety only furthered by Pete Shelley’s vulnerability. Exactly what the 7" format was made for. JE…

BOOK REVIEWS QUEEN: THE NEAL PRESTON PHOTOGRAPHS NEAL PRESTON REEL ART PRESS In lensman Neal Preston’s half a century as photographer-of-choice for rock royalty such as Led Zeppelin, Stevie Nicks and Bruce Springsteen, there’s one act with which he formed a particularly close alliance – Queen. Between 1977 and 1986, Preston trailed the band around the globe countless times, capturing thousands of stills, more than 300 of which have now been collated in this lavish collection. As one of the world’s premier live acts, Preston was gifted with the opportunity of capturing the foursome at their very best, performing to crowds ranging from a few thousand in the mid-70s to 160,000 in Rio in 1981. However, his biggest coup was documenting Queen’s Live Aid set – the shot of Freddie…

A YEAR WITH SWOLLEN APPENDICES: BRIAN ENO’S DIARY BRIAN ENO FABER Republished to mark its 25th anniversary, A Year With Swollen Appendices is a candid, intimate look at a year in the life of one of music’s most creative and influential figures. The year in question, 1995, was typically busy where Eno worked on major projects with David Bowie, U2, James and Jah Wobble, while fielding offers to score films, judge competitions and present awards. Those four music projects form the bulk of this diary, offering a revealing insight into Eno’s creative process and how the amalgamation of personalities, personal taste, business interests, schedules and the mundanity of everyday life all play a role in shaping the final product. Aside from big-name collaborators, attending premieres, parties and award ceremonies, Eno’s…

OUR CONTRIBUTORS Best known for editing Teletext’s music pages Planet Sound in the 2000s, John Earls has also written about pop for the Sunday People, News Of The World, Daily Star and NME. This month, John meets cover star Cyndi Lauper, checks in with the legendary George Benson and helms our reissues section. An award-winning journalist and TV pundit, Will “Ill Will” Lavin is one of the UK’s foremost Black music specialists, covering hip-hop, R&B and soul for titles such as NME, BBC News, Time Out, Blues & Soul and The Red Bulletin. Making his debut this issue for Classic Pop, Will sits down with Mica Paris to talk about her new album, Gospel. Will Simpson has catholic tastes and is probably the only person to have written for both…

1 HIT WONDER JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS I LOVE ROCK‘N’ROLL I Love Rock’n’Roll is now on every partygoer’s playlist, yet had it not been for an adolescent American rock chick watching English kids telly, it would have been entirely lost. The original recording by Arrows –_a second string glam rock trio from London – flopped. But a year later they performed it on their eponymous TV show while also introducing acts like Tina Charles and Alvin Stardust. Watching in a hotel was Joan Jett, a guitarist from Pennsylvania touring with all-female rockers The Runaways. A mental note was made, and after the band split in 1979, she included I Love Rock‘n’Roll among her solo demos. Her star grew and in 1982, backed by The Blackhearts, her version stayed at…

LOST & FOUND NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK New Edition creator Maurice Starr was determined to prove his claim that Bobby Brown’s cutesy boyband would have been a global phenomenon had they been white. The result was New Kids On The Block. The line-up of the brothers Knight, Wahlberg, Wood and McIntyre was established after the latter joined aged 12, although their 1986 bubblegum debut went unnoticed. Stop It Girl finds Wahlberg competing like a discarded stepbrother against McIntyre; repeated to no additional satisfaction on schoolyard crush track Angel, while McIntyre ends the album with his untrained choirboy shtick on Treat Me Right. But without McIntyre as the clingy lapdog, Wahlberg is the most impressive lead, finding his voice on the mid-tempo Be My Girl…

Q+A MARK REILLY THE MATT BIANCO VOCALIST ON HIS SECOND TEAM-UP WITH JAZZ ENSEMBLE NEW COOL COLLECTIVE AND THE CHANCES OF AN ORIGINAL LINE-UP REUNION STEVE O’BRIEN © Mariagrazia Giove Matt Bianco have been dishing out Latin-inflected pop since 1983 when they formed around vocalists Mark Reilly and Basia Trzetrzelewska, keyboardist Danny White and bassist Kito Poncioni. After White and Trzetrzelewska departed in 1985, Reilly brought in keyboard player Mark Fisher and Matt Bianco remained a duo until 2003. The original trio reformed shortly after, releasing the LP Matt’s Mood. After White and Trzetrzelewska’s second departure, Reilly decided to carry on the Matt Bianco name on his own. He’s just released his second collaboration with Amsterdam-based jazzstars New Cool Collective, the deliriously upbeat High Anxiety. How did this album come…

CYNDI LAUPER CYNDI, INCIDENTALLY WITH A STORMING NEW SINGLE AND A REISSUE OF HER GROUNDBREAKING DEBUT ALBUM OUT, CYNDI LAUPER CAN REFLECT ON THE ENTIRETY OF HER WILD CAREER. AS EVER, SHE’LL DO SO IN HER OWN WAY. CLASSIC POP TRIES TO KEEP UP AS THE INIMITABLE STAR DISCUSSES SWEET POTATO DIETS, CLIMATE CHANGE, POLE DANCING, INSPIRING SCHITT’S CREEK, FAME’S CRUELLEST TRICK AND BEING A BEACON OF HOPE… JOHN EARLS © Kevin Trageser Amagnificent force for staying true to yourself since she emerged with Girls Just Want To Have Fun 37 years ago, Cyndi Lauper is the wonderful company anyone would hope from her artistry. Within two minutes of greeting Classic Pop, she’s discussing the potential benefits of following the diet of K-Pop singers. “Those girls in K-Pop are interesting,…

