It is Kate Bush week on Stylus Magazine, with a special edition of their Singles Jukebox (which involves me) – and also check out Marcello Carlin’s lead article, an excellent summary of her career and its significance.[…]

“Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler” sings Bud Flanagan at the start of Dad’s Army. I think you’ll find that Herr Hitler was not “kidding” anyone, and was deadly serious about his attempted conquest of Euro[…]

REDNEX FOR SALE.

Now you may only know them for their global hit Cotton-Eyed Joe, but there is more to the fabulous Rednex than this one hit WONDER! Old Pop In An Oak! Er. And other stuff too. Their unique dance meets country style (well except for […]

Kellogg’s, ah Kellogg’s. Never has there been such a company with such an insatiable desire to stretch a brand to breaking point. You would think there was a pretty limited number of ways you could serve up cereals. Pretty much one per ce[…]

1: The Fanta-Stick
Possibly invented to tie in with the Christopher Ecclestone incarnation of Doctor Who, for whom this was his catchword. And seeing what we say, it is clear that the Fanta-Stick would be a slightly fizzy* orange lolly marketed by th[…]

There are of course all kinds of differences between live albums and studio ones. Within rock and some other genres, notions of a primacy attached to the live experience exist, ideas of greater authenticity, that it’s where a band really show t[…]

There are some lovely spaces in London institutions. The Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern has rarely been filled, but feels majestic in its own right – almost as if to cleanse your art palate before hitting the galleries. Big opening halls in cl[…]

Or do they. A nicely entertaining discussion of Superman #149 where Superman gets hit up for $1,000,000,000 of unpaid tax. Which in the fifties was a lot of money. This seems a surprisingly round number, but like many Superman stories of the age the […]

Here’s my third Poptimist column for Pitchfork. It’s about pop, but mostly about 2000AD and the concept of thrill-power.
The notorious “giant scorpions” cover which I cite in the piece was drawn by Massimo Belardinelli, who I […]

GOOD CHARLOTTE – “Keep Your Hands Off My Girl” – Score: 4.18 (12th) – Controversy: 2.83 (8th)
(Females: 12th. Males: 12th. Under 30s: 11th. Over 30s: 13th.)
Most like: MIA. Most unlike: JoJo. (But not significantly like […]