''Sounds'' was a UK weekly
pop/rock music newspaper, published from 10 October 1970 to 6 April 1991. It was known for giving away posters in the centre of the paper (initially black and white, then colour from late 1971) and later for covering
heavy metal (especially the
new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM))
and
punk and
Oi! music in its late 1970s–early 1980s heyday.
History
It was produced by Spotlight Publications (part of Morgan Grampian), which was set up by John Thompson and Jo Saul with Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'' to start their own company. ''Sounds'' was their first project, a weekly paper devoted to
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...
and described by Hutton, to those he was attempting to recruit from his former publication, as "a leftwing ''Melody Maker''". ''Sounds'' was intended to be a weekly rival to titles such as ''Melody Maker'' and ''
New Musical Express
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' (''NME'').
''Sounds'' was one of the first music papers to cover
punk.
Mick Middles covered the
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
music scene for ''Sounds'' from 1978 to 1982 writing about many of the up and coming bands of the time from
Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the indepen ...
and
Slaughter & The Dogs to
The Fall and
Joy Division.
John Robb joined in 1987 and used the term "
Britpop" to refer to bands such as
the La's,
the Stone Roses
The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, ...
and
Inspiral Carpets, although it did not develop into the Britpop genre/movement at that time (as these acts were grouped under labels such as
Baggy,
Madchester and indie-dance).
Keith Cameron wrote about
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colomb ...
after Robb carried out the first interview with them.
The Obscurist Chart ran for about a year, first appearing on 5 September 1981 issue,
as an alternative to the main, sales-driven record charts, allowing
bands and music outside the mainstream to be recognised.
[ The chart was started by Paul Platypus, who played with Mark Perry in The Reflections and compiled the first nine charts. The last chart appeared in 11 December 1982 issue.][
In 1987, Morgan-Grampian had been acquired by United News and Media (later to become United Business Media), first as part of the United Advertising Publications (UAP) division and later as part of the then CMP Information portfolio. A legacy of ''Sounds'' was the creation of the heavy metal/ rock magazine '']Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication '' Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a on ...
'', which was originally issued as a supplement before being spun off as a separate publication.
''Sounds'' was one of the trinity of British music weeklies, along with ''NME'' and ''Melody Maker'', that were colloquially known as 'The Inkies'. ''Sounds'' folded in 1991 after the parent company, United Newspapers, decided to concentrate on trade papers like ''Music Week'' and so sold most of their consumer magazines titles to EMAP Metro, with ''Sounds'' being closed at the same time as its sister music magazine, the more chart and dance music oriented ''Record Mirror
''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...
''.
Contributors
Contributors included Garry Bushell, Sandy Robertson, Giovanni Dadomo, Mick Middles, Geoff Barton, John Robb, Phil Bell, Mick Sinclair, Caroline Coon, Antonella Gambotto
Antonella Gambotto-Burke (née Antonella Gambotto, born 19 September 1965) is an Italian-Australian author, journalist and singer-songwriter based in Kent, England, known for her writing about sex, death and motherhood.
Gambotto-Burke is best k ...
, Vivien Goldman, Ingham">Jonh Ingham, Alan Moore (a.k.a. "Curt Vile"), Lizo Mzimba, John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
, Barbara Charone, Edwin Pouncey (a.k.a. "Savage Pencil
Edwin Pouncey (born June 1951), also known by the ''nom de plume'' Savage Pencil, is an English comics artist, musician, and music journalist.
Biography
As Savage Pencil and otherwise, Pouncey has contributed to magazines such as '' Sounds'' ...
"), Cathi Unsworth
Cathi Unsworth is an English writer and journalist. After working for ''Melody Maker'' and ''Bizarre'', she began writing novels, with ''The Not Knowing'' in 2005 and ''The Singer'' in 2007, on Serpent's Tail. She also edited its ''London Noir' ...
, Jon Ronson, Jon Savage
Jon Savage (born Jonathan Malcolm Sage; 2 September 1953 in Paddington, London) is an English writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, ''England's Dreaming'', published in 199 ...
, Sylvie Simmons, Penny Valentine, Marguerite Van Cook
Marguerite Van Cook (née Martin) (born 1954) is an English artist, writer, musician/singer and filmmaker. She was born in Portsmouth, England and now resides in New York City on the Lower East Side, in the East Village. She attended Portsmouth ...
, Mary Anne Hobbs
Mary Anne Hobbs (born 16 May 1964) is an English DJ and music journalist from Lancashire, England. She currently hosts the BBC Radio 6 Music weekday mid-morning show, Monday to Friday, 10:30am1pm, and her ''6 Music Recommends'' show, Wednesda ...
, Mat Snow, Johnny Waller, James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the hono ...
(who went on to form '' Loaded''), Andy Ross
Andrew Ross is an American musician. He has been the guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist for the rock band OK Go since 2005. He is also behind a solo project, Secret Dakota Ring, which released albums in 2004 and 2008. Ross is also co-founder of ...
(who wrote as "Andy Hurt" and went on to form Food Records), Steve Lamacq, Kev F. Sutherland
Kev F. Sutherland (born 18 October 1961) is a Scottish comedian and comic strip creator. He has drawn for a variety of publications, including ''The Beano''. He has produced several shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including The Sitcom T ...
and Russ Carvell's '' UT'' strip, and photographers Michael Putland, Ian Dickson, Jill Furmanovsky, Andy Phillips, Steve Payne, Virginia Turbett, Tony Mottram, Ross Halfin and Janette Beckman.
Notes
References
External links
Comic strips that were published in ''Sounds''
by Alan Moore
Reviews and features published in ''Sounds''
by Mick Sinclair
Photos published in ''Sounds''
by Simon Clegg
{{Authority control
1970 establishments in the United Kingdom
1991 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom
English-language magazines
Magazines established in 1970
Magazines disestablished in 1991
Magazines published in London
Music magazines published in the United Kingdom
Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom