Sandy Robertson
Sandy Robertson is the great great great grandson of Victorian astronomer James Scott and grew up in Renfrew, Scotland, "cradle of the Stuarts". Surely the only person there to buy Fun House by The Stooges on the day of release in 1970, he did a special on the Velvet Underground on local radio and had wanted to be a rock hack since childhood.
Hooking up with the other local wild boy Alex Fergusson in a bedroom band called the Nobodies (later included on a Pete Frame rock family tree) they finally decided to split for London.
Fergusson became a respected guitarist with Alternative TV and later in Psychic TV, while Sandy's Patti Smith-inspired arty fanzine got him a gig at rock weekly Sounds. He spent a decade there trumpeting his passion for a wide range of music, especially L.A. weirdness. First in the UK to discover and interview REM, Meat Loaf and Madonna, he covered big names such as Brian Wilson, Mick Jagger, Kim Fowley, Warren Zevon, Frank Zappa, Tom Petty and Lou Reed. He was an early harbinger of the Judee Sill revival and managed to score a trip to Germany for an extremely rare interview with the reclusive Florian Fricke of Popol Vuh.
After Sounds, where he'd risen to the post of features editor, he was a talent scout for Southern Music, associate editor/film critic at Penthouse (where he spent a lot of time eating sandwiches with naked girls), and his writing appeared everywhere from NME to Record Mirror to Sexadelic to The Lancet to Starlog to Mojo, Fenris Wolf etc, etc.
Published books are Sleeping Stars ('75), Names Of Angels ('76), Phenomenology Of Excess ('81), Bryan Adams ('86), Aleister Crowley Scrapbook ('88 - still in print!), Classic 1,000 Videos ('99), Top 1,000 Videos ('00), and he wrote on filmmakers such as Donald Cammell and Guillermo Del Toro for the Wallflower Contemporary Film Directors Guides. He has appeared on radio and TV, including a documentary on Aleister Crowley.
He and colleague Edwin Pouncey (aka artist Savage Pencil) have given sold-out talks in London's premier occult bookshops Atlantis and Treadwells, on Montague Summers (on whose unmarked grave they arranged a stone) and the occult in rock.
Sandy Robertson loves cats and forgotten writers.
Photo: Ann Pearce
183 articles
List of articles in the library
Sex Pistols, The Slits: The Sex Pistols, the Slits: Screen on the Green, Islington, London
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Record Mirror, 9 April 1977
LIKE THE Pistols' last gig. this was an unpublicised, word-of-mouth affair where you just had to turn up at the door and take your chances. ...
Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols: A Non-Interview With Malcolm McLaren
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 18 June 1977
I VISITED THE office of Glitterbest (Sex Pistols management) recently, accompanied by Tony D. (editor of Ripped & Torn fanzine) to try and arrange an ...
Carole Bayer Sager: Carole Bayer Sager (Warner Bros.)***
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 23 July 1977
CAROLE BAYER SAGER gets me going, then she lets me down. Since history repeats itself I should've seen it coming, though. ...
Kim Fowley: International Heroes
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 30 July 1977
I REALISE it's getting to be an obsession, but what can I do? Even Viv Goldman, between bouts of trying to convince me to do ...
Kim Fowley, The Runaways: Kim Fowley: The Dorian Gray of Rock'n'Roll
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 6 August 1977
TAKE A JOURNEY INTO ROCK N ROLL WITH KIM FOWLEY AND MEET...Venus & The Razorbiades, The Runaways, Juice, Teenage Prostitutes, Steven T., Zippers, Weirdos, Germs, ...
The Runaways: Live In Japan *****
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 13 August 1977
BEFORE YOU take that pinch of salt to go with this album's five star rating, a couple of points: this album was NOT produced by ...
The Runaways: Runaways: A Primer For The New Runaways
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 10 September 1977
THE NEW line up of the Runaways is: Joan Jett/Lita Ford/Sandy West/Vicky Blue. Cherie Currie (vocals) and Jackie Fox (bass) are no longer with the ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 24 September 1977
THESE DAYS Linda Ronstadt works to a production line formula: You get a nice sleeve (this one is by Kosh, who did a similar job ...
Alternative TV: Rat Club, London
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 October 1977
ATV — FIRST gig with permanent drummer Chris/multi-cultural type crowd with heavy star attendance/sweating/Throbbing Gristle tapes/'Some kind of fanny show' (?)/drag queen movie (I missed ...
The Art Attacks: Art Attax: Red Cow, London
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 October 1977
Great but brain-Attaxing ...
Christopher Milk: Some People Will Drink Anything (Reprise MS 2111 import)
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 October 1977
Milkman delivers ...
