Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2025 i Classic Pop

Pop landmarks don’t come much bigger than Band Aid’s iconic No.1 single Do They Know It’s Christmas?, released in December 1984, or the spectacular Live Aid concerts the following summer in London and Philadelphia. Originally prompted by Michael Buerk’s heartbreaking BBC news reports about the Ethiopian famine, the Band Aid Charitable Trust fronted by Bob Geldof has subsequently gone on to raise an estimated £150 million. Yet the charity has not been without its share of controversy over the past 40 years. As you’ll no doubt have noticed, the headlines continue into the present day via recent statements made by Ed Sheeran and British-Ghanaian rapper Fuse ODG. So as a fifth incarnation of Do They Know It’s Christmas? is released to mark the single’s 40th anniversary, we speak to latest…

Gary Kemp has announced that his third solo album, This Destination, will be released on 31 January 2025 via East West Records. The follow-up to 2021’s INSOLO, the LP promises to be the Spandau Ballet co-founder’s most personal to date and one which sees the singer-songwriter channel his own thoughts and feelings about the past, present and future. Lead single, Put Your Head Up, reflects the semi-autobiographical nature of the 11 tracks. Kemp explained: “The song is essentially a conversation I was having with myself, trying to encourage positivity in the face of life’s usual buffeting headwinds.” The album marks a journey of discovery for the songwriter who, in the years following the pandemic, hit a wall of anxiety and a lapse in self-belief. Kemp revealed how he was helped…

It wasn’t uncommon in the 80s for films that tanked to still be blessed with a decent soundtrack, and Body Rock, a breakdance movie in an oversubscribed market, was a prime example. Florida singer Maria Vidal, a long-time associate of songwriter-to-the-stars Desmond Child, was asked to record the track while working on her first solo album. Defining all good titular soundtrack songs, it had a mighty chorus that was catchy enough to make people sing it the moment the movie’s name was mentioned. It featured on a soundtrack album with many star turns, amongst them Roberta Flack and Laura Branigan. Co-written by Carpenters’ lyricist John Bettis, the song was issued as a single in conjunction with the movie’s release in the US autumn of 1984, and made only minor inroads…

B IS FOR… BETWEEN-SONG BANTER I’ve seen OMD play at the Royal Albert Hall a couple of times and it’s quite a sight to behold. But, having missed their March 2022 Atmospherics & Greatest Hits set, I’ve been listening back to the live recording on Spotify. The group are strong: Martin Cooper’s bass on Julia’s Song and Stuart Kershaw’s drums on The Romance Of The Telescope being particular highlights. What also struck me was just how great Andy McCluskey is at between-song banter. “Just because it’s the Albert Hall, don’t be dignified,” he says before Messages, trying to get the crowd off their seats and onto their feet. He was still cajoling them a few songs later over the intro to So In Love: “Are you so worried about dropping…

01 (1) Y.M.C.A. THE VILLAGE PEOPLE (MERCURY) 02 (6) HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS (STIFF) 03 (3) LAY YOUR LOVE ON ME RACEY (RAK) 04 (5) SONG FOR GUY ELTON JOHN (ROCKET) 05 (18) SEPTEMBER EARTH, WIND & FIRE (CBS) 06 (4) A TASTE OF AGGRO THE BARRON KNIGHTS (EPIC) 07 (2) MARY’S BOY CHILD/OH MY LORD BONEY M (ATLANTIC/HANSA) 08 (7) YOU DON’T BRING ME FLOWERS BARBRA STREISAND AND NEIL DIAMOND (CBS) 09 (10) LE FREAK CHIC (ATLANTIC) 10 (8) TOO MUCH HEAVEN THE BEE GEES (RSO) Y.M.C.A. THE VILLAGE PEOPLE (MERCURY) As any right-on Gen Z-er will tell you, the world of 1979 was awash with racists, misogynists and homophobes, and that any expression of sexual difference was brutally suppressed by ‘the…

Franz Ferdinand are concerned about the current state of pop – but are quick to point out some honourable exceptions. Alex Kapranos ponders: “So much contemporary pop seems to be generic phrases about relationships, jumbled up together to fit the rhythm of the melody. I don’t feel like the singer is communicating anything about their life to me.” He believes Chappell Roan, whose album The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess recently reached No.1, makes pop with substance: “Chappell is perfect pop, because it feels like I’m listening to her. I feel I’m getting a deep, brutal insight into what’s going on with her life, while it’s still set to a beautifully catchy melody.” Kapranos also believes it’s a good time for bands, citing Sprints and English Teacher as…

01 THE SECRET PUBLIC JON SAVAGE (FABER) Set to be viewed as the ultimate authority on the history of LGBTQ performers and their impact on both pop culture and societal acceptance, this encyclopedic volume takes in rock’n’roll, soul, psychedelia, 60s pop, punk, glam and disco, with a cast including Joe Meek, David Bowie, Little Richard, The Velvet Underground, Dusty Springfield and Sylvester. 02 PHEW, EH READERS? THE LIFE AND WRITING OF TOM HIBBERT TOM HIBBERT (NINE EIGHT) One of the most influential music writers of all time, Tom Hibbert is memorialised in this superb celebration of his life and work, curated by Barney Hoskins and Jasper Murison-Bowie. The book includes highlights from the late writer’s tenure at Smash Hits and Q, mixed with reminiscences from friends, fans and peers. 03…

CLOSER CHERRY RED The title and cover of Kim Wilde’s 15th studio album are a neat move. Embracing Close, the sleeve recreates the 1988 album’s arms-across-the-face cover shot. For anyone unaware of its predecessor’s heritage, Closer simply suggests intimacy as a title and the cover is still a great pose for Wilde to strike. While Closer is as eclectic as Close in being an instant Best Of for Wilde’s talents, that doesn’t mean she’s simply rattling out 10 songs resembling that album’s big hits such as You Came (No.3), Never Trust A Stranger (No.7) and Four Letter Word (No.6). Instead, Closer is mature yet still excitable and exciting pop, merged with the extraterrestrial existential questions that Wilde posed on her previous album, 2018’s Here Come The Aliens. The opening three…

THE HUMAN FEAR DOMINO It’s surprising to learn elsewhere in this issue that Franz Ferdinand needed the tour for their 2022 compilation Hits To The Head to be reminded that the common denominator in their singles is that they’re fun. There haven’t been enough Franz albums: this is only their sixth in 21 years. But, 2009’s cautious Tonight apart, they have always sounded like they were built for fun. So it proves here. Opener and first single Audacious sets the tone, the most obvious nod to their work with Sparks in its heightened drama. It’s followed by Everydaydreamer, which is as close as the album will come to a ballad, despite being driven by Audrey Tait’s militaristic drumming. The magnificent Hooked is where The Human Fear really takes flight. As…

DEAR LIFE LAUGH A MINUTE/SECRETLY DISTRIBUTION Self-described as being a “reckoning with stuff that’s been building up like static for years”, David Gray’s 13th album finds everyone’s favourite head-bobbing troubadour posing, and valiantly attempting to answer, an arsenal of existential questions. What is the true meaning of love? (I Saw Love) What happens when we shuffle off this mortal coil? (That Day Must Surely Come). And, on multiple occasions, where exactly is our little blue planet heading? “It’s gone and it’s never coming back,” appears to be the bleak answer on Eyes Made Rain, an ecological lament which proves the singer-songwriter hasn’t fallen down the rabbit hole of climate change conspiracy theories since 2021 predecessor Skellig. If that all sounds a little heavy, then Gray still possesses the lightness of…

THE NIGHT HEAVENLY Long-time admirers of Saint Etienne will be used to the treats that the group release for the fans each Christmas, which usually comprise of represses of limited gear or older fanclub material. This year, also given a low-key full release, The Night is a whole new album. In a similar vein to 2021’s I’ve Been Trying To Tell You, it finds the trio in ambient atmosphere vignette mode, with spoken-word, sound effects and half-shadows of songs and moods. It’s perfect for the “Occasional lighting and snuggle under a quality rug” set, acting like a diffuser easing your passage into sleep. Co-produced alongside Augustin Bousfield, who also worked on IBTTTY, The Night uses echo and space, nods of dub and folk, and snatches of crystalline guitars and birdsong…

DANCING AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD MODERN SKY Since going viral with her cover of Yes Sir, I Can Boogie in 2021, Scottish singer Brooke Combe has largely been associated with indie – she’s supported a host of the genre’s artists such as Miles Kane, features on Courteeners’ new LP and is produced by The Coral singer James Skelly. It’s a tag that frustrates Combe, who sees herself as an old-school soul singer. Although Skelly is still Combe’s main producer, she also has Michael Kiwanuka associate Paul Butler of The Bees involved in her debut album. Listen to Dancing At The Edge Of The World and it’s a mystery how that indie tag took hold. This is defiant vintage soul, from the handclapping stomp of The Last Time to…

NORTH OF A MIRACLE DEMON There’s long awaited, and then there’s the 43-year gap between Haircut One Hundred’s only LP with Nick Heyward and their forthcoming reunion album that’s about to arrive in early 2025. Heyward has discussed the fallout from Pelican West before, and that album’s superb 40th anniversary boxset was a reminder that some of his debut solo LP was initially intended for the Haircuts. North Of A Miracle was a big deal in 1983 – it went Top 10, with three of its four singles just missing the same feat – but it’s only now getting a comprehensive reissue, with 2010’s 2CD missing a few extras. Indeed, Heyward’s whole catalogue is overdue some love. Clashing with new Haircut One Hundred wouldn’t be the right time, but the…

