Remembering a lost 20th Century art form A couple of months back, I wrote about the mildly interesting but not exactly gripping BBC boyband reality series Made in Korea, which allows us, reality stylee, a close-up view of the hard drilling of the hopeful young members of fivesome Dear Alice in the… Read More »Boybands (Aren’t) Forever
I was contacted recently by Xavi Sancho of the Spanish national newspaper El Pais, who commissioned the recent profile of me, for some quotes for a major feature he was writing analysing the Taylor Swift phenomenon. Published last Sunday, here’s the Google Translate version of the standfirst: On May 29 and 30, the… Read More »‘The J.K. Rowling of Pop’
Elise Moore takes a close, loving look at the protean punkster pop star’s masterfully submissive manipulation of sexual imagery – and his wet shorts (special guest post) As a Canadian born in 1975, I knew essentially nothing about Adam Ant until this year. I don’t even have the faintest recollection… Read More »The Importance of Being Adam Ant
Some years back I posted a piece called ‘The Prettiest Punk‘, about the most fetching three-minute wonders. Scandalously, Adam Ant appeared nowhere in the list. Perhaps this oversight was an unconscious censorship – because otherwise none of the other candidates would have stood a chance. Or more likely down to… Read More »Prince Charming – Adam Ant’s Pop Apotheosis
I wrote an essay for Rolling Stone celebrating the 30th anniversary of the demise of The Smiths, explaining why we’re really lucky that they split in 1987 There’s nothing quite like realizing that it’s three entire decades since the most perfectly beautiful, perfectly worded, perfectly pitched, and perfectly-quiffed relationship you ever had… Read More »The Smiths Are Dead – Long Live The Smiths!