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John Earls
Writing for Classic Pop since our first issue, John has been to Adam Ant’s house, sworn at by Bob Geldof, touched Johnny Marr’s favourite guitar, interviewed Richard Coles on his vicarage bed and serenaded with Last Christmas by Shirlie Kemp. John first specialised in writing about music as editor of Teletext’s Planet Sound music column from 2000-09 and now writes about pop for a range of magazines and national newspapers. A Luton Town fan, John also writes about football. His bucket list interviews for the magazine are Grace Jones, Kylie, Siouxsie Sioux and Andrew Ridgeley.
Generally a band determined to look forward, even Blondie can’t help revisiting their past when faced with a long-planned, gigantic boxset marking their imperial first phase. With Debbie Harry, Chris Stein……
William Orbit interview
The producer of landmark music for Madonna, All Saints, Blur, Pink and Britney Spears, maverick musician William Orbit enjoyed an influential career as an ambient pioneer, classical reinventor and rave mainstay. Then……
New Order interview: Power, Corruption & Lies
Power, Corruption & Lies marked the moment when New Order completed the transformation from Joy Division. In 2020, during lockdown, NO members Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert told Classic Pop……
Tears For Fears remember The Seeds Of Love
In 2020, Tears For Fears released a boxset of their 1989 classic, The Seeds Of Love. That year, we caught up with them as they reflected on their last masterpiece……
The Producers – Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley
We meet the diplomatic production duo who have worked with some of the biggest names in rock and pop over the course of a hugely successful 40-year period… If a……
Bananarama interview: “This is the music we like. We are who we are”
Bananarama returned in July 2022 with Masquerade, an album as defiantly pop as anything Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin have ever made. As the pair celebrate 40 years together,……
Being Human – Karl Bartos interview
Classically trained musician Karl Bartos was a member of Kraftwerk on a staggering run of albums from Radio-Activity to Electric Café. Having previously stayed silent about his former band, his……
Johnny Marr: Call The Comet interview
In 2019, Johnny Marr talked to Classic Pop about his then-latest album Call The Comet… A warehouse on an industrial estate just outside of Manchester isn’t the most obvious location……
The B-52s interview: “We were this unique band, and we had no idea it was going to do what it did”
The B-52s announced in April 2022 that they would embark on a ‘farewell’ tour, contradicting their claims in 2019 that THAT tour would be their final goodbye. That year, we……
Midge Ure interview: This means everything to me
In 2018, as Midge Ure hit 65, we talked to the sometime Ultravox frontman… Asked which song casts a shadow over Midge Ure’s life, most people would probably guess at……