Better the Santa you know

WELCOME TO CLASSIC POP

IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR. WONDERFULLY

Bowie’s birthday star

Three years after his shock return with Where Are We

No.20 IS IT A DREAM CLASSIX NOUVEAUX

Guitarist Jak Airport and drummer BP Hurding left cult

Return of the King

Dandy highwayman Adam Ant will tour his 1980 classic

WELL LUSH

Lush – with Elastica’s Justin Welch on drums – will

Let’s Rock again

Festival stalwarts Let’s Rock have secured a cavalcade

Spandau hire a Durannie

Spandau Ballet turned to a former member of their great

Girls just wanna have spurs

Cyndi Lauper will release her first country album next

48 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE

Pontins is set to curate two Eighties weekenders in

KERSHAW UNITES STARS FOR CHARITY

Having a loved one battle cancer inspired Nik Kershaw

POP QUIZ

1 Who wrote hits for pop trio Bananarama before moving

BURIED TREASURES

Rooting around those boxes of junk in your loft may

A question of Depeche for Chvrches

Scots trio Chvrches’ love of vintage synthesisers comes

Gahan’s personal Gore

Dave Gahan’s new album with the Soulsavers has allowed

TURN IT INTO CLASSICAL

Pete Waterman is preparing to transform PWL classics

Man in the TV

The story of Michael Jackson’s final days is being

HEAVEN IS A PLACE NEXT DOOR

Following three decades of marital bliss, Belinda Carlisle

Cool for footie

You’ve got the records – now get ready to cheer on

No.20 DRIVIN’ HARD SHAKATAK

Red skies, a neon-lit underpass and a subtle suggestion

I WOULD PLAY 4 U

Prince serenaded Madonna at an intimate gig at his

Eighties heroes soar for Eddie

We can get ready for an Eighties supergroup thanks

WOLFGANG FLÜR

As he gears up to release Eloquence: Complete Works

Video Tech

THREE VASTLY DIFFERENT TAKES ON DAVID BOWIE’S FINEST MOMENTS…

THEY’VE STILL GOT A FUZZBOX

The sun must be casting a pink hue on Planet Pop, because

George offers industry karma

Boy George is ready to take on Simon Cowell by launching

NEW MUSIC FROM THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN

Touring for the first time in almost two decades has

DANIEL MILLER

Nearly 40 years on, and Mute Records is still a reliable

TRANSMISSION

A-HA’S MEMORIAL BEACH BEING REVIEWED – QUITE CONTENTIOUSLY – AS “ONLY FOR THE BRAVE,” ADAM ANT’S MOMENTARY MEMORY LOSS, REKINDLED MEMORIES OF KING IN COVENTRY, AND OUR IT’S IMMATERIAL MEMOIR…

REISSUES AND BEYOND

JOIN US AS WE DIVE HEAD-FIRST INTO THE VINYL OCEAN. THIS MONTH’S PLETHORA OF POLYMORPHOUS DELIGHTS INCLUDES ART-POP ODDITIES, RETRO-R&B CASUALTIES, SEVENTIES PROG-POMP, A LITTLE ICY MODERNISM AND SOME TAR-BLACK MISERABLISM…

CAROL DECKER

T’PAU KICKED OFF 2015 WITH PLEASURE AND PAIN, THEIR FIRST STUDIO ALBUM IN 17 YEARS, WHILE THIS MONTH THEIR UK NO. 1 DEBUT LP BRIDGE OF SPIES GETS THE DELUXE REISSUE TREATMENT. WE ASKED CAROL DECKER TO SCRUTINISE THE LATEST SINGLES WHILE ON THE TOUR BUS…

DAVID BOWIE BLACKSTAR

SET FOR RELEASE ON HIS 69TH BIRTHDAY IN JANUARY 2016, BOWIE’S 25TH STUDIO ALBUM BLACKSTAR IS A GENRE-HOPPING RETURN TO HIS EXPERIMENTAL PRIME. READ ON…

DAVE GAHAN & SOULSAVERS ANGELS AND GHOSTS

DEPECHE MODE’S VENERABLE SINGER AND STOKE’S BEST-CONNECTED PRODUCTION TEAM REUNITE FOR A SECOND ALBUM OF HEAVY SOUL-SEARCHING. THEY WON’T LET YOU DOWN

TOP 100 ALBUMS OF THE EIGHTIES

A QUARTER OF A CENTURY ON, HAVING LISTENED, RELISTENED AND LOVED – AND ALL WITH THE BENEFIT OF 20/20 HINDSIGHT – WE CAN DEFINE THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE NINETEEN EIGHTIES. WE DIDN’T DEVISE THIS CHART: OUR READERS DID… CLASSIC POP READERS WHO, FOR THE LAST FOUR MONTHS, HAVE BEEN SENDING IN VOTES AND CHARTS IN THEIR THOUSANDS. THANKS EVERYONE – AND NOW, LET’S GO STRAIGHT TO THE COUNTDOWN…