GROUND LEVEL SUPPORT A passionate advocate for environmental causes, Lauper hopes that American politicians will start taking climate change more seriously. “We’ve got to start listening to doctors and science,” implores Cyndi. “That goes across the board, because over here the pandemic agency was dismantled, which was a ‘What the heck?’ moment. “There’s no crystal ball and there isn’t a plan, so we have to be innovative and hope that research and science will help us heal ourselves and heal the planet. So many illnesses come from environmental disaster, because when you strip the earth it’s not going to be good.” Cyndi was given hope by Woody Harrelson-narrated documentary Kiss The Ground, which featured a farmer in the Scottish highlands who has helped recreate a forest. “Trees had been chopped…

REMAIN IN LIGHT CLASSIC ALBUM THE SONGS 1 BORN UNDER PUNCHES (THE HEAT GOES ON) If any casual listener was unaware that Talking Heads were heading down previously unexplored sonic avenues with their fourth album then straight out of the gate Remain In Light’s blisteringly polyrhythmic opener would soon enlighten them. Byrne’s born-again preacher persona makes his first appearance (“I’m not a drowning man/And I’m not a burning building/Drowning cannot hurt a man/Fire cannot hurt a man”), sermonising over an unholy, funky racket. ‘The Heat Goes On’ refrain repeated in the chorus was based on a headline Eno read in the New York Post during that summer’s long-lasting heatwave. The greatest trick the band pulled off with Remain In Light is that for an album so heavily steeped in experimentation…

SUPER FAN DEVOTED FANS SHOW US THEIR COLLECTIONS AND POP MEMORABILIA SIMPLE MINDS LARELLE READ, GLASGOW Q When did you first become a Superfan of Simple Minds and why do you like them? A I knew of them for many years but only became a superfan in 2014, having explored their back catalogue. Their music is always bright, shimmering and uplifting. Even some songs that have a darker edge are still filled with hope. They are also amazing live. Q What items do you have in your collection? A Lots of CDs, vinyl albums as well as 12" and 7" singles, plus boxsets, DVDs, posters, books, newspaper and music magazine clippings. I also have tour programmes, T-shirts, badges, ticket stubs and lots of photos. Q How much have you spent…

WHO SAMPLED WHO? Ice Ice Baby’s inspiration is hardly a revelation, so we’ve dug a little deeper to find those surprising examples you might not have clocked. The first Band Aid iteration sampled the ricocheting drums from Tears For Fears’ The Hurting in the intro. Acid house classic Voodoo Ray by A Guy Called Gerald gets its hook from a live sketch of Dudley Moore in potty-mouthed character mode. Moore’s original line was in fact ‘voodoo rage’, but the end was cut by the limitations of the sampler’s memory. Sci-fifans may recognise the Close Encounters Of The Third Kind soundtrack sneaking into Big Audio Dynamite’s Sudden Impact!. In turn, the 80s have proved rich pickings for later hits. Britney Spears’ Toxic gets some of its character from the 1981 Bollywood…

DEEP AND CRISP AND STEVENS THE STORY BEHIND A CHRISTMAS CLASSIC Christmas hits can have a special longevity and Shaky’s 1985 chart-topper Merry Christmas Everyone is perhaps his most enduring release. Having given the singer his fourth and, to date, last No.1 single in 1985, the song has become a Yuletide mainstay. Thanks to downloads, it has returned to the UK chart every year since 2007, hitting a peak of No.6 last year. The crisp and catchy single was written by Bob Heatlie, who penned Shaky’s 1983 hit Cry Just A Little Bit, as well as Aneka’s 1981 chart-topper Japanese Boy. The song was recorded for release in 1984, but the plan changed to avoid it being overshadowed by Band Aid’s fundraiser, Do They Know It’s Christmas?. “Not blowing my…

GO WEST I WANT TO HEAR IT FROM YOU The band have released two albums since reforming in 2000 but any new material has been put on ice until after the pandemic is over. “Certainly our manager wants us to do it,” says Drummie, “and I know both of us have been writing. The way it’s worked with us for a little while is I always put ideas into my phone, but if there’s something that I consider is good for Go West I think ‘stop’. There’s nothing worse than presenting Pete with a song that’s finished cos he’ll say, ‘It’s finished. What do I do?’ So what has happened with the last couple of records we’ve done is that I’ve played him some of the ideas I’ve had on…

THE BEST OF 2O2O OUR PICK OF THE BEST NEW ALBUMS, REISSUES, COMPILATIONS AND BOOKS FROM ACROSS THE PAST 12 MONTHS WYNDHAM WALLACE, JOHN EARLS, MARKLIN DORES & STEVE HARNELL NEW RELEASES 1 IT’S IMMATERIAL HOUSE FOR SALE Burning Shed Fans of 1990’s neglected Song waited 30 years for a follow-up from Liverpool’s best kept secret, but Itsy’s third album is worth every minute of its delay. A masterpiece of bittersweet, understated pathos, it often recalls The Blue Nile, not least on the gorgeous Summer Rain, making one hunger for a fourth album, however long it takes. 2 THE AVALANCHES WE WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU EMI A kaleidoscopic, 25-track tour de force which, like a fever dream, shifts moods – from magical to enigmatic, from exuberant to poignant – as…

