MATTHEW RUDD

WELCOME TO CLASSIC POP

TOP OF THE POPS WAS A VITAL PART OF THE UK’S RICH CULTURAL

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

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POP UP

George – where did your songs go?

1 HIT WONDER

No.46

Pop Quiz

1 Fight For Ourselves appears on which Spandau Ballet

GODFATHERS of POP

PER GESSLE

GODFATHERS of POP

JEFFREY DANIEL

IAN PEEL’S A TO Z of POP

DIS FOR … DOCTOR IN’ THE TARDIS

THIS MONTH IN… POP

IN OUR ROUND-UP OF NOVEMBER POP-HISTORY MOMENTS: PRINCE CONQUERS THE WORLD, THE TUBE SHAKES UP TV, WHAM! TOP THE CHARTS AND BOWIE BASKS IN THE MOONLIGHT

POPARAZZI

READERS SHARE THEIR FAVOURITE PHOTOS AS THEY GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH SOME OF THE BIGGEST NAMES IN PLANET POP

CLASSIC POP TOP TEN

FEATURING A BEATLE, A SCOTTISH FOLK DUO, A JAZZ LEGEND, A SOUL SIREN AND A HAIRY HARD ROCK BAND… THIS WEEKLY CHART FROM 1987 COULDN’T BE ANY MORE VARIED IF IT TRIED

SUPER FAN

DEVOTED FANS SHOW US THEIR COLLECTIONS AND POP MEMORABILIA

CLASSIC POP MOMENT

BRITNEY GETS A WALK OF FAME STAR

BRAVE NEW WORLD

WHEN TONY HADLEY LEFT SPANDAU BALLET LAST YEAR, IT COULD HAVE FINISHED THEM. INSTEAD, THEY’VE RECRUITED A YOUNGER SINGER – IN MUSICALS STAR ROSS WILLIAM WILD – AND ARE DETERMINED TO PROVE THE DOUBTERS WRONG. IN THEIR FIRST MAJOR GROUP INTERVIEW SINCE ROSS JOINED, THE BAND EXPLAIN: “WE’D GONE A BIT STAGNANT AND WERE TAKING LIFE FOR GRANTED. NOW WE’VE GOT OUR EXCITEMENT BACK.”

CLASSIC ALBUM

STILL ADORED NEARLY 30 YEARS ON, THE STONE ROSES RESCUED INDIE ROCK FROM SHAMBLING STUDENT BANDS AND FIRED MANCHESTER INTO A BRIGHT NEW MUSICAL FUTURE. CLASSIC POP CHARTS THE MAKING OF A ONE-OFF ALBUM THAT, ACCORDING TO NOEL GALLAGHER, “OPENED THE DOOR FOR BRITISH GUITAR MUSIC IN THE 90S”…

YAZOO Chasing The DRAGONS

“WE WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE A BAND. WE JUST GOT HITS WILLY-NILLY, AND THAT SOMEHOW KEPT US IN THE SAME ROOM.” CLASSIC POP TALKS YAZOO WITH VINCE CLARKE AND ALISON MOYET.

THE HAGUE SUMMIT

HIS PRODUCTIONS ARE SOME OF THE DEFINING MOMENTS FROM THE LAST FOUR DECADES OF POP WHICH LAUNCHED – AND RELAUNCHED – THE CAREERS OF SOME OF OUR MOST TREASURED ARTISTS. FROM WEST END GIRLS TO WORLD IN MOTION, STEPHEN HAGUE TAKES CLASSIC POP THROUGH AN EXTRA ORDINARY CAREER BEHIND THE STUDIO DESK, AND, AS HE LOOKS BACK AT THE SONGS AND ARTISTS HE’S BEEN INVOLVED WITH, NOTES MODESTLY: “I REALISE NOW THAT IT IS QUITE A LIST!”

PLAYING FOR ‘EN-GER-LAND’

STEPHEN RECOUNTS AN EXTRA ORDINARY FEW DAYS WHICH GAVE US THE (OTHER) ULTIMATE FOOTBALL SONG, WORLD IN MOTION…

HAGUE RECOLLECTIONS

SIX MAGNIFICENT STEPHEN HAGUE PRODUCTIONS

STYLE AND SUBSTANCE

THE NEW ORDER COLLECTION

MICHAEL JACKSON

WHEN MICHAEL JACKSON JOINED HIS BROTHERS IN THE JACKSON 5, A STAR WAS BORN. AS A SOLO ARTIST, HE WENT ON TO BECOME ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST RECOGNISABLE STARS AND THE UNDISPUTED KING OF POP, BEFORE CONTROVERSY DERAILED HIS CAREER AND TRAGEDY EVENTUALLY STRUCK.

NILE COUNSEL

Few musicians have successfully navigated popular culture with the skill and bravado of Nile Rodgers. The guitarist’s pioneering band Chic first galloped onto the UK charts in 1977 with Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah) and since then, his output has generated over £600 million in record sales. After graduating from disco, he became the go-to hitmaker for David Bowie, Duran Duran, Madonna, Debbie Harry, Sister Sledge, Grace Jones, Daft Punk… the list goes on and on. Classic Pop caught up with Nile at his new residence – the legendary Abbey Road Studios, where he was recently appointed Chief Creative Advisor. London may have become his spiritual and creative home, but his latest Chic LP, It’s About Time, reveals he’s also on a mission to save the entire planet from self destruction… one club at a time.

Thursday Night fever

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 BACK ON THE SHOW’S GLORY DAYS…

Pick of the Pops

A RUNDOWN OF WEIRD AND WONDERFUL TOTP MOMENTS…

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AlIen ResurrectIon

A NEW DAVID BOWIE BOXSET, LOVING THE ALIEN (1983-1988), DOCUMENTS HIS BIGGEST COMMERCIAL YEARS AND INCLUDES A RE-RECORDED VERSION OF THE NEVER LET ME DOWN LP. CLASSIC POP HEARS FROM BOWIE’S CLOSEST COLLEAGUES ABOUT THE TOURS, REVOLUTIONARY VIDEOS AND ALBUMS OF DAVID’S MOST TURBULENT DECADE.

BOY GEORGE AND CULTURE CLUB

TWO DECADES SINCE THEIR LAST ALBUM, BOY GEORGE LEADS HIS COLOURFUL CLUB BACK INTO THE SPOTLIGHT. THEY’RE IN FIGHTING MOOD…

ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK/ORGANISATION/ ARCHITECTURE & MORALITY/ DAZZLE SHIPS

FUTURISTIC PIONEERS OF ELECTRONICALLY ENGINEERED POP OMD RE-RELEASE THEIR FIRST FOUR ALBUMS FOR THEIR 40TH BIRTHDAY…

BRONSKI BEAT

THIS EXPANDED VERSION OF BRONSKI BEAT’S JIMMY SOMERVILLE-SHOWCASING HIT 1984 ALBUM REVEALS A VITAL AND POLITICISED, YET UPLIFTING, SYNTH-POP TRIUMPH

THE O2, LONDON

FOR THEIR LAST-EVER LIVE SHOW, SOFT CELL SAID HELLO IN STYLE AND WAVED GOODBYE ALMOST THREE HOURS LATER – LEAVING FANS WITH GREAT MEMORIES OF AN UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT

KYLIE MINOGUE

THE ANTIPODEAN POP ICON CELEBRATES HER GOLDEN JUBILEE IN STYLE… AND IN COWBOY BOOTS! HAS KYLIE DISCOVERED HER INNER DOLLY? HAS SHE GONE LOCO FOR LINE DANCING?