WELCOME

It’s been said many times before, but it

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Writing for Classic Pop since our first issue,

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POP UP

Le Bon ponders biopic role… Duran Duran’s Simon

A-HA ANNOUNCE ORCHESTRAL LIVE ALBUM AND FILM

a-ha have confirmed their first album of original

EX-UB40 MEMBER ASTRO DIES AFTER SHORT ILLNESS

Founding UB40 member Astro has died aged 64.

1-HIT WONDER

TURN IT UP THE CONWAY BROTHERS “Which one’s

BOWIE DOCUMENTARY WILL BOAST UNSEEN FOOTAGE

Thousands of hours of unseen David Bowie footage

HOWARD JONES PLOTS STRIPPED-BACK ACOUSTIC TRIO DATES FOR UK TOUR

Howard Jones is ditching the trademark synths to

THE POD SQUAD

CHECKING IN WITH OUR FAVOURITE CLASSIC POP-FRIENDLY PODCASTS

DR ROBERT HAS THE RIGHT PRESCRIPTION FOR CAPALDI

Former Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi can thank

BIONIC MADONNA IS UNSTOPPABLE

Madonna has called herself a “bionic woman” after

IAN PEEL‘S A TO Z of POP

M IS FOR... MANAGER

Q+A TREVOR HORN

AS A MEMBER OF DIRE STRAITS LEGACY, THE ICONIC PRODUCER IS KEEPING HIS BASS-PLAYING CHOPS IN SHAPE AS HE CELEBRATES THE BACK CATALOGUE OF MARK KNOPFLER’S GLOBE-CONQUERING BAND

LOST & FOUND

IN THE GARDEN EURYTHMICS Becoming Eurythmics proved a

ORBIT REBOOTS HIS SOLO CAREER

Electronic pioneer William Orbit has announced his first

STEVE NORMAN TO MARK SPANDAU’S GLORY DAYS

Spandau Ballet may be over, but their ex-saxophonist

Tears For Fears head back on the road

Tears For Fears are marking their first studio

A new era for Sister Sledge

Sister Sledge have found an ingenious means of

BRIT AWARDS SHAKE-UP

A major shake-up of the BRITs will mark

KYLIE THRILLED WITH DISCO LEGEND COLLABORATION

Kylie Minogue returned to the source for an

THIS MONTH IN POP JANUARY 1980

IN OUR ROUND-UP OF JANUARY 1980’S BIGGEST MOMENTS IN POP, CLIFF GET OBE’D AND A STRANGLER AND FORMER BEATLE GET BANGED UP…

TOP TEN

WEEK ENDING 16 JANUARY 1988

SUPER FAN

DEVOTED FANS SHOW US THEIR COLLECTIONS AND POP MEMORABILIA

SINÉAD O’CONNOR RELEASES NOTHING COMPARES 2U

8 JANUARY 1990

"YOU GET CARRIED ALONG WITH THE EUPHORIA OF HAVING HITS. THE POP THING WAS FUN"

USUALLY A BAND AVERSE TO NOSTALGIA, THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT DEXYS ARE TOURIN THEIR MOST SUCCESSFUL ALBUM TOO-RYE-AY FOR ITS 40TH ANNIVERSARY WAS A SHOCK –UNTIL IT BECAME OBVIOUS THERE’S A TYPICALLY MAVERICK KEVIN ROWLAND MOVE ACCOMPANYING IT. REMIXING THE ORIGINAL LP ALLOWS THE SINGER TO FINALLY BE AT PEACE WITH HIS POP YEARS. KEVIN AND ORIGINAL TOO-RYE-AY PLAYERS HELEN O’HARA AND BIG JIM PATERSON RECALL THE CLASSIC THAT NEARLY BROKE THEM

PRIVATE DANCER

TINA TURNER

FOUR ★ Little WORDS

“Destroy, disorder, disorientate!” As he prepares to mark the 40th anniversary of The Lexicon Of Love with a lavish new live tour, accompanied by Anne Dudley and the Southbank Sinfonia, Martin Fry tells Classic Pop how ABC set about creating a timeless pop masterpiece

JAMIROQUAI

LED BY SUPERCAR-LOVING ECO WARRIOR JAY KAY, WE LOOK AT THE BAND WHO’VE MERGED 70S FUNKY SOUL WITH DISCO AND ELECTRO

DANCE MUSIC WASN’T JUST ENTERTAINMENT, IT WAS THE SOUND OF LIBERATION“

AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE AS TV’S GO-TO VICAR, IT’S EASY TO FORGET HOW INFLUENTIAL REV RICHARD COLES WAS ALONGSIDE JIMMY SOMERVILLE IN POLITICAL POP MAVERICKS COMMUNARDS. IT SEEMS A LONG WAY FROM DON’T LEAVE ME THIS WAY TO THE PULPIT, VIA HEDONISTIC ABANDON IN IBIZA, NOT LEAST FOR THE MAN WHO LIVED THROUGH IT ALL. AS COMMUNARDS’ MUSIC IS REISSUED, THE VICAR OF FINEDON TELLS US: “IT FEELS LIKE I WAS A DIFFERENT PERSON THEN.”

