Innholdsfortegnelse for March - April 2022 i Classic Pop

@ClassicPopMag LISTEN NOW The renaissance of Tears For Fears as regulars on the live circuit in recent years has been a pleasing new chapter in their storied career, but like many fans I’m sure I wasn’t alone in wondering when we’d ever get to wrap our ears around another studio album from Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Well, the wait is finally over and we’re thrilled to report that The Tipping Point is an absolute triumph. In our latest cover feature, we have an extraordinarily candid interview with the duo. Curt reveals how he almost walked away once again from the band but thankfully reconsidered, while Roland shines a light on the traumatic personal problems that inspired his contributions to the much-anticipated new LP. The Tears For Fears back catalogue…

DO THE RIGHT THING REDHEAD KINGPIN & THE FBI David Guppy, aka Redhead Kingpin, was the teenage MC who delivered one of the less confrontational political rap hits of the late 80s, helping the brief rise of New Jack Swing as the decade ended. Do The Right Thing certainly meant well. An articulate, audible message of caution for its youthful audience about making the correct decisions in life, it reassuringly used the gimmicks of the hip-hop and R&B fusions of the era –a well-sung chorus hook, proper instrumentation between the verses and the well-thumbed “ah yeah” and “check this out” vocal samples from Run-DMC that would eventually give Guppy something in common with Timmy Mallett. The track was initially written for the Spike Lee movie of the same name before…

POP UP Bono has abandoned his usual self-confidence to admit that he’s often left embarrassed by his vocals on U2 records. The frontman was particularly critical of his early work with the band: “I do think U2 pushes out the boat on embarrassment quite a lot,” he revealed. “It’s the voice. The band sound incredible. I just found my voice very strained and kind of not macho. I’ve been in a car when our songs come on the radio and have been the colour scarlet.” It was a late rock legend who made Bono alter the way he approached singing. Bono explained on the Awards Chatter podcast: “Robert Palmer once told Adam Clayton, ‘God, do you ever tell your singer to take down your keys a bit? He would do…

POP UP Years & Years’ Olly Alexander has explained that It’s A Sin played a pivotal role in the direction of his new album, Night Call. Alexander won plaudits for his role in the 80s-set Russell T Davies TV drama. Olly told Classic Pop: “After It’s A Sin I was listening to so much 80s music. Once Ifigured out the stuff that made me feel good I was like, ‘That’s what the album has to be.’” The singer explained that he channelled icons from that era to help forge his new sound: “The energy and personality in Sylvester’s vocals are so iconic. Then came artists like Pet Shop Boys – the way Neil Tennant would use his voice speaking in his songs. Even Prince, the song Controversy inspired a lot…

THIS MONTH IN THIS MONTH, ROXY MUSIC HIT NO.1, ERIC CLAPTON FALLS ILL AND OZZY OSBOURNE FAILS HIS RSPB MEMBERSHIP BID © Alamy 03 U2 begin their fi rst major tour of the United States with two gigs at Washington DC’s Bayou. 05 Songwriter EY ‘Yip’ Harburg (Over The Rainbow) dies in a car accident aged 84. 8 Roxy Music score their only UK No.1 single with their version of John Lennon’s Jealous Guy. 11 LeToya Luckett, one of the four original members of Destiny’s Child, is born in Houston, Texas 13 Slade release their ninth studio album, We’ll Bring The House Down. It will later peak at No.25 in the UK. 14 Eric Clapton is rushed to hospital with a severe ulcer, forcing him to cancel the remaining dates…

JOHNNY MARR FEVER DREAMS PTS 1-4 IS THE FIRST DOUBLE ALBUM IN THE PROLIFIC FIVE-DECADE CAREER OF JOHNNY MARR. THE ICONIC GUITARIST REVEALS ALL ABOUT HIS VISIONARY NEW EPIC, THE INFLUENCE OF JAMES BOND, HIS FEARS OF BEING EARNEST AND WHY HE’S FINALLY DECIDED TO GET SEXY… “I DIDN’T HAVE ANY SUSPICIONS ABOUT DOING A DOUBLE ALBUM. I DON’T HAVE ANY OF THOSE OLD POST-PUNK HANG-UPS.” Johnny Marr’s epic new double album Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 is his fourth solo LP in a career that started with 2013’s lively The Messenger. That’s signifi cant, not least because The Smiths also released four studio albums. So far as Johnny is concerned, it’s a coincidence – but it shows just how far he’s come in a decade. “I didn’t realise I was level with…

IT'S THE YEAR OF THE TIGER SO, ACCORDING TO THE CHINESE ZODIAC, OUR POP HEROES WILL BE COURAGEOUS AND BRING VITALITY BACK TO A DEPLETED MUSIC SCENE If last year taught the music industry anything it’s that not even a global pandemic can hold back big pop hitters Adele and Ed Sheeran. 2021 was supposed to see things return somewhere close to ‘normal’ but further lockdowns and COVID variants meant an array of projects were scuppered yet again. The next 12 months promise greater positivity buoyed by a real boom in music sales towards the end of last year thanks to a raft of seismic releases, none more so than ABBA’s Voyage album. The Super Swedes will continue to do their bit to save pop in 2022 thanks to the…

SPIRITUALIZED BELLA UNION ★★★★ Euphoria: it’s a state Jason Pierce has spent pretty much his entire adult life pursuing, with his two most notable methods summarised by his first band, Spacemen 3’s famous motto: “Taking drugs to make music to take drugs to”. If that somewhat scuzzy ideology applied to the strung-out sound his former duo made, however, things changed when he formed Spiritualized in 1990. Before then he sought oblivion; these days he seeks nirvana. He does so by taking his audience on extravagant journeys into a sumptuous world that’s more Mahler than mushrooms, with songs opulently orchestrated and overwhelmingly grandiose. That said, unlike Mahler’s symphonies, Pierce’s songs are surprisingly simple, built around another well-known source of ecstasy, repetition, which, combined with their extreme dynamics, makes them compellingly cathartic.…

ANDY BELL SONIC CATHEDRAL ★★★ Erasure fans stand down: this is Ride’s, Hurricane #1’s and Oasis’ Andy Bell, fresh from his debut album, Pattern Recognition, as GLOK – his outlet for occasionally Underworld-style electronica – and the 18 tracks making up his second solo album couldn’t be further from the day-glo camp of Vince Clarke’s synth-pop duo. Like The Stone Roses’ Don’t Stop, the backwards tapes of The Sky Without You and No Getting Out Alive, the songs beginning each of its two discs, give away his interests: Flicker owes much of its inspiration to 1960s psychedelia. There’s a further, more specific clue in the title of Love Is The Frequency, to whose jangling and fuzzy guitars he adds a little sugar before distilling it down to a sweetened essence…

