Gavin Martin
Gavin Martin published Alternative Ulster in Ireland’s punk rock summer of 1977, joined the NME as a freelancer the following year, and later became the Music Critic for The Daily Mirror. Gavin died on 10th March, 2022.
350 articles
List of articles in the library
The Undertones: Queen's University, Belfast
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 8 July 1978
ON A NIGHT when one of the world's top bands, Ireland's favourite sons Thin Lizzy, were packing them in at the Ulster Hall, it was ...
Stiff Little Fingers: The Harp Bar, Belfast
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 29 July 1978
THE HARP Bar is packed for the return of Ulster's most popular and notorious modern rock band, Stiff Little Fingers. ...
The Clash: Queens University, Belfast
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 21 October 1978
THE LAST time The Clash tried to play The Ulster Hall a combination of big business insurance moguls and local bureaucratic bullshit caused the gig ...
The Undertones: Crash Course in Corruption with The Undertones
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 4 November 1978
Their record's bubbling under......so why aren't they bubbling over? ...
Graham Parker and The Rumour: Live in Belfast
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 10 March 1979
GRAHAM PARKER hasn't changed much – the small guy with the high forehead sporting an Oxfam jacket, T-shirt, drainpipes and tinted specs – but his ...
Dire Straits: Whitla Hall, Belfast
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 22 December 1979
IN THE foyer they flog T-shirts, programmes and all the paraphernalia of a rock band's promotional department bar embossed wellingtons and inflatable underwear. Rumours that ...
U2: Kings of the Celtic Fringe
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 14 February 1981
BONO VOX, a.k.a. Paul Houston, the frontman and driving force behind U2 is huddled in the back of a small van, wrapped in a fur ...
Public Image Ltd: Company Lore and Public Disorder: The PiL Memorandum
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 14 March 1981
WHILE ENGLAND GOES down the plughole, the firm of Lydon, Levene and Lee set up to prove that enterprise is not dead. They press boldly ...
Pete Shelley: Homosapien (Genetic)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 16 January 1982
SO LET'S consider the evolution of Pete Shelley from would be schoolboy glam pop poet, to starstruck love besotted voyager at the helm of the ...
The Four Tops: Four Tops Don't Walk Away Ever!
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 6 February 1982
MY FIRST TASTE of Motown music was many summers ago as I mulled away my school holidays in a sort of passive ignorance, more interested ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 6 March 1982
FOLLOWING IN the footsteps of Barbara Windsor, The Professionals' Martin Shaw and Crossroads' Benny Hawkins ABC are tonight making a Public Appearance at Sheffield's Top ...
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 13 March 1982
THERE NEEDS to be good reason for breaking up an outfit like The Specials, their heyday happened so fast, ended so soon and was tied ...
Earth Wind And Fire: Ecstasy At The Dawn Of Creation!
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 20 March 1982
Earth Wind And Fire: Wembley Arena, London ...
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 27 March 1982
Van Morrison: The Dominion, London ...
Joan Jett: Whomping The Suckers With A Superball
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 10 April 1982
"IT'S SO HARD to even think of being famous, of having that responsibility. It's really weird, I mean – me!! – a rockstar! Hey, are ...
Bobby "Blue" Bland: Bobby Bland: The Best Of (MCA)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 5 June 1982
FIRST time I've heard Bobby Bland and it's obvious – the man's a star. ...
Ry Cooder: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 12 June 1982
RY COODER spent the '70s with his shoulder to the grindstone and his heart in the right place delivering a series of albums which spanned ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 26 June 1982
DAZED AND sweltering in the blazing afternoon sun thousands of young Dutch people make their way around the edge of the huge Feyenoord Stadium. ...
Dexys Midnight Runners: Kevin Rowland: A Folk Hero Of The '80s
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 3 July 1982
THE RAIN POURS down and the traffic piles up along London's Notting Hill Gate as Kevin Rowland and myself make our way through the grey ...
The Four Tops: One More Mountain (Casablanca)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 4 September 1982
WHEN MARVIN Gaye recorded What's Going On in the early '70s it was part of an important transition for the Motown label, its mixture of ...
Peter Gabriel: Four (Charisma)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 11 September 1982
DEEP IN the heart of England something stirs..."Smash the radio/No outside voices here / Smash the watch / Cannot tear the day to shreds / ...
Eddy Grant: Killer On The Rampage
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 13 November 1982
HE'S A very admirable figure, is Eddy Grant; he's got the whole business sussed, sewn up, he really has. Each year he releases a few ...
Malcolm McLaren: The Man Who Ran Into Ideas
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 20 November 1982
"I'M AN artist, I am. I always was and I always will be." ...
Musical Youth: Youth Of Today (MCA)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 20 November 1982
AND SO in the wake of a government that's introduced the repressive British nationality bill, caused Britian to become involved in her first war since ...
Michael Jackson: Thriller (Epic)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 4 December 1982
ALMOST FOUR years ago Michael Jackson (ably assisted and abetted by producer Quincy Jones) unleashed the scorching fury of Off The Wall. It was the ...
Marvin Gaye: Mr Midnight In The City Of Angels
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 11 December 1982
DON'T WALK along Sunset Boulevard, otherwise you'll end up as part of the freakshow on the sidewalk rather than a spectator at The Last Great ...
Report by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 15 January 1983
"OH GAWD! Can anyone tell me the way to London Wail?"The fat flustered city gent looks like he's been stuck in the middle of the ...
Imagination: The Glam Gladiators Fight Back
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 22 January 1983
AT THE BOTTOM end of London's Marylebone Road, going towards the station, you pass numerous beauty salons, the type of establishment that's emerged in many ...
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 22 January 1983
Joe Jackson: Hammersmith Odeon, London ...
Arthur Alexander: A Shot Of Rhythm And Soul (Ace)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 29 January 1983
THIS IS a welcome and important collection bringing together for the first time on one LP all the famous and not so famous songs recorded ...
The Gap Band: Star Spangled & Starry-Eyed
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 5 February 1983
Gavin Martin meets The Gap Band, three of America's fortunate sons who just want to party and make people happy. ...
The Commodores: Commodores: Foil Wrapped Turkeys
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 12 February 1983
The Commodores: Hammersmith Odeon, London ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 12 February 1983
SHE IS trapped in a vortex of conflicting emotion, torn between loss, desire and anger; left at home, alone, hanging on the telephone. ...
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 26 February 1983
"If people come along expecting the world from U2 then they're gonna get it. I'm not afraid we won't be able to give it to ...
Spandau Ballet: True (Chrysalis)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 5 March 1983
I CAN'T see Spandau Ballet when I play this LP. I can't see their forced smiles, their indelible pretty boy we-are-and-can-be-a-part-of-the-pop-parade smiles, their Top Of ...
Tears for Fears: The Hurting (Mercury)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 12 March 1983
THE STORY so far...Roland and Curt are two everyday morose ex Joy Division fans. Sullen, sad and ashen faced they do not feel a part ...
Culture Club: The Culture Vultures Gather
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 30 April 1983
THE YOUNG girl walks hesitantly through the foyer of the Dominion Theatre; amidst all the colour and excitement she strikes an uncertain, rather nervous figure. ...
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 30 April 1983
WHEN HE gets up in the morning his muscles ache and his emotions are strange, far off, unrecognisable things, but the fine jets of water ...
Diana Ross, Donna Summer: Donna Summer: She Works Hard For The Money/Diana Ross: Ross
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 16 July 1983
DONNA SUMMER has adopted a succession of irresistible role models – the sex Goddess of Moroder's sensual motorik disco, the modern day Cinderella of 'Once ...
The Pogues: Mahone Ranger's Handbook
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 13 August 1983
GAVIN MARTIN meets the punks who turned to Irish folk music and became the Pogues with the brogue ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 27 August 1983
OUTSIDE IN the wide tree lined avenue the birds are singing and the sun is shining. Inside, Katie Kissoon – relaxed and ra ...
The Stray Cats: Rant 'n Rave (Arista)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 3 September 1983
THAT BRIAN Setzer and his Stray Cats set out to become the perfectly sculpted and exquisitely meaningless rockstar icons of their dreams could never be ...
Ian Dury: Too Much Noddy Business
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 1 October 1983
WHERE HAS IAN DURY BEEN FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS, AND WHY HAS HIS LONG-AWAITED NEW LP, 40,000 WEEKS HOLIDAY BEEN DELAYED UNTIL JANUARY? GAVIN ...
Junior Walker & the All Stars: Junior Walker: The Shotgun Sherriff Rides Again
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 26 November 1983
A Motown soul veteran for all seasons, Junior Walker has taken his sax appeal from small American clubs in the '50s to the heart of ...
