WELCOME

Editor By 1981, punk had gone soft, the

THE CONTRIBUTORS

John Earls aims his keyboard at the legendary

THE STORY OF 1981

1981 UNFOLDED WITH AN  EXPLOSION OF CREATIVITY. SYNTHS  TOOK OVER THE HIT PARADE, THE  NEW ROMANTICS ENJOYED THEIR  LAST HURRAH, FUNK, RAP AND RETRO  OPENED NEW TERRITORY. WAS THIS  THE GREATEST YEAR IN POP?

TURN AGAIN

AFTER THE TRAGIC DEATH OF IAN CURTIS, THE SURVIVING MEMBERS OF JOY DIVISION COULD HAVE FADED INTO OBSCURITY. INSTEAD, 1981 SAW THEM REBORN AS NEW ORDER, MASTERS OF ALTERNATIVE SYNTH-POP.  “WE OWNED THOSE 10 YEARS,” PETER HOOK TELLS CLASSIC POP

LOVER BOYS

ONE OF THE DEFINITIVE NO.1 SINGLES OF 1981, TAINTED LOVE WAS ALSO THE MOST UNLIKELY. HOW DID A NORTHERN SOUL B-SIDE REWORKED BY “TWO BLOODY WEIRD BLOKES FROM UP NORTH”  BECOME A WEDDING DISCO CLASSIC? SOFT CELL’S DAVE BALL EXPLAINS…

POP ART

SO MANY ALBUMS FROM 1981 REMAIN CLASSICS TO THIS DAY, YET THE STORIES BEHIND THE CREATION OF THEIR COVER ART REMAIN LARGELY UNTOLD. LET’S OPEN UP THOSE GATEFOLDS AND SLIDE INSIDE THE SLEEVES OF SOME OF YEARS’ SMARTEST DESIGNS TO EXPLORE THE ART BEHIND THE ARTISTS OF 1981…

THE SOUNDS OF 1981

4O ESSENTIAL  SINGLES

STRANGE BEHAVIOUR

IF MALCOLM MCLAREN WAS THE MAVERICK OF THE 70S, SOME BIZZARE’S STEVO WAS THE PRIME ANARCHIST OF THE 80S. IN THIS ARCHIVE FEATURE, WE SPOKE TO THE ARTISTS HE INTRODUCED –  AND THE GREAT MAN HIMSELF…

SNAP SIZZLE BOOM

FAR FROM JUST A DRUM MACHINE, THE TR-808 WAS ONE OF A KIND, A CULTURAL FORCE OOZING CHARACTER THAT ALTERED THE COURSE OF MUSIC HISTORY.  CLASSIC POP EXAMINES ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PLAYERS IN POP MUSIC – THE ‘STRATOCASTER OF HIP-HOP’ – THAT MADE ITS RECORDED DEBUT IN 1981

EUROPE MAKES ITS MIND UP

4 APRIL 1981

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Q & A GLENN GREGORY

WHEN THE HUMAN LEAGUE MK.1 DISINTEGRATED, SO BEGAN A RACE WITH BIG, BIG POINTS AT STAKE. WHO WOULD CREATE THE BEST ALBUM? GLENN GREGORY SHARES HIS SLANT ON THE INFAMOUS SPLIT…

Q+A JOHN COLLINS

IT TOPPED THE UK CHARTS FOR THREE WEEKS TO A BACKDROP OF RIOTS AND PROTESTS, PERFECTLY CAPTURING THE UNEASE OF THE NATION. 40 YEARS ON, IT REMAINS AS RELEVANT AS EVER. CLASSIC POP MEETS JOHN COLLINS, THE MAN WHO HELPED THE SPECIALS MAKE THEIR NO.1 MASTERPIECE, GHOST TOWN

Q+A GREEN GARTSIDE

AS IF TO UNDERLINE HOW PIVOTAL A YEAR IT REALLY WAS, ONE OF WALES’ FINEST SINGER-SONGWRITERS, SCRITTI POLITTI’S GREEN GARTSIDE, CHOSE 1981 TO MAKE A REMARKABLE CHANGE OF DIRECTION…

NIGHTCLUBBING

GRACE JONES

DURAN DURAN DURAN DURAN

BEFORE THE SILK SUITS, YACHTS AND BLOCKBUSTER VIDEOS SAILED INTO VIEW, DURAN DURAN’S EPONYMOUS DEBUT SAW THEM AT THEIR MOST EXPERIMENTAL – AN INNATE POP SENSIBILITY MELDED WITH ART-SCHOOL SYNTHS, PUNK ANGST AND DANCEFLOOR-FRIENDLY GROOVES…

RAGE IN EDEN

ULTRAVOX

PENTHOUSE AND PAVEMENT

HEAVEN 17

SPEAK & SPELL

DEPECHE MODE

DARE

THE HUMAN LEAGUE

ARCHITECTURE & MORALITY

ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK

TIN DRUM JAPAN

IT WAS AN ALBUM THAT ANNOUNCED BIG CHANGES FROM JAPAN WITH A MORE MATURE, HAUNTING NEW GROOVE BEATING AT ITS HEART. CLASSIC POP DISCOVERS HOW DAVID SYLVIAN AND CO MERGED ORIENTALISM WITH HIGH ART TO FORGE THEIR FINAL AND MOST ESOTERIC COLLECTION

NON-STOP EROTIC CABARET

SOFT CELL

A DIFFERENT LEAGUE

THE GROUP HAD SPLIT IN HALF, WITH THE TWO MUSICIANS BIDDING FAREWELL, LEAVING THE SLIDE PROJECTIONIST AND A SINGER WITH MINIMAL MUSICAL SKILLS –  IT MUST BE SAID, THE REBIRTH OF THE HUMAN LEAGUE LOOKED UNLIKELY. TO ADD TO PHILIP OAKEY AND ADRIAN WRIGHT’S WORRIES, THERE WAS ALSO A TOUR THEY COULDN’T AFFORD TO BACK OUT OF. SO PHILIP WENT DOWN THE DISCO…

COMPUTER WORLD

KRAFTWERK

THE MUSIC REVOLUTION WILL BE

TELEVISED

INSIDE THE COURT OF PRINCE CHARMING

1981 SAW ADAM AND THE ANTS BECOMING THE BIGGEST BAND IN BRITAIN. MERRICK – AKA DRUMMER/PRODUCER CHRIS HUGHES – TELLS CLASSIC POP OF LIFE INSIDE THE ANTS DURING THEIR RAPID RISE AND EQUALLY SUDDEN SPLIT…

HAPPY DAYS

SURELY THE HARDEST WORKING SINGER IN 1981 WAS CLARE GROGAN. JUST AS ALTERED IMAGES WERE RELEASING THEIR DEBUT ALBUM, SHE BECAME A FILM STAR TOO. AGED JUST 19, HOW DID SHE COPE WITH THE WORKLOAD? AS CLARE SAYS, “I WAS SAVED FROM BEING OFF THE RAILS”