Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2025 i Classic Pop

A comprehensive nine-disc boxset featuring Spandau Ballet’s first two albums, Journeys To Glory (1981) and the following year’s Diamond on vinyl, alongside a wealth of previously unavailable material, will be released on 12 September via Parlophone. Everything Is Now – Vol.1: 1978-1982 captures the band’s meteoric rise from Blitz Club favourites to chart-topping innovators. The set includes their studio albums from the era, plus six CDs of singles, remixes, BBC sessions, demos as well as a Blu-ray of Dolby Atmos mixes, videos and rare live footage. Songwriter Gary Kemp said: “I was having a conversation with Spandau’s manager and lifelong friend Steve Dagger. We were talking about my kids who are constantly listening to and streaming old music, making discoveries like Steely Dan or The Zombies. On TikTok and social media…

David Byrne has announced his first solo album in seven years, Who Is The Sky?. Produced by the Grammywinning Kid Harpoon (Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus), ideas for Who Is The Sky? began to form in 2023 after Byrne’s American Utopia era came to a close. The pop maverick invited an array of guests to flesh out the tracks including St. Vincent, Paramore’s Hayley Williams, The Smile drummer Tom Skinner and percussionist Mauro Refosco. “At my age, at least for me, there’s a ‘don’t give a shit about what people think’ attitude that kicks in,” Byrne said. “I can step outside my comfort zone with the knowledge that I kind of know who I am by now and sort of know what I’m doing. That said, every new set of songs,…

FEARLESS EIGHTH WONDER By the time an 18-year-old Patsy Kensit landed her breakthrough role in Absolute Beginners in 1986 – veering herself straight on to Fleet Street’s radars – she was already heavily involved in recording an album with Eighth Wonder, the electropop group formed with her brother Jamie three years earlier. The coquettish, Clare Grogan-esque vocal Patsy showcases throughout Fearless never tires or grates, and is particularly effective on the band’s interpretation of discarded Pet Shop Boys track I’m Not Scared (“If I was you, I wouldn’t treat me the way you do” is one of Neil Tennant’s great lines), which they took into the Top 10. The other major UK hit, Cross My Heart, feels lightweight compared to further efforts here, such as the lively, sequenced When The…

1 HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH A strong contender for the most bombastic opening to a pop song ever. The phrase ‘power chord’ was surely coined to describe this track. Heaven Is A Place On Earth adheres to the George Martin school of arranging, by whacking the hook upfront (otherwise known as ‘don’t bore us, get to the chorus’). Just a thunderous kick drum, then boom!, straight into that famous singalong refrain delivered by multilayered vocals. In fact, the immediate touchstone for the track was Bon Jovi’s You Give Love A Bad Name. The lyrics were apparently inspired by a truckstop postcard. Not Shakespeare then, but sometimes, you need that blunt, direct message to break through, and its universal theme continues to resonate. Needless to say, it conquered the…

Belinda Carlisle came of age in the vibrant Los Angeles punk scene of the late 70s. She briefly drummed for The Germs; bassist Lorna Doom was a high school friend who was into artists like Roxy Music, Queen and the New York Dolls. Not long after, Carlisle co-founded and fronted The Go-Go’s, a five-piece that combined nervy punk energy with the melodic sparkle of girl groups and hard-hitting rhythms of surf-rock bands.  But before all this, Carlisle was enthralled by the pop music of the late 60s and early 70s: The Beach Boys’ groundbreaking Pet Sounds, singles like The 5th Dimension’s Aquarius, and the eclectic Top 40 AM radio stations KHJ and KRLA in her native southern California. “I had this best friend, Christina Badala,” Carlisle recalls to Classic Pop from…

Saint Etienne can’t remember exactly when – or indeed why – they decided that their new album would be their last. “We must have felt it was in the air,” says Bob Stanley, who founded the modernist dance-pop stylists with his best friend Pete Wiggs in 1990. “I’ve got a feeling I floated the idea. It just felt natural. It would be nice to say it was always our plan to do 13 albums in 35 years, but it didn’t quite happen like that.” “It just seemed like the right time,” agrees Sarah Cracknell, the face and voice of the band for these past three-and-a-half decades. “I think we felt we’d done everything we wanted to do, and I didn’t want to keep going for the sake of it. Not…

