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George Michael, Wham!: George Michael (2007)

Interview by Steve Pafford, Rock's Backpages Audio, June 2007

The man born Georgios Kyricacos Panayiotou talks at length about his family's attitudes towards homosexuality; his relationship with his mother; coming out to his parents; on his own gayness, and not being part of the gay community; on Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley; on songs and videos such 'Wham Rap', 'Club Tropicana' and 'Young Guns'; manager Simon Napier-Bell's shenanigans; the L.A. cruising incident and his American career; meeting Anselmo Feleppa; meeting Kenny Goss; his love of David Bowie; the rivalry between the Brit MTV bands; the state of current pop, and how he sees his future.

File format: mp3; file size: 109.1mb, interview length: 1h 53' 40" sound quality: ***

Bloc Party: What's the weirdest chart hit of all time?

Comment by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 11 July 2008

Bloc Party's new single Mercury fires them into the realm of pop eccentricity. Who else resides there? ...

Lady Gaga: Transvision Vamp: Lady Gaga

Comment by Simon Warner, Rock's Backpages, January 2010

THE POWER OF Lady Gaga has been one of the most scintillating features of 2009: three number one UK singles, a sprawling debut album and ...

2010: a look ahead at the year in pop

Preview by Pete Paphides, The Times, 10 January 2010

The pop climate is becoming like the actual climate. Where you once had distinct seasons now it all happens at once ...

Marina and The Diamonds: The Family Jewels ***

Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 19 February 2010

TO MAKE IT in the modern day pop world requires ruthless determination and unfettered self-interest. ...

Lady Gaga: Aladdin Sane Called, He Wants His Lightning Bolt Back: On Lady Gaga

Essay by Mark Dery, True/Slant, 20 April 2010

"HOW NOT DUMB is Gaga?" asked the New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones, in the first flush of Gagamania. Almost exactly a year later, his ...

Adam & The Ants: Adam And the Ants: The Making Of 'Kings Of The Wild Frontier'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2010

The 1980 manifesto, with two parts tribal drums, a pinch of twangy guitar, and plenty of punk attitude. "We had our sound!" ...

Jedward: Planet Jedward

Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 24 July 2010

WHEN ASKED WHAT he does for a living, Simon Cowell says his job is to "guess what's going to be popular". In fact, the strange ...

Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Liverpool

Review by Paul Lester, bbc.co.uk, 20 June 2011

The second album from Liverpool's second most famous sons. ...

Jake Bugg, Harry Styles: So Jake Bugg is authentic and Harry Styles is a fake? I don't think so…

Comment by Paul Morley, The Observer, 3 March 2013

In the great fabricated conflict between Jake Bugg and Harry Styles, it's the perversely sophisticated One Direction star who really represents what's left of pop. ...

Lykke Li: Village Underground, EC2

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 13 May 2014

IN LYKKE LI's poetically gloomy world view, love is a dark rainbow of despair with a big pot of bitter disappointment at the end. At ...

Harry Styles: teen star turned serious player?

Profile by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 14 May 2017

He was boyband One Direction's most high-profile pin-up. But as his debut solo album proves, behind the marketing lies a smart young man ...

Lorde talks second albums and night-time energy on the eve of Australian tour

Profile and Interview by Andrew Stafford, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 16 June 2017

I'M TOLD I CAN call her Ella: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor is quite a mouthful. The single-syllable name by which she is better known, though, ...