Mink DeVille, Tyla Gang: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 October 1977
Nobody does it better ...
Mink DeVille: Willy DeVille: Tough But Tender
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 October 1977
SANDY ROBERTSON meets Willy DeVille and they discuss intellect versus emotion, James Cagney, Kim Fowley, The Belfast Gypsies, Tom Courtenay, James Dean, toughness, sensitivity, street ...
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 29 October 1977
The Stones always meant a lot to a lot of people, but are your own motivations for carrying on and doing it the same as ...
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 12 November 1977
THE HOUR OF MY VINDICATION is at hand. I'm sitting in the lobby of a London hotel waiting for the Runaways to descend from their ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 19 November 1977
ANYTHING BUT a cheap trick, in fact. You may wonder why you keep seeing this bunch mentioned in esoteric magazines like Who Put The Bomp ...
The Runaways: Waitin' For The Night (Mercury)*****
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 19 November 1977
NOW THIS is a difficult one. Five stars, yes, but not entirely for the reasons I expected. Kim Fowley has kissed off his associations with ...
Leonard Cohen: Death Of A Ladies Man
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 26 November 1977
"LEONARD COHEN meets Phil Spector" sounds more like a line from a Lester Bangs article than something you would ever expect to actually become manifest ...
Throbbing Gristle: New Musick: Throbbing Gristle — It's Never Too Late To Fall In Love
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 26 November 1977
THROBBING GRISTLE are so away from the new wave scene (sort of) and so totally reviled by the standard music fans (at least, by those ...
Status Quo: Odeon Theatre, Birmingham
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 3 December 1977
DEEP IN the heart of boogieland, as it were. Opening were the v. proficient, v. boring Nutz. I seem to recall hearing stuff from their ...
Boomtown Rats: Do You Sincerely Want To Be Rich?
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 17 December 1977
WHEN SOUNDZ Mother Superior Viv Goldman asked me to do this article I was less than delighted. Reasons being:1 – I've never been hot to ...
Alex Chilton: Getting The Cramps Between The Box Tops And Big Stardom
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 31 December 1977
ANY SELF-RESPECTING cultural elitist should know who Alex Chilton is, as should all hopeless old bozos still lingering on from the 60s. To recap for ...
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 14 January 1978
BOB WELCH is a hit. After stints in Fleetwood Mac and H. Metal outfit Paris he is enjoying chart action/success with his French Kiss album ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 21 January 1978
NATURALLY ENOUGH, I have to mention the The Runaways in this review. When Cherie left, a lot of people thought they'd sink without trace, but ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 21 January 1978
GARAGE BANDS. Despite all their virtues, and even though groups like Yes and Uriah Heep are pretty convincing arguments against technology and heavy metal respectively, ...
Frank Zappa: Zappa Digs Sabs Shock!
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 28 January 1978
Sandy: Can I ask you firstly about one of my own obsessions, Kim Fowley, (Oh No! – Ed) Who was on the Freak Out album, ...
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 4 February 1978
Leicester bangs, Gaye Explodes ...
Wayne County & The Electric Chairs: The Electric Chairs
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 11 February 1978
AAAHHHHH...WAYNE! Rock 'n' roll is a bitch sometimes, ain't it? I bet it wasn't easy growing up down south when you were...different. It was a ...
Kate Bush: The Kick Inside (EMI EMC 3223) *
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 18 February 1978
WHAT IS this supposed to be? Doom-laden, "meaningful" songs (with some of the worst lyrics ever; sample: "Beelzebub is aching in my belly-o/My feet are ...
Ian Dury: It's Fairly Whassname…
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 25 February 1978
"WHICH WOULD you rather see; Kenny Rogers or Randy Edelman?" ...
Patti Smith: Easter (Arista)*****
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 4 March 1978
At last – the rock 'n' roll resurrection is upon us ...
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 18 March 1978
New York's newest are 'like The Heartbreakers on brown rice', said someone. SANDY ROBERTSON agrees, and then some. ...
Patti Smith: Behind The Wall Of Sleep
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 25 March 1978
"Their quarters were filled with counterfeit sleep" – Stephen King, The Shining ...
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 April 1978
"DID YA hear that bit on the news about Charlie Chaplin's body. The IRA claim they took it and now they want ransom for it." ...
Meat Loaf: Rock 'N' Roll In Gothic Panavision
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 April 1978
Meat Loaf are… "the best visionary, over-the-top hard rock band since Blue Oyster Cult," gasps Sandy Robertson ...
Report by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 April 1978
...take it from Sue and Sandra ...
