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Dave Simpson

Dave Simpson is a Guardian music critic and author

July 2024

  • Crossover hit … from left, Brinsley Forde, Drummie Zeb and Tony Robinson in 1988.

    How we made
    ‘I thought the chorus was wicked’: Aswad on how they made Don’t Turn Around

    ‘Top of the Pops showed our video at the end of one show – just as millions of people were tuning in for EastEnders. Soon after, we went to No 1’
  • two men pose for a photo

    Tenacious D’s Trump shocker upends a career of perfectly judged musical comedy

    Jack Black and Kyle Gass’s duo are on hiatus after an off-colour comment about the Trump shooting – a rare misstep after years of arena-filling antics

    • The reader interview
      Stewart Copeland: ‘The Police’s recording sessions were very dark. We beat the crap out of each other’

    • How we made
      ‘We knew a banjo house record would annoy the techno bores’: how the Grid made Swamp Thing

    • Cigarettes After Sex: ‘Our lyrics might be a bit dirty for some people’

June 2024

  • ‘I thought everyone in music had a really glamorous life. So I tried to make normality feel glamorous’ … Mike Skinner of the Streets.

    The reader interview
    The Streets’ Mike Skinner: ‘My mid-20s were utterly traumatic. Everything was upside down’

  • Eddie Vedder, with a long thin moustache and wearing a T-shirt labelled "34" and baseball cap, closes his eyes as he points in the air while singing

    Pearl Jam review – Manchester audience rescues a stricken Eddie Vedder

  • ‘I’d been experimenting with clip-on noserings’ … Joan Osborne.

    How we made
    ‘I’m not calling God a slob’: how Joan Osborne made One of Us

  • Weirdly charismatic … Caleb Followill on stage at First Direct Arena, Leeds.

    Kings of Leon review – mesmeric power from masters of the restrained anthem

  • The Killers review – anthemic XL rock goes from epic to even more epic

  • Foo Fighters review – beloved rockers thunder back from trauma with thrilling intensity

  • John Cale: Poptical Illusion review – counterculture icon finds his fun side

  • How we made
    ‘Nobody believed I sang it’: how Move Your Body blew dancefloors away

May 2024

  • Bidding war … James Di Salvio, far left, in the collective.

    How we made
    ‘I woke up face down on a Hollywood lawn’: Bran Van 3000 on Drinking in LA

    ‘After a night of drinking, I came to in the hot sun with the words and melody in my head. The irony of the song later being used for a beer ad was hilarious’
  • Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse at the Brit Awards 2008.

    How we made
    ‘I don’t think it’s going to do well’: the Zutons on Valerie – and Mark Ronson on covering it with Amy Winehouse

    ‘It’s about a makeup artist I met in Florida called Valerie Star, who had legal bills. When I played it to the band, they all went, “Oh, that’s good.” And I thought, “It is, isn’t it”’

    • Tenacious D review – Jack Black’s daft duo are deeply schooled in rock

    • Dionne Warwick review – fascinating look back is a little short on songs

    • Keane review – note-perfect return with added emotional wallop

April 2024

  • Dickey Betts Has Passed Away, New York City, New York, USA<br>Mandatory Credit: Photo by MediaPunch/REX/Shutterstock (14440452n) Dickey Betts Has Passed Away. The Allman Brothers in concert circa 1979 Dickey Betts Dickey Betts Has Passed Away, New York City, New York, USA

    Dickey Betts obituary

  • A career Indian summer … Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson.

    A Certain Ratio: It All Comes Down to This review – punk-funk stalwarts on a euphoric high

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