Library Rock's Backpages

Q

Q

First published in October 1986, Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. The magazine contains lengthy interviews with major artists and an extensive review section.

1,280 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Jackson Browne

Profile and Interview by Steve Turner, Q, 1986

Jackson Browne used to hang his head and weep when he considered the folly of Man. These days he doesn’t bother. These days he gets ...

Suzanne Vega

Profile and Interview by Steve Turner, Q, 1986

Suzanne Vega had a feeling and tried to imagine what shape this feeling would have if it had been an object. She imagined it small ...

Bruce Springsteen: "My cousin saw Bruce down Fifth Avenue!"

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, October 1986

"HI gang, this is Martha in Marietta, Georgia. I gotta lotta Springsteen bootlegs and I wanna trade... Hi, Howie in Boston again. My cousin in ...

Big Audio Dynamite

Interview by Chris Salewicz, Q, October 1986

IN JULY last year Big Audio Dynamite were at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, recording their first album with Mick Jones producing. Early in ...

Courtney Pine: Wow! This is Jazz and We Like It!

Profile and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Q, October 1986

COURTNEY PINE LISTENED TO A LOT OF GROVER WASHINGTON, SONNY ROLLINS AND JOHN COLTRANE, THEN HE THOUGHT HE'D HAVE A GO HIMSELF. ...

Elvis Costello: Blood and Chocolate

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, October 1986

ELVIS COSTELLO'S CAREER now consists of a spiral of sidesteps and multiplying identities, all designed to accommodate the extraordinary fecundity of his writing. ...

Janet Jackson

Profile and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, October 1986

"THERE COMES A time in a kid's life when they have to take over. It's hard for the parents to let go – and I'm ...

Lionel Richie: Dancing On the Ceiling

Review by Adam Sweeting, Q, October 1986

IT IS SAID THAT Lionel Richie's previous solo album, Can't Slow Down, sold an unthinkable 15 million copies, the kind of statistic that can cause ...

Paul McCartney: An Innocent Man?

Interview by Chris Salewicz, Q, October 1986

Paul McCartney curls up on the couch and relives the Beatles’ story for the first time since the death of John Lennon. "He was one ...

Stiff Records

Report by Adam Sweeting, Q, October 1986

THE CONNAUGHT ROOMS in London, WC2, are used to Lord Mayors, masonic gatherings and businessmen full of brandy, but on a grey August Monday the ...

The Human League: Crash

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, October 1986

THE CAREER OF The Human League – from Sheffield art-school beginnings to their current miraculous return from the dumper – has been a comedy of ...

Five Star: 5 Star: "Like Any Father, I Just Want The Best For My Kids"

Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, November 1986

No discos. No stepping out with the opposite sex. Arranged marriages a distinct possibility. Is Buster Pearson, 5 Star's father and manager, being a touch ...

Robert Cray, B.B. King: B.B. King and Robert Cray: "Being a Blues Singer is Like Being Black Two Times"

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, November 1986

Ask the besuited patriarch or the bedenimed young turk. Charles Shaar Murray talks to B.B. King and Robert Cray. ...

Madness, The Selecter, The Specials: The End of 2-Tone: Madness/The Specials/The Selecter

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1986

Farewell, Madness – the last of the 2-Tone tribe. Phil Sutcliffe follows the fate of the three groups that pioneered the ska revival. ...

Frankie Goes to Hollywood: The Revenge of Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Report and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Q, November 1986

"NO ONE GETS IN HERE!" screams Brian Nash, slamming the caravan door and flicking the lock. "No one!" Outside hover a few members of the ...

Big Audio Dynamite: No 10 Upping St.

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, December 1986

IN THE HILLS above Rio, until his recapture, lived Jose Carlos dos Reis Encina, a violent criminal and provider of food and medicine to the ...

David Byrne: "It Didn't Feel Like Acting"

Interview by Vivien Goldman, Q, December 1986

True Stories: first the book, then the Talking Heads LP, now the film. David Byrne writes, directs, acts and supports the cause ordinary people everywhere. ...

Debbie Harry: It's About Time, Isn't It?

Interview by Dave Rimmer, Q, December 1986

SO WHY, WE must ask, is Debbie Harry back right now, exactly? Has she brought out her brand new single, 'French Kissing In The USA', ...

John Peel: Two Decades On

Profile and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Q, December 1986

JOHN PEEL IS sitting in his pyjamas in the kitchen of his Suffolk home. It is a Sunday afternoon. On the wall is a Radio ...

Little Richard: "I Am The Rill Thang!"

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, December 1986

GOOD GOSH A-MIGHTY...it's Little Richard. A little fuller in the face, a little thicker in the waist, but there he is in a Mayfair Hotel ...

Pet Shop Boys: Neil Tennant

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, December 1986

LEAFING IDLY through the pages of last year's diary – recalling his early adventures in the wonterful world of pop – Neil Tennant arrives at... ...

Robert Palmer On Singers

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Q, December 1986

THESE ARE MY favourite 10, and not in any particular order. For instance, I do think Billie Holiday was better than Peter Cox, the singer ...

Elton John: The Fall and Rise of Reginald Dwight

Interview by Chris Salewicz, Q, December 1986

Chris Salewicz meets the occupant of the Presidential Suite, Floor 30, Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles. "I’ve had my scrotum removed, and I'm having it ...

The Monkees et al: Comebacks

Report and Interview by Andy Gill, Q, December 1986

TWENTY YEARS ago, Mickey Dolenz, a former child actor best known in the title role of Circus Boy, answered an ad for "Four Insane Boys, ...

Sting: Pretentious? Sting?

Profile and Interview by Steve Turner, Q, 1987

Sting holds court not in the music room with the sofas and grand piano nor in the oak-panelled study with the leather-topped desk and racing ...

Tom Verlaine: Flash Light

Review by Adam Sweeting, Q, 1987

IN ONE SENSE, Tom Verlaine has the most consistent output of any of rock's guiding lights. Since Television's spellbindingly wonderful Marquee Moon a decade ago, ...

Jackson Browne: "A Dixie Cup of Nuclear Waste Could Kill the Planet"

Interview by Steve Turner, Q, January 1987

Jackson Browne used to hang his head and weep when he considered the folly of Man. These days he doesn't bother. These days he gets ...

Pink Floyd: Roger Waters: "...a rage for simple vengeance"

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 1987

After all those nights of psychedelic love and peace at the UFO and the Middle Earth in '67, Pink Floyd have ended up — like ...

Suzanne Vega: "I loved the idea of the solitary wanderer with the guitar recreating Woody Guthrie"

Profile and Interview by Steve Turner, Q, January 1987

The small, shy voice of Suzanne Vega has finally found its audience. Steve Turner follows her passage from the New York folk clubs that first ...

Van Morrison: "I’m not doing this because I want to be on Top Of The Pops."

Interview by Chris Salewicz, Q, January 1987

Van Morrison’s job is the pursuit of magic moments. All the rest – the touring, the recording, the interviews, the selling – is an irrelevance ...

Alison Moyet: Too Much, Too Soon

Profile and Interview by Chris Salewicz, Q, February 1987

The LP Alf went quadruple platinum but now she's beginning to count the cost — a failed marriage, crippling lawsuits, doubts about her music and ...

George Benson: "If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It"

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Q, February 1987

KEN FRITZ, the slim, obsessively neat half of George Benson's management team Fritz & Turner, was worried that he may have caught a chill while ...

The Human League: Human League: Dynasty!

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, February 1987

They bickered their way through six different line-ups. They were consumed by power and ego. They made a fortune and lost it. Tom Hibbert charts ...

Ian Dury: Triffic!

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Q, February 1987

MADNESS ALWAYS called him Uncle Ian, and there's still that avuncular earthiness about Ian Dury. "They always say, we are entertainers," he notes, "and I'll ...

Dave Stewart, Eurythmics: The Man Most Likely To: Dave Stewart

Profile and Interview by Adam Sweeting, Q, February 1987

THE MATCHING PAIR of black and white Mercedes limousines nose, cautiously down the narrow street, unearthly craft looking for a landing space in the Milan ...

Annie Lennox: The Right Stuff: Annie Lennox on Singers

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Q, February 1987

I NEVER HAD enough money to have a record player, so I never got into the habit ol buying records, and so my only real ...

Anita Baker

Interview by Dave Rimmer, Q, March 1987

THAT RESTLESS, relentless and often quite ridiculous search for the Next Big Thing has to be the longest-running game in pop. When Anita Baker's album, ...

Bobby Womack: The Mystery Man

Profile and Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, March 1987

NEW YORK CITY 1985. The Rolling Stones are holed up in the studio cutting tracks for Dirty Work, their first album under their new deal ...

The Style Council: The Cost Of Loving

Review by Dave Rimmer, Q, March 1987

IT'S FOUR YEARS now since Paul Weller knocked The Jam on the head and launched his new group with "Merton" Mick Talbot. Ever since the ...

Jonathan King: Who The Hell Does Jonathan King Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, March 1987

"WHO IS THE REAL Jonathan King? There is no real Jonathan King. Jonathan King simply does not exist, dear heart..." ...

Cocteau Twins: "None Of This Should Have Happened"

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, April 1987

Unlistenable early tapes. Refusals to appear on Top Of The Pops. Information-free record sleeves. A mistrust of people "who can play all the strings on ...

The Bangles: Girls on Top

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, April 1987

"JERRY! JERRY! Where's the marijuanaaah?" The voice of The Bangles' bass player Michael Steele booms through the refined lounge of Mayfair's Westbury Hotel causing many ...

You Don't Have to Say You Love Him: The Divine Simon Napier-Bell

Profile and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Q, April 1987

IN A DISCREET east London venue, in the smaller dressing room backstage, a new group called Blue Mercedes are packing up their gear after their ...

Defunkt, Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band, Richard and Linda Thompson, Toots & The Maytals: Joe Boyd: "Our own little Motown"

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, June 1987

In the late '60s, Joe Boyd helped create a peculiarly English form of folk-psychedelia, producing albums for Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band and Nick ...

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Paul Simon: Ladysmith Black Mambazo: "God sent Paul Simon to do this"

Profile and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Q, June 1987

With glorious results. Times have changed for Ladysmith Black Mambazo. ...

Lionel Richie: This Charming Man

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Q, June 1987

Deep in the heart of showbiz, there is one name that's on every guest list. One person — firm of handshake, even of keel — ...

The Beastie Boys: So Long, Suckers!

Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, June 1987

A curse has come upon the youth of America. It turns boys into beer-swilling, lecherous nerds. It makes girls dress with scant regard for common ...

The Replacements: Pleased To Meet Me (Sire 255571 LP/Cass/CD)

Review by Andy Gill, Q, June 1987

Replacements: razor rasping, ringing, stinging US rock'n'roll ...

Diana Ross: Red Hot Rhythm And Blues

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, July 1987

Miss Ross: not exactly on the front burner, but cooking nonetheless. ...

Fleetwood Mac: War & Peace

Retrospective and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, July 1987

"I WANT TO look eighteen or younger, right?" says Christine McVie, aged 42. "I know – an impossible task!" ...

The Beatles: Sgt Pepper, The Inside Story Part II

Retrospective and Interview by Steve Turner, Q, July 1987

'STRAWBERRY FIELDS Forever' and 'Penny Lane', released in February '67, were the first-fruits of the sessions and they didn't disappoint. As American rock critic Greil ...

The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, July 1987

AND ONCE THE tumult and the shouting have died, and life returns to something resembling normality... Sgt. Pepper remains a central pillar of the mythology ...

The Cure: In Search Of El Dorado

Report and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, July 1987

EARLY IN THE evening of 27 March 1987 in Rio de Janeiro, Robert Smith is sipping tea in the air-conditioned cool of The Cure's luxury ...

U2: Another Day, Another Dollar

Profile and Interview by Steve Turner, Q, July 1987

WHEN U2 FIRST played Chicago, in the spring of 1981, it was as part of a loss-making tour. They played one club and a university ...

Warren Zevon: Rugged Individualism

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1987

The return of Warren Zevon (with a little help from Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Don Henley, George Clinton, REM...) ...

Whitney Houston: Whitney

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, July 1987

WHITNEY HOUSTON had a lot to live up to from the moment 'Saving All My Love For You' and its shiny video went public. Its ...

Dr. Feelgood: Dr Feelgood: Pure Essex Voodoo

Retrospective and Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, August 1987

ONE OF THE few remaining saving graces of rock'n'roll is that its most compelling legends do not always belong to those who achieve the greatest ...

Husker Du, The Replacements: Husker Du and The Replacements: Euphoric… Urgent... Raucous... Drunk

Profile and Interview by Andy Gill, Q, August 1987

MINNEAPOLIS: it must be something they put in the water. ...

Pink Floyd, Roger Waters: Over The Wall: An interview with Roger Waters

Interview by Chris Salewicz, Q, August 1987

ROGER WATERS assumed leadership of the Pink Floyd in '68, turning them from a fringe festival attraction into the most popular touring group of the ...

Randy Newman: The Back Room Boy

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, August 1987

"There's no excuse at all. It's just bad career planning, bad work habits, bad discipline...and I keep doin' it." ...

Simple Minds: The Laird

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Q, August 1987

HE HAS HEARD the big music, and he'll never be the same. "At the end of the day we are a hell of a noise," ...

Terence Trent D'Arby: Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1987

HERALDED AS THE NEW crown prince of soul, Terence Trent D'Arby already has Britain at his feet courtesy of 'If You Let Me Stay', his ...

Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: Various Artists: Genius Of Rap — The Sugar Hill Story

Review by Dave Rimmer, Q, August 1987

"I SAID A HIP, HOP..." starts the rap by The Sugar Hill Gang's Wonder Mike over a riff faithfully copied from (though only much later ...

Billy Joel: We All Make Mistakes…

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, September 1987

DOWN THE HALL of the Mayfair hotel, the beautiful star model, Christie Brinkley, she of 1,000 swimsuits on 1,000 glossy covers, and the less beautiful ...

Boy George: The Boy Who Fell From Grace

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, September 1987

THE PRESS OFFICER has pleaded, in the nicest possible way. "You're not going to ask him about drugs, are you?" Maybe. Maybe not. In the ...

Terence Trent D'Arby: Yeau!

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, September 1987

"I'M VERY, VERY self-critical. I'm very critical of others, but I'm also very critical of my own work and there's no-one that could possibly put ...

Diana Ross: The Gospel According To Miss Ross

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, October 1987

"I'VE BEEN HERE so many times before," murmurs Diana Ross as she sweeps, surrounded by a clucking entourage, through the foyer of the EMI Records ...

Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger: A Trial Separation

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, October 1987

WORLD'S END, CHELSEA, just down the King's Road from the old Drug Store, there's a charmingly delapidated terraced house that serves as occasional management offices ...

Pink Floyd: A Momentary Lapse Of Reason

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, October 1987

I WRITE AS a person of definably bog-standard taste when it comes to the Floyd; each in their season, I liked 'See Emily Play', Dark ...

The Jesus & Mary Chain: Ah, Showbusiness...

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Q, October 1987

...the roar of the crowd, the smell of the greasepaint, the reverberating thud of boot through amplifer. Live sets lasting nine whole minutes. A riot ...

Bryan Adams: The Life Of Bryan

Interview by David Sinclair, Q, November 1987

MOST OF THE stories about Bryan Adams tend to emphasise how ordinary the guy is. Like the one about an occasion in New York two ...

Cliff Richard

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, November 1987

CLIFF IS PERPLEXED. He is attempting to curl his upper lip into a smouldering sneer but the flesh is not willing. "I can't do it." ...

Peter Tosh, The Wailers: Peter Tosh: 'Volatile'

Obituary by Lloyd Bradley, Q, November 1987

Bitter, violent, a few bricks short of the load, Peter Tosh was a hard man to love. Lloyd Bradley investigates the gangland connections that resulted ...

Squeeze: South Side Story

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1987

SOMETHING HAPPENED halfway through the recording of Babylon And On, Squeeze's seventh studio album. They ran out of money. ...

Sting: Nothing Like The Sun

Review by Dave Rimmer, Q, November 1987

"WITHOUT FREEDOM FROM the past," sings a typically philosophical Sting on one track called 'History Will Teach Us Nothing', "things will only get worse." ...

M/A/R/R/S: Sound Wars: M/A/R/R/S Vs. Stock, Aitken, Waterman

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1987

At what point does sampling cross the fine line between flattery and theft? The battle between Stock Aitken Waterman and M/A/R/R/S may be the first ...

The Triffids

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, December 1987

The Triffids, authors of the greatest Australian country and western album, address the darker undercurrents beneath the sparkling antipodean surf. ...

Wishbone Ash: Nouveau Calls

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, December 1987

ANDY POWELL AND Ted Turner's duelling guitars made this a band to be reckoned with 15 years ago – and gave Miles Copeland his first ...

10,000 Maniacs: Mood Music

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1988

IN 10,000 MANIACS' native America, hotel operators hang up when friends ask for the band by name and nervous radio programmers assume that Elektra are ...

Bryan Ferry: In Every Dream Home a Heartache

Interview by Chris Salewicz, Q, January 1988

Los Angeles. Paris. Nassau. Los Angeles again. Then London. And Paris again. And back to London. Recording is a nerve-wracking, schedule-shredding pastime for the itinerant ...

LL Cool J: Rap – A Storm In A Teacup

Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, January 1988

WITH WORLDWIDE sales of his second album, Bigger And Deffer, approaching the three million mark (50,000 in Britain) three times more than the last David ...

New Order

Interview by Dave Rimmer, Q, January 1988

"WE GOT a letter last week," Peter Hook, the bearded and occasionally belligerent bass player, the one who answers all New Order fan mail, is ...

Remixing: Works in Progress

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 1988

Remixed albums are big business. Call in a remix engineer and squeeze more sales out of the same songs. Ideal for injecting added danceability. Useful ...

Screaming Blue Messiahs: Bikini Red

Review by Andy Gill, Q, January 1988

WITH THEIR LAST album Gun-Shy, The Screaming Blue Messiahs suggested that, with a little focusing, they might easily grow into Britain's equivalent of ZZ Top ...

Sisters of Mercy: Floodland

Review by David Sinclair, Q, January 1988

WHILE ANDREW ELDRITCH has been away, all sorts of musical mice have been out to play. In the wake of the first and last Sisters ...

Stevie Wonder: Characters

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, January 1988

THE SINGLE, 'SKELETONS', made a couple of bold statements: its earthy, chunky bass synth lines proved Stevie Wonder to have recaptured the simple approach to ...

Suzanne Vega

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, January 1988

THE FIRST time Suzanne Vega says "oral sex" it is most physically disturbing. But you get used to it after a while. Look, she's saying ...

ZZ Top: Tres Amigos!

Review by David Sinclair, Q, January 1988

IN THE WORLD league table of entertainers' earnings recently compiled by Forbes magazine, only one rock group, U2, was thought to have amassed more than ...

Eurythmics: Annie Lennox: Just Think...

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1988

...about the group she formed with the acid-drenched folk-strumming minstrel who proposed to her in a vegetarian restaurant. And the calamitous demise. And the legal ...

The Pogues: Gleeful — The Pogues: If I Should Fall From Grace With God (POGUEMAHONE NYR 1 LP/Cass/CD)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, February 1988

The Pogues: no sleep 'til closing time. ...

Grateful Dead: Deadheads!

Report and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, February 1988

OUTSIDE THE LONG BEACH Arena, south of Los Angeles on the California coast, there is a massive field. Reserved for recreational activities throughout the rest ...

Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1988

LEONARD COHEN HAS spent 53 years perfecting the art of being Leonard Cohen, poet of romantic despair. A self-declared "ladies' man" in his songs, Cohen's ...

Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant: Robert Plant: Guilty!

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, March 1988

"I CAN'T BLAME anybody for hating Led Zeppelin. If you absolutely hated 'Stairway To Heaven', nobody can blame you for that because it was, um...so ...

Ry Cooder: The Hardline

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1988

FIVE YEARS AGO Ry Cooder packed out the Hammersmith Odeon for eight consecutive nights, the culmination of a triumphant European tour. ...

Wet Wet Wet: Going For Broke

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1988

They signed a record deal and – two years, four producers and £600,000 later – released an LP. Wet Wet Wet had to sell a ...

Frankie Goes to Hollywood: The Final Chapter?

Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, April 1988

ON WEDNESDAY 10 February, the usual knot of press photographers and television camera crews on permanent point duty outside the Law Courts in The Strand ...

Leonard Cohen: The Profits Of Doom

Interview by Steve Turner, Q, April 1988

HIS SINGING VOICE is only slightly more tuneful than the low rumble of his speaking voice. His melancholy outlook attracts the special attention of the ...

Pink Floyd: Inter-Planetary

Overview by David Sinclair, Q, April 1988

IF THERE IS ONE group for whom the enhanced audio medium of CD might have been invented, it is Pink Floyd. From its earliest days ...

Prefab Sprout: From Langley Park To Memphis

Review by Dave Rimmer, Q, April 1988

A RUM PROPOSITION, this Prefab Sprout. It depends on your mood and mode of musical preference, of course, but while much of the time they ...

Talking Heads: Still Making Sense?

Profile and Interview by Steve Turner, Q, April 1988

Talking Heads were once unconventional art-school types looking for an audience on the underground rock circuit. Now they’re unconventional multi-media types who convene annually for ...

Tina Turner: The Long Goodbye

Report and Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, April 1988

THE BIGGEST FOOTBALL stadium in the world is the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro: a big game such as a World Cup Final can pack ...

Dexys Midnight Runners, Kevin Rowland: Who The Hell Does KEVIN ROWLAND Think He Is?

Profile and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, April 1988

It's that time again, when the curmudgeonly chairman of Dexys Midnight Runners rejoins the giddy carousel of pop to peddle more intense ideology in a ...

Def Leppard: Loadsamoney!!

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, May 1988

They talk in units of a million. They plan tours like military invasions. They know the rules, Def Leppard: it takes craft, hard graft, spectacle ...

Joni Mitchell: Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1988

She's danced to the beat of her own drum all the way from Laurel Canyon to uptown Los Angeles. Joni Mitchell talks about her life, ...

Chuck Berry: Who The Hell Does Chuck Berry Think He Is?

Report and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, May 1988

They called him The Inventor Of Rock 'n' Roll. And this, apparently, gave him the right to ride roughshod over all of them for 30 ...

Fairground Attraction: The First Of A Million Kisses (RCA716961P/Cass/CD)

Review by Mat Snow, Q, June 1988

Fairground Attraction: be young, be foolish, be happy! ...

George Michael: The Lone Star State

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, June 1988

His second career is already more succesful than his first. His spry and winning pop songs have a greater-than-average life expectancy. He is uncountably wealthy. ...

Godley & Creme: "We've got just the video for you, Sir!"

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, June 1988

You have entered the celebrated emporium of Godley & Creme — Makers of Bespoke Promotional Footage For The Rich And Famous. Money, no object. Egos, ...

k.d. lang: Shadowland (Sire WX17LP/Cass/CD)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, June 1988

k.d. lang's "torch'n'twang": corn with a cutting edge. ...

Brian Wilson: Brian Wilson (Sire/Reprise 25669-1 LP/Cass/CD)

Review by Andy Gill, Q, August 1988

Eccentric: Summer's here and the time is right... for a Brian Wilson Christmas album? ...

Elton John: You've got to laugh…

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1988

There aren't many options when you're alleged to have cancer, be involved in scandalous sexual malpractices and your hotel room has been bugged by the ...

Hot House: No Help Needed

Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, August 1988

Hot House: they can manage without soul legends, thanks. ...

Pet Shop Boys: Outsiderdom: The Pet Shop Boys

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, August 1988

The Pet Shop Boys have played live once, never toured and only grudgingly socialize with the pop fraternity. They've stoutly refused to take the conventional ...

Robert Palmer: Any Time, Any Place, Anywhere...

Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, August 1988

He's coasted – apparently unperspiring – through 15 years of shifting fashion while somehow remaining knuckle – gnawingly modern. All it took was a shrewd ...

Dwight Yoakam: Drawling — Dwight Yoakam: Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room (Reprise WX 193 LP/Cass/CD)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, September 1988

Dwight Yoakam: country music with added ultra-twang. ...

Iggy Pop: The Madcap Laughs Again

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1988

Iggy Pop "The Prophet Of Punk" — has ricocheted through some combustible times. There were fleeting stabs at bona fide rock celebrity, then prolonged bouts ...

Jethro Tull: Phew! Rocke’n’Rolle!

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1988

For 20 long years Jethro Tull have peddled their hoary riffs and uniquely rustic folklore, ever clad in sturdy items from the winter wardrobe. They ...

Michael Jackson: Touchdown!

Report by Lloyd Bradley, Q, September 1988

On July 12, Michael Jackson arrived in the UK for his first ever solo appearances here. It was to become the largest and most lucrative ...

Bananarama: Who the hell do BANANARAMA think they are?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, September 1988

You nip into the studio, warble a bit, nip out and embark on a fresh round of televised formation-jigging, giggling press encounters, hazy photo opportunities ...

Talk Talk: Spirit Of Eden (EMI)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, October 1988

TALK TALK'S fourth LP is the kind of record which encourages marketing men to commit suicide. ...

Talk Talk: Come On, Market Me

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, October 1988

Stylists have thrown in the towel, promotional persons have blanched, record execs have shed real tears as, over six years, Talk Talk have been increasingly ...

Keith Richards: Talk Is Cheap (Virgin V2554 LP/Cass/CD)

Review by Mat Snow, Q, November 1988

The swaggering return of Sir Keith Richards. ...

T'Pau: Love is...

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, November 1988

...hosing the cow shit off his amp. Raiding the pennies jar for a can of beans. Playing every "dodgy gig and toilet" that would have ...

Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: American Dream

Review by Tom Hibbert, Q, December 1988

It has been suggested that this LP is the result of the compassion of Graham Nash, Stephen Stills and Neil Young–a bid to keep their ...

Freddie Mercury, Queen: Freddie Mercury: Bravo Sir Frederick!

Report and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, December 1988

NEVER HAVING been one to opt for the outrageous when the downright preposterous will do, Freddie Mercury concludes his operatic concert by attempting to blow ...

Gary Numan: The Mad Max Factor

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1988

Despised by the press, cold-shouldered by radio, physically attacked by members of the public — life's never been a bowl of cherries for Old Chalk ...

Richard Thompson: The Minstrel’s Tale

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, December 1988

He is, by all accounts, a brilliant songwriter, a breathtaking guitarist, profoundly unphotogenic, a Moslem, an awkward old sod. Richard Thompson has spent 20 eventful ...

Sade: America The Hard Way

Report and Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, December 1988

Hers was the face that graced a thousand magazine covers, the sound that became a fashion accessory, the image that seemed to encapsulate effortless video-age ...

Jonathan Richman: Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, 1989

BESERKLEY HAVE re-issued their entire catalogue of Jonathan Richman albums but they should have stopped with this one, a brilliant piece of East Coast proto-punk ...

The Blue Nile: Hats

Review by Johnny Black, Q, 1989

GLASGOW'S BLUE NILE did rather well with their debut album, A Walk Across The Rooftops. Following almost universal critical acclaim it sold a respectable 80,000 ...

Acid House: The Selling Of Smiley Culture

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 1989

Like punk before it, acid house was a cult fanned by the media into a mass market industry. Major labels latched on to the music, ...

Bon Jovi

Report and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, January 1989

"BON JOVI... Back To Kick Ass" declare the T-shirts outside the Royal Dublin Society Arena. Below this raunchy statement of intent is the list of ...

Fleetwood Mac: Greatest Hits

Review by Mat Snow, Q, January 1989

A GREATEST HITS without 'Oh Well'? 'Man Of The World'? 'The Green Manalishi'? A Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits without, for goodness' sake, 'Albatross'?!? Apart from ...

Roy Orbison: It's Over: Roy Orbison

Obituary by Robert Sandall, Q, February 1989

Roy Orbison died on the crest of sudden universal acclaim for his soaring and deliciously mournful ballads, ending a 30-year recording career in which life ...

Elvis Costello - Spike

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1989

ELVIS COSTELLO'S LAST two albums were released back in 1986. Despite their excellence, the combination of King Of America and Blood & Chocolate suggested that ...

Fairport Convention: Trebles all round!

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, March 1989

The revived Fairport Convention are celebrating their thriving cottage industry, Woodworm Records, with a 40-date tour. But it wasn’t always beer and skittles... ...

Going Soon: Rockumentaries

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1989

Even the most commercial artists can't be guaranteed to sell cinema tickets. But then history has rarely smiled upon the safe self-edited rock documentary. ...

Edie Brickell: "Irreplaceable": Edie Brickell & the Bohemians

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, April 1989

CURRENTLY HIGHER in the US Top 10 than the latest blockbusters by Bon Jovi and U2 is the first album by a group which, until ...

Canned Music: Pop’s Cola Wars

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 1989

Madonna has signed a $7.5 million deal with Pepsi which allows them the "world exclusive" on her single. They call it "synergy". Others call it ...

Deacon Blue: When The World Knows Your Name

Review by Mat Snow, Q, April 1989

Starry-eyed and real gone, Deacon Blue are born to run and run. ...

Depeche Mode: 101

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, April 1989

72,000 sunny Californians go monkey-poo to the pitch-perfect sound of Depeche Mode. ...

Depeche Mode: The Unlikely Lads

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, April 1989

The latest stadium-filling attraction in the States is a band that began as a cheaply equipped electronic pop act from Basildon. Today, Depeche Mode are ...

Dusty Springfield: Blondes Have Less Fun

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, April 1989

"I CAN'T STAND that word!" says Dusty Springfield sitting with tea in the plush suite of the plush West End hotel. ...

Jimi Hendrix: Radio One (Rykodisc)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, April 1989

AHEAD OF NEXT year's 20th anniversary of his death there are already tell-tale signs of renewed interest in the legacy of Jimi Hendrix, still unquestionably ...

XTC: Toys in the Attic

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, April 1989

XTC’s Andy Partridge is from that eccentric, uniquely English school of songwriters that brought you Ray Davies and Vivian Stanshall. His problem has been his ...

Jimi Hendrix: Immense

Review by David Sinclair, Q, May 1989

Are You ExperiencedAxis: Bold As LoveSmash HitsElectric LadylandBand Of GypsiesThe Cry Of LoveIsle Of WightHendrix In The WestWar HeroesLoose EndsCrash LandingMidnight LightningThe Singles AlbumKiss The ...

New Model Army: Join The Professionals: New Model Army

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1989

There are few more devoted disciples than the followers of New Model Army. For many it's a full-time job — hitchhiking to every concert, home ...

Kirsty MacColl: 20-Track Record

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1989

Kirsty MacColl is much in demand as the single-handed supplier of "Beach Boys" backing vocals to the discerning megastar. Now, with a bold and characterful ...

Madonna: Like A Prayer

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, May 1989

TRUE BLUE was not going to be bettered and the three years since haven't been Madonna's easiest, so Like A Prayer follows the only logical ...

Peter Gabriel: Organised Chaos: Peter Gabriel

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1989

Peter Gabriel: patron of the arts, tireless campaigner for human rights, influential champion of world music and, now, proud proprietor of a studio complex and ...

The Cult: Sonic Temple

Review by David Sinclair, Q, May 1989

Led-heavy and light of finger, The Cult are back ...

The Cure: Disintegration

Review by Mat Snow, Q, May 1989

Closer To The Edge. ...

The Cure: Caught In The Act

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, May 1989

He denies any grasp of promotional ploys, yet The Cure have built up a vast international following. Is there, behind all that lipstick and conspicuous ...

The Neville Brothers: Yellow Moon

Review by Andy Gill, Q, May 1989

The Neville Brothers bring it all back home. ...

The Triffids: The Black Swan

Review by Martin Aston, Q, May 1989

THE FIFTH full-length and second major-label album from The Triffids will inevitably receive acclaim from the critical ranks as a multi-faceted alternative to Australia's pub-circuit ...

The Byrds, David Crosby, Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Who the hell does David Crosby think he is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, May 1989

THE AGING MUSICIAN sits in his hotel room, an acoustic guitar propped upon his considerable paunch. He tosses back his long, greying hair, fingers his ...

The Clash: Clash: The Clash; Give 'Em Enough Rope; London Calling; Sandinista!; Combat Rock; Cut The Crap

Review by Mat Snow, Q, June 1989

UNLIKE THE Sex Pistols, the other great London punk-rock group had ambitions beyond delivering the short, sharp shock to the system suggested by the sudden ...

David Bowie: Boys Keep Swinging

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, June 1989

Six years since his last convincing album, and with the overblown Glass Spider tour still fresh in the memory, David Bowie has rapidly returned to ...