The Shirts: Shirts: Lackeys, Schemers, Pants, Sleeves, Cufflinks And Shirts
Profile and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 8 April 1978
"WE WERE always obscure in a way. The way things went, we developed our own world, sort of. We have our own language, words that ...
Wayne County & The Electric Chairs: Wayne County: County Counsel
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 8 April 1978
WHEN WAYNE COUNTY left his native state of Georgia, "because it was icky, and I got shot at", he meant to take a trip down ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 22 April 1978
"AN EXORCISM of low-riding smack-shooting ghosts" was how Rolling Stone described Judee Sill's life, in issue 106/April '72 it was. Interestingly enough, that same issue ...
Rory Gallagher: Apollo Theatre, Glasgow
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 22 April 1978
RITUAL IS wonderful for those taking an active part in it, but almost totally meaningless to a dispassionate observer. So that's why I got more ...
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 29 April 1978
SO THERE I was with photographer Harry Murlowski, dozing and half-listening to his interminable, politically-orienated conversation with a couple of hard-core Sham 69 followers in ...
Alternative TV: 100 Club, London
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 6 May 1978
CON-TRA-DIC-TIONS... ATV are full of them. As in, how come they were awful when they played the Rainbow with the wonderful Spirit, yet managed to ...
Blue Oyster Cult: Colston Hall, Bristol
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 6 May 1978
FLAMING PYROTECHNICS, lasers, smoke...plus great rock'n'roll; Blue Oyster Cult is the group you always dreamt about. Even though there were sound problems and the visual ...
Millington: Ladies On The Stage (United Artists UAG 30158) ***
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 6 May 1978
THE SEVENTIES may be the zenith of the record industry's attempts to have concept and packing triumph over actual content, and this is a prime ...
Blue Öyster Cult, The Clash: Blue Oyster Cult and Sandy Pearlman
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 13 May 1978
ERIC BLOOM is adamant about the current position and status of the band he sings and plays for, the am-aaa-zing Blue Oyster Cult; they are ...
Todd Rundgren: The Roxy, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 10 June 1978
WHATEVER THE reasons might be, Todd Rundgren is back. That is, Todd Rundgren the pop singer/guitar singer as opposed to the Utopian pyramid-freak. ...
Wayne County & The Electric Chairs: Wayne County: A Transexual In Transit
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 26 August 1978
KCHUNK. NOTHING. Kchunk. Cherry Vanilla, bare tits with orange peel between her legs. Kchunk. Transomething Jackie Curtis in 1969, glittered eyes. Kchunk. Patti Smith, youthful ...
Profile and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 2 September 1978
HUSTLE MINUS hype, really. Still, it could only happen in Hollywood, that's for sure. Where else but in dream-machine country could a 16-year-old girl with ...
Wild Man Fischer: Wildman Larry Fischer: Neurotic? Paranoid? Depressed?
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 2 September 1978
THE FIRST time I met Larry Fischer was early one Sunday morning in the shadow of the Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, at the fabled ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 9 September 1978
I JUST decided there is no such thing as Art Rock; all there is is different levels of commerciality. ...
Mick Farren: Vampires Stole My Lunch Money
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 9 September 1978
MICK FARREN, in case you didn't know it, is a rock journalist and author who very occasionally makes records. Remember The Deviants' amphetamine hippy-boogie, or ...
Blondie: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 16 September 1978
Y'WANNA HEAR a plangent melody? Forget it, Blondie are a rock 'n' roll band who have (at last) gotten to the point where they can ...
Midge Ure, The Rich Kids, Slik: Midge Ure: Confessions Of A Pop Performer
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 16 September 1978
SLIK: TEEN IDOL MARK ONE ...
Blue Oyster Cult: Some Enchanted Evening
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 30 September 1978
IT COULD be just my fevered imagination running away with me, but right now it seems that Sandy Pearlman (wily old fox and Cult behind-the-scenes ...
Linda Ronstadt: Living In The U.S.A.
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 7 October 1978
HI AGAIN. It's only me and this is only another Linda Ronstadt review. The words 'rock and roll' are used in the ads for this ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 14 October 1978
AKRON'S BRIGHTEST star smiles knowingly and proves that everyone else has it all wrong, because nope, you don't have to exhibit an air of disdain ...
Kilburn & The High Roads: Wotabunch!
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 11 November 1978
'ORRIBLE SLEEVE! Revolting stuffed animals and tacky cardboard cut-out Kilburos abound. I fear Stiff are disassociating themselves from Wotabunch!, which is understandable when you consider ...
Stephen Stills: Thoroughfare Gap
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 11 November 1978
IN THE end all will be disco, or so it would seem, so the best you can hope for is that your chosen hero exercises ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 2 December 1978
THE TRICK experience, but hardly cheap at £8.50 a shot. Even so, it's worth it, as is evidenced by the fact that Flyover in Hammersmith ...
