Harry Doherty
Harry Doherty wrote extensively for Melody Maker from 1975 through to the early ‘80s, and during his tenure flying the banner for the more commercial aspects of rock music championed the careers of Kate Bush, Thin Lizzy, Queen, 10CC, the Boomtown Rats, and many more, amidst the phalanx of interviews accumulated. Since then his career took in spells on Capital Radio, editor at Metal Hammer and founder of the video magazine, Hard’n’Heavy. Doherty was also author of the only official book on Queen, 40 Years of Queen (Goodman), published to tie in with the band's fortieth anniversary. Recently, and until his death in May 2014, he was managing editor of Books & Media, the online guide to books and authors in the media.
172 articles
List of articles in the library
Ann Peebles: I Can't Stand The Rain
Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 19 October 1974
BRITAIN has been bitten by the Ann Peebles bug and, in a typical reciprocal move, our very own famous bug (commonly known as 'flu) has ...
The Bay City Rollers: Bay City Rollers: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Disc, 26 October 1974
ROLLERS RUSHED ...
Status Quo: Would You Live Next Door To Status Quo?
Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 26 October 1974
A STATUS QUO recording session is an experience. What with furious neighbours bursting into the studio in the middle of "takes" and morse code messages ...
The Bay City Rollers: Phil Coulter: The Creator
Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 2 November 1974
Disc meets the man behind the Rollers and many others ...
The Bay City Rollers: Rollers On The Run
Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 2 November 1974
FAN HYSTERIA is reaching its peak with the Bay City Rollers. It's got to the point now where the Rollers can't even go to the ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Disc, 9 November 1974
FOR SOME bizarre reason, HUMBLE PIE have been finding it particularly hard to gain acceptance in England, despite the fact that they are now a ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 9 November 1974
"GARY IS great. His operation was a success and there are no aftereffects at all. If anything, it has improved his voice." ...
Rory Gallagher: Play For Today, Tomorrow You Die
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1975
Rory rocks back to a supersonic reception in California. Harry Doherty is there... ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 September 1975
A HATCHET-wielding psychopath was on the loose in the next room. In the circumstances, it was beyond comprehension how Lol Creme could present a gleaming ...
Leo Sayer: Sayer: “L.A. is Music's Capital, New York second, London Only Third”
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 September 1975
"I FEEL I’m at my peak, I’m doing my best work ever now." Little Leo Sayer is back. The location is London’s Cunard International Hotel ...
Jethro Tull: The Jethro Tull Story
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 September 1975
"I want to justify the place on my passport where it says 'Occupation: musician'. I feel that I've not yet really justified that" Harry Doherty ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975
IT'S NO MERE coincidence that an Ozzie Osbourne song on the new Black Sabbath album is called 'Am I Going Insane?' Ozzie, who professes that ...
Leo Sayer: Winter Gardens, Bournemouth
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975
LEO SAYER IS in danger of losing fans if he persists in forcing his personality on audiences, as he did when his British tour opened ...
Black Sabbath: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1 November 1975
FOR SOME bizarre reason, 3,000 kids got off on Black Sabbath's antics at Hammersmith Odeon last Wednesday night. Ozzie Osbourne and cohorts had the fans ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sutherland Brothers and Quiver: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1 November 1975
IF PROOF was needed that Lynyrd Skynyrd have broken Britain's back, then a visit to Hammersmith Odeon on Monday night would have persuaded the harshest ...
Steeleye Span: Steeleye Sold Out?
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 8 November 1975
WHEREFORE art thou, Span? The cry persists: "They've sold out." The denials continue. But Steeleye Span's drift towards "commercialism," especially on the new album, All ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 November 1975
I'M P---- OFF listening to the bloody album," mutters a weary Roger Taylor, confronted once more with hearing a new Queen album, four months ...
Queen: Brian May – The Power Behind Queen's Throne
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 December 1975
FREDDIE MERCURY steps out of the spotlight, Brian May moves in to seize the opportunity to deliver the most sizzling guitar solo. ...