JOHN MELLENCAMP REPUBLIC ★★★★ Though he’s not the household name he was in the UK around the release of Scarecrow during the mid-80s, one only need know John Mellencamp performed to President Barack Obama in the White House in 2010 to recognise his continuing high stature in his homeland. Like Springsteen, the former Cougar has an innate ability to conjure up the country’s landscapes, mythology and culture, and look! there’s Bruce ‘the Boss’ Springsteen himself, duetting with our hero on three rootsy songs: the bar rock of Did You Say Such A Thing; Wasted Days, on which the old crows placidly lament their all-too-brief lives, accordion huffing beside them; and the reflective A Life Full Of Rain, on which they mourn a life wasted on pride. They’re well-suited to one…

CMAT AWAL ★★★ Candy cane-voiced Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson likes dressing up, jokes and country and western music. Combined, these aren’t traditional ingredients for pop stars, but she dresses like a Technicolor Judy Garland, possesses a wonderfully dark humour – “My mental health is banking on my chastity”, No More Virgos declares as she takes Patsy Cline to the disco – and makes the kind of country-pop beloved of line-dancing drag queens, who you’ll find on that song’s video. If you’re not already sold on this self-confessed “global celebrity teen pop sensation from Ireland”, that’s your loss, but not everyone’s looking for the 21st century equivalent of Skeeter Davis produced by Phil Spector after a night on the tiles. If they are – and they should be – then this wittily…

FIVE ★★ For about half an hour in 1999, Five (or 5ive, as they used to have it) looked like they could fill the post-Take That boyband void. However, the nation disappointingly settled on the saccharine Westlife instead of the comparatively edgy funk of these East 17-alikes. At least Keep On Movin’ remains a certified banger and the pre-X Factor Simon Cowell protégés had excellent studio help. Mostly produced by Biff Stannard, the likes of Stargate, Max Martin and The Grid’s Richard Norris also featured in Five’s original credits. In the 21 years since third and apparently final album Kingsize, there have been various reunion attempts, but none with all five members. Here, Abz Breen’s decision to stick to reality TV is no great loss, but past main songwriter J Brown…

HOLODRUM GRINGO RECORDS ★★★ An indie ‘supergroup’ now immersed in, among other genres, disco’s dizzy delights, Holodrum were formed by the late Hookworms with friends, including VIDE0’s Emily Garner. On this mini-album, a debt to LCD Soundsystem’s aisle-crossing party policies explains No Dither and Free Advice, the latter full of playful synth breaks and a wacked-out melody, while Stage Echo is a darker affair. They probably won’t last much longer than the eight-minute Clean, whose unstoppable energy closes affairs, so ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ while you can. WW…

THE MONOCHROME SET TAPETE RECORDS ★★★ Thanks to a similarly arch style, The Monochrome Set’s mastermind Bid has often been compared in recent years to Neil Hannon and Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos. On their 16th album, however, with his swoops, wails and literate lyrics, it’s Morrissey who comes to mind. My Deep Shoreline illustrates this best, as does the wittily eccentric Hello, Save Me, but there’s also something of early Smiths about Really In The Wrong Town, while I, Servant also stays loyal to the sound of mid-80s indie. WW…

STONE FOUNDATION 100 PERCENT ★★★ Proving there’s still an audience for bands playing afternoon Jazz Stage slots, the last three of Stone Foundation’s 10 albums have gone Top 40. An association with Paul Weller, presumably drawn by their Style Council grooves, has done no harm – he also pops up discreetly here – but their feel(quite)good ‘vibes’, which, at their more adventurous, invoke Marvin Gaye on Turning Up The Hurt and Talking Heads on the title track, are the biggest draw. Expect plenty of noodling, some half-baked spirituality – notably on Movin’ On – and a Jazz Café residency. WW…

PAUL YOUNG MUSIC ON VINYL ★★★★ © Getty With vinyl production an ongoing issue, there have been furrowed brows from certain quarters, which still don’t take the 80s seriously, as to why Paul Young’s second album merits a double vinyl reissue. Yes, it can be found cheaply second-hand but The Secret Of Association merits an expanded edition as much as any other album that sold well over 500,000 copies here and the same again in the States. Music On Vinyl know what they’re doing, and that’s proved by the second LP. The big news is that the CD-only bonus track, a thoughtful cover of Billy Bragg’s Man In The Iron Mask, finally makes it to vinyl. So do 12" mixes of I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down and Everything Must…

FRANZ FERDINAND DOMINO ★★★★ With drummer Paul Thomson’s departure in 2021 leaving just Alex Kapranos and bassist Bob Hardy as Franz Ferdinand’s original members, a singles compilation seems like a low-pressure way to ease in the new line-up. The two new songs – trademark sleazy Curious and particularly high-kicking glam marvel Billy Goodbye – suggest Franz 2.0 could revive their commercial fortunes. Then again, while the albums Tonight and Always Ascending were patchy, the quality of Franz’s singles has rarely dipped. Assembled in chronological order, the opening six-song run from Darts Of Pleasure to Do You Want To is still astonishing. Although a veteran of various failed indie projects, Kapranos was as lithe and prowling as any youngster, leading his charges into a succession of singles genuinely worthy of Roxy…

SHEENA EASTON CHERRY POP ★★★ While Sheena Easton herself is missing in action to promote the series, the campaign to get her music back out there is laudable. The North Lanarkshire-born singer was an undervalued genre masher at her peak, certainly unjustly neglected at home in Britain. Probably due to her start on Esther Rantzenfronted reality pop TV show The Big Time, Easton wasn’t taken seriously when she raunched up her music for fifth album A Private Heaven in 1984. Britain might have mocked, but Prince didn’t – Sugar Walls is as lewd and teasing as anything The Purple One ever wrote. Easton was easily capable of delivering such filth. If anything, fellow US hit single Strut is even wilder, a party worthy of going on 1999. Not all the…

