Thomas Leer – No 1
Two years prior to "Snobbery & Decay", Thomas Leer was out-blowing the Blow Monkeys with the string and saxophone drenched "No 1".
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Don’t Come Around Here No More
Pop stars: leading more interesting lives than you and I since, well, forever.
Vince Clarke & Paul Quinn – One Day
It appears some artists just aren’t suited to life in the spotlight. The initial rush of success, and the recognition which follows, can rapidly subside. In my youth, this often […]
The Associates – Breakfast
In Forest of the Dead, one of Steven Moffat‘s finest episodes of Doctor Who, there is a line that made me shiver when I heard it: “I have the two […]
Propaganda – p: Machinery
If you happened to be born in the early 1970s then you probably had the curious pleasure of hitting puberty just when it seemed most likely that you would be […]
Bucks Fizz – You and Your Heart So Blue
Sometimes a pop singer or a group comes along and speaks directly to your soul, and there isn’t a thing you can do about it. When I was eight the group that spoke to me, […]
Pointer Sisters – Back In My Arms
If there's such a thing as a school for girl groups, here are your headmistresses.
Modern Talking – You Can Win If You Want
Guest contributor: Pete Paphides On Saturday afternoons, when we couldn’t be bothered to go all the way into Birmingham city centre, my best friend Richard and I would take […]
Strawberry Switchblade – Let Her Go
We shall not see their like again.
Whitney Houston – You Give Good Love
Probably the two most common words in modern music are “yeah” and “baby,” and strangely these tiny four letter words can often be the thing that elevates a song to greatness. […]
Aretha Franklin – Another Night
1985 saw the legendary Aretha Franklin well into the third distinct phase of her career. Starting out in 1961 as a gospel artist on Columbia Records, her move to Atlantic in 1967 saw […]
a-ha – Living a Boy’s Adventure Tale
Choosing singles can be a hard job – get it right and you have massive hits on your hands, a successful album and if you’re lucky, a range of dolls […]
Scritti Politti – Perfect Way
One of the most interesting developments in pop music in the digital age has been the homogenization of the world pop charts. Because everything now is instantly downloadable or accessible […]
‘Til Tuesday – Voices Carry
It’s to our great shame as a nation that ‘Til Tuesday never made it big in the UK. They had the haircuts – presumably bought at a car boot sale held […]