THE BEST OF 2O2O BOOKS 2O2O’s must-haves in non-fiction, autobiographies and photo books 1 SWEET DREAMS: THE STORY OF THE NEW ROMANTICS Dylan Jones, Faber Four decades on from the birth of the New Romantics at London’s Blitz nightclub, Dylan Jones’ exhaustive oral history immortalises the pop culture phenomenon with the tribute it deserves. With contributions from more than 150 interviewees, Sweet Dreams is the ultimate celebration of the music, fashion and clubs that defined the 80s. 2 WHILE WE WERE GETTING HIGH: BRITPOP AND THE ‘90S Kevin Cummins, Cassell As chief photographer at the NME during the 90s, Cummins shot the defining images of Britpop, managing to encapsulate the anarchic energy and swagger of bands such as Oasis, Blur, Suede, Elastica, Pulp and many others. A perfect pictorial summary…

KEVIN GODLEY MUSCLE MEMORY THE STATE51 CONSPIRACY Though he’s always been a pioneer, one doubts 10cc co-founder Kevin Godley – later of Godley & Creme – realised in 2016 that the concept for his first solo album would be quite so trendsetting. He’s proven, however, to be the original social distancer, inviting submissions for collaborations via Pledge-Music, then picking the best from the 286(!) tracks he was sent, without ever meeting his musical foils. It’s only because the crowdfunding platform went down, delaying Muscle Memory’s release, that he’s not been acclaimed for this foresight. Still, these dozen tracks were worth the hurdles, and, despite the multiple contributors, it’s a unified collection, largely down to Godley’s wonderfully fallible vocals and his stinging wit. Expecting A Message sounds winningly like a mid-80s…

ROSIE CARNEY THE BENDS COLOR STUDY It’s a bold musician who covers a classic song, and a foolhardy one who takes on an entire album. 21-year-old Rosie Carney, though, intended merely to cover Radiohead’s Fake Plastic Trees as a way of overcoming depression at the start of the lockdown. Her more ambitious plans developed when she realised she was far from the first to attempt this, so she dove headlong into Radiohead’s entire masterpiece, transforming their breakthrough album into something exquisite and fragile. Had she stuck with her initial proposal, she’d still have turned in one of the loveliest interpretations yet of that extraordinary song, its lyrics whispered, its reduced arrangement like a warm embrace. Her other 11 renderings, however, are similarly spine-tingling. Opener Planet Telex is so diaphanous it’s…

REVIEWS SUPERGRASS LIVE ON OTHER PLANETS SUPERGRASS RECORDS Fitting in a reunion tour just before lockdown, Supergrass were able to celebrate a decade after splitting. Aware of their relatively good fortune, proceeds from this 20-song double album go to the #SaveOurVenues campaign. Recorded at various venues on their arena run, it shows the band hasn’t lost any vigour. Richard III and Caught By The Fuzz are played as frantically now the band are in their forties as when they arrived as Britpop’s cheeky teens. The middle of the album is a little light on big tunes, with early singles Lose It or Mansize Rooster likely to have been more crowdpleasing than the trudging pair of Hollow Little Reign and She’s So Loose, seemingly designed to let the gents get their breath…

BERLIN STRINGS ATTACHED AUGUST DAY Credit to Berlin for spotting how, despite the number of orchestrally enhanced albums emerging these days, almost none have utilised the punning title that they’ve unearthed. Credit’s due, too, for improving some songs despite what’s normally a slightly redundant process. The primitive synths of early single The Metro, for instance, and its more Moroder-esque follow-up Sex (I’m A…) bask in these string arrangements, and You Don’t Know benefits from the additional drama. Take My Breath Away, however, was already pretty overblown in the first place. WW…

MICA PARIS GOSPEL EAST WEST This eighth studio LP from soul star Paris arrives in the wake of a BBC documentary, Gospel According To Mica, and even hotter on the heels of a villainous role as EastEnders’ Ellie Nixon. That’s a battle of good versus evil right there – and the marketing’s definitely sorted – but, just in case, this collection tips the scales so she’s got God on her side. Of course, Paris is no ingénue – she grew up singing in gospel choirs – and her enthusiasm’s no doubt genuine: by the climax of her opening track alone she’s hollering wildly and it’s only a cover of Labi Siffre’s (Something Inside) So Strong That song, however, underlines the album’s shortcomings: never especially subtle, it’s now, sadly, painfully overfamiliar,…

CASPER CLAUSEN BETTER WAY CITY SLANG Efterklang’s Casper Clausen follows two albums with band alter ego Liima by releasing his debut solo album. It’s typically broadminded, opening with Used To Think, an almost nine-minute feast which morphs from spacey krautpop to frothy synth-pop, and it flips as eagerly between different styles throughout. There’s the hallucinatory Dark Heart, Little Words’ feverish dreampop, the frantic 8 Bit Human and closer Ocean Wave, a rippling, nocturnal comedown, with each embellished by a steadfast croon and winsome falsetto. WW…