David Johansen, New York Dolls: Funky (But Chic): David Johansen At Point Blank
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 2 December 1978
RIGHT BETWEEN the eyes, pilgrim. Yeah, he does look like Lee Marvin. In walks the supposed progenitor of all this punko nonsense, ex-New York Doll ...
Jim Morrison: An American Prayer
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 2 December 1978
A BOOK could be written (and has been), about James Douglas Morrison, sometime sex symbol, filmmaker, poet, drunk and rock 'n' roll star, so I ...
The Doors, Jim Morrison: Jim Morrison: An American Prayer (Elektra 5E-502)*****
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 2 December 1978
Flashes from the archives of oblivion (Thank you, Roy Harper) ...
Alternative TV: A Different Kettle of ATV
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 9 December 1978
WHEN I FIRST mooted that I'd be interested in scribbling out a feature on Alternative TV, the thinking man's all-purpose unpunkgroup, the band's hustler and ...
The Runaways: And Now The Runaways
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 16 December 1978
HOW DOES it feel to be on your own? ...
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 6 January 1979
SANDY ROBERTSON ON THE TUMESCENCE OF THROBBING GRISTLE ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 13 January 1979
IF YOU WANT IT FAST, Bob Segarini is the Canadian Nick Lowe. He's a veteran of god knows what bands but notably The Dudes, who ...
Cheap Trick, Fundamental Ache And The Concept Of Divine Effort
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 10 February 1979
SINCE THE onset of 'serious' rock criticism in the late Sixties there seems, for the most part, to have been a parting of the ways ...
The Dickies: The Incredible Shrinking Dickies
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 10 February 1979
IN ESSENCE, The Dickies make silly music for silly people. Whereas other punk groups have slavishly copied the three-chord assault of The Ramones with deadpan ...
Tanya Tucker: TNT (MCA MCG 3530) ****½
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 17 February 1979
More rambling justifications for liking girls ...
Toto: A Growth Industry For Modern People
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 10 March 1979
A TOTO/SANDY ROBERTSON MULTI PLATINUM FINANCIAL READOUT ...
Tanya Tucker: Yet Another Excuse To Print A Picture Of A Young Girl With A Guitar
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 17 March 1979
WILL THE ICE remain unbroken? Shucks, these phone interviews are a pain (both for the artist and the journalist). I mean, it's not easy encapsulating ...
Report by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 17 March 1979
...sometimes. The rock critic as musician. By Sandy Robertson ...
Joan Jett: Keep On Running: Joan Jett And The Hollywood Dream
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 31 March 1979
...She decided she had the potential to become a Vocalist... she cut her first demonstration record. The record was sent to several companies and resulted ...
Popol Vuh: Nosferatu (Egg)****
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 7 April 1979
SHROUDED IN mystique since their inception in the early 70's, Popol Vuh are arguably the least known exponents of Teutonic 'rock' music in this country. ...
Kate Bush: The Perfumed Garden Of Good And Evil
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 14 April 1979
DID YOU EVER visit some distant relative for tea and cakes, and as a postscript have to sit through the "party piece" of their little ...
Patti Smith: Further Adventures of Wonder Woman
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 5 May 1979
SANDY ROBERTSON PLAYS BULLETS AND BRACELETS WITH PATTI SMITH ...
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 12 May 1979
Words and puzzled expression by SANDY ROBERTSON ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 26 May 1979
ANOTHER THESIS would be the straw that broke the camel's back. Now there's a line that could easily have been snipped from one of David ...
Donna Summer: Bad Girls (Casablanca CALD 5007)***½
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 26 May 1979
Open wide (Knoworramean?) ...
Nick Lowe: Labour Of Lust (Radar)***.5
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 2 June 1979
PEOPLE USED to slate Frank Zappa by dragging out some old rock critic's smart jibe that however Francis would parody 'Louie, Louie' till he was ...
The Knack: How You'll Be Getting It
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 2 June 1979
I LEANED over and whispered in the ear of the blank-looking blonde girl seated next to me: "I'm a stranger in this town, so maybe ...
The Cramps: Rockabilly Retardation
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 9 June 1979
THE SOUND OF SOUTHERN CULTURE FALLING APART IN A BLAZE OF PICKUPS ...
Kirsty MacColl: Exchange and Martyrdom
Profile and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 16 June 1979
SANDY ROBERTSON finds yet another excuse to talk to young girls ...
