(click on the image to see the full issue)
Cover: Terry Hall
Centrespread: New Musik
Back cover: The Human League
Interviews: Orchestral Manouevres In The Dark, The Specials, Hot Chocolate
Lyrics: No Self Control - Peter Gabriel; Rescue - Echo and the Bunnymen; We Are Glass - Gary Numan; Messages - Orchestral Manouevres In The Dark; The Bucket Of Water Song - The Four Bucketeers; Rat Race - The Specials; Just Can't Give You Up - Mystic Merlin; Midnite Dynamos - Matchbox; Let's Go Round Again - Average White Band; This Town Ain't Big Enough; Pulling Mussels From A Shell - Squeeze; In The Kitchen At Parties - Jona Lewie; I'm Alive - Electric Light Orchestra
Bitz: The Police; Chaz Jankel; The Specials; Denny Laine; David Essex; The Clash; Ultravox, John Foxx; Bill Nelson; Musicians Union; Jona Lewie; Echo and the Bunnymen; The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle, Michael Moorcock; Holly Vincent's all time top ten; South Africa bans Another Brick In The Wall; Yes, The Buggles, Rick Wakeman, Jon Anderson; The Ruts
Single reviews (Deanne Pearson): We Are Glass - Gary Numan; Me, Myself, I - Joan Armatrading; A Teenager In Love - Rocky Sharpe and the Replays; Look At The Outside - Chelsea; Little Jeannie - Elton John; Every Time We Say Goodbye - Ella Fitzgerald; Ballad Of Miss Demeanour - Flowers; Shaking All Over / China - Drinking Electricity; To Be Or Not To Be - B.A. Robertson; Reach Your Peak - Sister Sledge; Think About Me - Fleetwood Mac; D-a-a-ance - Lambrettas; Nobody's Hero - Stiff Little Fingers; I'm Alive - Electric Light Orchestra; Beauty Queen - Little Nell
Album reviews (Bev Hillier / Red Starr / David Hepworth / Ian Cranna): GQ Two - GQ; Two Places At The Same Time - Raydio; Shine - Average White Band; So Far Away - The Chords; Freedom Of Choice - Devo; The Legend Lives On...Jah Wobble in Betrayal - Jah Wobble; Me, Myself, I - Joan Armatrading; McCartney II - Paul McCartney; Nobody's Perfect - The Distractions; I Just Can't Stop It - The Beat
Independent Albums (Red Starr): First Offenders (Canterbury 1980) (Criminal); Hicks From The Sticks (Rockburgh)
Independent News: Pete Wylie, Wah! Heat; Ian Curtis, Joy Division
Other: Strange Tales From A Music Paper; win dinner with John Peel
I keep waiting for you to hit the issue that would've been my last (I went all 'grown up' and NME, of course) but I'm surprised to see the ones I had keep on coming...
ReplyDeleteTop work as ever Brian.
Apparently I didn't grow up until 1985, when I switched to NME; couldn't understand a single word of two issues and transferred to the Maker instead.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of "grown up", check out the album review on page 34 of this issue; a full page devoted to two compilations featuring bands nobody was ever likely to hear (or hear of) ever again - in a magazine primarily aimed at teens.
I wonder if anybody - even the bands themselves - has a copy of that compilation from Canterbury?
I hadn't even started reading ver Hits at this stage. It's amazing to think how much it changed in the five or six short years (or regular-length years, even) from 1980 till the time I was reading it regularly.
ReplyDeleteMind, by the time I called it a day in about '89 the mag had arguably changed beyond all recognition, thanks to the Bros/Big Fun/Brother Beyond crap-pop zeitgeist - or sommat!
No, actually, make that the Bros/Big Fun/Brother Beyond axis of crap. Far more pithy!
ReplyDeleteBonus points to Kippers for referring to "ver Hits".
ReplyDeleteSpreading the word of 'Like Punk Never Happened' over at The Distractions. This issue contains a great review of their one and only album (until 2011 anyway), 'Nobody's Perfect' by David Hepworth:
ReplyDeletehttp://distractionsnothing.blogspot.com/2010/08/enchanting-and-vaguely-disturbing.html
Ah the day my cartoon strip appeared in Smash Hits I can remember getting it hot of the press and being so excited to see my little cartoon in there later to evolve into the adventures of Zitty Ben, thank you so much for your wonderful blog Brian.
ReplyDelete