If M’s irresistible, evergreen Pop Muzik seemed to come out of nowhere in 1979, it came from everywhere, too. A witty, breathless fusion of disco, New Wave and synth-pop, its knowing musical and lyrical references also incorporated a quarter century of further subgenres. There were tributes to The Rolling Stones and The Beatles – “I can’t get ‘Jumping Jack’/I want to hold ‘Get Back’” – as well as boogie and doo-wop, and the song even nodded to a nursery rhyme, the enduring This Old Man. “It was ephemeral, very much a reflection on pop culture in general,” M’s mastermind, Robin Scott, tells CP of its emergence in the wake of punk. “The idea was a homage to pop music as I saw it, from ’54, when Elvis leapt onto the…

What is it? It’s a sobering thought that the sounds of Big Beat are now nearly as bygone as Merseybeat was when Fatboy Slim, Propellerheads and Groove Armada burst onto the dance scene in the midto late 90s. If Britpop was guitar music’s contribution to Cool Britannia, Big Beat was its blissed out, drugged up (and it definitely was up) sibling. Yet in the last years of the century, there was more crossover between the Britpop and dance crowds than there had ever been between rave and indie, that musical gap being bridged by collaborations such as Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, Tim Burgess and James Dean Bradfield with The Chemical Brothers, Richard Ashcroft and Thom Yorke with U.N.K.L.E., Liam Gallagher with Death In Vegas. If there’s a genre that managed to…

HEARTACHE AVENUE THE MAISONETTES After the demise of prog-pop band City Boy at the end of the 70s, lead singer Lol Mason took a much more soulful direction with his next project. The Maisonettes, a three-piece also featuring keyboard player Mark Tibenham and drummer Nick Parry, combined an of-its-time electronic sound with a heavy reliance on the rhythms and backing vocal stylings of American singing groups of the 60s, showcased impeccably by one huge single on indie label Ready Steady Go! which hit the Top 10 in 1983.  Essentially a rewrite of Heartbreak Hotel, with a lyric of loneliness following a failed relationship, Heartache Avenue was nonetheless instant, upbeat and immediately singable. Radio playlists found it too irresistible to turn down. Backing singers Sue Smythe, Kim Pickett and Cathy Evans…

“Hello,” says the voice at the other end of the line. “Hi, is that Bryan?” we reply… First stupid question of the day. Of course it’s Bryan Adams, you would recognise that voice anywhere: medium grit suspended in treacle. Distinctive and instantly familiar from childhood, closing out Top Of The Pops for 16 weeks straight in that Summer of ’91. Back to the here and now, for Bryan Adams it’s a rare day off from his latest arena tour. He’s a good sport, with a dry, self-effacing humour, occasionally taking the mickey in a deadpan manner that catches you unawares; sometimes turning the questions back on the interviewer. Last night he played Aberdeen. How was the show? “Pretty good, I think,” he offers. “There really haven’t been any bad shows. It’s…

BELINDA CARLISLE The former punk and frontwoman of new wave icons The Go-Go’s was transformed on Heaven On Earth into a glamorous solo star, whose output helped to define 80s pop-rock. RICK NOWELS The album’s producer, and co-writer of many of the songs, plays a range of instruments on the record. Starting his career with Stevie Nicks, he went on to work with Celine Dion, Madonna, Lana Del Rey and Dido. Nowels co-wrote the New Radicals’ smash, You Get What You Give. JOHN PIERCE Bassist for Huey Lewis And The News since the mid-90s, Pierce often works with Nowels and has performed on records for Kenny Loggins, Bonnie Tyler and Barbra Streisand among others. KENNY ARONOFF A top session drummer who has played with everyone from The Rolling Stones, Sting,…