Fairground Attraction: Diversion!

Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, June 1989

THE FIGURE WAVING wildly from inside the bar of The American Hotel, Amsterdam, is Mark E. Nevin, guitarist and songwriter in Fairground Attraction. As the ...

Public Image Ltd.: 9

Review by David Sinclair, Q, June 1989

PiL's seeping chill. ...

Simple Minds: Do Not Disturb

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, June 1989

Come to the heart of the Trossach mountains, breathe the fresh Perthshire air, and discover a troupe of weary travellers footsore from their labours upon ...

The Bee Gees: Forgive and Forget

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, June 1989

They made the parquet-pounding record that launched the jacket-shedding dance that gave birth to the thing they call Disco. And for this appalling misdemeanor The ...

Deacon Blue: The Pilgrims’ Progress: Deacon Blue

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, June 1989

Raised on solid moral values like hard work and the importance of belief, Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue has steered his band to the heady ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty: Full Moon Fever

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, June 1989

Sans Heartbreakers, Tom Petty revives the Golden Age of Pop. ...

John Lydon, Public Image Ltd: John Lydon: …Heeere's Johnny!

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, July 1989

IN THE BAR OF the North London rehearsal studio complex, John Lydon, wearing a typically loud shirt, a pair of unorthodox dark spectacles and the ...

Maria McKee: Maria McKee

Review by Mat Snow, Q, July 1989

Tears and consolation: the gospel according to Maria McKee. ...

Paul McCartney: Flowers In The Dirt

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1989

Spiked by Costello, Paul McCartney is back in the pink ...

Prefab Sprout: Protest Songs

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, July 1989

LET'S GET this straight at the outset; this isn't the new Prefab Sprout album and they aren't protest songs. Confused? Listen to Paddy McAloon and ...

The Specials: More Specials (2-Tone)

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, July 1989

GIVEN THE QUANTITY of ska compilations on the market at the moment, it's a good time to revive the ska revival of 10 years ago. ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Traveling Wilburys: Tom Petty: Outlaw Blues

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, July 1989

Tom Petty survived the scuffling Southern bar circuit, soul-destroying legal wrangles and a self-inflicted hospital spell to bring his mid-tempo memories of fickle women and ...

Pete Townshend, The Who: Who The Hell Does Pete Townshend Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, July 1989

Doesn't time fly? Seems like only yesterday he was a powerful advertisement for reckless hedonism and passionate irresponsibility. Today he's a bookish publishing consultant, earnest ...

Danny Wilson: Bebop Moptop

Review by Johnny Black, Q, August 1989

THE FREQUENTLY poor quality of second albums is often explained by reference to the unavoidable circumstances whereby most successful artists have 18 years to write ...

Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols: Malcolm McLaren: Pernicious? Moi?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, August 1989

IN THE "PIANO BAR" of a Mayfair hotel, portion of club sandwich in one hand, glass of fine red wine in the other, Malcolm McLaren ...

Robert Wyatt: Rock Bottom and Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard

Review by Martin Aston, Q, August 1989

NOW ON CD: how Robert Wyatt found beauty in the aftermath of personal disaster. ...

The Beastie Boys: Paul's Boutique

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, August 1989

PRANKSTERS TO THE last, The Beastie Boys slide into their comeback album so quietly and casually that you double check the volume knob on your ...

The Pogues: Peace & Love

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1989

BY RIGHTS, The Pogues should surely be dead by now, overcome by the drink or the enthusiasm of their fans. Yet somehow they've survived the ...

Maria McKee: To The Manor Born: Maria McKee

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, August 1989

Maria McKee has mingled with rock’s aristocracy since she was a babe-in-arms. At three she was on first-name terms with Frank Zappa, while to Arthur ...

Average White Band: Aftershock

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1989

FROM CALEDONIA to California, the Average White Band pick up the pieces and bounce off the ceiling. ...

Bobby Brown: Casual But Smart

Report by Lloyd Bradley, Q, September 1989

AT 11 O'CLOCK on Friday June 30, shoppers in Oxford Street's HMV Records noticed a growing number of predominantly female teenagers filing into the store. ...

Tears For Fears: The Sequel!

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1989

Three years. Four producers. Nine studios. A million pounds. One album. When Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal began recording the successor to their nine million-selling ...

The Kinks: Tales of Drunkenness and Cruelty

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, September 1989

REAL LIVE EARLY '60's beat combos don't just grow on trees. As the greenhouse summer of '89 wears on, The Who and The Rolling Stones ...

The Penis De Milo: Cynthia Plaster Claster

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1989

Cynthia was a normal 1960s American teenager, with an abnormal interest in rock musicians. Then, one day in art school, she was told "to make ...

Van Morrison: CD Reissues

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, September 1989

Earthy but out of this world: at last on CD, Van Morrison's swinging '70s. ...

Vixen: Every Man For Herself

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1989

The highway to hell is a merciless thoroughfare for the all-girl heavy metal band. Male counterparts regard you with deep suspicion, record companies run a ...

Aerosmith: Pump

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, October 1989

NOW ON to their tenth album and with sales of the previous nine topping 25 million in the States, Aerosmith are still just about unknown ...

Bob Dylan: Oh Mercy

Review by Andy Gill, Q, October 1989

Prophet in an anorak: Dylan delivers at last. ...

Eurythmics: We Too Are One

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, October 1989

Eurythmics: the kind of sadness that can't shed tears ...

Gloria Estefan: Treasure Island Ahoy!

Profile and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, October 1989

BASKING IN FLORIDA'S almost blood temperature waters, with the ice cream-coloured Miami Beach architecture in the background, the 50-acre, man-made haven of Star Island is ...

Janet Jackson: Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, October 1989

IT'S ALMOST FOUR years since Janet Jackson's last album – Control The Remixes hardly counts – and nearly 12 months since she began recording this ...

Jeff Beck: Just Say NO!

Interview by David Sinclair, Q, October 1989

FOREVER PORTRAYED as a moody, maverick, Jeff Beck has blazed an erratic trail littered with the detritus of broken guitars and broken bands. ...

Tears For Fears: The Seeds Of Love

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, October 1989

FOUR YEARS and the best part of £1 million are ominous amounts of time and money to spend following up a huge-selling album. In this ...

Allman Brothers Band: The Allman Brothers: Dream

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, October 1989

THE STORY OF The Allman Brothers Band has been one of the great epics of rock 'n' roll, replete with all the Homeric ingredients of ...

The Rolling Stones: Steel Wheels

Review by David Sinclair, Q, October 1989

NOT ONLY did The Rolling Stones come out of the traps considerably faster than the current wave of mouthy young turks but they have stayed ...

Björk, The Sugarcubes: The Sugarcubes: "World Domination or Die!"

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, October 1989

Such is the manifesto of Iceland's Sykurmolar, internationally more familiar as The Sugarcubes. And to this end they have invested funds from their rapidly increasing ...

Aerosmith: A Quiet Word In Your Ear

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, November 1989

Aerosmith? Mere jumpers on the heavy metal bandwagon? Struggling Stones-meet-Zeppelin copyists? Run-DMC’s backing band? For years they’ve been one of the America’s biggest, most influential ...

Yes: Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe: Mission Improbable

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1989

They’ve survived countless changes of fashion, years of critical contempt, musical and personal differences de luxe. For legal reasons they can’t even call themselves Yes. ...

Bros: Good Morning, America!

Report and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, November 1989

"VERNA!" CRIES Luke Goss, the drummer. "Verna! Can I have another triple Hennessy's, please, darl?" ...

Chris Rea: Road To Hell

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1989

NEW LIGHT Through Old Windows, last year's re-recorded look through his back pages, finally established Chris Rea as a frontrunner in his own country. ...

David Byrne: Rei Momo

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1989

DESPITE DAVID Byrne's beaver-like activities over the last few years, his persona and his work have gradually been losing much of their old allure. Perhaps ...

Kate Bush: Iron Maiden: Kate Bush

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1989

Although signed at the tender age of 18, Kate Bush stoutly refused to be "the record company's daughter". She's quietly become her own manager, producer, ...

J.J. Cale: Busy Doing Nothing

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1989

J.J.CALE LEANS back from his lunch and reaches for the tab, waving aside the objections of his guests with unusual tenacity. "Might as well do ...

John Peel: Man Of The Match

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, November 1989

Guru to innumerable pale and interesting persons, champion of all things noisesome and "challenging", fully paid-up Good Bloke... When John Peel celebrated his 50th birthday ...

Kate Bush: The Sensual World

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, November 1989

ROMPING HOME a close second to the Blue Nile in the increasingly competitive Studio Marathon stakes, Kate Bush's sixth album has finally arrived almost exactly ...

Neil Young: You Sort It Out!

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1989

The drugged and the destitute, the needy and the greedy, unrest between East and West...Don't ask Neil Young where it's all leading. "I'm just a ...

Yes: Roger Dean

Essay by Johnny Black, Q, November 1989

Any self-respecting Yes album used to feel naked without a fantasy cover by artist Roger Dean. It seems only fitting, then, that he has done ...

Terence Trent D'Arby: Neither Fish Nor Flesh

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, November 1989

"PEOPLE, LISTEN to me," announces Terence Trent D'Arby over the intro of 'I Don't Want To Bring The Gods Down', "this is not a film, ...

The Sugarcubes: Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!

Review by Martin Aston, Q, November 1989

THE SUGARCUBES may have plucked their second album title from Wind In The Willows's whimsical pages but the quote has an altogether more serious import: ...

The Who: Rock On, Tommy!

Report and Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, November 1989

That deaf, dumb and blind kid is back, along with all the unsavoury characters – Cousin Kevin, Uncle Ernie, the Acid Queen – who made ...

Black Box, Loleatta Holloway: Black Box: This Means War!

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1989

There's insurrection in the ranks. Stock Aitken & Waterman's supremacy has been overthrown by a troupe of battle-scarred no-holds-barred dance producers from Bologna. Phil Sutcliffe ...

Bruce Springsteen: All Or Nothing

Retrospective by Richard Williams, Q, December 1989

"FILMS ABOUT America should be composed entirely of long and wide shots, as music about America already is," the German film director Wim Wenders wrote ...

Eric Clapton: Journeyman

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, December 1989

A CERTAIN self-deprecating irony is evident in the title of Eric Clapton's latest: a journeyman is certainly what he has become in his post-God years. ...

Frank Zappa: Frank's Wild Years

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, December 1989

AT DEAD OF night, behind barred gates and video security cameras up in the Hollywood Hills above Los Angeles, a tall, angular man with neatly ...

J.J. Cale: J.J.Cale: Travel Log

Review by Andy Gill, Q, December 1989

SOME ARTISTS set a style so distinctively their own they become immediately generic; as with The Ramones or Led Zeppelin, J.J. Cale's first album Naturally ...

Jerry Lee Lewis: Unfazed

Review by Mat Snow, Q, December 1989

Ten fingers, 88 keys, 569 days – the rise and fall of Jerry Lee Lewis. ...

Jimi Hendrix: The Jimi Hendrix Concerts

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, December 1989

THE RECENT spate of activity that has surrounded Jimi Hendrix – The South Bank Show, Charles Shaar Murray's musical biography Crosstown Traffic and now the ...

Jimi Hendrix: Far Out

Book Review by Richard Williams, Q, December 1989

Charles Shaar Murray: Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix And Post-War Pop (Faber) ...

Lenny Kravitz: Let Love Rule

Review by Mat Snow, Q, December 1989

AS DEBUT LP titles go, Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby is a mouthful, but a memorable mouthful. ...

Michelle Shocked: Captain Swing

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1989

Short Sharp Shocked may have established a reputation as a serious radical, but it's her sheer exuberance that makes you pay attention. ...

Milli Vanilli: 2X2 (Cooltempo CTIPD11 LP/Cass/CD)

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, December 1989

IT'S NO surprise that the same duo that etched themselves on a pop public's consciousness by wearing those mildly pervy tights on TOTP — it ...

Morrissey, The Smiths: Morrissey: The Soft Touch

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, December 1989

Your fans are fiercely loyal but always "with an aura of love and gentleness". You’re being sued by two former band members but accept it ...

Neneh Cherry: Mother Superior

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, December 1989

OUTSIDE NENEH CHERRY'S modest terraced house in West London's Kensal Green, four bursting rubbish sacks jostle for attention by the front door. Round the back, ...

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: Product

Review by Martin Aston, Q, December 1989

LIKE MOST punk escapades, Buzzcocks started with Johnny Rotten, whose "We're not into music, we're into chaos" motto drew Bolton students Peter Shelley and Howard ...

The Wedding Present

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, December 1989

Chauffered car-rides on the record company’s account bear witness to The Wedding Present’s emergence out of indie-land’s "shambling" band scene. But for their singer Dave ...

Wet Wet Wet: Holding Back The River

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, December 1989

PLEASANT AS it was, Wet Wet Wet's first album, Popped In Souled Out, was always too slick to be really interesting. ...

Kate Bush: Follow That!

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, 1990

THIS MONTH adds another blockbuster to record shelves. Presented with the requisite lavishly illustrated booklet, This Woman's Work is the title which gathers together Kate ...

Culture Club

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, January 1990

ALREADY A MINOR celebrity in the fevered confines of New Romantic London clubland, Boy George's band Culture Club secured a deal with Virgin in early ...

David Sylvian: Weatherbox

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, January 1990

POP STARDOM, AND all the tabloid accolades which followed his unofficial award "Most Beautiful Man in Britain" 1981, did not agree with David Sylvian. ...

Eric Clapton: The Solo Artist

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, January 1990

Quietly reinvented, curiously coiffeured, steadfastly single, and with an unprecedented 18 sold-out shows at the Albert Hall, Eric Clapton enters the '90s more a battered ...

Gary Glitter

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, January 1990

WEDGING HIMSELF with effort into a most negligible pair of silver spangled trouserlettes, Gary Glitter is struck by the possibilities of a mirth-making ruse. He ...

Gipsy Kings: Let's Do The Shoe Right Here!

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, January 1990

IN THE PLAIN of the Camargue, where the Rhone feeds into the Mediterranean, lies the small but distinguished town of Arles Settled by the Ancient ...

George Michael: Music Review of the '80s: George Michael

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, January 1990

A year and a half on from Wham!'s last concert, George Michael's solo career was ripening nicely as 1988 began. His hugely successful album debut, ...

Quincy Jones: Back On The Block

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, January 1990

ON THE FACE of it, this is where the man who was called 'Q' even before this magazine generously allows his address book to make ...

Boogie Down Productions, The Jungle Brothers, KRS-One, LL Cool J, N.W.A, Public Enemy, Tone Lōc, Young MC: U.S. Rap: Listen Up!

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1990

RAIN IS STREAMING down in sheets on the Long Island suburb of Hempstead but, inside Public Enemy's headquarters, the group's leader Chuck D is just ...

UB40: Labour Of Love II

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, January 1990

THE SECOND VOLUME of classic reggae songs – the first album, released in 1983, spawned the group's first Number 1 single ('Red Red Wine'), topped ...

Chet Baker: Let's Get Lost (15) (Bruce Weber)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, February 1990

CHET BAKER'S James Deanish looks, rebel-type lifestyle and romantic jazz style made him a cult figure in the '50s, when he became one of photographer ...

Captain Beefheart: Colin David Webb: Captain Beefheart - The Man And His Music

Book Review by Andy Gill, Q, February 1990

PUBLISHERS MAY BE willing to publish books on fairly marginal artists such as (to choose two recent examples) R.E.M. and Tom Waits, but a cult ...

David Byrne: Music, Maestro!

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, February 1990

Although embarrassed at being hailed a "cultural ambassador", David Byrne has temporarily put Talking Heads on hold to step out with his 14-piece Latin big ...

Tanita Tikaram: Do Not Disturb: Tanita Tikaram

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, February 1990

Bookish, Studious, unsurprisingly naïve, Tanita Tikaram sidestepped university at the age of 18 when her darkly sonorous vocals and "sixth-form poetry" suddenly found an international ...

John Lee Hooker: The Voodoo Guru

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, February 1990

ON 74TH & BROADWAY, the Gotham fog freezes your lungs with every breath, but inside the Beacon Theatre, Van Morrison has just spent something under ...

Little Richard: The Specialty Sessions

Review by Andy Gill, Q, February 1990

THOUGH HE RECORDED for several other labels in his career, the few years that Little Richard spent with Art Rupe's Specialty Records were to provide ...

Miles Davis: Miles, The Autobiography

Book Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, February 1990

THE PERFECT BIOGRAPHY, operating on three levels: an insight into Davis's often abrasive personality; an on-the-spot commentary on the evolution of jazz as a music ...

Paul McCartney: The Support Group

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1990

They are a bona fide rock'n'roll family unit, in the magnanimous — if somewhat fanciful — view of their proprietor. And his band back him ...

The Christians: Colour

Review by Andy Gill, Q, February 1990

IT SEEMS TO have been a long time coming, but in fashioning a worthy successor to their triple-platinum debut album, The Christians did set themselves ...

The Mission: It's For You-Hoo!

Profile and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, February 1990

IN A CRAMPED loft-conversion on the outskirts of Leeds, something of a party atmosphere prevails. Ring pulls are being pulled, Silk Cuts smoulder in ashtrays, ...

The Residents: Re-issues

Review by Andy Gill, Q, February 1990

LISTENING TO THE early Residents LPs as they came out through the '70s was always attended by the excitement of knowing you were going to ...

Jerry Lee Lewis: Who The Hell Does Jerry Lee Lewis Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, February 1990

The Killer is at large again, the firebrand ivory-thumper with the legendarily short fuse. And 30 years of bankruptcy, busts, mayhem-making and messy divorce have ...

The Day The Music Died

Book Review by Tom Hibbert, Q, March 1990

ROCK'N'ROLL, EH? It really does 'em in. They fall like ninepins (or used to) which is gurrreat news for necrophiles – and for music buff ...

Dick Gaughan: Handful Of Earth

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1990

FIRST RELEASED BACK in 1981, Handful Of Earth survived the '80s so well that it was voted Album Of The Decade in Folk Roots magazine's ...

Fine Young Cannibals: Hands On! Fine Young Cannibals

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, March 1990

They turned down top photographers, refused advertising offers, ignored invitations from the Hollywood glitterati (bar a dinner-date with Madonna). They scrutinized every detail of their ...

Lloyd Cole: Lloyd Cole

Review by Mat Snow, Q, March 1990

SINCE SUCH NAMES as Simone De Beauvoir and Eve Marie Saint dropped from Lloyd Cole's lips on his debut with The Commotions, 1984's Rattlesnakes, the ...

Midnight Oil: Blue Sky Mining

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1990

AS IF UNTOUCHED by the international success of their last album, Diesel And Dust ('87), and its attendant smash single 'Beds Are Burning', Blue Sky ...

Sinead O'Connor: Forgive…And Forget

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1990

She arrived in '87, all Doc Marten's and radical chic, disparaging those who'd helped her, declaring support for the IRA. Now there's a new Sinead ...

Tanita Tikaram: The Sweet Keeper

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1990

TANITA TIKARAM IS blessed. She has a voice which, on the evidence so far, is incapable of sounding unattractive; strong, low and husky, hinting at ...

The Mission: Carved In Sand

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, March 1990

THE GOOD NEWS is that The Mission's third album is easily their best. ...

The Notting Hillbillies: For a Few Dollars Less

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1990

Knackered by the stadium circuit and in urgent need of spiritual rejuvenation, Mark Knopfler played a pub gig back in ’86 with two fellow fingerpicking ...

Muddy Waters: Chess Records Round-Up

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, April 1990

THE NAME OF Chess Records spells "Chicago Blues" just as clearly as Levi's spells jeans, Zippo spells lighters and Special Brew spells headaches. ...

David Bowie: ChangesBowie

Review by Mat Snow, Q, April 1990

BY ONE OF those neat symmetries, David Bowie introduced his prime persona at the very end of the '60s with Space Oddity, and laid it ...

The Beatles: Gareth L. Pawlowski: How They Became The Beatles and Denny Somach, Kathleen Somach and Kevin Gunn: Ticket To Ride

Book Review by Mat Snow, Q, April 1990

THERE'S A NEW story about The Beatles, and it was told by Pete Best, the drummer famous for getting sacked. ...

The Moody Blues: Moody Blues: Step This Away…

Retrospective and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, April 1990

Two genial curators greet you in a small town record shop, ready to take you on a journey...from shiny suits and grimy clubs to "concept" ...

Quincy Jones: Mr Jones, I Presume!

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, April 1990

THE THREE DUMBEST questions you could possibly ask this month are, "Do the ambulance workers deserve more pay?", "Is Mike Gatting a pillock?" and "Does ...

Robert Plant: Manic Nirvana

Review by Mat Snow, Q, April 1990

ROBERT PLANT'S ALBUM Now And Zen was one of 1988's more delightful surprises: whilst quoting in jest from his own proud past in Led Zeppelin ...

Sinead O'Connor: I Do Not Want What I Have Not Got

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, April 1990

ON THE FACE of it, Sinead O'Connor is an unlikely person to be setting such a cracking pace into the new decade. ...

Singles Incentives, Rank Outsiders

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 1990

SO, FAREWELL – to the Fine Young Cannibals single in a tin, to the Eurythmics in a wooden casket, and to Eric Clapton in a ...

The Cramps: From Hell to Eternity

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, April 1990

Ravaged, cadaverous, generally rather unsavoury, they crawled from rock 'n' roll's crypt to bring their X-rated voodoobilly music to a devoted troupe of ghoulish disciples. ...

The Quireboys: Right Place, Wrong Decade

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, April 1990

"Guy?" A little voice wheedles from the small but perfectly formed Griff, lead guitarist with The Quireboys. "Have you got any of that stuff, Guy?" ...

Billy Idol: Charmed Life

Review by Mat Snow, Q, May 1990

HIS STANDING AS the Greatest Living Englishman only jeopardised by that nasty prang on the old Harley, Sir William Idol has in fact reinforced his ...

Bob Dylan: Elizabeth Thomson & David Gutman (eds): The Dylan Companion

Book Review by Mark Cooper, Q, May 1990

DESPITE THE CRITICAL and commercial success of Oh Mercy and the recent Hammersmith shows, the reverence with which Bob Dylan was regarded in the '60s ...

John Cale, Lou Reed: John Cale and Lou Reed: Songs For Drella

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, May 1990

ANDY WARHOL'S NAME was all over the famous banana sleeve of The Velvet Underground's debut album. ...

John Martyn: Same Again?

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, May 1990

Sober, wiser, more than a little weather-beaten, John Martyn hassurvived 20 turbulent booze-fuelled years pursuing a romantic image ofthe lone folk troubadour. But the "rebel ...

Fleetwood Mac: Mick Fleetwood: The Ancient Tympanist…

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, May 1990

... and he stoppeth one of three. With a cautionary tale about a troupe of travelling musicians who, seeking their fortunes, embarked upon a journey ...

Public Enemy: Fear Of A Black Planet

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, May 1990

PUBLIC ENEMY ARE one of the last, relevantly active crews from the second wave of hip hop that included Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Mantronix and ...

Robert Plant’s Record Collection

Guide by Mat Snow, Q, May 1990

BACK IN the Spring of 1968, things aren't looking too rosy for 19-year-old singer Robert Plant. His promising group The Band Of Joy have just ...

Mick Jagger: Who The Hell Does JERRY HALL Think She Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, May 1990

WANTED: drawling Southern belle with modelling experience, fun-loving socialite/raunchsome rock star's moll with sidelines in amateur dramatics, swimwear design and promoting beefy hot drinks. Position ...

Billy Idol: …And This Is Me!

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, June 1990

IN THE SUITE of a hotel just off Sunset Boulevard, Billy Idol is sitting with leg encased in a cast resting upon a pile of ...

The Pretenders: Chrissie Hynde: "I Want To Die For Something…"

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, June 1990

CHRISSIE HYNDE tosses her big black cowboy hat on to the hotel sofa, glances around at the foyer's dainty decor with an air of sniffy ...

Jeff Healey Band: Hell To Pay

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, June 1990

FOR ALL THAT he's blind, white, Canadian and holds his guitar on his lap as if it were a zither, a year ago Jeff Healey ...

Jim Marshall: Right Place, Right Time

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, June 1990

Jim Marshall's taut black-and-white photographs, unobtrusively snapped in unguarded moments, are a powerfully evocative record of that first freewheeling decade before the men with the ...

Madonna: I'm Breathless

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, June 1990

THE VIDEO FOR Madonna's recent Number 1 has her "voguing" her way through a series of classic Hollywood images. As Madonna metamorphoses into blonde after ...

The Pretenders: Packed

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, June 1990

CHRISSIE HYNDE CAN certainly never be accused of flooding the market: barring a Best Of, Packed is only The Pretenders' fifth album in 12 years. ...

Was (Not Was): Hitmen

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, June 1990

THERE ARE SEVEN of us round the microphone, and I, for one, am a little nervous. I should be, too: three of the voices present ...

World Party: Goodbye Jumbo

Review by Johnny Black, Q, June 1990

WORLD PARTY – BEST known for the 'Ship Of Fools' hit off their 1986 debut – is, to all intents and purposes, Ex-Waterboy Karl Wallinger, ...

John Lennon: That Lennon Concert In Full!

Live Review by Tom Hibbert, Q, July 1990

AS WE ENTER the scene, we spy a rockin' Reverend on the stage performing a boisterous version of an old Beatles' tune. ...

Aztec Camera: Stray

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1990

LIKE THE PRETENDERS, Aztec Camera have long since become a solo act in all but name with Roddy Frame matching Chrissie Hynde's refusal to churn ...

Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne, Prince, Sex Pistols: Do I hear £180,000?

Report by Adrian Deevoy, Q, July 1990

Indeed you do... for the guitar Hendrix played at Woodstock. But it's considerably less for a life-size oil painting of Ozzy Osbourne. Adrian Deevoy examines ...

Inspiral Carpets: Wish you were here

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, July 1990

It’s a sun-kissed "no-lose situation" for Inspiral Carpets. Surfing on the stupendous sales of their shock-the-vicar T-shirt selection, and equipped with a user-friendly record deal ...

Joan Armatrading: Hearts And Flowers

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, July 1990

NOW HERE'S A surprise. The words go, "Touch me baby/I don't wanna get up after we've made love/Don't wanna leave your bed" and the singer ...

John Hiatt: Stolen Moments

Review by Mat Snow, Q, July 1990

YOU DO NOT listen to John Hiatt for easy-going likeability. ...

Prince: Sleazy Grandeur

Overview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, July 1990

He began making records as a control-fixated 18-year-old studio rat from Minneapolis. Ten albums later Prince had become the definitive pop icon of the '80s. ...

Rory Gallagher: The Show Must Go On!

Profile and Interview by David Sinclair, Q, July 1990

AT THE START of 1970 the world was Rory Gallagher's oyster. Cream had split up towards the end of 1968 and Hendrix, having dissolved the ...

The B-52s: When Your World Falls Apart…

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, July 1990

Fate dealt a sobering blow to the plastic-shoed party terrorists from Athens, Georgia: their principal songwriter died when they were on the verge of worldwide ...

The Stone Roses: Another Early Night

Report and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, July 1990

Stockholm, 4 am: the amateurs are going to bed. Not so the Stone Roses, who are limbering up to go out and dance...like fish. Having ...

Tim Buckley: Dream Letter — Live In London 1968

Review by Martin Aston, Q, July 1990

FOR ANY ADMIRER of Tim Buckley's unique talent, this double live album taken from his London debut in 1968 (at Queen Elizabeth Hall) comes right ...

Anita Baker: Compositions

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1990

WITH THE EXCEPTION of Luther Vandross, most of the current crop of soul men restrict themselves to the limited sphere of their bedroom mirrors and ...

Bob Geldof: The Vegetarians Of Love

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1990

WHAT A SUPERB surprise – Geldof in brilliant comeback shock! ...

Frank Zappa: Re-issues

Review by Andy Gill, Q, August 1990

UNCLE FRANK'S EXTENSIVE reissues programme continues apace with eight more blasts from various bits of his past. ...

Ice Cube: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (4th & Broadway BR551)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1990

THE RELATIVELY flat reception for NWA's recent British shows was surely a direct response to rapper Ice Cube's departure in January. Ever the brutal realist, ...

John Mayall: This Is Where I Came In

Retrospective and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, August 1990

The Flamingo in Soho, 1964: bearded disciples and pilled-up mods are packed into an airless basement. Brooms are being dusted, mojos worked, as the Hohner-huffing ...

Cliff Richard, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Pink Floyd, Robert Plant, Status Quo, Tears For Fears: Knebworth 90: The Billion Dollar Buskers

Live Review by Mat Snow, Q, August 1990

IN DAYS OF yore, the elders tell, the grassy slopes of Knebworth would resound to the pagan strains of Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers and ...

Marta Sebestyen, Muzsikas: Marta Sebestyen and Muzsikas: No Sleep 'til Ballachulish!

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1990

Their flight cases crammed with goatskin bagpipes and three-stringed contras, Hungarian minstrels Marta Sebestyen and Muzsikas are midway through a whistle-stop international tour. And as ...

The Rolling Stones: Massimo Bonanno: The Rolling Stones Chronicle and Martin Elliott: The Rolling Stones Complete Recording Sessions

Book Review by Mat Snow, Q, August 1990

ONE WOULD IMAGINE that even the most loyal fan must be groaning under the weight of paper and ink dedicated of late to the venerable ...

The Neville Brothers: Neville Brothers: The Mississippi Mafia

Profile and Interview by Andy Gill, Q, August 1990

THE NEW ORLEANS Jazz & Heritage Festival makes most British music festivals, even the Readings and Glastonburys, look a bit sick by comparison. It's not ...

Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, Pink Moon and Heaven Is A Wild Flower

Review by Martin Aston, Q, August 1990

RAISED BY UPPER-middle class parents in the Black Country, educated at public school and Cambridge, Nick Drake's life was never as comfortable as his upbringing ...

The Beach Boys: Re-issues

Review by Andy Gill, Q, August 1990

AFTER LEAVING THE Beach Boys mid-tour in 1964 thanks to a nervous breakdown, Brian Wilson passed most of his time in the studio, one of ...

The Rolling Stones: A Game of Two Halves

Report by Robert Sandall, Q, August 1990

There are 287 workers on the Day Shift, ensuring the impeccable construction of the Stones' three gigantic stages as they "leapfrog" around the European stadium ...

Bonnie Raitt: The Bonnie Raitt Collection

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1990

THE RELEASE OF this 20-track retrospective of her nine Warners albums must be sweet revenge for Bonnie Raitt. ...

Bruce Springsteen: Busman's Holiday: Bruce Springsteen 1987-1990

Overview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1990

When not touring the world's stadiums, was Bruce Springstreen to be found morosely grouting his bathroom tiles and ruefully reflecting upon his broken marriage? Indeed ...

Pink Floyd: David Gilmour: The Rightful Heir?

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1990

Twenty-five years ago he was just the hired hand. Then he became Syd Barrett's full-time replacement. By 1985, following group leader Roger Waters' traumatic exit, ...

Kennedy, Nigel: Nigel Kennedy

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, September 1990

He's the man who made classical music mass-market. And this he achieved by reinventing himself into a lager-handed, spike-topped pseudo-lout, complete with textbook rock star ...

Robert Johnson: Peter Guralnick: Searching For Robert Johnson

Book Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, September 1990

THE POWERFUL FASCINATION which the legend of Robert Johnson still exerts over virtually all blues fans is derived, in almost equal proportion, from his genius ...

Prefab Sprout: Jordan: The Comeback

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, September 1990

ALMOST THREE YEARS on from Langley Park To Memphis, Prefab Sprout are once again produced by Thomas Dolby, and on first impression there's no obvious ...

Roger Waters: The Wall In Berlin

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1990

They said it couldn’t be done. The most extravagant reconstruction of The Wall, featuring the most unlikely and impressive cast, the most immodestly proportioned props ...

The Neville Brothers: Brother's Keeper

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1990

AFTER SPENDING A decade producing four albums for as many labels, the four Nevilles finally got the bit between their teeth with the Daniel Lanois-produced ...

The Pixies: Bossanova (4AD CAD 0010)

Review by Mat Snow, Q, September 1990

QUEASY The Pixies: What can they mean? What are they on? ...

The Pixies: No Time-Wasters!

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, September 1990

"IT'S NOT I'M ORIGINAL or anything." Charles Kittridge Thompson IV, aka Black Francis, Pixies frontman, is describing how he comes up with the lyrics to ...

