JOHN MELLENCAMP ORPHEUS DESCENDING

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE WHAM! SONG?

EDITOR Steve Harnell steve.harnell@anthem.co.uk I’m Your Man *1

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

The winner of the Best Writer, Specialist category,

WELCOME

I’ve said it before in the pages of

STARS PAY TRIBUTE TO “ICONIC TR AILBL AZER” TINA TURNER

© Paul Cox Stars including Beyoncé, Mariah Carey

Tears For Fears and Kylie top stellar Radio 2 festival bill

Radio 2 has announced details of its biggest

Captain ready to sail again

It’s been a while since Captain’s Trevor Hornproduced

LIVE LP DOCUMENTS LIAM’S KNEBWORTH SOLO TRIUMPH

Liam Gallagher is celebrating the two massive solo

SHAUN AND BEZ GO APE FOR NEW SUPERGROUP

Members of Happy Mondays and former Oasis bandmates

PAUL HARDCASTLE

THE N-N-N-N-NINETEEN MAN ON THAT HIT AND HIS UNLIKELY TIME AS AN 80S POP STAR

TIME TRAVELLING PRIMALS HAVE RAIDED THE ARCHIVE

Primal Scream are raiding the archives for

I WANT TO BE YOUR PROPERTY

BLUE MERCEDES When London duo Blue Mercedes

TALK TALK ALUMNI ARE BACK FOR INSTRUMENTAL EPS

Instrumental project Held By Trees are following

MY POP LIFE

THE COMIC BOOK WRITER – AND CREATOR OF KICK-ASS AND KINGSMAN – REFLECTS ON HIS MUSIC OBSESSIONS…

THE DRUM IS EVERYTHING

CARMEL Carmel McCourt’s magnificent bluesy voice dominates a

PEPSI & SHIRLIE SCR AP POP RETURN

Bad news for Pepsi & Shirlie fans: the

DANCE FESTIVAL BRINGS THE BIG HITTERS TO ST HELENS

Reminisce Festival is set to return to St

IAN PEEL‘S A TO Z of POP

D IS FOR… DOUBLE-DIGIT DYNAMITE

POP JULY 1988

THIS MONTH, JACKO PLAYS TO A SELL-OUT WEMBLEY STADIUM, THE UK SAYS HELLO TO TRACY CHAPMAN AND FISH WAVES GOODBYE TO MARILLION

TOP 5 UK ALBUMS CHART

10 JULY 1988

TOP TEN WEEK ENDING 7 JULY 1990

A WEEK CHOCK FULL OF DIVERSE CLASSICS FROM ELTON AND OPERA THROUGH TO MOTIVATIONAL POWER BALLADRY, EURODANCE – AND HAMMER TIME!

SUPER FAN

DEVOTED FANS SHOW US THEIR COLLECTIONS AND POP

“WHAM! WAS OUR FRIENDSHIP SET TO MUSIC”

FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE GEORGE MICHAEL AND ANDREW RIDGELEY PROFESSIONALLY PARTED COMPANY IN 1986, A MA JOR WHAM! REISSUE IS HAPPENING, WITH A SINGLES COMPILATION AND 7” BOXSET. IT COINCIDES WITH THE FIRST OFFICIAL WHAM! DOCUMENTARY, MADE BY NETFLIX. AS THEIR INCREDIBLE STORY IS FINALLY TOLD, ANDREW GIVES A VERY RARE INTERVIEW, WHILE PEPSI & SHIRLIE ALSO TELL THEIR PART IN WHAM!’S ALL TOO BRIEF HEYDAY.

