How did From The Jam’s Smash The Clock become such a celebratory-sounding album? It’s just what we do, really. It took a bit of time to get going, because From…
Viva La Vega – Suzanne Vega Interview
Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega meets Dave Steinfeld in the Big Apple to look back on her acclaimed career and explain how she’s regained some control over her back catalogue… Considering that…
The Myth Factory: The Stories Behind Stock Aitken Waterman
Welcome to The Myth Factory, where we’ll be digging deeper into the stories behind the trio’s production history and debunking some very popular myths. Let’s begin… 1. Pete Waterman was…
One Hit Wonders: Althea & Donna – Uptown Top Ranking
There are one-hit wonders, and then there are No. 1-hit wonders – and Althea & Donna are in that very rarefied latter category. Jamaican singers Althea Forrest and Donna Reid…
One Hit Wonders: The Normal – Warm Leatherette (1978)
The Normal was, of course, the alias of Mute Records founder Daniel Miller. Their sole single nominally featured TVOD as its A-side, but it was the blank robotic chill of…
Lost & Found: Persuasion – Adam Ant
After the reissues and tours for the first two Adam And The Ants albums, Adam Ant’s next project is to be a brand new album to follow 2013’s Adam Ant…
Lost & Found: Mainframe – 5 Minutes
Purveyors of some of the finest cult electro-pop you may never have heard, Mainframe were notable in part for their use of (and their involvement in the development of) the…
One Hit Wonders: Timbuk3 – The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades
Husband and wife duo Timbuk3’s 1986 debut single The Future’s So Bright… is something of a pop anomaly (with an equally oddball part-animated video). What right did a twanging Fifties…
Lost & Found: Your Kiss Is A Weapon – Engine Room
If you’d blinked then you would have missed this fantastic all-guns-blazing non-hit from 1985. It was the work of Richard Strange, who has since had more success as an actor…
Lost & Found: Espiritu – Conquistador
File this one under “Why On Earth Weren’t They Massive?”. Espiritu– in their best, early period –were a duo of singer Vanessa Quinones and instrumentalist Chris Taplin. When Quinones moved…