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Geoff Barton

Geoff Barton

Geoff Barton (pictured with Judas Priest's Glenn Tipton, left) is a British journalist who founded the heavy metal mag Kerrang! and was an editor of Sounds. He joined Sounds at the age of nineteen after completing a journalism course at the London College of Printing. He specialised in covering rock music and helped popularise the New Wave of British Heavy Metal after using the term for the first time (after editor Alan Lewis coined it) in the May 1979 issue of Sounds. In 1981 he edited the first issue of Kerrang!, which was published as a one-off. This was successful so it became a fortnightly magazine. He left the magazine in 1995.

Barton's articles for Sounds which covered the NWOBHM helped to create the sense that an actual movement was taking place, and in a sense helped to create one in the process. He currently works for Classic Rock magazine. Whether or not the NWOBHM was a media-manufactured phenomenon centered around the Kingsbury Bandwagon Pub scene, one cannot underestimate the importance of Barton in popularising the term and the genre.

Rockcritics.com interview with Geoff

77 articles

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Journey: Hold The (Balls On The) Line

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 24 March 1979

AN ADMIRABLE PHILOSOPHY. BUT WILL IT BE ENOUGH TO POPULARISE THE JOURNEY BRAND OF AMERICAN AOR IN THE UK? GEOFF BARTON SEEMS TO THINK SO ...

Rush: This Man Has Nightmares

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 30 September 1978

He's also lead guitarist for RUSH and writes songs about the politics of oak trees, shapeless spirits and The Real Truth. Psychiatric care by Geoff Barton. ...

Saxon: See The Light Shining

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 24 May 1980

...AND WATCH THE SEASIDE PIER SHAKING. GEOFF BARTON REPORTS AS SAXON STORM THE DISNEYLAND SHOWBAR, COLWYN BAY (YES, REALLY). ...

Kraftwerk: 2 a.m. Newcastle Hotel

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 20 September 1975

'We not only try to brainwash people... we succeed' ...

Kiss: The Timeless Quality Of Platform Boots

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 3 February 1979

KISS' PAUL STANLEY, GEOFF BARTON AND 'PERHAPS THE GREATEST INTERVIEW OF ALL TIME' ...

Styx: A Bang and a Wimp-er

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 2 February 1980

Despite the hit single 'Babe' Styx are still Pomp Rock Supremos, Claims Geoff Barton from the USA ...

Anvil: Hard 'N' Heavy (Attic Records)****½

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 20 February 1982

Hammer and tongues ...

The Rods: Where's The Wimmin?

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 27 February 1982

Do The Rods live up to their name? Geoff Barton gets their measure. WARNING: this feature may cause offence to supporters of Rock Against Sexism. ...

Van Halen: Van Halen (Warner Brothers import) ****

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 4 March 1978

Van Halen, brand new heavy metal heroes (Oh no. Here we go again — Ed) ...

Iron Maiden: Don't Fear The Reaper

Interview by Geoff Barton, Classic Rock, January 2004

THERE ARE dead bodies lying on trestle tables in the midst of the tangled scaffolding and controlled chaos that represents Iron Maiden's rear of stage ...

Led Zeppelin: Close The Door, Put The Light Out… Led Zeppelin: In Through The Out Door (Swan Song)

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 1 September 1979

YOU'RE PROBABLY not interested in our problems, but I think an explanation is in order as to why Sounds is carrying a review of the ...

Golden Earring: Hot Licks from Amsterdam

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 19 March 1977

Our Man In Holland (GEOFF BARTON) pulls his finger out of the dyke and states the case for GOLDEN EARRING ...

Deep Purple: You Keep On Moving: Shades of Deep Purple

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 13 March 1976

Is this Purple as good as the old? GEOFF BARTON joins the band's 24th tour of America to find out. ...

Boston Stranglehold

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 29 January 1977

How can any band be so special that their VERY FIRST album goes platinum? A suspicious GEOFF BARTON goes to the States to investigate... ...

Van Der Graaf Generator: The Agony and the Ecstasy

Report by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 20 November 1976

ON THE ROAD WITH VAN DER GRAAF ...

