Hugh Fielder
In November 1964, Hugh Fielder was about to bunk off school in Cambridge to go and see the Rolling Stones at Ipswich Gaumont when he was advised to ask permission instead. To his surprise it was granted in return for an essay on the show. He spent most of it enthusing about American guest stars Inez & Charlie Foxx.
A career in rock journalism beckoned, but not before going to a polytechnic in London in 1966 where he spent three years following Cream, the Who and Jimi Hendrix around. He can remember it even though he was there, even the Doors and Jefferson Airplane at the Roundhouse.
He had traditional journalistic values knocked into him at magazines like Municipal Journal, Accountancy Age and Building Design before joining Sounds in 1975. He spent 15 years there, mostly as news editor, with a grandstand view of the emergence of punk, new wave, post punk, new romantics, indie rock, stadium rock and all points in between.
In the '90s he edited Top, the monthly in-store magazine at Tower Records (does anyone remember record stores?). Since the new millennium he has been freelance, working mainly for Classic Rock.
He has written books on the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Genesis, the Police, punk and Lady Gaga.
His career highlights include sharing a spliff with Bob Marley, a cup of tea with Keith Richards, a glass of mineral water with the Edge, a pint of beer with Robert Plant, a Jack Daniels with Slash and a frosty stare with Axl Rose. He has watched Mike Oldfield strip naked in front of him and Bobby Womack fall asleep in mid-interview. His two daughters accept that he will never grow up… although his wife still has hopes.
82 articles
List of articles in the library
Fleetwood Mac: Fleetwood Mac (Reprise K 54043, 42.12)
Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 16 August 1975
IT'S A BIT difficult to decide just what Fleetwood Mac are up to on this album. They've never been the easiest of groups to categorise. ...
Paul Simon: Still Crazy After All These Years (CBS 86001) 35 mins
Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 18 October 1975
THE WAIT has been worth it. If you exclude Live Rhymin' (and most people do) this is Simon's first record for more than two years, ...
Ike & Tina Turner: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 1 November 1975
THE IKE and Tina Turner roadshow breezed in and out of London in double-quick time last week, but they managed to stay at the Hammersmith ...
Babe Ruth: City Hall, Salisbury
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 6 March 1976
IT'S BEEN a traumatic time for Babe Ruth. With an extensive British tour looming they lost bassist Dave Hewitt and singer Jenny Haan, the last ...
Philip Glass: Music In Twelve Parts. Parts One And Two (Caroline CA2010 36 mins) ***
Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 19 June 1976
THE TWELVE parts of Mr Glass' music have already been played in one six-hour session in New York two years ago but the first two ...
Martin Simpson, Steeleye Span: Steeleye Span, Martin Simpson: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 4 December 1976
Are Steeleye still happy? ...
Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Kate and Anna McGarrigle: Victoria Palace, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 26 February 1977
Incomparigle McGarrigles ...
Gordon Giltrap: A (Slightly) Perilous Journey with Gordon Giltrap
Report and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 29 October 1977
DIFFERENT FOLKS have different strokes for getting themselves in the right mood to watch a rock concert. Some get pissed, some get high, some dress ...
Sandy Denny: Sound Circus, Royalty Theatre, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 10 December 1977
IT'S TAKEN Sandy Denny quite a while to take the plunge as a live solo performer but hopefully the reaction she received from the Sound ...
Chris De Burgh: The Dome, Brighton
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 25 February 1978
AFTER A couple of years supporting major acts around the country Chris De Burgh has stepped out on his own account for a countrywide tour. ...
Andrew Lloyd Webber: Don't Cry For Me, Paganini
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 11 March 1978
Hugh Fielder scores a chat with Andrew Lloyd Webber ...
The Rubettes: Warwick University, Coventry
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 18 March 1978
STEALTHILY, THE Rubettes are playing their first British gigs for nearly two years. Without any fuss because they're keen to test the temperature before embarking ...
Bob Seger: Live At The Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena!
Report and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 6 May 1978
HUGH FIELDER VENTURES INTO DEEPEST AMERICA IN SEARCH OF THE ELUSIVE/EXCLUSIVE BOB SEGER INTERVIEW ...
Larry Coryell, Steve Khan: Larry Coryell and Steve Khan: Two For The Road (Arista SPART 1050)****
Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 6 May 1978
LARRY CORYELL'S continuing musical adventures are leading him down a series of unexpected avenues — who he's playing with now is anybody's guess — but ...
Graham Parker, Pere Ubu: Graham Parker & the Rumour, Pere Ubu: Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 13 May 1978
MAYBE GRAHAM Parker should have held back on his forthcoming live album and waited to see what this tour might produce. For my money the ...
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 16 September 1978
IF 10cc HAVEN'T yet clambered back onto the pedestal they managed in their original incarnations, they have at least pulled together all the necessary elements ...
Report and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 23 September 1978
HUGH FIELDER OBSERVES BONECRUNCHING ROCK IN SANITISED TV STUDIOS (AND ALSO TAKES A DRAW) ...
Mike Oldfield: The Nu(de) Mike Oldfield
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 2 December 1978
IF THE Moslem New Year in 1961 fell on June 15 and Haley's Comet will become visible again on February 9, 1986 then the new ...
Village People: People Are Strange
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 10 February 1979
BUT CANCEL THAT BOOKING FOR THE YMCA, YOUNG MAN, 'COS VILLAGE PEOPLE AIN'T THAT STRANGE, CLAIMS HUGH 'MACHO MAN' FIELDER ...
Ray Campi: Runaways schoolteacher meets biker acid heads at the grass roots of rockabilly
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 24 March 1979
"I was raised in Central Texas/Where we played our guitars reckless/And we took our country music seriously/We loved the sound of Ole Hank Williams/Ernest Tubb ...
After The Fire: Brunel Rooms, Swindon
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 14 April 1979
A YEAR AGO, After The Fire must have felt like rock and roll lepers. And even today they're probably not a name to be bandied ...
Doll By Doll: Doo Laing Doo Laing Doo Laing
Profile and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 21 April 1979
FORGET THE RD LAING/MUSIC FOR PSYCHOTICS BIT AND GIVE DOLL BY DOLL A CHANCE, PLEADS "MAD" HUGH FIELDER. ...
Steve Forbert: So You Thought You'd Seen The Last...
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 21 April 1979
...of introspective singer/songwriters in blue jeans with acoustic guitars and pained expressions... Well think again as globe-trotting talent scout Hugh Fielder proclaims: "I have seen ...
Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 12 May 1979
FISCHER-Z are among a host of bands gigging round the club circuit who are coming up to the debut album stage. Word Salad does them ...
Judie Tzuke: Welcome To The Cruise (Rocket)
Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 23 June 1979
'FOR YOU' WAS one of last year's better off-the-wall singles, a remarkable vignette of overdubbed and interlocking harmonies backed by a classical string quartet which ...
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, David Hepworth, Sounds, 11 August 1979
OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY ...
Dire Straits, Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan: Slow Train Coming (CBS 86095)*****
Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 25 August 1979
Rich man enters kingdom of heaven shock ...
Judie Tzuke: Hard Times and Soft Furnishing
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 25 August 1979
THE LEERING, MANIC FACE OF MENSI fades into the television screen to be replaced by the hearthrug features of Dave Lee Travis. "And now for ...
Rickie Lee Jones: Dominion Theatre, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 22 September 1979
THE LONG cool sleaze of Rickie Lee Jones wafted through the Dominion Theatre with a balmy breeze that fulfilled the expectations of those who'd come ...
Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 22 September 1979
And keeping it there ...
Report and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 29 September 1979
'We were just another band out of Boston/On the road and tryin' to make ends meet'. ...