Six years after first meeting at a Patti Smith gig, Johnny Marr and Morrissey debuted the songwriting partnership that many 80s indie fans consider to be akin to Lennon and McCartney’s. And on a record which practically reinvented the traditional guitar band, too. However, not everyone saw The Smiths’ potential. Manchester’s finest, who, of course, also included bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce, were turned down by both EMI and Factory Records. And Geoff Travis, boss of their home label Rough Trade, only agreed to listen to their demo once Marr pinned him down to a swivel chair. The recording of their self-titled debut wasn’t exactly plain sailing either. Early sessions produced by The Teardrop Explodes’ guitarist Troy Tate were abandoned, with both the quartet and the record company unhappy…

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

MADONNA VERONICA ELECTRONICA WARNER MADONNA’S RAY OF LIGHT ALTER-EGO EMERGES AFTER 27 YEARS – SOUNDING VERY FAMILIAR TO HARDCORE FANS That Veronica Electronica is finally officially released is possibly the most intriguing fact of Madonna’s third remix album. Adopting the alter-ego to get into the headspace to go fully electronic on Ray Of Light – Veronica is her Catholic confirmation name – Madonna had planned for Veronica Electronica to be released at the end of its parent album’s campaign. However, Ray Of Light was so successful, there was no time for a companion club set before the singer returned with Music. Although Madonna has stated she’s working on overhauling the preceding Bedtime Stories, the only previous release since she announced her planned all-eras reissue campaign in 2021 was the Finally…

SCISSOR SISTERS SCISSOR SISTERS REPUBLIC FOLLOWING THEIR RECENT TOUR, THE REASON BRITAIN FELL UNDER THE SCISSORS’ FILTHY GORGEOUS SPELL GETS A BRILLIANT UPDATE. TIME TO TAKE YOUR MAMA OUT AGAIN… Underrated as Jake Shears’ two recent solo albums have been, Scissor Sisters’ debut LP coming of age deserved to be celebrated in style. Disappointing though it was that Ana Matronic wasn’t along for the ride, May’s reunion tour served as fresh notice that Scissor Sisters were the most extravagant pop collective of the Noughties. Their debut was revisited with a vinyl reissue in 2019, but this 3CD set (with some of its extras on an accompanying new 2LP) is the full hoopla Scissor Sisters deserves. The original album remains magnificent. Frothy as hits like Take Your Mama and Laura sounded,…

Born in Enfield, north London and growing up in Alton, Hampshire, Alison Goldfrapp started singing while studying fine art at Middlesex University. After graduating, she lent her vocals to records by Orbital, Dreadzone and Tricky before forming Gold frapp her electro synth-pop outfit with musical partner Will Gregory in 1999. Bookended by 2000’s Felt Mountain and 2017’s Silver Eye, Goldfrapp released seven studio albums, including 2005’s Grammynominated Supernature, which yielded the group’s two UK Top 10 singles, Ooh La La and Number 1. Going on hiatus in 2022, that same year Alison appeared on Röyksopp’s album Profound Mysteries before unveiling her 2023 solo debut LP The Love Invention, which was issued on Skint and featured collaborations with Richard X among others. She follows it next month with Flux, which sees…

Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe have unveiled a pair of collaborative albums at the producer’s London studio. In a launch party Q&A on 4 June hosted by Grayson Haver Currin, Eno and Wolfe discussed the making of the 11-track Luminal, which features Wolfe on vocals, with eight-track companion album Lateral a wholly instrumental ambient affair. Talking at the event, Eno explained how the plan was to deliberately keep the collaboration stripped-back: “[We used] a very spartan line-up of instruments. It was just the two of us with one electric guitar, we added another one right at the end [of the sessions]. The guitar strings have been changed once in 40 years – 10 years ago – so they were relatively fresh [laughs].” A continual touchstone in his career, Eno employed…

