MAEL PATENT BOLDNESS

Ron and Russell Mael – combined age: 151 – should be in the autumn of their career, a heritage act recycling the hits. Instead, more than a half-century since their debut LP, Sparks are enjoying an Indian summer of acclaim and popularity. As they prepare to release their 26th idiosyncratic pop album (including FFS), back with their original label Island after a 45-year break, they take a reverse journey through their body of work while considering their imminent landmark concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and Royal Albert Hall. What kind of shows can we expect? “Sexy and cerebral,” they promise Jeremy Allen.

Talking Heads – 'We thought "down with Arena Rock"'

With the Remain in Love Tour about to happen and a reissue of stop making sense imminent, people are talking about talking heads again. Not that they ever really stopped. With their adventures in psychedelicised funk and dub-spacious art disco, they essayed a new form of anti-'rockist' music, all polyrhythmic colourmotion helmed by Brian Eno, effecting a clean break with tradition. A once in a lifetime proposition, in terms of songwriting and Studio Sonics, they made leaps between - especially albums the first four - matched only by The Beatles. Come into the blue again as David interviews the stubbs greatest rhythm section of the post-punk period, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, about the band, their out-of-this-world music and their eventual, inevitable split, while Terry Staunton tracks their lightspeed evolution on LP and Daryl Easlea gets discographical. Take a look!

Hey Jude

Courteeners seemed to rise without trace – stadium fillers, particularly in the north, yet barely visible press-wise. They have just scored their first-ever UK No 1 album with their 2008 debut, the recently reissued St Jude, breaking Official Chart records for the LP with the longest time between release and charting at pole position, a feat matched only by The Beatles and the Stones with their recent reissues. And yet mainman Liam Fray remains modest to a fault, despite his “gobshite” reputation. Mapping the rendezvous: John Earls.

"I didn't know how to deal with being a frontman"

In 1981, Haircut 100 came bursting out of Beckenham, all Argyle sweaters and sou’westers, purveying a new kind of jangly, poppy Britfunk, equal parts Monkees and Earth, Wind & Fire. Face and NME darlings, they soon matched critical respect with the screams of teenage fans, but already by summer ’82 the wheels had come off, singer and songwriter Nick Heyward was suffering a nervous breakdown and he left the band in acrimonious circumstances. In the 90s he enjoyed a period of solo success, with hits in the States and a period of late affirmation when he signed to the Creation label. Now, though, all hatchets have been buried and the Haircuts have reunited, with live dates and talk of a new album. “Till death us do part,” Heyward tells Adrian Thrills

"When I walk onstage, I'm like a plumber"

Pete Townshend talks in-depth about The Who live and his attitude towards the band’s history of performance. Along with news about an impending Who’s Next reissue and the latest extrapolation of his notorious Lifehouse project, he expands on the idea of The Who as the quintessential purveyors of high-energy rock’n’roll, only to simultaneously debunk it. “I don’t have fun performing,” he tells Rob Hughes

THE ENGINE ROOM

The unsung heroes who helped forge modern music | This month: Vicki Wickham

33 1/3 minutes with... Harvey Lisberg

Music entrepreneur Harvey Lisberg managed Manchester’s most commercially successful bands of the 60s and 70s (Herman’s Hermits and 10cc, respectively). He was also a partner in  Strawberry Studios which provided a springboard for the region’s next generation of musicians, including Joy Division. He guided the careers of numerous prominent musical figures, then in the 70s and 80s, he managed snooker’s glimmer twins – Alex Higgins and Jimmy White – while also looking after the likes of Sad Café and Barclay James Harvest. These days, he looks after his publishing interests from his Palm Springs home.

IT HAPPENED WHEN?

Peter Baker, of cult synth project Electronic Ensemble, tells Ian Shirley about the track that became an airplay hit in Europe

TAPE HUNTERS

Former RRPG Editor Ian Shirley put out dozens of LPs for RC’s Rare Record Club. Here he spills the beans on the mastertapes behind some archive releases

The cost of collecting crisis

Do the rising prices of records, CDs and memorabilia threaten cutbacks by collectors? Joe Geesin reads the runes

MOD ALMIGHTY

Eddie Piller – DJ, radio show host, founder of Acid Jazz Records and all-round mod acolyte – has a new book out, Clean Living Under Difficult Circumstances – A Life In Mod. “The publisher asked me to write about my early life,” he explains. “He was shocked when he saw the manuscript. People don’t realise how violent it was back in 1979.

WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?

As melodic and lyrically masterful as ever, Ron Sexsmith mines the past on a potent new album, The Vivian Line, inspired by leaving the big city for more humble surroundings. But is he, as longtime cheerleader Elvis Costello once suggested, still “cursed” by being born out of time? Terry Staunton takes a road trip to find out.

FIFE STAR

Twenty-five years in showbusiness? Hardly believable for such a perennially innovative artist as Steve Mason. But that milestone, along with the release of his fifth solo album, Brothers & Sisters, seems a good occasion for Mason to look back, album by album - in reverse order - over his recorded output under various guises since The Beta Band made their debut in 1998. Soul brother: Daryl Easlea

The Who – "Smoke! Violence! We Showed Them What War Was All About”

The new The Who With Orchestra Live At Wembley is a stirring document of The Who's 2019 headline show at Wembley Stadium, backed by a 50-piece orchestra. It marks several decades as one of the world's premier live rock acts, and certainly one of the most unpredictable and explosive. Here, Roger Daltrey recalls 10 key Who gigs. Then, on page 86, Pete Townshend further explores the notion of The Who as an incendiary live entity while on p93, Joe Geesin presents a live Who discography.

Pauline Black – "We Protested and Were Heard"

Pauline Black and The Selecter may have had their 'moment' at the height of 2 Tone in the late 70s/early 80s alongside The Specials, Madness and The Beat, but that doesn't mean they have been inactive since. In fact, their latest album, Human Algebra, is merely the latest - their 16th in a line of long-players calling out injustice to a rocksteady beat. Not for nothing was Black awarded an OBE for services to entertainment - she's full of surprises, though that doesn't quite explain the telegram from Marlene Dietrich or marriage proposal from Fela Kuti. "I do like the double-take when people hear me open my mouth," she tells Lois Wilson

Obsession?

Record collectors can cop flak for their passion. But if more people understood the psychology of record collecting, might they cut we collectors more slack?, asks Tim Jones

David Crosby: 1941-2023

"When I started writing things like Guinnevere, I began to hit my stride"

Everything Under The Sun: The Dark Side Of The Moon at 50

Pink Floyd's eighth studio album, The Dark Side Of The Moon, is one of the cornerstones of modern music., capturing a band at their peak, honing and refining the experimentation of their recent past into linear progressive pop songs. Haunted by the spectre of their absent leader Syd Barrett, and bewildered by the rituals of adulthood, Roger Waters wrote of ageing, war, religion, avarice and lunacy in a manner so recognisable that it has resonated down the ages. As for its artwork, nestling just behind Sgt Pepper's bass drum, the prism on the album's cover is one of the most iconic in rock. The icing on the VCS 3, Waters' vision would be nothing without the textures provided by David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Nick Mason. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the album, issued originally on 1 March 1973, Mike Barnes and Jo Kendall explore this classic from new angles, from the live shows that shaped the record to the music press reaction. They meet the young woman behind the lens on tour, and assess the album's impact on the next generation. And Stefano Tarquini and Joe Geesin provide expert discographical detail...

Jeff Beck: 1944-2023

Just how good he sounded in his seventies was made clear by his last album, 18

Seminal Works

The records that helped the art-pop trailblazers crack the big time - and broke their original line-up.

Method In The Sadness

The 21st-century Karen Carpenter fashions a marathon of meta-melancholy, with a few new tricks.

Revival Stories

Startling modern soul from sexagenarian comeback kid.

Single File

Make room on the crowded Beatle shelf for this magnificent tome.

DEMIGODDESS

Scottish rocker delivers glimmering display in symphonic setting

Dark Magic

Three-decade high from Basildon's finest on blackest celebration yet.

THE ENGINE ROOM

The unsung heroes who helped forge modern music

UNDER THE RADAR

Artists, bands, and labels meriting more attention

A Fitting Farewell

When two songwriting greats combined.

Daisy Cutter

Double-LP reissue becomes an unintended tribute to a hip-hop great.

33 1/2 minutes with...Paul Jones

Since his rise to mid-60s stardom with Manfred Mann, Paul Jones has been one of Britain's premier blues/R&B singers.