Neville Staple: "I really can’t see any touring with The Specials happening, after they refused an olive branch and my offer to do a full and proper reunion for the fans this year, then insulted me, Jerry and Roddy publicly, then insulted my wife on the phone, who has shown nothing but respect - until they turned on me and the guys. I can’t deal with that kind of crap. I’m happier doing what I have always done with enjoying the music, the fans, the message and the vibes. I also don’t like using bargain bucket or devious ways to get my music noticed."
Interviews
67 posts
"I wanted to drill the guitar through your eyes into the back of your head," Scars guitarist Paul Research on the band's epic debut Horrorshow
Hailed for their explosive live shows, Northside were an intrinsic part of the Madchester/baggy scene, which fused indie rock guitars with the dance beats of a flourishing underground rave culture. Signed to iconic Manchester label Factory, the band’s first single Shall We Take A Trip was promptly banned by the BBC, after the corporation took exception to its frank references to illicit drug-taking, particularly LSD. They […]
"We had no idea of the reaction of the British public. For weeks they had these front pages of ‘Filthy Scum’ and ‘Rotten People’ and stuff like that. People were throwing their TVs out of windows! It was sheer madness!" Last surviving Heartbreaker #WalterLure on the Anarchy Tour #TheSexPistols and his first new album in 24 years,
With their futuristic sound and frontman Mike Score’s outlandish haircut, A Flock of Seagulls were as synonymous with the eighties as yuppies, ET and DeLorean cars. They achieved rapid fame – perhaps too rapid in retrospect, burning brightly but briefly – the original quartet releasing just two albums before imploding in a whirl of breakdowns and inter-band rivalries. But now, […]
Funny, open and engaging, Daniel Ash is not quite what you might expect from the man behind some of the darkest and most experimental music of the past 40 years. The founder of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets is back on the road with new ensemble Poptone and teasing the prospect of new music and a European tour. Featuring the father-daughter […]
Sex Pistols – you go years without encountering one – and then three come along at once. No sooner had I finished recounting the exploits of John Lydon and Paul Cook at Camden Rocks, than I got the chance to have a chat with Glen Matlock ahead of the release of his new solo album Good To Go. Replaced by Sid Vicious – so the legend […]
Something of an alternative supergroup, Shriekback came into being – at least as Barry Andrews tells it – after he was doggedly pursued by bassist Dave Allen. Allen, looking to form a new band after the demise of Gang of Four, was keen to hook up with the keyboard player who’d quit XTC, after losing a power struggle with Andy Partridge. Initially reluctant, Andrews […]
More than 40 years after The Damned lit the blue touch paper for the punk rock revolution, original drummer Rat Scabies is busier than ever. Since quitting his old band amid some rancour in the late ’90s, he’s played in numerous outfits and developed interesting sidelines in cigar box guitar-making and the little matter of hunting for the holy […]