Mahogany Rush: And This Little Piggy Took Too Much Acid

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 25 June 1977

If we tell you that Frank Marino of Mahogany Rush took 1500 trips in a month, you won't be surprised that the tale he tells ...

Golden Earring: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 2 April 1977

Searing Earring ...

Hawkwind, Motörhead: Motorhead: Running In

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 16 August 1975

'Loud, raucous, arrogant, fast, city, paranoid, speedfreak rock and roll. But mainly very loud'. That's what Lemmy says Motorhead's music is. Geoff Barton reports ...

Ted Nugent: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 9 August 1980

Going, going, Gonz ...

Motorhead: Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 26 July 1975

A PRE-RECORDED tape of Adolf Hitler shouts and jack boot stomps heralded Motorhead's debut concert act London's Chalk Farm Roundhouse on Sunday and, indeed, the ...

Japan: Hip-Hip Hurrah

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 25 November 1978

JAPAN OUTPOSED IN NEW YORK CITY AS WITNESSED BY GEOFF BARTON ...

Peter Frampton: Frampton (A&M AMLH 64512)

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 12 April 1975

DON'T BE deceived by the album cover: here, the name "Frampton" is ablaze with colour, and Peter himself, in monochrome, is depicted with guitar, his ...

Van Der Graaf Generator: This is the Experience of the Van Der Graaf Generator Interview... (Few Have Survived)

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 17 May 1975

Geoff Barton is one of the few ...

Def Leppard: Def or Glory?

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 1 March 1980

THE LEPPARDS CAUGHT IN AN A'N'R INDUSTRY STRANGLEHOLD. WILL THEY BE THROTTLED? ASKS GEOFF BARTON ...

Rush: After The Gold Rush

Profile and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 21 November 1981

Geoff Barton writes his first Rush feature for (count'em) three years and asks, is there life after Maple Leaf Mayhem? ...

Golden Earring: Switch (Polydor 2344 040)

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 12 April 1975

Switch — on and off ...

AC/DC: The Fastest Knees in the West

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 12 June 1976

AC/DC, outrageous Aussie punk-rock combo, this week start their rampage across Britain under the SOUNDS banner. Are we doing the right thing? Are schoolboys the future of rock and roll? GEOFF ...

Kansas: The State of American Football (Is it Colorado, Nevada or Kansas?)

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 18 February 1978

This is in fact a feature about a rock band by GEOFF BARTON ...

Rush: A Farewell To Kings (Mercury SRM-1-1184 ) *****

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 10 September 1977

Rush: lords of the Kings ...

Samson: The Sound of Silent Thunder

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 16 August 1980

Why did Samson's drummer decline to speak to Sounds? Was it because Deaf Barton had mislaid his hearing aid and he was afraid of being ...

Japan: The Venue, London

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 9 February 1980

Plenty good posin' ...

Ted Nugent: Going Beyond the Threshold of Pain

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 3 March 1979

"A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO I WAS TOO LOUD," ADMITS TED NUGENT. GEOFF BARTON LISTENS AGHAST ...

Trevor Rabin: Clever Trevor

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 13 January 1979

...RABIN, THAT IS. THE MAN WHO, GEOFF BARTON RECKONS, WILL 'DO A BOSTON/FOREIGNER/VAN HALEN'. (SPARE US — ED.) ...

Van Halen: New Boots and (Stretch) Panties

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 28 June 1980

GEOFF BARTON encounters the metal might of VAN HALEN and becomes a victim of the furry ...

Boston, Bob Seger: State Farm Show Arena, Harrisburg PA

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 8 January 1977

AMAZING WHAT a platinum album can do, isn't it? ...

Ted Nugent: Survival of the Fittest

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 29 May 1976

Geoff Barton shuddered, any moment the phone would ring and along the transatlantic link line would come the voice of mad Detroit axeman Ted Nugent, ...

Aerosmith

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Toby Goldstein, Sounds, 16 October 1976

Toby Goldstein talked to Mr Tyler and Geoff Barton went to Canada to check out the band. Who's thoughtful then? ...