NOW YEARBOOK ’77 EXTRA/NOW 12" 80s VOLUME 1/NOW 12" 80s: 1984 PART 1/NOW 80s DANCEFLOOR: SYNTH NOW NOW’s convoy of joy continues with yet more wonderfulness, via offerings for fans of all strands of pop music. For once, there isn’t a regular Yearbook edition, presumably as the NOW team are trying to figure out what to do with 1976. To fill the gap, Yearbook ‘77 Extra is another 3CD of solid classics. 1977’s regular Yearbook was magnificent, but it still missed out gems such as Hot Chocolate’s seismic Put Your Love In Me, The Dooleys’ Love Of My Life, Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes’ Don’t Leave Me This Way, Paul McCartney’s Maybe I’m Amazed and Iggy Pop’s Lust For Life. This scoop-up is as good as the main event, with…

ASTRONAUTS NEEDLE MYTHOLOGY At the point The Lilac Time’s fourth LP was released, Stephen Duffy’s post-Dr Calculus project couldn’t have been less fashionable. Landing the same month as Blur’s Leisure, Spin Doctors’ Pocket Full Of Kryptonite and Cypress Hill’s self-titled debut, Astronauts was wilfully out of step from the dominant sounds of the time. While that may have been a disadvantage when it failed to chart in August 1991, it does mean that, 33 years on, Astronauts is less of a timepiece than the year’s shoegaze, baggy and grunge. That’s clearly the opinion of Needle Mythology co-founder Pete Paphides, the author of a satisfyingly immense booklet which comes with this expanded 3LP/3CD reissue. Arriving with a demos disc and live compilation, Astronauts tends to get lost in The Lilac Time’s…

UP TO OUR HIPS BEGGARS ARKIVE As it was released in 1994, The Charlatans’ third album is generally deemed Britpop. If only. It’s their heaviest LP, with veteran progger Steve Hillage of Gong’s murky production helping to bring Mark Collins’ guitars to the fore – but at the expense of his bandmates. This is The Charlatans showing they can jam, man. Which is fine, but the title track is miles away from finding a song and, as a single, I Never Want An Easy Life If Me And He Were Ever To Get There drags on as long as its title in its muddy mood. Even when Rob Collins’ keyboards are upfront, in Patrol, it’s to mask the lack of a memorable melody. There are some highlights: in Jesus Hairdo’s loose funk,…

ANYWAYAWANNA: THE BEST OF MUSIC ON VINYL Having faded into the background since working on Girls Aloud’s Sound Of The Underground, The Beatmasters have eased back lately, with vintage house piano singles Good Old Daze and Everyone Dancin’. Their return after nearly 20 years is a delight, as at their best the production collective were the perfect mid-point between S’Express mischief and Stock Aitken Waterman. Like much of Rhythm King’s catalogue, The Beatmasters’ music is only patchily available, so this is a welcome vinyl repress of 2004’s ‘best of’. (In reality, it’s their two albums repackaged.) Having worked with everyone from Bowie and Depeche Mode to Marc Almond and Pet Shop Boys, they were perhaps best suited as producers: some of their own tracks were fillers that sounded dated even…

MARK WEBBER HAT & BEARD PRESS Pulp fans can all remember the first time, that moment they were carried away by Jarvis Cocker expressing an idea that was simultaneously improbably romantic, mildly perverse and, for all it reached to express something universal, could have emerged from a kitchen sink drama set in a grimy bedsit. Those who have experienced this heady feeling include Mark Webber but, where most of us discovered Pulp circa Britpop or later, Webber was there from the beginning, a teenage fan in the 80s. Later, he worked for the band and then, in 1995, became Pulp’s guitarist at the height of their fame. It’s a story covered in I’m With Pulp, Are You? but don’t expect a conventional music memoir. Rather, this is a book of…

DON LETTS OMNIBUS PRESS This personable memoir by the celebrated filmmaker, musician, DJ, social commentator and self-confessed Beatles obsessive Don Letts is a wonderfully involving read. From the outset, Letts acknowledges how nothing in his life was planned or premeditated. Indeed, there’s a DIY punk-rock spirit driving the narrative – you can’t help but admire his chutzpah or be inspired. As cinematic as one of Letts’ films, this zips along with entertaining rock’n’roll adventures involving The Clash, John Lydon, Bob Marley and Paul McCartney, all while serving up fascinating insights into touchstones in music history. From his big bang moment of witnessing The Who in concert as a 15-year-old kid to treading the boards with Big Audio Dynamite, the thrill of live music often extends beyond the page as our…