Billy Bragg: Big Ben vs Little Billy
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 14 January 1984
AFTER NEARLY two years of playing the relentless troubadour all around this curious, fragmented isle, Billy Bragg and his guitar are starting to get noticed. ...
George Clinton: You Shouldn't Nuf Bit Fish (Capitol)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 21 January 1984
WHATEVER faults there may be in George Clinton's music, a limited horizon is not one of them. ...
Nina Simone: Diary Of A Princess Noir
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 4 February 1984
GAVIN MARTIN DELVES IN BETWEEN THE SHEETS WITH NINA SIMONE – A SOULFUL PUSSYCAT WHO PRETENDS SHE'S AN ANGRY TIGRESS ...
Womack and Womack: Love Wars (WEA)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 11 February 1984
"ABSENCE MAKES the heart grow fonder", sing Cecil (brother of Bobby) and Linda (daughter of Sam Cooke) at the start of their epic 'Love Wars' ...
Whitesnake: Just A Load of Old Cobras
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 3 March 1984
DAVID COVERDALE, the professional peacock of puerile penile dementia rock has landed. ...
Dr. John: A Shot of Rhythm 'n' Snooze
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 10 March 1984
BACK IN New Orleans in the '50s, when he was one of the few white people involved in one of the last great watersheds in ...
Womack and Womack: Love Warriors
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 17 March 1984
IT SHOULD really be no surprise that Cecil and Linda Womack's Love Wars LP is the most compulsive and acclaimed soul outing since the Marvin ...
Jeffrey Daniel, Shalamar: Jeffrey Daniels: Popping Off The Rails
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 31 March 1984
Is Jeffrey Daniels on the right track? Gavin Martin has his doubts when he finds out that the king of the body poppers has been ...
B.B. King: King B Stings: B.B. King: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 5 May 1984
A GIANT of a man and a giant of the post-war blues boom, B.B. King is the figure most prominently placed to express the essential ...
Roger Waters: The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking (Harvest)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 5 May 1984
THERE IS a latent longing in many an English mega-rock star to become an intellectual seer, to splash garish helpings of philosophy and instructive comments ...
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 4 August 1984
THE PROBLEM with major league soul is not a lack of 'good' music. What has been lost is the ability, possibly the desire, to make ...
The Special AKA: 26,732 Hours In The Studio with Jerry Dammers
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 18 August 1984
JERRY DAMMERS didn't have much sleep last night. Well into the small hours of the morning he'd been labouring over a hot Hammond organ in ...
Afrika Bambaataa, James Brown: James Brown (and Afrika Bambaataa): Sex Machine Today
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 1 September 1984
WHAT DO you think of when you think of James Brown? A stretcher case raddled with emotional pain dragging himself back from endless encores of ...
Bobby Womack: Something Special (Liberty/EMI)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 29 September 1984
ONE OF soul music's great iconclasts, recently repopularised and rediscovered with his two Poet sets, Bobby Womack's marvellous legacy from the late '60s and early ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 27 October 1984
EARLIER THIS year one of rock's newest messiahs U2's Bono appeared onstage alongside one of its oldest, Bob Dylan at an outdoor Dublin festival in ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, June 1985
THE TWO singers, a tall fresh-faced Welshman and a soft spoken bleary-eyed Mancunian, felt trapped. ...
Bob Geldof: Life After Live Aid? Keeping Pop's Conscience In Focus
Comment by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 20 July 1985
Can Live Aid really be more than a cosmetic exercise, a massive sop to the conscience of the West, or at best a temporary solution ...
Doug Sahm: It's The Sahm Old Song
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 7 September 1985
DOUG SAHM, Tex Mex rocker from San Antonio to Stockholm, is still fighting fit at 40. GAVIN MARTIN hears the secrets of his rock'n'roll survival. ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 19 October 1985
"I told you I was sick" ...
Stevie Wonder: Ever Decreasing Circles
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 21 December 1985
Is STEVIE WONDER's giant talent exhausted or just sleeping? GAVIN MARTIN seeks the truth, but finds the man cocooned from the nitty gritty by an ...
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 8 February 1986
THE WEST Coast News Dateline 2030 AD: ...
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 22 February 1986
THE CRAMPS' rampant gurning and soft-focus sleaze has been shaped into an institution of sorts. Transcending and fusing tribal instincts – goth's dumb brooding and ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 19 April 1986
WHEN THE wheels of celebrity are set in motion the limousine windows are tainted; bystanders can see in but the star is blinded to life ...
Dwight Yoakam: Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 26 April 1986
IF IT'S careening kick-start country, a whisky wise distillation of old forms you need, come round here. Boisterous fiddle, the pound and pounce of six-string ...
Rosanne Cash: Blues From The Pink Bedroom
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 26 April 1986
ROSANNE CASH'S latest LP Rhythm And Romance lays bare both her turbulent marriage and a lengthy struggle with drug abuse. GAVIN MARTIN meets the woman ...
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 28 June 1986
RENEWED ENTHUSIASM may have been the spur for Sting's world tour and mating with pedigree jazzers last year, but the release of this live double ...
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes: Southside Johnny: Under The Rotting Boardwalk
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 5 July 1986
Away from the air conditioned ivory towers of LA and NY, America's recession has thrown together pop and populous. Latest formal link is Jersey's Artists ...
The Sonics: Here Are The Sonics
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 5 July 1986
MUDDY WATERS, he said, "I'm smokin' TNT, I'm drinkin' dynamite/I hope some schoolboy will start a fight." Maybe Washington's The Sonics were the answer to ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 26 July 1986
THIS WAS the big one, the final shoot-out, his last chance but... ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 9 August 1986
"BIG? I WASN'T prepared for just how big Gwen Guthrie is. Unkempt too...hair straggly, dressed in just a white wraparound bathrobe, she's been bustled straight ...
Prince: The Flesh And The Soul
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 23 August 1986
Prince And The Revolution: Wembley Arena, London ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 30 August 1986
Welcome back Mr Contrary Bastard. Who else but the demonic MARK E SMITH would complete a mass anti-everything grumble with "Give me the Queen anyday"! ...
Dwight Yoakam: Mean Fiddler, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 6 September 1986
AN IMPARTIAL lady friend had been clean bowled over the previous night at Dingwalls. This tall, lean Kentucky hunk may be coot-like beneath his hat ...
Jackson Browne: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 11 October 1986
A SUITABLY large number of Americans turn out to sample Jackson Browne's Californian confessional. Sunshine, bleeding hearts, airbrushed emotions, existentialist romances lost in the night ...
Cyndi Lauper: The Bop Don't Stop
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 1 November 1986
THE BIG BOPPER was a huge slobbering lech, bursting out of his suit drooling ungodly lust. Squeezed into a phone booth he called Chantilly Lace, ...
Bruce Springsteen: Live/1975-85
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 15 November 1986
GAVIN MARTIN rummages through his pre-Christmas stocking and uncovers the heavyweight Broooce, a five-album set of Springsteen live, including mucho unreleased material. ...
Christy Moore: Ireland In An Acid Bath
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 15 November 1986
The magic of old Ireland meets burning political insight in the music of CHRISTY MOORE, former Planxty/Moving Heart mainstay turned extraordinary solo man. GAVIN MARTIN ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 10 January 1987
300 nights a year, Lucille-loving BB KING is the world's premier blues ambassador, still carrying the standard for black heroes long gone. GAVIN MARTIN swings ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 30 May 1987
Years of sweating his butt off for The G.F.O.S. James Brown have told on Mr Maceo. And now that his own MACEO AND THE MACKS ...
The Beastie Boys, Run-DMC: Run DMC, The Beastie Boys: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 6 June 1987
FRIGGIN' AND SWIGGIN! ...
The Triffids: The Day Of The Triffids
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 15 April 1989
WINDING ITS WAY down the Swan River to the Indian Ocean, Perth is the sort of paradise most of us only get to dream of. ...
Jerry Lee Lewis: Goodness Gracious
Interview by Gavin Martin, Spin, June 1989
If Elvis was rock's first celebrity, Jerry Lee Lewis, born in hellfire, was its first S.O.B. On the eve of Great Balls of Fire, a ...
Neil Young: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 16 December 1989
OUTSIDE IT'S thronged, tickets £60 a throw, there's a buzz in the air you seldom find at gigs these days. Inside there's two Crazy Horse ...
U2: Rockin' in the Not So Free World (Part 1)
Report by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 16 December 1989
Yen will I see you again?!!...In the first of an exclusive two part report on the band that more than any other has found a ...