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 3 November 1979
IF YOU'RE expecting a low key, LA-id back show from Judie Tzuke in the same vein as her album then you're in for a surprise. ...
Report and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 5 January 1980
THE ROTUND gentleman sitting at the next table in this Leeds coffee bar demolishing his quadruple eggs, sausage, beans, chips and grease, is regaling us ...
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 23 February 1980
Shattered Dolls ...
Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Pier Pavilion, Hastings
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 15 March 1980
I can't stand up for long enough to finish the show ...
Genesis: Duke (Charisma CBR 101)
Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 5 April 1980
Power pomp supremos ...
Genesis: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 5 April 1980
More tricks from the wardrobe ...
Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel (Charisma)
Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 7 June 1980
YOU COULDN'T call Peter Gabriel prolific. And neither of his solo albums so far have lived up to expectations, mainly because the ideas and the ...
Pink Floyd: Earls Court, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 16 August 1980
The grandiose dream of a paranoid millionaire... ...
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 6 June 1981
IF EVER a girl looked vulnerable in the rock and roll business, Judie Tzuke does. The set-up is almost perfect: shy young English rose sets ...
The Police: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 26 December 1981
One Law For Them ...
Rip Rig And Panic: London University Union
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 23 January 1982
Ripped to shreds ...
Ultravox: Number 1 With A Bullet Train
Report and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 20 March 1982
HUGH FIELDER goes along for the ride with ULTRAVOX in Japan ...
The Human League: Human League: Palladium, New York NY
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 22 May 1982
Haughty culture ...
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 29 May 1982
HUGH FIELDER ENJOYS A HAPPY HOUR WITH ALTERED IMAGES ...
Peter Gabriel: Don't Touch Me There
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 2 October 1982
Hugh Fielder gets an earbending from PETER GABRIEL ...
Peter Gabriel, Genesis: Genesis and Peter Gabriel: Milton Keynes Bowl
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 9 October 1982
March Of The Giant Hogwash ...
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 13 November 1982
"SO SOUNDS think I'm an old hippie, do they?" muses John Martyn as we stand in the hotel lobby waiting for the limo (the manager's ...
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 25 February 1984
WHEN YOU'VE been touted as the next big thing as comprehensively as the Smiths, life in the goldfish bowl can start to get pretty uncomfortable. ...
Kool and the Gang: Kool & the Gang: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 5 January 1985
WHEN A band do what they do as well as Kool And The Gang, it's churlish to complain about their lack of adventure. Their trailblazing ...
Chaka Khan: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 9 February 1985
CONFUSED? JUST a bit. And not just because this gig didn't add up. I still can't work out why it didn't work. ...
Book Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 6 April 1985
Whole lotta what? ...
The Smiths: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 20 April 1985
CRACKED ACTORS ...
Womack and Womack: It's A Family Affair
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 21 September 1985
The brotherhood lives on with Womack & Womack. Hugh Fielder finds it all very relative. ...
Womack and Womack: Dominion Theatre, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 28 September 1985
COINCIDENCE? WHILE searching around for my gig notes (it's been that kind of week) I turned up some notes on Womack and Womack's previous London ...
Bobby Womack: One More River Crossed
Report and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 12 October 1985
Big 'Mack tells his survival story to HUGH FIELDER. ...
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 1 February 1986
Stiff supremo DAVE ROBINSON explains to HUGH FIELDER why he's back at first base and going for a home run. ...
Jackson Browne: Lives In The Balance (Asylum EKT 31)*****
Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 8 March 1986
BROWNE SUGAR ...
Label Mates? The Indie revival
Report by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 5 July 1986
Is there an indie revival in the air or just another battle of the bands? HUGH FIELDER tracks down the men at the top and ...
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Neil Perry, Sounds, 25 October 1986
Two years ago CRASS couldn't decide whether to blow up the country or grow cabbages — fortunately for the Tory Tyrants, they chose the latter. ...
Fela Kuti: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 29 November 1986
NOT SO much a gig, more a continuous cultural circus presided over by ringmaster Fela, fresh out of a Nigerian prison after his latest brush ...