*1 “Spectacular things come to those who wait.” *2 “My inner teenager was a very happy boy.” *3 “It feels more like an experience than an album per se, as personal as music gets.” *4 “He lost half his bodyweight in sweat during a thrilling performance.” *5 ”Opulent performance meets opulent venue.” *6 ”I was beginning to think that the follow-up to 2008’s 4:13 Dream wouldn’t be arriving in my lifetime.” *7 ”A show of solidarity, mutual respect and survival.” *8 “Even the mudbath conditions couldn’t quell the joy of seeing the Manics and Pet Shop Boys perform in my hometown.” *9 “She understands fans want hits, hits, hits.” *10 “Possibly the most patient, gracious musical comeback of my lifetime.” *11 “A concert that was full of spooky fun and…

A new musical that retells the story of Live Aid is coming to London’s West End next summer. Just For One Day celebrates the iconic double-header of charity shows held at Wembley Stadium in London and Philadelphia’s John F Kennedy Stadium. The new production will feature music from many of the artists who performed at Live Aid including David Bowie, U2, Queen, Madonna, Elton John, The Police, Diana Ross and Paul McCartney. This unprecedented live music event, held on 13 July 1985, was seen by an estimated 1.5 billion people in 150 countries across the globe and has now raised over £114 million for famine relief in Ethiopia. After a record-breaking world premiere at the Old Vic in January this year for the new production, the genesis story of those…

Iconic US producer and musician, Quincy Jones, died on 3 November, aged 91. A statement from Jones’ publicist Arnold Robinson revealed that he passed away at his Bel Air home in Los Angeles surrounded by his family. Born Quincy Delight Jones Jr. in Chicago, Illinois, in 1933, during a career that spanned seven decades, Jones worked with esteemed stars such as Frank Sinatra, Little Richard, Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin. But it was his influence on the Michael Jackson albums Off The Wall (1979), 1982’s Thriller and its follow-up five years later, Bad, that established him as one of the most prominent producers in the industry. In 1985, together with Jackson and Lionel Richie, Jones was a driving force behind USA For Africa’s charity single We Are The World. The…

Shakatak’s breezy, multi-tracked jazz funk took a different direction in 1984 with the release of Down On The Street, their fifth album. So far lauded for their harmonised vocal hooks interspersed with long instrumental sections, they shed a singer in order to give Jill Saward more of the spotlight. With Saward on ecstatic form as a free-singing leading lady under the glitterball, the title track gave them a second Top 10 hit, two years after their first. She is also thrust forward on follow-up single Don’t Blame It On Love and delivers the album’s best chorus with gusto on Watching You. Saward’s sensitivity impresses on the lilting Holding On, torch song Photograph and closing Billie Holiday tribute, Lady, the latter of which features a rare keyboard solo from Bill Sharpe.…

01 Kate Bush, who had released her third studio album Never For Ever a few months previously in September 1980, is voted Best Female Artist in Capital Radio’s listener’s poll. 25 Alicia Keys is born in New York City. In 2008, she co-writes Another Way To Die with Jack White, the theme song to the James Bond movie Quantum Of Solace. 03 David Bowie makes his final appearance on stage at New York City’s Booth Theatre as John Merrick, aka the Elephant Man, in the Bernard Pomerance play based on the life of Joseph Merrick. 09 Terry Hall and Jerry Dammers from The Specials are fined £400 each after being charged with incitement to riot during a gig by the ska band in Cambridge. 16 Nick Valensi, the future lead…

CHRISSIE HYNDE The frontwoman and rhythm guitarist, known for her swagger, sassy delivery and wry way with words. The only continuous member of the group. JAMES HONEYMAN-SCOTT The lead guitarist was integral to the original Pretenders sound, and a big influence on a young Johnny Marr. Honeyman-Scott died in 1982 of cocaine-induced heart failure at the age of 25. PETE FARNDON The tough-guy bassist, who dressed as a biker and Samurai. Hynde would say that what he lacked in skill he made up for in force of nature. But the force would become too much in the end. Farndon was fired in 1982, days before Honeyman-Scott’s death, then tragically drowned in the bath after a heroin overdose in 1983. MARTIN CHAMBERS Besides Hynde, the drummer is the only other surviving…

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JENNIFER RUSH WITH LEE WILLIAMS ”I’ve been a huge fan of Jennifer’s since The Power Of Love and have a great collection of singles and albums that she’s released throughout the last 40 years. Long forgotten about here in the UK, I’ve followed Jennifer’s career in Europe where she is still popular. Here’s the first time I met her, in Berlin back in December 2004. She was so lovely and genuinely touched I’d travelled from the UK to see her perform. It’s one of those moments that will live with me forever.” CLARK DATCHLER WITH SCOTT DREW AND DIANE NORMAN ”We are pictured here with Clark Datchler the day after seeing Johnny Hates Jazz play in Poole on 5 October. We had a lovely chat with him as we were…