Scott Walker, The Walker Brothers: The Walker Brothers: After The Lights Go Out, Scott Walker: Boy Child

Review by Martin Aston, Q, September 1990

AT THE SUGGESTION of their drummer Gary Leeds, who'd just returned from backing PJ Proby, The Walker Brothers shifted camp from the US to the ...

Van Der Graaf Generator: Where Are They Now?

Profile by Martin Aston, Q, September 1990

VAN DER GRAAF Generator, one or Britain's vaunted bands from the progressive era known for their unusual sax/organ front line. "Can you try and dig ...

Bob Dylan: Under The Red Sky

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, October 1990

ONE EASY WAY of telling who the record industry considers to be this year's hot producer is to check the credits of the latest Dylan ...

Bob Marley & The Wailers

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, October 1990

Confrontational classics from Bob Marley ...

Cocteau Twins: Heaven Or Las Vegas

Review by Martin Aston, Q, October 1990

"THIS WARM BATH of a record is a sensual invitation to wallow in an opiate haze of drifting melody" – Q's review of The Cocteau ...

Crass: Re-issues

Review by Martin Aston, Q, October 1990

IF ANY GROUP seem wholly inappropriate for CD repackaging, then Crass are it, being eight admitted non-musicians who used snarl-toothed punk music as a vehicle ...

Crass: Where Are They Now?

Profile by Martin Aston, Q, October 1990

CRASS WERE BRITAIN'S seminal anarcho-punk band, whose communal life and own Crass label epitomised the movement's DIY ethic. Handling everything from mail order, promoting gigs ...

George Michael: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1

Review by Mat Snow, Q, October 1990

SOME THREE YEARS and 14 million copies later, George Michael follows up his solo debut Faith with an album that should prove to any lingering ...

Jimi Hendrix: Bitter Experience

Book Review by Mat Snow, Q, October 1990

It was 20 years ago today...that Jimi Hendrix's brief but brilliant career came to an end. To mark the occasion, his former colleagues have published ...

Joe Jackson: Stepping Out: The Very Best Of Joe Jackson

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, October 1990

MAYBE JOE JACKSON has never stood still long enough for a lot of people to get to like him. Although The Very Best Of – ...

Living Colour: Time's Up

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, October 1990

LIVING COLOUR'S CHOICE of guest stars for their debut album Vivid was a significant one: Mick Jagger (who had produced their original demos and virtually ...

The Fall: Mark E. Smith's Record Collection

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, October 1990

CROUCHED IN THE CORNER of a back room in a semi somewhere in Prestwich, Mark Smith flips through one of several large stacks of records; ...

Blondie, The Ramones, Talking Heads: Meet The Family: Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, October 1990

There's Debbie, and there's Tina and, let's see, there's little Joey, hasn't he grown? Then there's and Chris and, uh, Chris... From the shadowy depths ...

Prince: Music From The Graffiti Bridge

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, October 1990

THE GRAFFITI BRIDGE of the title being Prince's scheduled-for-August-but-yet-to-be-finished feature film. ...

Elton John, Eric Clapton: Ray Cooper: Who Are Those Blokes Up There With Ray?

Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, October 1990

Wherever stellar rockular personages gather together he's there at the back, shiny of pate and blurred of hand. But who is this Bongo Basher By ...

Santana: Beam Me Up!

Interview by David Sinclair, Q, October 1990

Carlos Santana's fortuitous appearance at the bottom end of the Woodstock bill completely changed his life. From that moment, he was swept up into an ...

Joan Armatrading: Sean Mayes: Joan Armatrading

Book Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, October 1990

WEATHERED AS HE was by turbulent years on the road with The Equals and Vinegar Joe, when it came to Joan Armatrading producer Pete Gage ...

Spinal Tap: This Much Talent!

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, October 1990

This Is Spinal Tap: the movie that became a legend, the spoof band whose name became a by-word for all that is incompetent, disastrous and ...

George Michael: Strictly No Admittance: The Privatisation of George Michael

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, October 1990

At 19 he was full-time public property — a naively optimistic hit singles machine with a shuttlecock down his shorts. At 24 he emerged as ...

Robert Cray: The Robert Cray Band: Midnight Stroll

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, October 1990

ANOTHER ROBERT CRAY album: we all know what to expect by now, right? ...

World Party: In A World Of His Own

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, October 1990

Karl Wallinger’s wilderness years were ended when he formed World Party. Gone forever the endless dabblings that took him from the rock ‘n’ roll inferno ...

George Michael, Wham!: Bare: George Michael, His Own Story by George Michael and Tony Parsons

Book Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, November 1990

The Life Of George: from self-conscious childhood, to soul boy suburbia, to immense wealth, incredible fame and alarming desirability – all between hard covers. ...

Brian Eno: Back to the Future: Brian Eno

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, November 1990

The teenage keyboard pioneer with the left-field dress sense evolved into the amiable egghead in the "gardening clothes". And in between – via the avant-garde, ...

Jimi Hendrix: Cornerstones

Review by Mat Snow, Q, November 1990

THERE ARE FEW people who will deny that the first time they lowered the needle on side one, track one of album one, Are You ...

Miming: Here's One We Prepared Earlier…

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1990

IT WAS THE Prince's Trust Concert of 1985 and Wembley Arena swayed gently to Dire Straits' lushly bestringed lament for star-crossed lovers, 'Romeo And Juliet'. ...

Pet Shop Boys: Behaviour

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1990

DURING LAST YEAR'S concerts, Pet Shop Boys reserved a moment amidst the costumes and the dancing for an intimate spell at the piano with Neil ...

Randy Travis: Heroes & Friends (Warner Bros 75992631)

Review by Mat Snow, Q, November 1990

IT'S A MEASURE of how far country golden boy Randy Travis has come in only five years that he can attract such a stellar cast ...

The Doors: Velvet Menace and Sudden Rage

Retrospective by Mat Snow, Q, November 1990

Oblique visionaries, pioneering musicians, "missionaries of apocalyptic sex", The Doors cast a giant shadow forward over the new wave music and have come to symbolize ...

The Judds: Love Can Build A Bridge (BMG 90531)

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1990

AFTER SEVEN years of drawing their "new country" congregation to an ever broader church, songwriting mom Naomi and lead-singing daughter Wynonna this time nod to ...

The Replacements: All Shook Down (Sire 7599-26298)

Review by Martin Aston, Q, November 1990

THE MINNEAPOLIS band's eighth album confirms the scurvy garage-band thrill of Stink or 1985's Tim has well and truly passed on. A sharp variety of ...

The Shamen: Mission Control

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, November 1990

The Shamen switched orbits from the doomed indie rock circuit, re-entering as dancedelic house cosmonauts with a mobile ‘interactive’ club show. Mat Snow steps cautiously ...

Various Artists: Rubaiyat: Elektra's 40th Anniversary

Review by Mat Snow, Q, November 1990

IN 1950 NEW YORKER Jac Holzman started Elektra with $600 of his bar mitzvah money, recording artists in their own homes with a tape machine ...

Who The Hell Does Sir Jimmy Savile Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, November 1990

There's something unsettling about the tireless benevolence, something irksome about the infantile banter and spangly self-satisfaction, something eerie about this strange old uncle patting the ...

ZZ Top: Recycler

Review by Jeremy Clarke, Q, November 1990

ON RECYCLER, ZZ Top jettison the hi-tech adventurism of Afterburner, their last album, released in 1985, which, despite the brilliance and wit of tracks like ...

ZZ Top: Welcome To Weirdsville…

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, November 1990

ROBERT CRAY'S favourite ZZ Top story: the last time the Robert Cray Band played San Antonio, Billy Gibbons called up and requested tickets. Come show-time, ...

Robert Johnson: Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, December 1990

And the days keeps on worryin' me There's a hellhound on my trail ...

AC/DC: Phew! Got Away With It, Readers!

Retrospective and Interview by David Sinclair, Q, December 1990

MOST PEOPLE in Britain first heard about AC/DC at about the time of the punk explosion. A bunch of roughneck Aussies with a guitarist dressed ...

The Rolling Stones: Bill Wyman: Stone Alone

Book Review by Mat Snow, Q, December 1990

UNTIL HE WAS 26, Bill Perks was a suburban South Londoner, married with a kid and a secure job, having done his National Service rising ...

Electronica: Electronics Anonymous

Report by Johnny Black, Q, December 1990

Swatched in dry ice, tucked behind towering banks of keyboards, they are the spiritual descendents of Tangerine Dream and Vangelis, prescribing "psycho-active music to bring ...

Happy Mondays' Shaun Ryder

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, December 1990

IT IS FOUR in the afternoon and Shaun Ryder, the allegedly handsome front man of Happy Mondays, is enjoying his breakfast. Manchester being the only ...

Led Zeppelin

Retrospective and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, December 1990

IT IS 10 YEARS since, disconsolate at the death of drummer John Bonham, Led Zeppelin ceased to be. Though there is perhaps no conscious attempt ...

Paul Simon: The Rhythm Of The Saints

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1990

IN THE CHARTS The Rhythm Of The Saints has already proved itself an apt follow-up to Graceland with 'The Obvious Child' a sizable hit single ...

Pet Shop Boys: Tum-Ti-Tum!

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, December 1990

OCCASIONALLY, WHEN they feel like it, the Pet Shop Boys take great delight and perverse pride in portraying themselves as the most preposterously pretentious pop ...

Sinead O'Connor: It's a Tough Old Life

Report and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, December 1990

LA's newest resident, Sinead O'Connor can sit and reflect on a year of dramatic upheaval. Thanks to a Prince-penned single and its arrestingly tear-stained video, ...

Traveling Wilburys: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1990

SO SPIKE, MUDDY, Boo and Clayton are back – in the sense that, although that's not at all what the Wilburys were called last time, ...

Leonard Cohen: Porridge? Lozenge? Syringe?

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, 1991

He's been a poet and songwriter for more than 40 years, but Leonard Cohen still can't find a rhyme for 'orange'. "It drives you mad," ...

Omar: Life Is Sweet

Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, 1991

"At least people know what I look like now." ...

U2: A Perspective

Essay by Mark Cooper, Q, 1991

WHEN U2's recent Number 1 single 'The Fly' first came on the radio, it sounded like a confused mess, an irritating jangle of throbbing guitars ...

Grateful Dead

Report and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, January 1991

OUTSIDE THE Grugahalle, a monstrous concert erection in Essen, Germany, a bearded fellow bearing more than a passing resemblance to the young Charles Manson is ...

INXS: We're Getting There…

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, January 1991

Loud, powerful, seemingly invincible, the INXS Express comes thundering into yet another city. But this particular journey has not been altogether smooth. Stung by accusations ...

Iron Maiden: Pas de moshing, s’il vous plait!

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 1991

"MES AMIS, il faut que nous arretons un moment," says the longhaired singer in leather jacket, skintight sports trews and a French accent truly Churchillian ...

The Beatles, Ringo Starr: Ringo Starr

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, January 1991

"LAST YEAR," says the man with more rings in his ears than on his fingers, "I was sittin' round wondering what I was gonna do ...

The Rolling Stones: Rolling Stones: The Rolling Stones And The Death Of The Sixties

Book Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, January 1991

THE HISTORIES of the legendary rock bands and movie stars have been told so often that they have not so much achieved the status of ersatz ...

The Beautiful South: Vive La Slight Difference!

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, January 1991

AS THE Beautiful South's single ‘A Little Time’ slips down the UK charts from Number 1, in Germany it's starting to pick up sales. And ...

The Byrds: Box-Set

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1991

PRIOR TO THIS exhaustive four-CD box set with its careful remixing, 17 previously unissued recordings, four new songs by three of the original band and ...

Various Artists: The Blues Guitar Box

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, January 1991

FORTY-THREE tracks featuring 39 guitarists for over three hours of music: if this bouncing, bulging blue box demonstrates anything other than the blues' current high ...

Bill Wyman, The Rolling Stones: Who the hell does Bill Wyman think he is?

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, January 1991

WITH SOME 15 minutes to go before the appointed end of our 60-minute afternoon session, your reporter is having a decidedly sticky moment with Bill ...

Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett: Crazy Diamond: Syd Barrett & the Dawn of Pink Floyd, Mike Watkinson and Pete Anderson (Omnibus Press)

Book Review by Tom Hibbert, Q, February 1991

TWO EXCELLENT ways to become a sort of "cult" rock hero: 1) Be dead; 2) Be bonkers...Actually, come to think of it, the first option ...

Deep Purple

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, February 1991

Ian hated Ritchie. Ritchie hated Ian. Roger had to go, but then he came back. Jon stayed, and David joined. Then Ritchie left — and ...

Fats Domino: My Blue Heaven: The Best Of Fats Domino (Volume 1)

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, February 1991

IN IDLE MOMENTS, it's often mildly amusing to visualise the stars of yesteryear, relaxing backstage at some oldies package show and taking bets on who ...

Herman's Hermits: Where Are They Now?

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, February 1991

'I'M INTO SOMETHING Good', 'Silhouettes' and 'My Sentimental Friend' established Herman's Hermits as a top Manchester band in the days when Bez had barely mastered ...

Jesus Jones: Doubt

Review by Andy Gill, Q, February 1991

JESUS JONES'S Liquidizer was one of the most assured debuts of recent years, an exhilarating but solid presentation of a band who, though mindful of ...

Monie Love: Good morning, America!

Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, February 1991

Time, once more, to place that seat-back in the upright position, adjust the watch to New York time and take your Battersea-born brand of rap ...

Sting : Where The Hell Have You Been?

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1991

"I HAD A FUNNY experience a couple of months ago when I took my eldest son. Joe, to see England versus Hungary," says Sting – ...

Charlatans, The (UK): The Charlatans

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, February 1991

TONIGHT, ON the last leg of their sold-out tour of Europe, The Charlatans play Amsterdam's modish Milkweg — the Milky Way in almost bilingual Holland ...

The Proclaimers Favourite Records

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, February 1991

CRAIG REID holds up a copy of Prince's Parade, his favourite album by the tiny genius, and lavishes approbation upon the sublime 'Kiss' – "just ...

Various Artists: The Sun Story Vols 1 & 2

Review by Johnny Black, Q, February 1991

Sun compiled. Historic and musically satisfying – even without Elvis. ...

David Essex: Who The Hell Does David Essex Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, February 1991

DAVID ESSEX KNOWS all about the pressures that go with being an international star but still manages to keep a friendly smile on his face ...

Cher: Cher by J. Randy Taraborrelli ***

Book Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1991

"I DON'T THINK this means I am somebody," remarked a tearful Cher of the 1988 Best Actress Oscar she won for Moonstruck, "but, you know, ...

Alexander O'Neal: All True Man

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1991

ALEXANDER O'NEAL ONCE once remarked that he was successful because he helped "bring back masculinity to the black industry". ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: Talkin' Blues

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, March 1991

IT IS A popular truism that the obsessiveness with which popular culture picks through the bones of its most illustrious dead is the sign of ...

Gloria Estefan: Into The Light

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, March 1991

GLORIA ESTEFAN'S FIRST new album since a coach crash last March left her with, among other things, a broken back. ...

The KLF: KLF: Hang On! I've Got An Idea!

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, March 1991

They're big on ideas, are KLF. Like having hits without musicians, making a load of cash, losing a load of cash… and every so often, ...

Lemmy, Motorhead: Lemmy: Just Say… Yes!

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, March 1991

Lemmy did not get where he is today by shying away from all the doubtful pleasures the rock'n'roll life can offer. As the grand old ...

One-Hit Wonders: They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!

Guide by Mat Snow, Q, March 1991

Rock ‘n’ roll, they say, is a cruel mistress. How often has pop fame proved but a tragically brief interlude between obscurity and oblivion! Well, ...

Queen: Happy and Glorious?

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1991

Mostly victorious, the reign of Queen has seen two decades of pomp and bombast, outsized gestures and theatrical flamboyance. But, as Phil Sutcliffe discovers, even ...

Rock And The Tabloids: Publish And Be Damned

Report by Tom Hibbert, Q, March 1991

The pop columnists of Britain's tabloid papers had a high old time of it in the 1980s. Then they woke up to an unpleasant lesson ...

Cowboy Junkies: The Cowboy Junkies: Chill out

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, March 1991

THERE IS something about 547 Crawford Street with its beer crate-strewn hallway, ashtray-scented kitchen (replete with moist, green furry organisms in the unlikeliest of places) ...

Thin Lizzy: Dedication

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, March 1991

FOR A FEW good years in the mid-'70s, Dublin cowboys Thin Lizzy bought the pop virtues of literate, evocative wordplay, danceable, funky grooves and a ...

Tom Jones: Who The Hell Does Tom Jones Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, March 1991

THE BIG-BONED "boyo" stands in the centre of the room engaged in an elaborate mime: he crouches as he runs his clenched fists down along ...

808 State: Genius Plastic

Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, April 1991

EASTERN BLOC RECORDS in Manchester's rapidly-becoming-fashionable Oldham Street is, at first glance, no different to any other specialist dance music emporium. ...

Andy Fraser, Free: Andy Fraser: Out Of It

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, April 1991

A rainy night in Shrewsbury was to alter the course of Andy Fraser's life. For it was there in 1970 that he first hummed the ...

Chris Rea: Sunny Side Up?

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, April 1991

Whenever he makes an album nowadays, it duly finds its way inside a million houses. The biggest of budgets are his to command. And yet ...

Concept Albums: A-may-zing!

Overview by Johnny Black, Q, April 1991

Concept albums...What are they? Are they: ...

Eurythmics: Greatest Hits

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 1991

WHEN IT COMES to a "Dadodadodadodado" there's never been one to match the start of Eurythmics' only British Number 1, 'There Must Be An Angel ...

The Doors: John Densmore: Riders On The Storm

Book Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, April 1991

GOD PRESERVE US from brilliant pricks. John Densmore played drums alongside one in The Doors for six years and he's still attempting to recover from ...

Lenny Kravitz: Fancy Seeing You Here!

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, April 1991

"OH MAN, people are always hitting me with this retro thing. And they're all missing the point. A lot of bands now are being psychedelic ...

Mantronix: The Incredible Sound Machine

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, April 1991

FIVE YEARS AGO, hip hop duo Mantronix were among the best there was: techno-boff Mantronik's search for that perfect beat involved the unlikeliest noises fed ...

Morrissey: Kill Uncle

Review by Mat Snow, Q, April 1991

NO STRANGER TO the extravagant gesture, on the sleeve of his first all-new long-player since 1988's Viva Hate, Morrissey is pictured from below as if ...

R.E.M.: Out Of Time

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, April 1991

DESPITE MICHAEL STIPE'S production activities with the likes of the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies and the recent emergence of Tourfilm, from 1989's Green tour, R.E.M. have ...

R.E.M.: REM: The Home Guard

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, April 1991

If R.E.M. appear to walk the street of Athens, Georgia, as if they owned the place – well, that's because they do. Now, as the ...

The Byrds, Roger McGuinn: Roger McGuinn: The Jingle Jangle Man

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, April 1991

Nothing defined the sound of The Byrds so much as the 12-string Rickenbacker guitar of their leader Jim McGuinn. As the years went by his ...

Annie Lennox, Eurythmics: Annie Lennox: Hmm... What Rhymes with "Angst"?

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, May 1991

Her career has not been what she would call a bed of roses. For Annie Lennox, more like a diary of private nightmares played out ...

Joe Jackson

Interview by David Sinclair, Q, May 1991

JOE JACKSON is clearing up and moving out of his first floor Manhattan apartment. A cool breeze blows gently through the open French windows and ...

Julian Cope: Je Ne Suis Pas Sting!

Report by Andy Gill, Q, May 1991

IN A FUNKY but chic little Parisian cafe called the Piano Vache (rough translation: Soft Cow), Julian Cope faces a roomful of French journalists and ...

Lenny Kravitz: Mama Said

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1991

LAST YEAR'S HANDS-DOWN winner in the specialist category of best debut album by a dreadlocked Russo-Jewish Bahamian-American, Lenny Kravitz has since gone global, being taken ...

Fleetwood Mac: Peter Green: Rarities, Two Greens Make A Blue and Tramp: Tramp

Review by Andy Gill, Q, May 1991

AS A RULE, old legends might best be left alone to gather mythic dust. ...

Sham 69: Where Are They Now?

Profile by Martin Aston, Q, May 1991

FAMOUS – OR SHOULD that be infamous? – for their punk-era, terrace-anthem hits 'If The Kids Were United (They Would Never be Divided)' and 'Hurry ...

Simple Minds

Profile and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1991

"I ENJOY staying here," says Jim Kerr, the broth of his Glasgow accent as thick as ever. His upturned palms take in not only ...

Simple Minds: Real Life

Review by Mat Snow, Q, May 1991

MUCH HAS HAPPENED to Simple Minds since their 1989 album Street Fighting Years topped the album charts in nine countries. ...

The Troggs: The Legendary "Troggs Tapes"

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, May 1991

Long before there was Spinal Tap, there was something else that stood for all that is inept in rock'n'roll. A fading pop group assembled in ...

The Rolling Stones: Flashpoint

Review by David Sinclair, Q, May 1991

THE STEEL MACHINE/Urban Jungle extravaganza of 1989 and '90 was the most colossal tour the rock world has ever witnessed. By its close, The Rolling ...

The Waterboys

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, May 1991

"NOBODY SETS OUT TO BAFFLE PEOPLE; at least, I don't think they do." As general observations go, this sounds sensible enough, and it causes no ...

13th Floor Elevators: Various Artists: Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye

Review by Andy Gill, Q, May 1991

ROKY ERICKSON, LEADER OF LEGENDARY Texan psychedelic combo the 13th Floor Elevators, is perhaps an odd choice for the tribute album treatment. ...

Pentangle: Where Are They Now? Pentangle

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, May 1991

EVEN BEFORE Fairport Convention had set their wheels in motion, Pentangle were attempting to contemporise and explore British folk music. ...

Gary Numan: Who The Hell Does Gary Numan Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, May 1991

THANK CHRIST for this "Siberian snap" and all this snow, is all I can say. Thank Christ that "it's cold outside" (as G. Numan sang ...

Elvis Costello: Mighty Like A Rose

Review by Mat Snow, Q, June 1991

RECENTLY OBSERVED sporting a trainee Father Christmas beard and chewing the fat with Jerry Garcia, Elvis Costello seemed to have completed his self-reinvention as a ...

James Brown: Star Time

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, June 1991

AN ASSEMBLAGE of 71 tracks and slightly less than five hours of music, weighing in at four CDs or cassettes (committed vinylists are, unfortunately, totally ...

Jane's Addiction

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, June 1991

So, farewell Jane's Addiction? They were born in LA's sleaziest clubs, and hailed as this year's brightest hopes. Now their leader Perry Farrell wants the ...

Johnny Cash: Pills'n'Thrills And Bellyaches

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, June 1991

HITCHING UP HIS blue jeans to give his hands something to do, country music's Greatest Living Legend smothers a cough before the familiar voice offers ...

Ian Dury: lan Dury: Hello Tosh, Got A New Career Strategy?

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, June 1991

"ME AND The Blockheads were gigging in Spain a few weeks ago, partly to see if we really did want to get together again. ...

Mike + the Mechanics: Mike & The Mechanics: Word Of Mouth

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, June 1991

MIKE RUTHERFORD NEED never have established contact with Planet Earth as most of us know it. ...

Robert Fripp, Toyah Wilcox: Robert Fripp and Toyah: Mr Chalk Loves Mrs Cheese

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, June 1991

They seemed to belong to different worlds: the avant-garde guitar boffin and the marmalade-haired Princess of Punk. Listen awhile, as Mat Snow recounts the ...

Electronic - an interview

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, July 1991

IT WAS A MARRIAGE MADE, not in heaven, but in Manchester: the guitar-slinging former Smith and the wispy-voiced singer of New Order, brought together by ...

Electronic: Electronic

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, July 1991

THEY PROBABLY STARTED DIPPING the gold discs the moment it was announced that New Order's singer Bernard Sumner and the modern world's most in-demand freelance ...

Elvis Costello: The Misfit

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, July 1991

"I'M BLOWING MY COVER," Elvis Costello announces mournfully, as the sun, knowing no better, blazes happily down on Notting Hill Gate. ...

Guns N' Roses: Tears Before Bedtime?

Profile and Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Q, July 1991

Axl fired the band. The band fired Axl. Then they made up – and fired the drummer instead. Slash checked into rehab — than checked ...

Michael Bolton: Not Very Big In Belgium

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, July 1991

LAST YEAR Michael Bolton was in L.A. working on his new album, the follow up to the multi-platinum Soul Provider, when he got a telephone ...

Pink Floyd: Nicholas Schaffner: Saucerful Of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey

Book Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, July 1991

"THE SITUATION WAS GOING from mad to worse," writes Nicholas Schaffner as Syd Barrett goes AWOL inside his head yet again. ...

Shabba Ranks: As Raw As Ever

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1991

AS THE REIGNING king of Dancehall, Rexton Gordon aka Shabba Ranks is a major Jamaican sex symbol, ambitious enough to crush his rivals at Sunsplash ...

The Psychedelic Furs: Come In, Sit Down And Take The Weight Off Your Cheekbones

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, July 1991

SOME BRITISH ROCK musicians move to America to make their fortunes; others go to avoid sharing them with the Inland Revenue. Quite what the Psychedelic ...

The Teardrop Explodes: The Teadrop Explodes: Where Are They Now?

Profile by Martin Aston, Q, July 1991

ALONGSIDE ECHO & THE Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes were the focal point for Liverpool's emerging post-punk new wave scene. According to the group's linchpin Julian ...

Dan Reed Network: The Heat

Review by David Sinclair, Q, August 1991

IS DAN REED a little too good to be true? ...

Deacon Blue: Glasgow Skyline

Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, August 1991

IF A BAND’S success could be measured simply in terms of gold, silver and platinum discs earned, then Deacon Blue have clearly had a lot ...

Harry Connick Jr.

Profile by Lloyd Bradley, Q, August 1991

AS THE BAND'S FINAL CHORD dies away, the young man who's been singing tender words of love looks up and flashes his audience a dazzling ...

Luther Vandross: Battle Of The Bulge

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1991

ON THE HOSPITALITY TABLE OF Luther Vandross's suite at Hollywood's Four Seasons Hotel, four untouched plates of king prawns lie waiting next to a half-demolished ...

Paula Abdul

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1991

THE FAMOUS DANCER'S legs are hidden by the kind of white trouser suit favoured by the molls of Italian mobsters, but the tiny figure with ...

Rough Trade Records: Life After Debt?

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1991

On May 31, Rough Trade was pronounced dead. Thus ended a 15-year indie dynasty run by "brown ricers" — with a £40 million turnover. But ...

The Beach Boys: Re-issues

Review by Andy Gill, Q, August 1991

SUNFLOWER (1970), THE FIRST ALBUM of a new contract with Warner Bros following their disaffection with Capitol, was on a par with later '60s albums. ...

The Black Crowes: Guilty!

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, August 1991

Guilty of making music that was going out of style in 1973. Guilty of flying the tattered flag of rock'n'roll idealism. Guilty, indeed, "of never ...

The Stone Roses: Stone Free

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1991

After nine months of strenuous legal wrangling, The Stone Roses have extricated themselves from an "oppressive", "one-sided and unfair" contract. Report by Phil Sutcliffe. ...

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Into The Great Wide Open

Review by Mat Snow, Q, August 1991

THE TITLE says it all. Space, horizon and all those rich possibilities are so central to the idea of America that it's hardly surprising they ...

Transvision Vamp: The Little Magnets Versus The Bubble Of Babble

Review by Mat Snow, Q, August 1991

IT'S A FOOL who writes anyone off, but the supposedly triumphant return-to-the-fray that was the single '(I Just Wanna) B With U' barely penetrated an ...

Cher: Who The Hell Does Cher Think She Is?

Report and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, August 1991

Ladies and gentlemen. You are about to meet a living legend. A goddess. A true star. Any minute now... Well, half an hour, definitely... (Tum-ti-tum ...

Beverley Craven

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1991

ON MAY 7, Beverley Craven did a show in Enschede, Holland, then she caught a plane back to England to record Top Of The Pops ...

Bonnie Raitt

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, September 1991

Collectors of happy endings, look no further. Bonnie Raitt's career was dumper-bound until a P45 from her record company inspired her to rediscover her musical ...

Chris Isaak

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, September 1991

"We're playing the same halls as before, we just get to go on a few hours later." ...

Chris Whitley: Living With The Law

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1991

ON THE COVER OF THIS, his debut, Chris Whitley's long hair and cowboy boots are shrouded in shadows, while his open shirt reveals a crucifix ...

EMF

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1991

"We've done our time in the backs of Transits!" ...

Ice-T

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, September 1991

IN WHAT MUST HAVE been a classic, once-in-a-lifetime meeting of the Ts, Ice-T once taught Mr T to rap. You remember Mr T: burly black ...

James Brown

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, September 1991

Fresh out of jail, James Brown got back on the good foot with a couple of UK shows last month. Backstage afterwards, Robert Sandall met ...

Mariah Carey

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1991

TODAY, MARIAH Carey is, at 21, the proud possessor of a debut album whose worldwide sales exceed seven million, and a pair of Grammys awarded ...

Metallica: One Louder

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1991

They're a notch above your average cochlea-rupturing, pensioner-intimidating thrash outfit, Metallica. But their passage from fresh-faced punk-paced hopefuls to multi-platinum metal phenomenon has not been ...

Seal

Review by Andy Gill, Q, September 1991

"AAAH, IT'S JUST BEEN NON-STOP," says Seal of his virtual year-long bout of promotional chores. "I just wanna get out and play. I'm not interested ...

Sheena Easton: Mary Poppins Meets Deep Throat?

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1991

IT'S A MIGHTY long way from Bellshill, Glasgow, to Beverly Hills, LA, and for Sheena Easton, the journey started even before Esther Rantzen's The Big ...

Squeeze: Play

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1991

OF COURSE, WHEN IT COMES to pop lyrics, any old bollocks will do, given the tune and given the feel. "All right now", "She loves ...

The Mock Turtles

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, September 1991

THE FACT THAT HE is considerably more famous now than at any point in his previous 30 years has come as no particular surprise to ...

The Mock Turtles: Two Sides

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, September 1991

AS PROVIDERS OF the best rock single of the year, the entrancingly tuneful, head-to-toe tapper 'Can You Dig It?', the Mock Turtles find themselves now ...

Tom Waits: The Early Years

Review by Andy Gill, Q, September 1991

THIS, THE FIRST of two volumes of previously unissued Tom Waits tracks, is the latest fruit of the deal with Herb Cohen and Frank Zappa's ...

Billy Bragg: Don't Try This At Home

Review by Mat Snow, Q, October 1991

"WHAT DO they know of England who only England know?" enquires Billy Bragg, Bard of Barking. He is quoting, with a tiny adjustment, Rudyard Kipling, ...

Dire Straits: On Every Street

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, October 1991

THE REASONS FOR the six-year absence are well known: Brothers In Arms – the 15-million-selling album and 250-date world tour – banished an unassuming bloke ...

John Lee Hooker: Mr Lucky

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, October 1991

TALK ABOUT COOL: it's as if John Lee Hooker is so relaxed he can afford to be late for his own album. ...

Level 42, Squeeze: Level 42; Squeeze: Crystal Palace, London

Live Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, October 1991

THE MICRO-economic indicators at Crystal Palace Bowl are contradictory: the touts are offering tickets at "less than box office price" but with the opening act ...

The Pixies: Pixies: Trompe Le Monde

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, October 1991

BOSTON'S PIXIES have already ascended close to stadium status judging from their recent triumph at Crystal Palace. Yet their mounting success betrays no loss of ...

Robbie Robertson: The Big Easy

Report and Interview by Andy Gill, Q, October 1991

It's New Orleans, high summer, and everybody's wilting with the heat. Everybody, that is, except Robbie Robertson – the legendary Band guitarist who's just made ...

Robert Wyatt

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, October 1991

"I'M A MUSICIAN when I remember to be," Robert Wyatt confesses with an earnest tug at his straggly, greying beard. "In fact, I don't even ...

The Pogues: The Best Of

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, October 1991

SHANE MACGOWAN HAS set himself a truly heroic task: in the seven-year lurch of The Pogues, he has distilled an aromatically personal poetic myth from ...

David Bowie: Tin Machine: Versus

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, October 1991

PICTURE THIS: you are in a sex shop in Sydney (for whatever twisted reasons people have for patronising such institutions), and this scholarly-looking gent with ...

Van Morrison: Hymns To The Silence

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, October 1991

QUINTESSENTIALLY quare maybe, but Van Morrison is certainly a worker. His third new album within 27 months weighs in at 95 minutes. For Van addicts ...