U2: Rockin' in the Not So Free World (Part 2)
Report by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 23 December 1989
BONO'S OSAKA Plaza hotel room is littered with the ephemera of a rock 'n' roll traveler. There are Japanese picture books for his baby daughter ...
John Cale, Lou Reed: Lou Reed/John Cale: Songs For Drella
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 28 April 1990
DETERMINED TO reclaim the remains of their sometime friend and one-time manager Andy Warhol from the beady gaze of the culture vultures, John Cale and ...
Paul Simon: Across The Tracks: The Rhythm of the Saints
Interview by Gavin Martin, Vox, December 1990
'Obvious Child' "I THOUGHT IF anything was going to be a single it would be that. I thought that as soon as we recorded the drums, ...
Was (Not Was): Was it Good for You?
Interview by Gavin Martin, Vox, January 1991
Far-out funksters Don and David was have worked with all the greats: The Stones, Dylan, Madonna — and Jonathan Ross. Gavin Martin caught them relaxing ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Vox, February 1991
Joe Ely hocked all he owned to get his latest album released, making him the loan star of the Lone Star state. Gavin Martin meets ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, April 1991
Who is rock chameleon Sting today? High priest of Jungian jazz rock? Rain Forest warrior? Posing Thespian? Geordie homecomer? Bruce Springsteen's mate? On one matey? ...
Sonic Youth: They Tried With Their Boots On: Sonic Youth
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 11 May 1991
TEN-YEAR VETERANS of American clubland, Sonic Youth were on the brink of going overground. We were meeting them at a crosspoint in their career. They ...
James Brown: Star Time (Polydor/CD Box Set)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, June 1991
SOONER OR later, all 20th Century music has to reckon with The Godfather. Before him there were be-bop revolutionaries blowing down the city walls, shamanic ...
Prince & The New Power Generation: Diamonds And Pearls (Paisley Park/Warner Brothers)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 5 October 1991
THERE WAS a time when Prince seemed to be the vital force acting on pop music's zeitgeist. A wily provocateur, the greatest singles artist of ...
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Henry's Dream (Mute)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 25 January 1992
HAVING LONG sneered and sped past the 'Buffoon Goth' pigeonhole reserved for him when he first arrived on these shores, the Nick Cave who thrives ...
Madonna: Non-Stop Erotica Cabaret
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 26 September 1992
Few papers get to interview MADONNA. Hardly anyone gets to see her home. Now — exclusively, natch — the NME charm their way into the ...
Madonna: Dominatrix Of The Trade
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 3 October 1992
In Part Two of our sexclusive interview, GAVIN MARTIN reveals how an increasingly in-control MADONNA plans to conquer the '90s with her multi-media conglomerate Maverick, ...
Neil Young: Rustic Never Sleeps
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 7 November 1992
"GEE, IT'S LIKE being in a waiting room, the doctor will see you now." Neil Young has just taken a three-minute break between the arrival ...
Ice Cube: The Predator's Decision is Final
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 5 December 1992
The nigger you love to hate is now The Predator. As the controversy over Ice-T's 'Cop Killer' dies down, ICE CUBE — rapper, film star ...
Leonard Cohen: Hello! I Must Be Cohen
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 9 January 1993
THE SPLENDID LUNCHTIME repast lies before us, Leonard Cohen is gobsmacked by plenitude, overcome by abundance. ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 18 December 1993
From girls to women, SALT-N-PEPA have moved on from their Svengali-led days to create their own agenda of single motherhood, sex and answering back to ...
Jeff Buckley: Live at Sin-é (Big Cat)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 9 April 1994
TALENTS sporting the imprint of famous genetic forbears inspire suspicion and derision in equal measure; look no further than Julian Lennon's career for elucidation. ...
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 14 May 1994
A HOT South London night. The air is a heady mix of sweat, liquor, perfume… and bomb-ass skunk. Inside the Academy, a veritable ceremony is ...
Neil Young: Sleeps With Angels
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 13 August 1994
PETE TOWNSHEND got it right when he said, "Neil Young? Neil's the leader – the rest of us just follow him." Young may have started ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Vox, September 1994
THIS IS THE last ever album to be released by 'Prince' before he metamorphoses, full time, into a 'Symbol', and it reeks of salacious sex, ...
Shane MacGowan: Adder Few Drinks
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 20 October 1994
One of them's the stumbling genius who used to front The Pogues, the other's a chisel-jawed Hollywood superstar actor. They are drinking buddies SHANE MACGOWAN ...
Nirvana: Unplugged In New York (Geffen)
Review by Gavin Martin, Vox, December 1994
THE "unplugged" format, more often utilised to spring-clean a musty back-catalogue than carve out a way forward, provided Kurt Cobain with a much-needed window in ...
The Stone Roses: Second Coming (Geffen)
Review by Gavin Martin, Vox, February 1995
TIMING CAN count for a lot in the fickle world of pop. When they released their eponymous first album in 1989, just in time to ...
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 28 October 1995
Forget all you may have read about TRICKY. Forget that he once admitted being the father of MARTINA's child. Forget that he and Björk, at ...
Bruce Springsteen: Hey Joad, Don't Make It Sad... (Oh, Go On Then)
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 9 March 1996
HE'LL BE REMEMBERED as the most unbounded performer in rock'n'roll history. His records took you inside a world of naked honesty and passionate conviction and ...
Profile and Interview by Gavin Martin, Vox, December 1996
THE TWO self-proclaimed Zen masters speed through the lush and leafy lanes of England's green and pleasant land to meet us at the train station. ...
Coolio: To Live and Thrive in LA
Interview by Gavin Martin, Vox, September 1997
Since 'Gangsta's Paradise' took over the world's radio-waves last year, untold riches and COOLIO have been close bedfellows. But does it make him happy? Despite ...
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 1997
Dr John: organic groover ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Vox, January 1998
PATTI SMITH, the cultural dynamo who claims to have "several decades left in me yet" is never one to court convention. With no plans to ...
Madonna: Mother of Reinvention
Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Vox, April 1998
With a new image and a new album MADONNA comes to 1998 in bullish form. Here, we assess the Material Girl's metamorphosis from disco diva ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 1998
MIKE SCOTT, singer/songwriter and former leader of The Waterboys, gushes over his formative influences, from Gaelic roots to gospel, from Van Morrison to Dylan ...
Tom Waits: Bourbon, Bullets And Blues
Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 1998
Gavin Martin heads downtown on the trail of Tom Waits' Swordfishtrombones ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, May 1998
PAN-GENERATIONAL tribute to The Other Noel, benefiting International AIDS-prevention projects ...
Pulp: Neuroses Grow On You: Pulp: This Is Hardcore (Island) ***
Review by Gavin Martin, Vox, May 1998
Gathering storm clouds, gruesome sex and self-flagellation: dim the lights for Pulp's very own horror movie ...
Van Morrison: The Philosopher's Stone
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 1998
AS HE'S an artist soaked in mystique, renowned for a hard-headed approach to both his work and the business around it, expectations for this, Van ...
Dr. John: Dr John: Voodoo Lounge
Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 1998
MAC REBENNACK, IS SLUMPED ON A chaise longue in an elegant London hotel suite, the ubiquitous walking cane by his side, a straw Homburg tilted ...
Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett: Julian Palacios: Lost In The Woods
Book Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 1998
POSSIBLY THE most quixotically gifted musician of his generation, Roger Syd Barrett – son of the Cambridge flatlands and short-lived London underground starchild – is ...
Steve Miller Band: The Joker's later work revisited
Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 1998
BY THE time of his 1976 UK chart breakthrough, Fly like An Eagle, Steve Miller's many attributes had been established on the impressive series of ...
Willie Nelson: The Barbican, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 1998
THE GREAT FEAR of seeing a hero in their twilight years is that their powers will have deserted them and they'll be unable to reach, ...
Waylon Jennings: Honky Tonk Heroes
Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 1998
FOR WAYLON Jennings – born into a dirt poor cotton-picking West Texas family – the wanderlust began as far back as he could remember. ...
Lambchop: What Another Man Spills
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 1998
FOURTH ALBUM from mutant soul-country oddities. ...
Elvis Costello: Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello at the Royal Festival Hall
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 14 November 1998
The stage is in darkness and from somewhere in the wings Elvis sings the opening verse of 'Baby It's You'. It is one of the ...
Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 10 January 1999
BACK AT GROUND Zero, having sacked/been deserted by the foot soldiers of his old Rythm Revue, riffmeister General M Smith returns to the London stage. ...
Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Will Oldham: Prince of Darkness
Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 1999
WILL OLDHAM is supposed to be the Mr Misery of new country. So what's he doing on GLR trying to persuade Sean Hughes that Aerosmith ...
