Pop music
‘Wanna come to Prince’s house?’
The untold story
Prince bored me rigid
I saw Prince play once. I was bored rigid but couldn’t mention this to the girls I’d gone with: as…
Big names and broken souls: storm clouds gather over Woodstock’s summer of love
In 1963, when the bloom was still on the rose, Bob Dylan described Woodstock as a place where ‘we stop…
Verging on the corny: Martin Scorsese’s Vinyl reviewed
Vinyl (Sky Atlantic) — the much-anticipated series, co-produced by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger, about the 1970s New York record…
The Heckler: those who doubt the brilliance of Phil Collins are snobs
Three boos for those rotten spoilsports who started an online petition against Phil Collins coming out of retirement (there’s already…
Everything you always wanted to know about Sixties pop —and more
It might seem an odd choice, but after reading Jon Savage’s new book, I think if I had a time…
James Delingpole discovers the fons et origo of indie music
I really hadn’t meant to write a postscript to last week’s column on my dark Supertramp past. But then along…
Just what Tom Watson needs: a Bananarama tribute band
Available for parties Labour deputy leader Tom Watson said that leaving his party to join the Liberal Democrats would be…
Oh no: On the Road’s a masterpiece. So what else have I missed?
This week’s column is dedicated to all those of you who have never read Catcher in the Rye and who,…
From ragtime to the X Factor: the epic story of popular music
As pop music drifts away from many people’s lives, so its literature grows ever more serious and weighty, as though…
Unutterably thrilling: Fleetwood Mac at the O2 reviewed
‘I can’t tell you what a thrill it is to get this chance in life,’ said Christine McVie, as the…
A singer’s joys and woes: like her heroine Dusty Springfield, Tracey Thorn has trouble coming to terms with her beautiful voice
Look up Tracey Thorn’s live performances with Everything But The Girl or Massive Attack on You Tube and you’ll find…
If One Direction lost one more member, would they be quorate?
Where were you when you heard that Zayn Malik had left One Direction? No, me neither, but as my teenage…
Russell Brand’s heart is in the right place – but it’s not the place he talks out of
I write at a difficult time. The balls are in the air, but we know not where they will land.…
W1A reviewed: so pitch-perfect as to be profoundly depressing
Ever since the days of Tony Hancock, many of the best British sitcoms — from Dad’s Army to Fawlty Towers,…
The golden age of pop has been replaced by the golden age of pop obituaries
The golden age of pop music may be long gone, but the golden age of pop musicians’ obituaries is definitely…
Ray Davies: part of Swinging Sixties London — and apart from it too
As Johnny Rogan notes in this new biography of Ray Davies and the Kinks, it is almost 50 years since…
James Blunt’s sense of entitlement is so palpable you could wear it as a hat
Only a fool would mess with James Blunt. As his Twitter followers know, he has a sharp wit, and, as…
His lyrics are hopeless, his covers are catastrophic, yet I still love Bryan Ferry
There were two new albums I wanted for Christmas — the Bryan Ferry and the Pink Floyd — and to…
Why we love hating the music we hate as much as we love loving the music we love
It’s all gone now, of course. Not just the magazines themselves, but the legendary bile of old-school rock criticism
The People’s Songs, by Stuart Maconie - a review
For Stuart Maconie fans, this book might sound as if it’ll be his masterpiece. In his earlier memoirs and travelogues,…
Compiling my greatest hits (and my Twitter trolls')
Annie Nightingale 25 July 2015 9:00 am
Compilation schompilation. Having been in music for as long as I have you would think I had a good idea…