REISSUES EVELYN ‘CHAMPAGNE’ KING THE RCA ALBUMS 1977-1985 SOULMUSIC On its own, Evelyn King’s name was deemed “too grown-up” when she signed to RCA for her debut album Smooth Talk at just 17 in 1977. “Champagne” was simply derived from King’s childhood nickname “Bubbles”, but it fit: for the next seven years, King crafted an album a year of dance music that sounds as joyful blasting out at full volume now as it did 40-plus years ago. Her music was as luxurious and decadent as vintage Moët & Chandon. All eight albums bar 1984’s So Romantic – a misfire where King briefly succumbed to synthetic production – are the absolute apex of R&B. Few singers before or since have sounded so in love with life itself, whether about religion, hitting the…

REISSUES TOYAH SHEEP FARMING IN BARNET CHERRY RED Kickstarting a full reissue campaign of Toyah’s albums up to 1983’s Love Is The Law, the band’s 1979 mini-album debut is expanded from its original 11-song release to 41 tracks, thanks to a variety of demos, alternative mixes, improvised poem Vivisection (which became debut single Victims Of The Riddle) and the five songs added to the German edition of Sheep Farming In Barnet. There’s also a DVD comprising a new interview with Toyah Willcox, a recent acoustic session, plus vintage TV performances from The Old Grey Whistle Test and ITV’s What’s On. It’s a comprehensive package, but also a reminder that Toyah weren’t quite fully formed when they arrived, despite Sheep Farming… becoming one of the first No.1 albums in the nascent indie…

REVIEWS MARC ALMOND THE STARS WE ARE SFE © Andy Catlin EXPANDED REISSUE OF ALMOND'S FOURTH SOLO ALBUM SEES HIM HEAD FOR THE MAINSTREAM – WITH THE ODD TWIST Leaving Some Bizzare to join Parlophone in 1988, The Stars We Are is Marc Almond at his most commercial. We’re talking by degrees – there’s still room for gigolo murder ballad Kept Boy with cabaret singer Agnes Bernelle. But it gave Almond his only solo No.1 single via Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart, though Gene Pitney only joined as duettist after hearing the solo album version. In truth, Something’s…. Sunday night melodrama is one of the least interesting moments on the album. Almond’s backing band La Magia act almost as a film noir take on Dexys, helping the superficially perky The…

THE DURUTTI COLUMN CIRCUSES AND BREAD/SEX AND DEATH/REBELLION/SOMEONE ELSE’S PARTY/KEEP BREATHING/LOVE IN THE TIME OF RECESSION FACTORY BENELUX/DEMON Bonanza time for Durutti Column fans. 1986’s Circuses And Bread, now with six bonus tracks, features an unusually affecting vocal on the brittle Tomorrow and puts Tim Kellett’s trumpet centre-stage for Blind Elevator Girl (Osaka). 1994’s Sex And Death, also with added rarities, is far prettier than its name suggests: For Colette blossoms in slow motion, and Cowie Eastwood’s Karin Dreijer-like voice twists Fado. On 2001’s Rebellion, Vick A Wood adds folkish vocals to The Fields Of Athenry, while Meschugana exploits brass-heavy orchestral samples and Overload Part One experiments with breakbeats and an MC. 2003’s Someone Else’s Party further indulges Vini Reilly’s fondness for beats amid Love Is A Friend’s booms and Vigil’s…

REISSUES MADNESS ABSOLUTELY BMG Here’s a fresh vinyl edition to mark the 40th anniversary of Madness’ second album. Baggy Trousers and Embarrassment are an exemplary way to start any LP, and Absolutely carries on in the same form to belie the Nutty Boys’ reputation as simply a singles band. The thumping E.R.N.I.E remains a live favourite, Take It Or Leave It is even more exuberant and the worryingly full-on Shadow Of Fear is classic Mike Barson panto menace. Is this the best Madness album of their first incarnation? Absolutely. JE…

THE PASSAGE PINDROP/DEGENERATES LES DISQUES DU CREPESCULE Formed by Hallé Orchestra percussionist Dick Witts, an early lineup of The Passage included Fall bassist Tony Friel, which might explain Witts’ Mark E Smith pastiche vocals. On debut Pindrop, whenever a promising slice of post-punk rumbles into place, Witts’ careless vocal delivery squashes it. It’s the same for the band’s most successful LP Degenerates two years later. Expanded to a trio, the synth-driven tunes approach The B-52s in places, only for Witts’ vocals to smother those, too. This 2CD package is of its time. JE…

INDOCHINE SINGLES COLLECTIONS 1981-2001/2001-2021 WRASSE Starting out as new wavers, over the past 40 years this French collective have embraced stadium balladry, goth, emo and spiritual pop with a thoughtful dignity. Following the death of twin brother guitarist Stéphane in 1999, singer Nicola Sirkis is the sole founder member, his soothing croon meaning Indochine have adapted to any genre. The first volume of these two compilations is marginally better for newcomers but, bar a brief flirtation with industrial metal in the noughties, the strength of the tunes has remained strong over the decades. JE…