The Clash, Joe Strummer: Joe Strummer (1999)
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 20 June 1999
From Tony Bennett to Tony Adams: Gavin Martin chats with the Mighty Strummer amidst liggers and drunken Finns about The Clash, The Mescaleros, Greil Marcus and why he hates Suede and the Manic Street Preachers.
File format: mp3; file sizes: 111.5mb, interview length: 1h 56' 09" sound quality: **
Grateful Dead: Kesey Rides Again
Report by Gavin Martin, The Independent, 9 August 1999
THE MAGIC BUS pulls up at the Peace Monument late on Friday afternoon, bringing a blaze of colour and a blast of noise to the ...
Film/DVD/TV Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 18 September 1999
RY COODER'S tireless musical explorations hit unexpected paydirt when he visited Cuba in 1996 and recorded the sessions for the brilliant Buena Vista Social Club ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2000
NEW YORK wiseguys get on the laidback lounge-core tip. ...
Pete Townshend: The Lifehouse Chronicles
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2000
Legendary follow up to Tommy — abandoned by The Who in 1971 — finally unveiled in a six-CD box set featuring a radio play, original ...
Prince: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2000
Guest star-filled major label return for the man who may yet be regal again. ...
Bruce Springsteen: Tunnel Of Love; Human Touch; Lucky Town; The Ghost Of Tom Joad,
Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2000
DISILLUSIONED GROOM, LA-based newlywed and folk conscience of a nation – Springsteen after superstardom subsides ...
Josh Rouse, Kurt Wagner: Josh Rouse & Kurt Wagner: Dog Day Afternoons
Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2000
Highly-acclaimed American songwriters JOSH ROUSE & KURT WAGNER have collaborated on a new, brillian mini-LP, named after a dog one of them never had. ...
The Handsome Family: Live in the UK
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2000
BEFORE A note's been sung or a chord struck, Rennie Sparks has invited the audience back to her shoebox-sized dressing room for shrimp cocktails. As ...
The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur: 2Pac & Outlawz: Still I Rise; Notorious B.I.G.: Born Again
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2000
NO REST for the wicked – more posthumous releases from the slain linchpins of East and West Coast gangsta rap. ...
Palace Music, Will Oldham: Will Oldham: Guarapero / Lost Blues 2
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2000
WHERE OTHERS seek the high ground to illuminate themselves and their work, Will Oldham has persistently covered his tracks and found refuge in the shadows, ...
The Handsome Family: In The Air
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2000
SERENE MEDITATION on life-amid-death and fourth album from Chicago-based alt. country duo ...
The Handsome Family: Tales Of Extra Ordinary Madness
Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2000
Welcome to the dark, disturbing world of Brett and Rennie Sparks, otherwise known as THE HANDSOME FAMILY. ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, May 2000
The eighth album from garage rock's warrior queen tackles Vietnam, slavery, the American Civil War, corporate control and dreams of future freedom ...
Calexico, Lambchop, Wheat: Kings Of Americana: Lambchop, Calexico, Wheat
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2000
Lambchop THE GREAT AMERICAN Music Hall is an exotic relic in the middle of San Francisco's Tenderloin district. Outside, the streets are full of junkies, hobos ...
The Sex Pistols: Anarchy In The UK
Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2000
THE EARLY SEVENTIES have been a golden age for the homegrown British pop single. The pan-stick and yob fraternity, which includes T-Rex, Sweet, Slade, Mott ...
Dexys Midnight Runners, Kevin Rowland: Lost Boys and Fallen Angels: Kevin Rowland
Profile by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 2000
With Dexy's Midnight Runners, he got to Number One twice, but his self-esteem was minus zero ...
Lou Reed: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 2000
BACK IN the Seventies – revelling in junkie debauchery – Lou Reed shows were a notoriously ghoulish spectacle, He was the wayward poet of sleaze, ...
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 2000
WAITS JUNKIES are everywhere — filling the bars, and brasseries around the venue, queuing up around the block in the rain-drenched Parisian streets. ...
Jackie Leven, Andy White and Michael Weston King: Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, The Independent, 26 September 2000
THE THREE performers sit together on stage, taking the lead in strict rotation; it isn't long before their individual strengths and weaknesses become apparent. ...
Craig Werner: A Change Is Gonna Come – Music, Race & the Soul Of America
Book Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 2000
Potent history of black American music, from Gospel-fuelled Civil Rights-era freedom marches, through Motown, Monterey, The Million Man March and much, much more. ...
Dexys Midnight Runners: Dexy's Midnight Runners: Anarchic In The UK
Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 2000
Gavin Martin celebrates the 20th anniversary of Dexys Midnight Runners' ground-breaking Searching For The Young Soul Rebels ...
Bob Dylan: The Point Depot, Dublin
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, November 2000
YOU CAN trust in Bob, the magnificent minstrel and incredible icon, the prime preserver and arch plunderer of 20th century Americana, to pull a surprise ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2001
Hangin' with Oasis, The Rolling Stones and Plant'n'Page, marriage to Kate Hudson and why they hate Rick Rubin - the Robinson Bros. tell all.
File format: mp3; file sizes: 52.1mb, interview length: 54' 15" sound quality: ****
The Mekons: New York: On The Road '86-'87
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2001
LEEDS PUNKS' Cold War-era Country Invasion Of The States in all its ragged glory ...
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2001
THE LAUREL And Hardy of phuture rap ...
Outkast's André Benjamin (2001)
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, April 2001
The flamboyant Mr Benjamin on Stankonia, the influence of Brit dance music, meeting Big Boi, early influences and much more.
File format: mp3; file size: 31.8mb, interview length: 34' 43" sound quality: * (phoner)
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2001
Soundtracks from three Who-derived Seventies films — something old, something borrowed and something horrible ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, May 2001
On learning guitar with a broken leg; drugs and religion; poverty and outsiderdom; art vs. commerce; the dangers of cab driving: Jim White tells all.
File format: mp3; file size: 69.7mb, interview length: 1h 12' 38" sound quality: ****
Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut, May 2001
THE WHO BY NUMBERS IS PETE TOWNSHEND'S MASTERPIECE. ...
Bruce Springsteen: Live In New York City (Columbia 2CD)****
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2001
SCINTILLATING DOCUMENT of The Boss reunited with His Gang last year at Madison Square Garden. ...
Madonna: Madonna****; Like A Virgin***; True Blue**** (Maverick/Warner)
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 2001
THE MAKING of a modern icon – her first three LPs remastered with extra remixes. ...
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 2001
THE LIGHTS go down, and they amble onstage, gradually gathering together in a scrum, or pow wow. ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 2001
FROM CAMBERLEY petrol pump attendant to punk-soul supremo: GP's golden era repackaged and remastered. ...
Paul McCartney: Normally, He's A Pacifist
Interview by Gavin Martin, The Independent, 15 November 2001
SIR PAUL had been up in the city to promote his Driving Rain album and 'Freedom' single, a song which has prompted some to suggest ...
Jackie Leven: Live at Borders Bookshop, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, December 2001
THE BIG denim-clad man sat in front of a generous generation-spanning audience looks at home surrounded by shelves full of books. This is to be ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2002
The First Ladies of the British pop charts talk about fame, boys, UK Garage, the Angels With Dirty Faces album and each other.
File format: mp3; in 3 parts, total file sizes: 64.6mb, total interview length: 1h 09' 46" sound quality: ****
The Handsome Family: Live at The Barbican, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2002
RENNIE SPARKS looks like a deep sea diver plucked out of water as she accompanies her husband on the miraculous 'Weightless Again'. There's a tube ...
Sam Moore, Sam & Dave: Sam Moore: Can't stand up for falling down
Interview by Gavin Martin, The Independent, 18 January 2002
One half of Sam and Dave, Sam Moore was also a junkie, a pimp and a jailbird. Now he's releasing a solo album and is ...
Profile and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2002
FROM ALCOHOLIC to restaurateur to emotive songsmith ...
Paul Weller: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2002
HE COMES on jaunty, with a skip in his step, looking cool, refreshed, dapper, an upbeat northern soul soundtrack still ringing round the hall. He ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 29 February 2002
DO YOU EVER get the feeling that the British music industry runs on a slightly unimaginative copycat pattern? ...
Papa M: Whatever, Mortal (Domino)****
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2002
PRE-EMINENT US underground guitarist makes gothic country breakthrough. ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, March 2002
Mike Skinner talks about finding his voice, making Original Pirate Material, writing, politics, getting high and about life itself.
File format: mp3; file size: 44.2mb; Interview length: 48' 13"; sound quality: ****
The Streets: UK Rap: The word on The Streets
Interview by Gavin Martin, The Independent, 15 March 2002
WHEN MIKE SKINNER, aka The Streets, the 22-year-old lyrical king of British rap, discovers I live within the sound of Bow Bells, he's immediately curious. ...
