80s Empire

Gender Bending in the 1980s

2021-10-15T03:38:00.006-07:00

Gender Bending in the 1980s! If you've read my 80s Murder Mystery novels, you may wonder why Brigitte's pronouns keep changing. Here's an insight!

Go Back To the 80s in These Novels!

2021-09-22T06:44:00.004-07:00

If you want a good 80s fix may I humbly suggest my three 80s Murder Mysteries. The narrator of these novels is a pop music journalist (just like I was) in the early 1980s. In fact, I've done my best to describe the music scene, the clubs of early 80s London exactly as I experienced them - plus a few murders! If you want a fun 80s read, give them a try!

More info here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08MQYB837

Flexipop! Magazine - The Inside Story

2021-09-18T02:29:00.000-07:00

Why was the 80s pop magazine, Flexipop!, seized by the police? And why was hard-rock singer, Zodiac Mindwarp, working in a Flexipop! basement room? Here's the lowdown from someone who was there at the time...

80s Pop Music Interviews - the Sony Walkman Connection

2021-09-15T08:47:00.003-07:00

My latest video explains how I went aboyut doing interviews in the 80s. This includes some audio clips from interviews I did with Adam Ant and Sheen Easton.

How To Be a 1980s Pop Music Journalist

2021-09-12T04:35:00.005-07:00

Ah, the glamour! The celebrities! The music! The nightclubs!

So what was it really like to be a pop music journalist in the days of the New Romantics? I've just started a new YouTube channel that will explain everything. If you've read any of my '80s Murder Mysteries' novels, these videos will explain some of the real-life background. Be sure to subscribe so that you will receive notification whenever I post some new videos. Here are the first three...

80s Picture Discs – Divine Decadence

2020-03-08T08:01:00.001-07:00

One of the joys of being a pop journalist in the early '80s was being given promotional items by record companies. Often these were rather boring singles or albums. The ones that were really fun, though, were the picture disks. My favourite picture disk of all was this one to promote Divine’s Walk Like A Man.

Supposedly in the shape of men’s underpants, this featured Divine trying to rip the trunks off a hunky young man (according to the credits on the disc, Divine’s ‘playmate’ was Scott McCray). Anyway, this is one of my most treasured items of early '80s pop junk.

And here’s the song it was promoting…

80s Bands From Australia

2020-03-05T02:53:00.000-08:00

A discussion on Facebook recently got me thinking about all those bands that made it big in Australia in the 70s and 80s but never seemed to make much of an impression elsewhere – anyway, not hgere in the UK. A few did have success. INXS, Men At Work Midnight Oil and (of course!) AC/DC sold a few records!

But what about Cold Chisel? Or Mi-Sex? If you don’t know them, go to YouTube and look them up. Here’s a quick blast from Mi-Sex to whet your appetite…

Three 80s Rewind Festivals 2020

2020-02-28T02:47:00.000-08:00

Rewind The 80s Music Festival will have three events in Perth, Macclesfield and Henley-on-Thames this summer.

DJs: at Rewind Scotland and Rewind North include Pat Sharp on Friday, Gary Davies on Saturday and Bruno Brooks on Sunday. Pat Sharp will headline the tent on Friday at Rewind South. Mark Goodier will be there on Saturday and Gary Davies on Sunday.

All three festivals will close on Saturday with Jimmy Somerville’s Big Band-Tastic Boogie – a show especially created for the festivals – and Wet Wet Wet on the Sunday. The festival will also see performances by Billy Ocean, Bananarama, Trevor Horn Band, Nick Heyward, Roland Gift of Fine Young Cannibals, Hue And Cry, Grandmaster Flash, The Christians, Pete Wylie – The Mighty Wah! and John Parr.

Rewind Scotland, Scone Palace, Perth 17th-19th July 2020
Rewind North, Capesthorne Hall, Macclesfield 31st July-2nd August 2020
Rewind South, Temple Island Meadows, Henley-on-Thames 14th-26th August 2020

More info: http://www.rewindfestival.com/

How to Pronounce Depeche Mode (-esh or -ey?)

