Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2025 i Classic Pop

Pet Shop Boys have announced details of the latest instalment in their Disco album series. The first three Disco albums primarily featured remixes of Pet Shop Boys’ songs by other producers and DJs, with Disco released in 1986, followed by Disco 2 in 1994 and Disco 3 in 2003. Then, in 2007, Disco 4 showcased Pet Shop Boys’ remixes of other artists, including Madonna and The Killers. Across its 12 tracks, Disco 5 features 10 recent PSB remixes of songs by artists as varied as Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Primal Scream, Paul Weller, Wolfgang Tillmans, Tina Turner, Claptone, and more, along with a remix of their own Dreamland featuring Olly Alexander. The album also includes the PSB Symphonic mix of I’m In Love With A German Film Star by…

Echo & The Bunnymen will hit the road for a nationwide tour in 2026. The Very Best of Echo & The Bunnymen 1978-2026 – More Songs To Learn And Sing, will celebrate the tracks that have brought the band 20 Top 20 hits and nine Top 20 albums. Opening at Norwich UEA on 4 March, the tour will take in Warrington, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, Brighton and London, followed by a homecoming show at Liverpool’s Empire as well as dates in Cambridge, Bournemouth, Birmingham, Nottingham and Edinburgh, before concluding on 4 April at Newcastle’s O2 City Hall. Fans can expect to hear a career-spanning set including highlights from their classic albums Crocodiles, Heaven Up Here, Porcupine and Ocean Rain. For tickets, visit bunnymen.com.…

A half-speed mastered double-disc coloured vinyl edition of Blur’s The Great Escape is being released to mark the album’s 30th anniversary. Out on 12 December via Parlophone, the reissue of the band’s fourth studio LP features the 15-song standard album along with a collection of rare B-sides and bonus tracks from the era, several of which are previously unreleased on vinyl. The follow-up to their international breakthrough, 1994’s Parklife, The Great Escape debuted at No.1 on the UK Albums Chart and spawned a run of hit singles such as Country House, The Universal, Stereotypes and Charmless Man. Housed in a gatefold sleeve with all-new expanded artwork by artist and designer Tony Hung, the reprint will be pressed on yellow and turquoise vinyl.…

The Alan Parsons Project’s second album, I Robot, is set to be reissued in a variety of formats, including a limited-edition expanded boxset. Originally released in July 1977, the LP draws conceptually on Isaac Asimov’s science-fiction Robot stories, exploring philosophical themes around AI. One of the duo’s three long-players to make the UK Top 30 – alongside 1982’s Eye In The Sky and 1984’s Ammonia Avenue – I Robot also peaked at No.9 in the United States. Its release in the US coincided with the first Star Wars movie which had hit cinemas three months previously. Eric Woolfson said: “We brought out I Robot almost exactly at the same time as Star Wars. Of course, Star Wars featured robots, and the only record sleeves in stores, especially in America, that…

War Child celebrate 30 years of The Help Album with a special anniversary edition. Originally mastered by Brian Eno with artwork by John Squire, the concept of the 15-track charity LP was that all of its songs had to be recorded within a single day. The album featured a roll call of some of the biggest British names in 90s music, including Radiohead, The Stone Roses, Blur, Suede, Manic Street Preachers, Massive Attack and Portishead. It was also notable for a number of collaborations. Johnny Depp joined Oasis for a version of Cigarettes & Alcohol B-side Fade Away, while The Smokin’ Mojo Filters supergroup boasted Paul McCartney, Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher in its ranks for a cover of The Beatles’ Come Together. Elsewhere, highlights included Terry Hall and Salad…

So is Don’t You (Forget About Me) now canonically part of Once Upon A Time? Yes and no. On the ruby red (see what they’ve done there?), single disc 40th anniversary vinyl edition, the track has indeed Side One. But on the 5CD super deluxe boxset, the Breakfast Club classic appears, in standard and extended mix variants, on one of the two ‘B-sides and rarities’ discs (even though it’s clearly neither). With 1987’s classic Live In The City Of Light album filling out the final two discs, the CD set is effectively a repackaged version of the out-of-print 2015 deluxe edition, minus the DVD, D, but with new artwork and a 36-page booklet with rare photos, interviews and track-by-track commentary. “It’s still a great sounding record,” Charlie Burchill says. “To…

When Soft Cell were art students at Leeds Polytechnic, Marc Almond wrote a song in the vein of Ziggy Stardust about a fictional band breaking up. Four years later, when Soft Cell had been informed by their record label Phonogram that they needed to start thinking about a full follow-up to Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, Dave Ball remembered his bandmate’s seemingly prophetic blast of anarchic mayhem. “I remember saying to Marc that we had a track from college that would make a brilliant title for a follow-up album,” smiles Ball, bright and jokey at his South London flat. “I told him The Art Of Falling Apart was one of his best song titles. That song is the genius of Marc. My only genius is for remembering a song title he’d probably…

