January 22 - February 4, 1981

(click on the image to see the full issue)

Cover: Steve Strange
Centrespread: XTC
Back cover: Hazel O’Connor
Interviews: Visage; Bauhaus; The Look
Lyrics: Hitsville UK – The Clash; Woman, Starting Over, Imagine – John Lennon; A Little In Love – Cliff Richard; Rapture – Blondie; Scary Monsters – David Bowie; Burn Rubber On Me – Gap Band; I Ain’t Gonna Stand For It – Stevie Wonder; Thrown Away – Stranglers; The Freeze – Spandau Ballet; Dream Sequence – Pauline Murray; Sergeant Rock – XTC; Young Parisians – Adam and the Ants; The Elephants Graveyard – Boomtown Rats
Bitz: Squeeze; Lou Reed, Rock And Roll Diary 1967-80; I.D.; Dave Wakeling, Dave Steele, Photo Love, The Stranglers; Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Dave Wiggins, Linda Duff; Joe Jackson, Dave Houghton, The Keys, Graham Maby, Graham Parker, The Rumour, Garland Jeffries; Chipmunk Punk; Bruce Springsteen; personal file: Richard Jobson: John Lennon, In His Own Write, A Spaniard In The Works, Lennon Remembers; Elvis Costello and the Attractions; Ian Gillan; The Mo-Dettes; Phil Collins; all time top ten: Colin Moulding
Single reviews (Ronnie Gurr): Woman – John Lennon; I Wanna Be Sedated – Ramones; Oh Marion – Paul Simon; I’m Only Human – Michael Des Barres; Many Rivers To Cross – Desmond Dekker; Turn Me On Turn Me Off – Honey Bane; The Freeze – Spandau Ballet; Dancing With Myself – Gen X; Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me) – XTC; Is Vic There? – Department S; This Time – John Cougar; Hitsville U.K. – The Clash; Vienna – Ultravox; Donegal – Tango Brigade; Rapture – Blondie; Dead Man’s Curve – Nash The Slash
Album reviews (Geoffrey Deane / David Hepworth / Mark Ellen / Steve Taylor / Bev Hillier): Mondo Bongo – Boomtown Rats; Trust – Elvis Costello; Flaming Schoolgirls – The Runaways; Arc Of A Diver – Steve Winwood; The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent – UFO; 1965-1980 – Basement 5; Kiss Me Deadly – Gen X; In Search Of The Rainbow Seekers – Mtume; Golden Touch – Rose Royce
Independent Singles (Deanne Pearson): On-U-Sound Sampler: Fade Away New Age Steppers [Ari Up, Bruce Smith], Learn A Language – London Underground; Twenty Tens, Revenge, The Children Are Crying, Greylight – Virgin Prunes (Baby, Rough Trade); The Flood / Disney Boys – Blue Orchids [Una Baines, Martin Bramah] (Rough Trade); Sell Out Before The Fall Out – Michael Byrd and the Commercials (Another Record Label), Nowhere Girl – B-Movie (Dead Good Records); The Mekons (Red Rhino Record)
Other: Strange Tails From A Music Paper; I Was A Teenage Pinkie-Sniffer