Hot Chocolate: Hot on the Trail
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 December 1975
HOT CHOCOLATE, the faceless men of British pop, leave soon for the real land of hope and glory, America, confident that they will be a ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 December 1975
PHIL HARRIS, OF Ace, suddenly perked to attention on the edge of his chair and made a compassionate plea. "We love Britain, 'onest," he craved. ...
The Glitter Band: Listen To The Band (Bell)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975
DEFINITELY THE surprise of 1975, the album to earn the Glitter Band critical credibility, and deservedly so. If Listen To The Band is an indication ...
Thin Lizzy: The Irish Question
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975
DESPITE the homely sentiments echoed in Philip Lynott's 'Dublin' a few years back, Thin Lizzy did leave Dublin, and Ireland. But the fond memories of ...
Sheer Elegance: By Sheer Chance?
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 January 1976
From obscurity to a hit in two moves...just luck? Not true, Sheer Elegance tell HARRY DOHERTY ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976
THINGS WERE so bad in Scandinavia, an MM reader there informed us some months ago, that Abba were regarded as a progressive rock band. ...
Be-Bop Deluxe: Sunburst Deluxe
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976
BILL NELSON, IF popular opinion is to be believed, is destined to become something of a superstar in the coming year. And the new Be-Bop ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Gimme Back My Bullets (MCA 2744)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976
FOR SUCH A great continent, America has given the outside world very few real rock and roll bands. ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 January 1976
IN THE basement of a South London shop, a group rehearses. They're loud, ever so loud. A rat crawls from behind an amplifier, its ears ...
Genesis: The Ghost That Haunts Genesis
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 February 1976
YES, PETER IS PAST, but the legacy remains. And Tony Banks, keyboards' player with Genesis, is finding it difficult to swallow that. Peter Gabriel has ...
Sailor: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976
ABOUT A year ago, Sailor made their live debut in front of about 50 people at London's little Collegiate Theatre. The reaction was mediocre, and ...
Status Quo: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 March 1976
THE STURICO security team didn't know what hit them. Lined up, muscles flexed, and ready for the worst, they were swamped by denim as soon ...
Thin Lizzy: Essex University, Colchester
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 March 1976
IF THIN LIZZY have spent the past 12 months breaking into first division rock, the next 12 will be spent consolidating their position in that ...
Led Zeppelin: Jimmy Page: Past, Presence & Future
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 March 1976
JIMMY ENTERED a whole hour late. But Abe, who was accompanying him, was not in the least embarrassed by the delay. He muttered an obligatory ...
Thin Lizzy: Lizzy Break 'Em Up
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976
THERE WE STOOD. Dumb-founded, we stared in stark amazement at the spectacle. It's Liverpool Stadium and the mashed wood strewn around the floor had earlier ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 April 1976
I NEEDED CONVINCING that the legendary Sixties were really the rich, golden colour painted by those lucky enough to have experienced the action. ...
10cc: We Don't Want To Be Superstars…
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 April 1976
IT'S CRAZY, totally unpredictable, this life with 10cc. ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 April 1976
WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that the total eccentricity of approach, the gross make-up and the blanket heavy metal music would have eventually ensured that Kiss ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 24 April 1976
"I'M A ROCKER. I'm a Roller, too, honey..." Did you know that West Hampstead, London, is within spitting distance of the M1? Phil Lynott lives ...
Graham Parker, The Rumour: Graham Parker & The Rumour: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1 May 1976
WITH SOME justification, Graham Parker is being touted as a major new British talent. But, though I witnessed Parker and his fine band, the Rumour, ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 8 May 1976
RETURNING HOME TO England has always been a bit of a comedown for Gentle Giant. ...
Gallagher & Lyle: Gallagher and Lyle: Breakaway Boys
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 15 May 1976
GALLAGHER AND LYLE: 'Art Garfunkel's version of 'Breakaway' did us a hell of a lot of good. We were preparing to record the album and ...
Jethro Tull: So Who's Too Old To Rock?
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 15 May 1976
. . . certainly not Tull's Ian Anderson, who tells Harry Doherty that change keeps him going. ...
Horslips: Rock in Ireland: Rock in the Dark Ages
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 15 May 1976
IF OXFAM WERE to adopt the same stategy towards rock starvation as they do towards the plight of the world's hungry, then one of the ...
David Essex: Earl's Court, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976
FOUR TIMES AT his Earls Court, London, show on Saturday night, David Essex strikingly fused the electric atmosphere of theatre with rock. The effect was ...
ABBA, Silver Convention: Europe: The Future Of Pop?
Overview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976
AS IT WAS Stockholm, and as the ever-witty 10cc were playing there, Eric Stewart thought it'd be nice to pay a little tribute to a ...
Kiss: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976
MAN, KISS HAD everything; every single effect in the book. They had a perfect lighting system; dry ice; smoke bombs; a fire-eater; a huge lighted ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976
Midge Ure (guitar, vocals), Jim McGinlay (bass, vocals), Billy McIsaac (keyboards, vocals), Kenny Hyslop (drums, vocals). Produced by Phil Coulter at Mayfair Studios, London, during ...
David Essex: Essex Dons The Motley Again
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 29 May 1976
DAVID ESSEX: 'I'm going to do a kind of rock revue in a West End theatre. It'll be incredible – I've got so many bizarre ...
Alan Parsons: Parsons Knows: The Tale of Alan Parsons and Edgar Allan Poe
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 July 1976
THE CONCEPT ALBUM, contemptuously rejected by many critics as the great bore of rock, has returned, and this work of producer Alan Parsons, supported by ...
Slik: We're Like A Scapegoat For The Rollers
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 July 1976
TEARS TRICKLE down her 12-year-old cheeks. She's speechless, overcome by the emotion of the moment. She has, after a stubborn battle, won the right to ...
Dave Mason, Elton John, John Miles: Elton John, Dave Mason, John Miles: Schaeffer Stadium, Boston
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 July 1976
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: The sheer pageantry of Elton John's Stars and Stripes bicentennial show here on Independence Day had the power alone to earn a standing ...
Thin Lizzy: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 July 1976
THE PREVALENT mood that hung over this Hammersmith Odeon gig on Sunday night, that this would be the occasion to herald once and for all ...
Jethro Tull: Too Old To Rock And Roll, Too Young To Die
Film/DVD/TV Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976
Dull Tull's big mistake ...
John Miles: Learning To Be A Star
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976
...
Alan Parsons: The Alan Parsons Project: Tales Of Mystery And Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 24 July 1976
FOR THREE weeks I've played this album almost constantly and probably the greatest compliment I can pay it is that it has lost little of ...
Curved Air, Hawkwind, Status Quo, The Strawbs: Status Quo: Quo Storm The Castle
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 July 1976
Rock festivals in Wales always tempt providence, as many a Marley or 10cc fan can attest. But at Cardiff Castle last Saturday, the sun shone ...
Thin Lizzy: Unlikely Lads With A Lead For Lizzy
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 31 July 1976
THE MAN IN Black from the City Of The Angels, Los Angeles, is still dazed by the unbelievably swift rise of Thin Lizzy and chats ...
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band: Alex Harvey: Harvey's History Lesson
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 August 1976
ALEX, WHAT would your reaction be, apart from grabing me by the throat, if I said the music and image of the Sensational Alex Harvey ...
Thin Lizzy: Remembering, Part 1, featuring Eric Bell and Gary Moore (Decca)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 August 1976
Philip Lynott (bass, acoustic guitar, vocals), Brian Downey (drums), Eric Bell (lead guitar and vocals), Gary Moore (lead guitar and vocals). Produced by Nick Tauber. ...