2020-02-26T03:55:00.004-08:00

This little video I uploaded a few years ago keeps getting lots of views and lots of comments. It contains an audio clip from an interview I did with Depeche Mode lead singer Dave Gahan, many, many years ago, in which he gives the lowdown on how to pronounce the band name.

This YouTube comments say it all: "Finally. Closure to one of life's biggest mysteries!"

You're welcome.

Time Travel Back To The 1980s

2020-02-08T10:52:00.000-08:00

Fancy going back to 1986? What would it be like if you did that? Keith A Pearson tries to answer that question in his best-selling book, The '86 Fix. Keith has written a whole bunch of novels. If this sounds like the sort of thing you might enjoy, why not hop over to the Dark Neon site and read the interview I did with Keith just this week...

Gloria by Laura Branigan was a hit this week in 1983

2020-02-01T11:00:00.002-08:00

Great song. Great singer. 1983 was a really fun year for me. This brings back so many memories!

Bucks Fizz Workout From 1983

2020-02-01T10:55:00.001-08:00

This week in 1983 I went to a gym in Covent Garden to do a photo feature on Jay Aston from Buck's Fizz. I only mention that because it gives me an excuse to show you one of the photos I took!

Rewind Festival - Three 80s Music Concerts this summer

2020-01-28T10:52:00.001-08:00

Rewind The 80s Music Festival, promises three UK festivals for summer 2020. Tickets for all festivals go on sale at 10am on Thursday 30th January 2020 via the official festival website www.rewindfestival.com.

Rewind Scotland will celebrate its 10-year-anniversary at Scone Palace in Perth from Friday 17th – Sunday 19th July 2020. On Friday 31st July 2020, Rewind North returns to Capesthorne Hall in Macclesfield and concludes on Sunday 2nd August 2020. Rewind South will round up the 80s summer celebrating everything 80s at Temples Island Meadows in Henley-on-Thames from Friday 14th – 16th August 2020.

All three festivals will close on Saturday with Jimmy Somerville’s Big Band-Tastic Boogie – a show especially created for the festivals – and Wet Wet Wet on the Sunday. The festival will also see performances by Billy Ocean, Bananarama, Trevor Horn Band, Nick Heyward, Roland Gift of Fine Young Cannibals, Hue And Cry, Grandmaster Flash, The Christians, Pete Wylie – The Mighty Wah! and John Parr.

I wonder if Roland Gift will be singing this?

Read a FREE 1980s Murder Mystery

2019-08-29T02:24:00.001-07:00

FREE BOOK! Grab a copy of my 1980s murder mystery, Killers In Mascara, free today on Kindle (usually $2.99). Please feel free to repost to let your friends know. And if you like it, I would be hugely grateful if you'd leave a review on Amazon. Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Killers-Mascara-Romantic-Murder-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B004QTOFWU/ and Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Killers-Mascara-Romantic-Murder-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B004QTOFWU

Bucks Fizz's Jay Goes Into Politics!

2019-08-27T10:10:00.001-07:00

Nope, this ain't a political blog and I don't intend to comment on the politics of this news here. Anyway, Jay really has gone into politics as reported by the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-49486164

This video seems appropriate....

Stranger Things, Limahl and Never Ending Story

2019-07-15T07:31:00.003-07:00

I'm pleased to see that Limahl is making a whole bunch of news fans due to his 1984 hit, "Never Ending Story" being featured in the hit TV series, Stranger Things. Story here.

I've interviewed Limahl a few times, both in the '80s and more recently. I'll post more soon.