The Knack: Get The Knack (Capitol EST 11948)****½
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 16 June 1979
Talkin' 'bout re-generation ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 30 June 1979
IF INTENTION automatically equalled success then this would be one hell of an album. As it is, it's beautifully recorded, self-consciously precious, a maddeningly white ...
The Ramones: Rock'n'Roll High School (Sire Import) ****
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 7 July 1979
THE ERA of the compilation is upon us, and this soundtrack album of smarties and arties is another rapid fire job, featuring the next best ...
Journey: Do You Sincerely Want To Be Liked?
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 4 August 1979
...JOURNEY do, and they flew SANDY ROBERTSON to LA just so he'd have a chance to like them close-up. And he did ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 18 August 1979
CHRIS WILSON, lead singer of the Flamin' Groovies, was once described as "looking a bit of a prick in orange satin", but he got off ...
Kim Fowley, Helen Reddy: Sandy Robertson's Hollywood Confidential
Report by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 September 1979
"On my first visit to Los Angeles I was conventionally prepared for almost anything except for what it really looked like – a quite beautiful ...
The Barracudas: Hanging Ten in West London
Profile and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 September 1979
SERIOUSLY, WOULD you expect even one of the skinheads who inhabit the feral slums of Ladbroke Grove to have the slightest notion of the origins ...
Cheap Trick: Dream Police (Epic) ****
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 8 September 1979
IT'S NO mere coincidence that Dave Edmunds openly admires Rick Nielsen, has dinner with him and appears onstage alongside Cheap Trick at the drop of ...
Meat Loaf: Meatloaf: Meat The Wife
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 8 September 1979
WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT MEAT LOAF AND UNDERSTANDING? QUIPS SANDY ROBERTSON ...
Tom Verlaine: Tom Verlaine (Elektra Import) ***
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 8 September 1979
IMAGINATIVE TITLE, eh? Nah, but hand it to him for resilience, you really thought you'd seen the last of teevee after the hostile critics were ...
Cheap Trick: Portrait of a Tragic Figure
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 15 September 1979
SANDY ROBERTSON analyses CHEAP TRICK ...
John Hiatt and the Sub-American Shoe Polish
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 15 September 1979
HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD, at four in the afternoon; sultry, but no rush hour. A street strewn with soggy cheeseburgers, watery Coke (registered trade mark) in giant ...
The Shirts: Street Light Shine (Capitol) ***½
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 22 September 1979
THE SHIRTS are the problem children of the New York rock scene, but they don't let it show; desperation wouldn't suit them at all. ...
Patti Smith: Walking Down The Kings Road With Lenny Kaye...
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 22 September 1979
...can be a disagreeable experience. Sandy Robertson gives the Patti Smith Group the elbow. ...
Joe Jackson: Is She Really Going Out With Him?
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 13 October 1979
HURRAH'S IS, for the moment, the in-crowd club in New York's rock circle, having taken over the limelight from CBGB and Max's. Those who seem ...
Foreigner: The Other Mick Jones Interview
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 20 October 1979
SUPERMEGAPLATINUM SALES TECHNIQUE FOR BEGINNERS: FOREIGNER EDUCATE SANDY ROBERTSON ...
Richard Hell & the Voidoids: CBGBs, New York NY
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 20 October 1979
THEY SAY that Richard Hell is damaged, and it doesn't surprise me. After quitting the spartan discipline of Television, fans of rock's elite expected the ...
Pat Benatar: In The Heat Of The Night (Chrysalis CHR 1236) ***
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 10 November 1979
INVENTING YOUR own personality is one thing, having someone else do it for you is another ball game. ...
REO Speedwagon: After The Ninth Album You Don't Throw The TV Set Out Of The Window
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 10 November 1979
THE INEVITABLE PROCESS OF MATURITY AS EXPERIENCED BY REO SPEEDWAGON. SANDY ROBERTSON WRITES ...
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty: His Time Has Come
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 December 1979
THE STRAIGHT-looking I guy flipped open the leather case, revealing a row of gleaming bottles. "Liquid cocaine," he explained as he selected one of several ...
George Jones: My Very Special Guests (Epic EPC 83163)***
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 8 December 1979
BABY, THIS is the Star Wars of country music. Well, maybe not, but it sure makes for an arresting opening sentence and the concept's a ...
Pat Benatar: Wonder Woman meets ZZ Top
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 8 December 1979
The PAT BENATAR experience defined by SANDY ROBERTSON ...
Throbbing Gristle: Mouthfuls of Gristle
Profile and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 15 December 1979
SANDY ROBERTSON goes to lunch with "the Velvets of a new age" ...
Bruce Springsteen: The Last American Hero
Essay by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 5 January 1980
MUST BE some new kind of drug or somethin', 'cos even a 16-year-old don't do a graveyard shift of four hours and then dance on ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 19 January 1980
The money programme ...
