Innholdsfortegnelse for May - June 2021 i Classic Pop

CLASSIC POP WELCOME This issue we bring you the contrasting tales of two influential Garys. On the one hand, our cover star Gary Numan has barely paused for songwriting breath since Tubeway Army hit the charts back in 1978. On the other, Gary Kemp now returns with only his second solo album in more than a quarter of a century – he’s been keeping us waiting since 1995 for the belated follow-up to Little Bruises. Sonically, the pair are poles apart. Numan’s latest outing retains the hard-hitting industrial edge that he’s now made his own while Kemp makes his comeback in a more recognisably traditional pop-rock style with nods to David Bowie and Pink Floyd. The passage of time hangs heavy over both projects, though. Numan’s new studio album, Intruder,…

POP UP Garbage return inspired by ‘astounding chaos’ The best connected band in pop return with new studio album, No Gods No Masters on 11 June. “This is our seventh record, the significant numerology of which affected the DNA of its content: the seven virtues, the seven sorrows and the seven deadly sins,” explains Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson. “It was our way of trying to make sense of how nuts the world is and the astounding chaos that we find ourselves in. It’s the record we felt that we had to make at this time.” Produced by the band’s long-time collaborator Billy Bush, work began on No Gods No Masters three years ago, and it’s been in the can since last September. First taster The Men Who Rule the World…

1 HIT WONDER POP UP STAKKER HUMANOID HUMANOID There was something exhilarating about Stakker Humanoid that could entice even the most unforgiving muso to the dancefloor from their pretentious shell. The track heralded a new sub-genre for the dominant dance scene of 1988 with the wisdom claiming this was the point where the word ‘acid’ entered clubbing vernacular. Asked to create music for a video arts company based at the Haçienda, 20-year-old Brian Dougans adopted half of the video’s name, Humanoid, as his performance moniker and came up with brainbashing, utterly rapturous noises that threw themselves relentlessly and mercilessly to front of house It was one of the first commercially successful dance records to open the eyes of bands and songwriters, with the infectious bleeping inducing improvised, subconscious movement from…

LOST & FOUND POP UP I CAN’T STAND STILL DON HENLEY Though much of the Eagles’ polished country rock is admired and respected, there was expectation on their lead performer Don Henley to show a more daring edge to his sound once the band’s demise paved the way for his solo career. With debut album I Can’t Stand Still, though, he largely lived up to those hopes. Henley dashes through the odd Eagle-shaped shadow – harmony-heavy Long Way Home could have been written any time in the last decade – but otherwise hangs his hat on a mellow, slightly menacing approach. Dirty Laundry, a Grammy-nominated huge hit in the US, was his caustic critique of news coverage of disasters and his own eventful private affairs, while Nobody’s Business is a…

New Order hooks up with US retailer As a reflection of its deep love for New Order, clothing line NOAH has cooked up an extensive garment collaboration. Drawing from the band’s back catalogue, NOAH’s preppy new streetwear now features their artwork and graphics. It’s a wide-ranging collection that even includes_accessories like The Perfect Kiss gum, Truth Denial soap and even a NOAH x New Order maglight. You see the collection at noahny.com. Meanwhile, the band themselves release Education Entertainment Recreation on 7 May. You can read Classic Pop’s review of the album on page 82.…

NUMAN V OLDMAN A well-known bit of trivia states that Gary Numan is 13 days older than actor Gary Oldman. It’s a statistic the older Numan is aware of, as he laughs: “I’m not surprised I’m older than the other Gary. I’ve never met him, so I can’t say which of us looks older, but I seem to be older than everyone I meet now.” That wasn’t always the case – Gary was the youngest member of Tubeway Army by several years. “I’m older than everyone in my band now,” he wails. It’s a subject Gary is uncomfortable with, as he reveals: “I’m really frightened of the illnesses that come with getting old. If I think about it at night, I can’t sleep – I have to calm myself by…