DODGY DEMON ★★★ / ★★★★ Although their hits Good Enough and Staying Out For The Summer were as stereotypically chirpy as any Britpop escapism, Hounslow trio Dodgy always seemed uncomfortable at being coerced into the movement’s jolliness. Their first three albums are boxed into vinyl and CD on The A&M Years, with the CD edition housing five additional discs of B-sides, live songs, remixes and whatnot. There are jammed protest songs reminiscent of Dreadzone, Northern Soul revivalism made clear on a cover of The Snake, and folk ballads. The trouble is, like some sort of ancient curse, Dodgy really did sound most in tune on the pop songs the band themselves appeared suspicious of. Their singles compilation Ace A’s And Killer B’s, reissued separately on vinyl, was an excellent…

NEW MUSIK MUSIC ON VINYL ★★ / ★★☆ / ★★☆ Unless you’re a student of producers’ CVs or have an exceptional memory, London synth-poppers New Musik’s name is likely to be unfamiliar. Their second single Living By Numbers was a No.13 hit in 1980 and parent album From A To B dented the Top 40. But there’s been no critical renaissance and they don’t feature on compilations of early British synth artists. This thorough reissue of their three albums, adding a bonus LP of rarities for each, highlights why the band have faded into obscurity. Rather than make arty dramas like most synth peers, From A To B instead predates the cheaper end of Stock Aitken Waterman. Forty years on, there’s a desperation in the frantic pace of…

THE MADNESS BMG ★★★ Better than it’s generally remembered, the sole album from this Madness offshoot nonetheless suffers from not featuring Proper Madness’ rhythm section of Bedders and Woody. Begun after Mad Not Mad with the full line-up, songs from its aborted sessions survive into this 1988 set, the remaining quartet of Suggs, Chas Smash, Lee Thompson and Chrissy Boy replacing Langer & Winstanley as producers. It’s doubtful Madness’ regular producers would let an album start with a song rivalling The Mission for bluster as the ill-suited Nail Down The Days. The drum machine seems operated with boxing gloves on In Wonder and Beat The Bride, butchering what otherwise regained early Madness enthusiasm. Yet there is plenty of classic Madness here, too. The melancholic I Pronounce You would have charted…

GINA X PERFORMANCE LES DISQUES DU CRÉPUSCULE ★★★★ Any fans of the Blitz will know how pivotal German duo Gina X Performance’s 1978 mover No GDM was in New Romantic clubland. It was later covered by Erasure, too, and is far from the only dreamy slice of self-labelled robot soul on Gina Kikoine and Zeus B Held’s majestic debut album. Casablanca and Black Sheep are just as prescient for mighty early synth-pop, sounding more polished in getting commercial pop songs from those early analogue synths than the still experimental Brits were managing in 1978. Ironically, for second album X-traordinaire from 1980, the Performance went even mellower, having signed a major label deal. It’s a decent enough album, but it’s not in the uncompromising spirit of the two LPs here: by 1981’s…

DIDN’T WE ALMOST HAVE IT ALL: IN DEFENCE OF WHITNEY HOUSTON ABRAMS PRESS ★★★ It’s hard to believe that it’s been a decade since the tragic death of Whitney Houston, given that the star’s music is still omnipresent today. Meanwhile, the singer’s life has been picked apart countless times in documentaries and books – including those written by her mother, lover, ex-husband and plenty by those who didn’t know her at all. While those predominantly focused on her troubles and turbulent personal life, former Los Angeles Times writer Gerrick Kennedy’s scholastic celebration of Houston delves beneath the surface. With the benefit of hindsight and information that we’ve since become privy to, Kennedy eschews trashy tabloid tales, instead respectfully re-examining Houston’s life with an academic analysis, using her story to delve…

Writing for Classic Pop since our first issue, John Earls has been to Adam Ant’s house, had a selfie with Neil Tennant taken by Chris Lowe and been serenaded to Last Christmas by Shirlie Kemp. This issue, he catches up with our cover stars Tears For Fears, legendary guitarist Johnny Marr and helms our reissues reviews section. Paul Kirkley is an award-winning writer, interviewer, TV critic, columnist and composer of self-aggrandising mini biogs. His favourite bands include Marillion and Girls Aloud, and not many people can say that. This issue, Paul talks to the reunited Boo Radleys who are now forging a new chapter in their band’s history without former songwriter Martin Carr. Wyndham Wallace has written for Uncut, The Guardian and The Quietus. His documentary on Travis, Almost Fashionable,…

POP UP Louise Redknapp plans to make up for lost time with “empowering” new music. The former Eternal star released comeback album Heavy Love in 2020 but its subsequent tour was scuppered by COVID. Now a follow-up is in the works and she revealed: “I’ve already started. Dare I say it, I think we have the first single – I’m going in strong. At the moment my phone is full of lyrics. Right now, with everything I write, I want it to be positive and empowering. I write all the time. If someone was to look at my [phone] notes they would probably worry about me, because of the things I’ve written down on there. The direction we want to go in is a step on from Heavy Love. Hopefully, if…

© Getty The severed alliance of Morrissey and Johnny Marr looks no nearer to healing after the former Smiths frontman lambasted the guitarist online for using him as ‘click-bait’. Morrissey posted a lengthy “open letter” in which he pleaded with Marr to “stop mentioning my name in your interviews”. He went on, “You know nothing of my life, my intentions, my thoughts, my feelings. Yet you talk as if you were my personal psychiatrist with consistent and uninterrupted access to my instincts… I wish you good health to enjoy. Just stop using my name as click-bait.” Marr responded by posting a picture of himself reclining in a hammock while on holiday with the retort: “An ‘open letter’ hasn’t really been a thing since 1953. It’s all ‘social media’ now. Even…

Craig Parkinson THE LINE OF DUTY ACTOR AND TWO SHOT PODCAST HOST TALKS US THROUGH HIS MUSIC OBSESSIONS… What got you into music in the first place? Because I was so obsessed with acting, television and films, my first hobby was collecting movie soundtracks. If I liked afilm, I’d definitely go and get the vinyl. And that’s when I got into people like John Williams and Hans Zimmer. Soundtracks bring back so much emotion and memories of where you were when you saw that film and how it made you feel. Whenever I hear ET: The Extra-Terrestrial now, I always remember sitting in that cinema in Warrington when I was a kid just crying my eyes out. What was the first single you ever bought? The first single that I…

