Music
Record Collector
BOOM BOOM!
Bob Geldof leads The Boomtown Rats through 50th anniversary celebration
10 min |
January 2026
Record Collector
UNDER THE RADAR
Artists, bands, and labels meriting more attention
4 min |
January 2026
Record Collector
THE ENGINE ROOM
The unsung heroes who helped forge modern music
4 min |
January 2026
Record Collector
STAR FAKER
How did a Long Island teenager persuade the cream of UK/US talent to appear on his private press albums? Welcome to the strange world of Steve Kaczorowski, where nothing is as it seems.
6 min |
January 2026
Record Collector
LABEL OF LOVE IN A SPIN VINYL
We are based in Devon; we release rare and obscure mod/psych/garage tracks from the 60s in 7” vinyl format, giving them a new lease of life and the exposure they deserve.
2 min |
January 2026
Record Collector
Heard Ya Missed Us WELL WE'RE BACK!
Formed in 1976 from the ashes of two great protopunk groups, London-based The Boys rode the first wave of the new musical revolution, recording four albums before disappearing only to rise again.
4 min |
January 2026
Record Collector
THIS WAS THE MODERN WORLD
In the late 70s, as punk’s blast of insurrectionary fire began to flame out, many of those inspired to get up onstage began to look further back for inspiration – to the mods of the previous decade, all sharp sense of style and gritty R’n’B pop.
10+ min |
January 2026
Record Collector
The Collector
This month: DJ Nevio Bencivenni
6 min |
January 2026
Record Collector
Not Forgotten
Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, died 20 November, age 63. The bassist was a member of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream. Joining the Roses in 1987 – replacing bass player Pete Garner – Mani’s presence proved a galvanising force as the group became kingpins of the emergent Madchester scene.
8 min |
January 2026
Record Collector
ALL HAIL "THE CABS
Key movers in the growth of electronic music in the north of England in the 70s, Cabaret Voltaire influenced a host of nascent electronic bands who would take those sounds into the mainstream: neighbours The Human League, Mancunian friends New Order and US industrial behemoths like Nine Inch Nails to name but three.
10+ min |
January 2026
Record Collector
UNDER THE RADAR
Artists, bands, and labels meriting more attention
4 min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
LOOKIN' AFTER No 1s THE XMAS FACTOR
Does your granny always tell ya that the old songs are the best? The truth might be more curious and complex, as Chris Roberts finds, tearing off the wrapping paper to discover the full history of the Christmas No 1
10+ min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
Behold The Man Friday, The Leader Of The Virgin Prunes
Since the late 70s, Gavin Friday has trod a singular path, whether as part of influential post-punks The Virgin Prunes, soundtracking Hollywood blockbusters.
10 min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
THE ENGINE ROOM
The unsung heroes who helped forge modern music
4 min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACKERS
In 1975, 10cc and Queen reigned supreme with I'm Not In Love and that also happened to be the Christmas No 1. But how did both Bohemian Rhapsody. The former was the chart-topping sound of the game-changing singles happen that year, and which, wonders Paul summer and a production landmark, the latter a multi-part song-suite McNulty, remains the most revolutionary example of 70s songcraft?
10+ min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
'WE'D JUST WALLOW IN HOW FUCKING BRILLIANT WE WERE'
Graham Gouldman on I'm Not In Love, The Original Soundtrack and 10cc's next-level pop.
8 min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
The Collector
Warren Kurtz began collecting records in the 60s and has written about music since the 70s.
6 min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
Heaven From Hell
An exhilarating masterpiece wrung from a period of turmoil and unease, all done up for its 50th birthday.
5 min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
33½ minutes with...Brinsley Schwarz
It's 60 years since Brinsley Schwarz made his recording bow, a handful of singles with the semi-psychedelic pop band Kippington Lodge, but he became a more visible presence later in the decade when he lent his name to the pub rock figureheads who also included Nick Lowe in their number.
4 min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
TEEN SPIRIT
Of all the first-wave punk bands, Eater were arguably the truest to form.
9 min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
BLACK AND WHITE MISFITS
Arty oddities on the late-70s punk scene, The Monochrome Set did things their way, alienating some. Generations that followed have been more appreciative, which is why they have intermittently regrouped and have a new album and book in the pipeline, as they tell Rob Hughes
10 min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
I AM A LASER
Laser-etched and hologram discs had their day in the sun. Joe Geesin focuses on some of the landmark innovations that haven't entirely faded away
4 min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
THE RHYTHM DIVINE
By the late 70s it ostensibly sucked, but by the early 80s it was enjoying renewed and rude health. It was the dance music that could never die: here, we look at what disco did next after Comiskey Park.Boogie wander: Kris Needs
10+ min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
CAN YOU DIGIT?
FLACS, WAVs, MP3s, M4As... to many record collectors, files on a computer hold little interest, even though they may contain the actual sounds that fuel our passion for music in the first place. But even if they don't exist in physical format, the emergence of downloading and streaming platforms since the turn of the century, and the subsequent removal of some of the \"content\" therein, has made some of the music circulated rare and sought-after.
10 min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
45 minutes with...Shaun and Bez
Inspired by 1973 film That'll Be The Day, Shaun Ryder formed Happy Mondays in 1980 with a lineup completed by bassist brother Paul Ryder, drummer Gaz Whelan, keyboardist Paul Davis and guitarist Mark Day.
6 min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
Bless Whatever
For over 60 years double-bassist Danny Thompson, who died in September, remained a highly respected and in-demand musician.
10+ min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
YOU CAN CALL ME AL
Inevitably, the obituaries that followed in the wake of his death in June focused on the work of lead Beach Boy, Brian Wilson.
10+ min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
Luke Haines writes the shuk out of rock'n'roll
Luke Haines writes the shuk out of rock'n'roll The piquant power of forgotten fruit
3 min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
BOB'S FULL HOUSE
As our Christmas present to you, Record Collector spent several hours over several weeks in the company of this issue's editor: Bob Geldof, Knight of the Realm, Live Aid hero, sometimes conscience of the world, but deep down a music nut to the tips of his toes.
10+ min |
Christmas 2025 - Issue 578
Record Collector
45 minutes with...Roland Gift
Roland Gift came to prominence in 1985 when, as the lead singer in Fine Young Cannibals, he made the UK Top 10 with their first single, Johnny Come Home. That same year they also reached the Top 10 with their self-titled debut album, although it was their 1989 followup, The Raw & The Cooked, that hit No 1 in the UK and US and yielded US No 1 singles She Drives Me Crazy and Good Thing. When they split in 1996, Gift, who'd previously starred in films including 1987's Sammy And Rosie Get Laid and 1989's Scandal, returned to the screen, starring in 1997 TV miniseries, Painted Lady, alongside Helen Mirren. In 2002 he made his eponymously titled solo album, then, in 2013, went on tour with Jools Holland's band. He is currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of Fine Young Cannibals with FYC40, a career-spanning CD/LP package and an accompanying Roland Gift Presents Fine Young Cannibals tour.
6 min |