THE SENSUAL WORLD

FELIX ROWE

“I’VE GOT MORE MUSIC TO MAKE – AND I’M GOING NOWHERE UNTIL I GET IT DONE”

REFUSING TO BE DRAGGED UNDER BY HIS TERMINAL CANCER DIAGNOSIS, ANDY TAYLOR HAS NOT ONLY BEEN PLAYING GUITAR ON A NEW DURAN DURAN ALBUM BUT ALSO MAKING HIS FIRST SOLO RECORD FOR 33 YEARS. EXPLAINING THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN STAYING STRONG DURING HIS ILLNESS, HE TELLS CLASSIC POP HOW EASY IT’S BEEN WITH HIS OLD BANDMATES, WHY HE LEFT TWICE OVER… AND HIS HOPES OF GETTING BACK ONSTAGE.

DURAN DURAN

QUICKLY TRANSCENDING THEIR NEW ROMANTIC ROOTS, DURAN DURAN HELPED DEFINE THE 80S SOUND AND ACROSS 40 YEARS HAVE EVOLVED INTO ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT POP BANDS OF ALL TIME

PURPLE REIGN

FROM CO-FOUNDING DURAN DURAN TO SOLO SUCCESS AND A SURPRISE REINVENTION AS A FOLK TROUBADOUR, IT’S FAIR TO SAY THAT IT’S BEEN QUITE A RIDE FOR THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS STEPHEN ‘TIN TIN’ DUFFY. CLASSIC POP MEETS THE MUSICAL CHAMELEON AS HE UNVEILS HIS BAND THE LILAC TIME’S LATEST ALBUM…

REUNION OF THE SNAKE?

Six years ago Classic Pop asked Stephen Duffy

THIS CHARMING MAN

SINGER, SONGWRITER, MEME, ICON… RICK ASTLEY SITS DOWN WITH CLASSIC POP TO GIVE US AN EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW OF HIS FIRST NEW ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS, PLUS WE TALK ROAD TRIPS, GLASTONBURY, THE SMITHS AND THE REMARKABLE AFTERLIFE OF THAT SONG

ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS -THE DELIVERY MAN

JUST TURNED 50 AND 27 YEARS INTO HIS CAREER, A CREATIVELY RESTLESS ELVIS COSTELLO FOUND HIMSELF DABBLING IN MULTIPLE MUSICAL GENRES TO GENERALLY DIMINISHING RETURNS. THOUGH IT WAS LARGELY NEGLECTED UPON ITS RELEASE IN 2004, HIS 21ST STUDIO ALBUM THE DELIVERY MAN STANDS THE TEST OF TIME.

Divine Intervention

AS DEXYS PREPARE TO RETURN WITH THEIR MUCH-ANTICIPATED SIXTH STUDIO ALBUM, MAINSTAY KEVIN ROWLAND TELLS CLASSIC POP WHY HE FELT THE TIME WAS RIGHT TO SUBMIT TO THE FEMININE DIVINE

TOP 2O LIVERPUDLIAN SINGLES OF THE 80S

DURING THE LATE 70S, LIVERPOOL WAS A VERITABLE HIVE OF CREATIVITY, AND IN THE ENSUING DECADE SEVERAL MUSICIANS MADE A CULTURAL MARK JUST AS SIGNIFICANT AS THE ONE LEFT BY THEIR MERSEYBEAT FOREBEARS

