The last gasp of true Top 40
There was one brief and somewhat tarnished moment during my adolescence — somewhere around 1966-1967 — in which I couldn’t distinguish between the inherent value of the Velvet Underground versus the...
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All through school, I had been taught the importance of getting a secure job, so I went to work for the Prudential Assurance Company as a Trainee Surveyor. I stuck it for eight years, but my interest...
View ArticleFinding the Perfect Fit
“When it comes to Pitchfork and scoring, I would say that you would be shocked by just how democratic the rating process is. Without giving much away (because I don’t think that’s fair to Pitchfork),...
View ArticleLexicon of Pop
“ABC were striking out where a lot of other pop (but not all of it) was too timid to follow. “I emphasise that ‘but not all of it’ because by early 1982 it was palpably evident that a great deal of pop...
View ArticlePet Shop Boys, Critically (4)
In light of recent and future Pet Shop Boys podcasts around here, this post from a couple years ago is probably worth a revisit — Neil Tennant Recalls Smash Hits Days in Word Magazine Podcast (the...
View ArticleFrom the Archives: Steven Rosen (2003)
Steven Rosen gets his byline on By Steven Ward (September 2003) Veteran rock writer Steven Rosen has been traveling with musicians and profiling them–mostly guitarists–since the early ’70s. He has...
View ArticleToday’s Recommended Read: Critical Conditions (Wayne Robins)
Critical Conditions is pretty great newsletter (via Substack) by former Creemster and Newsdayer, Wayne Robins. I’ve loved some of the writing in here, including Being the Billy Joel Beat, an extended...
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