14/05/2026
Jun 2026 issue of Record Collector (584) - in shops now and available here: shop.recordcollectormag.com/current-issue
Punk and the press: Simon Goddard shows how influential the music press of the 70s was, tracing the giddy ascent of punk as it happened throughout 1976: you get the sense that the NME, Melody Maker, Sounds et al didn’t just chart punk’s development, they helped make it happen (with an extra bit of assistance from the tabloids and broadsheets). Punk was one of those music movements that partly happened not just on records, in venues and on the proverbial streets, but also partly on the pages of the music press itself; in the singles reviews, news reports and gobby interviews with the bands.
One of the things that would have been verboten around the time of punk, we’re guessing, would have been the article, The Collector, in which, this month, Leo Sayer reveals the contents of his vinyl collection. That hardline Year Zero attitude was all the rage 50 years ago; these days, we are rather more broadminded, especially at Record Collector, where we operate a strict Anything Goes policy. Hence, Leo.
It possibly explains why our feature on the best singles ever to come out of Los Angeles includes everything from CSN’s Marrakesh Express and Carpenters’ Goodbye To Love to The Go-Go’s and Slayer. It might also explain the presence in our pages this month of songstress, siren and WW2 spy, Josephine Baker.
It would certain explain why we have devoted no fewer than five pages to the soft-rock and disco lite likes of Peter Frampton, Gallagher & Lyle and Tina Charles in our none-more-honest account of what music we were really listening to in 1976, as punk stood menacingly at the nation’s gates and we pretended to like the Pistols’ Anarchy In The UK more than we did Chicago’s If You Leave Me Now.
Across the top of the cover – what music industry insiders call “a drop-in” – is “This Year’s Genre: Shoegaze” - the sound of mid-to-late-80s noise-pop with a fe**sh for FX pedals. A couple of years ago, goth had A Moment; it is our contention that shoegaze, after being something of a music press in-joke, is about to have a moment, too. In our 10-page special, Wesley Doyle tells you everything you need to know about this genre: the bands, the progenitors, the records, the current purveyors.
There’s more. In News, there’s a report on the return of a charity auction of white label test pressings while Vinylist gives you all you need to know about your favourite format. RC Investigates investigates in-car turntables (and no, it’s not a late April Fools’ joke). Leo Sayer is, as we said above, this month’s featured Collector and he is photographed with many of his choices. Value Added Facts focuses on Nurse With Wound while Diggin’ for Gold looks at a video game soundtrack label. Catherine AD aka The Anchoress talks syncs. In Talking Heads Roger Sanchez, Angelique Kidjo and more lie on the RC couch. We spend 33 1/3 minutes with Johnny Echols, Arthur Lee’s right-hand-man in Love.
In our comprehensive, none-more-authoritative Reviews pages, we review reissues and box sets from Thin Lizzy, Yoko Ono, Kraftwerk and Cream (in From The Vaults), and new releases from Paul McCartney, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and Aldous Harding. There are books reviewed on The The, Nick Cave, Prince and more, singles by Lydia Lunch and Steve Gunn, and gigs by Pet Shop Boys, Geese, Paul McCartney, Gorillaz and many more. There are also goth diva and punk/dub goodies to win in Crossword & Competitions as well as a The Beatles In Canada hardback book. We go into The Engine Room with Ray Russell and Under The Radar with The Dancing Did. We welcome back Black Box Recorder. Sebastian Tellier reveals his favourite ever records. This month’s 10 Of The Best are Sheffield Albums. Finally, we bid a sad farewell to Alan Osmond, Dave Mason, Afrika Bambaataa, Tony Rivers, Asha Bhosle…
Scarcely believably, we’re already hard at work on the next issue (on sale 11 June). On the cover is Rough Trade, a 12-page celebration of the shop, 50 this year, and label. To help tell RT’s story, we speak to Mike Joyce of The Smiths, Pete Doherty of The Libertines/Babyshambles, as well as various Raincoats and Sleaford Mods. Elsewhere, we interview at length everyone from Joan Jett and Lenny Kaye to Ian Gillan and Soft Machine. We also say nice things about musical cowboy Marty Robbins, football songs on the eve of the World Cup, and Melbourne’s finest 45s.
Listen out for RC’s new podcast, Needlepoint, that I do each month with the inestimable Daryl Easlea, editor of the Rare Record Price Guide, and look out for bookazine specials on Stevie Wonder (out now) and Blondie (on the way).
Thank you for your continued support of RC.
