After 1984’s gargantuan greatness with the dominance of Frankie and meteoric rise of Madonna and Prince, 1985 had a lot to measure up to. …And indeed, some have said it’s a rather more forgettable year for pop.
Category Archives: Miscellaneous
Beyond Redemption: An interview with Big River
2019 was a big year for UK blues rock band Big River. After a few years of tireless gigging, they’d started to make higher profile appearances. Perhaps more importantly, they finally released their debut album ‘Redemption’, a long time in the planning. We last spoke to founding guitarist Damo Fawsett four years ago, so he was keen to come back to Real Gone and fill us in on the band’s activities. This time, we got the full picture as we also got to spend time with Ant Wellman (bass), Adam Bartholomew (vocals) and Joe Martin (drums). Obviously, they’re all thrilled to bits with the response the album has gained…
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The Great 80s Project: 1984
Few people could argue against 1984 being one of history’s finest years for pop music. Above all else, the mighty Frankie Goes To Hollywood came and gave pop a hefty kick up the arse with a combination of great tunes and greater controversy. They were the first band since the 60s to score three #1 hits in a row, but each one – ‘Relax’, ‘Two Tribes’ and ‘The Power of Love’ were deserving of their success. Each one sounds as good as ever and in the case of ‘Two Tribes’, there’s still a real edginess you’d think would be long gone.
Dave Greenfield: 29/3/1949 – 3/5/2020
The Stranglers were an important part of the first movement of British punk. Not so much in that they were capable of writing angry, antagonistic songs, but more in the fact that they managed to inject various elements of late 60s dark psychedelia into the then new musical phenomenon.
Real Gone Sessions #5: The 1957 Tail-Fin Fiasco – Dream Pharma
In April 2020, adult pop heroes The 1957 Tail-Fin Fiasco made an unexpected return with their video single ‘Dream Pharma’. It had been almost eighteen months since the world heard from them, and the band themselves weren’t entirely sure they were going to make new music, but here they were.