THE PRETENDERS

WELCOME

So… it’s been a while. Thanks for bearing with us while

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OUR CONTRIBUTORS

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POP-UP

Robbie Williams performed with Take That for the first

1-HIT WONDER

Japanese Boy was a hit pretty much everywhere except

Q+A DEON ESTUS

BASSIST DEON ESTUS HAS PERFORMED WITH SOME OF THE BIGGEST NAMES IN POP, BUT HE’LL ALWAYS BE BEST KNOWN FOR HIS DECADELONG COLLABORATIONS WITH WHAM! AND GEORGE MICHAEL

LOST & FOUND

Siouxsie and the Banshees were post-punk’s greatest

Q+A BILLY BURNETTE

THE FORMER FLEETWOOD MAC MAN AND SON OF ROCK’N’ROLL ROYALTY TALKS TO CLASSIC POP ABOUT HIS TIME WITH ONE OF THE BIGGEST BANDS ON THE PLANET

THE POD SQUAD

CHECKING IN WITH OUR FAVOURITE CLASSIC POP-FRIENDLY PODCASTS

IAN PEEL‘S A TO Z POP OF BIS FOR…BOXSET

THEY ALWAYS WERE THE PINNACLE OF POP MUSIC PRODUCT AND, IN RECENT YEARS, THEY’VE GONE FROM DELUXE TO SUPER-DELUXE TO ULTRA-DELUXE. LET’S SPEND SOME QUALITY TIME WITH A BOXSET…

THIS MONTH IN POP JULY 1986

IN OUR ROUND-UP OF JULY 1986’S BIGGEST MOMENTS IN MUSIC, PRINCE MAKES A CHERRY-FLAVOURED TURKEY, MADONNA REIGNS SUPREME IN THE CHARTS AND THE POLICE CAN’T GET OUT OF THE STARTING BLOCKS

TOP TEN WEEK ENDING 2 JULY 1989

PET SHOP BOYS GET POLITICAL, QUEEN SOUND LIKE A RUNAWAY TRAIN AND GLADYS KNIGHT MAKES HER ENTRY INTO THE BOND FRANCHISE

SLEDGEHAMMER STRIKES IN THE UNITED STATES

26 JULY 1986

BROTHERS OF INVENTION

2020 IS SET TO BE SPARKS’ BIGGEST YEAR EVER. ACCOMPANYING THEIR DEBUT AS WRITERS FOR HOLLYWOOD ON A MUSICAL STARRING ADAM DRIVER AND A DOCUMENTARY MADE BY DIRECTOR EDGAR WRIGHT, THE DUO’S 24TH ALBUM A STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP IS THE WORK OF SYNTH-POP PIONEERS WHO’VE STAYED HUNGRY. THEY CONTINUE TO DEFY EXPECTATIONS – BUT WILL THE BROTHERS LET CLASSIC POP BEHIND THEIR ENIGMATIC FAÇADE?

Q+A THE WRIGHT IDEA

HE’S HELMED VIDEOS FOR THE BLUETONES AND MINT ROYALE, NOW EDGAR WRIGHT IS RETURNING TO THE MUSIC WORLD WITH SPARKS’ DOCUMENTARY. THE ACCLAIMED FILM DIRECTOR TELLS CLASSIC POP HOW HE FELL FOR THE DUO AND WHY HE’S BEEN BEMUSING AND ANNOYING HIS HEROES.

CLASSIC ALBUM OUT OF TIME R.E.M

FORTY YEARS AFTER THEY PLAYED THEIR FIRST GIG, WE CELEBRATE THE ALBUM THAT TRANSFORMED R.E.M. FROM ARGUABLY THE WORLD’S BIGGEST CULT BAND INTO BONA FIDE CROSSOVER SUPERSTARS

Howling into the void

In 1980, John Foxx predicted a terrifying dystopian future with his incredible synthetic masterpiece Metamatic. The future he predicted is now here, and it’s worse – far worse – than he imagined, and he’s angry about it. Luckily, though, he’s turned that rage into the aptly-named new studio album Howl, his most powerful and personal work to date…

WHERE ANGELS PLAY

THE STONE ROSES SEEMED ON THE VERGE OF GLOBAL DOMINATION 30 YEARS AGO WHEN THEY STAGED THEIR NOW-LEGENDARY SPIKE ISLAND GIG. BUT WHAT’S THE TRUTH BEHIND THIS MOST MYTHICAL OF ALL-DAYERS? STEVE O’BRIEN MEETS SOME FAMOUS FANS WHO MADE IT TO THIS MOST TOTEMIC OF EVENTS FOR ‘THE E GENERATION’.

ALBUM BY ALBUM NICK HEYWARD

THE MUCH- LOVED S INGER- SONGWRI T ER HAS EMBRACED POP, SOUL , FUNK AND FOL K ACROSS A D IVERSE HOOK- LADEN L I FE IN MUSIC

LIGHT FROM THE DARK

NEIL ARTHURIS NOT ONLY RELEASING MORE MUSIC THAN EVER BEFORE AS BLANCMANGE, HE ALSO HAS A STRING OF OTHER PROJECTS ON THE GO WITH A WHOLE HOST OF DIFFERENT COLLABORATORS. ANDY JONESCATCHES UP WITH A MAN WHO IS MORE ENERGETIC THAN EVER, WITH WORLD EVENTS DRIVING HIM EVEN HARDER. BUT IS IT ALL IN THE MIND?