Widowmaker (UK): Widowmaker: Make — Or Break
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 August 1976
WIDOWMAKER almost busted up the other week. ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 August 1976
THOSE PUZZLED by the Status Quo phenomenon should beware. AC/DC, from the same rock family, could wreak similar havoc, but they will only realise their ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 September 1976
"HI. Y'ALL COME in now..." Ronnie Van Zant, two minutes out of the sack, wears a stetson, strengthening the popular theory that he was born ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 September 1976
David Paton: now one-half of Pilot, a band trying to rid itself of teenybop associations ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 September 1976
BRIAN MAY remembers Queen's first-ever free gig well. It was in London, five years ago, when the band invited 120 people along to a lecture ...
The Bay City Rollers: Bay City Rollers: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 25 September 1976
SOME TIME ago, David Essex remarked that he was fed up with critics reviewing his audiences when they should have been more concerned with the ...
Kiki Dee, Queen: Queen: Hyde Park, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 25 September 1976
AT LAST, the Seventies have arrived, and in majestic style, when, at London's Hyde Park on Saturday, Queen, born of this decade's rock generation, played ...
Barclay James Harvest: Barclay Bank On The Future
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 October 1976
BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: 'If you want to be a musician and play the type of music you want – you've gotta cruise.' ...
Rory Gallagher: Calling Card (Chrysalis)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 October 1976
His first venture into the land of overdub and experimentation – and an unqualified success ...
Be-Bop Deluxe: Nelson's Column
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 October 1976
"HELLO, I'm the man with two noses....." ...
Cliff Richard: Cliff Brings Good News To Belfast
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 October 1976
CLIFF RICHARD wasn't smuggled into Belfast on Saturday night in the back of a furniture van. Nor was his appearance marred by a background of ...
Rory Gallagher: The Rory of the Crowd
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 October 1976
RORY GALLAGHER looked ruffled, most annoyed indeed. He cast a reflective eye across the current mode of pyrotechnical wizardry in rock and was not happy ...
The Runaways: You Sexy Things!
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 October 1976
"AW, C'MON, you guys at the front. Sit down and give the rest of the lads a view of the girls..." And that passionate request, ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 October 1976
THIN LIZZY: Johnny The Fox (Vertigo 9102 012). Phil Lynott (bass, vocals), Brian Downey (drums, percussion), Scott Gorham (lead guitar), Brian Robertson (lead guitar). Produced ...
Dr. Feelgood: Dr Feelgood: Where There's a Wilko…
Report by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976
FEELGOODS' WILKO JOHNSON: 'I work for one hour a day and get paid about £2,000. That's why I want a television in my room.' ...
Sailor, Sparks: Sparks: Big Beat (Island);Sailor: The Third Step (Epic)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976
SPARKS: Big Beat (Island ILPS 9445). Russell Mael (vocals), Ron Mael (keyboards), Jeffrey Salen (guitar), Sal Maida (bass). Billy Boy Michaels (drums). Produced by Rupert ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976
After deserting their homeland to live in the States, they're back — but they've not been forgotten… ...
Thin Lizzy: Lizzy's Cocky Rebel
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 6 November 1976
"Cocky Rocky's a rock and roll starGot the talent to take him far..." ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
"THE TIMES they are a-changin" ...and David Essex is changing with them. ...
Leo Sayer: Endless Flight (Chrysalis)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
Leo Sayer (vocals, harmonica). Ed Greene, Steve Gadd, Rick Shlosser, Jeff Porcaro, Nigel Olsson (drums), Andy Muson, Bill Bodine, Willie Weeks, Bob Glaub, Lee Sklar, ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: One More From The Road (MCA)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
LYNYRD SKYNYRD are one those bands who, like Rory Gallagher and Dr. Feelgood, will never be able to create the same excitement in the studio ...
Wishbone Ash: New England (MCA)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
Andy Powell (guitars, mandolin and vocals), Laurie Wisefield (guitars and vocals), Martin Turner (bass and lead vocals), Steve Upton (drums). Recorded at Mart's Place, Laureledge, ...