Toyah’s Working Week, Rabbit, Rabbit

2019-07-15T04:36:00.000-07:00

Long, long ago, in the early ‘80s, I interviewed Toyah, for the ‘My Working Week’ feature in Flexipop! Here is a short extract. Was it a coincidence that Toyah happened to have a rabbit obsession and the photographer, Neil Matthews happened to bring a Bunny outfit with him? I’ll leave you decide…

Tuesday
Got up late—about ten—quite knackered. Got to the studio at three o'clock, but by four o'clock nobody else had arrived so I went shopping. I really hate shopping because people keep recognising me and I feel stupid. Today, while I was in one shop, this girl came up to me and stood virtually nose to nose with me and went—“'Ere, look at this, Ann, I fink it's 'er!” I just stood there looking at the wall. I get so scared sometimes because I look different in real life—I probably look more haggard and knackered than I do in photographs and people go—“Ooo, don't you look a state! Ooo aren't you small!” It's really embarrassing.

Sometimes I cover my hair up to try to stop people recognising me, but that doesn't seem to work any more.

When I got to the studio, I 'phoned home to ask how Mum and Dad were and if my rabbit was still alive. He was fine. My Mum has to look after my rabbit for me when I'm not there. My Mum calls him Fatso, but I call him F**k-face. He's a great rabbit and I love him very much.
Wednesday
Spent all day at my publicity office doing interviews and 'photo-sessions, which was very tiring. Then I went home and did my business again. After that, I fed my next-door neighbour's rabbit. I often feed it although my neighbour doesn't know I do. I climb over the fence and give it water and cabbage and things because his owner lets him get really thin. I think I'm a sort of rabbit Saviour, really.

This is an extract from my book of 80s interviews, Neon 80s, available on Amazon UK and Amazon US.

W.A.S.P. Live

2019-07-13T02:03:00.001-07:00

Don’t tell me W.A.S.P. is “just an eighties band”. True, they had some of their biggest hits in the ‘80s (including “Wild Child” – see below). But they remain a hard-working live band. I just came across this video from a show yesterday in Finland. Singer/songwriter Blackie Lawless is terrific. And listen out for guitarist Doug Blair. This is what great rock sounds like…

Captain Sensible As You’ve Never Seen Him Before!

2019-07-12T08:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, I’m pretty sure you’ve never seen Captain Sensible on a lawn roller because this is a photo which I took and which has never before been published!

The Captain and I had just returned from a boozy pub lunch and he clapped eyes on the lawn roller. Well, he just couldn’t resist having a go on it – and fortunately, I had my camera with me.

Meanwhile, here’s one of the most improbable of all the big hits songs from the 1980s…

Suzi Quatro interview

2017-09-11T02:48:00.000-07:00

I first interviewed Suzi when I was a teenager. Suffice to say that was a very long time ago. I was a student at the time, little guessing that a few years later I would be a full-time music writer for such august titles as Flexipop!, Number One and Jackie! Suzi was my first brush with pop-stardom. Anyway, clearly a lot has happened since then. Suzi continues to record music and tour worldwide. Her latest releases are the compilation disc, ‘Legend’ which includes all her greatest hits, Can The Can, 48 Crash, Daytona Demon, Devil Grate Drive, Stumblin’ In, The Wild One and If You Can’t Give Me Love plus a selection of her favourite tracks. And there is also an album, QSP, made with legendary Sweet guitarist, Andy Scott, and Slade Drummer, Don Powell. I began by asking Suzi about that…

You have a project called Quatro, Scott and Powell and the album is called QSP. How did that come about?

My ‘Back To The Drive’ album (2006) was produced by Andy Scott. And, of course, we’ve worked together many times over the years. It was my husband who said that there was a great chemistry happening. He said, “You know, that would make a great band – you and Andy”. He said all you’d need then would be to have Don Powell on drums. I thought, “Oh! What a brilliant idea!” We’re all similar musicians from the same ballpark. And then about two years ago we found the space and the time to get together and form a band. We each picked a cover as a good starting point. We did a cover of Dylan’s ‘Just like a Woman’ and as soon as we did that I told Andy and Don that we had just established our sound. Then I went on to write a song called ‘Long Way From Home’. I finished it with Andy and when that was done it was so good that even though it was going to delay the album I thought we needed to go ahead and write some more. So not only did we do covers but we also wrote six new songs so we ended up with eight covers and six originals.