There are two things everyone knows about Prince. Yes, he was undeniably funky. And – oh yes – the man was a perfectionist. The superstar pulled epic stints in the studio and would summon photographers to his hotel room in the middle of the night so that he could personally approve shots. He was so involved in all aspects of his work that he even dictated Laura LiPuma’s use of fonts on the Purple Rain cover, though he gradually ceded more responsibility to her. Across their five-album collaboration, she says, it “went from Prince being very involved, very controlling… and then, very quickly – because obviously he’s a busy man and a genius – he trusted me enough to let go of quite a few things. By the time we…

Had Andy McCluskey not gone into music, he was set to be a visual artist. “I had a place at Leeds Polytechnic to do fine art specialising in sculpture and installations and conceptual art,” he says. “I took a gap year, and that’s when OMD started.” (Incidentally, had McCluskey gone to Leeds, his coursemates would have been Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside, and Dave Ball and Marc Almond of Soft Cell.) Accordingly, McCluskey is a fan of the 20th century artist Edward Hopper, who was known for evocative paintings. Crush, the first album sleeve that OMD did without graphic designer Peter Saville, is a nod to Hopper’s 1942 oil painting Nighthawks, which depicts a well-lit diner at night from outside on the street. “Hold [Crush] up next to an image of Nighthawks,”…

What is it? Chances are, if you went clubbing in 2001 and weren’t strutting your stuff at the local indie fleapit, that you were sweating it over Peaches’ Fuck The Pain Away or Fischerspooner’s Emerge, for it was those brutal sounds that seemed to saturate the club scene at the dawn of the Noughties. Characterised by crisp drum machine beats, a fat techno throb and inscrutable vocals dripping in irony, it had emerged at the end of the 90s, at once retro and futuristic, the quintessentially postmodern genre for the coming millennium. Who coined the term ‘electroclash’ is a subject of fierce debate – some point to Germany’s DJ Hell, while others credit LA-based club promoter DJ Larry Tee. Certainly, it was Tee who helped popularise this new underground sound,…

Gorillaz will release their ninth studio album, The Mountain, next March through their own label, KONG. Including performances in Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish and Yoruba, the collection features 15 new songs and an extensive list of guest artists and collaborators. These include: Anoushka Shankar, Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, IDLES and Johnny Marr, as well as Paul Simonon, Sparks and Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), alongside the voices of Bobby Womack, De La Soul’s Dave Jolicoeur, Dennis Hopper and Mark E. Smith. The Mountain is a truly global affair – in addition to UK-based recordings at Studio 13 in London and Devon, further sessions took place in India, Turkmenistan, Syria and the US. Released on 20 March, The Mountain will be available as a digital download, CD, deluxe 2CD,…

Released on 7 August 1995, It’s Great When You’re Straight… Yeah was, in Shaun Ryder’s words, his great “fuck you” album after the dissolution of Happy Mondays. Still battling drug problems, and with Madchester now in the past, not much was expected of Ryder’s next project, that is if he was even compos mentis enough to get one together. But teaming up with former Ruthless Rap Assassin member Paul “Kermit” Leveridge and old buddy Bez would prove a masterstroke and their first LP together as Black Grape would become the singer’s first No.1 record, while also producing hit singles in Reverend Black Grape, In The Name Of The Father and Kelly’s Heroes. To mark this album’s Pearl Anniversary, he and Kermit are going back on the road this November and…

It’s easy to forget just how big the Fine Young Cannibals were, peaking with two US No.1 singles and a No.1 album with The Raw & The Cooked in 1989. Good things appeared to lay in store for the Birmingham trio who’d formed out of the ashes of ska legends The Beat in 1984, but a combination of bad management and a breakdown of relationships during the recording of an ill-fated third album in New York, meant the group went out with a whimper rather than a bang. While old clichés about unfinished business don’t seem to apply in the case of the trio, mainman Roland Gift has taken matters into his own hands. The singer is marking the four decades since debut single Johnny Come Home peaked at No.8…

Everything But The Girl release a Best Of collection on 14 November via Buzzin’ Fly/Chrysalis. From 1982’s cult classic Night And Day to the contemporary electronica of 2023’s Fuse, the set spans more than 40 years of Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt’s career. “We always liked albums that had a fast side and a slow side,” explains Tracey of the compilation’s running order, “so we thought we’d start with the bangers and wind down with the ballads.” Opening with Todd Terry’s chart-topping remix of Missing, the 16-track collection also features Walking Wounded, Single, Driving, Before Today, and Tracey In My Room – Watt’s dancefloor mash-up of EBTG’s Wrong and Soul Vision’s Come Into My Room. “It also makes the album run backwards in time,” says Ben. “At the end, we…