Justin Currie considers himself a lucky man. “I’ve been incredibly fortunate not to have a boss for 40 years,” grins the amiable singersongwriter, whose band Del Amitri began life in Glasgow as spiky indie scenesters, before adopting a rootsy American rock sound (with facial hair to match) on evergreen hits like Nothing Ever Happens, Always The Last To Know and US radio smash Roll To Me. But the years since Del Amitri’s 2021 comeback LP, Fatal Mistakes, have not been kind to the frontman, whose diagnosis with Parkinson’s coincided with the death of his mother and a debilitating stroke suffered by his partner of more than 20 years. His book The Tremolo Diaries: Life On The Road And Other Diseases is a series of on-tour dispatches, written during “an arduous…

Belinda Carlisle’s 1987 single Heaven Is A Place On Earth is so thoroughly woven into the fabric of modern life, it’s hard to imagine a time when it didn’t exist. Ubiquitous and comfortingly familiar, it swiftly became a jukebox staple and continues to pop up with regularity. Its parent album, abbreviated to Heaven On Earth, is an equally significant cultural marker that cemented the singer’s place in pop history. Following the huge success and subsequent demise of Los Angeles’ all-female new wavers, The Go-Go’s (who themselves had enjoyed six weeks atop the Billboard Album Chart with Beauty And The Beat), this record affirmed her status as a global solo star. Carlisle’s first solo album, 1986’s eponymous Belinda, showed promise, producing a Top 3 US hit, Mad About You. But, in…

HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH Directed by Hollywood actress Diane Keaton, who had just completed a documentary titled Heaven. We’re treated to countless abstract angles of Carlisle spinning around to master what became her trademark hair flick. Meanwhile, masked figures, holding globes like glowing orbs in various configurations, are contrasted with soft-focus, slo-mo scenes of Belinda canoodling with husband, Morgan Mason. I FEEL FREE Compiled from concert footage, it opens in grainy black and white before switching to full colour as the main hook comes in. Interestingly, the promo utilises the live audio, too, rather than the studio version – a feisty performance, yet missing the sharp, innovative production trickery that elevated an otherwise fairly standard cover. Perhaps that decision is a key factor in the single’s poor showing…

Mark King went to see David Gilmour play at London’s Royal Albert Hall recently. Impressed as he was, it brought home to King the varying degrees of busyness in Gilmour’s music and his own with Level 42. “There’s so much space in David’s music, he can afford to get to two-and-a-half hours in his show without breaking sweat,” King smiles. “I bet we play 70 per cent more notes in an hour-and-a-half than David does in his show. Maybe someone can get a note-ometer out and check that. For physical exertion, playing for 90 minutes is as much as our old bones can take.” This is the kind of easygoing rationale that’s typical of Level 42’s pioneering slap-bassist and singer. He’s serious (at least mostly) about Level 42’s music, and…

The idea that a collection of songs should be listened to collectively rather than individually has certainly divided music lovers and critics over the years, and the concept album is seen by many as an emblem of bombast and pretension – a signifier of excessive hubris and overblown ambition. But it’s a format that has continued to thrive since its commercial pinnacle in the 1970s, one that has afforded many artists and bands to realise their creative aspirations via a unifying theme or narrative. With a rule of one record per act, here are 20 thematic pop albums that transcend both musical genres and eras. 20 BILLY IDOL CYBERPUNK (1993) After seriously injuring his leg in a motorcycle accident, Billy Idol immersed himself in cyberpunk fiction during his rehabilitation and conceived…

1 ONCE UPON A TIME SIMPLE MINDS First released in October 1985, Simple Minds’ Once Upon A Time will be reissued for its 40th anniversary on red vinyl and as a 5CD boxset on 17 October. The limited-edition LP includes Don’t You (Forget About Me) for the first time, while the CD set features the original album and bonus discs boasting additional material. Its content includes the original and extended versions of The Breakfast Club hit single, 12” mixes, B-sides, rarities and the two-disc Live In The City Of Light concert – alongside a 36-page booklet featuring rare photos, a track-by-track guide as well as interviews with Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill. 2 HOME LCD Producer Manchester W. H. Lung the cut from Happening for the track band, his attention…