THE SONGS 1 BURN IT DOWN Searching For The Young Soul Rebels starts with the sound of a radio being tuned in, followed by brief snatches of Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water, Sex Pistols’ Holidays In The Sun and Rat Race by The Specials before the brass section launches headfirst into the song. Burn It Down is a faithful reprisal of the band’s first single Dance Stance. Its chorus is made up of a list of celebrated Irish writers and forms part of Rowland’s fierce reaction against anti-Irish prejudice, which was prevalent at the time (“Never heard about Oscar Wilde and Brendan Behan, Sean O’Casey, George Bernard Shaw/ Samuel Beckett, Eugene O’Neill, Edna O’Brien and Laurence Stern”). “I was saying, ‘If Irish people are so thick, how come they’ve…

CHAT NO.1 During lockdown, Gary Kemp has created the music interview podcast, Rockonteurs. Presented alongside Saucerful Of Secrets bassist Guy Pratt, the pair have enjoyed relaxed conversations with Roland Orzabal, Boy George and Jon Bon Jovi, among others. “Rockonteurs came out of the fact Guy and I thought we were the funniest two guys ever to be on a tourbus, not that anyone else agreed,” smiles Kemp. “We definitely have the same sense of humour; there isn’t a minute that goes by where we’re not ribbing each other. We were a little nervous on the early podcasts – we had our questions written down, until we realised our USP is that we don’t ask questions, we just chat.” Gary particularly enjoyed Alice Cooper’s appearance, enthusing: “If you’d said when I…

LOVE FIFTEEN “It wasn’t a marketing ploy or anything like that – we’re not that smart,” laughs Marti of Wet Wet Wet’s decision to stop pressing copies of Love Is All Around at the height of its three-month residency at the top of the singles chart in 1994. “We just thought it was time to give someone else a shot.” With hindsight, shouldn’t they at least have given it one more week, so they could match Bryan Adams’ record-breaking 16-week run with (Everything I Do) I Do It For You? “Well, it did sell more records than Bryan Adams,” Marti points out (correctly – the Wets sold 1,898,790 to Adams’ 1,848,154). “Clearly we’ve got the weddings covered with that song. It was a fantastic thing to happen in our career.…

TOP 2O SIDE PROJECTS SOME EXTRA-CURRICULAR MUSICAL ACTIVITIES WERE JUST FLEETING DALLIANCES AWAY FROM THE MOTHERSHIP, WHILE OTHERS MADE A LASTING IMPACT JON O’BRIEN Whether they’re borne out of creativity, curiosity or just plain boredom, the side project has been an intriguing staple of the music scene ever since the days of Plastic Ono Band. Some can end up rivalling, or even surpassing, the success of its members’ main endeavours. Others are blatantly little more than a self-indulgent way to pass some downtime. Most, however, sit somewhere in-between. But from enduring hip-hop collectives to one-off synth-pop collabs, this countdown is all about those Classic Pop-friendly acts that didn’t necessarily need to return to the day job. 20 NEW BUILD ESSENTIAL ALBUM: YESTERDAY WAS LIVED AND LOST (2012) From Alexis Taylor’s…

BOOK REVIEWS MY ROCK’N’ROLL FRIEND TRACEY THORN CANONGATE As anyone who has read Tracey Thorn’s previous books, the fantastic Bedsit Disco Queen and Another Planet can attest, her personable, chatty writing style together with an incredible eye for detail results in work which perfectly evokes its era. For her latest effort, as the title suggests, Thorn trains her focus on her longtime friend, Lindy Morrison – drummer with The Go-Betweens – and their enduring bond for a frank book which is part biography but ultimately a celebration of knows-no-bounds friendship. Spanning almost four decades, from their first meeting backstage at London’s Lyceum when they shared a bill in 1983, to their last physical meeting in September 2019, we see their relationship flourish from Tracey as shy, awestruck fan of Lindy,…

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 issue, he Zoom calls cover star Gary Numan and the returning Gary Kemp, while also helming our reissues reviews section. Paul Kirkley makes his living from interviewing famous people with much more interesting and glamorous lives than his own. He is also, to the best of his knowledge, the only paid TV critic for a national supermarket chain. This issue, he checks in with Marti Pellow to hear about the stream-of-consciousness recording sessions behind his new studio album, Stargazer. Anthony Reynolds is a singer-songwriter who first came to light with the band Jack in the mid-90s.…

