Pete Paphides“A tormented beat-boom Eeyore.” Lunch with Ray Davies (2012)A biblical downpour is making its way through Highgate Village, but Ray Davies’s beetroot barnet is safe beneath the awning of his local…Jun 212Jun 212
Pete Paphides“I can’t imagine anything in this moment that would cause us to use the name R.E.M.Outside the swish Connaught Hotel, London is bathed in sunshine, but very little of it finds its way into the conference room where Michael…Jun 163Jun 163
Pete Paphides“Everybody would be killed.It has to be said that, as self-styled “Viking Welcomes” go, the one put together by the combined Scandinavian delegations is pretty tame…May 11May 11
Pete Paphides“A place where floating fragments of memory can be fast-fossilised into music.”Rack up a few turntable miles with the new album by Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band and it’s tempting to suppose that you’re privy to…Apr 28Apr 28
Pete Paphides“Was it just one enormous cheese dream?” On Mike Read’s Heritage Chart ShowA couple of weeks ago, the UK’s only chart-based music show celebrated its hundredth episode, and yet, there’s every chance you’ve never…Mar 11Mar 11
Pete Paphides“You can’t put a passport on music.Even for the most nostalgia-resistant onlooker, it’s hard to watch the Melbourne episode of the Commonwealth Film Unit’s Life In Australia…Jan 24Jan 24
Pete Paphides“Would it be exaggerating to say that what I was experiencing was an epiphany?”By the end of 1984, Paul Young was the sort of boyfriend material that would elicit adjectives like “dreamy” from Nicola Adkins, Fay…Dec 23, 20233Dec 23, 20233
Pete PaphidesThe Trashcan Sinatras: I’ve Seen Everything: “Songs that clang as softly as chapel bells on a…It’s 1993 and I lie for a living. The more I lie, the more attention I get. And in 1993, other people’s attention — in particular, the…Dec 8, 20238Dec 8, 20238
Pete Paphides“Youthful brio is perishable so you might as well use it all at once.” On The Soup Dragons.It’s 1984 and from a distance, Bellshill and the other satellite towns and suburbs from where The Soup Dragons will emerge could be any of…Oct 26, 20234Oct 26, 20234
Pete Paphides“The most controversial thing I’ve done is to stick around.” Madonna, O2, London, Oct 15, 2023Lying in an intensive care unit battling sepsis just four months ago, it’s unclear whether Madonna saw her life flash before her, but it…Oct 16, 20235Oct 16, 20235