Where were you and what were you doing in 1976? Me, I was at school, dreaming of becoming a rock journalist. This, I must tell you, was about as likely as becoming an astronaut, not least because I looked less like one of those pale but interesting, “hospital-thin” rockwriter legends such as Nick Kent than I did Danny Bonaduce from The Partridg…
If you’re a fan of the music press – and chances are, considering you’re reading this, you have read the odd “inkie” or rock magazine – you’ll enjoy this month’s cover story. In it, Simon Goddard shows how influential the music press of the 70s was, tracing the giddy ascent of punk as it happened: you get the sense that the NME, Melod…
While the Editor’s on a well-earned rest in, to some, the would-be 51st State (Canada, that is, not Greenland, that’s the would-be 52nd) and the West Coast secession waiting to happen (California), we can reveal that on our as-yet unblockaded cover this month is a man who knows a thing or three about the state of things: The Modfather (Paul Wel…
It’s a bit of a double-whammy, this issue (even though it doesn’t actually feature Wham!). The cover itself is shared by Record Store Day and Robert Plant and is a celebration of all things black and round as the 19th anniversary of the biggest day in the vinyl calendar fast approaches. Over 20 …
Welcome to what we believe is the first, for many years, even decades, music press front cover article on the band occasionally referred to as The Deptford Beatles. It is, we think — and do write in to argue otherwise – the first time Squeeze have appeared on the front of a music magazine since the August 1982 edition of America’s Trouser Pres…
This issue isn’t so much a chance to mourn as an opportunity to celebrate visionary artistry. Ten years ago, we lost David Bowie and Prince, titanic figures both, I’m sure you’ll agree. In this month’s cover story Rob Hughes looks at the two artists who died within two months of each other, examines their releases since 2016, asks how they …
We trust you had a merry Christmas and suspect you are preparing to celebrate the new year. A fine opportunity, then, to glance back at a golden moment for high-energy British pop-rock.
Apologies if this feels a little premature, but… Merry Christmas! Or at least, merry (checks calendar on Apple watch) 28 November! Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it? Still, no wonder we’re in a festive mood, given that we’ve got AN ACTUAL KNIGHT OF THE REALM guest-editing our latest (Christmas 2025) issue, one seemingly DRESSE…
The cover “star” of this issue is the year 1980. Much has been made, previously, of the years 1966, 1971, 1976 and 1987 but to our knowledge no music magazine has ever homed in on the first year of the 80s. Shame on us all! Because 1980 was an incredible year. It was the heyday of post-punk but also of new wave, NWOBHM, oi!, ska/2 Tone, synthpo…
On the cover of the latest issue is one Jarvis Cocker, and inside the magazine he is photographed in his home – like John Lydon earlier this year, Jarvis this month kindly invites us to chez Cocker in London where he shows us the contents of his record boxes and shelves and talks us through his most treasured vinyl. It serves as an intimate portr…