Christmas, Without the Turkeys

FEAR NOT, FOR THE NEXT SIX PAGES ARE A GUARANTEED SLADE- AND WIZARD-FREE ZONE! CLASSIC POP HAS A FESTIVE SHERRY WITH STEPHEN DUFFY, KIM WILDE AND HENRY PRIESTMAN, AND TRACES A PATH THROUGH FIVE DECADES OF GREAT – OFTEN FORGOTTEN – CHRISTMAS POP…

THE LOW DOWN

BEHIND THE THREATENING MOUSTACHE AND THE FAUX-OPERATIC WORDPLAY, SPARKS WERE – AND, THANK HEAVENS, STILL ARE – GLEEFUL, MISCHIEVOUS AND ENDLESSLY IMAGINATIVE INVERTERS OF THE ACCEPTED POP TEMPLATE…

POP ART

IN 1980, FRESH FROM LEAVING ULTRAVOX, JOHN FOXX BECKONED IN THE NEW DECADE WITH A GROUNDBREAKING DEBUT ALBUM, METAMATIC. DRAWING UPON HIS ART SCHOOL BACKGROUND AND DELVING INTO PHOTOGRAPHY AND COLLAGE, HE BEGAN WORKING WITH LIKE-MINDED DESIGNERS TO CREATE A FUSION OF SOUND AND IMAGE…

ONCE UPON A TIME

DESCRIBED BY JIM KERR HIMSELF AS THEIR MOST COMPLETE WORK TO DATE, THIS IS THE STORY OF THE MAKING OF SIMPLE MINDS’ SEVENTH ALBUM, THE MULTI-MILLION-SELLER THAT LAUNCHED THEM ONTO THE WORLD STAGE…

HELAST DANCE

VISAGE BAND MEMBER STEVE BARNACLE TALKS ABOUT THE NEW ROMANTIC ICON AND INNOVATOR STEVE STRANGE AND THE CREATION OF THE FINAL VISAGE ALBUM, DEMONS TO DIAMONDS…

THE LIKELY LADS

SQUEEZE WERE CHART MAINSTAYS FROM THE LATE SEVENTIES TO THE MID-EIGHTIES, WHEN THEY WERE HAILED AS THE NEW WAVE BEATLES. HOWEVER, GLENN TILBROOK AND CHRIS DIFFORD – THE LENNON & MCCARTNEY OF THE PIECE – WERE BESET BY PERSONAL DIFFICULTIES AND THEY CALLED IT A DAY. NOW THEY’RE BACK WITH A HIGHLY ACCLAIMED NEW ALBUM, AND ARE PREPARED TO REVEAL ALL – WELL, ALMOST ALL…

DARE TO BELIEVE

IN THIS EXTRACT FROM DARE, A NEW BOOK ON THE BIRTH OF MODERN POP 1979-1982, DAVID LAURIE RECALLS THE EXTRAORDINARY BILLY MACKENZIE…

SWEET SURRENDER

HURTS — THE DARK SYNTHPOP DUO OF THEO HUTCHCRAFT AND ADAM ANDERSON — HAVE WALKED A RAPID ROAD TO SUCCESS. AFTER THEIR SELF-MADE VIDEO FOR WONDERFUL LIFE BECAME THE TALK OF THE INTERNET, THEIR DEBUT ALBUM HAPPINESS BECAME A HUGE SELLER ACROSS EUROPE. THE GOTHIC-TINGED SECOND ALBUM EXILE WAS A CRITICAL HIT, AND NOW THEY’RE BACK WITH THE SCINTILLATING SURRENDER. SINGER THEO EXPLAINS THE HURTS PHILOSOPHY OF POP…

FLAME ON

WITH HITS SUCH AS WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN, MANIC MONDAY AND ETERNAL FLAME, THE BANGLES WERE ONE OF THE BIGGEST BANDS OF THE EIGHTIES. THEY’RE ALL STILL ACTIVE, AND SUSANNA HOFFS HAS JUST RELEASED COMPLETELY UNDER THE COVERS, A QUADRUPLECD BOX SET OF THE SIXTIES, SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES COVER VERSION LPS SHE HAS MADE ALONGSIDE POWER POP VETERAN MATTHEW SWEET…

THE YES MEN

WITH DAVID MCALMONT’S VENGEFUL VOCAL SOARING HIGH OVER BERNARD BUTLER’S TORRENTIAL ARRANGEMENT, 1995’S YES CRYSTALLISED AN ON-OFF PARTNERSHIP THAT STILL HAS MUCH TO GIVE…

COMPILATIONS

“You have to empathise and think about what the characters

LIVE

If size matters, no one told heaven 17. this gig may