01 RUSTY EGAN PRESENTS BLITZED! (DEMON) A comprehensive overview of the music played on the dancefloor at the legendary New Romantic club by the Blitz’s resident founding DJ. Staying true to the club’s spirit, the tracklisting covers the big-hitters but still finds space for avant-garde experimentalism and the odd dash of deranged fun, too. 02 NOW YEARBOOK ‘87 (NOW) Capturing that key point in time before Madchester and acid house would break cover, this finds the UK charts in a fascinating state of flux as M/A/R/R/S anticipated the future and Duran Duran raged against the dimming of the new pop light with Skin Trade. Includes bangers aplenty as well as numerous forgotten gems. 03 KATIE PUCKRIK PRESENTS A YACHT ROCK ODYSSEY (EDSEL) A wonderful sense of escapism permeates this 72-track compilation which sits alongside…

We had an inkling that Songs Of A Lost World could be worth the wait via the band’s live show previews, but for me, what amounts to a career-best Cure album really has exceeded all expectations. And it seems I’m not the only one who’s been knocked out by the return of Robert Smith and co. The band’s 14th studio LP shot to No.1 in the UK, outselling the rest of the Top Five combined. My favourite album of 2024, its emotive meditation on life, death and the fears we all experience in our later years is a remarkable piece of work. Coincidently, a second long-awaited effort, The The’s Ensoulment, was my runner-up new release. I’ll overlook Matt Johnson’s periodic lapses into conspiracy theories and anti-vax cobblers and instead celebrate…

WFO STRANGE CARGO Having sashayed back in 2022 with The Painter after eight years, William Orbit seems to have retreated from the spotlight, releasing his latest album solely via Bandcamp. After Beth Orton, Katie Melua and Georgia all featured on The Painter, WFO is wholly instrumental. If that implies that Orbit could be heading back to his Strange Cargo ambient series, think again. The first half of WFO is a thrilling return to beats, his most uptempo grooves since Bassomatic. Concrete Butterfly borrows back the pulse that Bicep owed to Orbit in the first place, while JD 800 ooo soon builds into a trampolining bounce, a relative rarity from Orbit in melding the piano and strings of his Pieces In A Modern Style works with the dancefloor. The jungle-tinged Crouch…

RENASCENCE BMG Sampled both legally (De La Soul) and illegally (Fugees), cult heroes Cymande have been championed in Spike Lee movies Crooklyn and 25th Hour as well as being hailed as a formative influence on both breakbeat and British rare groove. And the band’s reputation has continually grown since their original swansong, 1974’s Promised Heights. Self-described as a spiritual and sonic follow-up, Renascence deserves to achieve the crossover success that eluded the Londoners first time around. Life-affirming lead single Chasing An Empty Dream provides a Blaxploitation-friendly blend of sweeping strings, tight rhythms and multi-layered horns. Boasting a magnetic vocal from BRIT Award winner Celeste, Only One Way evokes the sumptuous soulful balladry that defined Adele’s last blockbuster, while Road To Zion and Heart Of The Willing are the kind of…

FULL MOON TRANSGRESSIVE The title Full Moon suggests Moonchild Sanelly is about to be fully unleashed on the South African pop star’s third studio album. That proves to be the case on a bombastic offering that’s nevertheless more coherent than 2022’s lockdown-inspired, heavily collaborative Phases. Replete with numerous full-on bangers, it’s a party-focused force for good and a body positive statement of empowerment all at once. “If I had a big, big booty, I’d fuck up the world,” raps Sanelly on Big Booty, before issuing a swift correction to herself: “Oh, I do, and I already am”. With her distinctive blue hair, bright platform boots and sports socks, Sanelly appears to be on a love-bombing mission in a bid to capture her audience’s affections, partnering up in recent years with…

TOMORROW’S WORLD/SNOW GLOBE/THE VIOLET FLAME MUTE Quite what Erasure’s catalogue team are doing with the duo’s vinyl releases is a head-scratcher, but here are the first three of their 2010s albums back on wax, having last been out in 2016. Meanwhile, Erasure’s recent 2CD reissues of albums that are somewhat scarcer on vinyl, from I Say I Say I Say to Cowboy, haven’t had any represses accompanying the semi-deluxe CDs. It’s a mess. A MESS. Stop ranting, you say? Right. Anyway… any excuse to revisit Erasure is, of course, welcome, with Tomorrow’s World especially overlooked. Having worked with Ellie Goulding and Tinie Tempah, producer Frankmusik was briefly in vogue, but this was the only major artist whose album he fully produced before heading to L.A.’s underground club scene. In truth,…