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 14 February 1987
THREE DAYS after the show I discovered that the one in the flouncy skirt and petticoats who sashayed vivaciously round the stage, laughing with each ...
Cyndi Lauper: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 7 March 1987
SAFE SEX WITH CYNDI ...
The Mamas and The Papas, John Phillips: John Phillips with Jim Jerome: Papa John (W.H. Allen/Virgin)
Book Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 6 June 1987
PAPA DON'T PREACH ...
Albert Collins: Town And Country Club, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 18 July 1987
LADIES AND gentlemen, it's showtime for the blues. Which means that everybody in the band gets a solo and the crowd get a chance to ...
Leonard Cohen, Jennifer Warnes: Jennifer Warnes: Famous Blue Raincoat (RCA PL90048/CD)****
Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 18 July 1987
THE SUBTITLE on the bottom left hand corner says 'The songs of Leonard Cohen', which you might think would be more likely to repel than ...
Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen: Obituary: John Hammond
Obituary by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 25 July 1987
WHO'S GOING to find the next rock legend now that John Hammond's gone? Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Bessie Smith, ...
Terence Trent D'Arby: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 1 August 1987
LIP UP, TERRY! ...
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 22 August 1987
T'PAU have rocketed through the US charts with 'Heart And Soul'. HUGH FIELDER collects the low-down ...
Wham!: Johnny Rogan: Wham! Confidential – Death of a Supergroup (Omnibus)
Book Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 12 December 1987
NO, NOT another tardy teenybopper cash-in but an investigative peek at the rock business machinations that caused Wham!'s meteoric rise and fall. ...
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 28 May 1988
SLOW BURNING PERFECTION ...
Retrospective and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Classic Rock, August 2003
Woodstock made Ten Years After into world stars, but instead of capitalising on their new-found fame they lost the plot. ...
Vanilla Fudge: The Remarkable History Of Rock's Greatest Covers Band
Retrospective and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Classic Rock, June 2004
Bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, one of rock's mightiest rhythm sections, talk about their days in Vanilla Fudge. ...
Graham Parker & The Rumour: "It's R&B from the future – you just haven't caught up with me yet"
Retrospective and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Record Collector, August 2005
AS GRAHAM PARKER & the Rumour trooped off stage after what turned out to be their last show together at the German Rock TV show ...
Retrospective and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Classic Rock, October 2006
HAD IT NOT been for the in-fighting, the pressure, crap deals, "stolen" songs and one control-freak member's desire to run the whole show, Creedence Clearwater ...
The Band, Robbie Robertson: Robbie Robertson: The Man Who Knew Too Much
Retrospective and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Classic Rock, April 2012
SILLY ME. I assumed that I would be interviewing Robbie Robertson in the quaint Kensington mews flat that I had been sent to. But instead ...
Joe Bonamassa: Blues Of Desperation
Review by Hugh Fielder, Classic Rock, March 2016
THE INDEFATIGABLE Joe Bonamassa shows no sign of easing up any time soon. The past four years have seen him involved in a dozen releases. ...
Review by Hugh Fielder, loudersound.com, 13 May 2016
WHILE HIS live albums have maintained a remarkable degree of consistency and professionalism, Eric Clapton's studio albums have sometimes wavered in comparison. Essentially, Clapton needs ...
Review by Hugh Fielder, Classic Rock, 6 July 2016
Early-70s Yes offshoot's too-hasty debut. ...
David Byron: Baby Faced Killer
Review by Hugh Fielder, Classic Rock, December 2017
AFTER DAVID Byron was fired from Uriah Heep in 1976, he formed Rough Diamond whose album the following year was as dire as it was ...
Review by Hugh Fielder, Classic Rock, 1 December 2017
THERE WAS nothing very complicated about Cactus, even in their early '70s heyday, but they did their thunderous heavy rock well enough to be touted ...
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