ACID JAZZ

A FUNKY STEW OF JAZZ, HIP-HOP AND GOOD-TIME VIBES

HOT LIST

NEW RELEASES THAT NEED TO BE ON YOUR CULTURAL RADAR

DEXYS THE FEMININE DIVINE

100%

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD END OF WORLD

PIL OFFICIAL

SOFT CELL *HAPPINESS NOW EXTENDED

BMG

BLUR THE BALLAD OF DARREN

PARLOPHONE

THE LILAC TIME DANCE TILL ALL THE STARS COME DOWN

POETICA

GEORGIA EUPHORIC

DOMINO

NIK KERSHAW, CAROL DECKER AND JOHNNY HATES JAZZ WITH THE ORCHESTRA OF OPERA NORTH

80S CLASSICAL VOLUME 1

STEWART COPELAND POLICE DERANGED FOR ORCHESTRA

BMG

KELLY CLARKSON CHEMISTRY

ATLANTIC

STEVE LUKATHER BRIDGES

MASCOT

THE HIVES THE DEATH OF RANDY FITZSIMMONS

FUGA

RITA ORA YOU AND I

BMG

ANNE-MARIE UNHEALTHY

ATLANTIC

JUNGLE VOLCANO

AWAL

THE VIEW EXORCISM OF YOUTH

COOKING VINYL

PENGUIN CAFÉ RAIN BEFORE SEVEN

ERASED TAPES

JOE MCALINDEN WHERE THE CLOUDS GO SWIMMING

STHQ

DJANGO DJANGO OFF PLANET

BECAUSE

STEVEN JONES AND LOGAN SKY SACRED FIGURES

ETRANGERS MUSIQUE

GIRL RAY PRESTIGE

MOSHI MOSHI

FUN BOY THREE THE COMPLETE

CHRYSALIS

ABC THE LEXICON OF LOVE

UMC/NEUTRON

PET SHOP BOYS SMASH: THE SINGLES 1985-2020

PARLOPHONE

WHAM! THE SINGLES: ECHOES FROM THE EDGE OF HEAVEN

SONY

DAVID SYLVIAN DO YOU KNOW ME NOW? SAMADHISOUND 2003-2014

UMC/SAMADHISOUND

TALKING HEADS STOP MAKING SENSE

RHINO

NOW NOW MILLENNIUM 00-01/ NOW 12” 80S: 1980 NOW YEARBOOK 1978 EXTRA/ NOW YEARBOOK 1992/ NOW ALTERNATIVE 80S

NOW

LANDSCAPE LANDSCAPE A GO-GO

COOKING VINYL

PAUL HARDCASTLE NINETEEN AND BEYOND: 1984-1988

CHRYSALIS

DEAD OR ALIVE LET THEM DRAG MY SOUL AWAY

CHERRY RED

BAD MANNERS THE SINGLES 1980-89

PRESSURE DROP

ARTHUR BAKER PRESENTS DANCE MASTERS VOL 2

DEMON

DANNII MINOGUE NEON NIGHTS

LONDON

GIRLS ALOUD SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND

UMC/POLYDOR

THE SOUND THE STATIK RECORDS YEARS

DEMON

PETER GABRIEL WALDBÜHNE, BERLIN

26 MAY

JAMES ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON

17 MAY

RAVE NEW WORLD: CONFESSIONS OF A RAVING REPORTER KIRK FIELD

NINE EIGHT BOOKS

BOWIE ODYSSEY 73 SIMON GODDARD

OMNIBUS PRESS

LISTEN TO MY HEART: LIFE, LOVE & ROXETTE

MARIE FREDRIKSSON WITH HELENA VON ZWEIGBERGK

THIS MUST BE THE PLACE JESSE RIFKIN

HANOVER SQUARE PRESS

CLASSIC POP MOMENTS

SADE RELEASE DIAMOND LIFE

YEAR BOOK

Wall Of Sound Gallery

GIRLS ALOUD

CLASSIC POP

CLASSICPOPMAG.COM

2LP

classic pop

leah.fi tz-henry@anthem.co.uk classicpopmag.com

DURAN

durandy.com

PAUL HARDCASTLE

drc is sound

KILIMANJARO

MYTICKET.CO.UK

FUN BOOK THREE

Dexys

dexysofficial.com

reminisce

reminiscefestival.com

Parlophone

PETSHOPBOYS.CO.UK

DIANA ROSS

DIANAROSS.COM

TICKETMASTER

TICKETMASTER.CO.UK

Dexys

AEGPRESENTS.CO.UK

SEAL

GIGSANDTOURS.COM

THE CHRISTIANS

ticket master

ticketmaster.co.uk

GENERATION SEX

AEGPRESENTS.CO.UK

NOW 80S ALTERNATIVE

4 CD

CLASSICPOP LIVE

ETRANGERSMUSIQUE

MADNESS C’EST LA VIE 2023

GIGSANDTOURS.COM