Rock's Backpages: Search Results

Report by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 21 February 1985

THE CONCEPT OF combining music with a strong political message is a romantic, enticing notion to many young musicians but it's a harsh, often painful ...

Denise LaSalle, Rockin' Sidney: Rockin' Sidney and Denise LaSalle: The Toot Toot Route

Report by Mike Atherton, Black Echoes, 20 July 1986

Sidney Simien spent part of 1984 recording new songs at his home studio in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Unremarkable as this information may seem, it was ...

Fela Kuti: Africa's Cult Musician: Fela Anikulapo Kuti

Report by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 13 October 1986

WHEN ONE OF Africa's most celebrated musicians receives visitors at his home in the Nigerian capital of Lagos, he lounges in little more than a ...

Sound Of Silence: The Rise Of The Compact Disc

Report by Jack Barron, Sounds, 13 December 1986

You don't have to be a classical fanatic or yuppie stadium rock lover to appreciate compact disc – the quiet revolution has hit the indie ...

The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Run DMC, Slayer: Def Jam: Don't Knock The Rock – Rap It

Report by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 1 June 1987

Mark Cooper on how Def Jam crossed over punk with rap, white with black, and stayed cool with both sides ...

Steve Earle, Randy Travis, Will Rambeaux: The New Nashville

Report by Laura Fissinger, New York Daily News, 20 December 1987

Country is giving berth to rock these days ...

Inside the Payola Scandal

Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 14 January 1988

ROLLING STONE has uncovered details of alleged cash payoffs — payola — to radio-station personnel by the operation of the California-based independent promotion man Joe Isgro. ...

The Badder the Better: Soulboy Life in London

Report by Paul Wellings, Evening Standard, 31 March 1988

IN LONDON TOWN, they’re funking till they’re raw. From badland clubland they’ve voted with their feet for black soul music. Pirate stations like ...

Acid Crackdown: Sunrise III, Greenwich

Report by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 19 November 1988

2003 note: Sunrise III, which took place in November 1988 on an industrial wasteland that would later house the Dome, was a pivotal event in ...

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, ...

Yazz: How to Make £25,000 a Night and End Up Skint

Report by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 3 May 1989

You call yourself Yazz, charge 3,000 people £8.50 each to come and see your concert and then give it all away to fat sweaty blokes ...

Public Enemy: Beat Cops

Report by RJ Smith, LA Weekly, 8 March 1990

The LAPD drops in on Public Enemy at the PALACE ...

New Order: Love Will Terrace Apart

Report by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 19 May 1990

Have a word, Ref! What's this — top disco situationists NEW ORDER in top "positive vibe" England World Cup squad anthem shock! A winning combination, ...

Guns N' Roses, N.W.A.: At a Loss for Words

Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 31 May 1990

Record-industry acceptance of stickering is already having a chilling effect ...

No More Heroes?

Report by Sean O'Hagan, The Face, March 1991

Where have all the pop stars gone? Artists like Elvis Presley or The Beatles are the record company ideal, showing steady sales year after year. ...

Unsound Moves in the Print Trade

Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 April 1991

Caroline Sullivan investigates the long-standing malaise afflicting the weekly music press after last week's closure of Sounds and the merger of Record Mirror with Music ...

KRS-One, N.W.A., Public Enemy, Run DMC: In Rap's Hometown, an Icy Reception

Report by Rob Tannenbaum, The New York Times, 28 April 1991

THE MARQUEE'S experiment with rap concerts didn't last long. The small club, in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, usually presents alternative-rock bands. But after the ...

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 ...

Aerosmith, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Mötley Crüe, Rolling Stones, The: Big Deals: How Money Fever is Changing the Music Business

Report by Fred Goodman, Musician, January 1992

"IN MARCH of 1985 the band was broke. People were selling their houses. The IRS was calling every day." ...

Massive Attack, Horace Andy: Keep on Runnings

Report by Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian, 15 February 1992

Bob Marley's music is not the young music in Kingston today. Ragga not reggae is king. And that took the British group Massive Attack to ...