Articles by: Johnny Sharp

Louder Together we're Louder

Johnny is a regular contributor to Prog and Classic Rock magazines, both online and in print. Johnny is a highly experienced and versatile music writer whose tastes range from prog and hard rock to R’n’B, funk, folk and blues. He has written about music professionally for 30 years, surviving the Britpop wars at the NME in the 90s (under the hard-to-shake teenage nickname Johnny Cigarettes) before branching out to newspapers such as The Guardian and The Independent and magazines such as Uncut, Record Collector and, of course, Prog and Classic Rock.

Articles by: Johnny Sharp

Starcrawler seek a bigger audience and a travel upgrade on third album She Said

By Johnny Sharp published 17 September 22

Major label debut She Said sees Los Angeles quartet Starcrawler going in search of new sounds

Kiss: Off The Soundboard: Des Moines 1977 cover art

Kiss's extraordinary rock juggernaut in full flight on official Des Moine bootleg

By Johnny Sharp published 9 September 22

The third and earliest show in Kiss's official bootleg series, Des Moines 1977, finds a distant audience enjoying an upfront performance

From primal emotion to forlorn boogie, GA-20's songs shine

By Johnny Sharp published 9 September 22

Trad-blues trio GA-20 get closer to the source on third album Crackdown

Grand Theft Audio: Pass Me The Conch cover art

Grand Theft Audio's Pass Me The Conch: the 90s-style dance-rock revival starts here

By Johnny Sharp published 4 September 22

Re-formed Britrockers Grand Theft Audio are down to a duo on Pass Me The Conch, with no ill effects

Lonely Robot - A Model Life: "Still a Robot, but still invitingly human."

By Johnny Sharp published 26 August 22

Not yet rated

John Mitchell solo project retains momentum on fifth album

Nirvana at Reading 1992: a story of rumours, a wheelchair and salvation

By Johnny Sharp published 5 July 22

In the build-up to Nirvana's final UK show the band were unhappy and underprepared... and then Kurt Cobain was pushed onstage in a wheelchair

Mick Jagger leaving his solicitor's office on London

Mick Jagger's day began in prison: it ended with an "impossible to satirise" TV interview

By Johnny Sharp published 4 July 22

A seismic cultural shift: Watch Mick Jagger try and explain the counterculture to the editor of The Times, a lord, a bishop and a jesuit priest

Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and the true story that's almost too good to be true

By Johnny Sharp published 28 June 22

Was inmate Merle Haggard in the audience when Johnny Cash played at San Quentin prison?

Petrol Girls' Baby is an exhilarating, incandescent rebel yell of an album

By Johnny Sharp published 24 June 22

Austria-based British agitpunks Petrol Girls sharpen their hooks on third album Baby

Fight for your right to create havoc: How the Beastie Boys caused a crime wave

By Johnny Sharp published 23 June 22

The Beastie Boys video that had unintended consequences: thousands of Volkswagon owners complaining that their Beetles and Golfs had been vandalised

It could have been a gorilla suit: How Angus Young became rock's most iconic schoolboy

By Johnny Sharp published 22 June 22

With glam rock sweeping the charts, Malcolm Young was determined AC/DC wouldn't be left behind.... so he dressed the band like the Village People

Watch the historic interview that introduced the real David Bowie to the world

By Johnny Sharp published 20 June 22

David Bowie was the name on everyone's lips in early 1973 - and then he did he first televised full UK interview

Yealwolf and Sgooter Jennings on a run-down American street

What happened when Shooter met The Wolf

By Johnny Sharp published 18 June 22

Ever the maverick, Shooter Jennings teamed up with rapper Yelawolf, and the result is a heartland rock record spiked with thrash, country, electronica and moonshine recipes

NWOBHM footnotes Prowler finally achieve the full package

By Johnny Sharp published 20 May 22

Forty years on, the Chris Tsangarides-produced Reactivate becomes a debut album for Essex rockers Prowler

The making of Kayak's farewell album Out Of This World

By Johnny Sharp published 8 May 22

In 2021 Kayak released their 18th album Out Of This World. At the time, they didn't realise it would be their final farewell

Richard Thompson - Music from Grizzly Man cover art

Richard Thompson runs from beauty to cacophony on Grizzly Man soundtrack

By Johnny Sharp published 6 May 22

Folk elder statesman Richard Thompson's soundtrack to Werner Herzog film Grizzly Man soundtrack is available again

Sleazy Swedes Crashdiet bring the bangers on Automaton

By Johnny Sharp published 29 April 22

Crashdiet appear in rude health on sixth album Automaton, sleaze metal sleaze beefed up with thrash and power

Roger Chapman: Moths To A Flame Recordings 1979-1981 cover art

Roger Chapman: a performer first, a recording artist second

By Johnny Sharp published 29 April 22

Former Family man Roger Chapman's first solo stirrings, boxed with bonuses

Von Hertzen Brothers: Red Alert In The Blue Forest cover art

Von Hertzen Brothers' new album Red Alert In The Blue Forest is a captivating experience

By Johnny Sharp published 18 March 22

Nordic arena proggers Von Hertzen Brothers glow with righteous ire on Red Alert In The Blue Forest, album number eight

Jenny Hval - Classic Objects: "casts a potent spell"

By Johnny Sharp published 11 March 22

Not yet rated

Norwegian storyteller weaves another dreamlike web

Illustration to accompany Marillion's An Hour Before It's Dark

Marillion - An Hour Before It's Dark: "grabs the listener by the lapels"

By Johnny Sharp published 4 March 22

Not yet rated

The clock is running down on us all; Marillion are counting the seconds on their lushly pre-apocalyptic new album

Stereophonics keep up the good work on Oochya!, with a few surprises

By Johnny Sharp published 4 March 22

No rest required for Stereophonics ahead of their revved-up twelfth studio album Oochya!

The making of Jethro Tull's The Zealot Gene

By Johnny Sharp published 30 January 22

Ian Anderson discusses making the new Jethro Tull album The Zealot Gene, the band's first for 18 years

Dion calls upon the celebrity guest list once more on the lively Stomping Ground

By Johnny Sharp published 19 November 21

Dion the wanderer roams with Billy Gibbons, Eric Clapton and more on Stomping Ground

Introducing Ghost Hounds: southern rock with a masterful swagger

By Johnny Sharp published 11 November 21

Pittsburgh blues rockers Ghost Hounds specialise in sounds both timeless and priceless

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