Barclay James Harvest: Octoberon
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976
I GET the impression from this new BJH album that the band were in a particularly mellow mood when they finally got around to recording ...
Electric Light Orchestra: The Electric Light Orchestra: A New World Record (Jet)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976
Jeff Lynne (lead vocals, lead, rhythm and slide guitars), Bev Bevan (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Richard Tandy (keyboards, backing vocals), Kelly Groucutt (bass, vocals), Mik ...
Thin Lizzy: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976
THIN LIZZY have reached that dangerous stage where they no longer nave to be good to provoke a maniacal response from their audience. ...
Cliff Richard: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
Cliff: he's nearly rocking ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
YOU PROBABLY haven't heard of Heart – apart, perhaps, from their excellent 'Magic Man' single – yet they've soared from obscurity in the States to ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976
THIS MUST MEAN something. Driving home last week-end, I flicked on the radio, to the Alan Freeman Show, and was greeted by a piece of ...
Overview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976
SOME come, others go, but the name lives on for ever...10cc set no precedent by splitting in half last week, but the decision by Graham ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976
ABBA: Frida Lyngstad and Anna Faltskog (vocals), Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals) with Ola Brunkert and Roger Palm (drums), Janne Schaffer, ...
Queen: A Day At The Races (EMI)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976
QUEEN: A Day At The Races (EMI EMTC 104). Freddie Mercury (vocals, piano), Brian May (guitars, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), John Deacon (bass). Produced ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976
IT WAS with a little disappointment that I discovered at the weekend that Heart's stage act isn't as impressive as their debut album, Dreamboat Annie. ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976
SILVER DISCS paper the walls of Ralph McTell's new eight-roomed Putney castle. There's going to be a studio upstairs, he says, directly above where the ...
Wings: Wings Over America (EMI)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 December 1976
An exhausting triple set which had the making of an exceptional double album ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 February 1977
Skynyrd: all guts and fury ...
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 12 February 1977
On the eve of Abba's British live debut, Harry Doherty looks at the reasons for their amazing success — and asks the rock biz for ...
Queen, Thin Lizzy: The Year Queen Lizzy Shook America
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 19 February 1977
THE WINTER of 1977 was fierce on the East Coast of the USA, a thick layer of snow engulfing the territory between Boston and New ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 March 1977
Harry Doherty travels to Cardiff to see how AC/DC are steadily working their way to the top ...
Electric Light Orchestra: Look At Me Now: The Electric Light Orchestra
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 April 1977
ELO: MORE than a classical gas. "It’s not classical rock. It never has been, but when it started, it needed a name. It had to ...
Dr. Feelgood: Just What The Dr. Ordered: A New Guitarist To Replace Wilko In The Feelgoods
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 May 1977
IT'S BARDOT'S, Canvey Island, formerly Cloud Nine, former weekly haunt of Dr. Feelgood. It's Thursday, almost midnight, and Wilko Johnson has well and truly joined ...
Dr. Feelgood: Sneakin' Suspicion (United Artists UAS 30075)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 May 1977
Epitaph to Wilko ...
Boomtown Rats: The Boomtown Rats (Ensign)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 August 1977
OH CHRIST, what will we label them? Rock 'n' Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Pop/New Wave? All tags apply. But no one alone totally fits the ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 September 1977
TAPE RECORDER OFF, Roy Wood typically loosens up, revealing a few of his franker thoughts. "I've written something like 30 hit songs, you know," he ...
Tom Robinson Band: The Tom Robinson Band: Lyceum, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 17 December 1977
IT WAS undoubtedly one of the best gigs I have seen this or any other year. The combination of two excellent bands, the Tom Robinson ...
The Rich Kids: Rich Kids: Nashville Rooms, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 February 1978
MIDGE URE made the most telling comment of the night just before the Rich Kids played their deserved encore after a rattling set at the ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 March 1978
Harry Doherty reports from West Berlin ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 4 March 1978
2002 Prologue: This interview would have come on the back of an MM editorial conference, Ray Coleman at the helm, sarcastic bastards around the table, ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 March 1978
PROOF — IF proof were now needed — of Blondie's vast potential was provided in full during Sunday night's gig at the Roundhouse, London's answer ...