TEARS FOR FEARS TEARS FOR FEARS’ LONG - AWAITED COMEBACK, THE TIPPING POINT, IS “OUR MOST ‘US’ ALBUM”, ACCORDING TO CURT SMITH. HE’S NOT WRONG. CURT AND ROL AND ORZABAL HAVE FINALLY REGAINED THEIR FRIENDSHIP, AS WELL AS THEIR PROFESSIONAL REL ATIONSHIP. THE PATH TO THAT RENEWAL IS A COMPELLING STORY OF GRIEF, PRESCRIPTION DRUG PROBLEMS, THREATS TO QUIT AND, ULTIM AT ELY, TRUST. JOHN EARLS The seeds of the renewal of Tears For Fears’ friendship, instead of maintaining a cordial business relationship, have been hiding in plain sight to fans for five years. Stay, one of two new songs on 2017’s singles compilation Rule The World, is a thoughtful and mostly acoustic ballad driven by an especially plaintive Curt Smith vocal. It reappears as the final song on The Tipping Point, the duo’s…

CLASSIC POP DEAD OR ALIVE REACH NO.1 WITH AN ERA-DEFINING CLASSIC, STEPHEN DUFFY GETS SMOOCHY AND ASHFORD & SIMPSON HIT THE CHART AS SINGERS WEEK ENDING 09 MARCH 1985 01 (2) YOU SPIN ME ROUND (LIKE A RECORD) DEAD OR ALIVE (EPIC) YOU SPIN ME ROUND (LIKE A RECORD) DEAD OR ALIVE (EPIC) Dead Or Alive had waited a long while for this, not only their fi rst numero uno, but their fi rst single to crack the UK Top 10 (their previous platter, a cover of KC & The Sunshine Band’s That’s The Way (I Like It), was their fi rst 7" to go Top 40). Even after this one’s release, it was an agonising climb to the top spot, spending 17 weeks in the chart before it took…

DEVOTED FANS SHOW US THEIR COLLECTIONS AND POP MEMORABILIA Q When did you first become a Superfan of Dead Or Alive and why do you like them? A It was the moment I heard an explosion of synthesizers through my friend’s radio followed by this baritone growl that I fell in love with the music – it was the sound of the future. However, I became a Superfan the moment I saw the You Spin Me Round video featuring the most beautiful vision I’d ever laid eyes on... Pete Burns. Q What do you have in your Dead Or Alive collection? A A massive amount of LPs, CDs, cassettes, posters, buttons and magazines. There’s also autographed photos, promos, T-shirts, concert tickets as well as 12"s, 7"s, cassette and CD singles…

FORENZICS ★★★★ There’s a cute story behind Walking, the opener on the debut by Forenzics, formed by Split Enz’ Tim Finn and Eddie Rayner. It’s based around a section of Walking Down A Road from 1975’s Mental Notes, identified by Brian Eno as its strongest passage. Almost half a century on, it seems Eno was right: the song provides an introduction both charming and enigmatic, its quietly sinister chord changes and Finn’s vulnerably rugged voice teasingly recalling Bowie’s swansong, Blackstar. Inspired by this, the duo set out on further cannibalistic behaviour, with the similarly Bowie-like Chances Are borrowing from Mental Notes’ Spellbound † and the pianos on Strange Stars echoing the same album’s Under The Wheel. It’s unnecessary to know this, however, to enjoy these 14 amiably modest songs, whether…

BRYAN ADAMS BMG ★★★ Though it’s as easy as shooting fish in a barrel, taking a pop at Bryan Adams’ 15th album for a lack of sophistication is no more useful. Adams is one step ahead of you, because halfway through this admirably ridiculous record you’ll hear John Cleese introducing a song called Kick Ass, offering an alternative creation myth in which God realises there’s something missing and sends out an angel to fix it. “He wore boots, blue jeans and a baseball cap,” Cleese intones, his bombast dialled up to 11, adding moments later, “Let there be a kick-ass, kick-ass rockin’ band,” and frankly, who can argue with a God like that? One might as well try parting the Red Sea. Much of So Happy It Hurts was written…

WOLFGANG FLÜR CHERRY RED ★★★ “We all have our own values,” Wolfgang Flür says, introducing the socially conscious – one might even say ‘woke’ – Say No!, which closes his second solo album. “For this, we need a soft heart and a strong spirit.” It’s an admirable – if not entirely coherent – philosophy, and Magazine 1’s sensitive and stubborn sides confirm its effectiveness. The sensitive side’s evident in the 74-year-old’s imaginative choice of collaborators, each displaying a commendable understanding of how best to enhance Flür’s work, while the stubborn side’s obvious because, 35 years after quitting the band, his music sticks to the template he helped develop in Kraftwerk’s Kling Klang Studio. On Night Drive you’ll even find him banging on about the past as he shares an anecdote…

WHITE LIES PIAS ★★★ More usually found making doomy pop from the Depeche handbook, for album six the arena-filling trio make an unlikely diversion into 80s synthfunk. It’s not a complete reinvention for a band who have previously snuck in happy experiments among the gloom, and have a smart humour behind the façade. But there’s no doubt the first half of this album is more playful than the band are known for. Trouble is, it’s less convincing than usual, with the desperately shiny Step Outside resembling a demo for a later Sad Café album. You suspect the band are trying to recreate the feel of the Blitz dancefloor in 1980, but there’s a staged mood to the finger-clicking Breathe that’s more redolent of a 1982 one-hit wonder’s second single. Only…

PLACEBO SO RECORDINGS ★★★ After touring their 20th anniversary Best Of, Placebo apparently renounced such commercial exploitation, which may explain why their eighth album recalls the energy of youthful releases. Brian Molko’s voice remains high-pitched and trilling, his nature nihilistic – “It’s all good/ When nothing matters,” he wails, on Forever Chemicals, its opening pan-bashing one of the album’s more inventive moments – and the band can still rock, too. Hugz is menacing and Twin Demons is pummelling, but Went Missing puts their sensitive sides to work. WW…

STEREOPHONICS IGNITION ★★★ Occupying a popular, still unmapped island between the Welsh Valleys and New Jersey, Stereophonics’ 12th defies those who see them as indie landfill kings with 15 blue-collar anthems. Flying out of the traps with trash-pop opener Hanging On Your Hinges, it swells admirably on the piano-led All I Have Is You, while Right Place, Right Time nods to The Killing Of Georgie. Running Round My Brain, however, is basic truck stop rock, and Do Ya Feel My Love’s Gallagher-esque sneer isn’t really necessary. WW…

