Cherry Red 2/5 For many of us who grew up in the Classic Pop era, the sound of Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy was a revelation. Jimmy Somerville’s poignant, high-pitched wail,…
Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott: Crooked Calypso album review
Virgin/EMI 4/5 Many a true word is spoken in jest, and never was that more accurate than with Paul Heaton. This, though, is why he’s so undervalued by the muso…
Nick Heyward – Woodland Echoes album review
Nick Heyward – Woodland Echoes Gladsome Hawk 4/5 Former haircut 100 man Nick Heyward returns with remarkable new record ‘Woodland Echoes’ that stands toe-to-toe with past glories. A contender for…
Video premiere: Steve Strange – Corrupt State
The latest track from Steve Strange marked a change of direction for the former Visage frontman, created just before his untimely death. Strange died in February 2015 hospital in Eqypt…
Sparks – Hippopotamus album review
BMG 4/5 Songs about sex and about Scandinavian design. Songs about The Macbeths and about Edith Piaf. Yep, the Mael brothers are back, and as delightfully oddball as ever. If…
OMD – The Punishment of Luxury album review
White Noise 4/5 Halfway through OMD’s 13th album, there’s a brief piece – part song, part collage – entitled Precision & Decay, a requiem for Detroit’s industrial decline. A ghostly…
Classic Pop Presents: Stevie Wonder Special Edition
In the latest Classic Pop Presents, we celebrate the stellar career of the modern soul revolutionary, Stevie Wonder. Across 132 pages, we track Stevie’s life and career through the decades – from his…
Classic Pop Issue 34 is on sale now!
Issue 34 of Classic Pop magazine is on sale now! Available from WH Smith, Tesco, Waitrose, independent newsagents and Eason priced £5.99, this month our cover stars are a-ha, those…
LCD Soundsystem – American Dream album review
DFA Records/Columbia 5/5 When LCD Soundsystem announced they were disbanding in 2011, a considerable song and dance was made about the news: a four-hour show at New York’s 20,000-capacity Madison…
Liam Gallagher – As You Were album review
Warner Bros Records 4/5 The unfairly maligned Beady Eye may not have set the world alight but the younger Gallagher brother’s solo debut is everything you could reasonably hope for.…