Classic Pop

Classic Pop magazine is the ultimate celebration of great pop and chart music with star interviews, features, news and reviews. From pop to electronic and new wave, dance and indie – it's all here…

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OUR CONTRIBUTORS

POP UP

1-HT WONDER

LOUISE STARTS WORK ON “EMPOWERING” NEW STUDIO ALBUM

80S HITS AND CLUB CLASSICS WITH STRINGS ATTACHED

Q+A TIM FINN • THE CO-FOUNDER OF SPLIT ENZ, ONE HALF OF FINN BROTHERS, AND CO-WRITER OF CROWDED HOUSE’S MOST SUCCESSFUL STUDIO ALBUM, DISCUSSES 50 YEARS IN THE BUSINESS AND HIS NEW PROJECT WITH FORENZICS

MARR BRUSHES OFF MOZ ‘CLICK-BAIT’ JIBE

THE POD SQUAD • CHECKING IN WITH OUR FAVOURITE CLASSIC POP-FRIENDLY PODCASTS

BONO “EMBARRASSED” BY HIS VOCALS ON U2’S RECORDS

MY POP LIFE • THE LINE OF DUTY ACTOR AND TWO SHOT PODCAST HOST TALKS US THROUGH HIS MUSIC OBSESSIONS…

LOST & FOUND

OLLY CALLS ON HIS 80S INFLUENCES

JAMC SIGN NEW RECORD DEAL

IAN PEEL‘S A TO Z POP of U IS FOR... ULTRA-SHORT TRACKS • WHEN ROCK STARS GET CARRIED AWAY, THEIR HAIR GETS LONGER, THEIR GUITAR SOLOS GET LONGER, AND THEIR SONGS GET LONGER. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN POP GOES THE OTHER WAY? CAN YOU HAVE A CLASSIC POP TRACK THAT’S SO SHORT AND TO-THE-POINT IT’S LESS THAN THREE MINUTES LONG? OR EVEN LESS THAN THAT?

MARCH 1981 • THIS MONTH, ROXY MUSIC HIT NO.1, ERIC CLAPTON FALLS ILL AND OZZY OSBOURNE FAILS HIS RSPB MEMBERSHIP BID

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED

WISH THE CURE • FOLLOWING THE RELEASE OF DISINTEGRATION, THE AMBITIOUS ALBUM WHICH MANY CONSIDER TO BE THEIR MAGNUM OPUS, ROBERT SMITH AND HIS MERRY BAND OF MOOD MERCHANTS SURVIVED A TURBULENT THREE YEARS TO RETURN WITH POSSIBLY THE MOST CURE-LIKE CURE RECORD IN THEIR DISCOGRAPHY

“ROCK MUSIC IS A GREAT VEHICLE TO EXPRESS THE EROTIC” • FEVER DREAMS PTS 1-4 IS THE FIRST DOUBLE ALBUM IN THE PROLIFIC FIVE-DECADE CAREER OF JOHNNY MARR. THE ICONIC GUITARIST REVEALS ALL ABOUT HIS VISIONARY NEW EPIC, THE INFLUENCE OF JAMES BOND, HIS FEARS OF BEING EARNEST AND WHY HE’S FINALLY DECIDED TO GET SEXY…

LIFE THROUGH A LENS • BOO’S IN THE HOUSE! BETTY’S CELEBRITY APPEARANCE AT A HMV OPENING DIDN’T QUITE GO TO PLAN...

BANANARAMA • AFTER FIRST TAKING THEIR CUE FROM THE DIY ETHOS OF PUNK, BANANARAMA MORPHED INTO ONE OF THE ALL-TIME GREAT EXPONENTS OF PURE POP

2022 THE YEAR AHEAD • IT'S THE YEAR OF THE TIGER SO, ACCORDING TO THE CHINESE ZODIAC, OUR POP HEROES WILL BE COURAGEOUS AND BRING VITALITY BACK TO A DEPLETED MUSIC SCENE

TOP TEN • DEAD OR ALIVE REACH NO.1 WITH AN ERA-DEFINING CLASSIC, STEPHEN DUFFY GETS SMOOCHY AND ASHFORD & SIMPSON HIT THE CHART AS SINGERS

RAZZMATAZZ • BEFORE THE TUBE, THERE WAS KIDS’ SHOW RAZZMATAZZ WHICH BROUGHT TV ANARCHY TO THE MASSES. PRESENTER LYN SPENCER AND PRODUCER MALCOLM GERRIE TELL THE TALE OF HOW THIS PIONEERING TEA-TIME PROGRAMME TURNED NEWCASTLE INTO A HOTBED OF 80S POP.

C86 • Named from a cassette compilation given away free with the NME, C86 would come to defi ne a very specifi c strain of guitar-led indie-pop…

SUPER FAN • DEVOTED FANS SHOW US THEIR COLLECTIONS AND POP MEMORABILIA

TOP 2O B-SIDES OF THE 80S • IN THE CREATIVE 80S, THE B-SIDE OF A VINYL SINGLE OFTEN MATCHED THE QUALITY OF THE A-SIDE. WE TAKE A LOOK AT 20 OF THE DECADE’S FINEST FLIPSIDES.

Thomas Dolby Aliens Ate My Buick • AFTER SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE AND LIVE AID, THE WORLD WAS THOMAS DOLBY’S OYSTER. SO WHY DID HE WAIT THREE YEARS TO DELIVER A SUPERB BUT DECIDEDLY ‘DIFFICULT’ THIRD ALBUM, FEATURING BARELY A TRACE OF SYNTH-POP?

BOO! SURPRISE! • MORE THAN 20 YEARS AFTER CALLING IT A DAY, THE BOO RADLEYS ARE BACK – OLDER, WISER, AND MINUS THEIR ORIGINAL SONGWRITER. “PEOPLE ARE GIVING US A CHANCE,” SINGER SICE ROWBOTTOM AND BASSIST TIM...