Billy Bragg: England, Half English (Cooking Vinyl)****
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2002
FIRST ORIGINAL album in six years from Bard of Barking, celebrating joys of collaboration and national diversity ...
The Who: The Colosseum, Watford
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2002
'Tonight's show has The Who attacking and understanding their legacy more pointedly than at any time in the past 20 years' ...
Mary J. Blige: Mary J Blige: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, The Independent, 26 April 2002
IT WAS FOOLISH to think that the first lady of hip hop soul would abide by the title of her latest, and greatest-selling, album, No ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, May 2002
On Charley Patton and James Brown, encounters with William Burroughs and Keith Richards, and being a 'rectal thermometer' for Frank Zappa...
File format: mp3; file size: 61.8mb, interview length: 1h 07' 29" sound quality: ****
Tom Waits: Everything Goes To Hell
Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2002
ON A SUNNY Californian morning, Tom Waits pulls his family-size Suburban Chevrolet into the car park of Santa Rosa's Flamingo Hotel and begins to unpack ...
The Fugees, Wyclef Jean: Wyclef Jean (2002)
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, August 2002
From the Fugees to Tom Jones, Haiti's very own Wyclef Jean talks hip hop, crack vs. music, martial arts and Cab Calloway
File format: mp3 File size: 26.4mb Interview length: 28' 50" Sound quality: ****
Kid Creole & The Coconuts: Kid Creole: Calypso Facto
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 2002
OFF THE COAST OF ME***FRESH FRUIT IN FOREIGN PLACES*****TROPICAL GANGSTERS***DOPPELGANGER**(All Universal) ...
The Fall: Totally Wired — The Rough Trade Anthology/The Rough Trade Singles Box (Sanctuary) ***
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 2002
Northern white crap that talks back meets west London liberals: early-Eighties Fall on Rough Trade ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 20 December 2002
Chas Smash, joined by Suggs and Mike Barson, looks back at Madness then and now, Our House the Musical, reunions (theirs and others'), Buddhism, domesticity, and not doing Live Aid!
File format: mp3 File size: 42mb Interview length: 45' 50"; Sound quality: ****
The Clash, Joe Strummer: Joe Strummer is Dead; Long Live the Clash!
Obituary by Gavin Martin, CounterPunch, 24 December 2002
THE CHRISTMAS CARD from Joe Strummer and family arrived by email on Sunday night, a seasonal greeting accompanied by Joe's colourful illustration of a fantasy ...
Super Furry Animals: Rings Around Cardiff: Super Furry Animals
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 2003
TEN YEARS INTO their magnificent career, Cardiff’s Super Furry Animals are indisputably Britain’s indie-rock kings. ...
Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant: Robert Plant (2003)
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2003
On life after Zep: travel, the accolades of fame, Abba, Graham Greene, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and remembering John Bonham
File format: mp3; file size: 47.8mb, total interview length: 49' 45" sound quality: ****
Alejandro Escovedo: The Borderline, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2003
MIDWAY INTO HIS SECOND-EVER London performance — the hottest ticket in town after his rapturously received Barbican debut five days earlier — Escovedo dedicated a ...
Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Master and Everyone
Review and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2003
Literate hillbilly Bonnie "Prince" Billy — aka Will Oldham — raises his profile and lays the heart bare with a candidly beautiful album about the ...
The Concert For George Harrison: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2003
East meets West as Clapton, Shankar, Jeff Lynne and both surviving Beatles celebrate the life of The Quiet One ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2003
… is a sprawling epic inspired by the work of drugged-up 19th-century horror writer Edgar Allen Poe. Is it a marriage made in heaven, or ...
Blue (UK): Blue: Guilty... as Charged
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 31 March 2003
THE BOYS IN BLUE have become the biggest pop band in Britain by providing a little something for everyone. With the title and cover of ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, April 2003
Mick Fleetwood on getting it on with Stevie Nicks, his place in the band and cocaine; Stevie Nicks on her relationship with Lindsey Buckingham, dud boob jobs, songwriting and cocaine.
File format: mp3; in 2 parts, total file sizes: 64.6mb, total interview length: 1h 10' 38" sound quality: ****
Run-DMC: Run DMC: The Best of Run DMC
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 5 April 2003
Run DMC inspired a generation to turn hip-hop into a multi-billion dollar industry, says GAVIN MARTIN ...
Solomon Burke, Van Morrison: Van Morrison/Solomon Burke: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, The Independent, 21 April 2003
THE POTENTIAL that the double bill offered for a soulman super summit was certainly enticing – Solomon Burke, the veteran preacherman from Philadelphia, and George ...
The White Stripes: Rock & Roll Animal: The White Stripes: Elephant (XL) *****
Review and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, May 2003
Fourth album proves crowning glory of Detroit duo's meteoric career to date ...
Lucinda Williams: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, The Independent, 6 May 2003
Southern Rebel returns to London Stage with the confidence her songs deserve ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, June 2003
Messrs. Fagen and Becker talk about their Everything Must Go album, William Burroughs, their time away from each other, songwriting, and a whole lot more.
File format: mp3; file size: 41mb; Interview length: 44 52"; sound quality: ****
Steely Dan: A Droll Double Act
Interview by Gavin Martin, The Independent, 6 June 2003
IT IS LATE AFTERNOON before Walter Becker and Don Fagen greet their first interviewer of the day. The two men, who first fronted a band ...
Lucinda Williams: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 2003
WHEN LUCINDA WILLIAMS FIRST CAME to London nearly 15 years ago to promote her eponymous third album, she was the most painfully nervous and self-conscious ...
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Crystal Palace Sports Centre
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 2003
The Boss proves he's still rock'n'roll redemption personified. ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 1 August 2003
THE IDEA THAT death sells is hardly a new one. Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison have been the reigning kings of beyond-the-grave rock for years. ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 15 August 2003
THE RELEASE OF his 1975 classic album On The Beach – out for the first time on CD last month – underlined Young's key place ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 29 August 2003
WHEN THE Charlatans' frontman Tim Burgess moved out to Los Angeles from his native Manchester, it was inevitable that a solo album would eventually follow. ...
R.E.M.: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 2003
Athens, Georgia's finest back at the Academy, facing the future, taking on all-comers ...
Review and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 2003
TWO YEARS AGO, the Coral's eponymous first album introduced a group teeming with energy and a blaze of musical influences. The album was nominated for ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 5 September 2003
GAVIN MARTIN welcomes back the gentle giant of soul who has a liking for calling his albums Seal. ...
Robert Palmer: Might As Well Face It, He Was Fantastic: Robert Palmer, R.I.P.
Obituary by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 27 September 2003
ROBERT PALMER was a multi-talented musical heavyweight who allowed his love of the high life to guide his career. ...
The Blasters: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 2003
TONIGHT, DAVE ALVIN looks like a man out to settle an old score. With his gunslinger necktie and low-slung guitar, he fires off endless streams ...
Profile and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 6 October 2003
SIAN EVANS juggles being a mum with fronting THE FAST-RISING DANCE TRIO. ...
Texas: Play Misty For Me: Sharleen Spiteri On Being A Mum and the Dubious Future of Texas
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 17 October 2003
SHE COUNTS Madonna – and Stella McCartney and her dad Sir Paul – among her friends, while Debbie Harry sends her old stage clothes to ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 17 October 2003
YOU HAVE TO have some sympathy for the Strokes. The poor little rich kids from New York emerged fully formed four years ago and were ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 17 October 2003
TRAVIS HAVE BEEN REBORN AFTER SELF DOUBT AND A SERIOUS INJURY TO DRUMMER NEIL PRIMROSE. BY GAVIN MARTIN ...
Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, November 2003
Soul-searching partners on a trip to Dreamland ...
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros: Streetcore
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, November 2003
A valiant and moving last hurrah from the sadly departed Clash hero ...
Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, November 2003
IN THE EARLY '70s, Derby-born bluesman Kevin Coyne's unflinching portraits of mental despair and emotional turmoil helped pave the way for punk. His songs were ...
Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 7 November 2003
IT IS NOW over 30 years since New York art student Chris Stein met former beautician and Bunny Girl Deborah Ann Harry and became the ...
David Bowie: MEN Arena, Manchester
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 19 November 2003
DAVID BOWIE is the most celebrated chameleon in Britrock history, but what was so dramatic about his homecoming gig was the absence of theatrical trappings. ...
Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks: Stevie Nicks: Confessions Of A Rock Chick
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 21 November 2003
CURLED UP on the sofa at Fleetwood Mac's Los Angeles rehearsal studios, Stevie Nicks looks every inch the ageing rock chick survivor. At her feet ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 28 November 2003
IT IS 22 YEARS since the number one single 'Don't You Want Me' turned The Human League from underground Sheffield electro boffins into champions of ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, December 2003
Gavin Martin quizzes the R.E.M. front-man on movies, religion, his gayness, Bill Berry's departure and a whole lot more.
File format: mp3; file size: 48.7mb, interview length: 50' 45" sound quality: ****
Black Eyed Peas: Give Peas Peas A Chance
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 12 December 2003
HOW THEIR ANTI-WAR SONG AND A FAMOUS FRIEND HELPED BLACK EYED PEAS HIT THE JACKPOT. BY GAVIN MARTIN ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, Spring 2003
Living in Nashville, singing for Clinton, walking dogs, pregnancy, and new album Cockerhoop; in fact pretty much anything other than Catatonia. Gavin Martin probes a recalcitrant Cerys Matthews.
File format: mp3; file size: 27.1mb; Interview length: 29' 35"; sound quality: ****
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2004
Ash's Tim Wheeler and Rick McMurray talk about Meltdown, the struggles around Nu-Clear Sounds, Northern Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement... and magic mushrooms!
File format: mp3; file size: 49.2mb, interview length: 51' 16" sound quality: ***
Bob Dylan: PalaLottomatica (Pala Eur), Rome
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2004
November 1, 2003 ...
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 2 January 2004
IN THEIR 10 years together, Basement Jaxx have sold more than two million albums, won a Brit Award for Best Dance Act and generally been ...
Kelis: Ice Queen Kelis Blows Her Cool
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 16 January 2004
KELIS IS BACK WITH A SAUCY ALBUM AND A BAD ATTITUDE ...
Motörhead: 25 And Alive – Live At Brixton ***
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 16 January 2004
EARLY DURING this concert – recorded in 2000 to celebrate 25 years of Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister's favourite band – the music stops. "If you aren't ...
Comment by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 16 January 2004
Mirror music critic Gavin Martin mourns the demise of the humble music cassette. ...
Emmylou Harris And Spyboy: Carling Apollo, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2004
EMMYLOU'S WEARING A BODY-HUGGING black dress, high heels and radiating style, class and smouldering sensuality. The opening 'Here I Am' sets the scene aptly enough, ...
The Brits: D-Day – The Music Died
Report by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 18 February 2004
IT WAS the British music industry's D-Day, with The Darkness, Dido, Duran Duran and even Daniel "personality bypass" Bedingfield sweeping the board. ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, March 2004
David Byrne talks frankly about his home life, family background, NYC, the massive variety of his artistic enterprises, and his tricky relationship with former Talking Heads band-mates.
File format: mp3; total file size: 36.9mb, total interview length: 40' 17" sound quality: ****
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 19 March 2004
The big-voiced gal talks about her joust with breast cancer, her friendship with Elton John, and her latest album Anastacia.
File format: mp3; total file size: 32.3mb, total interview length: 35' 18" sound quality: ****
Randy Newman: Koningin Elisabethzaal, Antwerp
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2004
RANDY NEWMAN has elected to begin his 2004 solo tour of Europe on a Sunday night in Belgium, a country where his wry but devastating ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, May 2004
On relationships, lesbianism and androgyny, predatory older men, sex, fear of and desire for fame, anxiety attacks, therapy and medication, the whole nine yards.
File format: mp3; total file size: 32.8mb, total interview length: 35' 49" sound quality: ***
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, May 2004
Corrs Sharon and Jim on family, songwriting, the death of their mother, religion, and Mick Hucknall's wine!
File format: mp3; total file size: 29.5mb, total interview length: 32' 11" sound quality: ***
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, June 2004
The great lost voice of soul recounts his career, from childhood gospel in Philadelphia, through his '60s hits with Jerry Ragavoy, his leaving music behind and the dark years, right up to his recent rediscovery and revival.
File format: mp3; file size: 52.4mb, interview length: 54' 36" sound quality: ****
Profile and Interview by Gavin Martin, Record Collector, June 2004
HOWARD TATE is sitting opposite me sipping black coffee in the bar of a West End Hotel and I can hardly believe it. Until recently ...
The Who: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2004
The 'Orrible 'Oo back in action with patchy but promising opener for a week-long series of Teenage Cancer Trust benefit concerts ...
Finn Brothers: The Finn Brothers: Fellowship of the Finns
Interview by Gavin Martin, The Independent, 20 August 2004
THE FINN BROTHERS are back for a short visit to London, the city where their fitful professional career began in earnest, 27 years ago. At ...
Lamont Dozier: Holland-Dozier-Holland
Interview by Roy Carr, Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 2004
They were pop's most prolific hit factory, producing 70 US Top Ten singles and 20 No. 1s. On the 45th anniversary of Motown, we meet ...
Comment by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 12 November 2004
As voting closes on the UK Music Hall of Fame, Gavin Martin chooses his top artists from each of the past five decades. ...
Audio transcript of interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2005
This is a transcription of Gavin's audio interview with Shakira. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2005
Movies, fasting, fame and faith, plastic surgery, marriage, 9/11 and on being a gay icon: Dolly says more in twenty minutes than most do in two hours.
File format: mp3; file size: 22.1mb; Interview length: 24' 08"; sound quality: ****
Dolly Parton: Interview: Dolly Parton
Audio transcript of interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2005
This is a transcription of Gavin's audio interview with Dolly. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...
Mary J. Blige: Interview: Mary J. Blige
Audio transcript of interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2005
This is a transcription of Gavin's audio interview with Mary J. Blige. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...
Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut Legends, 2005
IN 1966 JOHN Lennon had approached Godhead status for a generation when he sounded the call to "relax turn off your mind and float down ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2005
Mary J. speaks frankly about her life: drink and drugs, domestic abuse, marriage, tattoos, clothes and wearing fur!
File format: mp3; file size: 28.6mb; Interview length: 31 16"; sound quality: ****
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2005
The Latino Lioness on her Oral Fixation album, writing in English, politics and poverty, and the benefits of belly dancing.
file format: mp3; file size: 22mb; Interview length: 24' 13"; sound quality: ****
Franz Ferdinand, Keane, Scissor Sisters, Joss Stone, The Streets: More Originality Please: The BRITS
Report by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 10 February 2005
THE BRITS Awards Panel must be relieved that their 25th Anniversary coincided with a revival in the fortunes of new UK music makers. ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Independent on Sunday, 27 February 2005
ON A RAINY FRIDAY afternoon Solomon Burke is holding court in the living room of his San Fernando Valley home. The man who has claimed ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, March 2005
On sexuality, celibacy, girlfriends, therapy, fundamentalism, politics, his then-current Hotel album and a whole lot more: Moby reveals all.
File format: mp3; file size: 54.5mb, interview length: 56' 44" sound quality: ****
Pink Floyd Tear Down Their Wall
Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 14 June 2005
IT IS THE rock reunion no one believed we would ever see – including the band members. Pink Floyd, who endured one of the most ...
Franz Ferdinand: Access All Areas
Report by Gavin Martin, The Independent, 17 June 2005
DURING THE RECORDING sessions for Franz Ferdinand's new album, the band have not just been making music. Between work on the eagerly anticipated follow-up to ...
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 4 July 2005
Gavin Martin rates the event's top acts. ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, August 2005
Combes brothers Gaz and Rob ruminate on their then-current album Road to Rouen, their fraternal relationships, the stresses within the band, and a whole lot more.
File format: mp3; file size: 50.9mb, interview length: 53' 04" sound quality: ****
Paul McCartney: American Airlines Stadium, Miami
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 19 September 2005
Mirror Music Critic GAVIN MARTIN's verdict on Sir Paul's dire US tour. ...
Arcade Fire's Win Butler (2005)
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, November 2005
Mr. Butler talks about the band's touring lifestyle; working on new songs for their second album; the way they are received; their live show; being praised by David Bowie; his musical grandparents, and their influence on him, and meeting his wife and fellow bandmember Régine Chassagne.
File format: mp3; file size: 14mb, interview length: 14' 34" sound quality: * (phoner)
The Flaming Lips: AUDIO: Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne
Audio transcript of interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2006
This is a transcript of Gavin's audio interview with Wayne. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...
Def Leppard's Joe Elliott (2006)
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2006
Joe Elliott tells tales of the road, talks about his heroes (and one or two villains), and looks back at Rick Allen's accident and Steve Clark's alcoholism and death.