LET LOVE RULE LENNY KRAVITZ WITH DAVID RITZ SPHERE As one of rock’s most enduring figures, with a private life almost as renowned as his professional achievements, anyone picking up Let Love Rule for dirt and scandal will be disappointed. Instead, it’s a beautifully written coming-ofage story which digs deep into Kravitz’s identity (both personal and public), relationships, integrity, race and strength of character. Covering the first 25 years of Kravitz’s life, the book chronicles his upbringing in New York and, later Los Angeles, shedding light on his significant relationships and how they shaped the man he’d become. Kravitz’s relationship with his father was tumultuous, his adoration for his mother is clear, as is an inherent passion for music which fuelled his determination to succeed whilst remaining true to himself.…

CLASSIC POP MOMENTS THE SEX PISTOLS’ FIRST GOODBYE 14 JANUARY 1978 © Getty “A-ha-ha, ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” Those were the words that Johnny Rotten uttered as he pulled the curtain down on the Sex Pistols at their final show on 14 January 1978 at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom. At the time, it looked like the famously snarly Pistols’ frontman was firing that comment at his audience, but since then, Rotten – real name John Lydon – has admitted the words were directed more at himself than anyone. “I felt cheated, and I wasn’t going on with it any longer,” he said. “It was a ridiculous farce.” Lydon felt shunned by the Pistols’ Machiavellian manager Malcolm McLaren and exasperated by bandmate Sid Vicious’ drug-induced stupor. “Sid was…

SUBSCRIPTION OFFER SAVE 50% WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE TO CLASSIC POP MAGAZINE SUBSCRIBE TODAY DON‘T MISS OUT! • Save 50% on the shop price* • Spread the cost by convenient Direct Debit* • Free UK delivery direct to your door • Never miss an issue NOT IN THE UK? We’ve got special offers for international readers, too! • Europe €17.99 every 6 months (SAVING 50%) • Australia $23.99 every 6 months (SAVING 50%) • USA/Canada $22.45 every 6 months (SAVING 50%) • Rest of World £13.50 every 6 months (SAVING 50%) Order online today at classicpopmag.com/HP21P 3 EASY WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE classicpopmag.com/HP21P 01371 853 609 Please complete the Freepost order form opposite [UK ONLY]…

THE POD SQUAD CHECKING IN WITH OUR FAVOURITE CLASSIC POP-FRIENDLY PODCASTS No.5 ANDREW DINELEY ART ON YOUR SLEEVE What’s your podcast about? There are many fascinating and untold stories behind the design of the record sleeves that we treasure. This podcast digs into sleeve design history with discussions and interviews with the people involved in their creation. I’m only just beginning really, there’s a lot more still to be uncovered. How did you get into podcasting? As soon as I discovered podcasting nearly two decades ago I was hooked and quickly got my own show out there called iSay iSay iSay. It seemed a peculiarly British name and was a nice pun on everything starting with a lower case ‘i’ at the time. Who’s your dream guest? I’m lucky to…

Q+A PER GESSLE THE ROXETTE SONGWRITER REVEALS ALL TO CLASSIC POP ABOUT THE BAND’S LATEST EXTENSIVE RARITIES COLLECTION PLUS GIVES US A HINT ABOUT HIS FUTURE PLANS AS A SOLO ARTIST STEVE O’BRIEN Per Gessle was, for 33 years, one half of Sweden’s second-bestselling music act after ABBA, Roxette. The band came to a close in 2019 following the death from cancer of Gessle’s bandmate and singer, Marie Fredriksson. Since then, Gessle has been scouring the Roxette archives for the 4LP/3CD boxset Bag Of Trix: Music From The Roxette Vaults. Tell us how this boxset came into existence… I was looking around for live stuff, and I found so much material that I’d forgotten about. I uncovered a couple of tracks that we’d recorded for the Good Karma album that…

NEWS Arab Strap say new LP adventure is dark but fun… Darkness doesn’t have to be a sombre affair according to Arab Strap. The duo return with their first new album in 16 years on 5 March titled As Days Get Dark, and they were determined not to “recapture 90s” euphoria with it. “It’s about hopelessness and darkness,” explains Aidan Moffat. “But in a fun way. This album feels like its own new thing to me. “It’s definitely Arab Strap, but an older and wiser one, and quite probably a better one.” Songwriting partner Malcolm Middleton added: “There’s no point getting back together to release mediocrity.” Arab Strap will tour the UK in September.…

CYNDI LAUPER MILES AHEAD Since topping the US chart in 1984, Lauper’s Time After Time has been covered on more than 100 occasions, by singers ranging from Willie Nelson and Smokey Robinson to David Essex and Barry Manilow. One of the first to reinterpret the ballad was Miles Davis, for his 1985 LP Y ou’re Under Arrest. “Miles covering Time After Time meant a lot to me,” states Cyndi. “While I was still performing in covers bands, I studied jazz at the Lennie Tristano School Of Jazz.” Founded by free jazz pianist Tristano, the New York school was the first of its kind. Graduates include Lee Konitz, Sal Mosca and Warne Marsh. “I knew jazz history,” Cyndi continues. “I was well aware of the greats, and Miles was one of them.…

