''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 The new wave of British heavy metal (often abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that began in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Editor Alan Lewis (music journalist), Alan Lew ...

(NWOBHM)) and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

Oi! Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. The movement wa ...

music in its late 1970s–early 1980s heyday.

History

''Sounds'' was produced by

Spotlight Publications ''Spotlight Publications'' was a music business information company based in London, England that published music magazines in the United Kingdom from 1953 to 2010, with some expansion into the United States. Publications *''Gavin Report'', US mag ...

(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. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' 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) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

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, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

'' (''NME''). ''Sounds'' was one of the first music papers to cover

Mick Middles Mick Middles is a British music journalist. He has written for many newspapers and magazines and is the author of many books about music, several relating to Factory Records, Tony Wilson, Joy Division and Ian Curtis, and he is the authorised biog ...

covered the

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

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 that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Manchester in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. The ...

and

Slaughter & The Dogs Slaughter and the Dogs are an English punk rock band formed in 1975 in Wythenshawe, Manchester. Their original line-up consisted of singer Wayne Barrett, rhythm guitar Mick Rossi, drummer Brian "Mad Muffet" Grantham, lead guitarist Mike Day an ...

to The Fall and

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

. John Robb joined in 1987 and used the term "

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

" to refer to bands such as

the La's The La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from 1983 until 1992. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group are best known for their hit single " There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike ...

the Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were 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 I ...

and

Inspiral Carpets Inspiral Carpets are an English rock band, part of the late-1980s/early-1990s Madchester movement. Formed in Oldham in 1983, the band's most successful lineup featured frontman Tom Hingley, drummer Craig Gill, guitarist Graham Lambert, bassist ...

, although it did not develop into the Britpop genre/movement at that time (as these acts were grouped under labels such as

Baggy Baggy is a British alternative dance genre popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and generally associated with the Northern UK's Madchester scene. The style saw alternative rock bands draw influence from psychedelia as well as dance music ...

Madchester Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that emerged in the English city of Manchester during the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance movement. Indie dance (also referred to as indie rave) blended indie rock with elements o ...

and indie-dance). Keith Cameron wrote about

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

after Robb carried out the first interview with them in 1989. Although the magazine was already defunct,

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

wore a white, long sleeved ''Sounds'' t-shirt for a photoshoot in London on August 22, 1991 and the next day when they played the

Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading, Berkshire, Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend ...

for the first time. 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 Bands may refer to: * Bands (song), song by American rapper Comethazine * Bands (neckwear), form of formal neckwear * Bands (Italian Army irregulars) Bands () was an Italian military term for Irregular military, irregular forces, composed of nati ...

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 the 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 Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

magazine ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'', 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 UBM plc was a British business-to-business (B2B) events organiser headquartered in London, England, before its acquisition by Informa in 2018. It had a long history as a multinational media company. Its main focus was on B2B events, but its pr ...

, 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 published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

''.

Contributors

Contributors included

Garry Bushell Garry Bushell (born 13 May 1955) is an English newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author, musician and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Cockney Oi! bands GBX and the Gonads. He managed the New York C ...

, Sandy Robertson, Giovanni Dadomo, Mick Middles, Phil Sutcliffe,

Geoff Barton Geoff Barton (born July 1955) is a British journalist who founded the heavy metal magazine ''Kerrang!'' and was an editor of '' Sounds'' music magazine. He joined ''Sounds'' at the age of 19 after completing a journalism course at the London Co ...

, John Robb, Phil Bell, Mick Sinclair,

Caroline Coon Caroline Mary Thompson Coon (born 23 March, 1945) is an English artist known for her paintings, her feminist political activism, her writing and photography. After coming to prominence first as a leader of the UK underground, British Undergroun ...

, Antonella Gambotto,

Vivien Goldman Vivien Goldman (born 1952) is a British journalist, writer and musician. Early life and education Goldman was born in London in 1952, the child of two German-Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. She studied English and American literature at the ...

, Jonh Ingham,

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

(a.k.a. "Curt Vile"),

Lizo Mzimba Lizo Mzimba is an English journalist and television presenter. He is best known for being a presenter for '' Newsround'' between 1998 and 2008 and is currently the Entertainment Correspondent for BBC News. Early life Mzimba attended the indep ...

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

Barbara Charone Barbara Charone is a UK-based American public relations officer for musical artists and Board Member of Chelsea. Formerly a journalist and music critic, she wrote regularly for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', the ''NME'' and ''Rolling Stone'' while sti ...

, 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 (born 11 June 1968) is an English writer and music journalist. She has written for magazines including ''Melody Maker, Dazed & Confused'' and '' Bizarre,'' and has released several novels. Biography Unsworth was born on 11 Jun ...

Jon Ronson Jon Ronson (born 10 May 1967) is a British-American journalist, author, and filmmaker. He is known for works such as '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'' (2001), '' The Men Who Stare at Goats'' (2004), and '' The Psychopath Test'' (2011). H ...

Jon Savage Jon Savage (born Jonathan Malcolm Sage, 2 September 1953) is an English writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his definitive history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, ''England's Dreaming'' (1991). Early life and educati ...

Sylvie Simmons Sylvie Simmons is a London-born, California-based music journalist, named as a "principal player" in Paul Gorman's book on the history of the rock music press ''In Their Own Write'' (Sanctuary Publishing, 2001). A widely regarded writer and roc ...

Penny Valentine Penelope Ann Valentine (13 February 1943 – 9 January 2003) was a British music journalist, rock critic, and occasional television personality. Biography Penny Valentine was born in London, England, of Jewish and Italian ancestry. In 1959, sh ...

Marguerite Van Cook Marguerite Van Cook (née Martin, born 1954) is an English artist, writer, musician/singer and filmmaker. Early life and education Van Cook was born in Portsmouth, England. She attended Portsmouth College of Art and Design, Northumbria Universi ...

Mary Anne Hobbs Mary Anne Hobbs (born 16 May 1964) is an English DJ and music journalist from Lancashire, England. She currently hosts on BBC Radio 6 Music. She is also a performer and curator of live events. In 2024 she created a ground-breaking collaboration ...

Mat Snow Mat Snow (born 20 October 1958) is an English music journalist, magazine editor, and author. From 1995 to 1999, he was the editor of '' Mojo'' magazine; he subsequently served in the same role on the football magazine '' FourFourTwo''. During th ...

, Johnny Waller,

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

(who went on to form '' Loaded''),

Andy Ross Andrew Bryant 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-f ...

(who wrote as "Andy Hurt" and went on to form Food Records),

Steve Lamacq Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with BBC Radio 6 Music. Lamacq was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire ( ...

, Kev F. Sutherland and Russ Carvell's '' UT'' strip, and photographers Michael Putland, Ian Dickson, Jill Furmanovsky, Andy Phillips, Steve Payne, Virginia Turbett, Tony Mottram, Gavin Watson,

Ross Halfin Ross William Halfin (born 11 August 1957) is a British rock music photographer. Since the late 1970s he has worked for some of the biggest acts in rock and heavy metal, including Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Who, Kiss, Metallica, Ir ...

and

Janette Beckman Janette Beckman is a British documentary photographer who has worked in London, New York and Los Angeles.

. Among editorial and advertising staff were Billy Walker, editor, Alf Martin, chief sub and Ralph Spavin, advert production.

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 music 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