ELECTRIBE 101 RAVE’S GREAT LOST BAND FINALLY RELEASE THEIR SECOND ALBUM, A MASTERPIECE WORTH THE 31-YEAR WAIT MAR/APR 2022 ELECTRIBAL ★★★★★ The saga of Electribe 101’s second album is worthy of an eight-part Netflix true-crime drama. The main villain would be their manager Tom Watkins: a fantastic A&R who spotted Pet Shop Boys, Bros and East 17, but also a chancer whose wretched personal management skills meant that he once tried firing Chris Lowe from Pet Shop Boys. Watkins also tried sacking all five members of Electribe 101 at various points, and it was in this atmosphere that the Berlin/Birmingham band made their second album. Debut LP Electribal Memories didn’t make the impact it deserved, and it’s a stain on the nation that its banger Talking With Myself didn’t cross…

LINX CELEBRATING THE BRIEF BUT INFLUENTIAL CAREER OF DAVID GRANT’S DUO, WHO LED THE WAY IN THE UK SOUL MOVEMENT OF THE EARLY 80S © Getty CHERRY RED ★★★★ Aregular talking head on music documentaries, David Grant is invariably captioned as “voice coach”. That’s fair enough – Grant and his wife Carrie have tutored the Spice Girls, Take That and Pop Idol. David was also a judge on Fame Academy and The One And Only. But, in a just world, he would need no introduction, or at least be more famous as “British soul pioneer”. Grant’s four solo albums from 1983-90 yielded the timeless Jaki Graham duet Could It Be I’m Falling In Love among four Top 20 singles. But it was his duo Linx with enigmatic bassist Peter ’Sketch’…

WILLIAM ORBIT WARNER ★★★★ / ★★★ / ★★★★ One of the most ubiquitous producers of the 2000s, William Orbit suffered burnout for several years. Having produced their magical Pure Shores, Orbit’s only recent work was on All Saints’ 2018 comeback album Testament. Thankfully fully recovered, the reissue of three of Orbit’s own works heralds a brand new album coming this summer, his first since Strange Cargo 5 and third classical LP Symphonic, which both arrived in 2014. Having produced some of the best work in careers as varied as Madonna, Blur and Betty Boo, this reminder of Orbit’s skills is timely – hopefully a new generation of artists will hire a true maverick. This trio of digital reissues is mainly a clear-up exercise, getting three of Orbit’s longdeleted…

HOWARD JONES CHERRY POP ★★★ Like ZTT, the less fashionable Howard Jones – that cover! – was quick to spot the extended remix’s potential. In 1984, Jones followed Human‘s Lib with three reworked tracks, one fresh tune, a B-side and an unofficial Olympic anthem. It’s sobering to note this was certified gold, but the truth is, as sole perky new track Always Asking Questions confirmed, Jones’ hooks were often packed with more character than is nowadays acknowledged. Indeed, today’s hipsters might mistake parts of that seven-minute B-side Total Conditioning as contemporary. Admittedly, the Olympian Like To Get To Know You Well, its chorus recited in different languages, overstays its welcome, and New Song’s piano solo, Pearl In The Shell’s animated saxophone solo and What Is Love’s synth break aren’t hugely…

THEAUDIENCE PAST NIGHT FROM GLASGOW ★★★★ Ever since magnificent handbag house romp Groovejet reached No.1 in 2000, Sophie Ellis-Bextor has been one of the UK’s most reliable disco delights. Every album contains at least two floorfillers and Ellis-Bextor’s charm means her status as our most relatable star mum, via her Kitchen Disco, will have come as no surprise to anyone who’s seen her live. Before all that, however, was Ellis-Bextor’s indie band. theaudience were only ever indie in name, however. As much as there was a sardonic edge in the lyrics, Ellis-Bextor’s cut-glass delivery was underpinned by a glamour fresh from the period’s dramatists such as My Life Story and The Divine Comedy. Luke Haines had been treading the same kind of arch euphoria with Black Box Recorder, but theaudience seemed…

DEBBIE GIBSON CHERRY POP ★★★ In a parallel universe, Debbie Gibson would be enjoying a solid career as a respected producer. Gibson’s third album was a notorious flop in 1990: a year after Electric Youth reached No.1 in the US, Anything Is Possible failed to make their Top 40 and, in the UK, stalled at No.69. The reason is simple – nobody wants a 16-song double album themed into Energy Up and Mood Swings discs from a teen popster, thanks. Yet, if Gibson had only kept the best 10 songs, there’d surely be more respect for her skills on moving into self-production. At 32 years’ remove, it’s not hard to spot the duff songs weighing the set down. Of three Lamont Dozier co-writes and productions, It Must’ve Been My Boy…

RUN ON/MODERN SKY ★★★★ One of the most exciting talents of the 2000s, Liverpool guitar popsters The Coral arrived 20 years ago with this head-melting stew of fabulous melodies, bear trap unpredictable psych workouts and tuneful acid rock. It was the sound of six youngsters having an absolute riot, both with each other and with critics who’d rather they were a lot easier to pigeonhole, if they wouldn’t mind. Typifying how prolific they were, this CD/vinyl reissue adds not just pre-album EP The Oldest Path and eight B-sides but two songs produced by Ian Broudie there wasn’t room for elsewhere at the time, even though Fleet Foxes have based their whole career on the mournful folk of Tumble Graves, while She’s The Girl For Me is brilliant Bunnymen sardonic pop. Dreaming…

GOODBYE MR MACKENZIE BLOKSHOK/NEON TETRA ★★☆ Forever known as the former band of Garbage singer Shirley Manson, by the time of their final album Glory Hole Scottish rockers Goodbye Mr Mackenzie were in tatters: Manson and fellow keyboardist/backing singer Rona Scobie had left along with guitarist Big John Duncan, who had previously formed The Exploited. Led by charismatic singer Martin Metcalfe, the remaining band members were being chased for an £80,000 tax bill and could only afford to make their final album on a half-broken 16-track Tascam demo studio. It’s a strange record to reissue (with three bonus tracks) ahead of a reunion tour (without Manson, naturally), hardly the best album to display their squalling intensity for potential newcomers. While the potentially epic Ugly Child is undone by drums that…

VANITY PROJECT: A TALE OF FASHION AND CELEBRITY STYLED BY DAVE THOMAS UNICORN PUBLISHING ★★★★★ The term ‘rags-to-riches’ can be applied to many stories, but very few embody it as perfectly as Dave Thomas, one of the first major celebrity stylists. In Vanity Project, he recalls how he graduated from trainee plumber in Gloucester to becoming a leading figure in celebrity branding. Having been seduced by the world of celebrity after seeing Boy George on Top Of The Pops, Thomas headed to London in a bid to infiltrate that scene. After countless menial jobs, he finally made a breakthrough in the styling industry and, a decade after their virtual introduction, Dave was styling his idol George for photoshoots and videos. As well as telling his own story, Thomas uses the…