Uriah Heep: Wake The Sleeper

Review by Geoff Barton, Classic Rock, July 2008

GHOSTS OF Abominog. It sounds like a magical incantation by Doctor Strange, doesn't it? You can just imagine Marvel Comics' moustachio'd master of the mystic ...

Ted Nugent: The Continuing Adventures Of Loudman Part 3: Ted Tunes Up

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 15 January 1977

FEATURING GEOFF BARTON AS KID REPORTER, STARRING TED NUGENT AS LOUDMAN ...

Kraftwerk: Mayfair Ballroom, Newcastle

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 13 September 1975

FOR THE past couple of days Kraftwerk had been rehearsing in the pleasant and appropriate surroundings of Newcastle's City Hall. Yet, strangely, for the opening ...

Wire, XTC: XTC, Wire, the Secret: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 4 March 1978

Shock as Soundsman writes non-metallic rave ...

Rush: The Pressure Principle

Interview by Geoff Barton, Kerrang!, 3 May 1984

RUSH guitarist ALEX LIFESON has the good grace to talk to GEOFF BARTON ...

Blue Öyster Cult, Motorhead: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 25 October 1975

SUPPORT ACT Lemmy's Motorhead played the second worst set I've ever seen. The only past concert I can think of that surpasses it, in terms ...

Iron Maiden: Iron Maiden (EMI EMC 3330)****½

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 5 April 1980

ULP — I can hear them now, sickening snaps echoing throughout the land as HM fans suddenly stop in mid headshake. Ugh, yeah — I ...

Angel Witch, Iron Maiden, Samson: If You Want Blood (and Flashbombs and Dry Ice and Confetti) You've Got It

Report by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 19 May 1979

THE NEW WAVE OF BRITISH HEAVY METAL: FIRST IN AN OCCASIONAL SERIES BY DEAF BARTON ...

Foreigner: Rainbow, London

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 6 May 1978

The damage is done ...

Starz: Coliseum Rock

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 13 January 1979

THANKFULLY, AFTER their last atrocious album Attention Shoppers (ugh! That's worse than Olias Of Sunhillow for an LP title), this fourth Starz disc finds the ...

Samson: Survivors

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 3 November 1979

UP UNTIL now the idea of Samson has appealed to me much more than the actual music. I mean, this a band whose drummer dresses ...

Angel: Sinful

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 24 February 1979

"Sin after sin I have endured But the wounds that I bear Are the wounds of love..." IT'S A GRIM fact of life that, unlike Casablanca compatriots Kiss, the ...

Vinegar Joe

Retrospective and Interview by Geoff Barton, Classic Rock, April 2019

Mock muggings, sexual advances and sweat stains were all part of the Vinegar Joe story – along with some blistering British blues-rock. But one member ...

Japan: Quiet Life (Ariola AHAL 8010)****

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 12 January 1980

Glitter for industry ...

ZZ Top: Deguello (Warner Brothers HS 3361 import) ****

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 15 December 1979

AS A ONE-time Spanish A-level student, I find myself in the privileged position of being able to tell you that 'deguello' means 'slaughter' or 'butchery', ...

Olivia Newton-John: Olivia wants it to happen

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 7 June 1975

THERE'S A rather freaky, hairy, heavy music orientated — call it what you will — record shop situated quite near to where I live. Some ...

Def Leppard: The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal — Part Two

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 16 June 1979

BY DEAF BARTON ...

Samson: I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 1 December 1979

DON'T BRING YOUR PET GOLDFISH ANYWHERE NEAR SAMSON WARNS GEOFF BARTON ...

Terry Reid

Retrospective and Interview by Geoff Barton, Classic Rock, March 2006

He turned down Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Meet rock's ultimate nearly man. ...

Olivia Newton-John: Have You Never Been Mellow (EMI EMC 3069) (36.00)

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 7 June 1975

Olivia — mellow and pleasant ...