SPARKLE IN THE RAIN UMC A transitional bridge between the ambient art-rock of New Gold Dream and stadium pomp of Once Upon A Time, you can see why, for some purists, Sparkle In The Rain signalled the beginning of the end for Simple Minds’ imperial phase. Fresh from his work on U2’s War, producer Steve Lillywhite leaned into the extra muscle that new drummer Mel Gaynor had brought to the band, while Derek Forbes’ bass is so powerful – most famously on the concrete-loosening throb of Waterfront – it’s no surprise he burst his thumb open in the studio. Bombastic? A little, perhaps. But come on: is there a more thrilling opening trilogy in rock than Up On The Catwalk – with its impossibly glamorous, free-associating nonsense about Nastassja Kinski,…

G STANDS FOR GO-BETWEENS VOLUME 3: 2000-2006 DOMINO “I don’t want to change a thing when it’s magic,” Robert Forster and Grant McLennan sang on Magic In Here, the opener to their first album in a dozen years, 2000’s The Friends Of Rachel Worth. Things had changed: former bandmates were missing, replaced by members of Quasi and Sleater Kinney. But the duo’s distinctive songwriting styles still merged as if they’d never stopped collaborating, as on 2003’s Bright Yellow Bright Orange and 2005’s Oceans Apart, their last album before McLennan’s death. Finally on vinyl, all three albums offer fresh opportunities to revel in, for example, Forster’s charming Surfing Magazines or McLennan’s gentle Mrs Morgan. Welcome as their arrival is, fans will also want Nachtmix 99, an LP of an acoustic German…

THIS IS MUSIC: THE SINGLES UMC Given Richard Ashcroft’s high-profile slot as main support on Oasis’ UK reunion tour, it’s the perfect time for The Verve to lay claim to a portion of the hunger for 90s comebacks. Enter the vinyl debut of 2004’s singles compilation. Culled largely from the band’s 90s heyday, the 2LP 14-song collection illustrates that The Verve’s expansive psychedelic rock has aged incredibly well. Early singles Gravity Grave and Slide Away are fuzz-coated gems with spacious arrangements and buoyant grooves. The melancholy On Your Own and string-swept Lucky Man showcase a knack for the bittersweet, while other singles from 1997’s juggernaut Urban Hymns reveal Ashcroft and guitarist Nick McCabe’s pop chops. This 20th anniversary edition makes a few swaps from the 2004 CD original. Gone are…

JANEY LEE GRACE MCNIDDER AND GRACE Backing singers are some of music’s most anonymous figures, but they’re often the ones with the most stories. So it is with Janey Lee Grace, who, as support to Mari Wilson, Wham!, Kim Wilde, Boy George, Donna Summer and more, was at the epicentre of 80s pop. In the last few decades, Grace has reinvented herself as a radio DJ and lifestyle guru, but this is the first time she’s laid out her life story. The book doesn’t linger overly on her pre-showbiz days, touching briefly on her Nottingham childhood watching T. Rex and ABBA on Top Of The Pops and dreaming of stardom. By page 19, she is hanging out with Gary Numan, Toni Basil and Captain Sensible. What especially stands out is…

It started, like so many hit singles of the 80s and 90s, with an advert. In 1995, Levi’s broadcast an ad soundtracked by a song from a band by the name of Babylon Zoo. The track, Spaceman, had been the first single from the group and its snazzily-named frontman Jas Mann. Though a planned CD release had been scrapped by Warner after the company’s departing MD took his new signing to EMI, a promo copy found its way to a Manchester radio station, where it was heard by an advertising company who’d been tasked with coming up with a campaign for the jeans manufacturers. When the ad appeared in late 1995, the song – or at least the snippet Levi’s used of it – became a sensation, and EMI realised…

The winner of Best Writer, Specialist category, in 2022’s British Society of Magazine Editors Awards, our latest issue sees John Earls meet Midge Ure and Trevor Horn for our Band Aid cover feature, catch up with Franz Ferdinand to hear about their latest LP The Human Fear, as well as overseeing our new albums and reissues reviews. Jordan Bassett has written for NME, Time Out, Spin, Grazia, Vintage Rock, Kerrang!, BBC Music and many more. Formerly the Commissioning Editor (Music) at NME, he recently saw the publication of his first book, Here’s Little Richard. In this issue, Jordan meets singer-songwriter David Gray who takes us inside his latest emotive studio album Dear Life. Paul Kirkley makes his living from interviewing famous people with much more interesting and glamorous lives than…

China Crisis have unveiled a 17-date 2025 tour to mark the 40th anniversary of their classic studio album, Flaunt The Imperfection. Beginning in Toronto on 22 February, the band then return to the UK for dates that include Shrewsbury Abbey on 11 April, Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh on 8 May and a hometown show at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall on 24 May. Fronted by Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon, the band are set to perform their much-loved third studio album in full. The 1985 Walter Becker-produced Flaunt The Imperfection LP featured the hits Black Man Ray and King In A Catholic Style. The band also promise further hits from their back catalogue plus a few near misses.…

