October 29 - November 11, 1981

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Cover: Fun Boy Three
Centrespread: Human League
Back cover: Orchestral Manouevres
Interviews: Fun Boy Three; Girls At Our Best!; Julian Cope; Japan
Lyrics: Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - Police; The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum) - Fun Boy Three; Labelled With Love - Squeeze; You Don't Believe Me - Stray Cats; Tunnel Of Love - Dire Straits; Twilight - ELO; Hold Me - B.A. Robertson & Maggie Bell; And Then She Kissed Me - Gary Glitter; Dead Cities - Exploited; Nightmare - Gillan; Tonight I'm Yours - Rod Stewart; Physical - Olivia Newton-John; Paperback Writer - Beatles; Charlotte Sometimes - Cure
The Pictures: Grace Jones; Kevin Rowland, Killjoys; Ranking Roger, Joe Strummer; Gary Price, Toyah Willcox
Bitz: Vinyl Frontier: Kim Wilde, Cambodia; Spandau Ballet, Paint Me Down; Teardrop Explodes, Colours Fly Away; Japan, Tin Drum; Duran Duran; Skids, Joy, Iona; Elvis Costello, Almost Blue, South Bank Show; Hazel O'Connor, Cover Plus, Uncovered Plus!; Blondie Fan Club; Chas Smash, Lee Thompson; Paul Weller, December Child, The Jam; Police Rubik's Cube; Bev Hillier, Toyah makeover; Police tour; Tom Tom Club; Martin Fry; all time top twelve: Elvis Costello; personal file: Clare Grogan
Single reviews (Dave Rimmer): Tears Are Not Enough - ABC; Sunny Day - Pigbag; The "Sweetest Girl" - Scritti Politti; Don't Stop The Music - Bits And Pieces; The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum) - Fun Boy Three; Barbed Wire Hale - Annie Anxiety; Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - Police; Penthouse And Pavement - Heaven 17; Soul Warfare - Hot Gossip; Anti-Freeez - Freeez; Bedsitters - Soft Cell; Princess Of The Night - Saxon; I Don't Know What It Is - Pete Shelley; Different Strokes - Angelic Upstarts; You Don't Believe Me - Stray Cats; Chihuahua - Bowwowwow; The Voice - Ultravox; Our Love Will Last For Ever - The Hassans; Fools - Bumble And The Beez; Histoire A Suivre - Honeymoon Killers; Young And Hip - Virna Lindt
Album reviews (Ian Cranna / David Hepworth / Fred Dellar / Mark Ellen / Red Starr / Mike Stand / Beverly Hillier): Architecture And Morality - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark; Go Ahead - Linx; Double Trouble - Gillan; Almost Blue - Elvis Costello And The Attractions; This Is The Ice Age - Martha And The Muffins; No Cause For Concern - Vice Squad; Mask - Bauhaus; Everlasting Love - Rex Smith; And Then He Kissed Me - Rachel Sweet; Body Talk - Imagination; Still - Joy Division; In Heaven - The Meteors; Gosh It's... - Bad Manners