Cherie and Marie Currie, The Runaways: Cherie and Marie Currie: Messin' With The Boys (Capitol) **½
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 2 February 1980
"THEY" SAY that Capitol have got themselves in the position of having to blow a bunch of bucks on promoting this turkey if they want ...
The Sex Pistols: The Very Best Of
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 2 February 1980
THE PERFECT contradiction: The Japs offer such fine pressings, this album'll cost you about £9 if you want it…and I'm reviewing it as usual on ...
Alex Chilton: Like Flies On Sherbert (Aura) ****
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 23 February 1980
ABSOLUTELY ONE of a kind, because, while archivists insist they wish that Jimbo was still here or that Syd would make another album, Alex Chilton ...
Martha and The Muffins: Greetings From Echo Beach
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 March 1980
THE TECHNIQUE is worn but fairly efficient. A pop music group assembles, shapes up, plays gigs, acquires some sort of following, signs with a record ...
The Knack: …But The Little Girls Understand
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 15 March 1980
IT'D ALMOST be a relief to be able to say that this second Knack album is a stinker and a sure-fire failure, because then I ...
Warren Zevon: Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School (Asylum) and Wanted Dead Or Alive (Pickwick)
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 15 March 1980
IF YOU'VE been scanning this paper long enough you'll know that Warren Zevon's last album, Excitable Boy, got a snazzola review in same. That was ...
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 5 April 1980
THIS ONE can talk. He'll talk abut anything you care to mention or that wanders into his apres-gig mind, be it his bisexual pedigree dog, ...
The Beach Boys: The Life of Brian
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 19 April 1980
'Strange Gods arrive in fast enemy poses' – Jim Morrison ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 19 April 1980
Four horsemen of the apocalypse ...
Lou Reed: Growing Up In Public (Arista)***
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 3 May 1980
THIS BUGGER don't give up, and, like poseurs of antiquity, rumours of his death have been greatly exaggerated. ...
Bram Tchaikovsky: The Russians Are Coming (Radar)
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 17 May 1980
SOMETIMES YOU open your mouth, but not a word emerges. Sometimes there's very little to talk about anyway. ...
The Spectres: Ghosts Of Sex Pistols In New Groups
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 24 May 1980
SINCE THE powers behind The Sex Pistols admitted it was all a wind-up anyway, the components of the group have had little success at coming ...
The Surf Punks: Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back In The Water
Profile and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 24 May 1980
"Girls under 15 are not ready for me...over 18 they're looking to move in with a guy." ...
Fleetwood Mac: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 28 June 1980
CROWDS, HOWEVER passive, make me unhappy. As Eli Wallach said on TV (The Magnificent Seven) last Sunday afternoon, "If God didn't want them to be ...
The Romantics: Detroit's Answer To The Ramones
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 28 June 1980
SANDY ROBERTSON distills the essence of THE ROMANTICS and avoids dodgy boilers ...
Willie Nile: What Would You Do If You Got Rich?
Profile and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 28 June 1980
NEW YORK. The Bowery is a Hell's Angel being shot in the ass by an off-duty cop he's just tried to strangle. The Bowery is ...
Mink DeVille: The Venue, London
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 5 July 1980
"FROM THE streets of New York City..." went the opening announcement, and Willy DeVille's new crew kicked off their late-starting second show of the evening ...
Suicide: Suicide As A Way Of Life
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 5 July 1980
"I THINK," breathes the camp dwarf in the sweatshirt and stubble, "that people should only write songs about economics and sex, because that's all everybody's ...
The Motels: Careful (Capitol) ***
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 5 July 1980
IF YOU'RE a Motels fan don't get mad at me, just take it as an indication of the way interest has rapidly curved away from ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 9 August 1980
POINTLESS, PERHAPS so late as to be irrelevant, maybe. An opportunity missed, certainly. No Fun is all these things, I guess, but it does provide ...
The Kinks: One For The Road (Arista)
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 16 August 1980
THE KINKS' dilemma is one I'll take in preference to the one that concerns the Who, if only because leader Ray Davies isn't given to ...
Talking Heads: Remain In Light
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 25 October 1980
WELL ALRIGHT, I may never be going back to my old school, but I remember a saying they had out in the yard that's one ...
The Polecats: Polecats: Odour-Free
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 17 January 1981
Sandy Robertson says Stray Who ...
Elvis Costello And The Attractions: Trust (F-Beat)
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 24 January 1981
All trussed up (and nowhere to go) ...
The Subterraneans: Tunnel vision
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 21 February 1981
Sandy Robertson goes to ground with The Subterraneans ...
