This month the cover stars are Pink Floyd, and the story takes place during 1974-5: welcome to The Making Of Wish You Were Here. It’s a gripping yarn, told beautifully by RC writer Stevie Chick. The recording sessions were fraught, the atmosphere charged as the band dealt with a visitation at their studio from their past. But the results were arguably the best album Floyd ever made, eclipsing even its monumental predecessor The Dark Side Of The Moon. There’s more: at the end of the story, turn over and you get a 1974-5 Floyd discography. And look out for an interview with Roy Harper who sang on Wish’s Have A Cigar, and a breakdown of those other 70s and 80s proto-ambient landmark LPs.
The rest of the issue is eclectic business as usual. Liverpudlian mouth almighty Pete Wylie declares himself “the British Taylor Swift”. We feature a gallery of images from legendary rock photographer Gered Mankowitz. We interview Judas Priest and feature a hefty discography of the metal overlords. The songwriters’ songwriter, Jackie DeShannon, discusses her career. We meet glacial-goth pioneers Xmal Deutschland. Barry Greenfield recalls how he became an Apple Records one-that-got-away. And we speak to Paul Weller about his new album.
Elsewhere, we report from April’s Den Bosch world record fair. RC Investigates looks into the rising cost of record shopping online. The Collector this month is Hipgnosis Songs Fund founder – and Nile Rodgers manager – Merck Mercuriadis. We solve a recent conundrum that foxed even Danny Baker in Value Added Facts and in Diggin’ For Gold we meet the aforementioned near-signee to Apple, Barry Greenfield. Most Wanted offers, to those with deep pockets, Barry Gibbs’ jumpsuit, Stones stationery and Dave Clark Five dolls. Luke Haines eulogises Steve Harley, who we lost recently. Jay Aston of The Fizz and Colin Meloy are among the Talking Heads. We spend 33 1/3 minutes in the company of Echo & The Bunnymen’s Will Sergeant. Our comprehensive Album reviews section includes everyone from Luther Vandross to Pavement via Camera Obscura, along with Paul Weller who talks us through 66, while in Books we consider new tomes on The Beatles and Bowie and in Lives we assess performances by Slash, Richard Thompson, Johnny Marr and more.
At the back of the mag, we feature a Shop Of The Month, a Gig Guide, subscription special offers and our unique classified listings pages. We go Under The Radar with Rita Jean Bodine and into The Engine Room with Keith Forsey, May Pang picks the hits that make her click, 10 Of The Best features albums by bassists and you can win Rascals and Sabbath vinyl in Competitions & Crosswords. Finally, we bid farewell to Mike Pinder of The Moody Blues and Dickie Betts of Allman Brothers.
We’re already hard at work on the seventh issue of 2024. The cover feature asks the question: how does the music of the Britpop era stand up 30 years on? We speak to Britpop’s stars and rate the records. Marc Almond is our RC Interviewee. We meet mainstream behemoths Bon Jovi and Crowded House. We have rare encounters with cult “lost boys” Vini Reilly and Joe Pernice. And we argue for the greatness of The O’Jays’ early 70s output, suggesting that their albums, Back Stabbers and Ship Ahoy, merit contention alongside the sacred likes of What’s Going On and There’s A Riot Goin’ On. It’s a cracking issue.
RC can be purchased from your local newsagent, our loyal army of record shop stockists, or you can start a subscription or buy individual copies from our shop. Meanwhile, check out our latest offering: RC Presents special editions on Bruce Springsteen and The Beach Boys, here.
See you next month,
Paul Lester
Editor
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