When Midge Ure published his autobiography, If I Was, 20 years ago, he was keen to stress that his memory may have misled him at times, even in his own life story. “I didn’t want to upset anybody,” he tells Classic Pop from his home studio. “They were just my recollections – honest, but possibly inaccurate at times, because everyone remembers every story differently.” This idea of false memory was brought home to Band Aid’s co-founder when the head of his record label, Chrysalis, found the demo of Do They Know It’s Christmas? while searching for unheard music to put on the reissue of Ure’s debut solo album The Gift last year. Recorded “at my kitchen table on my toy keyboard”, it’s emotional for CP to hear the demo, let…

Midge Ure is concerned for the future of Band Aid, as the charity doesn’t have a natural replacement for Bob Geldof to take over the running of the project. “I’m worried about what will happen when Bob is too old,” Ure ponders. “We have to pass the baton on and figure out what to do with its legacy. There’s no one waiting in the wings to take over, no one of today’s musicians who might do it that I know of. Somebody might have spoken to Bob about that, but I don’t think so.” The charity doesn’t have the same high profile that it did in the 80s, as Ure says: “It’s not the beast that it was back in the day, but it’s just as important. Everyone has their…

1 PRECIOUS Pretenders makes its introduction with a driving 4/4 beat and chugging New Wave guitars, a flange effect being the only concession to modern production styles. From the off, Hynde’s tongue is sharpened, spewing about “shitting bricks” and doing it “on the pavement”, followed later by the vitriolic “fuck off!” Hynde’s stop-start delivery, full of affected tics and stutters, emulates that sense of frustrated youth first heard on My Generation. A bold and uncompromising start. 2 THE PHONE CALL According to Farndon, “The heaviest fuckin’ punk rocker you could do in 5/4 time.” And true to his word, it’s a gnarly rhythm that even trips the listener up; it’s near impossible to get a hold on the groove. The result is chaotic sounding, and bloody fantastic to boot. 3…

Looking back over the past 12 months in music, the immediate takeaway has been how 2024 was the year of the ladies. From Taylor’s globe-straddling Eras Tour to the zeitgeist-grabbing dominance of Chappell and Charli – everyone from Vogue to Newsweek celebrated the brat summer – there’s also been career highs from Beyoncé, Billie and Ariana, plus an onstage union of Madonna and Kylie to celebrate International Women’s Day. It’s clear that girl power is alive and well. No Doubt reformed to play at Coachella – hopefully Emily Eavis has called Gwen Stefani to accept her offer of repeating their set at Glastonbury – and Girls Aloud’s triumphant return was the perfect celebration of their legacy, which encompassed a loving tribute to Sarah Harding. In terms of reunions, 2025 is…

There are many reasons to remember Frazier Chorus better. There’s their debut single for 4AD, 1987’s Sloppy Heart, a Phil Spector-esque sniff of romance on a train, while Dream Kitchen’s an intimate tale of frustrated possibilities offering the first whispers of the singular Sue. Then there’s their breathtaking, inimitable but unlikely Anarchy In The UK cover, a re-recorded Sloppy Heart B-side. That’s not to mention that, alongside Dutch footballer Wim van Hanegem and actor Telly Savalas, they’re preserved for posterity by Half Man Half Biscuit on 1991’s Girlfriend’s Finished With Him: “How can you say we sound like Frazier Chorus?” It’s a decent legacy, even more when one knows they won Saturday Superstore’s video vote. But unless you’re a loyal fan like Belle And Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch, this isn’t what…

In 2000, as his gradual success reached boiling point, David Gray was drafted in to replace Burt Bacharach on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage. His single Babylon, which had been re-released to capitalise on the surprise success of White Ladder, had just reached No.5 on the UK chart. After the triumphant gig, he and his late father, Peter, were raiding the backstage bar when things got even better: they spotted David Bowie, who went on to headline the festival with a legendary performance. Gray’s father had sadly been diagnosed with cancer and so “he just didn’t give a bollocks,” the singer recalls. “My Dad said, ‘Look at us having the time of our lives here and look at David Bowie standing outside his dressing room. He looks lost. You know what, son?…

TWILIGHT PLASTIQUE Not content with releasing one of 2024’s finest albums, last August’s Daylight, Hifi Sean & David McAlmont have wasted no time whatsoever with a companion entitled Twilight, which is an early shout for becoming one of 2025’s best. Whereas Daylight was all up, sunshiney and banger-driven, Twilight is a more muted and atmospheric affair entirely, designed for long nights and lovers. In fact, it’s actually being released on Valentine’s Day in case you needed a last-minute gift for a paramour. Billed as “a 12-track night drive from dusk ‘til dawn”, Twilight glides out through the empty cities towards the open skies and captures the bleary, cosy hours before dawn perfectly with the addition of choral fragments, birdsong and even Sean’s pups Fred and Barney on sound effects duty.…