REMAIN IN LIGHT CLASSIC ALBUM REMAIN IN LIGHT TALKING HEADS AFRO-FUNK MEETS POST-PUNK ON THE LANDMARK FOURTH ALBUM FROM THE EVER-EVOLVING NEW YORK CITY QUARTET, BUT SONIC BOUNDARIES ARE RARELY PUSHED THIS HARD WITHOUT A PRICE TO PAY… GARY TIPP During the early part of their career Talking Heads were inextricably linked to the Ramones. Admittedly, both bands had broken out of New York’s legendarily grubby Bowery scene at the same time and, in Sire, they shared a relatively hip record label. Nonetheless, it was always an odd coupling. Talking Heads’ first ever gig at CBGB’s was second on the bill to the seminal punks from Queens, and in the late spring of 1977 the two bands even embarked on a European tour together. Schlepping around Europe on the same tour…

REMAIN IN LIGHT CLASSIC ALBUM THE VIDEOS ONCE IN A LIFETIME The Once In A Lifetime video was choreographed and co-directed by an old fling of Byrne’s, the Mickey singer/dancer Toni Basil. A clammy Byrne appears in a white room, dressed in an ill-fitting suit, bowtie and horn-rim specs, while in the background, religious rituals are broadcast. Byrne amplifies the herky-jerky movement of these rituals with full-body contortions. The frontman puts in a pitch-perfect performance as the discombobulated preacher. Both Byrne and Basil had studied archive footage of evangelists, African tribes and Japanese religious sects to see how Byrne could then incorporate them into his performance. The research paid off and the promo, crucially, went into heavy rotation on MTV just six months after the channel was launched. For many…

POPARAZZI READERS SHARE THEIR FAVOURITE PHOTOS AS THEY GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH SOME OF THE BIGGEST NAMES IN PLANET POP Send your Poparazzi pics now to steve.harnell@anthem.co.uk TONY HADLEY WITH DIANE CHOULES ”This is one of my favourite photos of me with Tony Hadley. I flew to Australia to see Tony in March as his Perth gig was on my birthday. I saw his manager, Matt, earlier in the day and he was gobsmacked that I’d flown to the other side of the world just to see him. When me and my friend Ness were outside the venue, Matt spotted us and let us in for the soundcheck. Tony’s first words were, “Diane, you crazy girl!” He also broke off halfway into Through The Barricades to wish me…

IF YOU DON'T ASK, YOU DON’T GET Of the pair in Go West, Richard has always been the pushy one and this has often paid dividends. No better example of this is when he cold called jazz legend Branford Marsalis and asked him to play sax on their contribution to the Rocky IV soundtrack, One Way Street. “We were at this studio in Hollywood,” remembers Drummie. “We’d already met Stallone, who was a lovely guy. We needed a solo and went, ‘Well, what should we use on this?’ Saxes were still being used back then and I said, ‘Sting’s in town’, and they were like, ‘Yeah, so?’ Branford Marsalis was in Sting’s band at the time so I went, ‘Why don’t we ask him if he will do it?’ Everyone…

GEORGE BENSON SMOOTH OPERATOR EVER SINCE SOUL AND DISCO CLASSICS LIKE NEVER GIVE UP ON A GOOD THING AND GIVE ME THE NIGHT, GEORGE BENSON HAS EPITOMISED LATE-NIGHT SOPHISTICATED LISTENING. OVER AN INCREDIBLE CAREER SPANNING ALMOST 70 YEARS, HE’S BEEN A MASTER CRAFTSMAN IN EVERY GENRE, PLAYING WITH MILES DAVIS, MINNIE RIPERTON AND STEVIE WONDER. NO WONDER CLASSIC POP FOUND IT HARD TO KEEP UP WITH A MASTER WHO HAS NO INTENTION OF SLOWING DOWN… JOHN EARLS At 77, George Benson is still a man in a hurry. When Classic Pop phones him at his home in Arizona, he makes it clear we’d better get down to business. “Go ahead, but keep it short, my friend,” he instructs, his voice far deeper and more rumbling than you’d expect from the…

COMPILATIONS Our favourite Various Artists collections of 2020 1 BOB STANLEY AND PETE WIGGS PRESENT THE TEARS OF TECHNOLOGY ACE A cottage industry in curating compilations, here’s the Saint Etienne duo’s finest. Choosing the best sad bangers of the early 80s, emotional deep cuts by Soft Cell, OMD and The Human League are joined by inspired leftfield choices including The Teardrop Explodes, plus lost names who you’ll promptly research for ages. 2 MUSIK, MUSIC, MUSIQUE – 1980: THE DAWN OF SYNTH POP CHERRY RED Showcasing just how varied the early synth-poppers were, this 58-track compilation highlights why Spandau Ballet and Visage became huge, while asking why Dark Day and Mataya Clifford didn’t join them in the charts. Encompassing pop bangers, brooding ballads, avant-garde experiments and dated whimsy, it’s an exhaustive…

EDITOR’S CHOICE ARTISTS DEFIED THE ODDS AND OVERCAME NUMEROUS OBSTACLES TO MAKE 2020 AN UNLIKELY VINTAGE YEAR FOR MUSIC, WRITES STEVE HARNELL In this most tumultuous of years, we’ve witnessed the music industry continually bobbing and weaving to navigate all that’s been thrown its way. Album delays and surprise releases abounded, tours planned and cancelled – all we drew from 2020 was to expect the unexpected. While labels took time out during the spring to lick their wounds, they’ve been playing catch-up ever since. Against all the odds, 2020 has turned out to be something of a vintage year for music. Prince’s Sign O’ The Times boxset was nothing short of spectacular, with its wealth of unreleased and alternate takes turning what was already an astonishing album into a body…