Rush: The Sword and Sorcery Phase

Retrospective and Interview by Geoff Barton, Classic Rock, October 2004

Rush had their first taste of success in 1975, when they changed from being a basic hard rock power outfit and became something altogether more ...

Fanny: The Untold Story of the original Queens of Noise

Retrospective and Interview by Geoff Barton, Classic Rock, September 2015

They may have been overshadowed by the Runaways, but nobody did it quite like Fanny, the original all-girl rock'n'roll band who blazed a trail through the ...

Judas Priest: Pavelló Olímpic, Badalona

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Classic Rock, October 2004

Reunited — and it feels so good. Taking their cue from Peaches & Herb's '79 hit, Judas Priest get back together with singer Rob Halford ...

Robert Plant: The Secret Life Of Plant

Interview by Geoff Barton, Classic Rock, January 2004

It's 1982, and Robert Plant is worried. He's just released his first solo album Pictures At Eleven, and he's expecting a critical slating. Led-free reflections ...

Ted Nugent: Ted Nugent (Epic SEPC 81196)

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 17 April 1976

"BROTHERS AND sisters! I want to see your hands in the air! I want you to get down!" Like the MC5, Detroit rock survivor Ted ...

Van Der Graaf Generator: Now the immortals are here

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 8 May 1976

Geoff Barton wanders around Headley Grange and comes across a man saving the life of a fly ...

Judas Priest: Whips over Walsall

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 26 May 1979

"SEE THIS badge?" asks Rob Halford. Smiling, he points to a narrow shiny, sausage-shaped piece of metal pinned to the left lapel of his leather ...

Kiss: Ecstasy in the Garden of Eden

Report by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 11 August 1979

AN UNAPOLOGETICALLY OVER THE TOP REPORT OF KISS IN NEW YORK. BY GEOFF BARTON, OUR MAN WITH THE FRIED FLESH AND SINGED EYEBROWS ...

Whitesnake: David Coverdale's Whitesnake: Penthouse, Scarborough

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 18 March 1978

THE FIRST thing you notice as the band squeezes on to the small stage at Scarborough Penthouse is that David Coverdale still projects. Much much ...

Van Halen: Van Halen II (Warner Brothers K 56616) ***

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 17 March 1979

Van ordinaire (too much, too soon) ...

Cheap Trick: Trick or Treat?

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 11 February 1978

GEOFF BARTON fails to go nuts for 'the first American band to emerge in the seventies that doesn't have a lead singer who looks like ...

Blue Öyster Cult: Agents Of Fortune (CBS S 81385)

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 19 June 1976

There's a fortune in Öysters sez seafood-crazy G. Barton, the kid with the plutonium-lined skull. ...

Styx: Cornerstone (A&M AMLK 63711)

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 6 October 1979

Styx come up Tramps ...

Saxon: Saxon (Carrere CAL 110)

Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 11 August 1979

Sheezabigteaza! (And other lyrics of note) ...

Rush: Black Holes: Close encounters with Rush

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 25 February 1978

  CONGRESS THEATRE, Washington DC. A scientific debate is in progress: ...

Peter Frampton, Gary Wright: Empire Pool, Wembley, London

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 30 October 1976

'Do you feel like we do?' YEAH! But don't ask me why, says GEOFF BARTON ...

Sammy Hagar: Muscle of Love (A physical education lesson from San Francisco)

Report and Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 12 April 1980

STILL FIT TO BOOGIE? SAMMY HAGAR IS, GEOFF BARTON (WORDS) AND ROSS HALFIN (PIX) AREN'T ...

Venom: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Geoff Barton, Kerrang!, 14 June 1984

"AAROOGAH! AAROOGAH!! F**KIN' AAROOGAH!!!" ...

Thin Lizzy: Not so lean for Thin Lizzy

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 16 August 1975

After an inauspicious debut at last year's Reading Festival and a less than stunning first album, Thin Lizzy now seem to have got it together ...

Jobriath: Cult Heroes No. 4: Jobriath

Retrospective by Geoff Barton, Classic Rock, 26 February 2010

He was launched amid a mountain of publicity as the world's first openly gay rock star – but the world wasn't ready. ...

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