VICIOUS CREATURE EMI In 2022, Chvrches signed to major label Island, a year after the band’s fourth Top 10 album Screen Violence had featured Robert Smith on the single How Not To Drown. The trio clearly wanted to shake things up, but that restlessness brought singer Lauren Mayberry’s career into focus. She was only 25 when debut album The Bones Of What You Believe came out. A decade on, Mayberry wanted to explore who she was now, on her own. Mayberry insists there will be more Chvrches, but her first solo record is an often remarkable step to the side from what she’s sung before. Although made with major pop producers including Greg Kurstin and Tobias Jesso Jr, Vicious Creature is especially excellent when Mayberry rocks out. Sorry, Etc is…

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN AND WHAT DOES IT NOW MEAN BMG In a career dating back to the early 70s, Joan Armatrading has achieved just about everything an artist could want, precisely by refusing to be pigeonholed. She’s been nominated for Grammys in both the Rock and Blues categories, been given a Lifetime Achievement gong by the Radio 2 Folk Awards and earned a CBE. Recently, in 2023, the artist’s first classical piece, Symphony No. 1, was performed by the Chineke! Orchestra. The latter endeavour inspired an album Armatrading wrote, produced, played, programmed and engineered entirely herself. But rather than being classically influenced, this is a refreshingly contemporary collection that displays her many strengths. Evocative keyboards and sinewy basslines course through many songs – led by 25 Kisses’ electronic underbelly,…

LONDON – LIVE DEMON Although billed as the 25th anniversary tour for her debut LP Left Of The Middle, the resulting shows in 2022 were also the first for Natalie Imbruglia’s then-new record, Firebird. Indeed, it was Imbruglia’s first tour in seven years. Two years on, this is also her first live album. Imbruglia’s not primarily known as a road warrior, but London – Live, which was recorded at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, demonstrates both the variety of her back catalogue and similarly versatile voice. Across 18 songs (12 on vinyl), the big hits such as Wishing I Was There and Torn are still performed with the passion of a newcomer, while the teasing funk of One More Addiction and City’s intimate blues are revealed as hits that never were. It’s…

77 RHINO Although Talking Heads’ debut album was only reissued on vinyl in 2020, it wasn’t given the deluxe treatment. Like The Police with Synchronicity, Talking Heads are only now giving fans some luxury options of their LPs. If 77 isn’t quite as extravagant as The Police for demos, then the main prize is undeniably a catch: a previously-unreleased live album from CBGBs. It’s as good an opportunity as any to let people aged under the age of 65 hear what the venue was actually like, from David Byrne’s hesitant version of his famed “The name of this band is Talking Heads” introduction to attacking Take Me To The River way too fast, possibly because some club regulars wanted them to be as frantic as those Ramones and Television guys.…

NEVER TOO MUCH: GREATEST HITS LEGACY After spending the 1970s collaborating with David Bowie – among other things, his song Funky Music (Is A Part Of Me) became Fascination on Young Americans – and singing backing vocals for A-listers, Luther Vandross finally stepped out as a solo act in 1981. He set the bar high with his debut single, Never Too Much, a funky, string-swirled gem that topped the US R&B charts, and the first of 18 UK Top 40 hits. That classic kicks off this stellar career-spanning hits collection, which arrives alongside the documentary Luther: Never Too Much. This 2CD/2LP set illuminates Vandross’ gifts as a vocalist, songwriter and interpreter. Throughout the 80s and up to his death in 2005, the silky crooner dabbled in mainstream pop (the funky…

CAR BUTTON CLOTH FIRE Three years after Come On Feel The Lemonheads, Evan Dando’s personal problems and the effective dissolution of the band – only drummer Patrick Murphy remained – helped ensure that The Lemonheads’ fanbase has largely scarpered by the time of Car Button Cloth. Noel Gallagher also ordered the removal of Purple Parallelogram, co-written with Dando, from the tracklisting at the last minute. Yet the album has quietly gained a cult following over the years, and rightly so. Despite Dando playing nearly everything, it’s the most varied Lemonheads record and, in The Outdoor Type, it’s got a prescient anthem for beta males whose beauty resonates more clearly now than it did at the height of Britpop. It also features If I Could Talk I’d Tell You, one of…

LEAH KARDOS BLOOMSBURY Musician, writer and academic Leah Kardos is the latest to contribute to Bloomsbury’s always readable 33 ⅓ brand, here taking a deep dive into Kate Bush’s Hounds Of Love LP. By concentrating on just one album at a time, the trump card of the 33 ⅓ series is it never spreads itself too thinly. This is a microscopic analysis, and as CP readers will well know, there’s plenty for Kardos to get her teeth into here. After initial scene setting tracing Kate’s emergence as a singular songwriting talent in the late 70s, Kardos knuckles down to the main event, exploring the full evolution of the album including details of its recording. A section on the LP’s behind-the-scenes technical information and instrumentation will keep studio geeks happy. A…