BOY GEORGE JUMPS ABOARD NFT CONCEPT Boy George has joined the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) craze after teaming up with Crypto.com to release unique and exclusive_music and artwork. The one-offs can be bought by the highest bidder and George explained: “I think life turned me into art. My role models were both artistic types and hard-working types. I’ve painted myself and others. I have painted myself into a corner. “I love metaphors and mystery and ‘crypto’ sound like ‘klepto’, so that makes me a crypto maniac. Art is like a partner. Can you live with it? Digital art is a new emotion and it can be very musical. I’m mixing all of the things I do together – music, art, fashion, poetry and anything else it leads to. I have stopped…

NILE RODGERS THRILLS FANS WITH ONLINE INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE If you’ve ever dreamed of chatting to Nile Rodgers then that can now become a reality – and from the comfort of your own home. The hit-making legend is the subject of a groundbreaking digital experience called In The Room, a voice-interactive interview platform that allows music fans to ask Nile hundreds of questions in real time. Made in partnership with Universal Music, National Portrait Gallery and Abbey Road Studios, Rodgers explained: “I hope this experience will help people understand more about my journey. It gives people I might never get to meet the opportunity to ask me questions and share thoughts in a completely new way.” For more details, visit the website at: hereintheroom.com.…

Q+A: MOBY MOBY’S NEW ALBUM PUTS A CLASSICAL SPIN ON SOME OF HIS BIGGEST HITS. WE TALKED TO THE ELECTRONICA ICON ABOUT THE LACK OF NUANCE IN MODERN MUSIC, REMAINING INSPIRED, AND THE GENIUS OF DAVID BOWIE. WILL “ILL WILL” LAVIN Moby has never been afraid to try new things. Whether it’s playing in punk bands, making music to combat insomnia, or producing some of the biggest dance hits of the past 25 years. As long as he’s creating, he’s always open to new ideas More recently, Moby has been feeling there’s a distinct lack of nuance and vulnerability in modern music. “Don’t get me wrong, a lot of it is fun,” he says. “But sonically so much of it is very monolithic.” With that in mind, the 55-year-old wants…

IAN PEEL‘S A TO Z POP of N IS FOR … NEW POP ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL OF ALL POP GENRES RARELY GETS A CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY BOOKS. SO IT’S TIME WE PUT THAT RIGHT. What have ABC’s The Lexicon Of Love, Scritti Politti’s Cupid & Psyche 85 and The Style Council’s Café Bleu all got in common? They’re all classic examples of New Pop. But what is New Pop exactly and why was it so important? ABC’s debut LP embraces what I would define as the four elements of New Pop. Presentation that draws on magazine and cinema – as much as music – culture. It’s a product of the recording studio, and was designed and created entirely within that world (with the live performances coming as an…

YOU SAY YOU WANT A (R)EVOLUTION? Since his previous album Savage, Gary Numan has also finished his second autobiography. Published in 2020, (R)evolution was partly envisaged to supersede Gary’s previous memoir Praying To The Aliens, which was mostly written when Numan’s career was at a low ebb. “That was a stupid time to write a book,” he laughs. “My first book is essentially ‘Here’s the story of my never-ending decline.’” The problem Numan faced writing his new book is that he was already behind on the deadline for finishing Intruder. “I got approached by a ghostwriter,” he reveals. “The idea was that my story would be based on Praying To The Aliens, but with new interviews to update it. And it just didn’t work out. Somebody else writing my words…

SEARCHING FOR THE YOUNG SOUL REBELS CLASSIC ALBUM SEARCHING FOR THE YOUNG SOUL REBELS INSPIRED BY THE MEMORY OF SEEING GENO WASHINGTON LIVE WHEN HE WAS A KID, ALL KEVIN ROWLAND EVER REALLY WANTED TO DO WAS FORM A BAND, WEAR GREAT CLOTHES AND MAKE SOULFUL MUSIC GARY TIPP DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS © Getty Images Punk rock exploded in the UK during the summer of 1976 leaving all, albeit temporarily, in its incendiary wake. Years later when the dust had settled on the gob-soaked scene it became apparent that rather than being the beginning of a glorious new musical chapter it was actually an emphatic full stop. Without question, the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned and others had given the ruling rock establishment a much-needed boot up the jacksie,…