ALL I EVER WANTED: A ROCK‘N’ROLL MEMOIR JAWBONE PRESS ★★★★ Although The Go-Go’s never achieved success in the UK on the scale of other parts of the world, a recent tell-all documentary and their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame last year has reignited interest in the trailblazing punk-pop outfit. For anyone requiring a crash course in how significant the band were, bassist Kathy Valentine’s startling autobiography does a superb job of recounting career milestones while also revealing the grit behind the gloss with brutal honesty – on one occasion she writes of having to play a show at New York’s Madison Square Garden the day after having an abortion. Candid, visceral and engrossing, All I Ever Wanted navigates Valentine’s harrowing childhood in Texas which finds her in…

Bowie’s vinyl success David Bowie remains this century’s biggest artist on vinyl. The late legend’s ‘lost album’, Toy (originally recorded in 2000), was released physically in January taking his accumulative sales on vinyl since the year 2000 to 582,704, beating nearest rivals The Beatles who scored 535,596 during the same period. Toy reached the Top 5 on the UK Albums Chart and was released as part of the ‘Bowie 75’ celebrations, which included a series of remixed LPs in 360 Reality audio by Tony Visconti as well as the 50th anniversary edition of Hunky Dory. More reissue projects are expected later in the year. Björn hits the airwaves © Getty ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus has launched a new show on the Apple Music Hits radio station. Björn From ABBA & Friends…

Kim Wilde and Belinda Carlisle are among the stars gracing the third edition of 80s Classical in Millennium Square, Leeds, on 22 July as the 60-piece Orchestra Of Opera North ensemble accompany the performers on their 80s hits. Wilde commented: “Leeds is always such a great, welcoming place to visit and to play, and I’m thrilled to be able to perform some of my best-loved songs in front of a 60-piece symphony orchestra.” Johnny Hates Jazz, Hue & Cry and Five Star’s Denise Pearson will also be involved in the show which is the mastermind of two familiar pop stalwarts – Cliff Masterson and Steve Anderson, the latter’s credits include collaborations with Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears. The following day, the Orchestra of Opera North switches its attention to dance…

CHECKING IN WITH OUR FAVOURITE CLASSIC POP-FRIENDLY PODCASTS JENS PETER KRAGH, JESPER SOMMER SCHJØ- LIN AND PETER NOES A-HA: RANKING HIGHS AND LOWS What’s your podcast about? The bold task of ranking 147 a-ha songs from the worst to the best, presented in six episodes. We start at the foot of the mountain and work our way to the top. We hunt low before we hunt high, so our excitement increases with each episode. How did you get into podcasting? This is our Hunting High And Low – our debut. We’re, of course, hoping for a level of success similar to what a-ha achieved with their first release. Who’s your dream guest and what would you ask them if you had the chance? To do what few people have done…

ONE TO ONE HOWARD JONES Praise as a composer had wrongly eluded Howard Jones thus far as the snorts about orange spiky hair and emulsioned mime artists dominated his career. His third LP, released in 1986, was largely greeted with warmth, though, and made the Top 10. There is some real joy in it, as Afrodiziak’s vibrant presence raises the bar. However, the overall pace and tone is more reflective, emphasised by the sober cover photo of Jones with flattened hair. The buoyant Don’t Want To Fight Anymore has Jones throwing every known electronic effect at a song, while Step Into These Shoes is brassy and Good Luck, Bad Luck nods tunefully to synth-pop’s icier end. All I Want, the only UK Top 40 hit, still doesn’t feel like an…

WHEN ROCK STARS GET CARRIED AWAY, THEIR HAIR GETS LONGER, THEIR GUITAR SOLOS GET LONGER, AND THEIR SONGS GET LONGER. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN POP GOES THE OTHER WAY? CAN YOU HAVE A CLASSIC POP TRACK THAT’S SO SHORT AND TO-THE-POINT IT’S LESS THAN THREE MINUTES LONG? OR EVEN LESS THAN THAT? The fourth album from ABC, 1987’s Alphabet City spawned the classic, luxurious single The Night You Murdered Love. But I still can’t get its B-side out of my head, even though it was just two minutes and 57 seconds long. Minneapolis was a near-instrumental homage to Prince that proved you certainly don’t need something the length of a vinyl side to make an impact and, in my case, remain memorable more than 30 years later. But 2:57 is…

BEFORE THE TUBE, THERE WAS KIDS’ SHOW RAZZMATAZZ WHICH BROUGHT TV ANARCHY TO THE MASSES. PRESENTER LYN SPENCER AND PRODUCER MALCOLM GERRIE TELL THE TALE OF HOW THIS PIONEERING TEA-TIME PROGRAMME TURNED NEWCASTLE INTO A HOTBED OF 80S POP. Pen On The Jyne © Shutterstock In the summer of 1981, ITV launched a zany new children’s television programme to rival the BBC’s Top Of The Pops. Razzmatazz, presented by Lyn Spencer and Alastair Pirrie, first aired on 2 June 1981 and was recorded at Tyne Tees Television Studios in Newcastle. The show’s brightly decorated set, complete with clouds and rainbows, provided an ideal backdrop for all manner of madcap games and pop performances by some of the biggest stars of the day. “I was working as a continuity announcer for…

IN THE CREATIVE 80S, THE B-SIDE OF A VINYL SINGLE OFTEN MATCHED THE QUALITY OF THE A-SIDE. WE TAKE A LOOK AT 20 OF THE DECADE’S FINEST FLIPSIDES. It’s easy to forget in today’s era of streaming and downloading just what a treasure trove of additional material the flipsides of vinyl singles offered in the creatively fertile 80s. If you were unlucky, your favourite 45 would include either an instrumental, a live track, or, worse still, a previously released album cut, but for every dud there was a veritable gem. The humble B-side offered many acts the opportunity to experiment in the studio and present themselves in a different light, while others treated it as an art form, delivering exemplary non-album material in the tradition of their musical heroes. 20…