Billy Bragg: Who The Hell Does Billy Bragg Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, October 1991

Here he comes again: "pop's political conscience" in his dilapidated trousers and sensible shoes, worthily correcting the unenlightened and uplifting the downtrodden with his unsubtle ...

Top Of The Pops: Down The Pan?

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1991

Top Of The Pops has been the BBC's flagship music show for 27 years. But it's facing problems: stale format, falling teenage population, and public ...

Beats International: Play That Funky Music, White Boy

Report by Mat Snow, Q, November 1991

SOME POP MUSICIANS know stardom has arrived when the crowds at the in-store signing have to be kept back by a police cordon. For others, ...

Gram Parsons: Ben Fong-Torres: Hickory Wind: The Life And Times Of Gram Parsons

Book Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1991

HE VIRTUALLY INVENTED country rock with The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers and was a major influence on the Stones of Sticky Fingers. He ...

Bryan Adams

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, November 1991

IT'S AUGUST 1991, and rock personages everywhere are cashing in on the summer season. Simple Minds pack Wembley Arena. Prince (temporarily) contemplates an outdoor spectacular ...

Charlie Feathers: He Forgot To Remember To Forget

Interview by Robert Gordon, Q, November 1991

THE REBEL INN is on Highway 78, once a major thoroughfare linking Mississippi cottonland to the delta's big city of Memphis. The old motel's neon ...

Erasure: Chorus

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1991

MORE THAN A SCORE of Top 30 hits under four different names over 10 years and it seems obvious that Chorus will only keep them ...

Frank Zappa: Re-issues

Review by Andy Gill, Q, November 1991

JUST WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS, to quote Uncle Frank: yet another record label, and eight more Zappa albums hot on the heels of his two ...

The Sex Pistols: Jon Savage: England's Dreaming

Book Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, November 1991

EVEN THOUGH 15 YEARS have passed since the release of 'Anarchy In The UK', there has never been a book which has satisfactorily documented Britain's ...

Nina Simone: Here Comes Trouble

Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, November 1991

"BE PUNCTUAL," they implored. "Be punctual, and everything should be all right." Ask about Nina Simone at her publisher's offices and you'll soon be appraised ...

Peter Gabriel, Van Morrison: Peter Gabriel: World Party

Report by Johnny Black, Q, November 1991

One week this summer, Peter Gabriel's dream came true. Musicians of the world, from Sinead O'Connor and Van Morrison to stars of Lapland and Tanzania, ...

Prince: Diamonds & Pearls

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, November 1991

THESE ARE TESTING times for little PR Nelson. His Graffiti Bridge movie, due out last autumn, has never been publicly shown, and the accompanying double ...

R.E.M.: The Best Of

Review by Mat Snow, Q, November 1991

FOR FIVE YEARS R.E.M. steadily grew on Miles Copeland's IRS label until they took the Warner Bros shilling and were thus promoted to the big ...

Elton John: Various Artists: Two Rooms

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1991

HITHERTO, TRIBUTE ALBUMS have tended to be the preserve of the American college circuit with R.E.M. seemingly ubiquitous as today's aspiring eccentrics queue up to ...

Bob Seger: Ha Ha Ha!

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, December 1991

Bob Seger is a hard-rockin' evergreen with a scrub of grizzly beard and a laugh like one of his native Detroit gas-guzzlers starting up on ...

Genesis: We Can't Dance

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1991

CALLING IT WE CAN'T DANCE may be a chucklesome admission that, in the five years since Invisible Touch, Genesis have candidly let the rave scene ...

Lisa Stansfield: Northern Soul

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, December 1991

WHEN THERE’S promotion to be done, it's all go chez Lisa Stansfield. At 11 in the morning, the house is full of people. BBC2's Rapido ...

Pet Shop Boys: Re-issues

Review by Andy Gill, Q, December 1991

THANKS TO INNOVATORS LIKE Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire and the Human League, alongside the huge leaps made in drum-machine technology by the Roland corporation, musicians finally ...

Record Collections of Shame

Essay by Danny Baker, Q, December 1991

EVER SINCE the Medved Brothers published their Fifty Worst Movies Of All Time, it's been a cinch that a similar, meatier job has been going ...

Joe Strummer, The Pogues: The Pogues: Determined

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1991

THE WILTERN THEATRE, LOS ANGELES, October 10, 1991 ...

U2: Achtung Baby

Review by Mat Snow, Q, December 1991

WITH EACH NEW U2 album there has been a growing buzz of anticipation, a sense of event stoked by the way the band has stamped ...

Big in Japan: Where Are They Now?

Retrospective by Martin Aston, Q, January 1992

FEW OTHER groups in the post-punk era can claim to have launched so many successful careers as Big In Japan – The KLF, Frankie Goes ...

MC5: Kick Out The Jams

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, January 1992

DETROIT'S ECLECTIC, MILITANT-HIPPY combo MC5 were the ultimate in late '60s punkadelia. Though they never sold any significant quantity of records, the influence of their ...

Michael Jackson: Dangerous

Review by Mat Snow, Q, January 1992

Michael Jackson: hip hop and gospel, Slash and God, sublime and ridiculous. ...

Morrissey: "A gentle adoration"

Report by Robert Sandall, Q, January 1992

Morrissey's US shows have been the scenes of riotous affection. And nobody can figure it out. "It's the intensity of the reverence..." ...

My Bloody Valentine: Loveless

Review by Martin Aston, Q, January 1992

FACED WITH MY Bloody Valentine's formative fumblings, few would have predicted that this garage lurch could metamorphosise into the swooning melody crush that constituted 1988's ...

My Bloody Valentine: About Bloody Time!

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, January 1992

In terms of mystique, My Bloody Valentine would have been better off never releasing another record. But three years and many pale imitators later, they ...

Paul Simon: Concert In the Park

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1992

TEN YEARS after Simon And Garfunkel crowned their short-lived reunion with a concert in Central Park, Paul Simon returned solo to claim the patch as ...

Pet Shop Boys: Oh Mister Songwriters!

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, January 1992

What is it like, that magical moment when the creative juices start to flow? Is it one glorious spurt? Or merely a dutiful grind? The ...

R.E.M.: Touched! Chuffed! Etc!

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, January 1992

For R.E.M., 1991 will always be the year in which a low-key LP brought them high-profile success, the year a tiny tour won them a ...

Tone Loc: Cool Hand Loc

Review by Mat Snow, Q, January 1992

Is Tone Loc too funky or what? ...

U2: Re-issues

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1992

WHEN U2'S RECENT NUMBER 1 single 'The Fly' first came on the radio, it sounded like a confused mess, an irritating jangle of throbbing guitars ...

Various Artists: Palatine

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 1992

WHETHER A FOUR-RECORD COMPILATION covering Factory's history is timely self-celebration or urgent self-preservation against the recession, the label's deserved reputation as innovator and provocateur prepares ...

Cliff Richard: Who The Hell Does Cliff Richard Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, January 1992

THIS IS a tricky question, I said, but tell me, Cliff: what is it in your half-a-century bound on earth, in your illustrious career, that ...

Crosby Stills and Nash: CSN: CSN Box-Set

Review by Mat Snow, Q, February 1992

DAVID CROSBY, STEPHEN STILLS AND Graham Nash: respectively refugees from The Byrds (fired by Roger McGuinn), Buffalo Springfield (broke up) and Manchester's very own Hollies ...

George Michael: One Night in New York

Report by Adrian Deevoy, Q, February 1992

In Britain, George Michael is a household name. In the USA, however, he is really well known. To alleviate the pressures of touring there, he ...

Lou Reed

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, February 1992

THESE DAYS, PREPARING for a Lou Reed interview is like joining the Civil Service. First, the specially run-off CD of the new album, Magic And ...

Lou Reed: Magic And Loss

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, February 1992

SINCE POWERING HIS WAY BACK info everybody's good books three years ago with the New York album, Lou Reed has become more creatively focused than ...

Marc Cohn: This Man Is About To Expose Himself…

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1992

"Here's a tune that I wrote in the back seat of a cab going to meet my girlfriend," says Marc Cohn, doodling a few piano ...

Moe Tucker: One Woman Named Moe

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1992

FORMER Velvet Underground drummer Moe Tucker’s life seems to have involved two passionate commitments: to music and motherhood. Her reminiscences, though, often come round to ...

Madonna, Roger Waters: Pat Leonard: The Song And Dance Debate

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, February 1992

"MY BACKGROUND and my real musical desires lean far more toward Roger Waters than they do toward Madonna," Miss Ciccone's principal songwriter, keyboardist and MD, ...

Procol Harum: Feeling Kind of Seasick?

Profile and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, February 1992

DUM-DI-DUM ... How did it go again? Something about a light fandango and 17 vestal virgins? Or was it 15? In fact, what was 'A ...

Ticket Touting: On Every Street

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1992

"IT'S A QUESTION of water in the desert," say Harry the ticket tout. "If someone's got the water and you need it, you'll pay him ...

Tori Amos: Can we talk?

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, February 1992

If you have a moment, Tori Amos, composer, songstress and troubled soul has a few things she’d like to get off her chest. There’s her ...

Who The Hell Does Anthony H. Wilson Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, February 1992

IN THE headquarters of Factory Records, Manchester, I found myself privy to a sight and sound seldom witnessed, I dare say, by any human being ...

Aerosmith: Pandora's Box

Review by Mat Snow, Q, March 1992

THE RISE AND fall and rise of Aerosmith has been rock's most up-beat cautionary tale of the last few years. ...

Ray Charles: Charles The First

Interview by Robert Gordon, Q, March 1992

Ray Charles did soul music a big favour one day: he invented it. In 1992, the blind maestro they call "The Genius" is still going ...

Eddi Reader: Mirmama

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1992

FAIRGROUND ATTRACTION SPLIT after one platinum album, The First Of A Million Kisses; 'Perfect', the sound of summer '88, was soundaliked and killed by an ...

Garth Brooks: Meet Nashville's New Breed Of Generously Stetsoned Crooner

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1992

BANDY-LEGGED and pigeon-toed, Garth Brooks has finally taken off his stetson and is staggering around the stage of Atlanta's Omni like a man who's just ...

Elvis Presley: Greil Marcus: Dead Elvis

Book Review by Andy Gill, Q, March 1992

AT THE CLOSE OF the Presliad, the most substantial part of his classic Mystery Train and still the most illuminating work on Elvis, Greil Marcus ...

Echo & The Bunnymen: Ian McCulloch: Mustn’t Grumble

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, March 1992

Ian McCulloch’s commercial appeal may be "more selective" than it was in the glory days of Echo And Bunnymen, but at least he’s found a ...

James: Seven

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1992

A YEAR AGO, with Gulf War self-censorship at fever pitch, the Phonogram board would have needed sedation after the opening lines from 'Mother': "These wars ...

Jeff Beck: Beckology

Review by David Sinclair, Q, March 1992

IN 1990, IN A REGULAR feature called "The Experts' Expert", The Observer canvassed a cross-section of guitarists (David Gilmour, Hank Marvin, Brian May and others) ...

John Lydon, The Sex Pistols: John Lydon

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, March 1992

THE MAN IN THE ETHNIC-TEA-COSY-STYLED headwear and the unsightly puce satin ski pants lies back on my sofa, swigs lustily from a bottle of strong ...

Love Compilations: The Fast Food Of Love

Overview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, March 1992

Passion to go. Ambience-U-Like. Take-away smooch. Marketing men have discovered the public's appetite for romantic compilation albums. "Everyone loves love," they tell Lloyd Bradley. "We've ...

Eddi Reader, Fairground Attraction: Mrs Ordinary Boring MacTartan: Eddi Reader

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, March 1992

Unbearably arrogant, brimming with self-confidence, "in ya face" ... Eddi Reader is distinctly lacking in these most basic of frontperson qualifications. "I’m very insecure," she ...

David Byrne, Talking Heads: Severed Heads: Talking Heads and David Byrne

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1992

"LOOKING AT old videos of Talking Heads," says David Byrne, "it's like three normal kids backing up this maniac — three people who have their ...

Soundtracks: 'Mumble Mumble Film'

Overview by Andy Gill, Q, March 1992

As De Niro so eloquently put it, movie soundtracks are not what they were. Too often they're just second-rate rock songs slung together. There are ...

Curve

Profile by Andy Gill, Q, April 1992

WHEN TONI HALLIDAY first bumped into Dean Garcia backstage at a Eurythmics gig, it wasn't so much love at first sight as the first inklings ...

David Byrne: Uh-Oh

Review by Andy Gill, Q, April 1992

PACKED WITH ALL MANNER of musical invention, oddball observations and joyous pop nonsense, Uh-Oh is by some way David Byrne's most commercial – and enjoyable ...

Gary Moore: No Sweat

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, April 1992

You're a hard-rockin' heavy metal mutha of — how shall we put it? — a certain age. A mid-life crisis looms! But if you're Gary ...

James: Nice One!

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, April 1992

They used to be called Venereal and The Diseases. They owe their career to a bank manager called Roger. They've sold their souls to the ...

John Lee Hooker: Mannish Boy

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, April 1992

MONDAY IS TRADITIONALLY a slow night in the music calendar, especially the first Monday in January in clubs like the Sweetwater, a small but chic ...

k.d. lang: k.d. lang: Ingénue

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 1992

SAME VANCOUVER studio, same production/writing team of lang, Greg Penny and Ben Mink, even the same pesky lower-case initials, but Absolute Torch And Twang was ...

Kevin Ayers: Kevin Can Wait

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 1992

He's tooled around for 20 years like a leisurely gentleman-hippie. Isn't it time Kevin Ayers got back on the case? ...

The Move: Where Are They Now?

Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, April 1992

'NIGHT OF FEAR', 'I Can Hear The Grass Grow', 'Flowers In The Rain', 'Fire Brigade' — The Move were Birmingham's beat-group and psychedelic sensation with ...

They Might Be Giants: Oddball

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, April 1992

JOHN FLANSBURGH of They Might Be Giants, that most droll of duos, albeit one with a serious undertow, is anxious. ...

Joe Cocker: All Together Now: Joe Cocker

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, May 1992

After two decades blurred by addiction, tragedy and confusion, Joe Cocker is back in the saddle and preparing to mount a well-timed comeback. "I just ...

Annie Lennox: No worries? That’s worrying...

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1992

Leaving Eurythmics has given her freedom. Becoming a mother has brought her happiness. So what’s Annie Lennox’s problem now? It’s writing songs, she tells Phil ...

Cher: The Beat Goes On

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, May 1992

...But for how much longer? Q accepts an invitation to Cher's bedroom and finds a woman who is troubled with doubt. "I'm not sure where ...

David Byrne, Talking Heads: David Byrne

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1992

For years the frontman of Talking Heads, David Byrne has emerged as a solo artist now – but his newest album shares the same off-beat ...

Def Leppard: Adrenalize (Bludgeon Riffola 510978)

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1992

NARROWA five-year wait! Layered guitars! Walls of harmony! It can only be Def Leppard... ...

Lou Reed: Re-issues

Review by Andy Gill, Q, May 1992

IT'S OFTEN OVERLOOKED in the face of the wholesale "decadent" mythology that has surrounded him since the early Velvet Underground, but of all the poets ...

Lyle Lovett: Erm…

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, May 1992

Confusion and uncertainty are Lyle Lovett's middle names. Is he country? Or is he blues, or gospel, or swing? What the hell, he decides, "They're ...

Manic Street Preachers: Pathetic…

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, May 1992

Well it is, isn't It? You expected to be confronted by a group of palace-torching, system-smashing situationist art guerillas and you wind up having a ...

The Fall: Mark E. Smith on Lyrics

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1992

Few people alive today can remember a time when there wasn't Mark E. Smith, fronting his band The Fall and snarling harsh, cryptic couplets at ...

Nick Cave: Titter Ye Not

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, May 1992

NICK CAVE SIGHS. He sighs a lot, as if weary of the world and all that's in it. ...

Salt 'N' Pepa

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1992

Salt is a member of New York rap act Salt 'N' Pepa, makers of hits such as 'Push It' and 'Let's Talk About Sex'. Of ...

Smokey Robinson

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1992

THERE ARE worse jobs than being Smokey Robinson. He's 52, with 2,000 songs down the pike, and still writing as easily as falling out of ...

Spiritualized: Lazer Guided Melodies

Review by Andy Gill, Q, May 1992

Spiritualized: Blissed out, numbly minimalist and distinctly unsweaty. ...

The Cure: Wish

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, May 1992

IT'S LATE AT NIGHT; a couple of echoey electric guitars are plinking and howling at each other across a doom-laden backbeat; a frail and young-sounding ...

Cabaret Voltaire's Record Collection

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, June 1992

Spookily delayed trumpets, primitive drum machines, bone-shaking bass, the original "bleep" record, loads of Germans and "Elvis gone wrong". Earplugs at the ready, Andy Gill ...

Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine: Carter USM: 1992 – The Love Album

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, June 1992

"I WAS born under a wandering star/In the second council house of Virgo/Forcibly removed from the belly of my ma/And raised on milk and Pernod". ...

Crosby Stills and Nash: Crosby, Stills & Nash: My, How You've Grown!

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, June 1992

On the physique front at least, Crosby, Stills & Nash have paid top whack for the years of drug abuse, gunplay and prison visits, but ...

INXS: Vast

Report and Interview by Andy Gill, Q, June 1992

THE CONCERT FOR LIFE: INXS, CROWDED HOUSE, DIESEL, JENNY MORRIS, RATCAT, YOTHU YINDI, DEF FX – CENTENNIAL PARK, SYDNEY, March 28, 1992 ...

Jimi Hendrix Remembered

Retrospective and Interview by David Sinclair, Q, June 1992

IF EVER A story has grown in the telling it is that of Jimi Hendrix. From a no-name sideman on the American chitlin circuit to ...

Kiss: Who You Calling Gay?

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, June 1992

Shameless image-mongers? Absolutely. Cynical marketing merchants? Good point. Purveyors of welterweight pop metal? Fair comment. But gay? "You’ll meet enough women who’ll tell you we’re ...

Sisters of Mercy: Some Girls Wander By Mistake

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, June 1992

"I LIKE to think it was the songs that made this band," Andrew Eldritch writes in the sleevenotes, "I know it wasn't." And as this ...

Tracy Chapman: Matters Of The Heart

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, June 1992

THE COMBINATION OF 'Fast Car' and the Mandela show transformed Tracy Chapman from an odd throwback to the era of folk protest into the voice ...

The Beatles, Ringo Starr: Who The Hell Does RINGO STARR Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, June 1992

He was The Lovable One who cracked his daft mop-top jokes for The Queen. The Fab With The Big Nose who you could take home ...

Abba: The New Originals

Report and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, July 1992

Australians impersonate them; Erasure cover their songs; U2 and Nirvana are on their case; and there's even a box set on the way. Martin Aston ...

Arthur Lee, Love: Arthur Lee: Right Church, Wrong Pew

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, July 1992

"I FEEL REAL PHONEY when my name is Bell." This may not mean very much to the younger generation, but for those who struggled through ...

Elton John, Bernie Taupin: Bernie Taupin: Him Indoors

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, July 1992

The 25-year You-wash-I'll-dry relationship between Elton John and lyric-writing househusband Bernie Taupin has never been happier. ...

CDs: Perfect Sound? Forever?

Report by Johnny Black, Q, July 1992

The sound of compact discs was hailed as a technical miracle. But is it? Classic albums get re-issued on CD and we're told they're better. ...

Crowded House: Don't Dream It's Over

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, July 1992

Last year, Crowded House played Britain and hardly anyone noticed. This time they've had to book Wembley Arena. Maybe the turnaround came just in time ...

Emerson Lake And Palmer: ELP: Cecile B de Mrs Mills

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, July 1992

They've called them "Progressive dinosaurs", "excessive musos", "self-gratifying bores". They've always called themselves ELP. "Probably one of the most misunderstood bands in the world," they ...

The Fatima Mansions: Fatima Mansions: Valhalla Avenue

Review by Mat Snow, Q, July 1992

IN THEIR CHOICE of support act in the UK, no one could accuse U2 of playing safe. ...

Orange Juice: Where Are They Now?

Profile by Martin Aston, Q, July 1992

AS SELF-EFFACING drummer Steven Daly said, Orange Juice were "the smartest band on the island at the time. We had no affiliation with anyone – ...

Prince: The Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia

Review and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, July 1992

"I DIDN'T really notice Prince till he walked through the schoolyard one day wearing just an open trench coat and a pair of underpants," says ...

The Beautiful South: Assembly Rooms, Derby

Live Review by Mat Snow, Q, July 1992

IN THE FINAL of the Barclays' Football League programme for the 1991-92 season, The Beautiful South have deviated from the script that identifies them as ...

The Nymphs: Here’s To… Me!

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, July 1992

Self-promotion can be such a draining business: what with weeing on record company executives' desks, administering on-stage blow jobs and showing up hours late for ...

Alien Sex Fiend, Bauhaus, The Cult, Fields Of The Nephilim, Play Dead, Specimen, The Virgin Prunes: Various Artists: Gothic Rock

Review by Mat Snow, Q, July 1992

Was goth really any more than wearing silly clothes and humming funereal dirges? ...

John Phillips, Wilson Phillips, Brian Wilson: Wilson Phillips: Have you finished in there?

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, July 1992

Meet Wilson Phillips: born to the Californian rock aristocracy, raised amid craziness and emotional undernourishment, writing sad songs to parents who were never "there for ...

The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: Brian Wilson: Wouldn't It Be Nice - My Own Story

Book Review by Tom Hibbert, Q, August 1992

IT IS HARD TO IMAGINE Brian Wilson, inspired composer of surfing symphonies and divine pop, writing anything as tabloidesque as: "I was a zonked-out zombie, ...

Was (Not Was): David Was' Top Ten

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, August 1992

David Was of Was (Not Was) invites us into his lovely garage. Much of his collection stems from an earlier career as a jazz writer: ...

Elton John: The One

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1992

Elton John returns with one great song, a few deft touches and some stodge. ...

Elvis Presley: The King Of Rock'n'Roll: The Complete '50s Masters

Review by Mat Snow, Q, August 1992

FROM US postage stamps to academic treatises like Greil Marcus's Dead Elvis which ponders how a rock singer ends up as apple-pie as Abe Lincoln, ...

Just a Thought…Whatever Happened To New Age Music?

Comment by Lloyd Bradley, Q, August 1992

Dreamy celestial soundscapes. Tinkly cosmic meditations Worryingly little public interest...Is the music of the future becoming a thing of the past? ...

Marc Almond: The Innocent Exhibitionist

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1992

His search for inner fulfillment took him to places that respectable folk would sooner not know about. Now Marc Almond has decided where he truly ...

Prefab Sprout: A Life Of Surprises: The Best Of

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, August 1992

Prefab Sprout: whatever happened to great songs? ...

Adam & The Ants: Adam And The Ants: Where Are They Now?

Profile by Martin Aston, Q, September 1992

"DON'T WORRY – HE'LL soon be a hairdresser in North Finchley." So it was that, with Malcolm McLaren's unprophetic words as encouragement, the original Ants ...

Betty Boo: Faders On Stun

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1992

LOCATED IN one of the drearier fringes of the City of London, Strongroom Studios offers an oasis of cool, high-tech sheen. The main studio gleams ...

Billy Mackenzie: Outernational (Circa CIR 22)

Review by Martin Aston, Q, September 1992

THE ONE asset Billy MacKenzie hasn't lost sight of in his wayward career is that delicious voice — a sweeter impression of the quasi-operatic croon ...

Bruce Springsteen: Charles R. Cross: Backstreets and Marc Eliot: Down Thunder Road

Book Review by David Sinclair, Q, September 1992

BACKSTREETS IS THE AMERICAN quarterly fanzine whose editors maintain a painstaking and uncritical log of the life of Bruce Springsteen. First published in November 1989, ...

Henry Rollins: Don't Get Even, Get Mad

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1992

He wants to kill policemen. He is obsessed by his father. He dosen't have a girlfriend and his best friend is dead. "Either I write ...

INXS: Welcome To Wherever You Are

Review by David Sinclair, Q, September 1992

NOW 15 years old, INXS have made remarkably little go a long way. ...

Lindsey Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac: Lindsey Buckingham: Your Money or Your Wife!

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1992

It was a real-life adult farce: drinks and shrinks, drugs and deceit, marital breakdowns and "lifestyle-problems", lies and lunacy. Then Lindsey Buckingham quit Fleetwood Mac. ...

Matthew Sweet: Sneaky…

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1992

Has Matthew Sweet quietly gone and made one of the best rock albums of the year? ...

Michael Jackson: Normal Rules Do Not Apply

Report by Lloyd Bradley, Q, September 1992

Weird as ever but somehow less intriguing than before, the planet Michael Jackson still spins in its own orbit. His tour arrives in Britain this ...

Morrissey: Ooh I Say!

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, September 1992

The lighter side of football violence. The death of pop music. Getting the urge for sex. Being racist. The TV star who is "a pig ...

Orange Juice: The Best Of

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1992

THE GUINNESS BOOK Of British Hit Singles offers no less than nine entries for Orange Juice, beginning in November 1981, with their cover of Al ...

Sonic Youth: Dirty

Review by Mat Snow, Q, September 1992

NOW IN their 30s, this band are no longer quite so youthful as when they formed 11 years ago in New York, yet they remain ...

Stevie Wonder: CD Reissues

Review by Andy Gill, Q, September 1992

Stevie Wonder reissued: from 12-Year-Old-Genius to I Just Called To Say I Love You. ...

What's Your Tipple?

Guide by Tom Hibbert, Q, September 1992

Music and drugs have always been promiscuously compatible bedfellows. How many of the great albums would exist had their creators not been "shedded" at the ...

Who the hell does GARRY BUSHELL think he is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, September 1992

Here he comes, Mr Lager Top, with his shining nose and monstrous grin and unsupportable beard, talking about "poofs" and "Oi!" and "invalidated Socialism" and ...

Bonzo Dog Band: Cornology

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, October 1992

AH YES, THE BONZOS. Laugh? Uh. Well, did we? When an expensive CD three-pack of all their albums (plus bits) demands that the critical cobwebs ...

Extreme

Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, October 1992

"I HATE IT, I hate it, I hate it," says Nuno Bettencourt, nodding at the 48-track mixing console of the New River Studio, Fort Lauderdale, ...

Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Where Are They Now?

Profile by Martin Aston, Q, October 1992

THERE ARE FEWER more meteoric sagas than that of Liverpool's Frankie Goes To Hollywood – from almost complete obscurity to the hottest, and the most ...

James Carr: The Lost Voice Of Soul

Report and Interview by Robert Gordon, Q, October 1992

WHEN IT WAS BUILT IN THE 1950s, Memphis's Mid South Building was probably stylish and sleek. Today, the blocky turquoise exterior pales next to the ...

Mike Oldfield

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, October 1992

THE ENTRANCE to the grounds is classic old Hollywood style, with a phone you have to call from to get someone to operate the remote-controlled ...

Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells II

Review by Mat Snow, Q, October 1992

IN 1973, THE 49-minute progressive-rock classic Tubular Bells not only seeded the Virgin empire by selling 16 million copies but also set a benchmark of ...

R.E.M.: REM

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, October 1992

THE LAST RESORT is a civilised eatery offering a wide selection of imported beers in what must surely be – after Asbury Park, New Jersey ...

Sub Pop: Go Forth And Grunge

Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, October 1992

SEATTLE, IN the top left-hand corner of America, is famous for its once-thriving post-war aerospace industry, for its breweries and coffee, pine forests and clean ...

Television: One Big Happy Family…

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, October 1992

...with child abuse, divorce and incest. Television can't agree why they split up and now they can't work out if they've re-formed. "We're still the ...

The Police: Greatest Hits

Review by David Sinclair, Q, October 1992

"ALL SONGS WRITTEN by Sting", it says under the 16 titles on Greatest Hits – 15 of them Top 20 hits, five of them Number ...

Tom Waits: Bone Machine

Review by Andy Gill, Q, October 1992

ON HIS EARLIEST albums, piano was the definitive Tom Waits instrument, its chords illuminated only by the dimmest of nightclub spotlights, filtered through a tumbler ...

Kylie Minogue: Who The Hell Does Kylie Minogue Think She Is?

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, October 1992

Where is she now, our little smiley gonk in primary colours? She became a saucy siren with eyes that said Come closer, a backside that ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: Songs For Freedom

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1992

WHEN LITTLE RICHARD stood up at his piano and hollered 'Tutti Frutti', he sounded like a man who'd just broken out of prison. ...

Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones: Keith Richards

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, November 1992

IN THE MIDDLE of the night, all blocks in mid-Manhattan offer a blank facade. But behind one particular stout steel door lurks a true temple ...

Neneh Cherry: What Is She Like?

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, November 1992

"Yo! Peace, darlin'!" Three years out of public view, Neneh Cherry returns this month with a rap/rock crossover record, 'Money Love', and an album that's ...

Peter Gabriel: Us

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, November 1992

THE '80S BOOM IN world music generated much tourism but comparatively few settlers: quick excursions into Township jive, brief flirtations with hot Latin rhythms, the ...

Prince and The New Power Generation: 0{+>

Review by David Sinclair, Q, November 1992

APPARENTLY UNAFFECTED by his elevation to executive status at Warner Brothers Records, Prince bounces back with yet another 75 minutes' worth of music celebrating his ...

R.E.M.: Automatic For The People

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1992

MILLIONS HAVE BEEN waiting on the new R.E.M. album, and almost none of them is barmy. ...

R.E.M.: Lyrically Dark, Musically Oddball

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, November 1992

R.E.M.'s new album, Automatic For The People, is released this month. Here, the group dissect the LP, track by track...hang on, Automatic For The People? ...

Roger Waters: Who the hell does he think he is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, November 1992

"SO HOW'S SYD these days?" ...

The Christians: Blood On The Tracks

Report and Interview by Andy Gill, Q, November 1992

Song-sequencing is a small yet significant element of what experts call "the album-making process". Could Revolver have started with anything other than 'Taxman?' Should 'Madame ...

The Orb: Mystic Pizza

Report and Interview by Andy Gill, Q, November 1992

They're cooking up something deeply strange in the sound kitchen. The Orb explore your inner space with endless sonic dreamscapes that suggest a planet where ...

The Sex Pistols: Kiss This

Review by Mat Snow, Q, November 1992

NEARLY 15 YEARS after John Lydon quit the Sex Pistols, effectively ending them bar a few final pranks, his subsequent band, PiL, find themselves no ...

Tribute bands: Phonies!

Report and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, November 1992

Weird but true. The average unknown band will get more work and better money by pretending to be someone famous than by being themselves. Martin ...

Bob Dylan: Acoustic/Good As I Been To You

Review by Mat Snow, Q, December 1992

PERHAPS AN even bigger shock than his 1965 electrification, in 1992 Dylan goes acoustic. And whereas back in '65 the spokesman for his generation was ...

George Clinton: Funkadelic: Doctor Funkenstein, I Presume

Report and Interview by Andy Gill, Q, December 1992

"Free your ass," he once advised the world, "and your mind will follow." Another song of his explored the fear of being eaten by a ...

Hank Marvin, The Shadows: Hank Marvin: The King Of Twang

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, December 1992

Raise your glasses to Hank B. Marvin: more than mere rhyming slang. ...

Happy Mondays: That Monday Mourning Feeling

Report and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, December 1992

FOR NO IMMEDIATELY discernible reason, Shaun Ryder is attempting to perform a party trick and failing miserably. He is trying to flick a cigarette (one ...

Jimi Hendrix: Calling Long Distance and The Ultimate Experience

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1992

THERE ARE RECKONED to have been only six Hendrix albums authorised by the artist himself, but he has been so ruthlessly repackaged, reassembled, re-issued and ...

Madonna: Erotica

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1992

WEIRD. ALMOST EVERY blushful purchaser will have recently caught the artist in flagrante, bollock, so to speak, naked. ...

Megadeth

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, December 1992

ON A TWISTY MOUNTAIN ROAD ABOUT 25 miles outside Toulon, another mad bastard is laying his life on the line, taking his bike way over ...

Neil Young: Harvest Moon

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, December 1992

TRUST THAT CONTRARY old buzzard Neil Young to come up with something as cunning and contrary as this "sequel" to 1972's Harvest, his biggest-selling record ...

Prince: Crazy Place, Crazy Guy

Report by Mat Snow, Q, December 1992

LIKE SO MUCH in life, the reality of Paisley Park proves a little different from the ad. Where is the laughing girl on the see-saw ...

Roy Harper

Profile and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, December 1992

FROM SOMEWHERE within the packed and sweaty audience at Whelan's, small and quaint and antique club in a Dublin back street, a projectile comes, wings ...

