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John Earls
Writing for Classic Pop since our first issue, John has been to Adam Ant’s house, sworn at by Bob Geldof, touched Johnny Marr’s favourite guitar, interviewed Richard Coles on his vicarage bed and serenaded with Last Christmas by Shirlie Kemp. John first specialised in writing about music as editor of Teletext’s Planet Sound music column from 2000-09 and now writes about pop for a range of magazines and national newspapers. A Luton Town fan, John also writes about football. His bucket list interviews for the magazine are Grace Jones, Kylie, Siouxsie Sioux and Andrew Ridgeley.
Classically trained musician Karl Bartos was a member of Kraftwerk on a staggering run of albums from Radio-Activity to Electric Café. Having previously stayed silent about his former band, his…
Johnny Marr: Call The Comet interview
In 2019, Johnny Marr talked to Classic Pop about his then-latest album Call The Comet… A warehouse on an industrial estate just outside of Manchester isn’t the most obvious location…
The B-52s interview: “We were this unique band, and we had no idea it was going to do what it did”
The B-52s announced in April 2022 that they would embark on a ‘farewell’ tour, contracting their claims in 2019 that THAT tour would be their final goodbye. That year, we…
Midge Ure interview: This means everything to me
In 2018, as Midge Ure hit 65, we talked to the sometime Ultravox frontman… Asked which song casts a shadow over Midge Ure’s life, most people would probably guess at…
The Specials Encore interview: “Being at No.1? That’s bonkers!”
In 2019 we spoke to The Specials as they released their stunning comeback album, Encore. “We could have been as mega as U2,” they tell Classic Pop. “What a crazy…
Squeeze – the stories behind the songs
In 2019, we spoke to Squeeze songwriters Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook as they revealed the stories behind some of the band’s mightiest songs… “Glenn and I have a complicated…
Teenage Kicks: Dave Stewart interview
One of the music world’s great adventurers, even by Dave Stewart’s standards his new project Ebony McQueen is ambitious: a movie with an accompanying triple-album boxset. It also allows him…
xPropaganda interview: “Music should be a playground”
Alongside Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Welcome To The Pleasuredome, Propaganda’s A Secret Wish defined the grandeur of ZTT. Their debut album stood alone as a beacon of extravagant synth-pop… until…
Adamski interview: “I licked Boy George’s moped as we went scrambling in the rain”
Adamski was the child punk prodigy who became one of rave’s first superstars, with his mega-hit Killer. In 2020 he told Classic Pop of tabloid infamy, offending Seal, LSD-fuelled biking…
The Associates – Sulk + Billy Mackenzie – Life: Recordings (1995-96) review
Revisiting the golden moment when Billy Mackenzie somehow became commercial, and the troubled music of his final years The correct example for the most unlikely band ever to go mainstream,…