THE HOT LIST 78 Kraftwerk, Goldfrapp, Held By Trees, Suicide, Music By John Barry by Jon Burlingame, Geoff Leonard and Pete Walker; Here They Come With Their Make-up On by Jane Savidge NEW RELEASES 79 Tears For Fears, Johnny Marr, Spiritualized, Soft Cell, Bastille, Forenzics, Andy Bell, Metronomy, CMAT, John Mellencamp, The Boo Radleys, Bryan Adams, Wolfgang Flür, Blancmange, White Lies, Five, Marillion, Stereophonics, The Monochrome Set, Subjective, Beach House, Stone Foundation, Placebo, Holodrum REISSUES 86 Electribe 101, China Crisis, Paul Young, Linx, Chesney Hawkes, NOW compilations, William Orbit, Felt, Howard Jones, Sheena Easton, The Kane Gang, Franz Ferdinand, theaudience, Dodgy, Lemonheads, Debbie Gibson, Level 42, New Musik, The Coral, Blue Rondo A La Turk, Goodbye Mr Mackenzie, Matt Bianco, Gina X Performance, The Madness BOOKS 95 Vanity Project: A…

JOHNNY MARR BMG ★★★ © Andy Cotterill One wonders what a young Johnny Marr would make of his 58-year-old self today. He’s still thought of primarily as The Smiths’ musical mastermind, despite them breaking up some 35 years ago, and so singular were their achievements that when he formed Electronic with Bernard Sumner a few years later it seemed a leap as inspired as it was thrilling. Listening to his fourth solo album, though, it’s almost impossible to reconcile its content with the work of that hip young mid-80s gunslinger. Those magical fretboard curlicues that distinguished his early output are gone, and huge chunks of Fever Dreams Pts I-4 instead sound like a continuation of his 90s work, except this time engineered to carry right to the back of the…

BASTILLE EMI ★★ Inspired by our move towards online life over the past two years, Bastille’s fourth album embraces the zeitgeist with both hands, offering “a tribute to humanity in a tech age”. The intention is honourable, but sadly Give Me The Future ends up offering little more personality than a hard drive. It’s a quarter of a century since Radiohead opened Fitter Happier with a synthesised voice, for instance, and yet here are Bastille doing the same on Stay Awake?, a (hopefully deliberately) creepy song about online dating – “Give me passion, give me violence, give me confidence” – which begins with the cliché, “Stop the world, I want to get off”. When Dan Smith asks, “Why would I stay awake?”, furthermore, it’s hard to respond, except that sleeping’s…

METRONOMY BECAUSE MUSIC ★★★ It was probably unwise to imagine Joe Mount could maintain the jollity characterising 2019’s Metronomy Forever, praised in these pages for “route one bangers”, and by opening with the downbeat Life And Death’s sparse, echoing piano and pre-programmed lo-fi rhythm he offers fair warning. Not that he can’t provide reminders of his former state: Things Will Be Fine is as perky as late China Crisis, and It’s Good To Be Back is an infectiously frolicsome number . Even on this, though, he sounds a little shy about it, something mirrored by a delivery that’s unexpectedly like Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and the admission that “our love is gone”. For those of a melancholic disposition, this will be good news, as it sees Mount return to the style…

THE BOO RADLEYS BOOSTR ★★★ When The Boo Radleys first announced they’d reformed, the question was whether we’d be reunited with the band that made the underrated, shoegaze-y Everything’s Alright Forever and sonically adventurous, acclaimed (but commercially unsuccessful) Giant Steps, or the one behind Wake Up Boo!, an ‘accidental’ Top 10 Britpop hit. Neither, it turned out: chief songwriter Martin Carr has left the fold, leaving vocalist Sice Rowbottom to lead the trio. Nonetheless, they remain identifiably themselves, not least thanks to Rowbottom’s reedy vocal – which at times recalls Tim Burgess’ – and what’s emerged sits comfortably between the two incarnations. The troublingly titled, morally complex A Full Syringe And Memories Of You and I Can’t Be What You Want Me To Be, in which Rowbottom preaches self-acceptance to…

BLANCMANGE BLANC CHECK ★★★ With more people working from home, the demand for quiet, meditative music has grown, notable in the popularity of Mixing Colours, released as lockdown started by Brian and Roger Eno – the fraternal pioneers of ambient and New Classical – or the unlikely but developing ambient Americana scene. Neil Arthur, though, isn’t leaping onto any bandwagons with this double helping of instrumentals. He released the first Nil By Mouth in 2015, with further volumes in 2019 and last year, and they’re built around the same analogue synths that have consistently provided Blancmange’s foundations. One could even imagine his voice sat atop one or two of these, like Auto Incorrect and It Is Good To Talk, and there’s a strong, perhaps inevitable correlation between Kraftwerk and the…

BEACH HOUSE BELLA UNION ★★★ Produced by the band for the first time, but largely mixed by shoegaze mainstay Alan Moulder, Beach House’s eighth suggests that, if they’re following the Cocteau Twins’ template – which, musically, they appear to be – then they’ve reached their Four-Calendar Café phase. More accessible, more conventional, it’s full of beauty, but over 18 songs (18!) its limited means become tiring. Over And Over trembles like an angel and Through Me drifts on a perfumed breeze, but the slower Illusion Of Forever is as joyful as a party that’s over. WW…

SUBJECTIVE THREE SIX ZERO ★★★ Despite being split between Phuket, Thailand, and Bournemouth, Goldie and James Davidson have managed to make a second album of soulful electronica and drum’n’bass. Due credit to them for hitting up Lady Blackbird, who exercises her Nina Simone tones against Sunlight’s and Yoshi’s Highway’s busy rhythms, while jazz singer Natalie Duncan tops up the smoother American Gods. There are darker tunes, too, with Dassai Menace suitably ominous, but older fans will best embrace the frantic Reflection. WW…

MARILLION EARMUSIC ★★★ Marillion’s 20th album sounds exactly as you’d hope for one recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios: full of polished musical finesse and passion. Be Hard On Yourself opens dramatically with choral voices and rolling pianos, building its impressive dynamics until Steve Hogarth signals its climax eight minutes later with gruff pleading, and Reprogram The Gene works up quite a sweat, too. But this time their prog side’s understated, with Murder Machines unusually succinct, while Sierra Leone could even be (British) Sea Power. WW…