Kraftwerk have announced a 15-date UK and Ireland tour for 2026 that includes shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The shows are a continuation of the group’s Multimedia Tour of North America which began in March. Kicking off next Spring at Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on 17 May, the quartet will then perform dates in Belfast, Wolverhampton, Manchester, Glasgow and Stockton. Additional shows include Sheffield’s City Hall, Brighton Centre, Bristol Beacon and the International Centre in Bournemouth. The electronic legends then play the Royal Albert Hall on 4-5 June before the tour wraps up with dates at Liverpool’s Empire Theatre, Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall and the Edinburgh Playhouse. Tickets go on sale from 10 October at gigsandtours.com, ticketmaster.co.uk and the group’s official website. Kraftwerk’s current line-up features founder member Ralf Hütter…

A few years ago, Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr were interviewed for a BBC documentary about music’s messiest break-ups. Which may seem like an odd booking, given the pair’s famously adamantine bond. But amidst torrid war stories from the likes of Fleetwood Mac, The Smiths and Oasis, the twin heartbeats of Simple Minds were there to represent the platonic ideal of a creative partnership – one that has now spanned almost half a century. “We were the token band that hadn’t split up,” smiles Burchill. “Which we appreciate is unusual. I put it down to the fact that Jim and I are complete opposites – we are different in so many ways, and yet on the fundamental things, we’re on the same wavelength.” “It is a bit weird,” agrees Kerr.…

The Art Of Falling Apart was made after both Marc Almond and Dave Ball began solo careers, Ball with his album In Strict Tempo and producing The Virgin Prunes, while Almond released two LPs with Marc And The Mambas. Almond reflects: “The outside projects helped our confidence as musicians, and certainly broadened our musical horizons. I think Soft Cell became too small a vehicle for all the ideas we were both having.” Of the second Mambas album, Torment And Toreros, Almond theorises: “I always thought it was a breakdown set to music. Although it’s completely different in musical style, it fits quite well with The Art Of Falling Apart.” Ball is more light-hearted about his own solo music, saying: “In Strict Tempo was just me faffing around. I just wanted…

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In April 1985, when Prince released his seventh album, Around The World In A Day, his star was already riding high. The rock-oriented Purple Rain – for many still his crowning artistic achievement – had been out for 10 months and was still very much in the zeitgeist (thanks, in part, to the blockbuster movie of the same name for which it provided the stellar soundtrack). Certainly, that record remains Prince’s most commercially successful and one of the highest-selling albums of all time. Most artists would bask in the glory of their magnum opus and newfound superstardom – but Prince, of course, was not most artists. Instead, that February, he had made the shocking announcement that he would scrap the mooted European leg of his mammoth Purple Rain Tour to…

As fanfares go, few match the NME’s for It Bites’ Calling All The Heroes, released in the summer of 1986. “I knew it would be a hit,” Len Brown trumpeted, summarising the song’s appeal. “The perfect ingredients, the right stuff. Metallic slabs of history reprocessed into one heroic self-made man-eating bite-sized chunk… It’s typical of It Bites’ recipe – classical piano fillers, mock gunfire, snapping drums, Wembley roars, effect pauses, and jet-propelled guitar solos.” Sounds pretty good, you’d think. Indeed, with its arena-sized melody, glistening keyboards, muscular production and compound duple time signature – one for the musos, whom It Bites definitely attracted – the band’s second single reached No.6 in the UK chart. But there was, in the tradition of the era’s ‘build ’em up, knock ’em down’ music…

REAL TREAT WHEN IT ARRIVES – I READ IT COVER TO COVER!”CLASSIC POP SUBSCRIBER Subscribe in just a few clicks at CLASSICPOPMAG.COM/OCT25 or scan the QR code opposite LIMITED TIME OFFER Get your first 6 months of Classic Pop for a fraction of the price when you join us today WHY SUBSCRIBE TO CLASSIC POP? + Your first 6 issues for only £6 – just £1 each! + The magazine delivered straight to your door every single month + Unlimited access to our digital archive of past issues + Exclusive subscriber covers to add to your collection + Discounts on anything in the Classic Pop online shop + Simple and risk-free – cancel anytime Scan this QR code to find out more Terms and conditions 6 for £6 offer is only…

BOBBY THURSTON While received wisdom – and North American narrative – dictates that disco died with the infamous backlash of 1979, plenty of irresistible dancefloor singles still hit big as a new decade began, and Washington singer Bobby Thurston had one of the first. Survivors such as Kool & The Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire and Donna Summer still found their way into the higher reaches of the chart at the beginning of the 80s, despite rockist DJs in the States and a handful of New Wave pioneers appealing to the world to cancel it, claiming it was insipid, repetitive and had no agenda. Initially an epic eight-minute album track, Check Out The Groove was cut in half for release and blessed for his straightforwardness – a relentless funk rhythm;…

