Dundee Rep Theatre, May 28th, 2026. In a week that saw a bitter row erupt within the BBC regarding men taking on women’s stories (four hundred female writers signed an open letter against Jeff Pope doing a dramatisation of Sarah Everard’s murder) questions still remain about the authorship of female experience. But there’s no suchContinue reading “Theatre Review: Educating Rita, Dundee Rep Theatre”
Tag Archives: Eighties
Should’ve Been A Hit: Destroy All Monsters- Stranger Than Fiction
Despite my indie/ goth pretensions, I’ve got such a soft spot for the kind of cartoon bubblegum pop of the mid- eighties. Destroy All Monsters were one such band. This was an earworm when I woke up today. Not to be confused with the legendary Detroit punk band fronted by statuesque beauty and visual artistContinue reading “Should’ve Been A Hit: Destroy All Monsters- Stranger Than Fiction”
Is Nothing Sacred?! The Karate Kid Musical
And so, the 1980s/ nostalgia bandwagon trundles wheezily onwards into oblivion. We’ve had Heathers, Annie, Hairspray, now it’s the musical that absolutely nobody asked for, The Karate Kid. Bizarrely, Phoenix Nights predicted this would happen years ago, with their own amateur version. Original film posters. Join Daniel and Mr Miyagi as he battles to tackleContinue reading “Is Nothing Sacred?! The Karate Kid Musical”
Lost In Music:Prince- The Beautiful Ones
There are many songs I could have picked as a tribute: obvious anthems (‘Purple Rain’, ‘Little Red Corvette ‘, ‘Raspberry Beret’, etc) or the more lascivious songs (‘Get Off’, ‘Cream’, ‘Sister’, ‘Darling Nikki’, ‘Kiss’, ‘Sexy MF’ etc) even his big conceptual songs from the Sign O’The Times era or featuring his Camille alter -ego. ButContinue reading “Lost In Music:Prince- The Beautiful Ones”
Overlooked Classics: Cocteau Twins -Lullabies
2 Alas Dies Laughing 3. It’s All But An Ark Lark Cocteau Twins’ first EP, released after the debut studio album Garlands,still has some of the early spikiness, but fuses it with the ethereal sonics that became the band’s trademark. On production duty was 4AD label founder Ivo Watts-Rizsell. Elizabeth Fraser’s swooning, impenetrable voice andContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Cocteau Twins -Lullabies”
Lost In Music: ESG- UFO (1980)
The three sisters – Emerald, Sapphire and Gold- aka the Scroggins sisters (there were actually five initially) made minimal music for the dancefloor, which wasn’t concerned with melody, but rhythm. ‘UFO’ really broke the mould though, with its disturbing space age noise, eerie scraping sonics juxtaposed with a killer funk bass line. It was excessivelyContinue reading “Lost In Music: ESG- UFO (1980)”
Lost In Music: Before Lana Del Rey … Mazzy Star
She Hangs Brightly was the debut album from Mazzy Star, aka guitarist Dave Roback and vocalist Hope Sandoval. Previously, with singer Kendra Smith, they were Opal, but she was replaced, and the (ugh, I hate this word) jailbait prettiness and sleepy drawl of Sandoval proved more marketable, it seems. Released in 1990, essentially the duoContinue reading “Lost In Music: Before Lana Del Rey … Mazzy Star”
Lost In Music: Grace Jones – A One Man Show
As I’ve undoubtedly stated before, I often gravitate towards art that frightens me. Grace Jones ‘ A One Man Show created in 1982 by Jones with then- partner Jean Paul Goude, is one such example. Channel 4 screened it a few years later and I was still in my early teens. It remains a formativeContinue reading “Lost In Music: Grace Jones – A One Man Show”
Vintage Film Review: The Lost Boys
How 1980s is Joel Schumacher ‘s teen comedy horror film The Lost Boys? The “dudes” look like all of Bon Jovi at once. The “chicks” could be dropouts from The Breakfast Club. And the soundtrack is dreadful, full of macho douche soft rock. Only Echo And The Bunnymen’s tepid Doors cover hints at anything alternative.Continue reading “Vintage Film Review: The Lost Boys”
Overlooked Classics: The Fall- Bend Sinister
Mid-eighties Fall were, as ever, a strange proposition, fast becoming a cult band; yet always wilfully on the sidelines, casting caustic barbs at the more banal elements of pop culture. So it was with the ninth album, the brilliant Bend Sinister. It was named after the Nabokov novel. Even the cover points to the kindContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: The Fall- Bend Sinister”
Hit The North 