Boomtown Rats: The Boomtown Rats: the Stars And Stripes Club, Yate
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1 April 1978
The new Rats bag ...
Cheap Trick: the Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 8 April 1978
Cheap and tasty ...
Queen: Empire Pool, Wembley, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 May 1978
Queen bee ...
Electric Light Orchestra: Themes and Variations on ELO
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 May 1978
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA's forthcoming British tour, which includes a run of eight nights at Wembley Empire Pool, will be the band's last appearances here ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 June 1978
2002 Prologue: I remember this interview with massive warmth. I knew me and Kate were obviously getting onside ‘cos this was done at the family ...
Rory Gallagher: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 June 1978
RORY GALLAGHER'S return to London, with two shows at the Hammersmith Odeon at the weekend, emphasized the sway the eternally youthful Irish guitarist holds over ...
Electric Light Orchestra: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 June 1978
HONESTLY, when you find yourself actually applauding the stage at the end of a gig, then you suddenly realise that you've just witnessed a very ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 June 1978
IT'S THOSE damned shades that frighten me so much. What goes on behind them? Where are his eyes? Has he got eyes? The imagination runs ...
The Shirts: Dingwall's, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 July 1978
YOU KNOW the feeling. Out comes a new album from a new band and you get so enthusiastic about it that you're falling over yourself ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 July 1978
July 2002 intro: Supertramp play at Hyde Park this month, a sure sign they have lost none of the fans who made them huge with ...
Frankie Miller: Dingwall's, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 September 1978
FRANKIE MILLER would have been recognised as a major rock singer with a major rock audience three years ago had it not been for his ...
Blondie: Parallel Lines (Chrysalis)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 September 1978
BLONDIE'S third album seems designed to cater for two distinct requirements: a) to satisfy the near-hysterical cries for the pure pop of the band's debut ...
Blondie: From Blondie With Love…
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 September 1978
CLEM BURKE offers a rather intriguing analogy about his band: Blondie are now playing the roles patented earlier this decade by Gary Glitter, T. Rex ...
Smokie: Exiles On The Reeperbahn
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 September 1978
LAST NIGHT, IN Hamburg, Smokie played to 6,000 people and tonight they'll repeat the process in the fishing port of Kiel. It brings to an ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978
Fighting their reputation and their record company, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme turn defence into attack. ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Skynyrd's First And…Last
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978
ROCK 'N' ROLL REQUIEMS usually denigrate rather than enhance the reputation of the deceased, which is as sound a reason as any to approach this ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978
RADIO STARS' aspirations are anything but modest. They have visions of themselves as a major (Hammersmith Odeon-Earls Court-Knebworth) band and Holiday Album is the vehicle ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 September 1978
IF NOTHING ELSE, at least the sun shone undisturbed for the duration of the Stranglers' long-awaited London gig on Saturday afternoon ("They're trying to strangle ...
Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: Pete Shelley is a Sensitive Artist... and Buzzcocks Have no Guilt
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978
Every successful new wave band experiences a backlash, and Buzzcockes are no exception. HARRY DOHERTY sympathises ...
Wayne County & the Electric Chairs: Music Machine, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 October 1978
WEIRD IS the word that immediately springs to mind; the detached weirdness of viewing a transvestite play hard rock, of being part of an audience ...
Johnny Thunders: Nothing Is Forever
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 October 1978
Maybe you sneered at the New York Dolls; so maybe you missed a Distant Early Warning of the new wave. Johnny Thunders is back in ...
Bram Tchaikovsky: The Marquee, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978
FOR THOSE CONFUSED, angered and alienated by the Motors' continuing divergence from their original hard rock base, the movements in the Bram Tchaikovsky camp at ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978
UNE NUIT A PARIS...The intention behind visiting France with the Motors seemed a good one: the circumspection of their intriguingly varied curriculum could be more ...