TENPOLE TUDOR With plans to become the new frontman of the Sex Pistols shelved, Ed Tudor Pole returned to his youthful comic punk band and finally, four years after they formed, a chaotically brilliant first album was released. Tudor Pole’s turn in The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle in 1980 clearly aided his profile, even if the intention to replace Johnny Rotten long-term didn’t come through. With Eddie, Old Bob, Dick And Gary, he cemented his unfettered New Wave credentials with an additional dollop of humour. The big hit, Swords Of A Thousand Men, dippy lyrics and shoulder-high chorus, gallops along at the pace of the hooves heard at the beginning. Follow-up single Wünderbar takes more care to build up to another bonkers hook, and the unabated laddishness continues on…

The onset of 1985 found Eurythmics in a commercial sweet spot as they rode a wave of successive hits on the global stage. It was barely two-and-a-bit years since Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) in January 1983 had put Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart on the map. In this brief timespan, the duo had morphed from synth-pop antiheroes – very much encompassing the outsider mentality – to now fully embracing their newly-achieved diva and rock star personalities. Of course, that underdog dynamic becomes increasingly untenable the more successful an act gets; something they were no doubt aware of themselves. It was adapt or die, and so their upward career trajectory was propelled forward by a necessary progression in sound and style. DYNAMIC DUO The first half of the 80s…

Next year will see Soft Cell’s sixth full album, after 2022’s *Happiness Not Included returned the pair to the UK’s Top 10 – 39 years after The Art Of Falling Apart reached No.5. The album will be called Danceteria, after the New York nightclub Soft Call frequented while making their first two records. “Marc and I were drawn to the same dark places,” says Ball. “We were lucky to go to New York in the early 80s, when clubs like Danceteria were still around.” The new record isn’t a replica of the sound of Danceteria’s playlists, however, as Ball explains: “New York and the madness that went through it was an influence on our lives in the early 80s, but the new album is very modern sounding.” Ball is in…

Send your Poparazzi pics now to steve.harnell@anthem.co.uk TONY McCARROLL WITH JOHN McFADDEN “I’m pictured here with Oasis’ founding drummer for an event at Kinnitty Parish Hall, County Offaly, where he was celebrated with a blue plaque. This was the location where his first-rehearsed pre-Oasis musical journey began. Pictured left is John Clendennen TD, a Deputy to the Dáil in the Irish Government. John co-organised the event with me, securing funding for the plaque. We’ve both known Tony all our lives.” JUDIE TZUKE WITH PERRY TWELVETREES ”I met Judie after her concert at Selby Town Hall on 19 October 2024. I have to confess to being a fan since her first album came out in 1979, the brilliant Welcome To The Cruise, so you’ll have to forgive me if I sound a little…

FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD WELCOME TO THE PLEASUREDOME UMR IMPORTANT ALBUM GETS IMPORTANT BOXSET: FINALLY, THE DEFINITIVE WORD ON THE DEFINITIVE ALBUM OF THE 80s HAS ARRIVED, SHOWING WHO WAS BEHIND THE ORIGINAL IDEAS Of course Trevor Horn is a genius. But part of Horn’s talent is in seeing ideas through to their maximum potential. And this gigantic boxset of possibly the ultimate 80s album reveals how the initial idea of Frankie Goes To Hollywood was absolutely not Trevor Horn’s. The key disc in this 7CD+ Blu-Ray set (Steven Wilson’s new mix of the album is also on 2LP) is the early years CD1, because ZTT latched on to Relax, Two Tribes and The Power Of Love when they were already sounding fantastic. Holly Johnson sings like a dream: powerful,…

MOSELEY FOLK & ARTS FESTIVAL MOSELEY PARK, MOSELEY, BIRMINGHAM 29-31 AUGUST CLASSIC POP RETURNS TO BIRMINGHAM’S ECLECTIC ANNUAL ‘FOLK’ FESTIVAL TO CATCH A SERIES OF TOP-DRAW ACTS FROM THE 80S, 90S AND NOUGHTIES Day one at Birmingham’s boutique folk festival, and it remains clear it’s very much a ‘folk plus…’ event with the Haim-like charms of The Deep Blue and an early appearance from 90s hitmakers The Lightning Seeds. In an hour set, Ian Broudie wastes no time piling up the classics, beginning with Marvellous and Change before rolling into Ready Or Not and the Terry Hall co-write, Sense. Very much a musician with one ear in the 60s, The Byrds’ You Showed Me (later a hit for The Turtles) is a perfect cover. Combining an infectious shuffle beat with…