Pink Floyd: Storm Thorgerson: Daily Departures From Reality

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, December 1992

"I LIKE PICTURES that don't necessarily have an explanation off pat," Storm Thorgerson says of the beguiling, often outlandish record sleeves that cemented the ...

Tasmin Archer: Stop The World, I Want To Get Off

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, December 1992

Your very first record has just gone to Number 1. Tonight you're on Top Of The Pops for the third time in a month. The ...

13th Floor Elevators: Easter Everywhere

Review by Mat Snow, Q, 1993

THE SECOND INSTALMENT of Decal's noble policy of reissuing all four 13th Floor Elevators albums finds the influence of San Francisco (whose Avalon Ballroom they ...

Jimi Hendrix: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced?/ Axis: Bold As Love/ Electric Ladyland

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1993

THESE DIGITAL remasters are diamonds in the tottering junkpile of Hendrix re-releases and cutting-room floor detritus. Augmented by both sides of the first three singles ...

George Michael: D.I.V.O.R.C.E.

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 1993

George Michael vs. Sony: "We do not speak the same language." ...

Ian Dury: The Bus Driver's Prayer & Other Stories (Demon Fiend)

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 1993

"I TOOK a sudden notion/To go down to the ocean", Ian Dury imparts in 'Poo-Poo In The Prawn'. ...

Leonard Cohen: The Future (Columbia)

Review by Andy Gill, Q, January 1993

THE PROJECT bears a logo, or more accurately a sort of heraldic device, comprising hummingbird, heart and handcuffs: is this how Leonard Cohen views the ...

Neil Young: Got A Problem Pal?

Interview by David Sinclair, Q, January 1993

Neil Young is back with a new LP and an all-consuming grievance. Lately, something has been getting the old goat's goat like nothing before. That ...

Nirvana: Incesticide (Geffen)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, January 1993

With the colossal success of Nevermind, Nirvana brought grunge to the masses, a phenomenon which has radicalised "mainstream" rock across the board. ...

Pink Floyd: Shine On (EMI)

Review by Mat Snow, Q, January 1993

IT HAD to happen. Rock's back catalogue has been repackaged so often from so many angles that sooner or later the selling point would become ...

Sinead O'Connor: Crazy Baldhead

Comment by Adrian Deevoy, Q, January 1993

IT'S A PHILOSOPHICAL agenda that would make David Icke vibrate with envy. Consider Sinead O'Connor's current take on the state of play: 96 per cent ...

Status Quo: Who the Hell do Status Quo think they are?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, January 1993

"She wears denim wherever she goes/Says she's gonna get some records by the Status Quo..." 'The Concept', Teenage Fanclub, 1991 ...

B.B. King: Uneasy Lies The Head That Wears The Crown

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, February 1993

From the no-horse town of Ita Bena, Mississippi, to the planet's most prestigious culture palaces, Riley "Blues Boy" King has spent half a century as ...

Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music: Bryan Ferry: My Indecision Is Final…

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, February 1993

Once he was the prolific matinee idol of spaceglam, the original Earl Of Suave and the king of luxuriously lined lovelessness. Now Bryan Ferry takes ...

Factory Records: Hacienda that?

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1993

THE LATEST Manchester T-shirt says "Hacienda that". But is it? After the great indie label's collapse under debts of more than £2 million in late ...

Jesus Jones: Perverse (Food)

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1993

PERVERSE COULD be the sound of tomorrow today, if it wasn't so full of yesterdays. Not surprising when the sleeve of Jesus Jones's debut, Liquidizer, ...

Joan Baez: Play Me Backwards (Virgin)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, February 1993

WHAT EXACTLY is the most dignified role for the faded activist folk singer who wakes one morning to find herself five years older than the ...

The Pogues, Shane MacGowan: Shane MacGowan: Crash Course To Oblivion

Report and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, February 1993

Cancel the hearses! Desist with the obituaries! For Shane MacGowan lives, in spite of a heroic chemical intake and his ownership of the Western world's ...

The The: Dusk (Epic)

Review by Mat Snow, Q, February 1993

MATT JOHNSON, principal boy of The The, is 31 going on 17, a perennial quester after spiritual fulfilment and soul's ease. In his last two ...

Ice Cube: Corporate Raider

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1993

Yikes! Ice Cube is America's most controversial (dead heat with Ice-T) and successful rapper, recently blasting good ole Garth Brooks off the top of the ...

Lenny Kravitz: Come in, sit down, skin up…

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, March 1993

Enter, why don't you, Lenny Kravitz's psychedelically appointed freak pad, where herbular smells prevail, outdoor footwear is outlawed and co-habitees number willowy blondes and cantankerous ...

Love: Comes In Colours (Raven)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1993

Long before psychedelic rock meant meandering guitar solos drifting peacefully towards nirvana or oblivion, there was Love. ...

Mick Jagger: Wandering Spirit (Atlantic)

Review by Mat Snow, Q, March 1993

A GLAMOROUS grandad of 49, no one in rock'n'roll is more tightly corsetted than Mick Jagger. His iron determination to keep lean and mean, to ...

The Auteurs: New Wave (Hut Hut)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, March 1993

A NAME that the nation's tastemakers have been looking up in their dictionaries and dropping in the right circles for, oh, weeks. ...

Where Are They Now? Pan's People

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, March 1993

BEFORE POP video, before the miscegenetic raunch of Hot Gossip, before we knew better, there was Pan's People. They were Top Of The Pops' resident ...

Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones: Who The Hell Does Mick Jagger Think He Is?

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, March 1993

MICK WAS so out of it that I could tell the waiters were scared he'd pass out. His head was so far back and he ...

Alice In Chains: Dearly Beloved

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, April 1993

ALMOST TWO years ago to the very day, Seattle's Alice In Chains supported Megadeth here in Berlin's Neu Welt club on a first, rather pointless ...

David Bowie: Bowie Knifed: Backstage Passes: Life On The Wild Side With David Bowie by Angela Bowie with Patrick Carr

Book Review by Andy Gill, Q, April 1993

The ex-wife speaks: David Bowie was an alien, had nothing to do with his own success and was no Cherry Vanilla. ...

Depeche Mode: Songs of Faith and Devotion

Review by Andy Gill, Q, April 1993

THEIR LAST album, Violator, was a quantum leap over Depeche Mode's previous output, as if the live-double compilation, 101, had purged their past. Buoyed by ...

David Coverdale, Jimmy Page: Jimmy Page and David Coverdale: Who’d Have Thought…?

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 1993

... thought, that is, that the devil devotee doyen of decibel dementia (that's Jimmy Page) and the python-powered potentate of poodle rock, David Coverdale, could, ...

Johnny Cash: The Man in Blackpool

Report by Mick Houghton, Q, April 1993

JOHN R. CASH is somewhat bemused by questions about Butlin's – or Bognor come to that. He's between sets at Southcoast World (Butlin's, Bognor to ...

k.d. lang: k.d. Sings The Blues

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, April 1993

She’s a genre-hopping pantheist, Lesbian, vegetarian, big-mouthed aromatherapist. In big boots. Yet despite unpromising ingredients, k.d. lang’s multi-layered cake continues to rise quite beautifully and ...

Pink Floyd: 25 Million Gloomy Punters Can't Be Wrong

Retrospective and Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, April 1993

Right now, someone, somewhere on this planet is playing Dark Side Of The Moon. Released 20 years ago this month, its mixture of blues and ...

Spin Doctors: Pocket Full Of Kryptonite (Epic)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, April 1993

Spin Doctors must be the first group in recent memory to sell a million records and get their faces on the cover of Rolling Stone ...

David Bowie: Black Tie White Noise

Review by David Sinclair, Q, May 1993

THE 1980S WAS not a happy decade for David Bowie. ...

Paul Weller: Fibrous — Paul Weller: The Town And Country Club, London

Live Review by Mat Snow, Q, May 1993

Songs in the key of Angst Minor. ...

Happy Mondays: It’ll End In Tears…

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1993

IT WAS KENTUCKY Fried Chicken that did for the Happy Mondays, according to eye-witness accounts. The band were all foregathered at EMI's London HQ with ...

Ice-T: Home Invasion (Virgin/Rhyme Syndicate)

Review by Andy Gill, Q, May 1993

ICE-T'S FIFTH album – his first post-riot record and, more importantly, his first following the 'Cop Killer' brouhaha and his subsequent departure from Sire – ...

Jonathan Richman: The Man Who Hates Sitting Down

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, May 1993

OCCUPANTS OF automobiles cruising the road betwixt the crumbling house of Margaret Mitchell (she who wrote Gone With The Wind) and the shiny tower of ...

Kenny G: No Accounting For Taste

Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, May 1993

AS PART of last year's campaign, Bill Clinton appeared on MTV's Rock The Vote, taking questions from a studio full of young electors. ...

New Order: Smile

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, May 1993

BARNEY SUMNER slips snugly into line between his three chums. As one, they turn to face the camera. But Barney's face bears the pained expression ...

P.J. Proby: Where Is He Now?

Report by Martin Aston, Q, May 1993

AH, THAT FRINGE, and the velvet bow around the ponytail, and the impossibly tight trousers with the suspiciously vulnerable seams. He once warbled his way ...

Suede: Suede (Nude)

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, May 1993

BEFORE ALL this took off, Brett Anderson, Suede's 25-year-old singer, would gloomily tick off each passing birthday as another year gone without his appearing on ...

Vince Power: Power, Corruption and Lies?

Profile and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1993

Once, he ran a junk shop; now Vince Power's a powerful music impresario. But last month's acquisition of London's Town & Country Club has led ...

World Party: Bang! (Ensign Chen)

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1993

Bang! is Karl Wallinger's Victor Meldrew album. Sequestered in a garret for two years since Goodbye Jumbo, he shuffles blinking into the daylight to enquire, ...

Donald Fagen, Steely Dan: Donald Fagen: Back To Bed For Another 11 Years Then

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, June 1993

VARIOUSLY JET-LAGGED and eyeing each other guardedly from behind their paper plates and coffee cups, half a dozen representatives of the world's rock press settle ...

Paul Westerberg, The Replacements: Paul Westerberg: The Agony Aunt Of Grunge

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, June 1993

MID-APRIL in Minneapolis. This weather is serious business. It's bitterly cold. Bob Mould, now of the mighty Sugar but then of the mighty Hüsker Dü, ...

PJ Harvey: Rid Of Me (Island)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, June 1993

IT STARTS with the musical equivalent of an itch. A guitar plonks away softly, a light clattery drum sound brushes against the beat, and eventually ...

Terence Trent D'Arby: Symphony Or Damn: The Tension Inside The Sweetness (Columbia)

Review by Mat Snow, Q, June 1993

SO MUCH for "that difficult third album". Being a precocious kind of guy, Terence Trent D'Arby cleared that hurdle one album early, 1989's Neither Fish ...

Terence Trent D'Arby: 'I've Always Said An Artist Should Have His Heart In One Hand And His Nuts In The Other.'

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, June 1993

From nowhere, his first LP sold like thermonuclear cakes and he became the most sexy, mouthy, loppy, self-promoting star in pop. Then his second album ...

Donald Fagen: Kamakiriad (Warner Bros.)

Review by Mat Snow, Q, July 1993

KAMAKIRIAD (Japanese for "insect" but used in this case as a futuristic steam-driven car with its own vegetable garden) tells of a journey, as much ...

Charles & Eddie, En Vogue: Harmony Singing: You Have A Lovely Singing Voice

Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, July 1993

Three years ago it had all but disappeared beneath the deluge of hard rap and technological beats. Now, from the choreographed trouser arousal of En ...

Peter Gabriel: Gawp Factor Ten

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, July 1993

NOBODY LIKES being stuck inside one of those old red telephone boxes with a suspect handset and Peter Gabriel is clearly not a happy man. ...

The Auteurs: San Francisco Bay Blues

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, July 1993

They came, they saw, they left. The Auteurs' maiden voyage to the Americas left more than a little to be desired. "Next time," they warn ...

The Cure: How Did This Get To Be A Superstar?

Profile and Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, July 1993

Who are you calling laughable, dull, unattractive, doleful, po-faced, lazy and badly attired? He forgot gloomy and morbid, but you get the picture. Despite a ...

Curtis Mayfield: The Original Superfly Guy

Interview by Robert Gordon, Q, July 1993

Curtis Mayfield is a full-scale genius. First with the Impressions, and afterwards with his solo stuff, he defined, then redefined, the sound of black America. ...

Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground: Party On, Dudes!

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, July 1993

The kinky boots and whips have gone; so have the "interesting" light shows and the medicinal heroin. But, yes, The Velvet Underground — the most ...

Willie Nelson: Cheer Up, It Might Never Happen

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1993

…Er, unfortunately it already has. Three failed marriages, a son's suicide, his house burning down — and that's before the small matter of a $16.7 ...

Aimee Mann: Mann Overboard!

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, August 1993

THE ONLY 1980s musician with a teased hairdo who was actually forgiven for it, Aimee Mann started the 1990s staring up from the dumper. ...

Crowded House: Crowded House OBE

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1993

WHAT A QUEER old month it's been for past and present members of Crowded House. In June they visited the UK to sequence their album ...

Blondie, Debbie Harry: Debbie Harry: Three Times A Lady

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, August 1993

DATELINE: MAY 28, 1977. There she stood, growling, upon the stage of the Hammersmith Odeon with her skinny-tied boys around her. ...

INXS: Welcome To Our New Direction

Report and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, August 1993

In a fully comprehensive roots-and-reality reacquaintance exercise, INXS are nostalgically experiencing the sights, the sounds, the smells of their earliest days in a series of ...

Dexys Midnight Runners: Kevin Rowland & Dexy’s Midnight Runners: This Is My Confession

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1993

Meet Kevin Rowland, famously difficult leader of Dexy’s Midnight Runners, where the protestant work ethic collided with catholic guilt and violins combined with brass to ...

Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa: Patti Scialfa: Red-Headed Woman

Profile and Interview by Ian Birch, Q, August 1993

ABOUT AN HOUR and a half from New York going south down the New Jersey Turnpike and then east on the Garden State Parkway is ...

Paul Rodgers: Muddy Waters Blues (Victory)

Review by Mat Snow, Q, August 1993

Whoever declared that new art is created when somebody gets old art wrong may well have had blues-rock in mind. ...

PJ Harvey: Sun, Sea, Sand And Sex!

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1993

And very nice too, thanks, apart from the sex, which in the warped world of PJ Harvey is an anguished, violent, even blood-spattered activity. Set ...

Arthur Brown: The Original Torch Singer

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, September 1993

It's not the most promising of CVs – "God of Hellfire; sets hair alight; slightly bonkers" – but for a few short years it did ...

Duran Duran: The Amazing Lazarus Brothers

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1993

"I MASTURBATE to Duran Duran videos," announced Andy Warhol in his twilight days. Should one's speculations incline in that direction, one wonders whether the peroxide-periwigged ...

Manic Street Preachers: Academy, Manchester

Live Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, September 1993

SULTRY: Manic Street Preachers neither stale nor cartoon punks. ...

The Beach Boys: Candy Striped Avenger

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, September 1993

Once, turban-topped, he trod the path to inner contentment; but now, baseball-hatted and belligerent, Beach Boy Mike Love is fighting mad, especially at his cousin ...

The Proclaimers: Eight Eyes, One Vision

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, September 1993

The Proclaimers: Top 10 in America after four years in the wilderness. ...

The Verve: Touched I'm Sure

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, September 1993

"ER, A PINT of lager, did you say?" The barmaid is distracted. She has every right to be. Her current customer cuts rather a visual ...

U2: I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night

Report and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, September 1993

It seemed like such a good idea at the time: serenading Axl Rose; sleeping in an igloo; drinking the swimming pool; licking the promoter; blowing ...

UB40: Tomorrow People

Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, September 1993

After 35 hit singles and 13 big-selling Lps, UB40's secret is out – they're a load of idle layabouts! Their new album is making the ...

Al Green: Don't Look Back (RCA)

Review by Andy Gill, Q, October 1993

When Al Green first recorded with Willie Mitchell in 1970, his cover of The Temptations' 'I Can't Get Next To You' launched his career as ...

Björk Gudmundsdottir's Record Collection

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, October 1993

DOWN THE concrete steps, round the back and to the left, you'll find Björk Gudmundsdottir's comfortably compact and bijou new residence, on the cusp of ...

Janis Ian: Protest and Survive

Profile and Interview by Andy Gill, Q, October 1993

AT THE age of 42, Janis Ian is making a comeback (her second, or is it third?), which would be unexceptional save for the fact ...

Nirvana: Kurt Cobain: King Of Pain

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, October 1993

On the eve of the release of In Utero, the hungrily-anticipated successor to their planet-rogering Nevermind, Q meets Nirvana and delves into Kurt Cobain's curious ...

Paul Weller: We All Make Mistakes

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, October 1993

He split Britain's most loyally supported rock band to form a collective specializing in weedy white sould and ersatz jazz. He created "a Motown for ...

The Cure: Show (Fiction)

Review by Mat Snow, Q, October 1993

The Cure are a cult band much as Scientology is a cult religion: their adherents are legion and the degree of cultist identification is intense. ...

Brian Eno: Towards An Understanding of Pop Past and Present

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, November 1993

IN THE BIG room at Peter Gabriel's Real World studio down in Box, Wiltshire, Brian Eno holds court at an informal workshop involving himself and ...

Rage Against the Machine: Cross: Rage Against The Machine: Élysée Montmartre, Paris

Live Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, November 1993

Grrrr! It's Rage Against The Machine. ...

The Lemonheads: Evan Dando: Just Say No… Kinda

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, November 1993

A respectful silence, please, for Evan Dando, Lemonhead-in-chief and arguably the most generously gifted songwriter of his generation: "I'd like to impart this message to ...

I Fought The Law…

Guide by Mat Snow, Johnny Black, Q, November 1993

... and the law, being an all-powerful customer, usually won. Johnny Black and Mat Snow investigate the link between the crazy, hot-headed outlaws of rock ...

Kate Bush: The Red Shoes (EMI)

Review by Andy Gill, Q, November 1993

INITIALLY SOMEWHAT shrill and unimpressive, The Red Shoes improves immeasurably after repeated plays over a long period of time, gaining a solidity at odds with ...

Pearl Jam: 'You, My Son, Are Weird!'

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, November 1993

They’ve a singer, Eddie Vedder, who makes Lou Reed look like a happy-go-lucky bloke; they’re vilified in the press and manically suspicious of The Biz. ...

Pet Shop Boys: Very (Parlophone)

Review by Mat Snow, Q, November 1993

NEXT YEAR Neil Tennant celebrates both his 40th birthday and the tenth anniversary of the first Pet Shop Boys record, 'West End Girls'. Chances are ...

The Lemonheads: Come On Feel The Lemonheads (Atlantic)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, November 1993

IT SEEMS a quaint idea now, but there was a time when being a "serious" rock band didn't necessarily mean carting a ton of attitude ...

The Police: Oh, How We Laughed!

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, November 1993

They were one big happy family. They were brothers by different parents. They were all for one and one for all. Except they weren't. The ...

George Michael Vs Sony: This Time It's Personal

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1993

DOWN AT THE High Court, as Q went to press, the case of George Michael versus Sony was prodigiously well-paid business as usual for the ...

k.d. lang: Even Cowgirls Get The Blues (WEA 9362 454 332)

Review by Sid Griffin, Q, December 1993

k.d. lang: defining the word sublime. ...

Kate Bush: Little Miss Can't Be Wrong

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, December 1993

She might be a self-confessed power head, prone to control freakery and studio-hermitdom and a total stranger to the nightclub dancefloor... "bit I'm never grumpy, ...

Phil Collins: Both Sides

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1993

BASICALLY, UNCOOL, £12-million-a-year, Tory-endorsing Phil Collins is good on Love, not much cop on Life. So although, for reasons unknown, the totally solo Both Sides ...

Stereo MCs: If Bob Marley Came To Nottingham

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, December 1993

"ARE YOU there, Milwaukee?" enquires a ghostly but undoubtedly English voice. It is around seven o'clock in the evening at the Marcus Amphitheatre in Milwaukee ...

Baker Bruce Moore: BBM: Grumpy Old Men

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1994

Call it the half-fat Cream reunion at your peril, mention old boy Eric if you dare, but BBM does share some of the legendary stroppiness ...

Public Enemy: Muse Sick N Hour Mess Age

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, 1994

BY RIGHTS, THEY should be out of here. Hip hop may be black folks’ news channel, as Chuck D likes to point out, but today’s ...

Chris Rea Goes Racing

Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, January 1994

Adopt Murray Walker voice: "Aaahnd aaas Nigel Mansell attempts radical chassis reshaping at Starkey's Bridge, whooo's this bringing up the rear?" It's Chris Rea, actually, ...

Elvis Costello: Crimes and Misdemeanours: Elvis Costello

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, January 1994

Elvis Costello stands accused: of committing three grievously over-egged albums; of conspiring with classical quartets; of proceeding in a soundtrackular direction; of masterminding The Wendy ...

Half Man Half Biscuit: Lads, I Feel Another Title Coming On…

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, January 1994

EMERGING FROM the dark of the Mersey tunnel into the almost dark of autumn in Birkenhead, the first thing the visitor sees are the giant ...

Ice Cube: Lethal Injection (Island)

Review by Andy Gill, Q, January 1994

CUBE'S LATEST missive from the front line of black resentment opens with a homicidal racist gag, Dr Ice Cube getting his patient Mr White to ...

Randy Newman

Comment by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1994

Randy Newman does not suffer fools gladly but surely he is currently pushing a point a little too far. ...

Alice In Chains: Jar Of Flies/Sap (Columbia 47571314)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, February 1994

SUFFOCATING Alice In Chains: a most serious business. ...

Crowded House: The Fine Art of Surfacing

Report and Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, February 1994

SATURDAY NIGHT in Glasgow, traditionally the comic's most difficult audience, and it's time to give a big hand to two young fellows with a bright ...

Frank Zappa, The Mothers Of Invention: Frank Zappa: A Real Mother

Obituary by Andy Gill, Q, February 1994

Francis Vincent Zappa II, 1940-1993 ...

ZZ Top: Antenna

Review by David Sinclair, Q, February 1994

THE LONGEST-RUNNING trio in rock, ZZ Top come down from the hills less frequently these days, yet they remain blithely impervious to the ravages of ...

Aphex Twin: Armed and Fairly Dangerous

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, March 1994

AND BY their conspicuous celebrity consumption you shall know them. When Rick Wakeman entered rock's upper echelon, he armed himself with a fleet of Rolls-Royces. ...

The Fugs: F*** Art, Let's Levitate The Pentagon

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, March 1994

DECEMBER 16, 1965. A press conference is under way at Columbia Studios, Los Angeles. Bob Dylan is holding court. One reporter throws a question: "What ...

Tori Amos: Under The Pink (Atlantic)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1994

THESE HAVE not been good years for distinctive new voices who have to swiftly follow their groundbreaking debuts with that crucial sophomore outing. ...

Mayhem: Black Metal: Bloody Hell!

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 1994

Of course, it's all a right old laugh, Death Metal, isn't it? But in the long Scandinavian nights, some people have failed to see the ...

Elvis Costello: Brutal Youth

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, April 1994

A PERFORMER as singular as Elvis Costello invites any number of critical perspectives and, needless to say, few gain his approval. Still, here's one. Through ...

Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Holly Johnson: Holly Johnson: A Life Of Johnson

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, April 1994

Diagnosed as suffering from an AIDS-related illness, Holly Johnson decided to write his life story before the tabloids did it for him. ...

Level 42: The Most Famous Thumb in Rock

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, April 1994

NOW WHO would live in a house like this? one thinks, as the taxi traverses the length of the drive and passes between the ornamental ...

Morrissey: Hello, Cruel World

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, April 1994

Goodbye, big-bloused flower-fondler; cheerio, depressed devotee of deathly doom; toodle-oo teetotal football-fearing perma-hermit; we'll sithee, bespectacled Billy NoMates. At 34, Morrissey is no longer the ...

Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Doggy Dogg: A Pussycat?

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, April 1994

Who's a busy homeboy then? His CV already bulges with a prison sentence, a US Number 1 LP and a still-fresh murder charge. Now, gangster ...

The Proclaimers: Hit The Highway (Chrysalis)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, April 1994

DEF LEPPARD, Tears For Fears, even The Stone Roses have their excuses. After all, success breeds its own insecurities and what's a year or two ...

The Beatles: Backbeat: A Bit Of Slap And A Wig

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, May 1994

Backbeat, the much-trumpeted, unauthorised Beatles biopic with the grunge-pedigree soundtrack, est arrivé. It revolves around the tragic story of original bassist Stu Sutcliffe, who died ...

Chaka Demus and Pliers: The Rolls Royce of Ragga

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, May 1994

"ANY QUESTIONS then?" ...

The Beatles, Bob Dylan: Eyewitness: Dylan Turns The Beatles On To Dope

Essay by Al Aronowitz, Q, May 1994

History ahoy! In the second of our new series, journalist Al Aronowitz recalls introducing Bob Dylan to The Beatles and how His Bobness turned the ...

Pink Floyd: The Division Bell (EMI)

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1994

WHAT PINK Floyd are telling the world in official communiques – and presumably telling themselves – is that their first new album since 1987's A ...

Tori Amos, Björk, PJ Harvey: PJ Harvey, Björk, and Tori Amos: Hips. Lips. Tits. Power.

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, May 1994

Well, would you spill their pint? In the last 18 months, Polly Harvey, Björk, and Tori Amos have rogered the charts with their special brew ...

George Clinton, Primal Scream: Primal Scream and George Clinton: You're My Best Mate You Are

Report by Stuart Maconie, Q, May 1994

FORTY SECOND Street. Outside, Manhattan shivers and cowers beneath a coverlet of snow and prepares for the next much-forecasted blizzard. It's minus 10. Worse, there's ...

Pulp

Profile and Interview by Andy Gill, Q, May 1994

POISED ON the brink of widespread success after nearly 14 years as linchpin of Sheffield glum-rock combo Pulp, Jarvis Cocker muses upon the long and ...

Senser: Stacked Up (Ultimate TOPP 008) ****

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, May 1994

FURIOUS Senser: they too can "do a Levellers". ...

Blur: Parklife

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, June 1994

TO USE the vernacular of our friends in the American therapy industry, today's music business is not "a nurturing environment". One might use the expression ...

Counting Crows

Interview by David Sinclair, Q, June 1994

ISN'T IT odd how some bands can carry on year after year, getting consistently good reviews, backed by major record company muscle, yet still end ...

David Ackles: Where Is He Now

Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, June 1994

"POPULAR MUSIC, in all its rich varieties, has milestones." So began the Sunday Times review of David Ackles's 1972 album, American Gothic, which compared the ...

Nirvana: Kurt Cobain: The Heartbreak Kid

Overview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, June 1994

KURT COBAIN was a great success. He wrote, he sang, he played lead guitar for the new band of the '90s. He made millions of ...

Mariah Carey

Profile and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, June 1994

SHE HAD never played a gig in her life before and now she was about to make her debut in front of 15,000 people at ...

The Clash: Clash on Broadway (Legacy)

Review by Tom Hibbert, Q, June 1994

DID YOU know that The Clash's song, 'Career Opportunities', was written whilst the band feasted on potato croquettes from Kentucky Fried Chicken? ...

John Lydon, The Sex Pistols: Who the Hell Does John Lydon Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, June 1994

THE INTERVIEW, Q vs Lydon, should have taken place several months ago but when I turned up on his Fulham doorstep and rang his bell, ...

Henry Rollins: Behind You

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, July 1994

IN AN abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Toronto, Henry Rollins is getting beaten up. A huge, Rasputin-like figure (monk's garb, frankly Messianic face-fungus) throws ...

Jimi Hendrix Burns His Guitar For The First Time

Essay by Keith Altham, Q, July 1994

Date: March 31, 1967 Location: Astoria Theatre, LondonTHE BRIGHT LITTLE pyromaniac who told Jimi Hendrix to set fire to his guitar? Yup, that’s me. Thirty-three ...

Nick Drake: Way To Blue (Island)

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, July 1994

IN FEBRUARY 1972, upon the release of Pink Moon, Nick Drake's third and final album proper, the press information issued by Island Records ran, in ...

Prince Talks To Q: 'I Am Normal!'

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, July 1994

Pleased to meet you... Hope you've guessed my name. For the first time since God alone knows when, the artist formerly known as Prince talks ...

Seal: It's a Bitch

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1994

WHEN SEAL first appeared on billboards all around Britain in 1991, he cut a vast, almost monumental figure. Hands on hips like a fashion model, ...

Spin Doctors: Turn It Upside Down (Epic)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, July 1994

"Oh, mama, I'm gonna roll with a truckload of hurt. These wheels have rolled across I don't know how many bags of dirt."(from 'Bags Of ...

Sutherland Brothers and Quiver, The Sutherland Brothers: The Sutherland Bros: Where Are They Now

Retrospective by Martin Aston, Q, July 1994

ONCE UPON a time, there were two Scottish brothers, lain and Gavin Sutherland, peddlers of particularly earthy soft-rock fare with two albums on Island (1972's ...

Bonnie Raitt: Labatt's Apollo, London

Live Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1994

SORTEDBonnie Raitt: she knows where she's going and she knows where she's been. ...

Bow Wow Wow, Eater, Musical Youth, The Osmonds, The Partridge Family, Helen Shapiro, Lena Zavaroni: Child Stars: We Blame The Parents!

Report by Martin Aston, Q, August 1994

Don't put your daughter on the stage, Mrs Worthington. Better still, burn that Opportunity Knocks application form. Today's child stars are tomorrow's drug addicts, depressives, ...

The Rolling Stones: Ladies and Gentlemen, The Interesting Old Farts

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, August 1994

Mike likes mincing about with the aristocracy. Keith likes taking drugs in his coffin. Mick likes fast songs. Keith likes the slow ones. Mick enjoys ...

Chuck Berry: The Poet of Rock'nRoll (Charly)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, September 1994

A colossally influential talent in his prime and a painful embarrassment in his decline, Chuck Berry has bequeathed a musical legacy that is like the ...

Pink Floyd's Cambridge

Guide by Johnny Black, Q, September 1994

Cambridge? Dreaming spires, boatered buffoons, cravat-wearing spy rings, punting and finger-in-the-lug folk festivals. Yeah, and one of the world's biggest ever bands. Johnny Black traces ...

Public Enemy: Muse Sick N Hour Mess Age (Def Jam)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1994

BY RIGHTS, they should be out of here. Hip hop may be black folks' news channel as Chuck D likes to point out but today's ...

Sinead O'Connor

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1994

SINEAD O'CONNOR is back in Dublin, her home town, and she's in a milk stout frame of mind, blacks and whites all mixed up. Indeed, ...

Techno! Techno! Techno! Techno!

Report by Stuart Maconie, Q, September 1994

New! From the makers of Betamax, the eight-track cartridge, and the Sodastream™ — more faddish hardware that'll be redundant within six months! Or will it? ...

The Rolling Stones: Rock'n'roll in-laws

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, September 1994

If Mick and Keith are still regarded as rock'n'roll outlaws, where does that leave Ronnie and Charlie? Adrian Deevoy meets the drone Stones to discuss ...

The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix: Who the hell does MAX CLIFFORD think he is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, September 1994

Hamster snack outrage! Lycra thigh-shots farrago! Politician-toe-to-actress-tonsil coincidence! All the proud work of one proud PR man, ever spoon-feeding the media, manipulating the smaller-format newspapers, ...

Bryan Ferry: Mamouna (Virgin)

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, October 1994

Farewell then, writer's block, hello topiary ...

Echobelly

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, October 1994

A CLASSIC glam rock drum beat is quickly interrupted by a whistle of the "OYI! OVER 'ERE!" variety before a majestically bounding punk-pop riff throws ...

Morrissey, The Smiths: The Smiths: Witty, Sad, Poignant, Green…

Retrospective and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, October 1994

If ever a band established a coherent identity, a rallying point for their fans, through their sleeve artwork, that band was The Smiths. Those famous ...

Culture Club, Duran Duran, Heaven 17, The Human League: Top Of The Pops and The '80s Brit Pop Boom

Overview by Stuart Maconie, Q, November 1994

YOU CAN tell if they're boys or girls these days, that's the trouble. Just look at them, these so-called modern pop phenomena. ...

Chris Rea: The Very Best of (East West)

Review by Mat Snow, Q, November 1994

Somewhere left of Eric Clapton and Phil Collins resides Chris Rea, a bluesman for whom the burden of life consists less of stones in his ...