File format: mp3; file size: 66.6mb, total interview length: 1h 9' 24" sound quality: ****
The Flaming Lips: Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne (2006)
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2006
On the release of At War With The Mystics, Mr. Coyne waxes philosophical about rock'n'roll, life, drink, drugs, death and the entire meaning of it all.
File format: mp3; file size: 47.3mb, interview length: 49' 18" sound quality: *****
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 2006
Madam Attitude talks about politics, strippers, gender and sexuality, dogs, marriage, tattoos and more.
File format: mp3; total file size: 27.3mb, total interview length: 29' 51" sound quality: ****
Ray Davies, The Kinks: AUDIO: Ray Davies (2006)
Audio transcript of interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, February 2006
This is a transcript of Gavin's audio interview with Ray. Hear the interview here ...
Ray Davies, The Kinks: Ray Davies (2006)
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, February 2006
The King Kink on getting shot in New Orleans, his relationship with brother Dave, his childhood and upbringing, and on songwriting and lyrics, plus so much more.
File format: mp3; file size: 56mb, total interview length: 58' 21" sound quality: ****
Audio transcript of interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, April 2006
This is a transcript of Gavin's audio interview with Candi. Hear the interview here ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, April 2006
Starting with her collaboration with The Source on the dancefloor classic 'You Got The Love', this fascinating interview takes us back to racist Alabama, gospel, her marriage to Clarence Carter and her time at Rick Hall's Fame, and takes in the years of abuse and drink, and her return to the church.
File format: mp3; file size: 67.8mb, interview length: 1h 10' 39" sound quality: ****
Michael Head, The Pale Fountains, Shack: Shack (2006)
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, May 2006
John Head talks about the brothers' childhood; borrowing his dad's guitar, the family being musical, and their mother's death. Mick Head talks about becoming a musician and forming the Pale Fountains; signing to Virgin, John joining the band; moving to London and the end of the Pale Fountains. Mick talks about his heroin habit and being a songwriter. They talk about returning to Liverpool and starting Shack; the albums Zilch and Waterpistol; backing Love's Arthur Lee; kicking heroin and recording H.M.S. Fable; the new album ... the Corner of Miles and Gil; getting his teeth knocked out, and signing to Noel Gallagher's label.
File format: mp3; file size: 92.4mb, interview length: 1h 36' 13" sound quality: ** (background noise)
Paul McCartney: Macca Has Strength To Beat His Blues
Comment by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 18 May 2006
THE INNER STRENGTH that has helped Paul McCartney triumph over adversity and career setbacks will help him cope with his separation from Heather Mills. ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2006
MARCH 2006, and in Liverpool feral rat-faced folk with the lean and hungry look seem to be everywhere. Junkies – on the street or selling ...
Dirty Pretty Things: Barat's Home: Dirty Pretty Things
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 7 July 2006
THE LAST TIME I met Carl Barât he was, by his own admission, in the middle of a deep depression. Carl's relationship with Pete Doherty ...
Snow Patrol: Run For Cover: Snow Patrol
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 21 July 2006
HE IS KNOWN as indie rock’s Mister Nice Guy. But despite selling two million albums, Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody remains a charisma-free zone. ...
Catatonia, Cerys Matthews: The return of Cerys Matthews
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, August 2006
CERYS MATTHEWS, Britpop's very own Princess of Wales is back. The former Catatonia singer escaped to a new home in Nashville at the start of ...
James Brown: Black and Proud: James Brown, 1933-2006
Obituary by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 26 December 2006
GODFATHER OF SOUL James Brown, who died of heart failure yesterday aged 73, was a member of a very select group of performers who truly ...
Audio transcript of interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages, Winter 2006
This is a transcript of Gavin's 2006 interview with the man mountain named "Meat". Listen to the audio of this interview. ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, Winter 2006
Mr. Loaf talks about his tricky relationship with Jim Steinman, collapsing onstage, acting vs. singing, his weight and... collecting teddy bears!
File format: mp3; file size: 30.9mb, interview length: 33' 42" sound quality: ****
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, Spring 2006
Brian Molko and pals talk about the making of their new album Meds, about songwriting, taking drugs and lots more
File format: mp3; total file size: 30.2mb, total interview length: 32' 57" sound quality: ****
Madness: The Making Of 'Our House'
Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2007
The Nutty Boys nailed their "English Motown" sound on this infectious classic — one of the lasting monuments of '80s pop. Suggs and the band ...
Neil Young: Live at Massey Hall
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2007
From Archives: A Spellbinding 1971 Solo Homecoming Show ...
Pet Shop Boys: The Pet Shop Boys
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 25 May 2007
THE PET SHOP Boys have been one of the most successful pop duos ever produced in this country. Twenty-one years into their career Chris Lowe ...
The White Stripes: White Blood Cells (Sympathy For The Record Industry)
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2007
JACK WHITE was certainly ready and prepared for the media storm that greeted The White Stripes' arrival on the international stage with their third album ...
Bruce Springsteen: Live In Dublin With The Sessions Band
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 2007
Boss Man's 'Leave The Preaching To The Choir' Policy Reaps Live Jackpot ...
Squeeze: The Making of 'Up The Junction'
Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 2007
"We almost had a shining toward each other..." Master songwriters Difford and Tilbrook recall their '79 hit, where art would come to imitate real life. ...
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 14 September 2007
THEY WERE THE Invisible Band who rose to become the nation's favourites. Hits such as 'Why Does It Always Rain On Me?' prepared the way ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, November 2007
Finally at peace with his past, Creedence legend makes storming return. ...
Madness: Nutty Boys talk turkey
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 30 November 2007
THREE MEMBERS OF Nutty Boy legends Madness are in the basement of their favourite North London boozer, The Constitution. Singer Suggs, guitarist Chris Foreman and ...
The Chemical Brothers: Chemical Brothers: Chemical Romance
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 7 December 2007
WHILE MANY OF their 1990s superstar DJ peers have fallen by the wayside, the Chemical Brothers remain a phenomenal British success story. Duo Ed Simons, ...
Led Zeppelin: Led Zep back on UK stage for 1st time in 27 years
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 11 December 2007
IT'S BEEN A LONG time since they rock and rolled. But here at last are Led Zeppelin back on a British stage again for the ...
James Blunt: The Universal Soldier
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 14 December 2007
OFFICER JAMES BLUNT, pocket-sized former Captain in the Life Guards regiment and 12 million-selling global superstar, clambers out of the car carrying his guitar case. ...
Comment by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 14 December 2007
SIMON COWELL may not be, as Neil Tennant claimed, a "pop Satan", but he certainly isn't a pop Santa either. In fact, to Simon's already ...
Shane MacGowan: Exclusive: Pogues' Shane Tells How He Made It To 50
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 24 December 2007
Smoking, drinking and partying keep me alive ...
Special Feature by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 28 December 2007
GIGS OFTHE YEAR LOU REED: Hammersmith Apollo, London Critically mauled on its original release, Berlin – Reed’s 1973 masterpiece of drug-addled despair, emotional and physical breakdown – ...
Mott The Hoople: The Making Of 'All The Young Dudes'
Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2008
Breakups! Bowie! Gay roadies! The strange tale of glam rock's glorious singalong ...
The Feeling: To the Manor Born
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 11 January 2008
WHEN IT CAME to recording the follow-up to their million-selling smash debut album Twelve Stops And Home, The Feeling did it in style. ...
Profile and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 18 January 2008
AFTER THREE ALBUMS as Mull Historical Society, Colin MacIntyre has decided to head out on his own and his new album, The Water, will be ...
Fatboy Slim's cooking up another monster festival by Loch Ness
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 1 February 2008
HE IS THE original funk soul brother and superstar DJ, the presiding expert in showing dance-floor filling crowds the world over how to have it ...
The Levellers: Radical heroes: The Levellers are celebrating 20 years together
Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 29 February 2008
INSPIRED BY PUNK and folk, and named after a radical 17th-Century collective, the Levellers became synonymous with a huge underground anti-authority movement, supporting green issues ...
Buzzcocks: The Making of 'Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)'
Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2008
Treasured by John Peel, the 1978 powerpop perennial by Manchester's melodic punks ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2008
2008 WILL SEE Madness' first album of new material for nine years. The Liberty Of Newton Folgate is a concept LP of sorts, inspired by ...
The Eagles: Eagles: O2 Arena, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 21 March 2008
KINGS OF '70s Californian rock, the Eagles last night commenced a five-date run at London's O2 by proving their glories do not just reside in ...
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 2 May 2008
LED ZEPPELIN singer and insatiable rock 'n' roll warrior Robert Plant bounds into his management office in North London brandishing a new CD. "Look at ...
Simple Minds: Still Going for Gold
Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 23 May 2008
IT IS 30 YEARS since Glaswegian teenagers Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill formed Simple Minds. In the years since, they have scaled the heights of ...