Then I did an Australian tour in January and February and my husband suggested that I take QSP out there and see how it went. So I was my own support act! It was fantastic. We released the album just in that area and it reached number 20 in the charts. The album will be released everywhere else in September. Our live shows in Australia went so well that we really want to do more. We all really, really want to work together again.

I love Sweet. But it seems to be that a lot of people don’t know anything apart from their hits and so they don’t even know that Sweet are a hard rock band.

No they don’t. Sweet did a lot of very poppy stuff. But Andy is one of the finest rock guitarists around.

You had so many hits yourself. Don’t you get tired of playing them time after time now?

No. Why should I? Of course you have to play the hits. It is so stupid when an artist doesn’t do that. But I always have a combination of hits and my own personal choices. I’m a very prolific writer. I’ve written a lot of my own stuff and so we always have both the Chinn and Chapman songs (Note: Chinn and Chapman are the song-writing team who wrote hits for Suzi, Sweet, Mud and others in the ‘70s), and we also have my own songs. A lot of the fans really like the album tracks. You can gauge that when you do it live because you can see the reaction.

You are clearly an innovator as a hard-rock female singer. These days you see lots of female rock singers. Even with Heavy Metal bands. But when you were starting that was extremely unusual, wasn’t it?

It hadn’t been done. There hadn’t been a successful rock and roll female musician. So somebody had to do it sooner or later. I think the reason it fell on my shoulders is that I actually don’t ‘do’ gender. I never have and I still don’t do it now. I’m not a female musician – I’m a musician. I was always a tom-boy. Not masculine. Just a tom-boy. Did I look like I was up there trying to show that a girl could be as tough as a guy? No, I just looked natural. Well then, did I look as if I was trying to be sexy? Absolutely not. All I ever did really was just be me.

I’m glad that there are a lot of females out there now. It’s fantastic. Women Heavy Metal singers have taken it to the next degree, which is great. I’m not Heavy Metal at all. I’m rock’n’roll. But really there should be no barriers. I don’t believe in barriers. The only barriers are the ones you create for yourself. I don’t do that.

Do you think there are fewer barriers now than when you started?

The only barriers I see come from a slightly different angle. The lack of clothes on a lot of female singers now! It shows that they have trapped themselves in their own sexuality. At least, that’s how I see it. They’re letting themselves be sexualised and that’s a trap.

I mentioned on Facebook that I was going to interview you and asked if anyone had any questions they wanted to ask. Here’s a question that I don’t even understand. It comes from Iain McKinnon who asks: Does Suzi still go shooting?

I took up shooting because my ex-husband went shooting as a hobby. So I took it up and I became quite a crack shot. I haven’t done it for a long time but I’ve been told I’m a natural shot. But I don’t really have much time for hobbies.

So what do you do apart from music?

Apart from my music, I just released my first novel at the end of May. It’s called The Hurricane and I also have a poetry book called Through My Eyes. I always wanted to write a novel and I mentioned to my friend, who’s now gone, Jackie Collins, that I’d like to write a novel. She said “You should. You can write really well. Just stick with what you know.” So it’s about a rock chick but post-Suzi Quatro. People are enjoying it and I’ve left it open for a sequel. I want to show where she went next so that’s how I wrote it.

Of course, the other thing you’ve done quite a bit of is acting. Any more in the pipeline…?

I haven’t anything planned at the moment but if something comes up that I like, I’ll be happy to do it. But I’m always so busy doing other stuff. The show I do on BBC Radio 2 takes up a lot of time. Then there’s my writing and poetry, QSP, so many things.

Here’s another question from someone on Facebook. This one comes from Mark Antony Raines. He wants to know what are your memories of acting in ‘Happy Days’?

Great memories. I’m still very much in contact with Ron Howard and Henry Winkler. I realise that people in America often know me better for Happy Days than for my music. I didn’t have so many big hits in America. My biggest there was Stumblin’ In which was a million seller.

Why do you think so many bands in the 70s had problems breaking into America?

Well, I did have that one big hit. But yes, I had more in Britain. Mickie Most kept switching record companies which caused problems. I didn’t sell as many single releases there. But I sold a lot of albums and I did a lot of tours. And I’m still a cult figure there.