Sade: Habitual: Sade: The Best Of (Epic) ****

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1994

When will Britain wake up to Sade? ...

Naomi Campbell: "It's good to be a baby elephant"

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, November 1994

Huh? Naomi Campbell — looker, actress, pugilist and girlfriend of the famous — has now turned her manicured hand to pop music. And novel writing. ...

Oasis: Nine Months That Shook The World

Overview by Stuart Maconie, Q, November 1994

IT'S A terrible name. Terrible. It immediately and unjustly tags them as one of those risibly mediocre makeweights of the so-called 'baggy" explosion. It is ...

Portishead

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, November 1994

"IT'S NOT that I'm sick of hearing praise," Geoff Barrow retorts, "it's just that I can't quite believe it, or even understand it." ...

R.E.M.: R.E.M: Monster (WEA)

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, November 1994

When U2 swapped their Romany drifter look for the PVC strides and comedy shades, there was, after the initial confusion, a general hum of approbation. ...

Shawn Colvin

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1994

"I ENVY edgy babes like Sheryl, Tori, Polly Jean," says Shawn Colvin, though she seems like a nice girl. "I haven't been embraced by the ...

Suede: Dog Man Star (Nude)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, November 1994

SUEDE'S FANS have always been utterly unwavering in their belief in the band. But out there, in the big bad world, the group still suffers ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty: Wildflowers (Warner)

Review by Andy Gill, Q, November 1994

THE SURPRISING choice of Rick Rubin as producer after a highly successful liaison with Jeff Lynne over his last couple of albums might suggest a ...

Jamiroquai: The Return Of The Space Cowboy

Review by David Sinclair, Q, December 1994

ONLY JAY Kay could come up with as naff a title as The Return Of The Space Cowboy and make it sound about right. A ...

Jimmy Page/Robert Plant: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant: Not The Led Zep Reunion

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1994

That Page And Plant Unledded film, plugged. ...

Madonna: Bedtime Stories

Review by Mat Snow, Q, December 1994

"MINNIE MOUSE on helium," was how wags described Madonna back in the days of 'Holiday' and 'Lucky Star'. Such a girlie voice clearly betokened a ...

Manic Street Preachers: Smile, It Might Never Happen

Report and Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, December 1994

'THE INTENSE Humming Of Evil', 'Mausoleum', 'Archives Of Pain', 'Die In The Summertime'. Even a cursory glance at the titles will confirm that this is ...

Marianne Faithfull: Venus & Mars

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, December 1994

Stop sniggering at the back. Marianne Faithfull may well have bedded the world and his whippet, but that smutty old story about the cunningly concealed ...

Nirvana: Unplugged In New York (Geffen GED 24727)

Review by Tom Hibbert, Q, December 1994

"IT'S BETTER to burn out than fade away..." The death of Kurt Cobain affected the (rock) world like no other since John Lennon's. Was it ...

The Black Crowes: Amorica

Review by Andy Gill, Q, December 1994

AMORICA, ACCORDING to Chris Robinson, is "somewhere north of hell and south of heaven", a Utopia for the frazzled and the put-upon. Amorica the album ...

The Police: Wiry: The Police Live

Review by David Sinclair, Q, 1995

IT’S EASY TO forget what an outstanding live act The Police were. Combining musicianly flair (guitarist Andy Summers) with furious bursts of energy (drummer Stewart ...

Barry White: The Q 100 interview

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, January 1995

HOW THE devil are you?I'm fine. I couldn't be happier. Everything is beautiful in my life. I got a hit album and hit single. I'm ...

Elton John

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, January 1995

HOW THE devil are you? ...

Elvis Costello

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 1995

How the devil are you? I'm having a ball. ...

New York Dolls: Hairspray and Hard Drugs: The New York Dolls

Retrospective and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, January 1995

The Stones in drag, the proto-Sex Pistols, Aerosmith's role models, Morrissey's mad aunts. What were the legendary New York Dolls about, other than leather, leopardskin, ...

John Lydon: The Q 100 interview

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, January 1995

HOW THE devil are you?Oh, I'm all right. I'm fiiiine. I'm lovely. I'm doing a solo record. Just me. John Lydon and nobody else. ...

Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones: Keith Richards: The Q 100 interview

Interview by Bill Prince, Q, January 1995

How the devil are you?I'm fine, man. Very, very well. ...

INXS, Michael Hutchence: Michael Hutchence: The Q 100 Interview

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, January 1995

HOW THE devil are you? ...

The Band, Robbie Robertson: Robbie Robertson: The Q 100 Interview

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, January 1995

How the devil are you? ...

Sophie B. Hawkins

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 1995

How the devil are you? ...

Aerosmith: Steven Tyler

Interview by Mat Snow, Q, January 1995

HOW THE devil are you? ...

Sting: The South Will Rise Again

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, January 1995

It is the biggest dilemma in the caring career of Pop's Very Own Captain Conscience. Sun City: should I stay or should I go? Sting ...

Bruce Springsteen: “I Wanna Tell You A Story...”

Overview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1995

Bruce Springsteen, Rock Orator, on Life, Love, Art and everything ...

Del Amitri: Twisted (A&M)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, February 1995

IT'S STRANGE when you think of the qualities we demand from our rock stars. ...

Sheryl Crow: Thar She Blows!

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1995

She worked with Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart and Don Henley. Now she's feted by Bob Dylan, Neil Young and the Stones. And in time-honoured fashion, ...

The Q New Year Summit 1995: Where Are We Now?

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, February 1995

We teeter on the lip of a New Year, and, let's not flagellate around the shrub-like foliage here, The Future. In an attempt at stocktaking ...

The Human League: Didn't We Used To Be The Human League?

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, February 1995

WITH SOME groups, it is records on the Stax and Okeh record labels; with others it is fine wines or the tailoring of Messrs Miyake ...

John Lee Hooker: Chill Out (Point Blank VPB 22)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, March 1995

John Lee Hooker: an Old Testament prophet for modern times. ...

The Stone Roses: Who The Hell Do The Stone Roses Think They Are?

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, March 1995

Their second album took longer to record than the equivalent World War took to wage. Meanwhile, Geffen kept them in golf clubs and "heroin". Last ...

Elastica: Elastica (Deceptive BLUFF 014)

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, April 1995

Brisk: never has such blatant thievery been such fun. ...

Elton John: Nobody's Perfect

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, April 1995

Especially Elton John. Cocaine seizures, Martini marathons, curry 'n' cockle blow-outs, condom-free congress, surprising marriages, violent evacuations, rent boys… he's had a few. But that ...

Stevie Wonder: It's Good To Be The King

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 1995

It's been a few years — oh alright then, decades — since "Little" Stevie Wonder was seriously big. But beyond the heavyweight collaborations, the myriad ...

Steely Dan, Walter Becker: Walter Becker: Hasn't He Grown

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, April 1995

WHAT'S WRONG with this picture? Halfway up a volcano on the Hawaiian island of Maui, Walter Becker, one-half of Steely Dan, the most cynical rock'n'roll ...

Slash: Who the hell does Slash think he is?

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, April 1995

He is not, let's be frank, a New Man. His feminist credentials beg re-examination. He is rarely accused of not taking drugs, never having it ...

Del Amitri: It's All Downhill From Here

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, May 1995

"FUCK! NOOOOOO!" The man in the prog-rock vintage greatcoat, Soviet military headgear and unfeasibly sizable sideburns wavers under the implacable pull of gravity, a tremor ...

Elastica: You're Never Alone With Elastica

Report and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, May 1995

...Elastica. With impeccable Suede, Blur and, ahem, Stranglers connections, 1995's Great British Export-in-waiting put the "New" in New Wave. And, Iggy Pop tells Adrian Deevoy, ...

Faith No More: Regrets, They Have A Few

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1995

"I'M A FUCKED-up individual," says Roddy Bottum, Faith No More's keyboard player, reviewing recent difficult times. He grins, sort of. ...

R.E.M.: St Michael

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, May 1995

Fabled and reconstructed, the all-new, star-spangled, itinerary-wielding R.E.M. were poised to take on the world. Then Bill Berry took ill. ADRIAN DEEVOY caught the doomed ...

The Rolling Stones: How It Happened

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, May 1995

By 1963, The Rollin' Stones lacked only a "g" and a manager. Enter Andrew Loog Oldham, 19-year-old music publicist and soon-to-be Stones Svengali... ...

Weezer

Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, May 1995

US Geek Rockers inspired by Gary Numan and Jesus Christ Superstar to produce rattlingly fine buzz pop. ...

Joy Division: Deborah Curtis: Touching From A Distance: Ian Curtis And Joy Division (Faber & Faber)

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, June 1995

AS THE JOURNALIST and pop historian Jon Savage Suggests in his foreword, for one narrowly defined sub-generation, Ian Curtis's suicide was a first personal encounter ...

Elvis Presley: Long Live The King!

Overview by Johnny Black, Q, June 1995

Most insist that Elvis Presley died on August 16 1977. Yet some say that not only is The Memphis Flash alive, but that they've seen ...

The Deviants, John Lennon, John's Children, Pink Floyd, Yoko Ono: Eyewitness: The 14-Hour Technicolor Dream, April 29, 1967, Alexandra Palace, North London

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Q, June 1995

Pink Floyd, The Soft Machine, The Move... Some of Swinging London's swingiest played at the legendary International Times benefit at Alexandra Palace. Johnny Black rounds up a ...

Janet Jackson: Ripply: Janet Jackson: Sheffield Arena, Sheffield

Live Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, June 1995

JANET JACKSON slinks out of the shadows and straddles a chair, legs wide apart. ...

Joy Division: She’s Got Control

Interview by Len Brown, Q, June 1995

Fifteen years after he hanged himself in their Macclesfield kitchen, Joy Division leader Ian Curtis has been "outed" by his widow, Deborah, as an ill-tempered, ...

Tricky: Just Like That!

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, June 1995

Avonian ingénu Tricky has pulled quite a rabbit from the top hat they're calling "Bristol trip-hop". Martin Aston meets the Number 1 rapper with plenty ...

Björk: Post

Review by Andy Gill, Q, July 1995

HAVING EFFECTED the transition from cult figure to '90s style object with the universally popular Debut, Björk Gundmundsdottir's Post finds her and producer Nellee Hooper ...

Fear Eats The Soul

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, July 1995

It also dines on doubt, nibbles the nerve endings and makes a hell of a mess of your trousers. Stage fright, that least welcome of ...

Guided By Voices: Alien Lanes (Matador OLE 123)

Review by Martin Aston, Q, July 1995

IN AMERICA, as the focus has shifted to the classifiably indie sound of scratchy basement pop, Guided By Voices find themselves in Pavement's commercial slipstream ...

Adam & The Ants, The Clash, The Damned, Generation X, The Jam, The Sex Pistols, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Stranglers, X-Ray Spex: Punk Venues: London Calling

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Q, July 1995

Summer, 1976. Punk, live punk, is about to explode in the capital. Tap rooms, Poly bars and sweaty clubs will host its unwashed greats. Johnny Black looks ...

Van Morrison: Days Like This (Polydor)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1995

Although Van Morrison has enjoyed unprecedented commercial success since signing to Polydor in 1989, in creative terms it has been an uncertain period for him. ...

Björk: All Together Now

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, September 1995

ICELAND, OR Lydvelid Island to give it its native name, is the westernmost state of Europe. It is a land of magnificent geo-physical architecture; three ...

Morrissey: Morrisey: Southpaw Grammar (RCA)

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1995

Wherein Morrissey discovers the missing link between The Byrds' jingle-jangle and Young/Cobain grunge. In contrast to Vauxhall And I, often gentle of mood and sentiment, ...

Morrissey: Do You F***king Want Some?

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, September 1995

Morrissey's back in the ring with a violently good LP, Southpaw Grammar, and he's having a Cantona-styled pop at anyone in his path: Hugh Grant, ...

Neil Young, Pearl Jam: Neil Young: Oh But I Was So Much Older Then...

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, September 1995

...he's younger than that now. Neil Young's new album, Mirror Ball, is a scintillating trans-guitar-generational collaboration with hip young gunslingers Pearl Jam, and has given ...

David Bowie: Outside (RCA)

Review by Tom Doyle, Q, October 1995

David Bowie's gone and done a concept album. Gulp. ...

Devo: Where Are They Now?

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, October 1995

HAILING – along with the rubber tyre and Rachel Sweet – from Akron, Ohio, Devo's prankful art-pop, deconstructivist theories and matching boilersuits made perfect-imperfect sense ...

Supergrass: Hey Hey We're The Cheeky Monkeys: Supergrass

Profile and Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, October 1995

IN SPINAL TAP, that penetrating cinema verité dissection of the music industry, various scenes are offered as examples of the rampant absurdity of the rock'n'roll ...

Jethro Tull: Roots Before Branches (Chrysalis)

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, October 1995

Flutes in rock. Hmmm. Thijs Van Leer of Focus. Does James Galway's epochal rendition of Annie's Song count? It's really just Ian Anderson, isn't it ...

Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead: The Last Great American Adventurer: Jerome John Garcia 1942-1995

Obituary by Tom Hibbert, Q, October 1995

On August 9, Jerry Garcia, leader of the Grateful Dead, the most successful live group of all time, died in a Californian rehab center. To ...

The Sex Pistols Sign To A&M Records

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, October 1995

Early 1977, and following the inevitable bust-up with EMI, the Sex Pistols are about to release 'God Save The Queen' and embark on their shortest ...

Simply Red: 24 Carrot Soul

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1995

Still red — politically, tonsorially and Simply — the alleged panther-like Mick Hucknall is teetering on the brink of another globe-goosing success with the follow-up ...

Ash

Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, November 1995

Downpatrick punk-popsters collide with the charts, avoid university and begin diligent career-building ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: Eyewitness: John & Yoko record 'Give Peace A Chance'

Retrospective by Paul Williams, Q, November 1995

Give Peace A Chance may not be the last word in protest performances, but it can lay claim to one of the weirdest musical births ...

Lenny Kravitz's Record Collection

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, November 1995

LENNY KRAVITZ'S record collection is, mostly, in his new house in New Orleans, not far from the pair of Jimi Hendrix's purple flares which he ...

Pulp: Jacques Brel Art Disco I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life

Interview by David Quantick, Q, November 1995

"I'VE BEEN in the studio all the time. I mean, look at me, I'm nearly transparent! I feel bad, really – they're saying it's the ...

Queen: Made In Heaven (Parlophone)

Review by David Sinclair, Q, November 1995

MADE IN Heaven is an album so heavily freighted with emotional resonance that it is quite impossible to disentangle the music from the unique historical ...

Simply Red: Life (East West)

Review by Andy Gill, Q, November 1995

MICK HUCKNALL has barely put a foot wrong over the past six years, since A New Flame set new, impeccable standards for Brit-soul back in ...

Bruce Springsteen: Hushed — Bruce Springsteen: The Ghost Of Tom Joad (Columbia 481650)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1996

Bruce Springsteen: the new Boss — very different to the old Boss. ...

Wizzard: Making 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day'

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, January 1996

Mike Burney (sax, Wizzard): I'd been doing really boring big band gigs on the ballroom circuit so when Roy offered me a job in Wizzard ...

GZA: Liquid Swords (Geffen GEN24813)

Review by Tom Doyle, Q, February 1996

WHILE STATEN Island's nine-strong rap outfit Wu-Tang Clan have proved themselves one of the genre's most influential and commercially triumphant prospects, the open relationship within ...

M People: Workers' Playtime

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, February 1996

Grass-roots devotion runs deep when it comes to M People: the Mercury-scooping dance behemoth for the discerning disco-bobulator. "Sharon and Tracy have always had more ...

Oasis

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1996

"You wouldn’t believe the number of people who come to our front door," says Noel Gallagher with a grin full of rue and a wary ...

Rutles.The: The Rutles: The Making Of All You Need Is Cash

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Q, February 1996

The time had finally come to stick a pin in the monolithic zeppelin that was Beatles mythology – and with the aid of a star-sprinkled ...

Martha and The Muffins: Where Are They Now? Martha and the Muffins

Retrospective by Martin Aston, Q, February 1996

ONCE, CANADIAN new wavers Martha And The Muffins were "far away in time", via 'Echo Beach', Number 10 in March 1980. ...

Blur: Stop The Band, I Wanna Get Off!

Report and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, March 1996

Are BLUR really going to the dogs? Behind all the adoring screams, we hear internal bickering, the tell-tale snii-ii-i-iff! of media-centric decadence, a hollow champagne ...

Coolio: He's Got The Whole World In His Hand

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1996

Ex-crackhead, erstwhile firman and father of five, Coolio all but conquered the planet with 'Gangsta's Paradise' — but he's not letting it go to his ...

The Cardigans, David Bowie, Smashing Pumpkins: David Bowie, Smashing Pumpkins, The Cardigans: The White Room

Report and Interview by Lucy O'Brien, Q, March 1996

"THE BEST THING was when we had Tora Tora, or The Artist Formerly Known As Prince," says Chris Cowey, the noticeably effusive producer of The ...

Billy Bragg, Paul Weller, Tom Robinson Band: Red Wedge

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, March 1996

Only one thing could possibly save us from vicious '80s Conservatism: the assembly of pop pinkos that made up the Labour-supporting Red Wedge organisation. Johnny ...

Tim Rose

Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, March 1996

"TIM" WAS A familiar name around the Greenwich Village folk scene of the '60s, but one with a tragically portentous ring to it. Tim Hardin ...

Pulp: Here's Looking At You, Kids

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 1996

PULP LANDED in Sweden last night, but they're still coming down from Japan. Circumnavigational jet lag vies with cultural bouleversement for command of the mental ...

Nirvana: The Kurt Cobain Memorial

Interview by Dave Thompson, Q, April 1996

Four days after Kurt Cobain's suicide, thousands gathered in his home city to attend the event that became his public funeral, falling somewhere between touching ...

The Police, Sting: Sting: The Secret Life Of Gordon Sumner by Wensley Clarkson (Blake £15.99)

Book Review by Tom Doyle, Q, May 1996

TELLINGLY TITLED, this 300-plus-page biography of Sting follows in the tradition of Clarkson's previous unauthorised works on film stars Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise by ...

Steve Earle: Birth, School, Work, Heroin, Coke, Marriage, Heroin, Marriage, Crack, Prison...

Interview by Bill Prince, Q, 1 May 1996

There are eight million stories... and they all happened to Steve Earle. Six weddings, 27 years of drug addiction, 30 days in chokey, one hit ...

Def Leppard: Slang

Review by David Quantick, Q, June 1996

FOR DEF Leppard, it really ought to be That Time Of The Career. ...

Foo Fighters — Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Profile and Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, June 1996

HOLD TIGHT! Hang on to your 'cookies'! Belt up! For the Foo Fighters are taking off, turning their backs on the mucky, resonant demise of ...

Joan Osborne: America's Latest Flame

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, June 1996

Sass, sexiness, and sackfuls of self-assurance have taken mic stand-stradding Grammy-dodger Joan Osborne from Kentucky's hick climes to a place at the heart of the ...

Ben Folds Five

Interview by Bill Prince, Q, July 1996

North Carolina trio with bold no-guitar manifesto revive pummelling of ivories with marvy debut LP. ...

Alanis Morissette: Bruised: Alanis Morissette: Enmore Theatre, Sydney

Review and Interview by Lucy O'Brien, Q, July 1996

Alanis Morissette: she's got the whole world in her hands. ...

Burt Bacharach: See You Later, Elevator!

Profile and Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, July 1996

Imprisoned in music's metaphorical lift for years, Burt Bacharach has emerged on to a mezzanine packed with thousands of dewy-eyed disciples. "It's sensational news," he ...

Everything But The Girl: We Want To Be Togethurr…

Interview by David Quantick, Q, July 1996

LUXEMBOURG IS not, it may be safely said, the most exciting country in the world. Even the national anthem is reduced to banging on about ...

T. Rex: Eyewitness: The First Glastonbury Festival, September 19-20, 1970

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, July 1996

No Glastonbury this year! No matter! Let Q whisk you back to the first festival of Pop, Folk & Blues At Worthy Farm – a ...

The Blue Nile: Peace At Last (Warner)

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, July 1996

AS PROLIFIC AS the Easter Island statue makers and with almost as underworked a PR, The Blue Nile will feature heavily when Arthur C. Clarke's ...

Bon Jovi: God, I'm Beautiful

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1996

And rich. And famous. And in films. Bon Jovi have been to the brink, cocked a manly Noo Joisey snook at it, and bounded back, ...

Mark Morrison: Have You Paid For That, Sir?

Interview by David Quantick, Q, August 1996

I have actually – for I am Number 1 swingster Mark Morrison, former lodger at Her Majesty's pleasure, Leicester's most wanted and fully qualified (and, ...

The Eagles: 'We're the F***in' Eagles. Kiss My Ass!'

Retrospective and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, August 1996

Thus, in 1972, spake Bernie Leadon, then guitarist with FM country rock's Biggest Band Ever. As their Hell Freezes Over tour hits the UK, and ...

John Martyn: And

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1996

HE MAY be 30 years "in the business", 25 albums down the line, and possessed of all the fans his idiosyncratic body of work is ...

The Boo Radleys: Didn't Feel A Thing

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1996

"IF YOU'RE doing music you're supposed to pretend you're something you're not, you're supposed to sound as though you come from a different planet. You're ...

Barry Adamson

Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, October 1996

Creator of gripping filmic music enlists notable guest vocalists and breaks through to commercial seam. ...

New Edition: Boyz To Men

Interview by Lucy O'Brien, Q, October 1996

A decade ago, New Edition were teenage, wildly successful and far from rich. The split, Bobby Brown married Whitney and checked into the Betty Ford ...

Pet Shop Boys: Bilingual (Parlophone CDP CFD 170)

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, October 1996

HumanPet Shop Boys: proving there is life beyond irony ...

Mike Oldfield, Orbital: Pleased To Meet You: Mike Oldfield & Orbital

Interview by David Quantick, Q, October 1996

Without "funny" Mike Oldfield ambient music as we know it might never have existed. Without ex-baldies Orbital the Royal Albert Hall might never have hosted ...

Neneh Cherry: Spirited: Neneh Cherry: Man (Hut) ***

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, October 1996

Neneh Cherry: she deserves better. ...

Sting: "Does my bum look big in this?"

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, October 1996

Do us a favour! You, sir, are the tantric titan of tunesmanship. Bawdy baron of blokedom. Goegeous god of... oh stop it. In Seattle, pondering ...

Steely Dan: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, November 1996

Steely Dan: a mixture of pathos, elegance and brisk timekeeping. ...

The Beautiful South: Paul Heaton: "I'm gonna vote Major!"

Interview by David Quantick, Q, December 1996

…fibs Paul Heaton, leader of The Beautiful South, who're following up the third most successful album of all time with what they would like to ...

Tricky: Pre-Millennium Tension (Island BRCD 623)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, December 1996

Tricky: no way is everything getting to him. ...

The Associates, Billy Mackenzie: Those Last Impressions: Billy MacKenzie

Retrospective by Lucy O'Brien, Q, 1997

When Billy MacKenzie committed suicide in January, he was about to re-launch a career that sparkled briefly but brilliantly with The Associates. Lucy O'Brien recalls ...

Prince: Liberated: Prince: Emancipation ****

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, January 1997

: new label, old work rate ...

The Stone Roses: Pig's Ear for the Roses — It's All Gone Baggy

Report and Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, January 1997

Farewell, then, the Stone Roses. ...

East 17: Pimply — East 17: Around The World — The Journey So Far (London 826852-2)

Review by Lucy O'Brien, Q, January 1997

East 17: becoming cooler by degrees. ...

Eyewitness: The Twist

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Q, February 1997

THE TWIST WAS the most remarkable dance phenomenon in the history of the rock era. Here's the story of how it happened in the words ...

Yes: Hello Atlantis!

Report and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Q, February 1997

They're back, and this time they're organic... Dave Rimmer hops on board the Yes reunion special ...

Depeche Mode: They Just Couldn't Get Enough

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1997

"I heard it on the radio: Dave had overdosed, nearly died, then been arrested for drugs offences. That was when I thought Depeche Mode were ...

James Brown: Eyewitness: James Brown is arrested after a Car Chase

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Q, March 1997

1988, SEPT 24: HIGH ON PCP, SHOTGUN-WIELDING JAMES BROWN GETS ARRESTED IN AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, AFTER AN INTER-STATE CAR CHASE. ...

Mansun: Nailed!

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, April 1997

They varnish their nails, yet they eat at McDonald's. The singer has a Ziggy-like alter ego, while the bassist likes to pretend he's called Stove. ...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: The Boatman's Call

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 1997

"I DON'T believe in an interventionist God/But I know, darling, that you do" ('Into My Arms'). Those are the first lines of the album; Cave's ...

The Monkees: People Said They Monkeyed Around

Interview by David Quantick, Q, April 1997

...only they didn't. At all. For being The Monkees was no fun. They couldn't play on their records; their film was crap, but, unlike the ...

Fleetwood Mac: Eyewitness: The Recording of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours

Interview by Johnny Black, Q, May 1997

They were, it seemed, about to go their own ways, but first, troubled Fleetwood Mac had to finish off Rumours. To this end they needed ...

Faithless: Wir Sind Berliners!

Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, May 1997

Faithless: in no way Eurosceptic. ...

Fun Lovin' Criminals: De Westercas Fabriek, Amsterdam

Live Review by Lucy O'Brien, Q, May 1997

"WHEN WE STARTED, people would throw stuff at us for free. We got $25,000 this time," says Huey, lead singer and guitarist of New York ...

Supergrass: In It For The Money

Review by David Cavanagh, Q, May 1997

THE TOP 5 SINGLE 'Going Out,' released in February 1996, made it resoundingly clear that Supergrass are much more than a three-man Britpop Playstation. While ...

James: Valiant James Back From the Brink

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1997

James: The Roxy, Atlanta, Georgia ...

Jive Bunny: Where are they now? Jive Bunny

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, May 1997

The guy who works down the chip shop swears he's Elvis. And the woman on the M&S tights counter might well be Tanita Tikaram. ...

Guns: It Went Off In My Hand!

Report by Martin Aston, Q, June 1997

Dangerous business, rock'n'roll. One minute, you're having hits, the next, you're taking them. Whether as macho prop or tool of the trade, totin' a gun ...

The Seahorses: Playful — The Seahorses: Do It Yourself (Geffen GED 25134)

Review by Tom Doyle, Q, June 1997

The Seahorses: they mate for life, you know. ...

Radiohead: Party On!

Report and Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, June 1997

BRIGHTLY EARLY most weekday mornings before 9am, when other rock stars still have at least a good six hours of kip ahead of them — ...

En Vogue: Girl Power!

Interview by David Quantick, Q, July 1997

They are the quite spicy girls. A long time ago, they were manufactured by a pair of svengalis. Since then, they've had lorryloads of hits, ...

Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty: John Fogerty: Rock Now, Pay Later

Interview by Bill Prince, Q, July 1997

Life's a bitch when you lose a few million in a big banking scam, get sued for plagiarising yourself and haven't released a record in ...

Radiohead: OK Computer

Review by David Cavanagh, Q, July 1997

WITH THEIR 1.5 MILLION-SELLING 1995 ALBUM The Bends, Radiohead executed something of a perfect Yin and Yang: a great white hope and a big black ...

Ron Sexsmith: Other Songs (Universal IND90123)

Review by David Hepworth, Q, July 1997

Ron Sexsmith: a case of, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. ...

Dollar: Where Are They Now? Dollar

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, July 1997

Once they sat behind the gilt-inlaid desk of success, with the keys to the executive washroom; then, suddenly, they were "downsized". ...

“Bastards. Liars. Pimps. Theives. Scumsuckers. Perverts...”

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1997

...And that's some of the nicer things they say about rock'n'roll managers. they may have swapped their baseball bats for law degrees, but as Phil ...

Paul Weller: Heavy Soul (Island) ****

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1997

Paul Weller: very much lord of his "manor". ...

Pet Shop Boys: Savoy Theatre, London

Live Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, August 1997

Exuberant! Pet Shop Boys goosing the good folk of Evita-land ...

Primal Scream: Vanishing Point (Creation CRECD178)

Review by Tom Doyle, Q, August 1997

Dark — Primal Scream: the morning after the all-nighter before ...

Oasis: “Of course, me and Liam had a row about it...”

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1997

Seventy-two minutes. Twelve tracks. No co-credits. Noel Gallagher talks Phil Sutcliffe through Oasis's third magnum opus, Be Here Now. ...

Oasis: “Piece of piss!”: The Oasis Diaries

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1997

The drugs, the in-fighting, the secret weddings and, in the midst of it all, just the small matter of the most anticipated album of the ...

Elvis Presley: Eyewitness: The day I met Elvis

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Q, September 1997

He didn't get out much (of America, anyway), yet Elvis Presley touched millions of lives. Twenty years after his death, some of those who actually ...

No Doubt: Humungous: No Doubt: Finger Lakes Perfoming Arts Center, Canandaigua

Review and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, September 1997

No Doubt: been there, done that, sold this much ...

Oasis: In The Studio With Oasis

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1997

An interview with Oasis producer Owen Morris ...

The Chemical Brothers: The Big Boom Theory

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, September 1997

Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons — aka The Chemical Brothers — are rewriting the rock'n'roll rule book with their earth-moving amalgam of big beats, old ...

Janis Joplin: Eyewitness: Janis Joplin's Last 24 Hours

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, October 1997

It's October 3, 1970 and after an exhausting tour Janis Joplin and her new group, the Full Tilt Boogie Band are holed up in Sunset ...

Ocean Colour Scene: Marchin' Already (MCA MCD 60048)

Review by Tom Doyle, Q, October 1997

Ocean Colour Scene: looking to the future with one foot in the past. ...

Alabama 3: Exile On Coldharbour Lane (Elemental ELM 40CD)

Review by Martin Aston, Q, November 1997

COLDHARBOUR LANE is one of Brixton's infamous thoroughfares, where the great unwashed jostle alongside the black British community. ...

Tupac Shakur: Eyewitness: The First Shooting of Tupac Shakur

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Q, November 1997

Halfway through his New York trial for rape and amidst growing tension between East and West Coast rappers, Tupac Shakur attended a recording session. He ...

Spiritualized: Red Box, Dublin

Live Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, November 1997

Groovy — Spiritualized transcend time and space. ...

The Verve: The History Man

Report and Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, November 1997

Richard Ashcroft: he goes back, you know. Once, on a groovy tide of stormy "head" rock, his band The Verve rose. Then, victims of depression, ...

They're the New Beatles!

Overview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1997

Or the New Dylans. Or the New Stones. Maybe they were the New Johnny Hates Jazz. Whatever, whether plugging a gap left by the originals ...

Björk: Who the Hell Does Björk Think She Is?

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, November 1997

She does weird, waily pop diva. Her producers do the rest. Often they do even more than that. Which leaves her free to turn on ...

Coldcut, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: You Spin Me Round

Overview by Martin Aston, Q, November 1997

"Two turntables and a microphone," are, says Beck, "where it's at." For more than a decade Technics 1200 record decks have provided the backbone of ...

Bob Dylan: Drop-kicked by Jesus: Bob Dylan's Conversion

Retrospective by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1997

In which the eternal sceptic did a Damascus and managed an unlikely artistic rebirth. Phil Sutcliffe takes confession... ...

Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: We Have Come For Your Children

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, December 1997

The Spice grip tightens. Nations and markets previously immune to their yelling, pointing, and possibly even their singing, have succumbed. So why are they suddenly ...

Mary J. Blige: Amager Bio, Copenhagen ****

Live Review by David Quantick, Q, January 1998

Once grumpy and so hopeless live she'd get booed offstage. Now... Nice Girl ...

Mary J. Blige: Nice Girl

Report and Interview by David Quantick, Q, January 1998

Once grumpy and so hopeless live she'd get booed off stage. Now… ...

Oasis: Put It Next To The Other Three

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, January 1998

What a shoddy old year it's been for Oasis. Only six million copies of Be Here Now shifted. Only voted The Best Act In The ...

Nick Drake: Tortured Artist: Nick Drake: The Biography by Patrick Humphries (Bloomsbury) ***

Book Review by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1998

Nick Drake: still an enigma after all these years ...

Michael Jackson, Lisa Marie Presley: Eyewitness: Michael Jackson's Wedding

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Q, February 1998

After a 16-week romance, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley boarded a Sony Records jet and flew to the Domincan Republic to embark on a ...

MC Lyte: Badder Than B-fore (East West 7559 621222)

Review by Lucy O'Brien, Q, February 1998

"Ruffneck" girl Lana Moorer gains career time with chunky remix album. ...

