Fittingly for one of 2023’s hottest releases, the bulk of Kylie Minogue’s Tension was recorded during a thermometer-melting, record-breaking summer. We meet two of the LP’s key collaborators, Richard ‘Biff’…
Album Insight: Depeche Mode – Some Great Reward
Depeche Mode’s non-conformist fourth album, Some Great Reward, joined the rich lineage of German-recorded pop classics – and finally broke the band in the States… Many artists have found their…
Classic Album: Madonna – True Blue
Just when you thought Madonna couldn’t get any more successful, her third album True Blue turned her into a global phenomenon, and gave us some of the most most iconic…
Midge Ure on The Gift
With his debut solo album The Gift recently reissued as a lavish boxset, Midge Ure recalls his annus mirabilis – when not even Joe Dolce could stop him hitting the…
Soft Cell interview: “Being a pop star was a weird secret I had to keep to myself”
Re-examining work from both ends of their career, Soft Cell have just released two companions to 2022’s comeback album *Happiness Not Included as well as a mammoth boxset of their…
Madonna: The Blond Ambition Tour – the greatest show on Earth
Hitting the road to promote her confessional opus Like A Prayer, Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour was a non-stop erotic cabaret blending sex, religion and spectacle. Taking elements of Broadway, high…
Popscene – Smooth Soul
Into the eye of the quiet storm with the finest artists the genre had to offer… What is it? Soul is a genre with many tentacles, from the salty R&B…
My Pop Life – Gary Davies
The Radio 2 DJ and former Top Of The Pops presenter on his musical passions… Who were your musical heroes while growing up? Early days, I guess it would have…
Top 40 New Order songs – ranked!
For over four decades, New Order have given us some of the most thrilling and genre-busting tracks ever recorded. Here’s our rundown of their very best… Over 40-plus years now,…
Andrew Ridgeley interview: “Wham! was our friendship set to music”
For the first time since George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley professionally parted company in 1986, a major Wham! reissue is happening, with a singles compilation and 7” boxset. As their…