Classic Pop

Rewind to 2020 and you’d find me immersed in all things Alison Moyet-related as I write one of Classic Pop’s Album By Album features. Delving into those records was a hugely enjoyable process. Moyet’s journey as a solo artist is a fascinating one. Apart from the obvious hit singles, her back catalogue is peppered with treats from the underrated Hoodoo, Essex and Hometime albums – the latter is a particular favourite of mine thanks to its incorporation of the Bristol Sound in Alison’s musical universe – through to her welcome re-engagement with electronica in more recent times. It’s been seven long years since Alison dazzled us all with her previous studio album, Other. She’s been busy in the interim, though, and stepped away from the music world temporarily to take…

*1 “I saw Alison play this live when she toured Other and it totally blew the roof off the place.” *2 ”A simple, beautiful love song featuring the much-missed Kirsty MacColl on backing vocals.” *3 “Drama in every note, however you arrange it. A bulletproof song.” *4 “Alison reinvents Elvis Costello’s 1981 ballad as a lounge jazz torch song, stripped back enough to fully showcase THAT voice.” *5 “Heavy with pent-up frustration and quiet determination.” *6 “The most famous laugh in music history.” *7 “Her 2017 album’s title track is a magical piano ballad highlighting both her lyrical and vocal prowess.” *8 “An anthem for outsiderdom.” *9 “A melancholy highlight from the Upstairs At Eric’s album.” *10 “A holy gothic-electro classic with one of her best chorus hooks.”…

The winner of the Best Writer, Specialist category, in 2022’s British Society of Magazine Editors Awards, our latest issue sees John Earls meet Alison Moyet for CP’s exclusive cover feature and catch up with ABC’s Martin Fry as he publishes his autobiography. John also oversees our new albums and reissues reviews sections. Paul Kirkley makes his living from interviewing famous people with much more interesting and glamorous lives than his own. He is also, to the best of his knowledge, the only paid TV critic for a national supermarket chain. This issue, Paul continues his interviews with Ultravox as Midge Ure, Billy Currie and Warren Cann reflect on the band’s Lament album as it gets the deluxe reissue treatment. Wyndham Wallace has written for The Guardian, Uncut and The Quietus. His…

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From its striking keyboard intro and Jimmy Somerville’s imploring countertenor refrain of “Cry, boy, cry”, Smalltown Boy has become an enduring anthem for marginalised groups. Now, the lead single taken from Bronski Beat’s debut album, The Age Of Consent, has unexpectedly enjoyed a major renaissance courtesy of a trend on TikTok. Forty years on from its release in May 1984, the track is the go-to song for the viral hashtag “80sdancechallenge”, which has amassed millions of views and involves Gen Z and millennials asking parents to show off their best 80s dance moves. The song has achieved more than 500 million streams, including over 100 million views of its music video. FORTY YEARS ON FROM ITS RELEASE IN MAY 1984, THE TRACK IS THE GO-TO SONG FOR A VIRAL HASHTAG…

Primal Scream have announced details of a much-anticipated new album, Come Ahead, set for release on 8 November. Featuring 11 songs, this will be the band’s 12th full-length studio album and their first new music since 2016’s Chaosmosis. Songwriting for Come Ahead began in 2022. Their frontman Bobby Gillespie said: “I’m very excited about this album in a way that you would be making your first record. If there was an overall theme to Come Ahead it might be one of conflict, whether inner or outer. There is also a thread of compassion running through the album. “The title is a Glaswegian term. If someone threatens to fight you, you say, ‘Come ahead!’ It’s redolent of the indomitable spirit of the Glaswegian, and the album itself shares that aggressive attitude…