Michael Hutchence, INXS: Michael Hutchence, 1960-1997: Death Of A Rock Star

Obituary by Lucy O'Brien, Q, February 1998

Living life at supersonic speed, broken by the battle between his fiancée and her ex-husband, scarred by childhood neglect and propelled by his urge for ...

Catatonia: Bubbling Under

Report and Interview by David Quantick, Q, March 1998

They're about to break through, they're ever so Welsh and their singer is losing her voice on the first date of the tour... ...

Judas Priest: Eyewitness: Judas Priest on trial

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, March 1998

EVENT: The Trial of Judas Priest  DATE: 23 Dec 1985 – 24 August 1990 LOCATION: Washoe County Courthouse, Reno, Nevada  ...

Goldie: The Fun Lovin' Criminal

Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, March 1998

A youth spent shovelled from despair into care, a stint as a "shit" safecracker, a globe-trotting interlude ending in spectacular musical creativity: Goldie is the ...

Kristin Hersh, Throwing Muses: Kristin Hersh

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1998

At 6, Kristin Hersh was a hippy commune kid whose babysitter was on acid. At 22 she had a brain tumor and thought evil spirits ...

Madonna: Ray Of Light (WEA) ****

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, April 1998

She's dumped Warren Beatty, she's been Eva Peron and she's had Carlos The Tackle's child. Now it's time to go back to work... ...

Michael Head: The Magical World of the Strands

Review by Johnny Black, Q, April 1998

IT ALWAYS SEEMS as though Michael Head's 15 minutes of fame are imminent. Over the last two decades, this unfairly neglected Liverpudlian has written much ...

All Saints: Follow That Band!

Report and Interview by Lucy O'Brien, Q, May 1998

Envy All Saints, but only a little bit, because Brit Awards mean nothing when you're in Miami, working your hits off. Lucy O'Brien is along ...

Duran Duran: Eyewitness: Simon Le Bon sinks aboard Drum England

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, June 1998

WITNESS: Various DATE: 11 August 1985 LOCATION: Two miles off the Cornish coast. ...

Garbage: What Do You Think Of It So Far?

Interview by David Quantick, Q, June 1998

Garbage! They've sold millions of albums, but they wonder if that's a good thing when Steve Marker's gone stir crazy, Shirley Manson is shackled and ...

Simply Red: Have You Got A Bit Of Manchester In You?

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, June 1998

And if not, would you like some? Beware, ladies, for it is Mick Hucknall, humbled by heartbreak but still hopping on like a russet-headed horny ...

Crosby Stills and Nash: The Birth of Crosby, Stills and Nash

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, June 1998

DISILLUSIONED WITH their respective bands, David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash met in early 1968. Egged on by Mama Cass and plenty of marijuana, ...

Tricky

Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, June 1998

Demonised by the media, deified by the art set, the real Tricky still struggles to be heard above the hubbub. Q parts a curtain of ...

Oasis, Saint Etienne, The Verve: Eyewitness December 1993: Oasis Support The Verve

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, July 1998

Freshly signed to Creation, Oasis venture out on UK tour earning £50 a night supporting The Verve – known at the time as just plain ...

Fugazi: End Hits (Dischord SIS 110V)

Review by Paul Elliott, Q, July 1998

Fifth album of uneasy listening from right-on hardcore men. Not a compilation. ...

Gloria Estefan: Gloria! (Epic 48950 4/2)

Review by Lucy O'Brien, Q, July 1998

Miami pop queen goes back to Latin disco roots in unashamedly good time fashion. ...

Saint Etienne: Town Hall Crypt, Middlesbrough

Live Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, July 1998

What's a nice, fey band doing in a place like this? ...

Shania Twain

Profile and Interview by David Quantick, Q, July 1998

Fruity country singer related to Def Leppard and Bryan Adams by marriage. ...

Depeche Mode, Primal Scream: Depeche Mode and Primal Scream: The Most Debauched Tour Ever

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, August 1998

Depeche Mode have been touring for almost a year. Drug and alcohol abuse is rife and the group are close to breaking point. The obvious ...

The Beastie Boys: Style Counselors — The Beastie Boys: Hello Nasty (Grand Royal/Capitol 49S4232)

Review by Tom Doyle, Q, August 1998

Now fighting for Tibet rather than the right to party, America's Most Influential have grown up. ...

Sinead O'Connor: Eyewitness October 1992: America Slays Sinead O'Connor

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, September 1998

Two weeks after tearing up a picture of the pope on Saturday Night Live and receiving a lifetime ban from the US TV show, Sinead ...

Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels On A Gravel Road (Mercury 558 318-2)

Review by Johnny Black, Q, September 1998

Fifth album from enigmatic Grammy-winning country rock singer-songwriter. ...

Prince: The Artist Formerly Known As Successful

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 1998

He wriggled away From Warners and the quality control went West. He swopped Prince for Victor for Slave for O(+>) and the fans just couldn't ...

The Corrs: "Sorry, We're Boring!"

Interview by David Sinclair, Q, September 1998

Au contraire, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs and oh, Mr Corr. You are extraordinary in ways it would be rude to fully explain, while a Number One ...

Billy Mackenzie: Tom Doyle: The Glamour Chase – The Maverick Life Of Billy MacKenzie (Bloomsbury)

Book Review by Martin Aston, Q, September 1998

EVERY PICTURE tells a story. In this biography of the late singer Billy MacKenzie, there's a photo, circa 1971, of St. Michael's School's under-15s Football ...

UNKLE: Psyence Fiction (Mo'Wax)

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, September 1998

Thom Yorke, Richard Ashcroft, one of Metallica, a Beastie Boy: all on the same record. Whoo! ...

Voice Of The Beehive: Where Are They Now? Voice Of The Beehive

Interview by Martin Aston, Q, September 1998

Fronted by American sisters Tracey and Melissa Belland, Voice Of The Beehive mixed frothy pop, zany threads, girl-power attitude and Top 30 action in 1988 ...

Beverley Knight: Prodigal Sista (Parlophone 496 2962)

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, October 1998

Explosive British R&B singer comes in from the cold with self-penned second album. ...

Sheryl Crow

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, October 1998

She hasn't taken heroin and she won't gossip about Eric Clapton, so what will she do? "People have needs," she tells Adrian Deevoy, darkly. ...

Jools Holland’s Rhythm And Blues Orchestra: Exeter University, October 8, 1998

Review and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1998

At 3pm Jools Holland skis down the clouds above Exeter airport in the co-pilot’s seat of a chartered four-seater. Thumb aloft he leers over his ...

Joy Division: The Making Of Unknown Pleasures

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, November 1998

Joy Division settle into 10cc's Strawberry Studios in Stockport to record one of the greatest albums of the 70s. But Ian Curtis has just discovered ...

Marilyn Manson: Mechanical Animals (NOTHING) ****

Review by Ian Gittins, Q, November 1998

Return of the Thin White Berk. ...

Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello: Two's Company — Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach: Painted From Memory

Review by Tom Doyle, Q, November 1998

Mr Long Chin meet Mr Crap Hat. ...

Beck: Mutations (Geffen) ****

Review by Ian Gittins, Q, December 1998

New album which isn't the new album, but which still has a certain genius. ...

Celine Dion: Belt Up!

Report and Interview by David Sinclair, Q, December 1998

Yes, maam! Safety-conscious Celine Dion is the vowel-wobbling queen of candyfloss pop, and for 30 months she's sold one album every 1.2 seconds. David Sinclair ...

George Michael: Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best Of... (Epic 491705 4/2/8)

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, December 1998

Game Boy Growing up is so hard to do. ...

Alanis Morissette: Growing Pains: Alanis Morissette: Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (Maverick) ***

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, December 1998

How do you follow a 28-million seller? Simple, pretend you're Sylvia Plath ...

Robbie Williams: I've Been Expecting You (Chrysalis 4978372)

Review by David Quantick, Q, December 1998

Boy Power: He was in Take That but he doesn't like to talk about it. Not much he doesn't. ...

Rock'n'Roll Drives You Mad

Overview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1998

Stress, nervous exhaustion, clinical depression: a litany of mental maladies lie in wait for the endlessly-gigging, maniacally-drugging, heart-on-sleeve purveyor of rock'n'roll. Phil "Prozac" Sutcliffe dons ...

U2: Boys To Men

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1998

It is the '80s, and the decade is full of one Irish band and their guitarist's exotic millinary. So, follow Edge through the first ever ...

Slade: Slade In Flame

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, 1999

29 JULY 1974. Filming begins on the rock movie Slade In Flame, on location in the UK. ...

Bands and Money

Overview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

Nobody goes into rock’n’roll for the money. No, really. Ask any band. But the trouble is if a lot of people like them they get ...

Beth Orton

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

"I spent last weekend in this delirium of writing," bubbles Beth Orton, delight unleashing her accent’s full eccentricity – Cockney caw, Norfolk moo and middle-class ...

Bush: Breaking America

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

Phil Sutcliffe checks out the history of British bands making it, and failing to make it, in the USA, and looks at the example of ...

Dave Matthews Band: The Pyramid, Memphis, August 11, 1998

Review and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

BIG IN AMERICA. Small everywhere else. Knows how to deal with tear gas. "I’m here to serve woman, to knock out that moose and drag ...

Emerson Lake And Palmer: ELP: The Unsung Roadie

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

Consider this as a picture at an exhibition. A 10,000-seat arena on the afternoon before an Emerson, Lake & Palmer concert; on stage an orderly ...

Glad To Be Gay: Out in Rock

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

IN THIS ISSUE of Q, Michael Stipe, whose public utterances have crept closer to coming out of late, finally does the deed in a cool ...

Jennifer Lopez: On The 6

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 1999

Popstar/actress' debut album where she tried to topple Gloria Estefan. She didn't. ...

Kinky Friedman: God Bless John Wayne (Faber and Faber)

Review and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

Kinky Friedman is full of himself. He always was in his ’70s singing days with provocateur country & western outfit The Texas Jewboys. And now ...

Manic Street Preachers: Northgate Arena, Chester

Review and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

"It’s quite corny," James Dean Bradfield allows, reflecting on Manic Street Preachers' September tour of the towns that rock forgot. "I just remember where we ...

Mick Jagger: Mick'n'Bianca

Retrospective by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

The Wedding Of The Decade’s glamourous shambles began back-stage after The Rolling Stones’ Paris Olympia show on September 23, 1970. When Mick Jagger met 25-year-old ...

Nas: I Am… (Columbia)

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 1999

1999: the year rap's most potent force joined the rank and file ...

Rock'n'religion

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

There’s a knock at the front door. You open it. A slight young man standing there says, "Today I’m here to talk to you about ...

Alanis Morissette, Joan Osborne, Sheryl Crow: Silent Partners: Writers, Producers, Players

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

Phil Sutcliffe looks at the men who helped midwife albums by Sheryl Crow, Joan Osborne and Alanis Morissette ...

Sinead O'Connor: Sinéad O’Connor Hits Back at Tabloid Critics

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

Yet another awful week in the tabloids for Sinéad O’Connor began on April 12 with The Sun’s "Sinéad’s Shambles" headline on its coverage of the ...

Smashing Pumpkins

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

As soon as Smashing Pumpkins released Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness in October 1995, their shaven-skulled mainman Billy Corgan buttheaded his way round the ...

Texas

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

Sharleen Spiteri is foaming in retrospect. "I don’t like lies, I don’t like bullshit," she affirms, her fist impressing the point on the arm of ...

Prince: The Artist: Emancipated Slave

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

"I HAVE DREAMS of angels holding notes indefinitely in perfect pitch and you don’t want it to stop because if it does you’re dead!" The ...

Whose Song Is It Anyway?

Overview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

Phil Sutcliffe tells of the winners and losers in music publishing ...

Celine Dion: Christmas pudding — Celine Dion: These Are Special Times (Epic 492730 2)

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 1999

T'is the season to cobble together an album. ...

Method Man, RZA: RZA: RZA As Bobby Digital In Stereo (Gee St/V2) ****; Method Man Tical 2000: Judgement Day (Def Jam) ****

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1999

Yo! Apocalypse: It's a mad, bad, Wu-Tang world ...

Eyewitness: March 1952 — The First Rock'n'Roll Concert

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, February 1999

10,000 people smashed down the doors to get in, none of the bands were paid and one man was stabbed in the arse. After the ...

Blur, The Lightning Seeds: What Makes A Great Single?

Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, February 1999

Slade were good at it; Quintessence weren't. Ten rules of 7" engagement as decreed by Blur label boss Andy Ross and New National Anthem™ writer ...

Beck: The Town Hall, New York NY

Live Review by Ian Gittins, Q, March 1999

He's released an odd new album. Oddly, he's only going to play it once. ...

Alanis Morissette: Cash for Questions: Alanis Morissette

Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, March 1999

She's the oddest female star of recent years, a titan of high seriousness, musical ambition and lyrical angst. So what do you do: you ask ...

Destiny's Child

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, March 1999

This Houston teen foursome are produced by Timbaland for Missy Misdemeanour's label but it's not going to their heads. ...

Kate Bush: Eyewitness: The Grooming Of Kate Bush

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, March 1999

It wouldn't happen now. Kate Bush was 16 when Pink Floyd's David Gilmour recommended her to EMI records. Over the next two years, the arty ...

Kula Shaker: Peasants Pigs & Astronauts (Columbia) ***

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 1999

FOR A WHILE in 1996 it looked as though Kula Shaker were being watched over by the pantheon of gods and other bods portrayed on ...

Beth Orton: Mild Thing: Beth Orton: Central Reservation (Heavenly) **

Review by David Quantick, Q, April 1999

The Janis Joplin of the Heavenly Social Club finally delivers sequel to Trailer Park. ...

Blur: The Prehistory of Blur: 'We Were Very... Purple'

Retrospective and Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, April 1999

A mohican, Artaud, pyjama bottoms, The Cardiacs, sackings, Pernod, dressing up as the Ayatollah Khomeini: all of this and more in the story of Blur ...

Bob Geldof: Radio Argh! Argh!

Report by Adrian Deevoy, Q, May 1999

In summer 1998, and to a chorus of indie-kid disapproval, Capital Radio took over London station XFM and, preposterously, put Bob Geldof in the drive-time ...

Cast: Magic Hour (Polydor S47176-2) **

Review by Ian Gittins, Q, June 1999

They aim. They shoot. They miss. Bugger. ...

Eminem

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, June 1999

Dr Dre-sponsored whiteboy rapper behaves like a git and sells millions of US albums ...

Suede: Head Music (Nude NUDE14CD)

Review by Tom Doyle, Q, June 1999

No Ch-ch-changes — Standing still isn't always as easy as it looks. ...

The Dixie Chicks: Dixie Chicks

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, July 1999

Good heavens! It's the bottle-blonde, country Corrs. ...

The Chemical Brothers: Quantum Leaping — The Chemical Brothers: Surrender (Virgin XDUSTCD4)

Review by Ian Gittins, Q, July 1999

It may not have been broken, but they've certainly fixed it. ...

The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Red Hot Chili Peppers: Californication (WEA 9362 473862)

Review by Tom Doyle, Q, July 1999

Troubled Funk: The band who're always going to split up... ...

The Beta Band: Ramble On

Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, July 1999

Lace up some gaiters and uncork a flask of weak lemon drink, as uncompromising art bods the Beta Band take us to a rugged dell ...

The Verve: On His Own

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, July 1999

Richard punched Pete and sunbbed Simon's wife. They all treated Nick like "kitty litter". Fame, money, workload, ego and mental illness killed The Verve just ...

Boyzone: Booze To Men

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, August 1999

They swear at Prince Charles. They swear at Lionel Richie. They swear and swear and when they don't swear, they drink and admit they're gay. ...

Destiny's Child: The Writing's On The Wall (Columbia) ***

Review by Lucy O'Brien, Q, August 1999

En Vogue-esque girl power R&B From Texas' latest export. ...

Gay Dad: ICA, London

Live Review by David Quantick, Q, August 1999

Roll over Mike Flowers, tell Chesney Hawkes the news: they're serious. ...

Geri Halliwell: Pungent Spice: Geri Halliwell: Schizophonic (EMI) ***

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, August 1999

She's covered all the bases. She hasn't covered them all well. ...

Tammy Wynette: The Mad Life And Crazy Death of Tammy Wynette

Overview by Lucy O'Brien, Q, August 1999

Burt Reynolds nearly died in her bath, George Jones escaped on her lawn-mower, and her second husband traded pictures of her in the nuddy. She ...

Sting: The Rake's Progress: Sting: Brand New Day (A&M) ****

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 1999

Still looking after himself — in and out of the studio ...

David Bowie: "Now Where Did I Put Those Tunes?"

Interview by David Quantick, Q, October 1999

He took Sly Stone's drugs. He thought Bing looked like a little orange on a stool. He named his son Duncan and is madly in ...

How Trance Got To Number 1

Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, October 1999

Music invented by Jean Michel Jarre and already declared passé twice in the last 10 years is all over the charts, packing out clubs and ...

James: Millionaires (Mercury 5463862)

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, November 1999

WELL-OFFThey've struck gold. Again. ...

Gary Barlow: Listen Without Prejudice — Gary Barlow: Twelve Months & Eleven Days (RCA CD74321702182)

Review by David Quantick, Q, November 1999

He's made another record. Back for good, then? ...

Robbie Williams: Bored With The USA

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 1999

America loves him but he just wants his life back. ...

Shania Twain: Big Twain

Interview by John Aizlewood, Q, November 1999

She was a lumberjack and she wasn't OK. Now she's a 30 million-selling, not-country sex diva with granite eyes and Shania Twain is quite lovely ...

Sting: Sumner Holiday

Report and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, November 1999

Sometimes even Q needs a break. Usually this means a week in a prefab on Selsea Bill, but this year Signor Sting – Tuscan summer ...

Eminem: Naughty By Nature

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, December 1999

Life is sweet for multi-platinum rap star Eminem, the doting dad who plays a murderous rapist from the white-trash dung hill. The world is his ...

Heroin: The Secret Drug Of The'90s

Report by Tom Doyle, Q, December 1999

It offed grunge. It killed Britpop. It claimed actual human lives. Heroin began the '90s as a retro drug with insalubrious associations. It ended the ...

Bernard Butler: Tunnel Visionary — Bernard Butler: Friends & Lovers (Creation CRECD236)

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, December 1999

He's found his niche and he's sticking to it. ...

Destiny's Child: Destiny’s Child: Invasion Of The Booty-Snatchers

Interview by Lucy O'Brien, Q, 2000

What’s "up" with Destiny’s Child, R&B’s only three-piece quartet? Members keep getting whacked and replaced by ringers, but millions of fans – many of them ...

Nas: Nastradamus (Columbia)

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, 2000

Ron Isley, Ginuwine and Mobb Deep assist Queensbridge rapper's fourth outing. ...

David Bowie, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones: I Was A Pop Star's Arse-wiper!

Report by Martin Aston, Q, January 2000

For as long as there have been rock stars, there have been rock star "support systems", from the Memphis Mafia to "Spanish" Tony Sanchez to ...

Oasis: First Union Center, Philadelphia

Live Review by Lucy O'Brien, Q, February 2000

Oasis's American concerts provided tantalising glimpses of their sprightlier, less bald new direction. Lucy O’Brien was there. ...

Q-Tip: Quality Control: Q-Tip: Amplified (Arista) ****

Review by Ian Gittins, Q, February 2000

No slacking then from implausibly busy NY rapper. ...

Primal Scream: Bobby Gillespie

Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, March 2000

Mr Primal Scream was "remedial" in Geography, but that doesn't matter now he's a reckless rock'n'roll revolutionary on the way to the chemist with an ...

Fiona Apple: Hard Core Pawn

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 2000

Therapised and raped by the age 12, famous and alienated by the music industry at 19, Fiona Apple is feeling better, thank you. She's got ...

Kelis

Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, March 2000

She reckons she's no saner than Ol' Dirty Bastard. God help us. ...

Kelis: Kaleidoscope (Virgin)

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, March 2000

Debut from 20-year-old New Yorker Kelis ("kay leese") Rogers, the female voice on Puff Daddy's 'PC 2000' and 0l' Dirty Bastard's 'Got Your Money'. ...

D'Angelo: Rhythm King: D'Angelo: Voodoo (Cheeba Sound/EMI) ****

Review by Paul Elliott, Q, March 2000

Album Number Two from "the new Marvin Gaye". ...

Shane MacGowan, Sinead O'Connor: The Terrible State Of Shane MacGowan

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 2000

Skint, on drugs, walking a tightrope life, a young man dead in his flat: things could hardly have looked worse for Shane MacGowan. Then, astonishingly, ...

The Bee Gees: How the Bee Gees got into Disco: An Oral History of Main Course

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, April 2000

NOTE: This is a considerably extended version of the piece published in Q. ...

Jay Z: Jay-Z: Something For The Weekend, Sir?

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, April 2000

"How about freedom?" wonders rap nabob Jay-Z, on bail pending trial for a near-fatal stabbing and facing a possible 22-year jail term. Some distraction from ...

Later vs CD:UK Soundclash!

Report and Interview by David Quantick, Q, May 2000

Pop on telly: sounds foolproof doesn't it? So why — from Gas Tank to the gopping Jo Whiley Show — is it invariably cocked up? ...

James Brown, B.B. King, Lloyd Price: Eyewitness: The Black Woodstock — 22-23 September 1974

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, June 2000

As Muhammad Ali and George Foreman waited to go toe-to-toe in Zaire, Don King persuaded James Brown and BB King to headline a music festival. ...

Garbage: Cash For Questions With Shirley Manson

Interview by David Quantick, Q, June 2000

Chair throwing, coprophagy, sniffing Courtney Love... and that's just you lot – arf! Garbage's fiery songstress would much rather relax with Ravel and some GM ...

Super Furry Animals: Brighton Concorde 2

Report and Interview by David Quantick, Q, June 2000

IN BRIGHTON, the only sound at night is the scream of seagulls circling the bay and the not dissimilar scream of students circling the bar ...

Billie Piper: Billie No Mates

Interview by Lucy O'Brien, Q, July 2000

The fans have turned on her, Billie Piper has rediscovered her surname and written a song about the music business. Teen pop midlife crisis ahoy! ...

David Holmes: Bow Down To The Exit Sign

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, July 2000

Belfast-born, New-York-based DJ-producer joined by Bobby Gillespie, Jon Spencer etc. ...

Graham Coxon: The Golden D

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, July 2000

SOLO ALBUMS — like roof thatching and monocle manufacture — are now something of a lost art. ...

Foxy Brown: Ill Na Na (Def Jam) ***

Review by Lucy O'Brien, Q, August 2000

First Lady of glam gangsta rap's 1996 album. ...

Robbie Williams: Maximum Bob

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, August 2000

He's hard. He's funny. He flirts dramatically with mental illness and he's back with the best pop music of his life. No argument: the Ferrari ...

Moloko: These Boots Are Made For Walkin'…

Interview by Lucy O'Brien, Q, September 2000

…and today they're going to walk all over Q. For she is Roisin Murphy and they are Moloko, the Euro-chart topping Lee 'n' Nancy who ...

Queens Of The Stone Age: Primeval Scream: Queens Of The Stone Age: Rated R (Interscope) ***

Review by Paul Elliott, Q, September 2000

Like evolution never happened. ...

Björk: Cash For Questions

Interview by Lucy O'Brien, Q, October 2000

Miraculously, nothing in the postbag about elves or smoked auk; instead it was journo-bashing, fan-suicides and Goldie's "teeth" all the way for the Palme d'Or-winning ...

The Band, Bob Dylan: Dylan and The Band: Obviously Five Believers

Retrospective and Interview by Andy Gill, Q, October 2000

He took them round the world – to endless booing. They settled in Woodstock, separated, and then reunited for the highest grossing tour of the ...

Goldfrapp: Felt Mountain

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, October 2000

OWING NO SMALL debt to an era when chilling strings and abstract electronica followed Michael Caine’s every move, and French pop was effortlessly romantic, the ...

Magazine: Magazine... (Where The Power Is)/…Magazine (Maybe It's Right To Be Nervous Now)

Review by Ian Gittins, Q, October 2000

IF PUNK ROCK was anti-pretension, somebody forgot to tell Magazine's Howard Devoto. ...

Alabama 3: Gangster Trippin'

Profile and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 2000

From Brixton jail to fragrant Hell's Angels bunfight: a weekend with Alabama 3 is one worth "tooling up" for. So hide your shiv in a ...

All Saints: Saints & Sinners (London 8573 85295 2)

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, November 2000

Fallen Angels: Only divine intervention can save them now... ...

Radiohead: Kid A

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, November 2000

MAYBE WE SHOULD all get a little perspective on this. Radiohead are five blokes from Oxford; they've been at it nearly 10 years now; their ...

Adam & The Ants: Adam Ant: White Line Nightmare

Retrospective and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 2000

THE BOY looked at Paul McCartney. "I saw him through a crack in the door, going up the stairs chatting with my mum," says Adam ...

Fatboy Slim: He's Having A Ball!

Profile and Interview by David Quantick, Q, December 2000

No more doing cocaine off the London to Brighton line, but life is still sweet for the compulsive DJ, celebrity spouse and "geeky, nerdy, baldy ...

Morcheeba: Barrowland, Glasgow

Live Review by Ian Gittins, Q, December 2000

Moving On Up: bumper sales crop turns sleepy trip-hoppers into the new M People. No! ...

Alicia Keys: Songs In A Minor

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2001

Classically trained pianist harks back to R&B's pre-Timbaland roots with sublime debut album. ...

Angie Stone: Mahogany Soul

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2001

FAME DIDN'T COME quickly for Angie Stone. When her debut album, 2000's gospel-rich Black Diamond, did finally arrive, it was distinguished by years of graft ...

Britney Spears: Britney

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2001

The all-American girl shows what she's really made of ...

Gay Dad: Transmission

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2001

The biggest of next big things return, older, wiser and slightly miffed. ...

Jamiroquai: A Funk Odyssey

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2001

JAMIROQUAI/JAY KAY has shrugged off many a jibe about his disco-funk devotion – not to mention hats, dancing... But if 16 million album sales haven't ...

Money Mark: Change Is Coming (Emperor Norton)

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2001

Beastie Boys' favourite session player proves his worth with third album. ...

S Club 7: Sunshine (Polydor) ****

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2001

Children In Need's favourite popstars finally move into Spice World. ...

The Beautiful South: Solid Bronze – Great Hits

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2001

New and improved greatest hits. Every pub should have one. ...

Victoria Beckham: Victoria Beckham

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2001

It's vocoder-a-go-go as Posh Spice gets personal ...

Dido: No Angel? An Audience with Pop's New Queen

Profile and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 2001

"HELLO, LOVE, IT'S ME," chirps Dido into her mobile phone. Q tries not to listen. Q listens. "Did you record The Sopranos? Great." Then some ...

PJ Harvey: New Boots & Panties

Report and Interview by John Harris, Q, January 2001

Loud guitars, PVC, bit of leg — Polly puts the metal on… ...

The Beatles: Ian MacDonald: Revolution In the Head - The Beatles' Records And The Sixties (1994, revised 1995, Pimlico)

Review and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 2001

IAN MACDONALD, now 52, was enraptured by The Beatles as a teenager, then generally disappointed by pop music from 1980 onwards. His attempt "to bring ...

R.E.M.: Reveal

Review by David Cavanagh, Q, April 2001

MONKEYS ROAM THE WHITE HOUSE and sheep fry in the British countryside, so let us phrase our words carefully. The 12th R.E.M. album will not ...

Humphrey Lyttelton, Radiohead: Radiohead recruit new member!

Report and Interview by Pat Long, Q, April 2001

Brit jazz veteran Humphrey Lyttleton helps out on new album's free-form epic. ...

Eve

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, May 2001

Her bite's just as bad as her bark. ...

Faithless: House Of The Holy

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, May 2001

One speed demon rapper. One half-deaf DJ queen. And one studio Svengali who just happens to be Dido's brother. This is Faithless, dance music's holy ...

Feeder: Echo Park (Echo ECHCD34)

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, May 2001

Monster Munch: Will still leave you feeling hungry half an hour later. ...

Stevie Nicks: Queen Of The Stoned Age

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, May 2001

Fleetwood Mac's full-pelt excess and partner-swapping made for rock's most incredible soap opera. But there's one question everyone wants to ask Stevie Nicks. It concerns ...

Guns N' Roses: Didn't You Used To Be Axl Rose?

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, July 2001

When the reclusive Guns 'N Roses star re-emerged last year, even old band mates didn't recognise him. After a decade of hiring and firing, an ...

Outkast: Pretty In Pink: OutKast: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York *****

Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, July 2001

The future of hip hop looks rosy ...

Catatonia: Catatonic in Soho

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 2001

CERYS MATTHEWS slung a guitar round her neck and strummed a few chords. Then something caught her eye. She stopped and stared. Her jaw dropped. ...

Dido: She's Cracked It!

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, August 2001

Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong left home at 15, reckons she's "worth 15 billion pounds", guzzles painkillers and measures hotel swimming pools before she ...

Usher: From Usher With Love

Interview by Ian Gittins, Q, August 2001

He was discovered at 14 by Puff Daddy, wants to move like Fred Astaire, sing like Michael Jackson and talk like the Fonz. He sold ...

Gorillaz: Hey Hey We're The Monkeys!

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, August 2001

Four years ago Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett shared a flat and partied with Spice Girls. Then they invented GORILLAZ. The weed-soaked cartoon collective has ...

Mike Oldfield: The Making of Tubular Bells

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, August 2001

One of the most influential pieces of music in rock history – much imitated, used in movies, TV commercials and documentaries, sampled by Janet Jackson, ...

Spiritualized: Jason Pierce: The Urban Spaceman Falls To Earth

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 2001

COSMIC OR WHAT? Jason Pierce has conducted Q to a yellowed Hoxton hostelry called the Macbeth. By the door it sports a tiled mural illustrating ...

David Bowie: The Making of The Man Who Fell To Earth

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, November 2001

CANDY CLARK (actress): I agreed to do the movie some time before Bowie became involved. I had known the director, Nic Roeg, quite well for ...

Britney Spears: Squeaky Clean

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, December 2001

Britney Spears ponders hot chocolate and drugged reptiles from Australia. ...

Linkin Park: Boys from The Backstreet

Interview by David Quantick, Q, Summer 2001

Are Linkin Park the pre-fabricated face of nu-metal? Drug convictions, obsessive fans and a festival slot alongside Slipknot would suggest otherwise. "We really don't give ...

Sparklehorse: King Of The Wild Frontier

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, Summer 2001

He lives on a 400-acre farm, comes from a family of coal miners and drives 15 miles to buy cigarettes. So why is Sparklehorse's Mark ...

Terence Trent D'Arby: Where Are They Now: Terence Trent D'Arby

Report and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, Summer 2001

ONCE THE snake-hipped future of soul, Terence Trent D'Arby never quite capitalized on the enormous publicity that greeted his arrival in the mid-'80's, nor the ...

Blak Twang: Kik Off

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2002

MOBO winner and friend of the Wu Tang raises Brit-hop's game. ...

CeeLo Green: Cee Lo Green: Cee Lo Green And His Perfect Imperfections

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2002

Goodie Mob star scores another homerun for the Atlanta hip hop massive ...

Dashboard Confessional: The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2002

IF THE "EMO" fraternity need a hero, Florida's Christopher Carrabba, aka Dashboard Confessional, is their man. Hurling a barrage of poetic abuse and violently chugging ...

Faithless: Re-Perspective

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2002

AS THIS COLLECTION of reworked tracks from last year's Outrospective album makes all too clear, Faithless don't wear remixes well. So reliant are their songs ...

INXS: Definitive

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2002

FIVE YEARS after singer Michael Hutchence's death, INXS are making their much threatened comeback, fronted by Jon Stevens from fellow Aussie rockers Noiseworks. ...

Jennifer Lopez: This Is Me…Then (Epic)

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2002

Actress/diva switches on the autopilot ...

Mr. Scruff: Mr Scruff: Trouser Jazz

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2002

A DEVOTEE OF jumble sale chic, Andy "Mr.Scruff" Carthy's curious cut'n'paste creations – made famous-ish by the vintage jazz scatting of single 'Get A Move ...

Kid Rock: Cash For Questions

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, January 2002

You probed him about his ex-Radio 1 DJ namesake, dissing Radiohead and whether his mucky mouth ever upset his old mum. He responded with the ...

The Strokes: "I Want A Fight!"

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, January 2002

Stalked by supermodels, lauded by Joe Strummer and ready to ruck, The Strokes wear the mantle of "cool" like a bespoke suit. But why is ...

