The Sex Pistols weren’t the first punk band to release an album – The Ramones beat them by 18 months. But Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Sid Vicious became the face of punk in the UK. Manager Malcolm…
Rich Mullins is known for the gimmicky CCM hit ‘Awesome God’. But that’s an unfair reputation – dig deeper, and he’s one of the best songwriters to emerge in the 1980s. Mullins was born in Richmond, Indiana. He was a…
Every New Zealand #1 single… 3 The Look by Roxette Topped the NZ chart for 3 (non-consecutive) weeks from 7 May 1989. Roxette Roxette are a Swedish supergroup. Marie Fredriksson was already a solo star in Sweden, while Per Gessle…
As even more logic would dictate, we’re now up to the 2010s Grammy winners. I found this one a bit easier than the 2000s one – it helps that “various artists” isn’t an answer, and that two artists are…
The members of The 1975 met at Wilmslow High School in their teens, playing at gigs organised by a local council worker. They started as a punk band, with Matt Healy, the son of two prominent actors, on drums. With…
This week, we have confessional power pop from NZ’s The Beths and socially conscious folk from Portland’s Anna Tivel. Enjoy! The Beths Straight Line Was a Lie 2025, 8.5/10All of The Beths’ albums feel like therapy, but this one more…
The success of Rhino’s 1998 Nuggets boxset justified a follow-up. The sequel covers the rest of the world since the first volume only chronicled the USA. Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969 emerged in 2001.…
As logic would dictate, we’re now up to the 2000s Grammy winners. I suspect many of us will find the 21st-century quizzes tougher. I scored 8/10, although I think the 2002 one is tough. Congratulations to Rich Kamerman, who…
I think it’s cheating to publish a best albums list during the year in question – like, what if the best album ever is released on the 15th of December? That wasn’t the case this year, but a lot of…
Music from three different continents this week: Jens Lekman Songs for Other People’s Weddings 2025, 8.5/10 On my first album there was a song called If You Ever Need a Stranger (To Sing at Your Wedding) which wasn’t really meant…