CLASSIC ALBUM SEARCHING FOR THE YOUNG SOUL REBEL THE VIDEOS GENO It’s evident from the cut-price production values of the official video that EMI weren’t expecting Geno to be anywhere near close the smash hit it turned out to be. Live footage of the band packed tightly onto a tiny stage in full NYC stevedore regalia is intercut with scenes of the gang with their weekend bags full of underwear walking the streets, meeting up in caffs and bunking on public transport. Tea drinking, fare dodging and walking in puddles, don’t go telling us that Dexys Mark 1 didn’t know how to have a good time. Kevin Rowland’s star quality permeates through, but who told Al Archer he could wear that red hat? THERE, THERE, MY DEAR The official video…

HIGH KEMP HILARITY One of BBC2’s funniest one-off comedies in ages came last year when Gary and Martin Kemp sent themselves up something rotten in the mockumentary The Kemps: All True. Created by Rhys Thomas, the comedian behind the similarly incisive Brian Pern: A Life In Rock, it saw Gary supposedly launch dubious vegan ready meal range, Wonge. There were also some close-to-home jokes about Spandau’s feuding and love of hits compilations. “There was a time when I was accused, quite rightly, of taking myself a little bit too seriously,” Gary acknowledges. “I can get very arty and end up in Private Eye’s Pseuds Corner very quickly.” The chance to mock that image was one Gary relished. “I like good wit, and so much of what’s happened with Spandau is…

MARTI PELLOW SPACE IS THE PLACE MARTI PELLOW IS A MAN ON A MISSION – AND EVEN A GLOBAL PANDEMIC WASN’T ENOUGH TO STOP HIM RECORDING AN AMBITIOUS NEW DOUBLE ALBUM INSPIRED BY A DIVERSE CAST OF MUSICAL HEROES. HERE THE FORMER WET WET WET FRONTMAN TELLS CLASSIC POP ABOUT LOOKING TO THE FUTURE – AND LETTING GO OF THE PAST. PAUL KIRKLE “Freaks are born to rule the world,” isn’t the sort of line you’d normally expect to hear being sung by Marti Pellow, whose trademark grin and unpretentious brand of blue-eyed soul-pop have always marked him out as a relatably ordinary kind of superstar. But the former Wet Wet Wet frontman’s new album, Stargazer, finds him channelling everything from David Bowie’s alien freakoid DNA to Ray Davies’ vaudeville…

SUPERFAN DEVOTED FANS SHOW US THEIR COLLECTIONS AND POP MEMORABILIA DURAN DURAN ANDY GOLUB, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES Q When did you first become a Superfan of Duran Duran and what initially sparked your interest? A In late 1984, The Reflex was the catalyst. It enveloped me in a fierce, sudden appreciation of Nick’s soaring synth melodies and Simon’s distinctive vocals and intriguing lyrics that begged for thoughtful contemplation. While The Reflex fired up my devotional engines, the entire Seven And The Ragged Tiger album catapulted me into full Duranie mode. The music could certainly have been enough to do the job, but with my penchant for art and compelling visuals, I found the LP resonated with me on many levels – starting with the cover; Malcolm Garrett’s graphics and Rebecca…

CLASSIC POP TOP TEN JOHNNY LOGAN’S EUROVISION WINNER TOPS THE CHARTS, WITH PAUL MCCARTNEY COMING UP BEHIND HIM… STEVE O’BRIEN WEEK ENDING 11 MAY 1980 01 (2) WHAT’S ANOTHER YEAR JOHNNY LOGAN (EPIC) WHAT’S ANOTHER YEAR JOHNNY LOGAN (EPIC) It feels like a lifetime ago when the winning entry of the Eurovision Song Contest was the best-selling single in the UK. What’s Another Year was Ireland’s second victory in the competition and would catapult Johnny Logan (who, at 24, was exactly the same age as the show itself) to superstar status in his native country. Less kitsch than most Eurovision efforts, it was penned by songwriter, broadcaster and journalist Shay Healy and originally offered to showband singer Glen Curtin, who turned it down. After Logan said yes, the song was…