Warren Zevon: Hollywood's Prince of Darkness
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 28 February 1981
I SHOULD'VE known better with an excitable boy like him. "You misjudge my sense of humour," said Warren Zevon, carefully disarming me of my .44 ...
Brian Eno, Talking Heads: Eno: The Life of Brian in the Bush of Ghosts
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 7 March 1981
BRIAN ENO, currently working on two new albums, is many things to a lot of men. ...
The Pretenders: Pretending To Be Different
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 21 March 1981
I'VE LONGED to say it in print: The Pretenders are, for me, the virtual embodiment of the ideal popular music group. ...
Linx: The Cats Who Took The Cream
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 9 May 1981
By using intuition, Sandy Robertson gets down to some intelligent conversation with Linx ...
Nico: Drama Of Exile (Aura)*****
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 4 July 1981
TANGLED UP in myth, perspective gets shot all to hell. Even the official biographical sheet accompanying this album repeats the old chestnut that John Cale ...
Tom Verlaine: Facts About Sneakers
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 19 September 1981
SANDY ROBERTSON cancels his membership of the Tom Tom Club ...
Popol Vuh: Popol Music — A Clearer Vuh-Point
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 26 September 1981
RUN SILENT, run deep. Like still waters, like Greta Garbo, like Charlie Parker said about his man Thelonious: "The Monk runs deep". ...
Prince: Controversy (Warner Bros.)
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 21 November 1981
THERE IS only one message on a Prince record. The message is the massage, or vice-versa, the politick of the dick. Fortunately, Prince's unilateral (he ...
Orange Juice: The Venue, London
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 30 January 1982
SOMETHING IS happening with Orange Juice. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm certain I don't like it. ...
J. Geils Band: J Geils Band: Freeze Frame (EMI America)
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 6 February 1982
THESE GUYS have moved over the last decade from being celebrated white R&B critical fave raves on Atlantic (hardworking moderate successes), to a recent megachart ...
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts: I Love Rock 'n' Roll (Boardwalk)****
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 27 February 1982
FORGIVE ME for dragging the old reprobate's moniker into such lively proceedings, but Kim Fowley has at last been vindicated in his endless trumpeting of ...
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 13 March 1982
More Tales From The Bean Factory from the hottest young fart at play. ...
Graham Parker: Another Grey Area (RCA)
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 20 March 1982
WHILE IT'S oft been said that The Rumour couldn't do without Graham Parker, here's a slab of evidence that the reverse is also true. Another ...
Lou Reed: Blue Reedo A La Talk
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 3 April 1982
LOU REED has a song on his new album about the day President Kennedy was shot. His manager looks like the kind of guy who ...
Robyn Hitchcock: Groovy Decay (Albion)
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 17 April 1982
WITH THIS new label and second album Robyn Hitchcock looks to be attempting a runner from the substitute Syd Barrett image previously imposed on him ...
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 6 May 1982
Sandy Robertson finds out what's eating Christine McVie of FLEETWOOD MAC ...
Joan Jett: Jett Set for Summer
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 8 May 1982
Sandy Robertson heralds the second coming of JOAN JETT ...
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 8 May 1982
COINCIDENCE AND surprise save the world from going flat! Like, the same issue of Artforum which boasts that superb Laurie Anderson flexidisc also has an ...
Blue Oyster Cult: Extraterrestrial Live
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 29 May 1982
ANGLE OF VIEW, that's the ticket, the key to the mystery of this one! BOC, y'see, have made two previous excursions into the highly dubious ...
Roxy Music: Avalon (Polydor)***1/2
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 29 May 1982
ROXY MUSIC must surely represent the greatest 'might have been' episode in the murky catalogue of rock's squandered riches. ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 17 July 1982
FORMULA, BEATS-per-minute, ahhh. Fleetwood Mac really do have a lot of honour for folks with such a pile of cash. Coming after this line-up's eponymous ...
Jimmy Page, Genesis P-Orridge, Throbbing Gristle: Mister Crowley
Retrospective by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 17 July 1982
Who the Hell is ALEISTER CROWLEY and why do pop people keep saying weird things about him? asks Sandy Robertson. ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 7 August 1982
ASYLUM RECORDS really should get rid of Warren Zevon; he's so good he shows up just how dire everybody else on the label really is. ...
Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel (Charisma)
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 11 September 1982
SHORTLY BEFORE the release of the Genesis album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, the entire band was replaced by superior alien intelligences, physical duplicates ...
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 11 September 1982
"KIDS LOSE interest fast," mused the boy as the tots in the playground drifted back to their balls and rollerskates, having assimilated and dispensed with ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 18 September 1982
THE INTENTION of the artwork on the cover of the latest Gillan opus seems to be an evocation of something merging images of David Nixon, ...