Alicia Keys: Rock Me Amadeus

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 2002

It's a long way from New York's 42nd Street to the 44th annual Grammy Awards. But after seven years of juggling Harlem street life, fractious ...

Bob Dylan: Time Out Of Mind

Review by Toby Manning, Q, February 2002

DYLAN'S 41st ALBUM announced his creative rebirth after nearly a decade in the doldrums. ...

Rehab'n'Roll

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 2002

"I WAS TRYING to prove I could do it and come out alive." That was Eric Clapton's account of his immersion in heroin from 1970-74. ...

OutKast: Southern Gents: OutKast: Big Boi And Dre Present... OutKast (LaFace/Arista) ****

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, February 2002

Yee-haw! Technicolour hip hop rises again ...

Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Robbie Williams: The Rat Pack: Boys Keep Swinging

Retrospective by Dorian Lynskey, Q, February 2002

They were a gang of hard-drinking, soft-crooning, middle-aged smart alecs, and they were the walking, talking, wise-cracking definition of cool. Now, half a century later, ...

Nirvana, Tad: Burn Baby Burn! Sub Pop's 1989 tour of Europe

Retrospective and Interview by Keith Cameron, Q, March 2002

Started: Riverside, Newcastle, 23 October 1989 Finished: Astoria, London, 3 December 1989 Bands: Nirvana, Tad ...

Madonna: Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

Retrospective by Lucy O'Brien, Q, March 2002

Plagued by accusations of bimboism and blasphemy, Madonna put on her conical bra, reduced her body fat to an "unhealthy level" and began playing with ...

Staind: 013, Tilburg, Netherlands

Live Review by Paul Elliott, Q, April 2002

"I SMOKE MORE weed than ever," sings Aaron Lewis, adding a few improvised lines to Staind's nu-grunge anthem 'Outside'. Whoops of stoned solidarity fill the ...

Wilco: Hi, My Name's Jeff, and I'm a Wilcoholic

Interview by Toby Manning, Q, May 2002

LIKE ALL LAS VEGAS hotels, the Mandalay Bay is a self-contained city, comprising restaurants, bars, even a "beach," complete with electric waves: anything and everything ...

The Go-Go's: The Fab Femme Five

Retrospective and Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, May 2002

Long before girl-band conveyor-belt pop and mainstream stardom for their mucky singer Belinda Carlisle, there was "the world's best female band" The Go-Go's. Meet the ...

Kylie Minogue: Attack of the 5ft Woman!

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, June 2002

AAARG! In 1998, one time pop robot and po-mo pin-up Kylie Minogue was on a commercial cold slab. Now scarily re-animated, she's an irony-free megastar ...

David Bowie: Mr Universe: David Bowie: Heathen (ISO/Columbia) ****

Review by David Quantick, Q, June 2002

Rock's original spaceboy flexes his muscles. ...

U2: Eyewitness: U2 Conquer London

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Q, July 2002

WHEN U2 visited the capital in the summer of 1980, their intention was to play a handful of low-key club shows. Three months, a Marquee ...

Tommy Lee: Famous Last Words: Tommy Lee

Interview by Toby Manning, Q, July 2002

He has a bulletproof vest, a world-famous penis and has never ridden the bus. Nice life! ...

Korn: Meet The Sickest Band In The World

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, July 2002

Why is this man laughing? Because he's sold 15 million albums, dissected 5000 corpses and forged an army of metal zombies in his own image. ...

Ashanti: Saviour Of The Ballad

Interview by Dan Gennoe, Q, August 2002

"LEAVE!" Ashanti Douglas is not amused. ...

No Doubt: West Wide Story

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, August 2002

How did this garish gang of Madness-loving Californians end up selling 10 million albums? Welcome to No Doubt's turbulent tale of teenage suicide, broken love ...

The Libertines

Profile and Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, August 2002

Patriotic punk whelps. They're having a "giraffe". ...

Avril Lavigne: Let Go

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, September 2002

A 17-YEAR-OLD skate chick with the face of a rebellious angel and attitude to match, singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne should be the answer to every record ...

The White Stripes: Chemistry Set: The White Stripes: Metro, Chicago

Live Review by Keith Cameron, Q, September 2002

Sparks fly as the blues-crazed siblings/spouses/whatever take the stage. ...

Coldplay: A Rush Of Blood To The Head (Parlophone) ****

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, September 2002

Former "bedwetters" make emotional bid for U2's throne. ...

N.E.R.D.: Mixed Messages: N*E*R*D: Le Trabendo, Paris

Live Review by Paul Elliott, Q, September 2002

Saying no to drugs and yes to gonzoid sex-funk. ...

Graham Coxon: The Great Escape...

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 2002

Mental breakdowns and now the boot from his beloved Blur, 2002 has been a traumatic year for wayward guitarist Graham Coxon. Phil Sutcliffe discovers a ...

Norah Jones: Symphony Hall, Atlanta ****

Live Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, November 2002

Languid jazz and songs about lap dancers? Must be an audience with
America's engaging new sophisto-diva.       ...

Bootsy Collins: Play With Bootsy

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, Summer 2002

AS A WIGGED-OUT space cadet, Bootsy Collins is unrivalled. Unfortunately, the former Parliament and Funkadelic bass player's solo output has rarely warranted as much attention ...

Fun Lovin' Criminals: Bag Of Hits

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, Summer 2002

CONTRARY TO the half-arsed fumblings suggested by their permanently stoned expressions and carefully cultivated image of hapless bums who lucked into a record deal, the ...

Oasis: Heathen Chemistry

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Q, Summer 2002

SINCE IT WAS to l’il old me that a strangely sober Liam Gallagher first whispered the title of the fifth Oasis album – yes, folks, ...

Dashboard Confessional: MTV Unplugged 2.0

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2003

Softly spoken EMO hero gets crushed by overzealous fans. ...

S Club 7: Best… The Greatest Hits of S Club 7 (Polydor) ***

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2003

One final reminder that there really ain't no party like an… ...

Radiohead: Thom Yorke Talks

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 2003

THE SCENE SHOULD you need it: quiet, sunny May Tuesday morning in Oxford. 10am and all quiet because the students are in bed or at ...

Missy Elliott: Built To Last: Missy Elliott: Under Construction (East West) ****

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, January 2003

Saluting hip hop's past while embracing the future. ...

Christina Aguilera: Stripped (RCA) **

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, January 2003

Mini pop diva reinvents herself as Pink. ...

Justin Timberlake: Justified (Jive)

Review by Toby Manning, Q, January 2003

WHILE MICHAEL Jackson's creativity is on the wane, there are still some artists who find him inspirational. ...

TLC: 3D

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, January 2003

Atlanta R&B trio's ill fated fourth album ...

Beyoncé Knowles

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, March 2003

It's her duty to shake that booty. ...

Justin Timberlake

Interview by Toby Manning, Q, March 2003

Dishpan hands not a problem. ...

Ginuwine: The Senior (Epic)

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, April 2003

THOUGH ECLIPSED by his Missy Elliott/Aaliyah/Justin Timberlake collaborations, producer Tim "Timbaland" Mosley's partnership with R&B loverman Ginuwine has been a remarkable one. ...

Linkin Park: Are We Having Fun Yet?

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, April 2003

Of course not. Back off groupies and drug dealers: this is Linkin Park, the world's most sensible multi-millionaire metal stars. ...

The Mars Volta: Planet Rock

Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, April 2003

Arising from the ashes of At The Drive In, here come The Mars Volta ...

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Cosmic Girl: Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever To Tell (Polydor) ****

Review by Keith Cameron, Q, May 2003

No prizes for guessing the hyped Brooklynites' secret weapon. ...

Goldfrapp: Down Boy!: Goldfrapp: Black Cherry (Mute) ***

Review by Toby Manning, Q, May 2003

Sultry ambient diva gets dark electro makeover ...

Interpol: Trees, Dallas

Review and Interview by Toby Manning, Q, May 2003

It's not all post-punk brooding. They like drugs and girls too. ...

Kelly Rowland: Beyond The Call of Booty

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, June 2003

You're one third of chart-blitzing girl trio Destiny's Child, but what comes next? If you're Kelly Rowland, a Number 1 single, Top 10 album and ...

Beyoncé: Booty Calls: Beyoncé: Dangerously In Love (Columbia) ***

Review by Paul Elliott, Q, August 2003

Destiny's Child diva unveils world domination bid. ...

Stereophonics: Under Pressure

Report and Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, August 2003

It isn't easy being in the Stereophonics, not when old mates andtabloid stalkers are messing with your mind. Perhaps that's why Kelly Jones has been ...

Zwan: Who's Laughing Now?

Interview by Keith Cameron, Q, August 2003

Billy Corgan, actually. Kick-starting Zwan has given the former alpha goth misery guts a new zest for life. Or was it New Order's relentless piss-taking? ...

Ken Boothe: Everything I Own: The Best of Ken Boothe (Trojan)

Review by John Aizlewood, Q, September 2003

The soul-kissed voice of '70s reggae lovingly collected. ...

AC/DC: Cash For Questions

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, September 2003

No topic is off-limits for Angus Young and crew — not Satanism, School Disco, meddling pigeons or elephantine groupies called Rosie. But what about their ...

Christina Aguilera: Christina Aguilera (RCA)

Review by Paul Elliott, Q, September 2003

Her eight-million-selling, Britney-bothering debut, with six new tracks. ...

Neil Young: Greendale's Grandpa: Neil Young

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 2003

A WHITE PICKET FENCE, a neat clapboard house, smoke drifting from the chimney. Grandpa Green's rocking on the front porch, reading the paper. He says, ...

Madonna: The Early Days

Retrospective and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 2003

"SHE'LL BE BIGGER than Olivia Newton John!" That's what incandescent young A&R man Michael Rosenblatt told his boss, Sire Records founder-owner Seymour Stein back in ...

N.E.R.D., Pharrell Williams: Pharrell Williams: Another Hard Day At The Office…

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, September 2003

There's no rest for Pharrell Williams, not with deals to cut, girls to chase and a reputation as the world's hottest producer to keep up. ...

TLC: Bling Leaders: TLC: Now & Forever: TLC The Hits (LaFace/Arista) ****

Review by Paul Elliott, Q, November 2003

The sex, sauce and tunes that jump-started R&B ...

Amy Winehouse: Frank (Island) ****

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, December 2003

19-year-old Londoner gives polite jazz a slap. ...

Pink: Killer Queen: Pink: Try This (Arista/BMG) ****

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, December 2003

Come in, Madonna, your time is finally up ...

Led Zeppelin In Chicago, 1975

Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Q, Spring 2003

NOTE: Like almost everyone else who encountered Led Zeppelin in their pomp in the ‘70s, including many in their employ, I was intimidated by them. ...

Radiohead: The Story Of Tchocky

Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Q, Summer 2003

ON FEBRUARY 27, 2002, Radiohead designer Stanley Donwood mounted the stage at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, to receive a Grammy for "Best Recording Package" ...

Pink Floyd: No One Knew What They Looked Like: Pink Floyd and the Press

Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Q, 2004

THE BOX ARRIVED in Melody Maker’s offices in December 1970, just in time for Christmas, addressed to Michael Watts. It was a sturdily constructed hardwood ...

Prince: The Man With No Name

Retrospective by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2004

NOTE: Article from a special edition of Q: 50 Years of Rock 'n' Roll 1954-2004 From Elvis to the Beatles ...

Robbie Williams: Q Icons: Robbie Williams

Profile by Ian Gittins, Q, 2004

EVERY BRITISH comprehensive school class has its in-house clown. Tirelessly hyperactive and compulsively subversive, he (and it always is a he) leaves at 16 in ...

Soft Cell: The Tainted Life of Soft Cell

Retrospective and Interview by Ian Gittins, Q, 2004

IN 1973 A 16-YEAR-OLD Marc Almond travelled from his hometown of Southport to Liverpool to see David Bowie on his Aladdin Sane tour. Having suffered ...

Alicia Keys: The Diary Of Alicia Keys

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, January 2004

FOR ALL THE international superstars and great songs latter-day R&B's spawned, its tally of indispensable albums is shamefully low. ...

Elvis Presley: Elvis: The First Sun Sessions

Retrospective and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 2004

IT WAS A QUIET WEEK in Memphis. Monday, January 4, 1954. Everyone easing into the new year. Nobody paid any attention when, around lunchtime, a ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley

Retrospective by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 2004

DECEMBER 3, 1976. A mellow, starry Friday night at 56 Hope Road, Bob Marley's Kingston home. Children playing in the yard – three of them ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers: The Shooting of Bob Marley

Retrospective by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 2004

DECEMBER 3, 1976. A mellow, starry Friday night at 56 Hope Road, Bob Marley's Kingston home. Children playing in the yard - three of them ...

Pete Townshend, The Who: The Who: Lifehouse

Retrospective and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 2004

TRICKY CUSTOMER, Lifehouse. Pete Townshend spent the best part of a year from autumn, 1970, trying to explain it... ...

Amy Winehouse: Concorde 2, Brighton ****

Review and Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, July 2004

Meet the hotshot jazz chanteuse you couldn't take home to mum. ...

PJ Harvey: Primavera Sound Festival, Poble Espanyol, Barcelona

Report and Interview by Keith Cameron, Q, August 2004

As flamboyant and enigmatic as ever, now with added boozing. ...

Pink Floyd: Life After Roger: Pink Floyd

Retrospective and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, September 2004

UNTIL AUTUMN 1986, Pink Floyd was the invisible band. Their fame and fortune huge, their individual members anonymous. The arrangement always looked a perfect fit ...

The Hives: The Last Samurai?

Report and Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, November 2004

The natty uniforms and arch humour are still a novelty in Japan. But have The Hives anything more to offer? ...

The Who: Kit Lambert: A Profile

Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Q, Spring 2004

"GET HIM OUT of here." "What?" "Get him out. He’s making things worse." "But Pete, he’s... he’s Kit, their manager." ...

The Damned, Sex Pistols: Citizen Punk

Retrospective by Jonh Ingham, Q, 2005

APRIL 1976: For me it began at the El Paradise strip club, where the Sex Pistols filled a tiny room with three-chord beat and Rotten ...

Gwen Stefani: Girl Powered: Gwen Stefani: Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (Interscope/Polydor) ****

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, January 2005

The new first lady of pop has arrived ...

The iPod: Rise of the Machines

Report by Edward Helmore, Q, March 2005

This is the untold story of Apple's iPod — the gadget that ate the world and saved the music industry. We're all pod people now. ...

OutKast: Idlewild

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2006

ANYONE FEARING that the Day-Glo brilliance of 2003's triple Grammy winner, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, might have marked the height of the Atlanta duo's R&B powers ...

James Brown: Ten Commandments: The Gospel According To James Brown

Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Q, May 2006

Soul Brother Number One, 72 ...

James Blunt: "'You're Beautiful' Got Me Laid"

Interview by William Shaw, Q, July 2006

The Americans think he's "Prince William with a guitar". There is one important difference. James Blunt knows 53 ways to kill a man. ...

India.Arie: Testimony: Vol.1, Life & Relationship

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, August 2006

WITH HER THIRD album, nu-soul voice of reason India.Arie answers the question, how much wisdom is too much. ...

Paris Hilton: Heir Raising: Paris Hilton: Paris Hilton (Warners) ***

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, September 2006

Not just an over-exposed millionairess, then. ...

Mariah Carey: Girl Aloud: Mariah Carey: Madison Square Garden, New York ****

Live Review by Paul Elliott, Q, November 2006

Behold the homecoming queen. And her local vicar. ...

George Michael: Twentyfive (Sony/BMG)

Review by Paul Elliott, Q, December 2006

THIS WAS SUPPOSED to be part of George Michael's big comeback: a greatest hits album to follow a sell-out European tour. And, fleetingly, it was ...

Pink: I’m Not Dead

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, Spring 2006

AFTER INSTIGATING the '80s rock revival currently sweeping the hit factories of US pop, it's only fair that Pink should now get to be its ...

Joan As Policewoman: Joan As Police Woman: Real Life

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2007

FOR JOAN WASSER, having to defer her debut due to viola playing commitments with Antony And The Johnsons, Rufus Wainwright and Scissor Sisters was probably ...

Electric Light Orchestra, Jeff Lynne, Traveling Wilburys: Jeff Lynne: "I've worked with The Beatles and Dylan. I've lived every fan's dream"

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, February 2007

ELO's founder, he has also played inside a spaceship and gripped George Harrison with his bum. ...

My Chemical Romance: The Italian Job: My Chemical Romance: Alcatraz, Milan ****

Live Review by Paul Elliott, Q, February 2007

Calling all hormonally charged misfits. ...

Kylie Minogue: Dancing Queen: Kylie Minogue: Wembley Arena, London ****

Live Review by Paul Elliott, Q, March 2007

The Showgirl returns. Praise be. ...

Mika: Life In Cartoon Motion

Review by Paul Elliott, Q, March 2007

THE BUZZ about Mika is already at fever pitch. Beirut-born, London-based, 23 and boyishly pretty, he's tipped to be the face of 2007. ...

The Killers: The Q Interview: Brandon Flowers: "I refuse to say, Fuck Bush."

Interview by William Shaw, Q, March 2007

The Killers man: practising Mormon, condom salesman, insists upon washing his own underpants ...

Arctic Monkeys: The Q Interview: Alex Turner: "I still feel very much a boy"

Interview by Keith Cameron, Q, July 2007

On Friday, 22 June the Arctic Monkeys will headline Glastonbury. Favourite Worst Nightmare is the year's fastest selling album. Their time is assuredly now. But ...

Justin Timberlake: The O2, London ****

Live Review by Paul Elliott, Q, September 2007

The current King Of Pop, still bringing sexy back ...

Devendra Banhart: Folk Hero

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, October 2007

Devendra Banheart was born in Texas, raised in Caracas, then fetched up in Paris and San Francisco and currently lives in a world of his ...

Babyshambles: Shotter's Nation (Parlophone) ***

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, November 2007

It is, at least, far better than their tragic debut. Pete Doherty's promise, however, remains unfulfilled. ...

Mark Ronson, Amy Winehouse: Q Awards: Mark Ronson

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, December 2007

Amy Winehouse didn't show. Her producer did. ...

Jay Z: Jay-Z: American Gangster (Roc-A-Fella) ****

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, January 2008

Four years and two albums into his "retirement", hip hop's chief tycoon relocates his mojo. ...

Led Zeppelin: 'People Go On About The Bad Blood Between Us. There Can't Be That Much If We're In A Room Together.'

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, January 2008

The return of was the music event of the year. On the eve of their comeback show at London's O2 arena, here for the first ...

Eels: King of Pain

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, February 2008

Eels frontman Mark "E" Everett discovered his father's dead body, watched his mother die of cancer and failed to save his sister from suicide. "You've ...

Queen: Fifty Years of Great British Music: The '70s

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, March 2008

It wasn't all operatic rock and theatrical excess. As guitarist Brian May recalls, transsexual strippers played a part, too. ...

R Kelly: Trapped In The Closet, Chapters 1-22 ***

Film/DVD/TV Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, April 2008

Some people thought the R&B man had gone mad. He has now. ...

Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks: The Q Interview: Stevie Nicks: "I had to be strong otherwise I would never have gotten through all this."

Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Q, May 2008

Stevie Nicks is the epitome of California rock excess. While in Fleetwood Mac, she sold millions and snorted half of Colombia. Solo, she sold millions ...

Muse: Royal Albert Hall, London ****

Live Review by Paul Elliott, Q, June 2008

Euphoric fundraiser. Big organ included. ...

Coldplay: Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends ****

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, July 2008

THE POINT AT WHICH CHAPTER TWO OF THEIR STORY BEGINS. ...

Neil Diamond: Olympiahalle, Munich ****

Live Review by Paul Elliott, Q, August 2008

Enter the last great American showman ...

Metallica: Some Kind Of Monsters

Report and Interview by William Shaw, Q, September 2008

In the old days, Metallica were hard-drinking, groupie-shagging rock pigs. Today, they're all about pre-gig yoga sessions, surfing and being good dads. On the merch ...

Kaiser Chiefs: Off With Their Heads

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, October 2008

IT MAY NOT be the kind of cause that inspires students to don fluorescent vests and coerce passers-by into signing direct debit forms, but it's ...

The Streets: Everything Is Borrowed **

Review by David Quantick, Q, October 2008

The last one honked. This is possibly even worse. ...

New Order: Movement/Power, Corruption & Lies/Low-Life/Brotherhood/Technique (Rhino)

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, November 2008

From the ashes of Joy Division rose a phoenix fusing indie rock and dance music to create the perfect soundtrack for a decade striped by ...

The Killers: Day & Age (Vertigo) ***

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, December 2008

For his latest role, rock's great drama queen Brandon Flowers wisely packs away the facial hair and sombre poses of Sam's Town and pulls on ...

Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, January 2009

AT THE END of August, Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis was waiting for her flight to the Democratic National Convention in Denver when a fellow passenger ...

AC/DC: Verizon Center, Washington DC ****

Live Review by Keith Cameron, Q, February 2009

Their album went Number 1 in 29 countries, so why would the greatest ever Australian band — still performing with a deranged intensity that belies ...

The Killers: Nice Dummies

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, Q, March 2009

"DAD! DID YA hear that? Double platinum!" Ronnie Vannucci hollers over the evening clatter of a Seattle restaurant. Several tables away, Vannucci Snr. raises his ...

Elbow: The Q Interview: Guy Garvey

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, April 2009

People's poet, shambling everyman, leader of 18-year overnight sensations Elbow — Guy Garvey is the world's most unlikely rock star. But scratch the surface and ...

Depeche Mode: Sounds Of The Universe

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, May 2009

AT THE 12th time of asking, to play the fan-pleasing goth-pop card, or to attempt something more testing? Alas, once again, it's the former. ...

Jarvis Cocker, Michael Jackson: Eyewitness: Jarvis Cocker invades the stage at the BRIT Awards

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, May 2009

WITNESS: Various EVENT: Jarvis Cocker invades the stage at the BRIT Awards  DATE: 19 February 1996 LOCATION: Earl's Court, London.   ...

Nirvana: The Making of Bleach

Retrospective by Keith Cameron, Q, May 2009

THE SMALL WOODEN BUILDING at 4230 Leary Way NW, in the residential Seattle district of Ballard, didn't look like the epicentre of a revolution. But ...

The Enemy: Music For The People

Review by Paul Moody, Q, May 2009

The Coventry trio face the classic second-album conundrum — play it safe or stretch themselves. The answer: try and do both. ...

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz! (Polydor) *****

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, May 2009

They started out as antagonistic New York art-rockers. Six years later, they've finally hit their mark as the world's greatest electro-pop group. ...

Nick Drake, PJ Harvey, Bob Marley & the Wailers, John Martyn, Millie, Traffic, U2, Steve Winwood: Empire of the Sun: Island at 50

Retrospective and Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, June 2009

The grand scheme of a gambler with a taste for chicken blood, Jamaican label Island Records introduced Bob Marley and U2 to the world. On ...

Jamie T: Kings And Queens

Review by Paul Moody, Q, September 2009

TWO YEARS AGO, Jamie T's debut Panic Prevention laid down roots for a new kind of British pop; a frantic urban fusion of ska, hip ...

Joy Division, The Smiths: Kevin Cummins: Manchester – Looking For The Light Through The Pouring Rain (Faber & Faber)

Book Review by Keith Cameron, Q, October 2009

Manc-rock, from punk to Oasis, by legendary lensman. ...

The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Cash for Questions

Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, November 2009

YOU CAME TO BLAME THEM FOR EMINEM AND (WRONGLY) HAIL THEIR INVENTION OF THE MULLET. THEIR AGENDA ENCOMPASSED DEBBIE HARRY'S "DOME-SKI" AND THE PROSPECT OF ...

Noir Désir: Bertrand Cantat: Rock Idol Kills Lover

Report by Paul Moody, Q, November 2009

In 2003 Bertrand Cantat was France's biggest rock star. Then his girlfriend, actress Marie Trintignant, was found dead in his hotel room. ...

Paloma Faith, Mr Hudson, Mumford & Sons: Paloma Faith/Mr Hudson/Mumford & Sons: HMV Forum, London ****

Live Review by Paul Moody, Q, January 2010

SEVEN O'CLOCK in Kentish Town and it appears The Forum has been invaded by a flashmob of glamorous fortune tellers. At the bar, there are ...

John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Phil Spector: Going Under: John Lennon's Lost Weekend

Retrospective and Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, February 2010

Separated from Yoko, at war with McCartney, his phone tapped by the US government... by 1974 JOHN LENNON was a mess. The solution: hook up ...

Joanna Newsom: Have One On Me (Drag City)

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, April 2010

Avant-garde American folkstress's triple album. Not understated. ...

The Kissaway Trail, Midlake: Midlake, the Kissaway Trail: The Tabernacle, London ****

Live Review by Paul Moody, Q, April 2010

THE TABERNACLE is just about perfect for Midlake's long-awaited return to these shores. Built in 1887, and close to Mick Jagger's Powis Square crash-pad in ...

Rufus Wainwright: Cash For Questions

Interview by Paul Moody, Q, April 2010

FOR THE RECORD, THEN, OUR INTREPID DIVA: DOES HAVE HIS LEDERHOSEN CUSTOM-MADE, WAS TEMPORARILY SENT BLIND BY INJESTING TOO MANY DRUGS AND, OH YES, SINCE ...

MGMT: Coming Up

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, June 2010

They're the button-pushing psychedelic pranksters who count Paul McCartney and Jay-Z among their admirers. Step into the weird, wired world of MGMT. ...

M.I.A.: M.I.A: /\/\/\Y/\ (XL) ***

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, August 2010

Embattled hip-pop star returns, guns blazing. Misses target. ...

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan: Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan: Hawk

Review by Keith Cameron, Q, September 2010

Third album of rootsy glower from Scots/US beauty/beast duo. ...

Arcade Fire: The Arcade Fire: The Suburbs

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, September 2010

IN MAY, WHEN news broke that Arcade Fire's third album would be called The Suburbs, one online fan posted a joke tracklisting featuring such numbers ...

CeeLo Green: Cee-Lo Green: The Lady Killer

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, January 2011

Liked the single? You're going to love the album. ...

Elliott Smith: The Lost Boy

Retrospective by Keith Cameron, Q, January 2011

He was the modern-day Nick Drake: a brilliant, troubled troubadour whose life was cut tragically short in mysterious circumstances, leaving a small but influential legacy. ...

KT Tunstall: A Round With KT Tunstall

Interview by Paul Moody, Q, March 2011

She's the eco-conscious singer-songwriter who loves Professor Brian Cox and avoids being "a champion wanker". But, be afraid: this self-confessed "single malt girl" can drink ...

Katy Perry: Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin ****

Review and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, May 2011

Pop's newest extravaganza. Includes a vision of "whipped cream tits"… ...

Arctic Monkeys: Suck It And See

Review by Paul Moody, Q, July 2011

IN THE SPRING of 2006, with the reverberations from the success of Arctic Monkeys' debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not ...

Laura Marling: A Creature I Don't Know (Virgin) ****

Review by Keith Cameron, Q, September 2011

Nu-folk starlet shines ever brighter on third outing. ...

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Review by Tom Doyle, Q, November 2011

AS THE WAR of the Gallaghers thunders on, there's little doubt that this has been a messier separation than might even have been predicted. ...

Justice: Audio, Video, Disco (Ed Banger) ***

Review and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, November 2011

Pioneering electro-punk duo make nostalgic rock trip on LP2 ...

Coldplay: "We're the best fucking band in the world…"

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, January 2012

Chris Martin may suffer from anxiety nightmares nine nights out of ten, but he knows the value of Coldplay. Join him as he hangs with ...

Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, Tyler, The Creator: Odd Future: Is This The Most Obnoxious Man In Hip-Hop?

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, May 2012

Tyler, The Creator breaks new ground with every release, jokes about rape and "faggots", and runs LA rap crew Odd Future the way he wants. ...

Rumer

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, June 2012

"TEA ANYONE?" says Rumer from the doorway of her beach hut. "Plenty of sandwiches left." Dazed by the mad March sun, her audience of biz ...

Justin Bieber: Cash For Questions

Interview by Jude Rogers, Q, August 2012

Lock up your nieces, the Canadian teen-pop behemoth is over here and gagging to answer your questions on scary fans, fighting One Direction and whether ...

Amy Winehouse: Lost Girl: The Fierce Life and Tortured Times of Amy Winehouse

Retrospective by William Shaw, Q, August 2012

The force of nature who made Back To Black was also a vulnerable daddy's girl, a harsh taskmistress, a woman with a weakness for the ...

Tulisa: How Did A Nice Girl Like This Become Britain's Most Ambitious Pop Star?

Interview by Jude Rogers, Q, October 2012

Tulisa Contostavlos is a new kind of pop star for whom success is measured by the volume of column inches and by brand positioning. Jude ...

Calvin Harris: My Single Friend: Calvin Harris: 18 Months (Columbia) **

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, December 2012

Dumfries pop Midas toils to connect the hits on disappointing third. ...

Florence and the Machine: The Q&A: Florence Welch

Interview by Jude Rogers, Q, December 2012

HELLO, Florence. Hello [trills gaily above extreme background noise] I am heeeeeeere! I am all yours. [Pause] Actually, who is this? ...

David Bowie: Bowie at Live Aid

Retrospective by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 2013

EVERYBODY REMEMBERS that Queen stole the show at Live Aid, but it's only insiders like "event co-ordinator" Pete Smith who know how David Bowie saved ...

Big Boi: Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumors

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, February 2013

Boi in the corner: Forever the Outkast; rapper puts himself in the shade on second solo album ...

Lianne La Havas: Effenaar, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Live Review by Jude Rogers, Q, February 2013

YOU'RE 23 AND released your first single a year ago. ...

Marianne Faithfull: Ca$h for Questions

Interview by Sylvia Patterson, Q, February 2013

She was the sensuous '60s starlet who flew too close to the sun, only to emerge from addiction as a rasp-voiced grande dame of the ...

Underachievers and proud of it

Comment by Dorian Lynskey, Q, February 2013

Attention, young bands and their fiercely partisan friends! It turns out that making it isn't all it's cracked up to be. ...

The Beatles: I Was A Beatlemaniac

Retrospective by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 2013

I DIDN'T GET Elvis because I didn't get sex. Well, that was 1956 and I was eight. But The Beatles… ...

Depeche Mode

Profile and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, June 2013

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, "the world's leading music industry event". Depeche Mode are onstage in a conference room at Austin Convention Center answering questions about the ...

Suede: The Wild Ones

Retrospective and Interview by Jude Rogers, Q, August 2013

Suede kick-started Britpop 20 years ago, but their arty glam-indie rock was soon overtaken by the more laddish likes of Oasis and Blur. Today, singer ...

Jay Z, Kanye West: Game Of Thrones: Kanye West: Yeezus (Def Jam) ****/Jay Z: Magna Carta… Holy Grail (Virgin EMI) **

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, September 2013

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN the world's two most famous rappers start to lose their grip on the mic? ...

Beyoncé: Knowles' House Party: Beyoncé: The O2, London ****

Live Review by Jude Rogers, Q, May 2014

Pop superstar takes her Mrs Carter tour to the next level in London ...

Afghan Whigs: The Afghan Whigs: Do To The Beast (Sub Pop)

Review by Simon Price, Q, May 2014

WOMEN OF a certain age and tastes still come over all peculiar at the mention of Greg Dulli's name. Certain men, too. Of all the ...

Kate Bush

Retrospective by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 2014

YOUNG KATE. I sat across from her in EMI offices and Abbey Road Studios for around seven hours, 1979-89, asking awkward questions and getting awkward, ...

George Clinton: Chocolate City – London/P-Funk Live At Metropolis

Review by Mat Snow, Q, July 2015

Bells-and-whistles souvenir party bag of funk's wild weekend. ...

James Bay

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, Q, July 2015

IN TWO YEARS, THE YOUNG BRIT SINGER-SONGWRITER JAMES BAY HAS GONE FROM BARMAN TO CHART-TOPPING, AWARD-WINNING HEARTTHROB AND IS MOBBED WHEREVER HE TRAVELS. NO WONDER ...

Marvin Gaye: Volume One: 1961-1965

Review by John Harris, Q, July 2015

Before he got it on: icon's tentative years. ...

SOAK: Before We Forgot How To Dream (Rough Trade)

Review by Laura Barton, Q, July 2015

Derry youth's fragile debut. ...

SOPHIE: Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides

Review by Laura Barton, Q, Summer 2018

Cutting-edge producer delivers dizzying dance-pop hybrid. ...

back to LIBRARY

COPYRIGHT NOTICE