REISSUES CHINA CRISIS VIRGIN ★★★★ © Alamy Buried halfway through this 3CD set of Liverpool duo China Crisis’ fourth album is a rejected demo of Worlds Apart, recorded with Pete Walsh at 10cc’s Strawberry Studios. It’s a revealing insight into how this record might have sounded: here the song’s a cheerful but flimsy tiptoe through the Motown territory Billy Joel mined for Uptown Girl, while the final version, produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, is only subtly different but boasts a crucial swagger and just the faintest jazzy perfume. Not that everyone will remember the song in any incarnation. While 1985’s Flaunt The Imperfection, produced by Steely Dan’s Walter Becker, went gold and Top 10, this follow-up a year later inexplicably failed to break the Top 60. But it…

FELT CHERRY RED ★★★★ © PP Hartnett “I was feeling desperate, unable to decide/ Between a life of misery or awful suicide,” the mononymous Lawrence sings chirpily on Dismantled King Is Off The Throne, a highlight of 1984’s The Strange Idols Pattern And Other Short Stories, the third of his band Felt’s 10 albums. All 10 are reissued, not for the first time, on CD, now remastered with new artwork and (this time) slipcases. Lawrence, of course, chose neither misery or suicide, instead spending 1979 to 1989 crafting a sound that, despite frequent line-up changes, came to represent one of the era’s English indie archetypes, with his distinctive vocals like a benign Lou Reed and – until 1985, anyway – Maurice Deebank’s winding, glittering lead guitar lines as imaginative as…

THE KANE GANG DEMON ★★★★ Signed to Kitchenware alongside Prefab Sprout, with whose Paddy McAloon they’d been poised to start a label, The Kane Gang may be unwittingly best known for their 1985 debut’s squidgy groove, Smalltown Creed, which provided both the “Ooh, Gary Davies” Radio 1 jingle and Byker Grove’s theme tune. Naturally, though, as part of a wave of white boy soul first provoked by Steely Dan and Hall & Oates – then caught by, among others, Simply Red’s debut the same year and Curiosity Killed The Cat – The Kane Gang deserve better. Maybe this Gary Crowley-sponsored green vinyl reissue will remind folk of their greater virtues. TBALWOTKG is characterised by ticklish funk licks on tracks like opener Gun Law, the rhythm underpinning it surprisingly belligerent, and…

LEVEL 42 MUSIC ON VINYL ★★★☆ A controversial album for the band, Level 42’s final LP before temporarily splitting was issued with two different tracklistings: their label RCA’s original 1994 edition featured songs the band wanted dropped and the wrong mix of sinister, insistent groover Billy’s Gone. Drummer Phil Gould had been persuaded back after a two-album gap, but was so annoyed at RCA that he refused to tour the record. The band’s preferred version emerged in 1996, but Forever Now is still unavailable on streaming sites and, intriguingly, this vinyl reissue is of the original RCA tracklisting. The wrangling shouldn’t detract from a solid album which sees the band slot nicely next to a then-new Jamiroquai: The Sunbed Song is an atypically cheeky funker whose lyrics Jay Kay would have…

BLUE RONDO A LA TURK DEMON ★★☆ Considering Gary Crowley’s excellent Lost 80s compilations have brought some real gems into the spotlight, the affable DJ’s choice of Blue Rondo A La Turk to launch the accompanying new GC’s Lost 80s album imprint is a funny one. Named after a Dave Brubeck song, the six-piece Latin jazz band were forward-thinking in trying to meld other cultures into their upbeat party stew. Known for rowdy gigs, in the studio they mostly sounded on the verge of finding an amazing party anthem without ever quite getting there. Langer & Winstanley were ironically perhaps just too pop to be in tune with their ideas – while bandleader Chris Sullivan wanted to “bring showbiz back”, the nine-minute The Heavens Are Crying ended up sounding like…

MATT BIANCO CHERRY POP ★★ In the past couple of years, Cherry Red has tightened up its act to make its deluxe editions as thorough as the often niche artists its reissuing deserve. Generally, their “complete” packages have merited the tag. It makes the latest in their Remixes & Rarities series, following compilations by the likes of Billy Ocean, A Flock Of Seagulls, Bonnie Tyler and King, all the more infuriating. The label has only recently reissued Matt Bianco’s first three albums, so many of these 25 mixes have already appeared among the bonus tracks there. There shouldn’t be a need for this iteration at all. However, a clutch of remixes from Matt Bianco’s fourth album Samba In Your Casa from 1991 pop up, too: the sensuous Rumba Mix of Macumba…

QUEEN: AS IT BEGAN OMNIBUS PRESS ★★★ At this point, it’s hard to imagine what could be left to reveal about the story of Queen and Freddie Mercury, given the vast number of books and documentaries, not to mention one sanitised Hollywood blockbuster (Bryan Singer’s Bohemian Rhapsody), that have covered the career of the rock giants. That aside, Queen: As It Began, originally published in the early 90s and long since out of print, has been regarded as one of the most concise and authoritative accounts of the Mercury pomp years. Written by Jacky Smith, who has run the official Queen fan club for more than three decades, and the band’s historian Jim Jenkins, the book’s attention to detail is meticulous and benefits greatly from its unrivalled access to Brian…

LIVE & EVENTS WITH FEARS OF ANOTHER POTENTIAL LOCKDOWN LOOMING LARGE, CHELTENHAM REVELS IN THE JOYS OF LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AS TWO GROUNDBREAKING BRITISH BANDS CELEBRATE TWO LANDMARK ALBUMS 10 DECEMBER ★★★★ THE SELECTER SETLIST 1 Three Minute Hero 2 Out On The Streets 3 Time Hard 4 Frontline 5 Murder 6 Missing Words 7 Danger 8 Street Feeling 9 Train To Skaville 10 James Bond Theme 11 Carry Go Bring Come 12 On My Radio 13 Too Much Pressure/ Pressure Drop Ona chilly mid- December evening, an opulent Cheltenham Town Hall is decked with boughs of holly and all manner of festive finery. While the main arena is ominously empty, the side bars are bursting as copious amounts of booze that is fuelling the pre-Christmas cheer. The main hall suddenly…

CLASSIC POP MOMENTS © Getty 25 MARCH 1985 Though fans were starved of any bona fide Duran Duran album in 1985 (the A View To A Kill single was, sadly, a one-off), they were, however, gifted a couple of side project long-players from its various members. With Duran on hiatus that year, two splinter groups were formed, with Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor in one corner with Arcadia and, in the other, John Taylor and Andy Taylor – along with Robert Palmer and Chic’s Tony Thompson – with the altogether rockier proposition, The Power Station. Convened initially to act as a backing band for John Taylor’s then-girlfriend Bebe Buell’s planned solo record, John and Andy believed there was a future for the group beyond this one-off, only with…