Motorhead, The Plasmatics: Motorhead & The Plasmatics: Tammy Can You Hear Me?
Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 18 September 1982
A DREAM or a nightmare, in retrospect it still sounds like the kind of project so daft that both parties involved would, by virtue of ...
Iggy Pop: Zombie Birdhouse (Animal Records/Chrysalis) ***
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 25 September 1982
IGGY POP is a man of honour. Not for him the Lou Reed path of self-mockery; the one time he tried it for money's sake ...
The Jam: Brighton Centre, Brighton
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 2 October 1982
I WASN'T exactly willing to be converted but I was willing to be entertained. ...
The Runaways: The Best Of (Mercury) *1/2
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 2 October 1982
RARELY HAS a 'Best Of' collection been so totally at odds with its title. ...
Kim Carnes: Here's Looking At You
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 23 October 1982
SANDY ROBERTSON'S voyeuristic tendencies encouraged by KIM CARNES ...
Psychic TV: The Sound of 32 Human Thighbone Trumpets from Tibet
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 6 November 1982
IT WAS only last December when I concluded the debut PTV feature by suggesting that those involved might just be crazy/inspired enough to freeze-frame all ...
Report by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 20 November 1982
KENNY LAGUNA and Joan Jett are a real double-act for the funnybone. It's no empty coincidence that their names fit together: JETT-LAG. Like Little and ...
Profile and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 4 December 1982
A PERSISTING feeling about this lot, an initial notion akin to hurt and confused indifference that just won't say goodbye, is my proof that I'm ...
Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 4 December 1982
IT'S AMUSING TO SEE just how much Oi/punk inevitably rides the rails of the trad rock curve on its way to hell and bucks. This ...
Velvet Underground: Everything You've Ever Heard About… (VU Records)
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 11 December 1982
THE LEGEND rolls on and on, the more it grows the more it encourages. In the context of the semi-legal this was the one we'd ...
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 25 December 1982
GIVEN THE Warhol crowd's former wailing buddy's penchant for affixing (ahem!) her name to contracts wherever she finds them without regard to previous moves, 'tis ...
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 12 March 1983
IT'S NOT OFTEN that you find this rag covering an artist who wants to be the new Evelyn King and who numbers Michael Jackson as ...
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, May 1984
NILS LOFGREN, John Cage, Tim Buckley, Peter Skellern. Peter Skellern?! Is this a leg-pull or what? Nobody could sound like John Cale and Peter Skellern, ...
Jason & The Scorchers: Jason and the Scorchers: Meanwhile, Back at the Raunch
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 19 May 1984
ON MY TRAVELS through the murk of our crapulous rock underworld (good start, eh?), several unconnected geezers have name-dropped Jason and The Nashville Scorchers to ...
Bruce Springsteen: Born in The USA (CBS)*****
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 9 June 1984
IT TOOK me a long time to get to feel comfortable with Bruce Springsteen's music and then, an album or so after I'd overcome the ...
Love: Forever Changes (Elektra)
Retrospective by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 July 1984
NO SOONER are the words out of my typewriter than the contradictions set in, like cement. The Doors and VU have been bastardised and overexposed, ...
The Jesus & Mary Chain: Bawl and Chain
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 9 February 1985
THRASH! IS that the sound of the music business frantically searching in the debris of past trends for something new? Or is it The Jesus ...
John Fogerty: Centerfield (Warner Bros.) *****
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 16 February 1985
IN TERMS of influence, rather than current hitmaking potential, John Fogerty can't be overestimated. Forget that Bonnie Tyler did 'Have You Ever Seen The Rain', ...
Velvet Underground: VU (Polydor)***.5
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 16 February 1985
CONFUSION REIGNS. The deliberately-leaked rumours of the last few months maintained that Polydor had uncovered 'The Great Lost Velvet Underground Album', a disc that never ...
Mötley Crüe: Theatre Of Pain (Elektra 960 418-1)****
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 6 July 1985
ARTAUD FOR Artaud's sake? Cruelty, pain, speak of sin and you know this is it! No — actually this latest Crüe's ship hasn't hurt me ...
The Redskins: Neither Washington Nor Moscow (Decca FLP I)
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 8 March 1986
SKIN DEEP ...
Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 8 March 1986
It seems that the Violent Femmes, American outer-limits oddballs of note, are getting heavily into fish and wah-wah pedals. Sandy Robertson went along to find ...
Pet Shop Boys: Please (Parlophone PS81)**
Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 29 March 1986
AUF WIEDERSEHEN PETS ...
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