Bruce Springsteen: RDS Arena, Dublin
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 24 May 2008
AT THE FIRST SHOW of Springsteen's European tour, anticipation was at fever pitch for the return of the man they still call the Boss. And ...
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 13 June 2008
LAST YEAR, THE Subways hit crisis point. The Welwyn Garden City three-piece were flying high after their 2005 debut Young For Eternity attracted celebrity fans ...
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 17 June 2008
THE FREE GIG at London's Brixton Academy was packed out with fans and celebs who'd won a ballot to be one of the 4,000 people ...
Seth Lakeman on James Blunt, Raving and Marriage
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 3 July 2008
Seth Lakeman talks about his foot-stomping fourth solo album ...
Alejandro Escovedo, The Nuns: Alejandro Escovedo
Profile and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 2008
The cowpunk who survived Sid Vicious and Hepatitis C to duet with Springsteen, and become a legend of Americana. ...
Bloc Party Refuse to Rest on Their Laurels 10 years On
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 16 January 2009
SITTING ON THE band's tour coach, while waiting to check into their Las Vegas hotel, Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke is wearing baggy jeans that ...
Friendly Fires: Burning Ambition: Friendly Fires
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 30 January 2009
LAST YEAR, Friendly Fires' self-titled debut album marked them out as one of the most exciting and danceable new bands in the country. They'd certainly ...
The Killers: Brandon Flowers is Blooming
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 13 February 2009
IT IS FIVE HOURS before showtime and the Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers, kicking back in his South Carolina hotel room, is in relaxed, confident and ...
Review and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 17 April 2009
How the trio escaped their demons to make a great album ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 1 May 2009
SHE IS BEST KNOWN as the sweet-voiced colleen who found international fame accompanying Irish star Damien Rice on record and on stage. ...
Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel (2009)
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, June 2009
Trout farming, raising miniature horses, a theory about Stonehenge and his complicated relationship with David St. Hubbins: the Tap man tells all.
File format: mp3; File size: 21.6meg, interview length: 23' 35" sound quality: * (phoner)
Marilyn Manson: Interview With Marilyn Manson: Oddball Rocker Is Stirring Up Trouble
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 5 June 2009
IN A HOTEL SUITE overlooking London's exclusive Park Lane, Marilyn Manson is making merry. ...
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 26 June 2009
DOVES ARE THE great survivors of Manchester Rock. Jimi Goodwin and brothers Jez and Andy Williams were schoolpals in Wilmslow and, since joining together as ...
Paolo Nutini's album is now the third-best seller of the year
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 30 October 2009
HIS TRANSFORMATION from coffee table crooner into a genre-crossing folk 'n' soul-charged free spirit has been one of the most slyly successful rebranding exercises of ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 20 November 2009
THE SHOWBIZ SCANDAL OF THE YEAR was given a public face this Spring as pictures leaked out of the injuries Robyn Rihanna Fenty had sustained ...
Ke$ha is young and lives fast, but she is serious about one thing — her songs
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 27 November 2009
THE UK POP SCENE is about to be invaded by wild child Ke$ha and her debut single 'Tik Tok'. The 22-year-old LA-born, Nashville-raised daughter of ...
Shakira Wants to Fight Poverty and Offer Escapism
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 4 December 2009
SHAKIRA'S THE 50 million-selling pocket-sized Colombian superstar whose high-profile charity work, runaway international success and eye-boggling performances comprise a perfect combination of brain power and ...
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. ...
Lissie Maurus is full of true rebel country spirit
Profile by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 2 April 2010
ONE OF THE YEAR'S TRUE FINDS, Lissie Maurus maintains the flame for the true rebel country spirit with her finely-etched songs and smokey vocals. Raised ...
Ellie Goulding: New star Ellie Goulding has her name up in lights
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 2 April 2010
THIS YEAR, Ellie Goulding has already been anointed with the Critics' Choice Award at the Brits and, in just three weeks of release, her polished ...
Professor Green: Alive Till I'm Dead
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 16 July 2010
YOUNG EAST LONDONER Stephen Paul Manderson, aka Professor Green, has already had a rocky career. A recording apprenticeship with Mike 'The Streets' Skinner's label The ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 2010
State-hopping Americana, primed for the mainstream. ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages Audio, 12 August 2010
The tousled plank spanker on his new record, I Feel Like Playing; on getting sober and the break-up of his marriage; his solo career and his painting, plus encounters with Bob Dylan and jamming with the Yardbirds in 1964!
File format: mp3; file size: 101.6mb, interview length: 44' 23" sound quality: ****
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 27 August 2010
WITH HER LARGER-THAN-LIFE presence, and naughtier than sin songs, Katy Perry's position as the candy-craving gal from the American dream factory appears unassailable. ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 12 November 2010
Rihanna gives Lady Gaga a run for her money with sassy new album ...
Black Eyed Peas: The Black Eyed Peas: The Beginning
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 26 November 2010
Welcome to spinal rap ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 25 March 2011
IN THE YEAR she turns 30, Britney Spears is not about to upset the formula that has seen her sell an eye-watering 100 million albums. ...
Cee Lo Green: Southern Comfort: Cee Lo Green Arrives To Charm His British Fans
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 25 March 2011
ON THE HEATED terrace of his London hotel, Cee Lo Green, the extra-large sized tattooed love god and Lady Killer extraordinaire is in his element. ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 1 April 2011
FEW TALENTS have bridged the gap between the pop mainstream and underground club culture in recent years with the ease and confidence of Kathleen Brien. ...
PJ Harvey: Polly Harvey reflects on a career marked by exploration and taking chances
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 15 April 2011
SAT IN THE ornate lounge room of a salubrious London hotel, Polly Jean Harvey apologises that she's finishing off a mouthful of nuts. With her ...
Bootsy Collins: King of the funk bass is back with a solo album
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 22 April 2011
LOUNGING IN A London hotel suite dedicated to the memory of his childhood hero Jimi Hendrix, Bootsy Collins grins to reveal a gold incisor implant. ...
Kasabian: Velociraptor! (Columbia) ****
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 2011
Leicester's psych-lad rockers shine on ambitious fourth ...
Lee Dorsey, Allen Toussaint: Lee Dorsey: The Star in Greasy Overalls
Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Record Collector, October 2011
IT'S 1980; six years before Lee Dorsey's unexpected death, but his recording career is already over. What will prove to be his last album, Night ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 7 October 2011
Every so often an album comes along that not only justifies its hype but outweighs it. ...
Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2012
Fifteen-year-old piano wunderkind debuts with sagely chosen set of covers ...
Kelly Clarkson is going from strength to strength — and doesn't care if people think she's a lesbian
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 27 January 2012
The American Idol winner on her family upbringing and why she's happy to be single ...
Speech Debelle Inspired by Tupac on Second Album
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 3 February 2012
In the two years since Speech Debelle won the Mercury Prize for her debut album Speech Therapy, she has seen her life turn around. ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 6 July 2012
Fusing her background in dance, theatre, Lady GaGa-esque cabaret and singing in burlesque clubs, Fall To Grace is Paloma at her best ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 12 October 2012
In the era of autotuned idols, the appeal of a unflashy young man and his heartfelt songs obviously strikes a universal chord ...
Ravi Shankar: Within And Without Him: Gavin Martin pays Tribute to Ravi Shankar
Obituary by Gavin Martin, unpublished, 13 December 2012
An edited version of this piece appeared in the Daily Mirror on 13 December 2012 ...
Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 25 2013
Widespread delirium will ensue when Muse touch down at Glastonbury tomorrow ...
Lou Reed, Velvet Underground: Lou Reed Dead: The Day I Interviewed Velvet Underground's Auteur
Memoir by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 27 October 2013
The Velvet Underground may have sold few records during their lifespan but Lou's songs with them became a potent inspiration ...
The Beach Boys, The Eagles, Charles Manson: Charles Manson and the Death of the Californian Dream
Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Sabotage Times, 17 November 2014
The swinging '60s in the Golden State – California. A decade of sex, drink, drugs and debauchery soundtracked by the Beach Boys, the Eagles and ...
Swamp Dogg: The White Man Made Me Do It
Review and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2015
IN 1970, JERRY WILLIAMS was a writer, performer and producer, whose clients included Gene Pitney and Doris Duke — for whom he masterminded the deep ...
Doobie Brothers, Michael McDonald, Steely Dan: Wide Open: An Interview with Michael McDonald
Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages, November 2017
GM: I attended three Dylan shows in your hometown St. Louis in the noughties. Visiting the arch sculpture one day felt weirdly sad, a hopeful ...
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