He was the UK’s most successful solo artist during 1984 and 1985, but by 1989 Nik Kershaw’s star was on the wane. So how did he rally to produce The…
Popscene – baggy
We travel back to 1990 and the moment when dance met indie… What is it? Before baggy, indie and dance were mutually exclusive genres. In the late 80s, few that…
Blancmange interview: Unfurnished Sympathy
Blancmange started with washing machine experimentation and ended with a banned video and a fight with a Radio 1 DJ. In 2017, we sat down with a reunited Stephen Luscombe and…
Classic Album: INXS – Kick
On their sixth album, the Aussies laid their ambitions bare, tapping into the zeitgeist and transforming into global megastars – though the iconic funk-rock hybrid was almost scrapped by their…
The second coming of Betty Boo
In late 2022, 30 years after her last LP, Betty Boo returned with an album of bangers as gloriously floor-filling as anything in her hip-hop heyday, She talked to Classic Pop…
Some kind of wonderful – the music of John Hughes
The movies of John Hughes featured some of the hippest artists of the 80s. As a boxset is released featuring tracks from many of his big screen classics, we meet…
My Pop Life – Sanjeev Bhaskar
The Unforgotten and Goodness Gracious Me star Sanjeev Bhaskar reveals his music obsessions… Tell us how you first got into music… I was steeped in Elvis and The Beatles from…
The Lowdown – Gary Numan
We take a look back on the career of electronic pop transformer Gary Numan, who emerged from the rubble of punk to become the humanoid voice of a dystopian future,…
The Producers – John Leckie
Star producer John Leckie talks to Andy Jones about working on some of the most important albums of the last four decades There are ‘in-demand’ record producers out there, but…
The story of Rough Trade
As one of the most influential indie labels of all time, Rough Trade helped shape the musical landscape with iconic 80s acts including The Smiths and Scritti Politti up to…