We Are The World – The Album

WE ARE THE WORLD HIT NO.1 ACROSS THE GLOBE, SOLD 10 MILLION COPIES AND PICKED UP FOUR GRAMMY AWARDS. YET THE ALBUM OF THE SAME NAME APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN ERASED FROM EXISTENCE. 35 YEARS ON FROM ITS RELEASE, JON O’BRIEN TAKES A LOOK BACK AT THE MOST FORGOTTEN U.S. CHARTTOPPING LP OF THE 80s.

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. HE ENDED UP HATING HIS MEGAHIT KILLER – BUT NOW HE’S FALLEN SO HARD FOR IT AGAIN THAT HE’S CREATED AN ALBUM OF NEW VERSIONS. HE TELLS CLASSIC POP OF TABLOID INFAMY, OFFENDING SEAL, LSD-FUELLED BIKING WITH CULTURE CLUB’S FRONTMAN AND DAVID CAMERON’S UNLIKELY CAMEO IN CREATING A SMASH…

SAL SOLO

THE FORMER SINGER FOR CLASSIX NOUVEAUX TALKS TO CLASSIC POP ABOUT HIS MEMORIES OF BEING A PIONEER IN THE NEW ROMANTIC MOVEMENT…

TOP 2O REUNION ALBUMS

REKINDLING THE CREATIVE CHEMISTRY OF OLD ISN’T EASY, BUT HERE ARE 20 EXAMPLES OF WHEN IT DID WORK. DO CALL IT A COMEBACK…

THE ACE FACE

AT THEIR 1990s PEAK, SWEDEN’S ACE OF BASE ARE REPUTED TO HAVE RAKED MORE MONEY INTO THEIR HOMELAND THAN VOLVO. AS A LAVISH NEW BOXSET CELEBRATES THEIR LEGACY, SINGER JENNY BERGGREN LOOKS BACK ON HER TIME IN THE BAND.

Q+A ROGER O’DONNELL

THE CURE KEYBOARDIST’S SOLO ALBUM 2 RAVENS IS A DARKLY MESMERISING WORK. HE TALKS US THROUGH ITS CREATION AND TELLS US ABOUT AN EPIC 12 MONTHS FOR ROBERT SMITH AND CO…

THE HOT LIST

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT AT CLASSIC POP TOWERS THIS MONTH

THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS

MADE OF RAIN

PAUL WELLER

ON SUNSET

BLANCMANGE

MINDSET / WAITING ROOM (VOLUME 1)

SPARKS

A STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP

LIAM GALLAGHER

MTV UNPLUGGED

THE STREETS

NO-ONE IS GETTING OUT OF THIS LIFE ALIVE

NORAH JONES

PICK ME UP OFF THE FLOOR

LIANNE LA HAVAS

LIANNE LA HAVAS

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

UNFOLLOW THE RULES

PETER GABRIEL

RATED PG

ELLIE GOULDING

BRIGHTEST BLUE

JOHN FOXX AND THE MATHS

HOWL

SNOWGOOSE

THE MAKING OF YOU

THOMAS AZIER

LOVE, DISORDERLY

THE LEVELLERS

PEACE

DIANA ROSS

SUPERTONIC

EGO ELLA MAY

HONEY FOR WOUNDS

JIM BOB

POP UP JIM BOB

SHAGGY

HOT SHOT 2020

GIZMO VARILLAS

OUT OF THE DARKNESS

JON HASSELL

SEEING THROUGH SOUND (PENTIMENTO VOLUME TWO)

DEPECHE MODE

VIOLATOR: THE 12” SINGLES

PET SHOP BOYS

IT COULDN’T HAPPEN HERE

GOLDFRAPP

SUPERNATURE

WHITNEY HOUSTON

WHITNEY HOUSTON

JIMMY SOMERVILLE

SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER

VARIOUS ARTISTS

ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS: THE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK

THE BELOVED

HAPPINESS: SPECIAL EDITION

DEAD OR ALIVE

NUKLEOPATRA

SLEEPER

SMART

BRITNEY SPEARS

OOPS!…I DID IT AGAIN

NICK KAMEN

THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

THE BLUE NILE

HIGH

VARIOUS ARTISTS

MUSIK, MUSIC, MUSIQUE – 1980: THE DAWN OF SYNTH POP

MINTY

OPEN WIDE

ADEVA

ADEVA!

BARRY PAGE

A-HA: DOWN TO THE TRACKS

DAVE BALL

ELECTRONIC BOY: MY LIFE IN AND OUT OF SOFT CELL

MICK ROCK

THE RISE OF DAVID BOWIE 1972-1973

RICHARD BOWES

SOME MIGHT SAY: THE DEFINITIVE STORY OF OASIS