A ‘cult’ figure. What do you mean by that exactly?

Mike Chapman says I have a cult following. He’s always telling me if I came back to tier America I’d sell out. He calls me a cult. I don’t know what he means.

You have a new album, Legend, that includes your hits and other personal choices. A lot of the tracks have been remastered. What difference do you think that makes?

It’s just better. The technology is so much better now. You should hear some of the old Elvis tracks that have been remastered. It’s unbelievable. People today are used to hearing the kind of sound you can get from remastering.

The other thing that young people especially take for granted today is auto-tuning…

Oh! Don’t get me started on that! I think it’s one of the worst inventions ever. I’d rather record the same line six hundred times until I get it right. Every record you hear now, everybody sounds like Cher singing Believe.

It also seems that bands these days do mixing and production on a massive scale with so many different tracks and so many different takes.

Yes, production is massive now. Sometimes you can’t stop progress. In each decade, ever since the ‘50s they’ve used what tools they had and you have to go along with that. But you still have to make it organic. That’s something I insist on. You sit in the room with the other musician and you play the track. You can do all your production after that. But first you have to play the music with the other musicians in the same room at the same time.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me and good luck with everything you are doing. I know you keep saying that the next tour will be your last but…

No, I never said that! It’s not true! I said it one time in Australia. And I said it would be my “final Australian tour” but I never said that anywhere else. I’ve done thirty-one tours of Australia. When my 50th anniversary came up I thought it would be a nice swan-song. And then, of course, I couldn’t stand it so I did another one. But believe me, I’m not retiring!

For more on Suzi - her albums, books, tour dates and more, visit her web site: http://www.suziquatro.com

Bucks Fizz Reunite!

2017-08-05T07:49:00.001-07:00

They're back! Well, Three out of four are, anyhow. Bucks Fizz have reunited (though they've dropped the Bucks and are now calling themselves The Fizz) and are recording their first album for 30 years. Original members Cheryl Baker, Jay Aston and Mike Nolan are joined by Bobby McVay to make up the reformed quartet. This is the first single release. What do you think...?

Bronski Beat - new single, new album

2017-07-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

New Bronski Beat single...

The current line-up of Bronski Beat is: Steve Bronski, Ian Donaldson and Stephen Granville. The new album, The Age Of Reason, is due for release on the 28th of July. For more info, go to their web site : http://www.bronskibeat.club/

W.A.S.P. On Tour

2017-07-12T03:35:00.001-07:00

W.A.S.P. are one of the truly great hard rock/metal bands of the '80s. Over the years they've been through a few changes in lineup but the singer and motivating force of the band, Blackie Lawless, is still the main man. W.A.S.P. are on tour in the UK and Europe this autumn. See them if you can! Here are the tour dates... https://www.waspnation.com/tourdates.html

And just to get you prepared, here's one of their classic songs...

1980s Pop Stars Behaving Badly

2017-07-10T02:05:00.000-07:00

The BBC has put together a nice collection of celebrities behaving badly. Although bad behaviour wasn’t confined to the 1980s, that decade did give us some classic examples. I won’t give the game away, but if you head over to the BBC site you can watch some classic examples of celebs screwing up (and being slagged off by viewers) from the likes of Captain Sensible, Joe Cocker, New Kids On The Block, Feargal Sharkey and the ever-popular phone-in with Matt Bianco. And just in case that isn’t enough, here are a few more…

Hit That Perfect Beat - 31 Years On

2016-11-15T11:06:00.000-08:00

Hit That Perfect Beat was a hit in the UK in November 1985 (31 years ago this month!) - it was the first Bronski Beat single to feature John Foster ('Jon Jon') singing, following the departure of Jimmy Somerville. John was obviously a very different singer from Jimmy. But I have to say that I just love this song. Bronski Beat never managed to have another similarly massive hit thereafter (though the follow-up, C'mon C'mon was a relatively minor hit). John Foster left the group two years later. Watch the video, turn up the volume and feel free to dance around the room!