October 15 - 28, 1981

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Cover: Duran Duran
Centrespread: Madness
Back cover: Hazel O'Connor
Interviews: UB40; Laurie Anderson; Altered Images; Madness; Duran Duran
Lyrics: Absolute Beginners - The Jam; It's Raining - Shakin' Stevens; Lock Up Your Daughters - Slade; I'm So Glad - Crusaders / Joe Cocker; Love All The Hurt Away - Aretha Franklin / George Benson; Quiet Life - Japan; Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin; The Jam Was Moving - Debbie Harry; Good Year For The Roses - Elvis Costello; Joan Of Arc - Orchestral Manoeuvres; We're In This Love Together - Al Jarreau; Love Has Come Around - Donald Byrd; Europa & The Pirate Twins - Thomas Dolby
The Pictures: David Bowie, Baal; "Cool Cats", Tony Stewart, Johnny Rotten; Fun Boy Three; Steve Strange; "The NME Guide To Rock Cinema", Fred Dellar, Sting, The Seduction Of Inga
Bitz: Vinyl Frontier: Queen, David Bowie, Under Pressure; Pretenders, I Go To Sleep; OMD; Paul McCartney, Rupert; Kim Carnes, Marty Feldman's Eyes, Bruce Baum, Sammy Davis Eyes, Debbie Harry's Thighs; Thomas Dolby; Adam, Prince Charming; Chicago bans portable cassettes and headphones; Morrocci Klung! cassette fanzine, Bob Pierce; BBC bans Invisible Sun video; Simple Minds, Simple Feelings Call; Gary Numan arrested in Visakhapatnam; Al Jarreau, Donald Byrd; all time top 10: Joan Armatrading; personal file: Biff Byford
Single reviews (Fred Dellar): Absolute Beginners - The Jam; The Jam Was Moving - Debbie Harry; L.O.V.E...Love - Orange Juice; Make Believe - Thompson Twins; Jobsworth - Fred Wedlock; It's Only Love - Gary U.S. Bonds; Tonight I'm Yours - Rod Stewart; L'Image Craque - Hambi And The Dance; I Am A Camera - Buggles; Message Oblique Speech - Associates; Yello - Bostich; Favourite Shirts - Haircut One Hundred; Mama Used To Say - Junior; All Black And Hairy - Screaming Lord Sutch;
Album reviews (David Hepworth / Dave Rimmer / Tim de Lisle / Mark Ellen / David Bostock / Mike Stand / Pete Silverton): Dare - Human League; Return Of The Giant Slits - Slits; See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy! - Bowwowwow; In The Garden - Eurythmics; Jump Street - Rose Royce; Work Our Way To Heaven - Cuban Heels; Chances Are - Bob Marley; Beat Noir - Fingerprintz; The Best Of Blondie - Blondie; Blue Nun - Carlene Carter; Present Arms In Dub - UB40
Nights Out: Ultravox
Other: fan clubs; Shakin' Stevens - illustrated biography

October 1 - 14, 1981

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Cover: Phil Oakey
Centrespread: Ultravox
Interviews: Human League; Linx; The Creatures; Heebeegeebees; Police
Lyrics: Thunder In The Mountain - Toyah; Open Your Heart - Human League; It's My Party - Dave Stewart; Just Can't Get Enough - Depeche Mode; Mule (Chant No. 2) - Spandau Ballet; It Will Be Alright - Odyssey; Walking In The Sunshine - Bad Manners; Mad Eyed Screamer - The Creatures; Genius Of Love - Tom Tom Club; Quite Ahead Of My Time - David Bowwow; Get Off Of My Cloud - Rolling Stones; Invisible Sun - Police; You Sure Look Good To Me - Phyllis Hyman; Endless Love - Diana Ross & Lionel Richie
The Pictures: BowWowWow; Gary Numan; The Groovy Cellar; The Move; Barso; Bananarama
Bitz: Stray Cats, Orange Juice, Adam, Wah!, Gillan, The Jam, Bauhaus; Tom Tom Club; Billy Idol; Ian Cranna, The Crucial Three; Alexei Sayle, The Comic Strip; The Higsons: Simon Charterton, Stewart McGeachin, Terry Edwards, Colin Wilson, Switch Higson; Julian Cope, Teardrop Explodes; Ugh! A Music War; Pointed Portraits, Chalkie Davies; Madness, Take It Or Leave It; Something Else; all time top ten: Suggs; personal file: Doug Trendle
Single reviews (Ian Birch): Invisible Sun - Police; Good Year For The Roses - Elvis Costello; Open Your Heart - Human League; Thunder In The Mountains - Toyah; Labelled With Love - Squeeze; Walking In The Sunshine - Bad Manners; Everything's Gone Green / Procession - New Order; Being Cool - Devo; The Genius Of Love - Tom Tom Club; Mony Mony - Billy Idol; See That Girl - Kirsty MacColl; The Crusher - The Cramps; A - Associates; Living In My Limousine - Bill Nelson; Tunnel Of Love - Dire Straits; She's Fallen In Love With The Monster Men - Revillos;
Album reviews (Mark Ellen / Robin Katz / Deanne Pearson / Dave Rimmer / Pete Silverton / Ian Birch / David Hepworth / Tim De Lisle / Steve Bush / Ian Cranna): Ghost In The Machine - The Police; Wired For Sound - Cliff Richard; Rhythm Breaks The Ice - Bette Bright; Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom Club; Denim & Leather - Saxon; Homosapien - Pete Shelley; Abacab - Genesis; Ismism - Godley & Creme; You Could Have Been With Me - Sheena Easton; 7 - Madness; Thirty Thousand Feet Over China - The Passions; The Garden - John Foxx
Nights Out: Depeche Mode
Other: Barry