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The Latest Breaking News from Steve Lillywhite

“There were certain guidelines, and that was to stay away from long hair and guitar solos”: How Led Zeppelin, The Doors and Hendrix inspired a rule-breaking post-punk band to write one of rock’s greatest anthems

The Cult’s She Sells Sanctuary can lay claim to be the first great alternative rock anthem

Louder

“It's the best thing that's happened to Lee but also the worst. He wrote this perfect song, but it's meant he hasn’t had to do anything because he has a constant source of income”: The torturous - and ironic - story of There She Goes

"He had this blueprint in his head for the record, but it was like an acid trip that kept coming back to him, and it would mess him up"

MusicRadar

They were bottled off stage by Alice Cooper's audience, derailed by a death in The Pretenders and made U2's producer cry: How Big Country made one of the biggest albums of the 80s

In an exclusive extract from a new book about the life of Stuart Adamson, we look at the hidden story behind The Crossing

Louder

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“People have told me they’ve heard it at weddings – with a guy singing it at the organ. Oh God! I can’t imagine what that was like”: Bryan Adams and the ballad that ate the world

The Groover from Vancouver’s record-breaking hit

MusicRadar

"How would anyone feel when one is the principal songwriter in the band and along comes this upstart and spoils everything?" What happens when your bass player accidentally writes your first big hit

Making Plans for Nigel established XTC as the intelligent arm of the post-punk movement – and it's still being directed at current Nigels

Louder

"The song means as much today as it did then - kids trying to break out of their town to find something to do": Influenced by Aleister Crowley and toothache, the song that introduced new wave still strikes a chord

The Sex Pistols weren't the only authority-baiting band to storm the charts in 1977

Louder

“In operas, if you have a double aria, it's what the woman does that really matters. The man lies, the woman tells the truth": The story of Fairytale Of New York

MusicRadar looks back on one of Shane MacGowan's most enduring and beloved achievements

MusicRadar

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Kirsty MacColl: A look back at her life from her iconic Christmas song to her tragic death

The Standard looks back at the life and legacy of Kirsty MacColl, from her iconic Christmas duet with The Pogues to her tragic death

Evening Standard

'It was a cover up': Kirsty MacColl's ex-husband accuses one of Mexico's richest men over Fairytale of New York singer's death

Speaking out on the anniversary of her death, MacColl’s ex-husband has cast doubt over the circumstances of her death

Evening Standard

“It’s faster, more spunky. It’s a great version of the song”: Steve Lillywhite on what he did to brush up a new live version of Fairytale Of New York

Christmas classic is “like a fine wine” says producer

MusicRadar

“Some might wonder why Steven Wilson was brought in. But the art-rock credentials are never in doubt and its songs are progressive in an anarchic way”: XTC’s Drums And Wires returns

Their 1979 commercial breakthrough benefits from Wilson’s finesse, while Steve Lillywhite’s original mix remains daisy-fresh

Louder

“I liked Bad Company and Free. Those bands, like David Bowie and Roxy Music, were all pop. But their albums had deeper cuts. That’s what I hoped we could pull off”: Billy Duffy on the making of The Cult’s 1985 breakout album – and why Rain made him sweat

Led by the stunning She Sells Sanctuary, Love was the sound of a band experimenting at scale, finding the great enabler in producer Steve Brown, and it just so happens to be Duffy's favorite

Guitar World

“New Year’s Day set the template for a more direct sonic vision for U2 - and marked the point at which they shifted their gaze towards political issues around the globe”: The making of an ’80s rock classic

It was a defining moment for Bono and the boys

MusicRadar

“Steve Lillywhite deserves credit for forcing our hand on that one”: Bono on the huge U2 hit that they saved from the scrapheap

U2’s frontman says their producer forced the band to record it live, and he's glad he did

Louder

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Louder

A beginner's guide to the Dave Matthews Band in 10 songs

Fresh from their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, we look at the Dave Matthews Band's finest moments

Louder

“I was keen to get a new audience. It took me until album number three before I found an identity”: The adventure of Peter Gabriel’s first four solo records

Car, Scratch, Melt and Security log the incredible distance he covered between leaving Genesis and creating So

Guitar World

“Keyboards started coming up a lot more, and so there was a little more of a fight for space with the guitar”: Alex Lifeson looks back on the difficult creation of Rush’s 1984 classic, Grace Under Pressure

Recorded during a brutal winter, Grace Under Pressure did not come easy, but all things considered, Lifeson can look back on it as a triumph. Rush had moved on, and that was the goal...

Louder

“Keyboards were the new thing. There was this attitude: ‘They sound big and they sound cool’”: how Rush swapped guitars and kimonos for synths and mullets in the 1980s

A deep dive into Rush’s divisive 80s period, when side-long epics were out and synths came in

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Louder

"Half of the people I knew wanted to pat me on the back, and the rest to punch me in the face": Bruce Watson looks back on Big Country's second album Steeltown

Big Country's Steeltown album was recorded during the 1984 miner's strike as guitarist Bruce Watson's father stood on the picket line: the album reflected those dark times

MusicRadar

The story of Fairytale Of New York: “I sat down, opened the sherry, got the peanuts out and pretended it was Christmas…"

At this time when the music world is mourning the loss of Shane MacGowan, MusicRadar looks back on one of his most enduring and beloved achievements

Louder

“I’m not interested in my own angst. I like a good story. Violence. A bit of sex, a bit of drinking, a bit of drugs, y’knoworramean?” A tribute to Shane MacGowan, the genius lyricist who thought the music was more important than the words

As the music of the 80s became more polished, synthesised and over-produced, The Pogues took it back to its rudiments. And at the heart of it was Shane MacGowan and his lyrics: funny, romantic, full of characters and stories

The Guardian - UK

‘She never pandered to fashion’: why Kirsty MacColl’s vivid pop career was no fairytale

Deemed ‘difficult’ in the 80s music industry, the Pogues’ vocal foil never quite found the audience she deserved. As a box set is released, collaborators gather to recall her wistful, witty songwriting

Evening Standard

Keir Starmer’s days as a heartthrob barrister before politics revealed

Sir Keir’s ‘brawny bod’ drew comment on the Your Barrister Boyfriend blog a decade ago

Guitar World

“For me, a power chord is laziness”: Rolling Stones, U2 and XTC producer Steve Lillywhite explains why certain uses of power chords are “not art”

They're used in many of music's most famous songs and form the bedrock of numerous styles, but super-producer Lillywhite isn't overly keen on power chords – here's why

MusicRadar

Who is the greatest of all time: The Beatles or Queen? Producer Steve Lillywhite has an interesting take

"I would never say anyone is better than The Beatles, but…"

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