LiPS UNsEaLEd

AS THE TRAILBLAZING CALIFORNIAN BAND FINALLY GAIN A LONG-OVERDUE INDUCTION INTO THE ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME, THE GO-GO’S FOUNDING MEMBER, JANE WIEDLIN, REVEALS ALL ABOUT THE ICONS OF PUNK-POP

POPARAZZI

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

Tracey Thorn Tinsel And Lights

ESCHEWING THE USUAL CHRISTMAS CLICHÉS WITH A STUNNING COLLECTION OF FESTIVE COVERS, TRACEY THORN OPTED FOR AN ALL-ROUND WINTRY SOUND ON FOURTH SOLO RECORD, TINSEL AND LIGHTS. NINE YEARS ON, JON O’BRIEN TAKES A LOOK BACK AT THIS UNFAIRLY IGNORED GEM

TOP 2O 80S DUOS

SOMETIMES IN MUSIC, TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE. SO JOIN US AS WE CELEBRATE THE GREATEST MUSICAL COUPLINGS OF THE 1980S

The Best Of 2021

OUR PICK OF THE BEST NEW ALBUMS, REISSUES, COMPILATIONS AND BOOKS FROM ACROSS THE PAST 12 MONTHS

COMPILATIONS

Our favourite Various Artists collections of 2O21

REISSUES

1 SUGABABES ONE TOUCH LONDON Twenty years on,

BOOKS

2O21’s must-haves in non-fiction, autobiographies and photo books

EDITOR’S CHOICE

2021 PROVED TO BE A STELLAR YEAR FOR MUSIC, WITH AN AVALANCHE OF QUALITY RELEASES FROM SOME OF POP’S BIGGEST NAMES, WRITES STEVE HARNELL

REVIEWS

RATINGS EXCELLENT ★★★★★ VERY GOOD ★★★★ AVERAGE ★★★

THE HOT LIST

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT ON CLASSIC POP ZOOM CATCH-UPS

DAVID BOWIE

TOY:BOX

AURORA

THE GODS WE CAN TOUCH

YEARS & YEARS

NIGHT CALL

ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS

THE BOY NAMED IF

MATT GOSS

THE BEAUTIFUL UNKNOWN

JAH WOBBLE

METAL BOX – REBUILT IN DUB

PAUL WELLER WITH JULES BUCKLEY & THE BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

AN ORCHESTRATED SONGBOOK

LEO SAYER

NORTHERN SONGS: LEO SAYER SINGS THE BEATLES

BEN WATT

STORM SHELTER

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT & AMSTERDAM SINFONIETTA

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT & AMSTERDAM SINFONIETTA LIVE

THE JAZZ BUTCHER

THE HIGHEST IN THE LAND

COPELAND KING COSMA & BELEW

GIZMODROME LIVE

ORLANDO WEEKS

HOP UP

DEAD MEN WALKING

FREEDOM – IT AIN’T ON THE RISE

EELS

EXTREME WITCHCRAFT

THE WOMBATS

FIX YOURSELF, NOT THE WORLD

NEVILLE STAPLE

FROM THE SPECIALS & BEYOND

COMMUNARDS

COMMUNARDS

GARY NUMAN

45X15: THE SINGLES COLLECTION 1978-1983

HOWARD JONES

AT THE BBC

KYLIE MINOGUE

DISCO: GUEST LIST EDITION

VARIOUS ARTISTS

NOW – YEARBOOK EXTRA 1983/ NOW – YEARBOOK EXTRA 1984/ NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL ELECTRONIC/NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL PUNK & NEW WAVE

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN

PHYSICAL

GORILLAZ

GORILLAZ

JAMIROQUAI

TRAVELLING WITHOUT MOVING

FALCO

EMOTIONAL

ROXETTE

JOYRIDE

REDSKINS

NEITHER WASHINGTON NOR MOSCOW

INCOGNITO

ALWAYS THERE 1981-2021

BANDERAS

RIPE

DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES

LIVE AT THE TROUBADOUR

WHITNEY HOUSTON

ONE WISH/I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU: THE BEST OF

THE MISSION

COLLECTED

VARIOUS ARTISTS

SONG EDUCATION 2

JIVE BUNNY AND THE MASTERMIXERS

GOLD

SHED SEVEN

A MAXIMUM HIGH

VARIOUS ARTISTS

HEAVENLY REMIXES VOLUME 1 & 2

VARIOUS ARTISTS

EIGHTIES COLLECTED

SOFT CELL

HAMMERSMITH APOLLO, LONDON

LEVEL 42

ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON

THE BRAND NEW HEAVIES

INDIGO, LONDON

PAUL HEATON

PALLADIUM, LONDON

SAINT ETIENNE

O2 INSTITUTE, BIRMINGHAM

THE OFFICIAL CHRISTMAS NO.1 SINGLES BOOK

MICHAEL MULLIGAN

LIVES OF THE MUSICIANS: PRINCE

JASON DRAPER

SUPERSONIC

OASIS

THEMES FOR GREAT CITIES: A NEW HISTORY OF SIMPLE MINDS

GRAEME THOMSON