The Rich Kids: Music Machine, London
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978
UNTIL THE RICH KIDS get a few things into perspective – the rather misbegotten and amusing attitude, for instance, that their music goes above the ...
AC/DC: If You Want Blood You've Got It (Atlantic K50532)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978
WHAT CAN you say? AC/DC. A live album. An inevitable live album, given the knowledge that they're one of the best heavy metal bands around ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978
2002 Prologue: KATE IS famous now. WELL famous, right across Europe and to celebrate that, EMI are launching Lionheart, the second album, in a castle ...
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band: Alex Harvey: Absence Makes The Art Grow Older
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978
Alex Harvey: The Venue, London ...
The Bay City Rollers: Strangers In The Wind
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978
IT WOULD indeed be wonderful to report that, after a lengthy break, the Bay City Rollers have returned to remind us that they were really ...
Tyla Gang: Moon Proof (Beserkley)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978
THERE ARE certain musicians whose burden in life is to carry the can for mediocre past. Sean Tyla, late of Ducks Deluxe, is suffering from ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978
"We don't need nude tarts to sell records. Thus spake Wire, the most ruggedly uncompromising band HARRY DOHERTY has met for, oh, at least a ...
Gary Moore: Back On The Streets
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978
GARY MOORE is one of the best rock guitarists in the world – a conviction reinforced by his gymnastic feats on his instrument on this, ...
The Stranglers: Stranglers: Something Better Change?
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 1979
Lots of people would like to start by changing the Stranglers. Surprise, surprise...they've done it themselves. Hugh Cornwell tells HARRY DOHERTY how they've dragged themselves ...
Horslips: The Man Who Built America (DJM)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 January 1979
HORSLIPS' RECORDING career has been, to say the least, erratic: moments of inventive brilliance meshed with frequent mediocrity. But, at long last, they have emerged ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 January 1979
Hope I die before I get old? The Jam's Paul Weller knows he can't write teenage anthems any more. HARRY DOHERTY sympathises. ...
UFO: Strangers In The Night: A Double Live Album (Chrysalis)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 20 January 1979
THE LESSON to be learned from this album is undoubtedly that the natural habitat of a heavy metal band is in concert. The proof comes ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 February 1979
THIS COULD HAVE BEEN an unholy disaster. A group of Los Angeles session men forming their own band could have been the signal for God-knows-what ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 February 1979
In which UFO try for world domination...HARRY DOHERTY followed them round the concert circuit ...
Blondie, Mud, Suzi Quatro, Sweet: Chinn & Chapman: Ballroom Blitz & Hearts of Glass
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, March 1979
Mike Chapman began with Mud and Sweet, disappeared when glitter-rock went cold, and came back to make the new wave palatable for America with the ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979
While 'Heart Of Glass' seems about to repeat its British success in America, via the disco connection, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein stay home in ...
The Scorpions: Scorpions: Lovedrive
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979
NOW THAT the new wave has been institutionalised and tamed by the Establishment, heavy metal is once more basking in a glorious and celebrated comeback, ...
The Undertones: Putting On The Anti Style
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 10 March 1979
...are the Undertones, Derry's nosethumb to the star system. HARRY DOHERTY helped them bury a few rock myths. ...
Hunter-Ronson, Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson: Hunter-Ronson: Good News From Nowhere
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979
Nowhere being the most expensive studio in New York, scene of the Hunter-Ronson comeback with a startling new album. HARRY DOHERTY investigated the Geminian partnership ...
Sparks: Too Much Too Soon Again
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979
Sparks discover disco – but did the critics discover it first? HARRY DOHERTY smooths the ruffled curls. ...
The Scorpions, UFO: Scorpions: Stateless and Fighting Back
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 April 1979
German heavy metallurgists Scorpion, fronted by ex-UFO lead guitarist Michael Schenker, are set to conquer the world the English-speaking one, that is. HARRY DOHERTY talked ...
