19 posts
General features
Channelling spirituality and state-of-the-art electronica, Madonna laid herself bare emotionally, eschewed the headline-grabbing antics of her past and pulled off the mother of all comebacks with her mystical masterpiece. Mark…
Interview: Sigue Sigue Sputnik
In 1986, few bands were as controversial and confrontational as Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Now as their debut album Flaunt It gets an expansive 4CD reissue, Steve O’Brien speaks to its…
Forget Me Nots: ABC – How To Be A …Zillionaire!
ABC went through more personnel changes in the early 80s than their new wave counterparts did bottles of hairspray. But the lineup that fronted third album How To Be A…
Band Aid: The Next Generation
Thirty-six years after Do They Know It’s Christmas? first made history, Felix Rowe relives the various incarnations of Band Aid and catches up with some of the artists involved… Band…
Top 20 Posthumous Releases
If you’re a mega-successful musician, being dead isn’t enough to stop you having hits… Death isn’t automatically a barrier to a musician’s career longevity. Tupac has famously released more albums…
Top Twenty Covers Of Classic 80s Songs
Classic Pop serves up a very personal choice of our favourite covers of 80s classics – some faithful, some radical reinventions… It’s a testament to the skyscraping songwriting achievements of the…
The Story Of Mute Records
In the dense jungles of electronic music, plenty of interesting labels have reigned over particular niches at various moments in time: Warp, DFA, Ninja Tune, !K7, Wall Of Sound, XL……
Tim Pope Interview: ‘I used to nick the camera in the evening and go and film bands’
With a landmark live show by The Cure about to hit DVD, we talk to its director, Tim Pope, about his work with the band and a whole host of…
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This Number One Before
The 80s didn’t stop in 1989, oh no. In the world of music, the last three decades have leaned heavily on that classic decade. Jon O’Brien looks at the best…
Thursday Night Fever: Top Of The Pops
Top Of The Pops transformed itself into a non-stop party showcase for the 1980s pop explosion. Those who were there, including Heaven 17’s Martyn Ware and DJ Janice Long, look…