Pop
Forget Bowie – our times are ripe for Black Sabbath’s worldview
To get a reminder of how strange the 1970s were, there’s no need to plough through lengthy social and political…
Modishly morose but full of fine moments: LCD Soundsystem's American Dream reviewed
Grade: B+ Number one. Everywhere, just about. You have to say that the man has a certain sureness of touch.…
One of the most compelling pop singers right now is a gender-fluid observant Jew
The most compelling pop singers in music right now — at least in the branch where pop singers still play…
Peter Perrett’s How The West Was Won is a beautiful work, lush with swirling melodies
Much though I loved it at the time, not a great deal of lasting worth came out of that fervid…
The legacy of Sgt. Pepper that’s really worth celebrating is toytown pop – not prog rock
Pop’s counterfactuals tend to be built on questioning mortality: what if Jimi Hendrix had lived? Or Buddy Holly? Rarely does…
When real rock stars roamed the world
David Hepworth is such a clever writer — not just clever in the things he writes, but in the way…
I’ve got Mick Jagger’s lost memoir
I’ve got it. But you may never see it
The sound of very earnest millennials making music: The xx’s I See you reviewed
The xx is a trio of Londoners whose eponymous first album, released in 2009, has defined the way pop music…
When blacking up carried the death penalty
Black background A Morris dancing troupe with blacked-up faces had to abandon its performance in a Birmingham shopping centre after…
I should never have been ashamed to love Status Quo
I bought a record in a second-hand shop in the summer of 1981. A double album. I made sure nobody…
Elvis would have loved it: Elvis in Concert at the O2
Elvis Aron Presley departed this world on 16 August, 1977. Even if you delight in conspiracy theories and believe the…
Some comedies should never be resurrected – this is one of them: David Brent – Life on the Road reviewed
I should probably nail my colours to the mast and state that The Office is possibly my favourite TV sitcom…
Was 1966 really as grim as this BBC4 documentary suggests?
In the song ‘All the Young Dudes’, David Bowie gamely tried to reassure the youth of the Seventies that, despite…
Was 1971 really the best ever year for music?
According to David Hepworth, the year he turned 21 was also the year when ‘a huge proportion of the most…
Bowie realised there was more to life than art
The DJ and sage Mark Radcliffe once said that he didn’t think he could ever like anyone who didn’t love…
Why I’m stepping down after 28 years as The Spectator pop critic
Pop's place in culture has changed drastically. Marcus Berkmann explains why, after 27 years, it is time to step down as The Spectator's pop critic
In praise of cheap box sets
This column does like a bargain. Indeed, it not only esteems and relishes a bargain, it has also worked long…
Four of the best albums to write books by
I have been writing a book this summer, in the usual mad tearing hurry. (Much as I admire those who…
Why plotting a sound map of London is impossible
It’s easy to tag the city’s terrain by writer. But what, wonders Philip Clark, might a map of its music look like?
Why do we always beat up on drummers?
It’s rare that I see a piece about music that makes me want to cheer from the rafters and shake…
Ringo's no joke. He was a genius and the Beatles were lucky to have him
Ringo’s no joke, says James Woodall. He was a genius and the Beatles were lucky to have him
Michael Eavis has brought more joy to more people than almost any Englishman alive
I had meant to write a dispassionate account of this year’s Glastonbury, really I had. But I’m afraid my plans…
Masterly and heartbreaking: Amy reviewed
Asif Kapadia’s documentary about Amy Winehouse, whom Tony Bennett describes as ‘one of the truest jazz singers that ever lived’,…
Steve Hilton's model for policy reform: Glastonbury (yes, really)
Glastonbury is a model for radical policy reform, says Steve Hilton
Three tiny cheers for Mumford & Sons’ new album
Like a lot of essentially cautious people, I like my music to take some risks, play with fire and damn…
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