Sent from Coventry With its overtly political stance and message of unity, it’s perhaps inevitable the sprightly power pop of 2 Tone could only have been born in the city of peace and reconciliation. From May, Coventry’s year in the spotlight as City Of Culture will be underway. However, in a world gripped by COVID-19, celebrations will inevitably be diluted. Classic Pop wonders what Pauline and Neol make of the reluctance shown by ‘the powers that be’ in supporting the UK’s arts industry over the past 12 months. “Coventry has been called a ‘cultural desert’ in the past,” says Neol (pictured right), “and that’s simply not the case. The people of the city are the most talented, clever, resilient, and forgiving – they just never had any support. “It’s wrong that so…

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 BOY GEORGE WITH CARLOS PEIRATS “I’m backstage here with Boy George at the Palais Garnier in Paris in December 2018 before a Culture Club concert. I’ve been a huge fan since 1986 and have met George on many occasions –_this photo is my favourite, though. It was a fabulous evening in a lovely venue. I had a 20-minute chat with George where we discussed his various musical projects and thoughts on Paris.” MARY WILSON WITH STUART GIBBONS “This was taken in June 2017 with the original and muchmissed Supreme Mary Wilson who was headlining a one-off gig in Portsmouth with Martha…

CLASSIC POP MOMENT DIANA ROSS SIGNS TO RCA IN $20 MILLION DEAL 20 MAY 1981 © Getty Images Diana Ross had long been Motown’s poster girl – since The Supremes’ 1964 breakout No.1 hit Where Did Our Love Go she’d been the female face of Berry Gordy’s pioneering soul label. So when she upped sticks in 1981 for RCA Records, it sent shockwaves through the music industry. The move was especially surprising as it came off the back of her most successful solo album ever, the Nile Rodgers-produced Diana. RCA offered the singer a $20 million, seven-year recording contract, which gave her complete production control of her albums. The deal was inked on 20 May 1981 and was, at the time, the most expensive recording contract in history. The following…

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BRIT AWARDS ADDRESSES GENDER IMBALANCE © Hugo Comte © Jesse Crankston © Alex Waespi This year’s BRIT Awards have responded to criticism over gender imbalance. The UK music industry’s showpiece received flak for its male-dominated nominations list last year, but now a diverse array of female acts are up for top prizes at the 2021 bash taking place next month. Leading the way are Arlo Parks, Dua Lipa and Celeste who have three nominations apiece including Female Solo Artist and, most significantly, the Mastercard Album prize. In fact, this year four of the five nominees in the Album category, including Jessie Ware, are women – the most there has ever been for that all-important award. Double nominee Ware commented: “This is a huge honour and it’s a pleasure to be…

Dave Stewart gets busy in the Bahamas © Michelle Shiers Joss Stone has a number of new projects with Dave Stewart coming to fruition. The singer, who first hooked up with the Eurythmics man back in 2004 on his Alfie soundtrack, revealed: “A few months ago, I recorded some songs with Dave and we’re going to put them out in July.” Stewart has made the Bahamas his home and Joss revealed they’ve also been helping out on the local arts scene: “We were writing some songs for a play in the Bahamas so he decided to move [there]. He’s tucked himself away on a tiny little island where he just writes and writes.” Stewart is also producing rising star Iris Gold for his Bay Street Records imprint and he commented:…

THE POD SQUAD CHECKING IN WITH OUR FAVOURITE CLASSIC POP-FRIENDLY PODCASTS STEPHANIE EDMONDS, JODI BROOKS, SUZANNE BALDWIN AND DIANA PENA CHERRY ICE CREAM SMILE Tell us what your podcast is about… A podcast where a group of Duranies hang out to discuss our love of music, pop culture and, of course, Duran Duran. How did you get into podcasting? We recognised after many years of Duranie parties on the weekends, attending events like the Austin Record Convention or seeing shows together, that we have a wide array of experiences and opinions that might resonate with other fans of the band. Suzanne had the brilliant idea to create a podcast to share our stories with the world. Who’s your dream guest and what would you ask them if you had the…