REVIEWS PAUL MCCARTNEY MCCARTNEY III CAPITOL “Do you miss me?” Paul McCartney asks on Long Tailed Winter Bird, McCartney III’s curiously irresistible introduction. Well, of course, sir, even if it’s only a couple of years since you went to No.3 with Egypt Station, III’s predecessor. You’re responsible for some of the finest pop songs ever written, and this 18th solo collection is titled in acknowledgment to its affiliation with 1970’s home-produced McCartney and 1980’s similarly appealing McCartney II. Given your history and those records’ humble charms, who wouldn’t want more? There’s always a danger, however, that such anticipation can raise expectations, leaving McCartney somewhat doomed to provoke overexcitement or disappointment. After all, whatever their standing now, neither I nor II were received with glee, largely because of what preceded them. And…

NEW RELEASES SPEAR OF DESTINY WORLD SERVICE @35 EASTERSNOW RECORDINGS Spear Of Destiny’s third album may have reached No.11 in the UK, but Kirk Brandon’s always regretted the way the 1985 collection was produced by Rusty Egan. The Visage co-founder was a compromise choice, and to Brandon the results lacked the intended brawn, so he’s re-recorded the whole thing 35 years later, tweaking the running order and adding four B-sides. The changes aren’t especially radical, but years of performing the songs live have indeed ensured that they sound more muscular, with guitars squealing to emphasise I Can See’s drama and riffing abrasively on Once In Her Lifetime. Admittedly, the title track sounds more like Big Country than it once did, and Brandon’s football terrace vocals remain an acquired taste. Nonetheless, he’s…

LATE NIGHT FINAL A WONDERFUL HOPE PIAS Made while Public Service Broadcasting were in lockdown, J Willgoose wanted to explore The KLF’s floatier side and Brian Eno in his ambient solo project. He’s got the minimalism right, but Willgoose is best when exploring euphoria in music and much of A Wonderful Hope simply drifts past. The pulsating drop eight minutes into the title track signals a joyous finale, but that brings into sharp relief the noodling elsewhere. Perfectly relaxing, but these four long pieces too often lack the questing intrigue of Willgoose’s main work. JE…

5 BILLION IN DIAMONDS DIVINE ACCIDENTS MAKE RECORDS With its title a nod to Orson Welles’ comment that “The best thing about film-making is divine accidents”, the second album from the band formed by legendary Nirvana producer and Garbage co-founder and drummer Butch Vig is apparently inspired by their habit of watching films in the studio, which is nice work if you can get it. Perhaps that’s why, as a labour of love, it doesn’t feel especially taxing. It’s not overly cinematic either, though, and sadly earthbound enough to risk making no bigger impression than their overlooked, self-titled debut. Nonetheless, it has its moments, not least the bucolic Hurt No More, with Helen White’s hushed vocals recalling Bristol trip-hoppers Alpha, which isn’t surprising since they were Vigs’ collaborator Andy Jenks’…

DJANGO DJANGO GLOWING IN THE DARK BECAUSE MUSIC Playfully eclectic London quartet Django Django’s fourth album is unlikely to stave off comparisons to The Beta Band, but despite its rich detail it often sounds straightforward, too, whether on Right The Wrongs’ sun-baked indie pop which, at two minutes, is way more succinct than Caribou, or Waking Up, on which Charlotte Gainsbourg murmurs enticingly. Spirals deservedly scored their third UK hit, and there are more swirling 60s reminiscences on Kick The Devil Out, a quasi-baggy tune with jangling quasi-African guitars. WW…

BARRY GIBB & FRIENDS GREENFIELDS: THE GIBB BROTHERS SONGBOOK VOL. 1 CAPITOL/EMI Last Bee Gee standing Sir Barry Gibb’s always nursed a fondness for country, but though the master songwriter lured many of its stars to Nashville for this celebration, it’s more tasteful than twang. Gibb still often sounds like he might break down theatrically, especially on How Deep Is Your Love, but Rival Sons’ Jay Buchanan nails a stringladen To Love Somebody while Alison Krauss is positively celestial on Too Much Heaven. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, meanwhile, ensure 1967’s Butterfly takes flight. WW…

MILES HUNT THE CUSTODIAN 2 GOOD DEEDS MUSIC Two hours is a long time to spend with anyone and an acoustic guitar, but having presumably found a willing audience with The Custodian two years ago, Miles Hunt returns with another 30 songs from across his career performed solo. Well, not entirely solo: his dog starts barking as Who Wants To Be The Disco King ends. But if it’s impossible to concede Wonder Stuff stompers like Radio Ass Kiss are improved in this setting, his committed foot stomping on It’s Yer Money I’m After Baby confirms that he’s in it for the fans. WW…