The Skids: Theme For War Movies and Romantic Losers
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 14 April 1979
THE LOCATION: Basing Street Studios, London.THE EVENT: The World Premiere of 'Masquerade', starring the Skids and produced by Bill Nelson.THE AUDIENCE: The Skids – Richard ...
Thin Lizzy: Black Rose (Vertigo)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 April 1979
YOU build 'em up... ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979
IT'S EASY to acknowledge it in retrospect, but Badfinger were a great band who suffered the classically clichéd fate of being criminally ignored in Britain. ...
Robin Scott: Now Pop For Pure People
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979
M is for mirror, says Robin Scott, whose single, 'Pop Muzik', realises the potency of the disco/punk fusion. And that mirror reflects the present, he ...
The Undertones: The Undertones (Sire).
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979
FOR SOME reason, this album reminds me of a scene in Kate Bush's live show, the part where she plays a rifle-toting trouble-shooter on 'James ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 19 May 1979
A FEW weeks ago in New York, I saw the greatest transition since Jesus changed the water into wine. ...
Thin Lizzy: Deutschland Liebt Lizzy
Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979
Phil and da boyz invade Germany. HARRY DOHERTY went on the sortie and watched Lizzy win over what had once been an alien audience. ...
Supertramp: The Philosopher and the Realist
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979
In Supertramp's first interview for two years, songwriters Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies tell HARRY DOHERTY how their immense success in America has widened the ...
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979
THE CARS emerged last year as pace-setters in the American new wave. The platinum status of their debut album probably surprised the band as much ...
Blondie: Pinecrest Theater, Shelton, Connecticut
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 July 1979
BLONDIE'S US tour should provide some interesting results when it ends in eight weeks' time. It could, for instance, determine just how willing American audiences ...
The Tourists: The Tourists (Logo)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 July 1979
A DIFFERENT sort of rock album, this, and one that will perhaps confuse many people. The Tourists have a set of values that, on record ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 July 1979
NICK GILDER does arrange meetings in the oddest places. Our first introduction is sealed amid snow-storms and the threat of frostbite in mid-February Milwaukee. Four ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 18 August 1979
DAVITT SIGERSON was right a couple of weeks ago when he described Squeeze as the new-wave ELO. ...
Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 25 August 1979
NOT ONE OF the great Wembley encounters, we decided, as the car crept another couple of feet in the late Saturday evening jam. ...
Cheap Trick: Dream Police (Epic)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 September 1979
IT'S IRONIC that Cheap Trick, having recorded a song called 'ELO Kiddies' on their debut album almost three years ago, should now be setting themselves ...
Profile and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 22 September 1979
Does Britain need a Blondie? Will Wendy Wu be on your bedroom wall next month? Is this fair? HARRY DOHERTY discovers why most of Britain's ...
Status Quo: Whatever You Want (Vertigo)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 October 1979
THE TITLE may be construed in some areas as Status Quo's capitulation to their critics, who've been claiming for donkey's years that the band's appeal ...
Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 29 December 1979
Mike Chapman began with Mud and Sweet, disappeared when glitter-rock went cold, and came back to make the new wave palatable for America with the ...
Kate Bush Christmas Special: Kate (BBC)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 12 January 1980
WITH 1979 over and no Kate Bush album in more than a year, a television special by the lady that introduced six new songs was ...
Buggles: The Age Of Plastic (Island ILPS 9585)
Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 2 February 1980
Music for radios ...
Rory Gallagher: When The Good Guys Die: Remembering Rory Gallagher
Memoir by Harry Doherty, Rock's Backpages, August 2002
I REMEMBER IT WELL, the day Rory Gallagher died. It was brought back to me the other week when news of George Best and his ...
Kate Bush: Stand By Your Mantra
Retrospective by Harry Doherty, Classic Rock, December 2005
An enigma. A recluse. A sensitive artist scared of the limelight. Few people get close enough to get to know the real Kate Bush. But ...
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