| Classic Pop | |
| Category: | Music magazine |
| Frequency: | Monthly |
| Publisher: | Anthem Publishing |
| Founder: | Ian Peel |
| Editor: | Steve Harnell |
| Editor2: | Ian Peel |
| Editor Title2: | Editor-at-Large |
| Previous Editor: | Rik Flynn, Ian Peel |
| Firstdate: | October 2012 |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Classic Pop is a bi-monthly[1] British music magazine. It launched in October 2012, branded as the "Eighties, Electronic, Eclectic" magazine.[2] [3] Regular features include artist interviews, career overviews, and analyses of classic albums.[4]
Its occasional series, Five Decades of... interviews and appraises the work of a musician or group who may have been overlooked by other media, but who are nonetheless influential and active over the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. Key Five Decades of... features have included Vince Clarke (Issue 10, pages 54–61), Duran Duran (Issue 1, pages 52–59), Simple Minds (Issue 2, pages 58–65) and Spandau Ballet (Issue 3, pages 50–57).
The magazine was devised and founded by Ian Peel, who was also editor for the first 19 issues. Rik Flynn stepped in as editor until Issue 23 followed by current editor Steve Harnell. Ian Peel remains involved as Founder & Editor-at-Large.[5]
Launched by Anthem Publishing,[6] Classic Pop had become a monthly magazine by the time Anthem temporarily paused publication of the title in April 2020 due to Covid-19. After a break of three months, which saw Anthem cease publication of sister magazine "Long Live Vinyl",[7] Classic Pop returned as a bi-monthly publication with occasional special editions (such as "Synthpop Volume 2: Electric Dreams").[8]
Classic Pop has also published special one-off editions commemorating the lives of David Bowie, Prince and Michael Jackson, as well as the careers of ABBA, Madonna, Paul McCartney, George Michael and Elton John.
One of the magazine's lead sections, every issue has profiled one or more musicians with an interview and induction into Classic Pop's "Godmothers/Godfathers of Pop".[9] The following artists have been bestowed the title:
Marc Almond (Issue 16, page 18–19), Adam Ant (Issue 19, page 17), Wally Badarou (Issue 12, page 19), Tom Bailey (Issue 4, page 19), Andy Bell (Issue 13, page 17), Blancmange (Issue 1, page 21), Thomas Dolby (Issue 23, page 33), Wolfgang Flür (Issue 20, page 17), Martin Fry (Issue 9, page 17), Glenn Gregory (Issue 3, page 19), Clare Grogan (Issue 12, page 17), Tony Hadley (Issue 6, page 19), Daryl Hall (Issue 16, page 21), Morten Harket (Issue 3, page 17), Nick Heyward (Issue 19, page 19), Peter Hook (Issue 5, page 19), Trevor Horn (Issue 10, page 17), Steve Jansen (Issue 23, page 35), Matt Johnson (Issue 18, page 17), Howard Jones (Issue 2, page 19), Gary Kemp (Issue 1, page 19), Nik Kershaw (Issue 1, page 23 and Issue 21, page 33), Mark King (Issue 11, page 17), Annie Lennox (Issue 4, page 17), Ron Mael (Issue 10, page 19), Phil Manzanera (Issue 22, page 19), Dieter Meier (Issue 7, page 19), Daniel Miller (Issue 20, page 19), Kylie Minogue (Issue 2, page 17), Giorgio Moroder (Issue 6, page 17), Yoko Ono (Issue 7, page 17), Andy Partridge (Issue 15, page 17), Kate Pierson (Issue 21, page 31), Nick Rhodes (Issue 5, page 17), Nile Rodgers (Issue 8, page 17), Shaun Ryder (Issue 18, page 19), Cathal Smyth (Issue 22, page 17), Lisa Stansfield (Issue 8, page 19), Susan Ann Sulley (Issue 15, page 19), Bernard Sumner (Issue 17, page 17), John Taylor (Issue 9, page 19), Tracey Thorn (Issue 17, page 19), Toyah (Issue 13, page 19), Midge Ure (Issue 11, page 19), Martyn Ware (Issue 14, page 17), Pete Waterman (Issue 14, page 19).
Each edition of Classic Pop devotes five pages to an in-depth examination of the making of, and influence of, a pop album.
Since May 2014, the singles reviews section has been written by a guest contributor.[10] These have included:
Every issue of the magazine has included a column – most often written by Ian Peel or John Earls – examining and assessing a single or album that in their option should be considered classic or influential with hindsight, but which has fallen off the radar of the media or public-at-large. The following releases have been covered in this section:
Classic Pop runs an occasional series of in-depth appraisals of record labels. These have included:
For five issues in 2014, Classic Pop ran a series of interviews with songwriters describing the creative process behind some of their work.[11] The songs examined in this series were:
A pictorial based on behind-the-scenes photos and commentary from a recent concert. These have included Claudia Brücken's This Happened at Bush Hall, London (Issue 1, pages 106–107), The Christians' European Tour (Issue 2, pages 128–129), Thomas Dolby's Time Capsule Tour of the US (Issue 1, pages 104–105), Nick Heyward at Let's Rock the Moor! (Issue 4, pages 112–113), Let's Rock Festival (Issue 11, pages 90–91), Madness at The Queens' Diamond Jubilee Celebration Concert (Issue 1, pages 108–109), Swing Out Sister at Billboard Live, Tokyo (Issue 3, pages 128–129), Then Jerico's Big Area Tour (Issue 2, pages 126–127).
The earlier issues of the magazine included the lyrics to a particular song. These were Deacon Blue – Chocolate Girl (Issue 4, page 12), The Farm – All Together Now (Issue 5, page 12), Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Two Tribes (Annihilation) (Issue 6, page 12), Spandau Ballet – Gold (Issue 2, page 12), Squeeze – Cool for Cats (Issue 3, page 12).[12]