ANTI-SOCIAL MEDIA Early publicity for Intruder suggested that a sequel wouldn’t be far behind. “Calling my next record Intruder 2 was a simple way to refer to what’s next,” he considers. “My deal with BMG was for a staggered double album, as my original thinking was to do a second version of Intruder. That lasted about 10 minutes. I don’t think I could get another album’s worth of songs with the same message as Intruder, as I don’t want the Earth to run out of things to say!” Instead, Gary is considering another album focusing on Earth’s problems – but from a more overtly political angle. “The internet gives us vast amounts of information,” he muses. “We should all be clued in to what’s going on, yet the absolute opposite…

THE PLAYERS KEVIN ROWLAND The singular force behind the ‘new soul vision’ may have been too tyrannical for many of his band members, but there’s no doubting that over the years Rowland’s contribution to UK pop has been considerable KEVIN ‘AL’ ARCHER After playing alongside Kevin Rowland in punk outfit The Killjoys, Archer co-wrote both Geno and There, There, My Dear with Dexys’ frontman but departed the band before its chart-conquering Too-Rye-Ay incarnation. ‘BIG’ JIM PATERSON The lanky trombonist joined Dexys after answering an advert in Melody Maker. He survived the entire Dexys Mark 1 and stayed on to get the second incarnation off the ground before quitting the band. He has a Come On Eileen co-write so can’t be short of a bob or two. PETE WILLIAMS Bass player…

GARY KEMP “I NEED OTHER PEOPLE TO HEAR THIS – I HAVEN’T GOT ANY TIME TO LOSE!” FOLLOWING THE DRAMA OF SPANDAU BALLET REUNITING AND FALLING APART AGAIN, GARY KEMP IS NOW READY TO RELEASE HIS SECOND SOLO ALBUM AFTER A GAP OF MORE THAN 25 YEARS. THE LEGENDARY POP SONGWRITER TELLS US ABOUT WHY SPANDAU ARE FINALLY OVER FOR GOOD AND KILLING HIMSELF OFF IN HIS OWN MUSIC. JOHN EARLS For someone who’s written many of the finest pop anthems of his or any other generation, until recently Gary Kemp had never felt accepted by some of his peers. The fact True and Gold are songs absolutely everyone knows, or that Journeys To Glory is arguably the ultimate New Romantic album, is irrelevant to a certain type of “real…

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE “I kind of took off my production hat and gave it over to Andrew [Scheps],” says Marti of Stargazer, the lion’s share of which was co-written with long-time collaborator James Hallawell (Mike Scott’s go-to keys man in The Waterboys). “That was good, because I normally want to be all things to everyone on a project. If it were up to me, I’d deliver the record to your door! “We cast the record in a different way, too – I parked up the musicians that I normally use and went down a different road,” he adds of a band that features twin brothers Jeremy and Paul Stacey (drummer and guitarist with The Lemon Trees) and Goldfrapp bassist Charlie Jones. Despite being recorded during a global pandemic, Marti was…

DR CALCULUS DR IN THE HOUSE STEPHEN DUFFY’S GREAT LOST ALBUM DESIGNER BEATNIK WAS PART OF THE SHORT- L IVED DR CALCULUS PROJECT. NOW 35 YEARS ON FROM ITS RELEASE, WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE OF TEN OVERLOOKED EXPERIMENTAL OD E TO EMERGING ECSTASY CULTURE. ANTHONY REYNOLDS Britain, the summer of ’86 and Chris de Burgh bestrides both single and album charts led by The Lady In Red. Elsewhere, Wham! are saying goodbye and Paul Simon is popularising South African Mbaqanga music via his Graceland album. It’s at this point that Stephen ‘Tin Tin’ Duffy, sometime pop star, full-time genius, releases one of the strangest albums of his or anyone else’s career. Designer Beatnik by Dr Calculus mdma is a sonic fantasia of cartoon dialogue, drum machines, mournful brass,…