SPANDAU BALLET 40 YEARS – THE GREATEST HITS REFORMATION/PARLOPHONE With Spandau Ballet now firmly siloed in various uncommunicative camps, their 40th anniversary was always going to be complicated. The last thing they need is another Best Of: when they reunited in 2014, The Story featured four (final?) new songs and was definitive. Gary and Martin joked recently in their hilarious BBC Two mockumentary The Kemps: All True about the number of Spandau hits sets. With depressing inevitability, here’s another one. The only worthwhile new Spandau release would be a boxset. Gary has justifiably spoken of wanting a live album, to show how much rawer Spandau were in concert – the Parade tour or 2009’s first reunion would be ideal. So, too, would a complete set of contemporaneous 12" mixes, rounding…

GOLDFRAPP SEVENTH TREE MUTE/BMG Goldfrapp’s ongoing reissue campaign has seen the duo’s albums back on vinyl, with a coloured format (yellow this time) and free artwork print. It’s been sensibly handled, but it can’t save Goldfrapp’s fourth album from being a problem. Having become unlikely mainstream pop stars with previous albums Black Cherry and Supernature, it was understandable Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory wanted to revisit the folktronica of their Felt Mountain debut now they had a wider audience to appreciate its atmospherics. Lead single A&E duly became Goldfrapp’s final Top 10 hit, but its attempts to merge their synth-pop and pastoral styles was oddly flat, yet sadly typical of the rest of Seventh Tree. Whereas Felt Mountain had arrived resembling nobody else, many of these straight-up ballads sounded like…

REISSUES JIMMY SOMERVILLE HOME AGAIN SFE After 1999’s Manage The Damage didn’t chart, by 2004 Jimmy Somerville was commercially at his lowest ebb. That Home Again was only released in Germany and Russia indicates it’s a best-forgotten footnote in his career. Don’t be fooled: this wonderful 3CD edition shows Somerville was on fire, working with top German and Italian dance names. Big-name producers Mauro Picotto and Jam And Spoon respectively bring an epic trance build-up to the title track and a sensitive chillout mood on Selfish Days. Mostly, though, Home Again has Somerville’s best euphoric bangers since solo debut Read My Lips. Students of dance music will know Rosenstolz and Tillmann Uhrmacher as producers who bring high-end doof, oomph and thud, so long as the tunes are there. They are. Come…

XTC DRUMS AND WIRES/ORANGES & LEMONS/NONSUCH APE These latest lavish 200g vinyl reissues capture XTC at the outset and close of their commercial peak, highlighting their many strengths and contrasting rawer roots with polished later years. 1979’s Drums And Wires – here with original bonus 7" – partially shed their unconventional reputation, but even Colin Moulding’s classic Making Plans For Nigel remained idiosyncratic, and there were throwbacks to frantic tendencies on the brisk Helicopter, Roads Girdle The Globe – with its gobby vocals and discordant guitars – and the jagged Outside World. Complicated Game closed things with noisy nihilism. Ten years later, Oranges & Lemons was less self-conscious and frontloaded with singles: the ornate Garden Of Earthly Delights, the typically intelligent Mayor Of Simpleton and King For A Day. African…

EUROPE GOLD CRIMSON/DEMON Anyone expecting a 3CD Best Of from Europe to simply consist of remixes of The Final Countdown, think on: the Swedes’ megahit gets just one additional version, the pointless Final Countdown 2000. Ignoring the six albums issued since reforming in 2004, Gold focuses on Europe’s 1983-91 first period. It’s a well-chosen set, rescuing the goodtime Yesterday’s News from its Japanese bonus track status and mixing the early heavier tunes with Joey Tempest’s commercial pomp. Daft, but sometimes heroically so. JE…

THE POGUES THE BBC SESSIONS 1984-86 RHINO Originally released in August for Record Store Day, this expanded 23-song CD edition is a complete document of The Pogues’ first six Radio 1 sessions. A riotous Greenland Whale Fisheries shows that they were always explosive, barely altering in the bristling energy of three further Rum, Sodomy & The Lash-era sessions, even more ferocious than the studio versions. Four songs for Janice Long previewing If I Should Fall From Grace With God are less intense, but it’s all a welcome reminder of the days before they settled for relatively cosy nostalgia shows. JE…

IAN DURY HIT ME! THE BEST OF BMG “There haven’t half been some clever bastards,” Ian Dury reminds us on this 50-track retrospective, and it’s true: the inimitable songwriter popularised the phrase Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, then charmed his way into the charts with an extraordinary live band, The Blockheads, something confirmed by a vital version of Spasticus Autisticus. 1978’s Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick remains invincible, but earlier tracks like Rough Kids reveal his nascent talent and 1997’s Mash It Up confirms Dury remained a clever bastard to the end. WW…

THE MEANING OF MARIAH CAREY MARIAH CAREY WITH MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS MACMILLAN Underrated may seem like a strange choice of adjective to describe Mariah Carey, a woman who’s been a global superstar for three decades. But despite being one of the most successful singer-songwriters of all time – she’s penned all 19 of her US No.1 singles – many fail to realise that she’s the creative force behind her material. Luckily, the myriad of deeply personal songs on which she’s been chronicling her life from day one form the basis of an astounding memoir where lyrics and their inspiration embroider its rich tapestry – Mariah frankly and eloquently lays down her story from a turbulent childhood blighted by feelings of being an outsider and horrific racism, to her life as…